Until Kelly by Vera Quinn

Chapter Twenty-One

Trask

I see the Crown Victoria leaving Kelly’s drive and I wonder what a government car is doing all the way out here. I know they like to call them unmarked cars, but they are about as unmarked as a deer with antlers the first day of hunting season. The car sticks out like a sore thumb in these parts.

Kelly knows I am going to show her a surprise today, but she has no idea that I am going to share with her my dreams. I pull into Kelly’s drive and pull up to her house like I always do but Kelly doesn’t come and greet me at the door like normal.

I get out of my truck and walk up the front steps. I walk in the door not knowing what I am walking in on. Kelly is on the sofa with her face in her hands and she’s crying. What the hell? I go to her.

“Darlin’, I don’t know who made you cry but you tell me who it is, and I will whip their ass. I hate coming home to my woman sitting by herself crying.” I pull her up from the sofa and I have her in my arms. She can’t control her tears. Kelly looks up to me.

“I think we’ve jumped into this too fast. You don’t know who I really am. I’m a fake and you need to know that. I could never let anyone hurt you. I just don’t know what to do.” I look down to my woman and let her cry it out. I don’t know what is wrong, but she is making no sense whatsoever. When I left this morning, Kelly was happy.

“Calm down, babe, it’s going to be alright.” I try to sooth my woman.

“No, it’s not. You deserve better than me. I should have never let you get involved with me.” I can barely understand what she’s saying through her sobs. I do the only thing I know to do. I kiss her deeply and passionately. I consume the woman that I love and try to send her the love she needs at this moment. I taste her tears. When we are both breathless, I back away and look down at Kelly.

“You are my woman, and I won’t hear anything else bad about you or about us not being together. We are together and I love you. I will let anything tear you from my arms. Is that plain enough for you? You have no choice. You are mine.” Kelly stops crying.

“You don’t know me,” Kelly says.

“I know everything that I need to know. I know you are the woman I love, and you love me. You have a heart as big as Texas. You may not have been born in my great state, but you got here as soon as you could so that makes you alright. Not everyone can be born here, we must take some transplants.” I laugh and Kelly laughs. It’s not a big laugh, but it’s more than a chuckle. I’ll take it. Kelly has quit crying, and that’s a plus. I can’t stand to see her tears.

“Do you mean that?” I look at my woman and bend down and get a tissue from the tissue box and try to dry her tears from her face.

“Do I mean what, that I love you, of course I do? I love you more than anything and everything in this world. I love you to the moon and back. I always love you more.” I go through every small thing we have argued about as to who loves who more and put her fears away.

“Do you mean that you know everything about me that you need to know?” she asks me with pleading eyes. I don’t know what has brought this doubt on. I thought we were in a good place.

“Yes, I know everything that I need to know. You love me and I love you and that is all that matters. End of story.” I kiss the top of Kelly’s head and then get another tissue and hand it to Kelly. I drop the other tissue on the table. “I can prove it if you come with me.” Kelly looks up at me like I hung the moon, and I can’t wait to show Kelly my dream. “Go and wash your face just a little and grab a jacket.” Kelly doesn’t say anything, she just shakes her head yes. She goes up on her toes and kisses my cheek. I take the tissue from her and I pick the one up from the table and go to the kitchen and throw them away as Kelly walks into the bathroom to wash up a little. I think the woman is beautiful, but I think she needs a minute to get herself together.

I was gone less than eight hours and I come back to Kelly crying. What could have spooked her? I will try to get it out of her later. Right now, I am going to show her what I have been working on.

Kelly walks back into the room with her jacket on and she looks like she is calming down. I grab her hand and walk her out to my truck. I open the door on her side and pick her up and put her in the seat. “Thank you, Trask,” my woman tells me. I shut the door while she puts her seat belt on. I walk back around to my side of the truck and get in. I turn my truck around and we drive back out the drive. We drive a little ways and Kelly is watching me closely. I am keeping an eye on her out the side of my eye.

“Are we going to Lyric and Botie’s?” Kelly asks but we pass up the drive.

“Nope, not today,” I tell her and then she sees my parents’ house.

“Please tell me you are not taking me back to your parents’ house. I don’t think I have the stomach for it today.” I smile at Kelly. I understand the feeling. Every time I have seen my mom and dad since I moved out, it has been an argument about Kelly.

“No, darlin’, I wouldn’t do that to you.” There’s a drive right before we get to my parent’s property that turns back into the land that Lyric and Botie own now. “This land here belonged to Nick Styles at one time but he sold it to Lyric. Lyric loves this land, but she isn’t too fond of my parents and her place butts up to the back of Dad’s property on this side. It’s not a big parcel of land so she sold it to me. I bought these five- acres of land to build my dream home on it since it has nothing to do with my parent’s property.” Kelly’s eyes go wide. “I paid cash for it and I have been building a home here.” We arrive in front of the shell of the house I am building. The house is framed, but the insides aren’t formed yet. “The framing crew is framing the insides now, so it’s time to make decisions. I want you to help me make those decisions.” Kelly looks at me but then she sees the gazebo that I built before the house was ever started. It’s a large gazebo. I could see myself one day giving my daughter away in that gazebo on her wedding day. That’s always been my dream. My grandparents had a gazebo in their front yard when I was growing up and my grandpa always told me the stories of each of his children being married there. It was a family tradition. I see the minute that Kelly sees the swing hanging in the big oak tree and I can see she is torn at which one she wants to go to first. The swing wins out. Kelly sits on the swing and I remember the times that I would swing in my grandparent’s yard. This here… this is what memories are made of.

“I love swings. I’ve never been in a tree swing before. Come swing me.” Kelly seems at ease and she is having fun. I don’t see this side of my woman very much. She is carefree and happy. Kelly is always so serious. That Kelly is beautiful but this Kelly, in the sunlight, sitting on the swing smiling, is breath taking. I know I will remember this day for years to come. I walk over to Kelly and push her in the swing. This moment in time is what makes my life worth everything. We spend the rest of the afternoon going over all the things we want in our lives. We decide on three children, a dog, a cat, and some chickens. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a two-car garage. This is where we are going to share our lives and raise our children.