Free Wildflower Wedding by Luann McLane

courage.

6
    Long As I Got My Suit and Tie
    â€œM OM, DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO ROLL THE CIGARETTE pack up into my sleeve?” Reese looked down at his mother’s head and sighed. “This is bordering on overkill.”
    â€œJust hold still, I’m almost finished.” She glanced up at him and then went back to her task.
    â€œI don’t want Gabby to think I smoke.”
    â€œThe pack is obviously candy, Reese.” She angled her head over to a white bag perched on a table. “I have a pack of my own over there. Who knew they still made them? I had a field day in that new candy store up on Main Street. I bought Mary Janes and Bit-O-Honey. They even had Neapolitan coconut squares.”
    â€œThose are horrible. So are those wax bottles filled with that nasty syrup.” Reese shuddered. “Why did you buy those?”
    â€œOl’ times’ sake, I guess. You’d better be careful or I won’t share the Bull’s Eyes.”
    Reese chuckled. “Now, those I like. And I want the vanilla French Chew and those ice-cream cones with the marshmallows on top.”
    â€œTony already claimed those. He’s such a big kid. I even have one of those candy necklaces.” She paused and gave Reese a meaningful look that he instantly understood. “I’ll never forget when you spent half of your candy cash buying one of those for Gabby.”
    â€œWhat can I say? I’m a nice guy,” Reese responded lightly, but he remembered too. When his father had still been around working as a mechanic at Fred’s in town, life had been pretty good at least as far as Reese knew it back then. Gabby, on the other hand, rarely went to the candy store and even as a ten-year-old, Reese realized it was because her mom couldn’t afford it. Gabby was so grateful for the small gift that she hugged him. Reese shook his head and smiled. He could still see the happy smile on her sweet face when he handed her the small white bag containing the necklace. . . .
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    â€œFor me?” Gabby asked. When Reese nodded she put down the watering can that looked too heavy for her to manage but she did somehow.
    â€œJust, you know, a little something.” Reese lifted one shoulder and watched her open the bag.
    Her eyes lit up. “Oh, my favorite! Did you know that?”
    â€œNo . . . I just kinda guessed,” he scoffed, but he was so glad that he was right.
    â€œWell, you’re a good guesser! Thank you, thank you! I don’t want to touch the necklace, because my hands are dirty.” She pointed to the tomato plants she’d been watering. “As soon as the tomatoes are ready to pick, I’ll give you some. Shouldn’t be too much longer.”
    Reese smiled even though he wasn’t all that fond of tomatoes. “Thanks. That’s really cool.” He was trying to think of something else to say when his mother called him for dinner. “Well, I’d better get going.”
    Gabby nodded and then stepped forward and gave him a brief hug. “Thank you for the treat. It was supernice of you.”
    â€œAh, it was nothing,” Reese protested, but he really liked seeing her eyes light up. But just so she didn’t think he was wimpy or anything like that when she turned around, he gave her long braid a quick tug before hurrying home for dinner.
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    â€œWhatcha thinkin’?” his mother asked, drawing Reese’s thoughts back to the present.
    â€œJust that it’s pretty great that the old-fashioned candy store reopened after being closed down for so long.” His response wasn’t entirely honest, but Reese wasn’t ready to explore his feelings about Gabby with his mother just yet.
    â€œYeah, it closed when Cricket Creek was struggling. It’s still called the Sweet Spot, but did you know it was little Ronnie Carlton who reopened