Mimi's Daddy Ch. 16: The Homestead

The parking lot was full when they arrived at Marge's church for the ten o'clock service. Mimi smiled when she saw the rainbow flag flying at the edge of the parking lot and her body relaxed. She had been holding her shoulders up by her ears as if they were earrings since they'd left her house. Adam squeezed her hand and said, "Their church is progressive." In a sleeveless ruffled peach dress and a lightweight jacket, she looked like she could be the one teaching Sunday school.

Walking close to his side, the scattered stones on the path threatened to turn her ankle. So Adam took her hand and looped it into his arm. "Easy now. I don't want to take you home to your family wounded."

"It was a rock."

"Uh, huh?"

She poked him in the ribs. "Why this church?"

"I've heard good things. Marge and her wife go here."

"Wife?"

"Yeah, they have been married a million years." Pausing at the edge of the stairs, he said, "Step."

"Thank you." Turning away from him to look where she was going, Mimi neatly went up the stairs. "It feels weird to be visiting another church, but the choir inside sounds familiar."

With her hand snuggly tucked into his arm, he led her to an empty section on the right, mid pew. As she settled next to him, he lifted a song book from the back of the pew. The numbers for the songs were posted on the wall behind the altar.

She sat up tall, as if she were looking for someone.

"Shopping for another fiance?"

She bumped him with her thigh. "No. I was looking for Marge and her wife. Where do they normally sit?"

"She isn't a morning person. On the weekends, they come in the afternoon. At work, no one bothers Marge until she has had at least two cups of coffee or it's after ten." He winked at her and lips curled into a smile. "Sometimes a newbie will try it, but if they have any sense of self preservation, they don't do it more than once."

Enfolding her hand in his big mitt, he admitted, "I thought you might like it here."

"This isn't your first time?"

"Marge's grandbaby got baptised here, and I came to join in supporting the family."

She leaned over and whispered. "Where are the scorch marks from the visit?"

He kissed her forehead. "They cleaned off of the marble pretty easily. Why do you think they always use stone tiles in progressive churches?"

In flowing robes, a female officiant entered, and the choir rose. Adam tugged her gently up to standing and flipped their song book open to the first hymn.

***

On her parent's porch, Mimi stepped out of her pink pumps with her little brother Noah's arms already wrapped around her. Adam helped her slide free of the warmth of her jacket. She playfully dropped its weight on top of her brother's head. Giggling, the boy cradled the fabric against his chest and waited for Adam's jacket.

Standing in his stockinged feet, Adam obliged. With his arms full, Noah elbowed through the front door and headed down the hall at a trot, announcing, "Mimi's here." The interior of the house was filled with light and the aroma of roasted chicken. Two teenage boys looked over from where they sat on a worn floral couch. They raised their hands in greeting at the same time. They were close enough in age that they might be twins.

"Ready?" Mimi touched her fingertips to his arm. "My family is loud and sometimes a lot."

"Ready as I will ever be." He engulfed her hand in his own and squeezed her fingers as they stepped into the farmhouse.

A plump redhead with silver streaks running through her braided hair came out of the kitchen into the living room. Wiping her hands on her apron, she beamed a grin at her daughter. "Mimi!" When she opened her arms, the cupcake embraced her. With one arm tucked around her daughter like a protective wing, the woman looked at Adam appraisingly. Straightening his back, he stood tall and let her look.

"So, this is the fellow you have been talking about. The one in the pictures."

"Yes, mam. This is Adam."

He wished he had a hat to take off, because that seemed like the right thing to do. Instead, he offered his hand, and she didn't take it. Ignoring his gesture, she focused on his face, eyes shining as bright as a robin's. "Welcome to my home, Adam. I hope you are hungry."

"Always, mam. It sure smells good."

Appraising him, she said, "You are sturdy enough to do a full day's work. That's something." She turned Mimi toward the kitchen. "I have an apron waiting for you, young lady." She waved a hand vaguely in Adam's direction. "The men are in the barn. We have a sheep dropping early."

Noah, in constant motion, came to stand next to him. "I can take you. Can I go, ma? I wanna see."

"Yes, but stay out of the way."

***

Space heaters purred in the barn as the smell of blood and something mineral coated the air.

Three men crouched around a pregnant sheep laying down in a pen. The one with slate gray hair said, "She is going to be first this year. Look at how she is breathing. I wouldn't be concerned about leaving her out, but we have a cold snap coming in the next two days."

The men turned to look at Adam as he entered the barn with the boy.

With a puffed out chest, Noah said, "This year I get to name the first baby."

Adam ruffled his hair. "That sounds amazing."

"Pa, this is Adam." Noah pointed to the redhead. "That's Gabe, and that's Sharon's husband."

"I have a name, kid." Sharon's husband stepped forward and offered his hand to Adam. "I'm Paul."

"Nice to meet you." When the old man rose from his crouch, Adam said, "Nice to meet you too, sir."

"You've been up and down my drive a lot, young man." The sturdy farmer wiped his hands on a cloth he pulled free of his back pocket before approaching him.

"I'm fond of your daughter."

"No doubt. She is a right fine young woman. Too good for the likes of you. Being a divorcée means nothing. She's already got a husband, so she doesn't need a new one." Adam was grateful her father was shorter than him. The man was wiry and could probably pick up a small horse. He just might lay Adam out on the barn straw. If the old man hit him, he couldn't hit back. Mimi would never forgive him.

