When we got back to the house Joelle ran in showing off her nails to everyone. She loved them. I walked in following the girls and Joe wrapped his arms around me. "Hey beautiful." he said. "It was a nice thing you did paying for Joelle to get her nails done. She's so happy."
"Well, it was fun. I even got mine done." I said.
"That will go great with what I have planned for tonight." he said. "We're going out on a date so be ready by seven and don't worry about how you look. It's nothing formal."
"Okay." I said.
***
JOE'S P.O.V.
Katie walked upstairs to put her stuff away. "JoJo. Come here." I said.
We walked into the kitchen away from everybody for right now. "Yes daddy?"
"I wanna show you something. I'm gonna give Katie a ring tonight on our date."
"Yay!" she yelled.
"Shh. It's a secret. You can keep this secret for me, right baby girl?" I asked.
"Yeah. I promise." she said.
"Now, it's only a promise ring because an engagement ring would be too soon. Do you wanna see it?"
"Duh!"
I laughed and took it out of my pocket and showed her. Her eyes went big and she smiled. When she finally had a good look at it she looked up at me.
"I think she's gonna love it daddy. You did a good job."
"I did, didn't I?" I knew I had, not only, made a good choice in rings but in women too.
***
It was a little bit before Joe and I's date. Vanessa, Summer, Lisa and Joelle were helping me get ready. I had on just dark jeans, a light flowing tank top and my cream colored heels. The girls had straightened my hair and let it just hang. It was really pretty. The girls left the room after it was done.
Seven o'clock came and I walked downstairs. Joe was down there waiting. He was in a black t-shirt, dark jeans and white Vans. He looked at me and his mouth dropped. I couldn't look that good.
"Wow. Did it really take all of the girls to make you look that beautiful?" he asked.
"Hey. Don't be mean." I said.
"I'm kidding. You're always beautiful." he said.
I smiled and blushed.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah." I said.
We walked out of the house and got in the car.
"So where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see. You're gonna love it though, I promise." he said.
I sat back and sang along with the music. The song that was playing was 'Feels So Right by Alabama'. I loved that song. I closed my eyes and Joe ran through my mind. I loved it. I knew from that moment that this was our song.
"What's going on in that pretty mind?" Joe asked.
"This song." I said.
"Yeah. I like this song. It makes me think of you." he said.
I smiled at that comment. "Me too." I said. "You know, my uncle, he used to sing to me all the time. We actually have our own little song. I swear he was a country singer. He was good at it. I remember one time he sang this to me." I started thinking about my uncle and a few tears run down my cheek.
"You okay?" he asked.
I looked at him. "Yeah. Just thinking about him. My uncle. He's my father's brother. I haven't talked to him in a while. I miss him."
"Well, where does he live?" he asked.
"Arkansas." I said.
"Well, let's take a trip there on the way back. We have the rest of this week and next week off. Why don't we cut this trip short and go to Arkansas. You seem to be pretty broken up about missing him so I wanna do this for you." he said.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. You're important to me. I want you to be 100% happy."
"You're the best." I said.
"So are you country or something?"
"Yeah. I grew up around rodeos and horses and stuff. My uncle was big on it. I used to be really close to him."
"Well you'll be close to him again. I promise. I think it's awesome that you're country." he said.
I smiled.
***
Joe and I arrived....at the beach? "Joe, what are we doing at the beach?" I asked.
"You'll see." he said.
We got out of the car and walked down a moonlit path. It was really romantic. I saw a table set up and I was in awe. This was absolutely amazing. We sat down and ate the meal that was prepared for us. It was amazing.
As we were getting done, I was looking out at the shore.
"You seem distracted." Joe said.
I looked at him and smiled. "No. I just love you."
"I love you too." he paused. "Tell me more about your uncle. You started crying in the car when you talked about him. He must be pretty special to you."
"He is. Second to you, he's the most important man in my life. When I was a little girl, he used to come and take me for rides on his horses and he used to let me sleep over all the time. He was like my best friend but my uncle too. After my dad did what he did to me, I stopped talking to him. I know it wasn't his fault and I know he wouldn't ever blame me but it was just hard. I really miss him. I miss all the fun we used to have." I said. I realized that tears were flowing down my face as I was recalling the past.
Joe got up from his chair and came over to me. He wiped the tears away from my eyes and took my hands in his. "Katie, I know that we haven't been together for that long but I can't think of anyone in this world I would rather spend my entire life with." He brought out a little black box and I gasped. "Don't worry. This isn't a proposal. I know it's too soon for that." he opened the box and there was a ring with a bunch of hearts on it. "Katie, I love you and at some point I do want to marry you so please take this promise ring as a symbol that one day you will get a ring from me and a promise that I will always love you and always be with you."
