Out of Summertime

Chapter 9: Sox Fan

Mel leaves early that morning and Danica promises to stay in her room for the morning so that I can have Mom and Dad to myself. I take a deep breath and walk out of the hallway and down the stairs. My parents are sitting on the couch, Dad has his arm around Mom. I smile because I know I am so lucky to have happily married parents who are still madly in love with each other.

I step into the room and walk over to the rocking chair across from the couch, "Hey Mom, Dad, can we talk?"

Dad mutes the news with one remote and Mom turns it off with another, "Sure baby," she says.

Dad replaces the remote on the table, "What's up, you look worse than a deer in the headlights."

God, please help me say this right, and give them understanding hearts, I pray silently. 

"Y'all know how Mel and I went to the county fair, we had a great time there by the way. Well you talked about Scotty McCreery being on tour... He was there." The two of them look at me mildly surprised. I clear my throat, "He approached me after he was done and we wandered around the fair, he is a really cool guy, very sweet..." I braced myself for the next part, Mom is smiling, she seems to know where this is going, "After a few hours he walked me out and... asked me on a date..."

Mom is smiling and nodding; Dad is looking scared, "Did you say yes?"

My mom is holding his hands, I think to restrain him, "Of course she did darling... That's where she was all of yesterday, and why Mel came flying in last night." She turns to look at me, "Did you have fun sweetheart?"

I sigh, thinking about my answer, "It was amazing Mom, he was amazing. But I told him that I want him to meet you both before anything else."

Dad is just staring at the ground but he looks up suddenly, "And?" I motion to the door, "He is on his way right now... He is really looking forward to meeting y'all. He feels like everyone treats him like a trophy or a name instead of a person. He just wants to be honest with you. Please just, meet him, get to know him and I told him if you don't like him, I won't go on another date with him." That seems to comfort my dad, however now my mother jumps up and starts cleaning up the small amounts of clutter in the room.

She looks up at me, "You should have said that first. Would have been good to know we have a celebrity coming over... One that wants to date my daughter." I giggle and tidy up the kitchen to soothe her nerves.

I see my dad sitting still so I walk over and give him a hug, "I love you Daddy. You've said so yourself, he is a good boy, just get to know him."

I walk back to the kitchen to finish up and watch Mom pat his shoulder, "She is going to grow up babe. You can't stop her but we can help her." I look out the window, Loretta pulls up and Scotty gets out. I walk over to the door as he is tucking his button down in.

I think I see him light up when he sees me, "Callie," he exhales. He looks in the window to see if my parents are watching, which they aren't. He wraps me in his arms, God I love his hugs...

I smile and slide my hand in his, "Morning McCreery!" I lean up and whisper, "I'll be needing more of those hugs from now on." He laughs and opens the front door for me.

Mom walks over and gives him a hug, "Scotty, good to see you! Here, take your boots off."

I smile encouragingly at him, "Thank you, Mrs.?"

"Harrison."

He slides off his boots as my dad walks up. I see Scotty swallow and offer his hand, "Mr. Harrison," he says with only a little fear in his eyes. Dad shakes his hand, looking much more comfortable than he was a few minutes ago.

I am surprised when he pats Scotty on the back, "Relax son, my wife and I trust Callie and her judgement. We know you're a good kid with honest intentions, and if our little girl picked you out then you must be pretty special. Welcome to the Harrison home."

Mom and I are standing dumbfounded; a palpable weight is lifted from the room. Scotty releases a breath. 

"Thank you Mr. Harrison, she is pretty special." He smiles at me and follows my dad into the family room. My dad has turned on a baseball game between the Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers.

Scotty sits down on the love seat across from my parents' favorite couch, "Oh man! My Sox are up, I'm missing the game!"

My dad's eyes widen, "You're a Sox fan too," he asks.

Scotty nods, "Die-hard, ain't missed a game yet. Parents raised me on these boys."

Mom enters and hands Scotty a glass of Southern sweet tea, "Well then you two will get along just fine." She joins my dad on the couch, "So where are you from Scotty?"

He answers, "Garner, North Carolina. Home of the Trojans." No one is watching the game anymore.

"Was that your high school?"

Sipping his drink Scotty answers, "Oh yeah, still is sir. I just finished my junior year there."

My mom smiles, "How interesting, Callie just finished her junior year too. Are you involved at your school?"

Scotty has somehow managed to wrap his arm around my shoulders, "Actually I play varsity baseball."

Mom stands up to refill Dad's glass. While he is saying thank you, Scotty snuggles me closer to him and I rest my head on his shoulder. Mom comes back and smiles at us. And the rest of the day turns into small talk with my parents and Scotty getting to know each other. We all have a great time and I don't even notice the time go by.