Swanson Farms

Chapter 20

That night Seth and I got dressed in nicer clothes to get ready for the tailgate tonight at Jackie and Zach's new place. I assumed it would be some of Jackie's old high school friends and some of Zach's old high school friends, probably his brother Nick too. We drove down the gravel path to Mom and Dad's place, we had Bailey in her car seat, she loved to nap in it.

"Hi sweetheart!" Mom said, coming down from the porch to take Bailey from me, "I packed everything she likes in the diaper bag, Seth and I were thinking to be back to pick her up around eleven?" My mom nodded,

"Sounds great honey. I hope you have a good time!" She said, kissing my cheek. I nodded and got back into my truck, and drove down the road to Jackie's place. Since it was already dark out at seven I could see the fire and numerous trucks parked around it. I backed in so we could have the tailgate close to the fire and we got out, getting out the blanket and food that we had packed.

"So what do we do here?" Seth asked, raising his eyebrow,

"Basically it's a cook out, so you'll eat, depending on who's here they might sing, most of the time everyone kind of snuggles up and chats. If there's been enough alcohol consumption some people might start dancing but I highly doubt that'll happen." He chuckled and brought the food over to the picnic table and Jackie came over and hugged me,

"Hey! I'm glad you could come!" I opened the door and handed her a small container of donuts and brownies, and she grinned,

"All for me?" I nodded grinning,

"All for you, so I suggest hiding them." She nodded grinning and took the lid off, eating one of the brownies grinning,

"This is great. Thanks Charlie."

I laughed and went over to Seth, who was talking to Zach, they both had a plate full of food in their hands.

I took a big piece of Seth's lasagne, and a little bit of every one else's food, and I grinned when I saw Nick and Mariah walk over hand in hand, still so in love like the day they got married.

"Hey!" I said, hugging Mariah and Nick, standing back and taking Seth's hand,

"Seth this is Zach's brother Nick and his wife Mariah, guys this is my boyfriend Seth." Nick shook Seth's hand,

"It's nice to officially meet you, Seth." Mariah smiled and gave Seth a hug.

"It's great to meet you both, I've heard good things about both of you."

Nick joined in on what Seth and Zach were talking about earlier and Mariah and I started chatting about the bakery,

"Nick got offered a position as Sheriff in Sprucebridge... And he's thinking of taking it."

Sprucebridge was just over a half hour North, it was about twice the size of Willowhurst.

"That's amazing Mariah!" I said grinning and she sighed,

"Yeah but we'll have to move the kids... If we decide to move. He can't decide if he wants to commute or move."

"Well... I haven't told anyone this but I've been looking to expand the bakery... And that's the reason I hired you again. I know you can run the bakery, Hannah has put in numerous good words about you just focused on today... And I wanted to know if you'd be willing to run it."

"Charlie I..."

"I was open to the location for a while, but lately I wanted it close enough that if I wanted to stop by I could, and if I needed to be there for the opening I could. Sprucebridge was one of the top contenders. I understand if you don't want to take the offer, but I just thought I would tell you... it'll give you a job in Sprucebridge with a solid income."

"I'll have to talk to Nick but... Oh Charlie that's wonderful! Thank you!"

I hugged her tightly before Seth took my hand and Jackie came over and we chatted about the baby. I watched in happiness as both Jackie and Zach's eyes lit up with joy thinking about having a baby.

"It blows my mind that we made a human being..." Zach said grinning, and I grinned,

"It's a hard concept to wrap your head around, I know."

"Did you have anything to eat yet?" Nick asked Jackie and she shook her head, grabbing a plastic plate,

"No I was chatting but I'm going to get some now." He looked over at Mariah and wrapped his arm around her,

"Did you get anything to eat yet?" He asked and she nodded,

"I had some salad and lasagne." She looked over at Seth smiling,

"My compliments to the chef." He grinned in thanks and looked down at me,

"What did you think of the lasagne?"

"It was great babe," I said, leaning up for a kiss. Seth went over and grabbed up both a beer and I saw Nick and Mariah go over to their pick up and start talking quietly and I hoped that everything worked out. Nick kissed Mariah and then went to call someone, before coming back grinning to Mariah. She grinned and gave him a passionate kiss, before coming back over to me once I was standing alone,

"I took the Sheriff's position," Nick said grinning, and I grinned and gave him a tight hug, kissing his cheek.

"Congratulations Nick!"

"We're keeping it on the down low though, the only one that knows I've been offered the position is Chris." Chris was the second oldest Myer brother, he's twenty eight with two daughters, and he's one of the only detective's homicide detectives in the entire county.

"Okay I won't tell anyone."

"Mariah tells me that you want to expand the bakery?"

I nodded, "The bank approved me to open another one, and since Mariah was by my side during the whole opening process I knew she'd be able to run one on her own. I won't be able to be there all the time, and I'll still regulate for the most part what recipes are made but there's some room for new ideas."

"Well... If you want me to run the bakery... I'd absolutely love the chance Charlie." She said, hugging me tightly. Seth came back over and hugged me tightly once Nick and Mariah walked away and we went to the back of my truck to sit. He was still meeting most of the people Jackie, Zach and I had went to school with and still getting to know some of the towns people but they really liked him. But at the end of the day all that mattered was that I liked him, and I loved him.