Big Tex (12 page)

"Brody, who are they?"  Willow asked and pointed to the people walking.  They were joined by a girl of about 21 who was running to catch up to them.

"Uh, surprise!  That's my family."  Brody said nervously.  He grabbed Willow's hand and led her over to the three people walking.

"Oh my god, why didn't you tell me?"  Willow whispered before they got there.  Brody just smiled.

Brody introduced his mom, dad, and sister to Willow.  She shook all of their hands, and they sat down to get to know each other.  Willow offered them some food and drinks, which they gladly accepted.  She was so nervous and thought that she was going to spill something on at least one of them.  She had never met anyone's parents before.  Brody noticed her nervousness and pulled his mom aside.

"Mom, do you think you could kind of take it easy on Willow?  You're scaring her to death.  You know how I feel about her, and I hate to see her like this.  She looks like she's ready to have a heart attack."  He pleaded.

"Ok, I was just having a little fun with her, but you're right, she does look petrified.  I'll be nice, I promise."  His mom said.

They walked back over to where Willow was sitting with Brody's dad and sister.  Mrs. Harris put her hand on Willow's shoulder and asked if she could talk to her privately.  Willow nodded and swallowed hard.  She got up and followed Mrs. Harris as she walked down the beach.

"So, my son tells me that he is head over heels in love with you."  Mrs. Harris started and Willow smiled.  "I assume you feel the same way for him.  I see the way your eyes light up when he's around.  I'm not here to get in the way of your relationship.  I want to see my son happy, and I know that's how he feels when he's with you.  I don't know you yet, but I do know that you're good for my son.  He speaks so highly of you, and I want to get to know the person that he knows.  I know that you're nervous around me, but there is really no reason to be.  Quite honestly, I'm a little nervous around you.  I've never met anyone that my son has been so taken with, and it's a little startling.  Besides, I want you to like me…I never want to be the horrible mother-in-law.  I have one of those myself, and I vowed never to be like her."  Mrs. Harris laughed and so did Willow.

"I'd really like to get to know you too, and I'm sorry I'm so nervous.  Brody means so much to me, and I don't want his family to hate me.  I guess I was more worried about making a good impression than being myself.  Do you think we could start over?"  Willow asked.

Mrs. Harris smiled.  "Sure.  Hi, I'm Maggie Harris, Brody's mom.  You can call me Maggie."

"Hi Maggie, I'm Willow Fox.  It's so nice to meet you.  Have any baby pictures with you?"  Willow said and they both laughed.

Maggie hugged Willow and they both turned and walked back to Brody's beach.  By the time they got back, they were laughing and joking with each other, and Brody beamed with pride to see them getting along so well.  He ran up and grabbed Willow around the waist and swung her around, laughing and kissing her.  Maggie looked at them and the sight of them being so happy and carefree warmed her heart.

Lauren came over and introduced herself to Maggie and Brian (Brody's dad).  They talked about Willow and Brody and their careers and successes.  Both families were proud of not only their own kids' accomplishments, but the other kids' accomplishments as well.

Willow and Brody took Brighton, Brody's sister, out on the boat.  Micah and Sierra were out on the jet skis, trying to race the boat.  They were all having fun and came back to shore as it started to get dark.  Lauren decided to head home, so she said goodbye to everyone.  Brody's family weren't too far behind, so finally it was just the four of them left.  Willow spread out a blanket on the sand and laid down.  Brody came and laid next to her, watching the sunset.

"Your family is really nice Country Boy.  I'm glad your mom took me away to talk to me.  I felt a lot better after that.  Your friends are pretty cool too."  She said.

"My family loved you, almost as much as I do."  He teased and kissed her.  "My friends think you're great too.  I think there are a few of them that I need to look out for, they might try to take you away."

"It'll never happen.  I'm perfectly content being with you."  Willow said.

"Content, that's it?"  He asked playfully.

"Well, I'd be a lot better, but you fired your maid today, and that means I need to clean up this mess."  Willow joked.

"Hey, I'm sure she'd gladly come back if you want me to call her.  I wouldn't even have to pay her, just offer her sexual favors."  Brody teased.

Willow jumped on top of him and started tickling him.  "I don't even want to hear you teasing about giving her sexual favors.  You're mine, and I'm the only one who gets those favors."