"You are right, but I'm trying to be worthy. She is the kindest woman I have ever met."

The old man's eyes were slate gray, and his stare was unwavering. "What are your intentions?"

Mimi's brother Gabe cut in. "Pa, this is his first visit. Give him a minute to get used to us."

Adam raised his hand. "No, it's okay. I can answer the question. It's why I came out here. He and I need to talk."

The red head's brow furrowed, and he turned his attention back to the very round sheep who had begun nibbling the bottom of his pant leg. The old man said, "I'm right here. What do you have to say?"

Adam held his ground. "I'd like to marry her, sir."

Noah gasped. "Whoa." He punched his big brother in the arm. "See, I told you. You said Mimi was never gonna marry again."

"Hush." Gabe hissed.

Her father looked him over as if he was an animal being considered at auction. "And why should I even consider giving you my blessing?"

"I believe in her dreams and I intend for her to have them. My wedding present to her is going to be the Miller farm. I own my own business, which is doing well and expanding. I'm certainly not the best she could do, but I can provide for her. She likes me for some reason, and I'm not stupid enough to let that pass without acting on it."

"So you expect me to walk my little girl down the aisle sometime next year?"

"No sir, sometime this month."

Her father's mouth dropped open and his hands tightened into fists by his sides. "Do the two of you have to get married?"

"No sir, but I'm not the type of man who waits when he finds something or someone he wants."

"Have you been married before?"

"No, sir."

"And does she want this?"

"Your daughter is already wearing the ring my grandmother wore every day of her married life."

"Is that so?" His jaw flexed. "Even before you came to see me?"

"Pa."

Noah was beaming. "Can I be in the wedding?"

Her father grumbled under his breath. "I haven't said yes, yet. I need to talk to my girl."

My girl, now.

***

Standing in front of the big pot of greens, Mimi stirred slowly. Next to her, Sharon rolled out biscuits on the butcher block counter. The kitchen smelled like heaven. Sullen and making a racket, her mother banged pots together in the sink.

"Mom."

The woman paused to glare at the ring on her finger. "I'm not talking about it. You should try to fix things with your husband, not try to find someone new."

"Wade and I are never ever going to be together again. He doesn't want me."

Hands covered in soap bubbles, her exasperated mother said, "Then you can change. Or he can change, but you don't quit. Making a marriage work takes effort. Two years is nothing. The two of you didn't give yourselves any time at all to figure things out."

"Wade and I are over. It is the past."

"Then why are you still wearing his ring?"

Mimi hadn't taken off Adam's ring since he'd slid it onto her finger. Stomach going sour with regret about her first marriage, she looked down at her hand and said, "It's not Wade's ring. Adam gave me this one."

Her mother spun toward her. "You are NOT saying this to me."

"I love him. We want to get married." She hadn't been planning to say the first part, and it stunned her as much as her mother when the words came out of her mouth.

"But..." Her mother turned toward her and rested her hip against the counter edge. "Mimi, you just met this man."

"Sometimes you know." She pressed her shoulders back and lifted her chin. "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be introducing him to my family."

"And why you are dressed up in church clothes? Is that supposed to persuade me?"

"I went to church this morning, just not yours."

"You went to church?"

"Yes mam, with Adam."

Her mother turned back toward the sink full of dishes, shaking her head. For the first time Mimi could remember the kitchen was quiet except for the bubbling on the stove. Sharon looked at her and mouthed, "Oh My Gosh." She pointed at her own ring and gave Mimi two thumbs up. At least she had two family members supporting her, Noah and Shanon. Mimi responded with a returned thumbs up and returned to stirring the pot.

***

Her father's bellow broke the calm, "Mimi." The men rolled into the kitchen, taking up all the space and tracking in dirt with their boots. Mimi's mother scoffed and started to complain, but the look on her husband's face stopped her.

Mimi's father walked up to her and cupped Mimi's face in his worn hands. "Angel girl. Why do you want this man?" Mimi brought her hands up and covered his, touching him with love. He saw the ring on her finger and his eyes closed.

The words she had planned to say evaporated. She couldn't lie to him. "I don't know. But I do."

"Remember how sad you were as a wife? Have you forgotten?"

Her mother stiffened.

Mimi nodded. "I do, but this is different. You wanted me to marry Wade. This time, I'm the one choosing the man I marry."

"I don't even know this man, and now he is talking about taking you away and buying the Miller farm?"

"I'll be two miles down the road."

He touched his forehead to hers. "I just want you to be happy. Can that idiot make you happy?"

"I don't know. I won't know, unless I'm brave enough to try again."

He kissed her forehead firmly and released her.

Scowling, he stepped toward Adam. "Hear me, son."

Adam nodded, holding still when a lot of men would have run from the house. "Sir."

"If you hurt her like the last one did, I'm going to bury you in my back pasture."

Adam nodded.

"I mean it son, you think about that a while. We have pigs." Her father stepped past Adam and called to the boys in the living room. "Everyone wash up. Your ma's been working hard for you ungrateful lot."

Adam looked at her and gave a small shrug. "Was that a yes?"

Her mother snorted. "Of course it was." Mimi grinned at him and offered a small shrug.