"If you mean that," he says, "then your family has to meet my family before you guys leave. If we're going to do something that's long distance, that's going to take time to figure out, and I don't want to waste any of the time we actually do have together," he says. "I want us to see this through. I've lost someone before, Meadow, and it hurts. The idea of not trying when you have the chance, that's not how I operate."
My smile falters as I look at this man in front of me. This man who is more than I imagined. “Long distance?”
“I figured it was what you would want. I don’t want to pressure you, Meadow.”
I bite my bottom lip. “I don’t want to pressure you either. But the idea of leaving you… after falling in love with you… It seems impossible.”
“I know,” he says, taking my hand in his. “I love you, Meadow. I don’t want to watch you drive away tomorrow. Hell, it’s the last thing I want.”
“What do you want?” I ask.
“I want you. A life with you. I want that fairy tale.”
"Okay," I say, swallowing my fears. "I guess you'd better call your mom and see if she has room at her table for nine more."
He chuckles. "That's quite a number."
I laugh. "Are you already coming back on your offer? If you want, I can just have my mom and dad come. The rest of the family doesn't..."
He shakes his head. "No, we are going to need your whole family there."
I set down my coffee cup and slide over to him, sitting in his lap. I wrap my arms around his neck, wondering if Reuben might do something extraordinary tonight. If he might ask me a question that will change the course of our lives forever. "Is it going to be a night to remember?”
Reuben runs his hand over my back, drawing me closer. “Yes, Meadow. I promise, it will be a night we will never forget.”
11
REUBEN
"You invited her entire family over to Sunday dinner?" Mom asks.
We're standing in the kitchen of the homestead. Dad is eating a ham and cheese sandwich on a bar stool at the kitchen counter. And Mom is making crusts for chicken pot pies that we'll have later tonight.
Thankfully, Plum is upstairs in Fig's bedroom, trying on her jewelry and high heels. I can hear her clunking around two floors above my head, since Fig is in the attic.
"The thing is, she's special," I say. "Meadow, she's not like anyone I've ever met."
"A week ago, you told me you weren't interested in dating, and now you're telling me you fell in love?" Mom asks, flabbergasted. She closes her eyes and presses her fingertips to her temples. "Look, it's not that I don't want you to be happy. We want you to be happy." She looks over at Dad when she says this. "But, Reuben, think of Plum. Think of..."
"You don't think I'm thinking about Plum? I think about her every second of the day, Mom. My whole world revolves around Plum. And it's not that I don't want to keep her in the forefront of my decision-making, but Mom, you've got to trust me. You do trust me, don't you?"
She sets the rolling pin down and walks over to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. I can see her shoulders fall as she takes a deep breath, her back to me. When she turns around, there are tears in her eyes. "You've been through so much, Reuben," she says. "And I know you're not my youngest. And I know you have a good head on your shoulders and are all grown up. But the last four years, they've been rough, sweetheart. I don't want to see your heart get broken. I don't want to see Plum get attached. I don't..."
"I don't want those things either," I say. "Just meet her. Just spend one dinner getting to know her and then tell me what you think because that's all it took for me to know."
Dad's eyes soften. "You really love her?"
"You can't tell me it's not possible. Not after Lemon, Rye, and Bartlett fell in love so damn fast earlier this year. You're saying I can't do the same?"
"I'm not saying that, son," Dad says. "But I don't want you to rush into anything."
"Why?" I say. "Why not rush in? Why not give my heart over to something? God knows I've had a hard enough go at it already. Why not let the good in now when I've got it? When I’ve found it?"
Just then, Fig and Plum walk into the kitchen. "What are you guys talking about?" Fig asks, reaching for an apple in the fruit basket. Plum walks over to her grandpa and pulls out a stool next to him. He helps her sit up on it and Mom shakes her head. "Nothing big. We're just..."