Rustic Hearts

Sophie

 

“Get up. It’s time for your driving lesson.”

I wake to the sound of Braxton’s voice at my bedroom door.

We got in late last night. After a fabulous di

Trey and I tried our best to pretend we didn’t notice when Russ and Dallas started making out halfway through the second feature. I was nervous that Trey would expect the same, but he was a gentleman and didn’t attempt so much as a kiss until he brought me back to my door. He walked me up onto the porch. Just as our lips touched, Braxton’s front door flew open, and Hawkeye shot across the yard, heading straight for us. He wedged himself between the two of us and started jumping up for me to pick him up. Braxton rounded the front with the leash in his hand, yelling after him. He apologized. We had pulled up just as he was leashing the puppy, but when Hawkeye heard our car doors shut, he darted right past a sleepy Brax and came looking for me.

The interruption had ruined the moment, so Trey wished me a good night and promised to call me today as Braxton and I wrangled an excited Hawkeye.

A sharp knock comes at the door.

“Go away, Braxton. I need a couple more hours of sleep,” I answer and roll over as I pull the covers over my head.

The door creaks open, and he snatches the comforter from the bottom of the bed, yanking hard.

It slides right off of me, exposing my bare legs. I’m not wearing anything but panties and his John Deere T-shirt.

“Lazy …” he starts. Then, his eyes glide down my body, and whatever he was about to say dies on his lips.

“Hey!” I protest as I sit up and grab the sheet. I pull it up to my chin, a little embarrassed that he caught me still sleeping in his shirt.

“Sorry. Just trying to get you moving. Daylight’s a-wasting.”

I roll my eyes. “We were up late last night. The world won’t end if we spend one morning sleeping past eight a.m.,” I gripe.

He grins and leans in close. “Keep pouting, and I’m going to bite that bottom lip. Now, get up and get dressed. Everyone is waiting for us downstairs.”

I gasp at his threat and suck my bottom lip in between my teeth.

That makes him flat-out smile.

“Who’s everyone?” I ask.

“Payne, Dallas and Beau, Silas and Chloe, Elle, Walker, and Myer. It’s been raining all morning. We’re going mudding down at Henry’s Knob.”

“Mudding? What are we, unruly teenagers?”

“Today we are. Now, get up.”

“Ugh, fine. Go away, and I’ll be down in a minute.”

I throw on jeans and a sweatshirt and run downstairs. The kitchen is filled with everyone chatting loudly as they load plates with bacon and eggs. Aunt Doreen is bent over the oven, pulling out a pan of biscuits, and Aunt Ria is cutting up a bowl of fruit.

I slide into one of the chairs at the table.

“You want coffee or juice, Sophie?” Aunt Ria asks.

“Coffee,” I groan.

“Here, eat this. You’ll need your energy,” Dallas says as she places a plate in front of me.

“How are you so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning? You were out as late as I was last night,” I complain as I take a slice of bacon and pop it in my mouth.

“I’m a momma. We’re used to functioning on little to no sleep.” She shrugs.

“Well, I’m not. I need sleep,” I whine.

“We’re going mud-slinging, Miss Sophie,” Beau’s animated voice calls across the table.

He is sitting in his uncle Payne’s lap, and his mouth and hands are covered in grape jelly.

“I heard,” I say as I grin at him.

“Yaaaaay,” he squeals.

“It is a lot of fun,” Dallas says as she nudges me in the side.

“I’m sure it is,” I grumble.

One hour later, we are in three trucks out in the knob. Payne, Dallas, and Myer have Beau in one truck. Silas, Chloe, Elle and Walker are in another, and Braxton has me in his truck.

“I don’t know if a muddy field in a huge truck is the best place for me to learn how to drive,” I say nervously as I grip the stirring wheel so tightly that my knuckles turn white.

“Relax. It’s the perfect place. There’s no traffic out here. No one but you and me and the field.”

“And everyone else I know in Poplar Falls,” I snap.

“They’re playing in the mud. They aren’t paying us a bit of attention.”

“I don’t know about this, Braxton. I don’t even need to know how to drive.”

“Everyone should know how to drive. I taught Elle how when she was fourteen years old. You can do this.”

I take a deep breath and decide to try. “What do I do first?”

“First, adjust the seat. You want to be able to comfortably reach the pedals without being right up on the steering wheel. Then, adjust your mirrors. The button is in the door above the handle.”

I do as he instructed and nervously wait for what comes next.

“Now, the truck is in neutral, so push the clutch in. It’s on the left. Start the car and put it in first gear.”

He places his hand over mine on the gear shift and helps me move the truck into first.

“Here comes the tricky part. You want to let up off the clutch as you press the gas until you are completely off the clutch and moving forward.”

I do as he said, and the truck starts jumping under us.

“Easy. Try to do it at the same time.”

I try again, and the truck stalls.

I put my head against the steering wheel and groan, “Ugh.”

“It’s all right; no one gets it without stalling out the first time. Try again.”

He spends the next two hours patiently talking me through stall after stall. He never loses his cool. Even as I grind his clutch over and over. Finally, I get a feel for it and am able to take off and switch gears easily. Then, he spends time having me back up and stop and start on a hill.

It is fun once I get the hang of it.

“I did it!” I say excitedly as I put the truck in park. Then, I leap at him in the passenger seat and throw my arms around his neck.

“You did,” he says proudly into my hair.

“Thank you for teaching me how.” I beam at him.

“You’re welcome, Princess.”

He reaches his arms around my waist and pulls me closer to him. My arms are still around his neck, and as my excitement settles, I realize how close we are. I raise my head from his neck, and we are nose-to-nose.

“What’s next?”

“What do you want to be next, Princess?”

I stare into his eyes. Then, I nervously lick my lip. We are so close that my tongue touches his lip, and he groans.

His hand at my back presses me in closer, and my breath catches.

I thread my fingers into his hair and let him have my weight. He shifts slightly, and just as I’m about to climb across the cab of the truck and into his lap, a bang comes at the window beside his head.