by Howe, Violet
He pressed his forehead against mine and spanned his hands across my lower back. “I can’t wait to meet your family and tell everyone you’re gonna be Mrs. Cable Shaw.”
I smiled at the sound of it rolling off his tongue. I’d never thought of myself that way. I’d said Tyler Shaw a few times. To him. To Melanie. I’d even written it on scrap paper at the office. Practicing the S. Figuring out the curl of the W at the end of the name rather than at the beginning like I’d always had with Warren.
But I’d never considered Mrs. Cable Shaw. It tickled me inside. It was old-fashioned, to be sure, and not something I’d probably ever use or have printed anywhere. But I liked it. It sounded like I belonged to him somehow. Like I was his. In that moment, I realized how much I truly wanted to be his. To go home on his arm and begin the next chapter of our lives together. As an engaged couple. Soon to be married couple. Soon to be Mrs. Cable Shaw.
Friday, July 11th
Worlds colliding, indeed.
I suppose the first night went really well, all things considered.
We pulled into Mama’s driveway a little before eight, so it was still light out. I looked at the old house through different eyes knowing Cabe would be seeing it the first time.
The house had belonged to my grandparents, built in the thirties and added onto throughout the years. The front porch slanted to the right a little where a dog had dug a huge crater too close to the corner support. It was a year or two after Daddy died, and Mama never had gotten somebody to come out and fill the hole and shore up the porch.
I don’t think the place had been painted since before Daddy passed, and the yellow, which had once been so bright it almost seemed to glow in the sunshine, had since faded to look more cream in the waning light of day.
The huge oak tree on the front left corner still stood tall and proud like a sentry guarding the house, but I noticed its heavy limbs stretched precariously close to the porch roof and needed to be trimmed. A couple of shingles were hanging loose on the roof, and there was still duct tape on the dining room window from where Brad had sent a Frisbee crashing into the house years ago. I made a mental note to give my brother grief about not taking better care of the house for Mama. I wondered if he even noticed all the imperfections and disarray when he drove up every day.
Probably not. I never had before I brought someone home I wanted to impress.
“Wow. It’s a lot more property than I pictured in my head. How many acres do you have here?” Cabe asked as we were unloading the car.
“A little over fifty, but most of it is wooded back that way behind the pond.” I scanned the surrounding landscape with my new Cabe-eyes. It truly was a picturesque piece of property, dotted with oaks and pines throughout the expansive front yard to the road, and then a solid wall of woods behind the house. The long, winding driveway curved around the large pond my grandfather had dug when they first built the house and then came to a stop in the parking area to the right. A smaller drive shot off the parking area to lead out to Daddy’s shop, a large metal shed that almost dwarfed the house. He’d run his mechanic business on the side out of that shop, and I’d spent many an hour sitting cross-legged on the dirty cement floor, watching him work and handing him tools as he taught me the purpose for each one.
The shop sat abandoned now. Brad kept a hot rod in there and tinkered on it from time to time, but my uncles had all ransacked Daddy’s tools and machinery after he died, and the ghostly building looked lonely in the twilight.
“There she is! Y’all made it!”
The screen door flew open, and Mama ran out on the porch, followed by her cocker spaniel, Boo. “I still got supper on the stove in case y’all didn’t eat. Did ya eat?”
My sister Carrie came out behind Mama, and I ran up the steps to hug them both.
“Carrie! You’re not working?” I had thought we might not see Carrie at all since her job as a server required her undivided attention on weekends.
“I got someone to cover for me tonight. Mama said you were bringing someone home. I wanted to see if he passed muster.”
I had left poor Cabe at the car in my excitement, and I turned to find him standing right behind me with our suitcases and a tentative smile.
“Hello,” he said, looking more shy and uncertain than I’d ever seen him. I guess in my own mental turmoil about the weekend I’d never considered how nerve-wracking this might be for him. Coming to meet my entire family all at once, not knowing a soul or what to expect, and asking for my hand in marriage to boot.
“Mama, Carrie, this is Cabe.”
