ALMOST HEAVEN

Part 11

Later in the afternoon they sat out on the swing on the front porch. It was a lazy Sunday, they hadn't even gotten out of the bed until 1. Now they sat on the porch reading. Clyde was reading a book about the history of West Virginia and Laurel was reading about a police detective in Iceland.

Laurel put down her book for a moment and looked around. It was a beautiful sunny day. "You need some plants and bushes around your house, Clyde. Some flowers would be nice, too"

"You think so?" Clyde said idly as he turned a page.

"Yep. Be nice to put up a trellis and plant some roses on it down there at that end of the porch. It gets full sun all day."

"Uh huh, roses are nice."

Laurel smiled as she look at Clyde. He was engrossed in his book, not even looking up.

"Yeah, they are. You could put in a little pond in the front yard, maybe stock it with small mouth bass. Build a little pier for fishing. Put up some lights."

"That's sounds pretty." Laurel missed his grin as he raised his book up.

"It does, doesn't it? Maybe get some gnome statues for the front yard, about six of them. You know, the funny ones. Maybe a statue of St Francis. Wrap them all in lights but all different colors of lights. I like pink."

"Whatever you think, angel." He turned another page.

"Next, I think you should put a petting zoo in the back yard. All the neighborhood kids would love you. Maybe get an ostrich and a mountain lion."

"Hmmm. I draw the line at pigs, though, Laurel Anne. I don't like pigs." She looked over at him and he was smiling.

"You were listening?"

"Of course I was listening to you. Although honestly, it was the small mouth bass that caught my attention."

She laughed and he loved that sound.

"I've never been much for gardening, Laurel. I don't know a thing about it. But the rose on a trellis does sound nice. I like that idea. Maybe next weekend we could do that? You could teach me about roses and how to plant them."

"I'd like that, Clyde. That would be fun."

"You could do the gardening here, you know," Clyde said. "You should move in with me, Laurel."

"Where did that come from?" Laurel said in surprise.

"It came from my heart, Laurel. You're over here all the time, most nights you stay here. And when you're not here, I'm either over at your place, crammed into that little bed of yours, or missing you something terrible. Don't you want to live with me?" He had put his book down and turned towards her.

Laurel turned to him and took his hand. "I do want to live with you, Clyde. But we've been seeing each other about two months. I feel like it's too soon."

"When is the right time then? I want us to live our lives together, Laurel."

"I want that, too. We practically do live together. I feel like I'm using that apartment for storage."

"It's not the same, Laurel. I want to see your name on the mailbox. I want that when people ask where you live, you tell them you live on Paterson Street. I want people to know you live with me."

"You know I've got a lease. I've got to think about that. I can't afford to pay my lease off. I've only been there a little over three months."

"I'll pay your lease off. Don't you rent from Don and Mary Stockton? I can talk to them, you may lose your deposit but we could come up with something."