"You're right.  Don't forget it."  Brody said, completely serious and intense.  He kissed Willow, then got up.  "Come on, let's clean up this mess and get inside."

Micah and Sierra came over and helped clean up the beach.  They brought everything inside and went to watch TV.

"Hey, I forgot to give you this."  Micah said and threw Lisa's key to Brody.

"Ah, perfect."  He said as he caught the key, then threw it to Willow.  "You'll need this at some point and time.  It works in both the front and back doors."

"Are you sure?"  Willow asked.

"Yeah, I know for a fact it works in those doors."  Brody teased.  "Yes, I'm sure I want you to have a key to my house!  Besides, tomorrow you'll want to do stuff while we're at work, you don't want to be stuck in the house all day."

"You're right.  I think we have some plans for tomorrow, at some point."  Willow winked at Sierra since the guys didn't know they'd be going into their office for a few hours a day this week.

"Well you can take my SUV, I'll ride in with Micah."  Brody said and gave her the keys to the vehicle.  "Now that that's settled, let's go to bed.  I need to get up early in the morning!"

They all said good night and went to bed.  Willow and Brody cuddled up and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.  All the fresh air from the day on the beach really tired them out.  They slept with sweet dreams of what the rest of the week would bring.

Chapter 11  Southern Comfort

The next morning, Brody's alarm clock went off at 6:00.  He tried to shut it off before it woke Willow, but it took too long since one of his arms was underneath her.  She yawned and stretched as he moved his arm and pushed the right button to silence the alarm.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up."  He said and leaned over to kiss her.

"It's ok.  I don't think I could've slept much longer anyways.  I'm too used to getting up early.  Besides, with the time change, it's really 7:00 for me."  Willow smiled.  "Go take a shower, I'll make you and Micah some breakfast."

"You're the best, you know that?"  Brody asked and gave her a kiss before he headed to the bathroom.

Willow put on her new Powder Blue robe before she left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen.  She cut up some apples and added them to pancake batter.  She took out the griddle and poured the batter onto the surface and added some bacon and sausage in the empty spots.

Just as Willow was taking the cooked food off the griddle, Micah and Brody both walked into the kitchen, already having showered and dressed.  "Wow, it smells great!  What'd you make?"  Micah asked.

"Apple cinnamon pancakes, bacon, and sausage.  Now both of you sit down and eat so you aren't late for work."  Willow set the plates on the breakfast bar and went to get the guys their coffee.  "Is Sierra still sleeping?"  Willow asked Micah.

"Not anymore.  I woke her up to say goodbye before I left the room.  She'll probably be down soon."  Micah said with his mouth full of food.

Willow laughed at Micah and took a bite of pancake that Brody offered her.  "So, make yourself at home here today, ok?"  Brody said to Willow and she nodded.  Brody finished his breakfast and got up to leave.  He put his plate in the dishwasher and turned back to Willow.  "I'll call you when I get a chance, and we'll be home around 4:30.  Have fun!"  Brody kissed Willow goodbye and walked out the door with Micah.

Willow went about the kitchen, cleaning up from breakfast.  She ran the dishwasher and left the kitchen spotless.  'Who needs Lisa anyways!'  Willow thought to herself as she left the kitchen.

Willow went in search of Sierra to see if she was getting ready for the day yet.  She found her lying face down on the bed in Micah's room.  "Hey!  Get up and get ready.  We need to go into work soon!"  Willow yelled to Sierra.  When Sierra didn't move, Willow went into the room and sat on the bed next to Sierra.  "What's up Sierra?"

"It just feels too perfect being here.  Kind of makes me not want to go home, you know?"  Sierra asked.

"I know.  You should have seen me downstairs just now.  I made breakfast for the guys and then I cleaned the kitchen.  It was so damn funny, almost like June Cleaver or something."  Willow laughed.  "And I have to admit, it's great waking up in Brody's arms in the morning, not to mention other things."  Willow giggled.  "But our life's in New York, isn't it?"  Willow asked, not sure herself anymore.

"I know, I know.  Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we moved down here.  Would we still feel the same way about the guys, or would we feel stifled?"  Sierra asked.  "I just don't want to have any regrets, no matter what I do."

