Small Town Southern Charm

Chapter Thirty-Four

The past couple of weeks had been the hardest without Jody to go to. Johnny was texting and calling all the time to make sure things were going okay, it was kind of stressing me out. But I was thankful that he was there for me now when I needed some people to be by my side. Josh was with me whenever he could be and that made things a little better, he would always come over with some type of surprise for me. Josh had been working a lot of overtime lately so he couldn’t spend the day with me most days.
Through all of this, I had managed to make a new friend. JoAnna was now one of the people that I would call when I needed to get something off of my chest. She was always there in a matter of minutes when she sensed something was wrong.
“I see why my brothers are crazy about you.” JoAnna told me as we sat in the park one day.
“Why?”
“You’re an amazing person and I’m sorry that I judged you the way I did.”
“We all make mistakes.” I smiled.

I was waiting for Josh to pick me up to go out to eat when Thomas came in smiling at me.
“What are you smiling about?” I asked.
“Nothing. I can’t just be happy?” He replied.
“No you cannot.”

I knew something was up for him to just come around smiling like he was stupid. I was going to find out sooner or later, I was hoping it was going to be sooner. A little while later Josh pulled into the drive and hopped out of his truck, smiling as well.
“What the hell is everyone so happy about?” I ask confused. “I wanna smile too, ya know!”
“I can’t be happy to see my favorite girl?” He asked while pulling me into a hug.
That made me quit questioning them smiling, that was a good enough answer for now. As I looked at Josh I seen that he was wearing my favorite outfit of his. A red, white button down plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a pair of blue jeans with a rip on the right knee with a pair of brown Georgia boots.
We were on the way to eat when Josh took an unexpected turn down a dirt road. The dirt road was one that we use to take when we went fishing on the river.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I want to go to the river for a little bit.”
“Okay?” I questioned.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.” He laughed.
“The way you and Thomas were smiling I think you just might.” I joked.
Once we pulled up to the river, we both got out and walked over to the bridge where we fished all the time. I stood there smiling as I thought of all the good evenings we spent here together. When I looked over to see what Josh’s facial expression was, he wasn’t there. Then my eyes caught him down on one knee, holding a ring.
“Taralyn, I love you so much. I always have no matter how many arguments we’ve had and I always will. You have always been there for me and I have always been there for me. Even when you were in love with my brother, I still loved you. Even when I could strangle your tongue out, I still love you. Jody made me realize that I don’t have forever to wait, that  life could end as fast as it began. So, Tara, will you marry me?” He nervously spoke.
I couldn’t talk, all I could do was nod my head and smile. Josh got up and wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. He kissed me over and over again smiling the entire time. My best friend for all these years just asked me to marry him and I said yes!
“Who knew about this?” I asked as we sat on the edge of the bridge.
“Everyone but you.” He smiled while kissing my hand.
I looked down at the ring on my finger and smiled up at him.
“How could you afford this?” I asked.
“I haven’t been working overtime for nothing.” He smiled.
“This is why?”
“That and I’ve been saving for the wedding and us a place.”
“How long have you been doing this?” I asked.
“For the house, a while. But not too long on the wedding. When do you want a wedding?”
“Whenever you want one.” I smiled and kissed his nose.
“How ‘bout next month? A small wedding?” He asked.
“That sounds amazing but would that be enough time.”
“If you put your mind to something it will be.”

When I got home everyone was there, even Johnny. He looked happy for us as well as everyone else. I couldn’t picture my life any other way right now besides to have Jody here. Once we were in the house, Josh grabbed my hand and held it up, smiling.
“She said yes!” He exclaimed to everyone.
Everyone was cheering and smiling at us. I was so happy right now that nothing could bring me down.
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Short, I know. The next chapter will be the last one! I have loved writing this story so much!
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Xoxo