The Four Proposals by Riley LaShea

Author:Riley LaShea [Lashea, Riley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B00IDMVPII
Published: 2014-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

She’d never had cause to think about it, but there was something about having one’s chin stared at that made it difficult to chew.

“Dad, would you please let Kelsie eat?” Laken requested, and Grady snapped out of his mesmerized state, glancing to his daughter apologetically before returning his eyes to Kelsie.

“Sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay.” Kelsie laughed lightly, though she couldn’t entirely shake the feeling of discomfort as her gaze dropped to her plate.

“Do you like the chicken, Kelsie?” Rosetta sounded concerned.

“Yes, it’s really good,” Kelsie replied, and it was, from what she could taste of it. Of course, it was probably hard to tell she didn’t hate it from the little she’d actually consumed. Realizing she needed to put forth greater effort to prove the food was satisfactory, Kelsie took another bite, trying not to choke on the string of cheese that came up with it as Forrest’s presence next to her, which felt more menacing than anything, made it painful to swallow.

“So…” Kelsie tried to divert her own thoughts, and any lingering attention on the food going cold on her plate. “Laken told me you had your thirtieth wedding anniversary last year.”

“We sure did,” Grady responded proudly. “Still hanging in there.”

“That’s amazing,” Kelsie replied with due admiration.

“It’s not too bad,” Rosetta agreed. “Of course, if this one,” she aimed a look Laken’s way, “hadn’t inspired us, who knows what might have happened?”

“That is true.” Grady backed up the account. “She was a real blessing. Sometimes things happen all out of order to turn out just as they should.”

Smiling at the rather inspirational sentiment, and the discovery Laken’s dad was a giant softie, Kelsie’s appetite returned, until, cutting into her chicken, she lost it all over again, nearly along with what she’d already eaten.

A slimy, instantly-identifiable head flopping onto her plate, Kelsie stared in horror, not sure what she could do about it other than not throw up. In all the conversations they’d had about Laken’s parents deep, abiding love of the Earth, Laken had never once mentioned her parents scavenging for edibles in it. Whether it was intentional or accidental, though, how did one remove a worm from one’s dinner and put it on the side of the plate without making a big deal out of it?

“Something wrong, Kelsie?” Forrest questioned, and his attention was the last thing she wanted.

“Forrest!” Laken admonished an instant later. “That’s disgusting!”

“What?” Forrest defended himself with a laugh. “It’s not real.” Leaning over to pull the offending item from the cheese and spinach and mushrooms stuffed into the chicken breast with his fork, he came close enough to Kelsie to warn, “But it could have been,” before raising the fake worm to his lips. “Nom nom nom.”

“Mom!” Laken turned instantly back into a kid.

“Forrest.” Rosetta’s parental tone was nothing like Kelsie’s mother’s. When Kelsie’s mom reprimanded, there was no mistaking what it was. Rosetta’s scolding sounded more like a teacher trying to provide a life lesson in a positive, affirming manner. “It’s wrong to put a fake worm in your sister’s girlfriend’s chicken.

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