to throw some things in an innocent way. “And yet, they managed to date, propose, and get married.”
She tossed him a dirty look and went back to the container of watermelon wedges, snapping the lid on with far too much vigor. “It’s something else. I can feel it seething between us. If you don’t want to say, that’s fine. But I don’t want to keep doing this.” She gestured between the two of them, abandoned the quest to clean up, and stood.
“Wait,” he said. “Are you leaving?”
“I’m quite certain I can get back to the homestead on my own,” she said, lifting her chin.
“What don’t you want to keep doing?”
“This dance,” she said with a sigh. “You light up when you see me, and then you pull back. As long as we’re not talking about anything too serious, everything is great. But August, I’m not…I’m serious about you.” She swallowed, her next thought stabbing through her brain. “I thought you were serious about me.”
“Etta.” He ran his hands up her arms, but she didn’t shiver this time from his touch. “I am.”
She simply looked at him, silently begging him and the Lord to talk to her.
“Is it a proposal or nothing?” he asked.
“No,” Etta said. “Of course not.” He knew what she wanted. He knew. “Can you—could you at least let me know where your head is? We’ve been seeing each other for almost nine months. Even Preacher knew by nine months that he was in love with Charlie and wanted to spend his life with her.”
Something marched across August’s face, but Etta couldn’t identify all of the soldiers. “My parents want to meet you.”
Etta threw up a wall to that, but she held her tongue while she thought about what to say. Sarcasm wasn’t welcome in this conversation, though she did want to hurl something at him that would get him to see how completely ironic that statement was.
“Well, August,” she said slowly. “I think driving several hours to meet someone’s parents should happen only if they’re going to be my future in-laws.”
“People meet each other’s parents before an engagement all the time.”
“If they live nearby,” she said. “You’re talking several days off, a massive road trip, and tons of introductions.”
Displeasure entered his expression, and she’d definitely seen that before. “I’ve met your whole family. More than your family.”
“They live right on top of me,” she said. “There’s no room to breathe here.” She moved away from his touch, and his arms fell back to his sides. “You want to go see your parents? Fine, I’ll go. Figure it out with Preacher, and I’ll figure it out with Aurora, and we’ll go.”
She met his eyes again, and his eyes dropped to the ground. He wasn’t going to figure anything out with Preacher.
“Okay,” he said anyway, and Etta thought she might be surprised. August had certainly shown her how he felt about her. She could feel his desire, passion, and love in his touch, his kiss.
There was still something not quite right between them, and it flowed from him.
“I don’t want to be pushy,” she said, bending to pick up the blanket they’d been sitting on. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready.” All she could do at this point was hope she wasn’t old and gray when August decided he could marry her.
Help me to be patient, she prayed. Or clear my mind and give me courage if he’s not the one for me.
Etta had felt very strongly that August Winters was absolutely the man for her. She loved him, and while she hadn’t told him that in those exact words, they’d talked about children, where they’d live, if they could get married—all of the things that Etta thought testified of how she felt about him.
Something nagged at her, and she folded the blanket with a trumpeting heartbeat. She sniffled and placed it on top of the basket before linking her arm through the handle. She’d only told one other man—exactly one other man—that she loved him. It had been a wonderful, glorious moment between her and Noah, and standing in this beautiful meadow with August felt like the opposite of that.
If she told him now, what did she hope to accomplish? Would it be pushy? Bullying him to say it back to her? A desperate move by a desperate woman?
She wanted to tell him, but now didn’t feel like the right moment. She stepped over to him and cradled his face in her free hand. “Okay? You’ll tell me