Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“Mom...” Red shakes his head.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I reply. All of them are so much better dressed than I am. I feel like an outsider here. Sure, it’s not like Red and his family are huge city slickers or anything, but compared to them I’m just some sort of country bumpkin, the kind that’s made fun of on TV all the time.
Reynold grunts. “Son, got a little business to talk about. You got a few minutes?”
Red nods. “I can make time. Annie, make yourself at home. I’m sure my family will love you.”
Father and son wander off, and Red’s mother throws an arm around my shoulder. “Why don’t you join us in the kitchen? I’m sure you got your own culinary touches you’ve learned in the diner that Red says he met you at.”
Red has told them an awful lot about me. He must really like me, I realize, if all the other evidence in front of me wasn’t enough.
We enter the kitchen, and sure enough a woman not much older than me is there. “You must be Annie,” she says with a smile.
“Hi. You’re Ruby?”
She nods. “Pleasure to meet you,” she says, her smile glowing. Everyone is so inviting but I still feel a bit alien. They’re making a good and proper summer cookout meal, plates of meat prepared to go out to the grill, macaroni and potato salad, even some homemade potato chips there as well.
“You’re fresh out of high school, aren’t you?” Rosie says, picking up and stirring a bowl. “What’s next for you, Annie?”
“Oh dear,” I say, shifting in place. “I haven’t put much thought into it.”
“Come on. You gotta have passions. Things you like to do.”
“I mean, I like to sew, and I knit,” I say. “I made the sweater I’m wearing myself.”
It’s a light sweater. I heard it got colder in the mountains, so I came prepared.
“That’s gorgeous,” Ruby says. “Looks professional. And you made it by hand?”
I nod. “Took me some time, but I’m proud of it. I make and do alterations on a lot of my own stuff.”
“You got some skill. You could be a professional for sure.”
Turning red, I try to divert attention. “I like to bake too. My mother taught me and I think I’ve improved on what she’s taught me. I make a better pie than even the diner.”
Ruby laughs. “Then why don’t they let you make the pie?”
I shrug. “Paula’s got pride in her pie. Just because mine’s better doesn’t make hers bad, and I’m not about to get into an argument with my boss over pie of all things.”
“Oh I’ve known some people with fragile egos that break over the dumbest things, so I don’t blame you, hun.” Rosie pats me on the shoulder.
“Really I love to cook in general. Anything and everything. I feel like a stereotypical woman, with the sewing and the cooking, but I can’t help it if I’m a bit old-fashioned.”
“Not everyone has to be a career woman, darling. Do what you love, and do things for those you love. There’s always a place for a woman who does that.”
My smile grows. Rosie and Ruby seem sweet, and are definitely the kind of family I’d like to marry into.
‘Marry into’? Why am I even thinking of that already?
My, oh my, this is going way too fast.
5
RED
A wondrous array of hot dogs and hamburgers, salads, and potato chips are spread for us. My mother never hesitates in getting everyone together and making sure that they're well fed. We all gather around the table on our back porch, the one looking over the shining lake below. My niece and nephew are already chomping away at their ketchup and mustard covered hot dogs, incredibly hungry as kids tend to be.
I sit down next to Annie. All of my family are friendly, but she still seems nervous. I guess it’s to be expected. The rest of us are already comfortable with each other, and she’s currently the outsider, no matter how much I wish her not to be.
I also realize how fast things are moving. I’ve long had a crush on Annie Rowdy, yes, but I only made a good and proper move a few days ago. All the TV and movies I’d seen over the years have suggested that this is not second date material, that taking a woman to meet your family is something you do when you’re about to pop the question. Yet it feels right. I do want to pop Annie Rowdy the question. I’ve seen enough over the years to know that she’s beautiful, that she’s kind, that she’s everything I want in a woman. I guess there’s stuff you can’t tell from looking at and talking to her, but what I’ve found out so far has done little to dissuade me in my fascination for her.