Him & I

Tuxedo

He don't need no coat and tie
Don't need no black and white
He don't need no red copper cameras flashing in his eyes
Oh no
'Cause his feet are on the ground
And he's grounded in his boots
My baby looks so sexy out there workin' in his boots
Oh, you should know
Oh, my man
He got them real strong hands
And after working all day out in that hot sunshine
He comes walking always lookin' so fine
——Tuxedo, Claire Dunn

May 10, 2019

Cait was looking out the kitchen window of the Allen house at Grayson in the yard.  Will wanted to remove some shrubs and had been just waiting for his son to get home to give him a hand. 

Cait was supposed to be making her marinated tortellini salad for a family dinner the next day.  The cheese filled pasta with fresh herbs and tomatoes tasted best after it marinated in the red wine vinaigrette she made.  But she couldn't seem to focus on the boiling pasta.  Or on chopping the other ingredients. 

Instead, her eyes were continually drawn to Grayson in a pair of tight, ripped jeans and a t-shirt, working outside.  Then he stripped that t-shirt off of his sweaty body and she almost choked. 

"Sweetie, that pot is fixin' to boil over," Sherry said, walking into the kitchen.

Cait jumped and immediately pulled the boiling pasta off the burner.  "Sorry," she muttered.

"Looks like that pasta isn't the only thing that's overheated," Sherry smirked, causing Cait's already flushed cheeks to get even redder.

Cait sighed and dumped some water out, before returning the pot to the stove at a lower temperature setting. Then she tried to turn her attention back to snipping herbs and cutting tomatoes.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Sherry asked quietly.

"I'm good," Cait managed a small smile at her. She did her best to keep her eyes on what she was doing. Otherwise, she was probably in serious danger of losing a finger or something.

Sherry watched her with a sympathetic look. She knew it might be hard for Cait to talk to her sometimes. She was Grayson's mother, after all. But her soon-to-be daughter-in-law was an open book right now.

"Why don't you let me do the tomatoes, honey?" Sherry suggested. "You do the vinaigrette. I don't know your secret formula for that."

Cait nodded and passed over the knife and the cutting board. She went to the refrigerator for a fresh lemon and couldn't stop her eyes from once again straying outside. Grayson was digging one of the shrubs out with a spade and she watched the muscles of his arms and back flex as he worked.

"So I was thinking that we'll just strap on some wings and fly to Hawaii instead of bothering with the charter flight," Sherry offered, still smirking a little.

"Uh huh," Cait replied, holding the lemon, but not reaching for the juicer yet.

"Or maybe we'll just swim," Sherry offered.

"Sounds good," Cait mumbled.

"You just aren't listenin' to a word I'm sayin', are you?" Sherry finally said sharply.