Ch. 14
We pulled up right behind Emily at Rafe's. She got out of the car rather quickly. I just assumed she was wanting to see Red. I couldn't help but laugh and reminisce on when I first started dating Danny. He had given me a puzzled look, and raised his eye brows at me.
"What's so funny?"
I laughed again. He just had no idea how girls acted after a first date with a boy.
"Just the way Emily is acting. It reminds me of me when we first started dating."
He blushed slightly and smiled. He leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, I wish I could have seen that, then."
It was my turn to blush. I just raised my eyebrows and lightly slapped him on the arm.
"Let's get in there before they all start worrying about us."
He sighed. I could tell he didn't want to let me go today, but he knew it was something that had to be done.
When we got inside, Emily was sitting on the couch talking animatedly with Red. He was smiling back at her, and listening intently to what she was saying. I was so happy to see both of them happy, especially Red.
I gave a slight nod their way before heading into the kitchen. Danny wasn't too far behind me.
In the kitchen, Evelyn was washing dishes. I giggled a little at what she was wearing. She was wearing a grey pair of sweat pants, pink t-shirt, and her hair pulled back in a bun. It was weird seeing her in modern clothes, but the look actually worked for her. Well, at least in her current condition it did. She must have heard my giggling, because she stopped immediately what she was doing, and wiped her hands on a towel. She came over to us, and gave each of us a hug. She hugged Danny first, and he hugged her back in a friendly way. I was the next one she came to. When she hugged me she started talking.
"Hi, Danny. Alyssa, I am so glad you're here. I couldn't sleep at all last night. I was too excited about our shopping trip today. I'll be ready in a couple minutes. I just have to finish up in here."
I laughed at her. Yesterday, the idea of shopping appalled her. Today, she couldn't be any more excited to go.
"Well, I'll help you finish up the dishes so we can leave sooner."
Danny just rolled his eyes. I could tell the idea of shopping and girl talk didn't appease him too much. I couldn't blame him.
"Look, if you two don't mind, I'm going to go find Rafe."
I raised my eyebrows at him and giggled.
"What's wrong, Danny? Don't you want to hear our conversation?"
He chuckled slightly.
"Not really. Do you know where he is, Evelyn?"
She nodded.
"Yea, he's out in the barn. You can tell him that we left. We're about to anyway."
He gave an exasperated sigh and nodded. He walked over to me before walking out the kitchen door. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and looked me in the eyes seriously.
"Be careful. If you need me, call me. Tell Emily to try not to kill you guys, and keep an eye out for Evelyn. I love you."
He gave me a soft kiss on the lips. I kissed him back before I pulled away.
"Danny, we'll be fine. You worry too much. But, I love you, too."
He gave me another kiss on the forehead. He walked over to the door, and before he disappeared out of it, he turned to us.
"You guys be careful today, and have fun."
We just giggled and nodded. As soon as he disappeared out the door, Evelyn went back to washing the dishes. I dried them, and put them up.
"What is his deal today?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"He doesn't like the way Emily drives, but if it was that bad, I promise, I wouldn't be riding with her."
She raised her eyebrows and giggled.
"Well, I'm sure we'll be fine."
We had finished washing the dishes, and walked into the living room to catch Red and Emily pulling away from each other. Red's face lit up a bright red. We had just caught them at the end of a kiss. We didn't say a word.
"If you two love-birds are done, we need to get going, Emily."
Emily blushed furiously. I couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't every day I caught Emily kissing someone. She was the one who hated PDA. For her to be doing something like this was comical.
"Fine. I'll see you later, Red."
"Bye Emily. Bye girls. Y-Y-You guy's h-have fun."
He had started stuttering. He only did that when he was nervous, but we never paid much attention to it. All of us girls talked at the same time.
"Bye Red."
When we got to Emily's car, she was the first to speak. She was in the driver's seat, Evelyn was in the passenger seat, and I was in the back. She turned in her seat so she could see both of us. She looked at us like she was kind of aggravated.
"I don't want to hear a word of it from either of you. Especially you, Alyssa."
She pointed an angry finger at me. I just put my hands up in protest. I had an innocent look on my face, but in my mind, I was grinning mischievously.
"Not one word, at least, not until you're ready to talk about it."
She nodded in agreement, and Evelyn just laughed. Emily turned around in her seat, and put her sunglasses on hurriedly. I could tell she was embarrassed. She had finally put a lighthearted tone back in her voice. She was excited.
