Moments that define us

Chapter Three

Emily

There was something to be said about having the perfect outfit, and well I didn't have one. I had shorts, dresses, shirts, leggings all cascaded around my room and not one single thing to wear. I decided it was time to call in reinforcements, so I called my best friend Amy for her help.

"Hey girlie! What are you up to?" She asked.

"I need some help. I have a date tonight, and nothing to wear!" I panicked.

I could hear her smile through the phone "Calm down. Meet me down town, and we will get this settled, oh and you're telling me about this date you have. You haven't dated anyone since Jeremy Caldwell in high school, and that was only a month!"

By the time her banter was done, I was laughing, but then panicked even more when I realized she was right, and I was way out of experience in the dating aspect of life. I groaned and replied "Please just help me."

She laughed at my groaning. "Meet me in 30 minutes. We will get you sorted."

"Thanks Ams." I smiled as I hung up the phone.  Then proceeded to throw on a Wildcats shirt, a pair of shorts, and slipped on my gray converse. I grabbed my keys off the hook by the door and told my parents I would be back soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty minutes later I was parked and walking in my favorite local boutique. Amy walked in with her short black hair swaying, her blue eyes held a smile, and her face was the picture of pure happiness. I missed this girl somethin' fierce when I was away at school. She worked at a local dance studio in the town of Mt. Sterling, and she taught young girls ballet.

She hugged me so tight I could hardly breathe, but it was worth it to be back home with my best friend since elementary school. "I can't believe you are finally home to stay!"

I squeezed her tighter, and told her "Me too! I missed you so much!"

After a minute we pulled away with a few tears in our eyes. She smiled at me and questioned "So where are you headed for your date?"

I hadn't told anyone about my date, besides Amy. The truth was I was a nervous wreck. I really like Jameson, but hadn't ever really dated a whole lot. I wanted to make a good second impression on him. "The drive inn." I gave a small smile. Not sure how she would respond. There wasn't much to do around here on a Saturday night.

"That's a great place for a first date. Does your momma and daddy know yet?"

I huffed a little, because I didn't want to tell them, but I had to because he would be meeting them tonight. "They will find out soon enough, seeing he's picking me up from the house before we go."

She gave me a small smile, and grabbed my hand. "It will be okay Em, you're 22. At some point they will have to be okay with you dating."

We hugged again, and got to shopping on the perfect outfit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later I was back home with three shopping bags. I may have got more outfits than I originally planned, but I was excited.

I walked in the front door, put my keys back on the hook, then heard gospel music spilling in from the kitchen. I set my bags down, then took off to find momma.

My momma was a beautiful woman with dark brown hair that was long and wavy, and green eyes that mirrored my own. Her and daddy met through some friends when they were only 18, and have been together ever since. Daddy says Jesus and dancing is how he kept her all these years. I always loved watching them dance to older country songs around the kitchen.

The smell of peach cobbler overwhelmed my senses when I walked into the kitchen. I smiled as I saw momma getting it out of the oven as I went to sit at the kitchen table. She knew peach cobbler was a weakness of mine.

"Hey momma." I smiled as she set the cobbler on the stove to cool down, then went to the freezer to get out some vanilla ice cream.

She looked over at me and smiled. "Hey darlin' did you just get back?"

I was nervous to tell her about my date. Her and daddy never said I couldn't date when I was in high school, but my dating life was short lived. Plus I didn't know what her and daddy would think of me going out with someone who I really didn't know. Maybe they would get some relief knowing they would be meeting him first.

"Yeah. I got me a few outfits. There was actually something I needed to tell you about." There it was. I felt panicky, my palms were sweating. I was praying I looked cool as a cucumber.

She looked at me for a minute, as if I was under a microscope. My neck of my shirt was feeling awful tight. Is the air conditioning on, I wondered. She put a dish towel down after she folded it, then looked back at me again. "What is it honey?"

"Well I have a date tonight." My smile felt too big, too fake. If she noticed, she didn't say not one word.

"Well I knew it would be here one day. Was starting to doubt it though. You dated that nice boy in school, but never heard a thing again."

"Yeah. I was too busy in college, but I met this guy the other day."

She didn't let me finish before she cut me off. "You just met him?" Then she pinned me with 'the look', you know the one that said she could see all your secrets by looking at ya. Then it started. "What is his name, how old is he, where is he from, what are his intentions since he just met you?"

This is another reason I didn't date. You see they had this idea of who they wanted me to be, and who they wanted me to marry. Nothin' wrong with what they had in mind, but I wanted to find him without their coercing. Point being, Jeremy from high school went to the same church. He was a nice guy. Just not the one for me.

With a deep breath I answered her questions. "His name is Jameson. I'm not sure his age, or where he is from, but I will be sure to find those things out tonight on our date. As far as his intentions. It is just one date momma." I gave her a small smile hoping it relayed her the message that I loved her, but would be going regardless.

She shook her head at me, but I still saw the smile on her face. "Your daddy ain't gonna like this." She told me. Then she came over and cupped my face. "I hope you are at least letting us meet him. I just want your happiness Emmalynn."

I gave her a big hug and told her they would be meeting him. Then we sat and ate some peach cobbler with ice cream. When we were finished I grabbed my bags, and went to get ready for my date.