“I’ve got to get out of here before your dad wakes up,” he said, and kissed me quickly. I held out my hand, wanting him to stay. He shook his head and crept out. I hugged his pillow, still warm and smelling of Old Spice and went back to sleep.
24
Luke
That night with her changed everything for me. I knew what I wanted. It was a fierce need in my blood now, to sleep with Sarah Jo in my arms and wake up with her in the morning. An affair that was nothing more than an open secret wasn’t good enough. She deserved better than that. She deserved to be introduced to my parents as my girlfriend and deserved to know I was proud to be with her. So it was time I made that happen. I messaged my dad that I wanted to book Cecil’s for a private party this week. He messaged back that Thursday was our slowest night so it would be best. I offered to pay him the booking fee and he refused.
Will you and Mom come to dinner at Cecil’s Thursday night? I want to talk to you about something important. I messaged.
You gotta close the bar to talk to us? he replied.
It’s important, I texted back. 6pm dress nice.
We’ll be there.
I smiled, then called Sarah Jo, “Hey, beautiful,” I said, “are you busy Thursday night?”
“I’d like to be busy with you,” she said, a smile in her voice that made me feel joyous.
“Then say you’ll come to dinner at Cecil’s at six. It’s a private party. You, me, my parents. Your dad. Ryan if he wants to come.”
“Why would you want all those people in the same room? Is it the birthday party from hell? My brother hit you, Luke. My dad thinks I’m an idiot. Your parents have always been nice to me, but they’re not going to like us being together, if for no other reason than my brother’s lack of manners on the subject and my dad’s drinking. I can’t go and act all polite like a church potluck when I know the people who are important to us think we’re doing something wrong.”
“That’s why I’m doing it. We’re together, and when you’re with someone, you have dinner with their parents, and you introduce them to yours.”
“Your parents bought Girl Scout cookies off me when I was eight. They know me.”
“My dad also had to get you down off the roof of the garage once,” I laughed.
“I thought there was a bird’s nest up there. You and Ryan were playing baseball, and I was afraid one of the balls was gonna hit the roof and kill the baby birds.”
“You had a lot more faith in our batting than you should’ve,” I laughed.
“I’m hesitant about this dinner. I don’t want my family to embarrass us in front of your mom and dad. They’re not gonna be on best behavior for my sake. It would be a disaster. Just imagine trying to have a nice conversation about the weather or the county fair and then Ryan starts spouting off about Whitney and me and how women are evil temptresses and Jezebels.”
“I’d pay good money to hear your brother say evil temptresses, but that’s beside the point. I think we’re not giving them enough credit here. I don’t like how they treat you, and I’m not afraid to say so, but maybe it was the keeping it secret that made them mad to start with. So we get off on the right foot from here on out.”
“What if he calls me a slut again, only this time it’s in front of your parents?” she asked softly. She was not a girl who needed a rescue. She was perfectly capable of putting him in his place, but somehow him calling her that had hurt her badly. I wouldn’t stand for it.
“I won’t allow it. I want to have this dinner, to have the families spend time together knowing that we’re a couple. That they have to be nice to each other or they won’t be invited to christenings and school plays,” I said.
“What?” she said.
“When we—okay, sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself. I shouldn’t have been flippant about it. I want a future with you, Sarah Jo, and we’ve treated our families like an obstacle. I’m done with that. I want them to know our feelings instead of worrying about their feelings,” I said.
“Seriously, christenings, Luke? You can’t take a girl to dinner first?” she deadpanned.
“I just meant they can all behave themselves for one evening. They better learn to get along and be polite. I wish so much that my Granny was still around. She’d get Ryan by the ear and tell him to straighten up or she’d tan his backside no matter how old he was. Then she’d wash his mouth with Ivory soap if he talked back,” I chuckled.