Cabe put the suitcases down and extended his hand to shake, but Mama armed him up in a huge hug instead.
“We do hugs here,” she said. “Handshaking is for strangers and folks we don’t take a liking to. You’re family.” She pulled back and looked him up and down while holding onto his arms.
He’d worn his new boots and a pair of jeans with a pale blue button-down shirt. Even in the dim light, the blue of the shirt made his eyes pop, and the smile he flashed her could have melted a heart of stone. His long hair was combed back behind his ears and my chest puffed up with pride at how handsome he was.
“We been hearing about you for so long and just dyin’ to meet ya,” Mama said as she released him. “Come on in the house and getcha something to eat.” She looped her arm through Cabe’s and swept him across the porch and into the house, leaving Carrie and me to bring in the bags.
“Damn, girl. He’s a hottie,” Carrie whispered as they left. “Good catch!” She high-fived me and grabbed my suitcase. “Mama’s been about to have a heart attack waiting for y’all to get here. I think she’s called everyone in the county to tell them you were coming home and bringing a boy. A man, I guess I should say. And what a man he is! Way to go, baby sister.”
We laughed as we climbed the steps and entered the house. Carrie leaned in close and whispered again once we were inside. “Just so you know, she’s been telling everyone she thinks you’re getting engaged. The expectation has been set, so if someone asks you about it while you’re here, thank Mama.”
I rolled my eyes and thanked Carrie for the warning. Everyone would know soon enough.
“Where’s Brad?” I asked when I noticed my brother was nowhere in sight.
“At Kelly’s,” Mama spat out. “If he ain’t sleeping or eating me out of house and home, he’s at Kelly’s. Can’t get him to lift a finger to do a thing here, but he can’t do enough over at her mama and daddy’s. And me here as a single woman, his own mama, and them both over there working and healthy and her with a brother to help. Beats all I ever seen.”
She handed Cabe a plate full of food and a glass of tea.
“Mama, we ate on the road. He may not be hungry.” Cabe caught my eye and shook his head, telling me not to bother.
“That’s fine. I just gave him a little bit of what we had and if he don’t want it, he ain’t gotta eat it.”
He dug in with gusto, doing his duty to be a polite guest. Luckily, Mama’s a good cook, so he didn’t have any trouble cleaning off the plate. Racking up the brownie points already.
“Tanya and the kids will be here tomorrow,” Mama said as she cleared Cabe’s plate and poured him more tea. “They had something going on with Tom’s folks that evidently couldn’t be missed. Ain’t like they don’t see them all the time. I mean, you’re here for the first time in six months and you’d think she could have told them she had to be here, but who am I to judge what somebody does?”
I tried to keep my hand out of sight as much as possible because Cabe had told me he’d like to ask Mama for my hand in marriage before we showed her the ring. By the time he finished eating and we all moved to the living room to sit down, I was about to explode and blurt out the news. I literally had to sit on my hands to keep from flashing the ring.
All this time, I had dreaded telling Mama but now that I was here and the moment was upon us, I couldn’t wait to share our news. I slapped against Cabe’s
leg and nodded, sure that if he didn’t speak up I was going to spill the beans.
He cleared his throat and reached to take my hand in his. “Um, Mrs. Warren, I thank you for welcoming me into your home, and I’m real happy to meet you and Carrie. I look forward to meeting the rest of the family.” He looked to me and smiled before swallowing hard and looking back to Mama. “Tyler has told me so much about all of you that I feel like I know you already.”
Mama laughed and clapped her hand against her chest. “Shoot, there’s no telling what she told you, so promise me you won’t hold any of it against us ‘til you get to know us, okay?”
I nudged his leg to make him get on with it. He squeezed my hand in response and cleared his throat yet again.
“Cabe, do you need more tea?” Carrie looked at me and winked as she said it, obviously aware of his discomfort and perhaps guessing the reason for it.
