Sweet Iced Tea

Chpater 9

Saturday, September 20th

He says that he has a surprise for me as we pull out of my driveway in his pickup. I'm ready to go to the bucking, but he turns the truck the other direction.

A conspirative from passes between him and my sister.

Great. They both know something that I don't.

He takes my hand as I stare at him curiously, slightly annoyed that he has a secret.

"Where are we going?"

His grip on my fingers tightens, then loosens again. "You'll see."

I groan.

He shakes his head, chuckling. "You're precious."

Cora's grinning face leers at me in the rearview mirror.

"Joshua and Leah, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes Leah with a baby carriage!"

Josh grins at me. Oh, those two make a perfect team to embarrass the crap out of me.

"It's all true, you know, Cora." he tips the mirror so that he can see her face. "Especially the part about the trees." he adds in a mischievous tone.

I slap him playfully. "Whatever!"

He throws Cora a nod and raises his eyebrows. "You're sister loves trees." His twinkling dark eyes dart briefly to mine, and I purse my lips.

"Stop."

He laughs. "Okay."

That word broke my heart last week, broke his heart to send it last week, and now he can say it lightly, not at all thinking of the intricacies of meaning. That word can be used so many different ways .

"Really, Joshua, where are we going?"

"It's a secret."

"When will I know about it?"

"When we get there."

I study his face while he watches the road, and he smiles in acknowledgement of my attention.

But I can't stop staring. He's so cute in his baseball cap.

My cheeks heat up when he raises an eyebrow and glances at me. He can read minds, I'm certain of it.

Cora rests her chin on the edge of my headrest. "You two should get married."

"That's the plan." I look over at him in surprise. He just nods. "It's true."

We pull into a gravel driveway leading up to a large, pine-log siding house. He gets out and opens my door, then Cora's.

"Thanks." I smile up at him, and it suddenly crosses my mind to kiss him. He starts walking away before I finish building up courage. Oh well.

I catch up to him easily and entwine my fingers with his. "Are you buying me this house?" I joke.

"Not quite." We walk past the house all together and into a pasture.

"So what are we doing here?"

He puts his fingers over my lips, shushing me. "Just wait." He whistles, long and loud.

A smoky, ash-brown head appears from inside a shed, and a loud whinny pierces the tranquil stillness.

Joshua whistles again. The horse gallops toward us, shaking its mane, and stops at the gate. I reach put and pet the grulla gelding between his dark, liquid amber eyes. He's has one white sock and a star that's off center to the right side of his forehead.

Josh smiles wide. "I thought you'd like him."

"What?!"

He pulls me into a hug. "He's yours, Leah."

"You bought me a horse?" I grin and kiss him. He kisses me back, gentle, strong. Josh. He is Josh. My Josh. He buys me horses.

He pulls back and stares at me, surprised. "Wow."

"What?"

"Just you." He stares at me dazedly. "Why didn't you tell me that you were such a good kisser?"

I laugh. "I love you, Joshua."

The corners of his mouth turn up, and I want to kiss him again. "I love you too, baby."

"I'm not a baby."

He clips a lead onto the gelding's-my gelding's-halter, and leads him out. "You're my baby."

I let him help me onto the horse's broad back and climb up behind me. He clucks his tongue and turns his heels into the horse's sides.

"What are you going to name him?"

I think for a minute. "What is our song?"

"We don't have one. Yet."

I shrug. "I'll name him after our song once we get one."

"Okay." We're at the trailer, and he helps me down, then loads my horse into the trailer.

We get back in the truck. "Don't you have to pay for him?"

"I took care of it."

"How much was he?"

"Ssh..." He lays his fingers over my mouth.

Removing his hand from my face, i switch on the radio and prepare myself to wait for a song worthy of our owning, but I don't have to wait long. As soon as I turn the knob, the familiar guitar chords ring out in the speakers. I know this one.

I just wanna wrap you up

Wanna kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

And never let you forget it

Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted

Baby, I wanna make you feel wanted

You'll always be wanted

"This is our song." we say in unison, and I glance up to study his face. His jaw is set hard, and I know he felt the significance of the words like I did.

I smile. Our song is 'Wanted' by Hunter Hayes. I know what I'm going to name my horse.

"His name is Hunter."