Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson

Author:Janice Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: ebook, Fools Rush In
Publisher: Publisher
Published: 2010-07-14T04:00:00+00:00

15

Walkin’ My Baby Back Home

On Wednesday afternoon, with Mama and Sophia’s help, I scrubbed the wedding facility from top to bottom. By 4:00 the wood floors in the reception hall gleamed, the chandeliers sparkled, and the linens had all been washed. I stood back and surveyed the place, trying to imagine it filled with people. Line dancing. Eating barbecue. Laughing. Nibbling slices of cake. Sipping cups of punch. Congratulating the bride and groom.

Yes, I could see it all now. This wedding would come off without a hitch, and the whole Rossi clan would breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Feeling more confident than I had in days, I wrapped up my work and headed home to shower and dress for my date—if you could call a trip to Splendora for chicken-fried steak with Earline and Dwayne Neeley Sr. a date.

D.J. arrived promptly at 5:15. As the doorbell rang, Precious went into one of her typical Yorkie-Poo frenzies. Panic set in, though it had nothing to do with the dog. The moment had arrived at last. I would head off to Splendora-land to meet the Neeleys face-to-face. If I could’ve located the bottle of Laz’s anointing oil, I might’ve smeared some on my heart. Instead, with a forced smile and a determined attitude, I opened the door to the man of my dreams.

D.J.’s five o’clock shadow gave him that down-home Texas look I suddenly found so appealing. I took one look at the boy and remembered why my heart had gotten tangled up with his in the first place. I wanted to holler “Yee-haw!” and reach for a pair of those boots in the front hall. Instead, I found myself wrapped in his arms as he placed a gentle kiss in my hair.

“No PDA,” Pop said with a wink as he entered the foyer.

D.J. stepped back and extended his hand. My father took it, and the two dove into a lengthy conversation about the weather while I tried to still my heart. But oh, heaven help me! How could I? In that moment, as I watched my old-school father and my new-school love interest exchanging pleasantries, I could almost forget about our families’ differences. Almost. I had to wonder if a cheesecake-loving Italian girl from Galveston could really merge worlds with a chicken-fried-steak-lovin’ cowboy from Splendora. I guess if I wanted to find out, God would have to lead the horse to water. Or, in this case, take the Italian girl to the piney woods of east Texas.

As D.J. pointed his truck north on Interstate 45, I asked him to tell me anything and everything about his parents and his brother.

“Well, let’s see now.” He appeared to be thinking of where to start. “My family is originally from Tennessee.”

“Wow. What part?”

“Knoxville. My dad’s been in the auto repair business for as long as I can remember.” He sighed. “I used to work with him, but I really don’t have what it takes to be a mechanic. Bubba, on the other hand . .

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