Page 89 of Taming I Do
“That’s right. You don’t have anything on the schedule tomorrow. I figured we could stay up all night and watch the sunrise together.”
“And what’s your family going to think?”
“What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
Jasper
I didn’t leaveDelilah’s trailer until the first streaks of pink bled across the sky. I wanted to wake up with her in my arms, to be the first thing she saw when she opened up her beautiful green eyes. But I also wasn’t ready to take our connection public. If folks found out we were getting together, the contest committee might pull her from the judging. She couldn’t afford any negative publicity, and Lacey would strangle me if I threatened Ido’s chance at a win.
So, I gathered my things, pulled my sweats up over my hips, and shoved my feet into my sneakers. Delilah hadn’t moved. Her cheek rested on the pillow we’d shared. Her hair fell over her face, almost covering her eyes. I wanted to reach over and brush it back but didn’t dare risk waking her. With a final kiss to her cheek, I cracked open the door of the camper and tried to quietly make my way down the steps.
Today I needed to put the final details in motion for the Fall Festival. I’d asked my brothers to block out their calendars and was pleasantly surprised when I showed up at the big house and everyone was ready to go. My mom wouldn’t let them head out on empty stomachs so as they filled their bellies with scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, and homemade sausage links, I divvied up tasks.
“Trent and Mitchell, you work on the site down by the kissing cove. Lucas and Davis, I want the two of you to take on the tunnel of lights.” I checked items on the list I’d made up, making sure I didn’t miss anything.
“What do I get to do?” Abby grabbed the last sausage link before Trent could snag it. She was getting to be pretty fast thanks to battling her brothers.
“You can come with me, Little Bug. We’re going to set up an arbor.” I skimmed my own chicken scratch. “Once we all finish the station we’re at, we’ll meet up and finish the other two. Got it?”
“You really think this is going to work?” My mother returned to the table with a pot of coffee.
“We won’t know unless we try, isn’t that right?” I slipped the last bite of my breakfast into my mouth, then cleared my place from the table. “We’re leaving in five.”
I loaded the dishes in the sink into the dishwasher while I waited for my brothers and Abby to gather their things. As I scraped plates into the trash can, I wondered if Delilah had woken up yet. She’d told me her mother would be heading back to Dallas the next day, so she wanted to spend some time with her before she left. Which was perfect since I didn’t want her to find out about the surprise I’d been planning.
And she’d promised not to leave the town limits so I wouldn’t get into any more hot water with Lacey. We’d made it this far. If I could hang on for another week without any major crises, Ido might have a decent shot at coming in first.
“I’m ready to go.” Abby came into the kitchen, her excitement at being included in the plans obvious by the wide grin on her face.
“Let’s hit it then.” I grabbed my keys and the plans I’d drawn out. I’d spent a few hours over the past week in my dad’s workshop. All I needed to do was put the arbor together and then train those climbing vines I’d picked up from Milkweed Gardens.
It took me a little longer than I’d anticipated to piece together the arbor. Abby was an eager helper but lacked the upper-bodystrength to carry any of the larger pieces by herself, so I spent just as much time carting the wood over to the site as I did actually putting anything together.
When we’d finished, we both stood back and gazed upon our accomplishment.
“It’s really pretty, Jasper.” Abby walked underneath. “You know what would make this a million times better though?”
My heart dropped into my stomach. “What?”
“A swing.” She ran her hand over the latticed side. “You could hang one right from the middle. Just think how romantic it would be if you kissed Delilah here while you’re sitting next to her on a swing built for two.”
“What are you talking about?” I might have had a little trouble keeping my attraction for Delilah under wraps, but I hadn’t been so careless that I expected my twelve-year-old sister to figure it out.
“I know you like her.” Her smile was more of a smirk.
“And just how do you know that?” I narrowed my eyes.
She giggled. “Because you look at her like you want to kiss her.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Kind of like this.” She smooshed her lips up and made kissy noises.
I laughed as I grabbed her around the waist, swinging her around until the kissy noises turned to shrieks of laughter.
“Put me down.”
I stopped spinning and we both stumbled, dizzy from the game we’d played when she was younger and used to beg me to spin her for what seemed like hours at a time.