"Now, who's ready for some wedding shopping?"
We went to a couple dress stores. Nothing like the fancy wedding dress shops. We wanted to find something simple for Evelyn. Something that would go great with the summer weather, and the backdrop of the farm. After hours of shopping, in the next town over, we exhausted all of our possibilities. We couldn't find anything for Evelyn. We were giving up. We were driving through Main Street in Shelby. That's when Evelyn spotted a small consignment shop. She couldn't contain her excitement.
"Wait. What about there?"
She was pointing excitedly at the store. I was a little surprised that we didn't see it before. Right in the front window was a white dress. It didn't look to be a wedding dress. It appeared to be something someone would wear just out and about.
"Emily, pull over."
Emily parked the car, and we all got out. When we got inside, there was an older lady sitting at the desk. Evelyn walked right up to her.
"Excuse me, ma'am? Is there any way I can try that dress on that's in the window?"
The lady looked up at Evelyn and smiled. It was like she knew that the dress would be perfect for her. The lady was grinning widely, and immediately went to get the dress for Evelyn.
While we were waiting on the dress, we looked around to see what Emily and I could find for ourselves for the wedding. We didn't want to be too dressy, since it was outside, but we didn't want to dress down either. I found a light pink dress. It was plain with a couple buttons at the collar, and it was strapless. It was tight at the top, and flowed at the bottom. I fell instantly in love with it. It came to right at my knees. I knew this was the dress I was going to wear that day.
"Oh, Ally, it's beautiful. It'll be perfect for the wedding."
Emily had a big smile on her face. She was right. It was perfect. I took the dress off the rack. Before Emily even had a chance to look further for a dress for her, the lady had come back with Evelyn's dress.
"Here you go, miss. Why don't you try it on? I can't wait to see what it looks like on you."
Evelyn smiled widely, and nodded excitedly.
"Thank you. I'll go do that right now."
The lady nodded and showed us to the dressing rooms. There were a couple chairs sitting outside of the rooms, and a couple of big mirrors around. Emily and I sat in the chairs, waiting patiently on Evelyn. Evelyn had called out to me.
"Alyssa, can you come zip this up for me please."
I walked in the room. She already had the dress on, but the back was wide open. I immediately zipped it up and shut my eyes after I did so. I didn't want to see her until Emily was able to.
"Alright, come on out whenever you're ready."
I walked out the room and sat back down. This was it.
When Evelyn walked out, we were all stunned. The dress was gorgeous. It was a little big, but with her being pregnant she would grow right into it within the next month. It would hug at the top. It had wide straps, and no cleavage. There was a brown, thin belt that went around at the waist. It was made from cotton, but there was a top layer of lace. The bottom of it flowed, and came to her mid-calf. It was perfect.
"Wow! You look amazing!"
Evelyn blushed and smiled. Emily immediately stood up to inspect her even further. She walked completely around Evelyn before speaking again.
"I'm serious. Rafe is going to flip when he sees you in this."
My eyes were wide with amazement. At every word Emily spoke, Evelyn just blushed. I stood up, too. I had some tears in my eyes. I was so happy for her.
"She's right, Ev. You look stunning. This is the dress. You need to get it. Now."
Evelyn blushed even more, and turned away sheepishly. That's when the older lady walked up.
"Well, I'll be. This is perfect. I never thought I would find the right person to wear this, but you are it. Half price. You deserve this dress."
We were all in shock. All of our mouths were agape. Did she really just give Evelyn 50% off on this dress?
"Are you sure, ma'am? I couldn't possibly impose like that."
The woman just shook her head.
"Nonsense. You are the perfect person for this dress. You girls, too. Whatever you girls find, 50% off for you, too."
Emily and I were at a loss for words. This must have been our lucky day. This lady was unbelievable. Our eyes were wide with shock, and our mouths were hanging wide open.
"If you two don't shut your mouths, you're likely to catch flies."
The woman winked at us before she walked away. We all hollered after her.
"Thank you."
Before paying for our things, Evelyn and I helped Emily find a dress for her. We found a light green one. It was just as beautiful as mine. It had thin straps, and flowed to floor length. It would look amazing on Emily. Emily pulled it off the rack, and held it up to her.
"Well, what do you guys think?"
She looked down at it and then back up at us.
"I think, Red won't know what hit him. This will be perfect for you."
