Laura says goodbye to her aunt and uncle and then I walk her toward my truck, opening the door for her and closing it gently once she slides into the passenger seat. With my hand on the wheel, I tell her how thankful I am to get the chance to go out with her.
"Are you always so polite?" she asks.
I look over at her with a smirk. "Not always," I say, "but you bring out the best in me, Laura Callaway."
"You hardly know me," she says.
"I know enough."
Her eyes narrow. My eyes meet hers. "What?" I say.
She shakes her head ever so slightly, "Nothing. I just, I'm glad that we're getting this date."
"Are you? After I won the auction, I kind of had the idea that maybe you weren't so excited. You wouldn't even look me in the eyes."
"I'm looking at you now, aren't I?"
I nod. "I suppose you are, Laura. Now, I was wondering, where should we go for this picnic? Sounds like you've lived here a lot longer than I have, or at least spent time here. Do you have a favorite spot?"
"There's a place off Meadowbrook Lane that's real pretty," she says, "down by the river."
I smile at her. "Meadowbrook Lane, huh? You like that part of town?"
She nods. "There's just a lot of wildflowers there, that's all."
"That's true," I say. "There's more there too."
"Like what?"
"Well, my land is out there but it's a mile away from the spot at the river I know you're talking about."
"Your land’s out on Meadowbrook Lane?"
I nod, "Sure is."
"I guess there's a lot about you that I don't know, huh?"
"I suppose so," I say, driving down the country roads toward the spot she mentioned. "I haven't had a date for Valentine's Day since I was a teenager," I admit.
"Oh really?" she says. "Did you have a high school sweetheart that had your heart?"
I shake my head, "No, nothing like that. But my mama wanted me to ask out the neighbor girl. She was having a hard time. Broke her leg the week before the school dance and didn't have a date, so I thought, well, I might as well take her. Even if we couldn’t move on the dance floor, at least she'd get out of her house."
"Well, that's quite kind of you, Cole," Laura says, pressing her lips together. "Are you always so nice?"
"I try to be a gentleman. My mama raised me that way," I say, turning into the gravel lot by the river.
I open her door and then I grab the basket and blanket from the truck.
"I hope you're hungry. There's so much food in that basket."
"Good," I say, "I'm a cowboy. I always have an appetite."
"A cowboy," she says, "right."
"Is there something wrong with what I said?" I ask, taking in her expression. Her eyes, they've gone dark, and she's looked away.
"No, it's just the fact that you are a cowboy means..."
"Means what?" I ask, spreading out the blanket and setting down the basket.
"I just made a promise to myself that I would never be with a cowboy. Never date one."
"Well, we're on a date now, aren't we?" I ask as we both sit down on the wool blanket.
"Yes, we’re on a date, but I'm not going to go on another with you. I try to keep to my word, the promises I make to myself."
My heart fucking drops at her words. "Well, I suppose we can forget about the date and just eat. We can just be friends if that's what you want?" I ask her, hating that I'm even posing the question. I don't want to be her friend. I want to be so much more than that but I also know it's not really my choice. Laura's her own woman just like I'm my own man.
She nods though, opening up the basket and beginning to pull out meatloaf sandwiches and a container of potato salad.
"Yeah, we can just be friends," she smiles at me. "Right? There's nothing wrong with a man and a woman just being friends, right?" She looks down like there's something she's not saying.
It's painful, the moment, because I want more than friendship. I want a woman like Laura to be my wife, a real woman with grace and kindness and beauty. I can picture her curled up with a book on the front porch I’m building, just like she does at her uncle Leroy's ranch.
But I know I can't push Laura in ways she doesn't want to be taken, so instead I take the glass of lemonade she offers me.
I make a toast. "To friendship," I say, "on Valentine's Day."
6
LAURA
I told him I just wanted to be friends, and I meant it.
I mean, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't fall for a cowboy.
But sitting here now with Cole, I feel my resolve fade because Cole is different.