“You know what I mean.”
We worked for a few minutes in silence and I enjoyed every second of it, until he started talking again.
“You remember Jill Gates?”
“I should hope so. I dated her senior year and took her to prom.”
Rick laughed as he unloaded another bale of hay and stacked it in the barn. “Yeah well, she’s back in Llano.”
“I thought she moved to Oregon or something.”
“Washington.”
“She didn’t like the rain?” I asked with a smirk.
Rick shook his head. “She didn’t like that her fiancé was sleeping around. My mom said she decided to come back and work for the elementary school. She’s a teacher.”
“Huh. I bet she hates that. All she ever talked about was leaving Llano.”
“Well, she’s back and rumor has it . . . she was asking about you.”
I stopped and looked at him. “Me, huh?”
With an evil smile, he nodded and said, “Yep. I bet I’d be right in saying she’ll probably be at Joe’s tonight.”
Thinking back to what my dad had said to me last week, I knew I needed to decide what I was going to do. It was time to either move on and let Taylor go, or go after her. Going after her meant trying to work a relationship living apart from each other and I wasn’t sure how easy that would be.
“So? You in or out?”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I looked out over the field. As much as I didn’t want to let Taylor go . . . I knew what had to be done.
“I’m in.”
Rick slapped me on the back and practically shouted for joy. “Yes! Tonight is going to be awesome. There’s a new band playing there tonight also.”
I pulled my head back in surprise. “At Joe’s?”
Rick looked at me like I was saying something wrong. “When was the last time you were there, dude?”
With a shrug, I replied, “I don’t know . . . about a year or so.”
His smile grew bigger. “You’re in for a few surprises tonight.”
Walking down the stairs, I stopped in the living room and smiled when I saw my parents sitting on the couch together. They were both engrossed in a movie while holding hands.
“Hey, I guess I’m going to go out for a bit. I won’t be home late.”
They both turned and smiled. “Where ya going?”
“Joe’s.”
“Joe’s . . . what memories we have of Joe’s,” my mother said as she looked at my father who smiled lovingly at her.
“Yeah, I don’t need to hear about them, but thanks.”
I started for the door, but stopped and decided now was a good time as any to let them know my plan.
“So, I was thinking . . . the old hunting cottage is just sitting empty. I could fix it up and move in, if that’s all right with y’all. I’ve contacted an architect in Mason who I’ve spoken with a few times. When the time comes, I’d like to build a place on the property y’all gave me.”