I nodded in agreement with Evelyn. She was right. It would be perfect for her. We went and paid for the dresses. The complete total, for all three dresses, was 150$. We were shocked with how much money we had saved.
When we got in the car, Emily was talking animatedly again. She was more than excited.
"Evelyn, you can leave your dress in my car, and I'll take it home. I'm sure you don't want Rafe to see it before the big day."
I couldn't agree more with Emily. She was more responsible with clothing than I was. Her place would be the best place to keep it.
"Thank you so much Emily. That's a great idea."
Evelyn smiled warmly at her. It was so nice seeing my two best friends getting along like they had known each other forever. The rest of the car ride back to Rafe's, we talked everything wedding. We talked decorations, guests, food, and pastor. We still had a lot to do before next month.
When we got back to the house, we all walked in with big smiles on our faces, and laughing about some joke Emily had told in the car. The boys weren't in the living room, but we could smell food coming from the kitchen. We heard someone setting the table, someone pouring drinks, and someone getting the food ready to be sat out.
When we walked into the kitchen, Danny walked up to me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. He gave me a soft kiss on the lips. Rafe did the same with Evelyn, and Red and Emily just gave each other a quick hug.
"I hope you're hungry, Alyssa. We cooked a big meal for you guys."
I gave Danny a big smile. They say the key to a man's heart is through his stomach. Well, the same saying could be used on me when it came to Danny and Rafe's cooking. I pulled away and looked at the table. Sure enough, there was a pot roast with baked potatoes, corn bread, carrots, and green beans. There were glasses of sweet tea for all of us, and I could smell the fresh baked brownies, sitting on the counter.
All of us girls were in shock. Two surprises in one day. I swear these boys never ceased to amaze. They each walked over to where we would be sitting, and pulled our chairs out for us. It was the sweetest thing. We all sat down, and Rafe said grace.
After grace, Emily immediately dug in. This was her first time eating their cooking, and we all looked at her expectantly. She was moaning while she ate, and her eyes were shut as she tasted everything. When she finally looked at all of us her face turned beat red.
"What? This is delicious. You guys have really out done yourselves. Thank you."
Evelyn and I nodded our heads in agreement. We both had our mouths full of food. This was the best meal we had probably had from them. All of the boys just smiled at us. Rafe was the first to speak.
"Well, did you get what you went shopping for? You were gone for quite some time."
We girls just looked at each other. We had big grins on our faces, but we didn't want to let anyone know what it looked like until that day.
"Are we going to get to see it?"
I playfully slapped Danny on the arm. He knew better than that. I knew he did.
"Daniel Walker. Yes, you'll see it. On the day of the wedding."
His face fell. He knew he forgot his manners for a moment. I was ok with it, though.
After dinner, Danny and I decided to go back to my place. I was exhausted, and I just wanted to be alone with him.
When we got back to my place, we went to the bedroom, and started getting ready for bed. He laid down on the bed with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed. I was in the bathroom getting dressed. He hollered at me from the room.
"So, did Emily say anything about her and Red's date?"
I was a little surprised. Danny wasn't usually one for gossip like that, but I could tell he was just as curious as I was.
"No, surprisingly. I'm not going to push her to, either. Normally, she would have said something, but I suppose she's just trying to respect him as well."
"Yea, you're probably right."
I came out of the bathroom wearing a silk night gown. I had taken my hair out of the ponytail, and left my make-up on. I had no intentions, but if something happened, it happened.
Danny's eyes roamed my body, and he immediately got up and walked over to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head against mine.
"You know; you're starting to not really leave anything to the imagination."
I raised my eyebrows at him. I wasn't trying anything.
"Well, maybe that's the point."
He had a fire in his eyes. He kissed me so unexpectedly and so passionately, it took my breath away. He started kissing my jaw line, and then to my neck. I moaned slightly. He backed me up to the bed, and laid me down. He kissed everywhere he could before undressing me. We had made love again that night.
After we were done, we both laid there, flat on our backs, panting. He rolled over and draped an arm around me, and gave me a kiss.
"We need to get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow."
Tomorrow? I had completely forgotten that he wanted to do something tomorrow. I couldn't wait. I rolled over to face him. I gave him a soft kiss on the lips before whispering to him.
"I love you, Daniel Walker. Forever."
"I love you, too, Alyssa Banks. Always."
I smiled, and laid my head on his chest. I just laid there, listening to the rise and fall of his chest while he stroked my hair. I couldn't wait for what he had planned for tomorrow.