“No, thank you, I’ve got some here.” He smiled at Carrie and scooted forward on the couch, pulling me with him. “Mrs. Warren, I know this may seem sudden with us just meeting tonight, but I’ve known your daughter for quite some time. I can’t imagine my life without Tyler, and though you don’t know me yet, I can assure you I’m fully committed to her and would give my life for her. With your permission, ma’am, I’d like to make her my wife.” He exhaled when he was done, as though he’d been holding his breath as he talked.
My heart raced to hear his words and to know that this was real. This was happening. I’d already said yes. I’d been wearing the ring for weeks. But this made it all seem more valid somehow.
Cabe and I were getting married!
I bounced off the couch and flung my hand in Mama’s face, flashing my ring finger and squealing like a little kid who’s just gotten the thing she’s most wanted on Christmas morning.
Mama immediately burst into tears and clapped her hands together. She grabbed my hand and whooped and hollered, hugging me tight to her before shoving me aside to arm up Cabe.
Carrie took my hand and inspected the ring, nodding in approval as she hugged me. “Congrats, little sister. That’s awesome.”
I wiped tears of joy from my eyes as Mama let go of Cabe and hugged me again.
“Welcome to the family,” Carrie said as she hugged Cabe. “Wait! Mama! You didn’t give the boy an answer. Are you gonna let him marry her?”
“Oh Lord, yes! Yes! I thought I said it already. Yes, sir. You can have her! Take her!” Mama hugged me again, laughing and crying simultaneously. “Oh my goodness. I gotta call Marjorie. She’s just not going to believe this. You and Marlena engaged at the same time. Your Aunt Clementine is gonna faint and fall out in the floor. Where’s my phone, Carrie Ann?”
Anxiety crept in at the mention of Marlena’s wedding, but then I saw Cabe’s face, and my heart melted. His grin spread from ear to ear, and his eyes danced with excitement. He closed his arms around me and lifted me in a hug, whispering against my ear. “I love you, baby.”
Our lips met as I echoed his statement, but only briefly since Brad came through the front door at that moment. I released Cabe and ran to hug my baby brother, thrilled to have someone else to share my news with.
Carrie had long since gone home to her husband by the time Mama made all her phone calls, pulling me onto the phone to talk to each person and accept congratulations. It was almost midnight by the time we headed upstairs for bed.
“Now, Cabe, you’ll be in Carrie’s old room. We ain’t got central air upstairs, so I’ll show you how to work the window unit if you get hot. I had it on earlier this evening to cool the room off a bit, so you may not need it.” She showed Cabe into my sister’s room and turned the covers back on the bed. “Down the hall here is the bathroom, and there’s towels and washcloths under the sink.”
A large creaking groan bellowed out from the floorboards as Mama walked across the hall to the bathroom. “You hear that?” She grinned. “That’s my alarm system. These boards are older than me and you put together, and they creak if you put the least bit of weight on ‘em. So don’t be getting any ideas about sneaking into each other’s rooms.” She wagged her finger at us, but her eyes and mouth were smiling.
“No, ma’am. I wouldn’t dare,” Cabe said.
“My sister Tanya tried for years to figure out a way to grease those boards,” I said as Mama rolled her eyes and grinned. “That’s her room on the end, across from Carrie’s. She’d try to sneak out at night and she couldn’t get past Mama’s room without the creaking waking Mama up.” I laughed at the memory while Mama shook her head.
“She made it past me a few times. A few too many. I still say she must have been tiptoeing on the baseboards.”
“And then Carrie would climb out the window onto the porch roof and shimmy down the old oak, right Mama?”
“Yes, Lord. These girls were nearly the death of me, Cabe. That’s why I’m gray. I wouldn’t look nearly this old if they had just behaved.” She swatted me playfully on the bottom.
“What about this one here?” Cabe asked, nodding toward me. “Was she a rascal, too?” He winked at me and grinned.
“No,” I said. “By the time I came along Mama already knew all the tricks and schemes. I couldn’t get away with nothing!”
