Page 9

Chapter Nine

S lice led Faith onto the dance floor at Nelson’s Honkytonk Saloon & Bar. Two couples were already dancing to the jukebox, and he and Faith had just placed their dinner and drink order.

Faith had been nervous about dancing, so he was going to get it out of the way, and then they could enjoy their evening. With darts, pool, or just hanging out, he wanted to make this date special for Faith.

He pulled Faith close to him, one hand holding her and the other around her back. He started with them just swaying to the music. And he might have slipped some money and a note to Ryanne, one of the bartenders, with a song to have the jukebox play. He’d heard it on the radio the other day, and he’d loved it.

As the strains of Cooper Alan’s I Gotcha played, Slice wished he had a good singing voice because he’d love to sing this to Faith. Once Faith’s frame wasn’t stiff, he started leading her through a two-step around the floor. Faith might have been apprehensive, but she was graceful as they danced around the floor.

When Ed Sheeran’s Perfect came after, he glanced toward the bar. Ryanne had a huge smile on her face and was giving him a thumbs-up. He danced with Faith and turned so she could see Ryanne.

“It looks like Ryanne can see how special you are to me because she picked this song for us to dance to,” Slice said.

“Oh, that’s so sweet. I love dancing with you. You make it a dream.”

Slice pulled back a little and led Faith through a twirl, then brought her back to him. The grin on her face had an answering one on his. He could feel all sad that he’d missed out on knowing Faith earlier when he delivered her car, but he was choosing to believe they’d found each other exactly when they were supposed to.

Just like the song said, he didn’t deserve her, but he was going to spend the rest of his life trying to prove to her how much she meant to him. He tugged her closer until he could feel her tummy and breasts against him. He tilted her head up and placed a kiss on her lips as they danced to the end of the song. He led Faith back to their table because he’d seen Crewe bringing their dinner out. It must be because he was curious. Crewe was the chef and one of the cousins who owned the bar, but he didn’t usually deliver the food.

Slice pulled out Faith’s chair and then helped her scoot in before turning to Crewe.

“Crewe, have you met my woman, Faith?” Slice decided he could have asked Faith if she knew Crewe, but he wanted to stake his claim just in case Crewe was getting any ideas about the luscious woman who Slice couldn’t imagine life without.

“I haven’t. Crewe Nelson. It’s nice to meet you. I manage the kitchen. Is this y’all’s first date?” Crewe asked.

Slice hid a smile because the Nelson cousins were some of the biggest gossips, and Slice was positive Crewe wanted all the details so he could share.

“It is. It’s my first time here, too,” Faith said.

“Well, glad to have you both, and enjoy your food. It was nice to meet you,” Crewe said, then walked back toward the kitchen, stopping by Ryanne to chat.

“Oh, this looks good,” Faith said, motioning toward her plate of the medium KC strip steak, baked potato, green beans, and rolls. Slice had ordered the same thing.

Nelson’s had added some theme food nights, and he’d chosen Saturday because it was their steak night. Slice could grill a good steak, but he hadn’t grown up in a state with such a cold winter as Kansas, and he didn’t want to freeze while he tried to grill. In January, he’d let Nelson’s grill his steak for him.

He and Faith enjoyed their steaks and the sides. He had two rolls to Faith’s one, and when the waitress came by, Faith asked if they could have some more for him. When the waitress brought the basket filled with a dozen rolls, he immediately told her he didn’t need that many. She told him Crewe had sent plenty so he could take some home.

“I have a question about the sheet of questions,” Faith said.

“Okay.”

“Are they going to follow up with you about them?” she asked.

“I don’t plan on telling them anything about our answers, but I’m sure they will grill me and make sure I gave you the option to use them. Did you like them? I grabbed them before we walked in,” Slice said.

“There were a couple I was interested in,” Faith replied.

Slice reached into his pocket and pulled out the list, handing it to Faith. She opened it up and smoothed it flat out on the table. Now he was getting a little worried about the questions. He hadn’t read them before he brought them to Faith beyond glancing at them because he didn’t think it was fair for him to have time to think of answers when she didn’t.

“Where do you see yourself in three years?” she asked softly.

He reached his hand across and took hers when she started tapping her fingers on the table.

“If you would have asked me that in November, I would have told you I don’t know. I was content at Bluff Creek but missing something. Now, in three years, I see myself with you, wherever and however you want me. Besides falling head over heels for you, those boys have carved a place in my heart too. So ideally, with all five of us for sure,” Slice said, pausing and wondering how he was going to bring up kids and his inability to have them.

“Do you want more children?” she asked.

Faith had a strange look in her eyes that he couldn’t decipher. He’d hoped to get to know her better before having to bare his inadequacies, but he wasn’t going to lie.

“If more children came our way, I would cherish them, but I have to tell you that I can’t father children, Faith. You’re such an amazing mother that I would love to give you that dream, but I was sick as a kid and am sterile.”

He waited to see what she said because he’d heard stories of things like this breaking couples apart. He wasn’t sure how he’d survive if she booted him, but if he survived being thrown away, he’d survive this. But Faith was smiling at him with tears in her eyes.

She grasped his hand tighter. “I was so scared to bring kids up because I didn’t want to be disappointed if you wanted your own. Slice, I was in an accident when I was younger. It’s why I became a foster parent, because I can’t bear children.”

Slice could almost feel the weight sliding off him that he’d been carrying, worried about how Faith would react. It was almost as if they were meant to find each other. Each with their own inability to have children naturally.

“Faith, maybe our road to a family is providing a place for children who need it. I know it’s a heavy topic for a first date, but let’s face it, we’re not in our twenties, and our future life deserves some time discussing our hopes and dreams. If you want to continue fostering, I’ll get approved, and we can have as many kids as you want,” Slice said.

“I think Micah and Isaiah’s mom is going to end up surrendering custody, and they were taken away from their grandmother. LB, who I would love to get to call him a real name, has taken a place in my heart. I’d love to adopt them all, but there is such a need, especially for emergency foster care. I think we need to spend some time talking about exactly what we want, but is it crazy we’re talking about kids this early?” she asked.

Slice brought Faith’s hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “I think nothing is crazy when I’m with the woman I can’t imagine life without.”

“Slice, I heard you were here on a date. Are you going to introduce me?”

Slice smiled. “Faith, this lovely lady is Vivi, the saint who married Whiskey, the oldest cousin in the Nelson family of nine male cousins. How she puts up with all of them is amazing.”

His words had Faith smiling and shaking Vivi’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Faith.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. Bluff Creek helped me when I first met my husband,” Vivi said.

“Oh, they helped me too. They delivered presents Christmas Eve for my foster boys,” Faith replied.

“How wonderful. Well, I just wanted to say hi. I don’t want to horn in on your date, and my littlest one is going to need to eat soon, and her daddy doesn’t have the right equipment to feed her.”

“It was nice to meet you,” Faith said.

Slice waited until Vivi walked off and then ate the last bite of his baked potato. He was pleasantly full, and if he ate any more of the rolls that were in the basket, he might need to unbutton his jeans on the way home, and he didn’t want that.

“Any more questions?” he asked after Faith finished her steak and took a drink.

She looked down at the paper. “What’s one thing on your bucket list?”

“I’ve always wanted to visit the Eastern coast and eat fresh seafood that was caught that day. What about you?”

“I love romance books, and I’d like to meet some of the authors I read sometime.”

Slice grinned because he’d heard enough from the women at Bluff Creek about Sarah and Scoop’s trip when they got together that he was sure Sarah could help him mark that item off Faith’s bucket list this year or next. Slice glanced at his watch.

“Shall we get one more dance in before heading back? You mentioned you wanted to be home to kiss the boys goodnight. Are they staying up later?” Slice asked.

“I’d love one more dance, and they are staying up a little later. If we leave before eight-thirty, we should be good. I know they probably don’t need me there, but this is the first time anyone has kept them besides Hope,” Faith said, placing her hand in his as he held his out to lead her to the dance floor.

He tugged Faith close as another slow song started. He’d noticed Ryanne putting more money in the jukebox and selecting songs. He listened to one of Luke Combs’ songs. He hadn’t been into country music at all until he’d listened to Speedy playing it when Slice had helped in the garage. He’d added a lot of the songs to his music he listened to when he ran or worked out. Faith was tall but just enough shorter than him that her hair was even with his nose. The faint smell of berries drifted to his nose. He was guessing it was her shampoo, but he’d come to associate the smell with her, and anytime he smelled berries, he thought of Faith.

Dancing around the floor with her, he couldn’t imagine any better first date. He was thrilled to think this was only the beginning.