"Well, it’s going to take some time to figure it out, it's not an instantaneous decision.  So get your lazy butt up and into the shower.  We need to get to the office."  Willow said and rolled her friend off the bed.  Willow walked into Brody's room and took a shower of her own.

An hour later, Sierra met Willow downstairs, both of them dressed in sharp business suits.  Willow called her mom on her cell phone so that she could give them directions to the office.  The got into the SUV and Willow handed the phone to Sierra so that she could listen to the directions from Lauren and help navigate them.

Fifteen minutes later, Sierra and Willow walked into the reception area of the architectural firm.  The receptionist told them how to find Brody and Micah and let them through the locked glass door that led to the offices.  As the girls walked through the hallway past all of the offices, everyone stared at them.  Not only were they both beautiful girls, but they were strangers, something not frequently seen at the firm.

Willow and Sierra entered the 'Think Tank', which was a big room in the middle of the hallway.  Ten architect desks and ten regular desks were spaced throughout the room, along with a conference table.  There were about 15 people milling about the room, and two of them were Brody and Micah.  Willow and Sierra stood and watched them work for a few minutes before making their presence known.  Willow walked up behind Brody and whispered, "Aren't you that famous Residential Architect of the Year?"

Brody spun around, shocked to see Willow standing there.  He pulled her down on his lap and said "Yup, sure am.  You've come to the right place, I can build you any type of house you want."  He laughed and gave her a quick kiss.  "What're you doing here?"

"Mom wanted us to come and check the place out.  Plus we have some work to do too.  We'll stay out of your hair, don't worry."  Willow said.  She looked over and watched as Micah showed Sierra the stuff he was working on.  She knew Sierra wasn't paying attention to his work, she was just enjoying the time she spent with him.  Willow looked around the office and saw some people just standing around, pretending not to watch them.

One of the guys walked up to Brody and Willow and said, "Hey man, what's that girl sitting on your lap for, I thought you were gay!"

Brody nearly choked.  "Gay?  What made you think that?  This is my girlfriend, you know, the one whose picture is hanging in my office?"

"I thought that girl was your sister in your office.  Aren't you dating a guy named Billie?"  The guy asked.

Willow gave Brody a look that said 'See, I told you so.'  She extended her hand.  "Hi, I'm Billie Fox, but my friends call me Willow."

The guy looked at her in shock.  "You're Billie Fox?  Holy shit!  I admire your work."

"Thanks.  I just wish I was half as good as Brody here."  Willow said with a smile.

The guy walked away mumbling to himself about how he was so confused and how Billie was supposed to be a guy.  Willow and Brody laughed.  Brody started showing her the designs that he was currently working on, with her still sitting on his lap.

Another guy walked into the office and said to his friend, "Hey, why do they get to have their girlfriends in the office and we don't?"

"Because that's my daughter and her best friend and I asked them to come.  Is there a problem with that?"  Lauren snapped at the guy as she walked into the room.  "Make yourself useful and gather everyone in the conference room for a quick meeting."  Lauren said to the ignorant guy.  She turned to Willow, Brody, Micah and Sierra.  "That guy is useless.  Don't listen to a word he says.  It's my company and I'll let anyone in that I want."  She said a little ticked off.  "But anyways, I just called a brief meeting to introduce Sierra and Willow since they will be in and out all week."  She told them as they headed to the conference room.

Brody pulled her aside, "All week?"  He asked.

"Yeah, is that going to be a problem?"  She replied, worried that he didn't want her there.

"No, no problem at all."  He said smiling.  "Well, actually there is a problem.  You look absolutely irresistible in those business suits, and I don't know how I'm going to keep my hands off you…and from the looks of it I'll need to keep everyone else's hands off you too!"  Brody teased and then showed her to the conference room.

Lauren had two empty seats waiting for them at the front of the room by her.  They took their seats, and as soon as the rest of the employees filtered into the room, Lauren got up and began speaking.  "I'm sorry to call this meeting with such short notice, I know we all have work that needs to get done, so I won't keep you too long.  I wanted to introduce two very important people who will be around this week, and hopefully a lot more in the future.  The first girl is like a daughter to me.  She works for a firm in New York as the lead Interior Designer, and recently won the award for Interior Designer of the Year, presented by the Architectural Society.  Her name is Sierra Lockheart."  Lauren motioned for Sierra to stand, so she did and waved to everybody.