It Goes On - Book l

Price and Evie

After Soap had given his information to the saleswoman about the ring, he avoided his embarrassment by offering to pay for lunch. Choosing a local cafe, they were seated at a booth next to a window in the corner of the restaurant, Simon keeping Kiera on the inside of the booth so that he could keep an eye on the point of entry just in case he needed to offer protection. "I'll be right back, L.T. I'm going to go find a restroom." 

"Alright." 

"If the waitress comes back and asks for drinks, just get me a water." 

Simon nodded, watching Soap leave before he turned to Kiera, "I'm going to help him out with the ring." 

She grinned, "And to think you've always despised him."

"Some of the shite he does drives me up a wall," He chuckled. "But I want the best for him and Teeter makes him happy. The least I can do is help him out." 

"I think that's a good idea, babe," She encouraged. "He's been talking about proposing for a long time." 

"Trust me, it's been the topic of our conversations for months." He scoffed. 

"Has he told you how he was going to do it?" 

"He said something about taking her on a trail ride to somewhere she said she loved to see. Some overlook. He said he wanted to take all of us on this ride so that we'll all see it and that she wouldn't suspect anything and he wants either me or you to pretend to take their picture, but really be filming the entire time to catch the proposal on video." 

"That's so cute!" 

"He'll probably chicken out," He chuckled. "I thought I was going to when I proposed." 

"You seemed like you had it all under control." She hummed. 

"Trust me, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest."  

"Well, I can say that you definitely pulled it off. It was amazing." 

"That was the goal, love." 

"Hello! My name is Nancy and I'll be your server this afternoon. What can I get you two to drink?" The waitress smiled, blonde hair framing her face as she clutched her notepad. 

"She'll have a Dr. Pepper and I'll have a water," Simon answered. "Oh, I'll need another water, too." 

"Okie dokie. Do you need a few more minutes to look over the menu?" 

"Yes, please." 

"Okay, I'll go get those drinks and be right back with some bread for you. Any lemon for the water?" 

"No thanks." 

She nodded before turning on her heel to retrieve her customer's request, Soap returning before she could return. 

"Thought we lost ya." Simon poked.

"Yeah, I was beginning to think that you fell in." Kiera giggled. 

"Holy hell," Soap chuckled, shaking his head. "Had to drop a bomb if you know what I mean." 

"Fuckin' hell, Soap. We're about to eat." 

"What? It's not like you two have a weak stomach." 

"We might." 

"I doubt that. With all the shite we've seen, hearing about me dropping a deuce should be the least of your worries." 

Kiera felt Simon's leg bouncing up and down impatiently under the table, knowing that he felt empty without the presence of their children to accompany them. He knew that it wasn't such a bad thing to take a brief break from constantly tending to his children knowing that they were in good hands, but in a way, he felt guilty and selfish - he felt like he had pawned them off just so he and Kiera could spend time together. The more he thought about it, the more he worried about their honeymoon, wanting to make it special for Kiera, but knowing he'd be unable to worry about being too far away from their children possibly more than how Kiera would.