“Oh, she got away with plenty. Don’t let her tell you that, Cabe. She’s a good ‘un, though. You got you a good ‘un.” Mama hugged me and turned to go to her room with a wave of her hand. “Y’all say your goodbyes and get on to bed.” She turned back and hugged me again, planting a kiss on my cheek. “I’m so happy for ya, honey. Mama loves you.”
“Love you too, Mama.”
We watched her until her door closed and then Cabe pulled me in close and covered my mouth with his. All the emotion and happiness of the evening coursed through us, and my body was suddenly burning all over, begging to be touched. I pressed him back against the wall, ignoring the protests of the boards beneath our feet. He slid his hands beneath the hem of my shirt and teased his thumbs across my bare skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps everywhere he touched.
“How do you think it went?” he whispered, his eyes curious with anticipation for my answer.
“Good. Very good. She must really like you if she’s gonna let you run the air conditioner at night. She never does that.”
I heard Mama’s feet cross her bedroom floor, my ears trained for years to hone in on that very sound. I sprang apart from Cabe and wiped at my mouth, pulling my shirt down as I skipped a couple of steps from him just as she opened her door.
“Hey, I forgot to tell y’all that the Lions Club is having a pancake breakfast in the morning. I thought we might head over there and show off your ring. Night-night.” She closed the door again, and I looked back at Cabe, my body longing to connect with his.
“So is there any way around this floor alarm?” He grinned and flashed his eyes, cracking me up with the mischievous expression he wore.
“None that I ever mastered. Only Tanya could get past it, and that was many years ago.” I tiptoed across the space between us, pausing as a particularly noisy board cried out. I covered my hand to stifle a laugh just as Mama’s voice rang out from behind her closed door.
“Go to bed you two. In your own rooms.”
“Yes, ma’am!” I called out and then turned back to Cabe. “Good night, Cable. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
He kissed his fingers and extended them to brush against my lips, setting my skin aflame again. Somehow knowing I couldn’t have him made me want him even more.
Now I’ve been lying here for nearly an hour, acutely aware that the man who drives me wild and takes my body to the grandest heights of ecstasy is in the room next door but might as well be a hundred miles away.
I’ve spent the time getting reacquainted with my bedroom, which still looks exactly the same as when I left it years ago. It’s funny that the room never changes, but each time I return, I’ve become someone else. Last Christmas when I came home, I was coming to terms with my pa
st and letting go of a relationship that had held me captive far too long.
Now I’m here on the cusp of a huge life decision, blending my past and future as I introduce my soon-to-be husband to the people who shaped me into the woman he loves.
Someday soon, I’ll return to this room as someone’s wife. Of course, then he’ll be lying beside me, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be too busy for all this introspection.
Saturday, July 12th
“Up and at ‘em! Get up, get up. You’ve got hundreds of years to sleep in a coffin, but here you are laid up in the bed.”
Mama’s voice invaded my dreams with a rude awakening. I plunged deeper under the quilt and pulled the pillow over my head.
She turned off the window air conditioner blasting cold in my room, and without that white noise humming, her voice was even louder. She popped my bottom through the covers and then whipped the quilt off me.
“You’re lucky you didn’t freeze to death with that thing cranked down so low,” Mama said as I clutched the end of the quilt and pulled it back over my goose-fleshed skin. “I’m willing to bet you don’t keep it that cold at your house where you pay the power bill.”
“Good morning, Mama,” I moaned as she pulled the cover from me again.
“You should get up and go take a shower in my bathroom so Gabe can use the hall bathroom. We don’t want to be late for the pancake breakfast or we won’t get seats together.”
I sat straight up in bed and glared at her. “You called him by the correct name all night last night. You never once messed up, and now you’re saying Gabe again. Do you do this just to irritate me?”
“Cabe, Gabe, I don’t know what I’m saying. Get your rump outta bed and in the shower. You gonna wake him up or you want me to?”
“I’ll wake him up,” I said as I rolled to the side of the bed and tried to wake myself up. It was freezing in the room, but I refused to shiver and give her the satisfaction of telling me not to run the air conditioner tonight.
