"Hey, babe, whatcha up to?"

Reba looked up from her vanity mirror to see Rhett in the reflection. Turning around, she said, "What are you doing here? I told you I had something come up."

Rhett walked into the room and sat on Reba's bed as she turned around to face him.

"I know," He responded. "But I just thought I'd come over anyway and see if Jake wanted to go to the movies with me. I already bought the tickets. Might as well put them to good use." He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. "Where are you headed?"

Reba turned back around and went back to applying her makeup. "Dinner with a friend."

She was happy Rhett didn't ask which friend. She wasn't sure she wanted to outright lie to him. Surely he wouldn't be happy she was going out with her ex-husband.

"Well, have fun. Jake and I might grab something to eat before the movie."

"I'm sure he'll like that. If he's even here. I haven't seen him since he left for school this morning."

She stood and walked to her bathroom to put the finishing touches on her hair. Rhett watched her from the bedroom as she proceeded to pull her hair up and pin it back with a clip.

"I like your hair down," He told her.

She looked to her left and saw that he had moved from the bed to the doorway of the bathroom. "Do what?"

"Your hair. I like it down." He smiled and she had to force one of her own.

"But Bro- Barbra Jean likes my hair up." Her heart started beating faster as she realized she almost told her fiance that Brock liked her hair up. That would have been hard to explain.

"Are you marrying Barbra Jean?" He smiled and gave her a quick kiss. "Wear it down for me? Since you broke our date and all." He gave her a playful, pouty look.

"Okay..." She said as she slowly let her hair down. "I'll wear it down. For you."

He grabbed her hands and pulled her closer to him. "Thank you." He rested his hands on her hips as hers made their way around his neck.

"You're welcome." She initiated another kiss before saying, "You know I'd do anything for you. You just have to ask."

"How about you stay home and we can stop taking this empty house for granted."

"Except that."

"Baby, come on."

She cringed at his pet name for her. She had always hated cutesy nicknames and always chewed Brock out when he used them when they were married.

"We have our whole marriage for stuff like that."

He smiled as Reba tried to compose herself after her remark.

"Very true, and like the way you think, but I'll be here when you get back. Sound good?" He winked.

She nodded. "Fine. But we play by my rules, got it?"

They shared one more kiss and Reba found herself thinking about if she had more time to get closer to him, it might lead to marriage anyway. But there was no backing out now. What if she hurt him and he left and then she was alone forever? That was one of her worst fears. Being all alone.

Reba pulled into the restaurant with a few minutes to spare and spotted Brock standing out front, waiting for her. When she walked up to him, she saw him start to smile.

"Hey," He said. "You look great tonight."

"Thanks," She responded. "You...too?"

He laughed. "I wasn't looking for a compliment back."

"I know. But I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"You always said honesty was the best policy." He winked and opened the door for her. "After you."

She caught the little jab he made and scoffed quietly, but went inside anyway. Brock stepped up to the hostess and gave her his name, explaining that he had made a reservation the day before.

"I'm sorry, sir," The hostess told him. "There was a computer error and as it turns out, the table we booked you for had already been claimed. I'm terribly sorry."

"That's fine," Brock said. "Do you have a different table available in that section? It doesn't have to be that specific one. I just want it to be by the window."

"I'm sorry," The woman said again. "Fridays are our busiest nights. The wait is an hour if you want to take a beeper. We'll buzz it when a table is ready."

"An hour? Are you kidding me?"

Reba had been listening quietly beside Brock, but touched his arm gently when his temper began to rise.

"Brock, it's fine. We can go somewhere else." She looked at the hostess. "Just take his name off the list."

"I do apologize," The hostess said again. "For the trouble, on your next visit, we'll take ten percent off your meal. Just mention my name, alright?"

Brock, still noticeably upset, nodded and said, "Thanks, anyway."

He turned and walked out, Reba walking out behind him.

"I'm sorry," He told her as the evening air hit them in the face. "I was looking forward to having a nice dinner and talk with you." He sat down on a bench outside while Reba stood in front of him.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" She asked. "There's that burger place just down the road."

Brock looked down at his slacks and dress shirt before glancing up at her in her skirt and blouse. "Are we really dressed for Whattaburger?"

Reba laughed. "What do they care what we wear? Come on. I'm hungry."

Brock grinned and stood. "Fine. But when we come here next time, we're wearing jeans just in case."

Ten minutes later, they both pulled into Whattaburger, parked their vehicles and went inside together. After ordering, they sat at a booth in the back and started talking.

"So," Reba said. "What did you want to ask me?"

Brock wiped his hands on a napkin and took a drink of soda before answering. "I was just wondering if there were someone else, would you consider not marrying Rhett?"

Reba rolled her eyes and gave a big sigh, leaning back in the booth. "Brock, can we please not discuss this here? Or anywhere, for that matter?"

"Just answer me."

"Why? Why does it even matter? Why do you care so much? It's like you're obsessed with mine and Rhett's relationship."

"Oh, no, I'm not jealous of a relationship that's nonexistent. I can promise you that."

"Then why do you care? I just wish that we could talk about the things we used to talk about for once."

"Like what?"

"Our jobs, the kids, reality TV."

"We never used to talk about reality TV."

"Well, I'd rather talk about that than this. Could you respect that?"

"Yes. Can you answer my question, though?"

"No. I'm done with this. And if you keep asking me about it, I'm leaving." She looked him dead in the eye. "You know I will, too."

"No, you won't. Because if the answer to my question wasn't a yes, you wouldn't be here. Am I right?"

She was silent a moment before answering him. "I don't know, Brock. I feel like I could be with him without all these emotions if he hadn't asked me to marry him. Everything was going great before New Year's. I was really getting to know him and like him, then he popped the question. Right in front of everybody. How was I supposed to say no to him and embarrass him in front of you all? I wasn't going to do it. I wouldn't want it done to me, but then again, I would because I wouldn't want someone else to go through what I'm going through right now. It's all so complicated and I have to deal with it all alone because I can't tell him. I can't tell him I don't want to marry him."

"Why not? Just let him know you aren't ready."

"What if he gets upset and leaves? I couldn't take that again." She looked down, not wanting him to see the tears that were starting to form in her eyes.

Brock sighed, understanding that he played a small role in this. "Reba, I'm sorry you have to deal with this. I really am. And I hope you know that the only reason I keep bothering you about it is because I truly care. You know that, right?"

She looked up. "Yeah." Her voice was shaky as she said, "I know. I just don't like talking about it."

"Sometimes that helps, though."

She shook her head. "Not in this case."

As silence took over the table, Reba heard a familiar voice coming from across the room. It sounded like Jake. Craning her neck so that she could see, her eyes took her to the entrance where she saw her son and Rhett enter the building. Her eyes got big and she sunk down in her seat.

Brock noticed her behavior and realized she was looking over his shoulder. He turned his head but Reba slapped at his arm.

"Stop it! Don't look behind you!"

"Why not?"

"Get down!"

"Why?"

"Rhett's over there with Jake. I don't want him seeing us together."

"We're not doing anything wrong."

"Just get down!"

Brock reluctantly sunk down in his own seat with a ticked off look on his face. What had originally been planned as a nice evening out to a fancy restaurant, had turned into a night in a fast food joint hiding from his ex's fiance.

Sorry about all the trouble. I have no idea why the chapter wasn't showing up, but it is now, so thanks for reading. (: