As we walked in, Sandy Shaw, the chiropractor’s wife, met us, and I smiled as she covered her heart and told me how lovely I looked.
In fact, after showing us to our seats, she took a minute to tell me again how pretty my hair and dress was. “Okay, I’m done. I just wanted you to know, Mu…”
But before Mutt left her lips, Vaughn corrected, “Hannah.”
She smiled apologetically at him and then knowingly beamed at me. “That’s right. Hannah, please enjoy your night, dear, and the company of your handsome gentleman.”
I felt beautiful.
Normally, I would have thought most of the pomp and circumstance was a little over-the-top for Wynne, but I couldn’t find anything negative about it. Even busybody BethAnne stopped to tell me how happy I looked in the ladies’ room, and for once I didn’t feel like being a bitch to her.
Funny how when you’re content, things like that seem silly and a huge waste of time. I didn’t want to spare a single second I didn’t have to away from him.
The auction began with happy hour, which was a little boring, so we strolled around the deck sipping wine—the same kind we liked to drink on boat nights. I liked the naughty feeling it gave me when he brought me a glass, wondering if he was thinking about our secret spot, too.
I was careful not to spill on my dress and to stay upright in my shoes. I walked slower than usual, but Vaughn didn’t mind and strolled at my pace.
“It’s a good night for this,” he said as we looked out on the golf course, the sun falling over the hills.
“It is. I love it out here.”
“You do?” he asked, taken aback.
I wasn’t a high society type, obviously, but there wasn’t much of a high society in Wynne anyway, so to hell with it.
“I know it’s strange, but I love how pretty the grass is and how it all looks like it’s been perfectly colored neatly in the lines. I think it’s cool.”
“Well, I’ll have to bring you out here more. I didn’t know that.”
He didn’t have to take me anywhere and we both knew it. If I wanted to be out there more, I would be.
“To show me your swing?” I was teasing at first, but then I thought about watching him golf and I was genuinely on board. “I think I’d like that. A lot.”
He shook his head, knowing where my mind went.
“Vaughn, here’s a fun fact. Did you know when the water is up a little, you can take a boat all the way from my cabin to the golf course?”
“Really? To the lake?” He squinted like he was trying to remember the river, trying to navigate how it was true.
“There’s a creek that runs between the two. It’s usually not deep enough, but sometimes in the spring it swells a little and you can make it here just fine. If it rises we’ll do it next spring.”
“All right.”
He looked so peaceful and satisfied. Vaughn wasn’t a man who let life stress him out too much, but in that moment he looked carefree, and I liked knowing some of it had to do with me.
“I like when you make plans in the future with me.”
“What? It’s just a boat ride, man.”
“No, it’s not. It’s a boat ride next spring. Just like yesterday you said something about Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is next year.”
He had me thinking.
I had said that.
I’d decided to get him an open cast reel as a present. He’s really good. Freaky good, to be honest. He had a Midas touch for sure.
But he was right. I had been thinking out a bit farther than I was used to. I’d already bought him some things when I was with Sunny a few weeks back.
Was I getting ahead of myself?
It didn’t feel like it.
He smoothed a thumb over my brow, and I relaxed a little from my thoughts.
“Stop that. I said I like it. I want all of it.”
After the fantastic dinner, I thought about taking her straight home for purely selfish reasons.
Hannah wasn’t like other girls. Getting dressed up wasn’t high on her list of priorities. However, when she did, she was sensational.
She had it all.
I wanted her all to myself and I’d expected she’d want to leave early, but, to my surprise, that wasn’t the case.
Through bidding on a few items and feasting on the meal, never once did that look of confidence leave her face. She mingled and introduced me to people I hadn’t met yet, and each time she thoughtfully referred to me as her boyfriend.
She claimed to love things the way they were. Each and every time I tried to steer the conversation in the direction of the future, she got somewhat anxious.
I was learning her well and I could pick up on her tells.
The wandering eyes when she was looking for a way to change the subject. The way she paced when she was irritated. How she rambled when she was looking for the right thing to say. The hypnotic look in her big, hazel eyes when she wanted me.
I knew them all.