I thanked Anna’s parents for getting my car back and was about to ask if I could drive her back. Anna answered with a kiss on my cheek and said I’d see her in class in the morning. I nodded and said my goodbyes to them before getting back into my car. The interior looked a little different…like new. The fuel gauge, which was never filled past a quarter of a tank was set to “full” I shifted into first and drove past the rusted gate. Mr.

Skoal man remained standing with a bewildered look on his face.

I arrived at home to see my parents in the driveway. Their expression a mix of “we are glad you are all right” and “you are so dead, mister.”
“Why were you so late getting home, Greg?” Mom asked as she laid a full plate of meatloaf in front of me. Dad had already started eating.

I didn’t want to tell them I had lost my car and had to get it back. In addition, I didn’t want to blabber on and on about Anna…which I was just about to do but, instead I just shrugged. “Hanging out with my friends, we lost track of time,” I replied.

“Mmm-hmm,” Mom hummed. “Which of your friends has red lipstick?” She pointed at my cheek, and I raised my hand to my face. “We’re waiting, Romeo.”

“She just moved into town and has this awesome house. It’s huge.”

Dad shook his head and muttered, “a large house does not equal happiness.”

“I know, but it was.”

“Were her parents there?”

“Yes,” I answered with a sigh, “and she has a younger sister who went wherever we did.”

“What’s her name? Are you going to bring her by so we can meet her.”

“We’re not dating, mom.”

“You’re doing something. You’ve been marked boy,” Dad laughed.

“Her name is Anna Joel.”

“Joel? Your granddad used to talk about a man he knew in the Army Air Corps by the name of Damien Joel.”

“Must have been a common name back then,” I replied.

Dad put his fork down and pointed his finger at me. “He fought alongside him in a battle over Europe. Dad said his nickname was ‘crazy devil,” due to his jumping right into the fray. That and his fiery red hair.”

I didn’t dig too deep into it. Yeah, just a coincidence as Mr Joel would have to be in his seventies and he didn’t look a day over…well, I really didn’t know how old he looked.

“Why don’t you bring her by Saturday?”

“Mom,” my voice rising to a near whine, “I can’t force her to come here.”

“Then we can all go to her house and introduce ourselves.”

“I just met her. I don’t want to freak her out or something. That, and Dad and Mr. Joel will spend all night talking.”

“And what does her mother do?” Mom asked.

“I heard she makes a killer peach cobbler.”

“Really?” Dad asked, ear piqued.

“Paul Robison,” Mom spat out as she stood up and walked up to my dad.

“Hey, I like peach cobbler. Yours is great honey, by the way.”

Then, she yanked his plate off the table and stomped into the kitchen.

“I’ll show you a killer peach cobbler!” Mom yelled. “Greg, let’s go get some peaches.”

Dad motioned me to the door as Mom stormed into the front room and grabbed her purse.

“Okay,” I replied as I got up and followed her out the door.

Ten minutes later we were walking through the grocery store.

“I want to meet her and her parents.”

“You’ve made that clear a few times already, mom.”

“We should go to her house now.”

“I don’t remember how to get to her house in the daytime, and even less in the dark.”

We stood in the produce department as mom examined peaches like they were diamonds. She had won a few awards for her desserts at local contests at the community center, library, and church. She took it as a personal insult that someone had made something better than her. I tried to protest that I had heard she had done, but I had no idea if it was any good or if Anna had just said it on a whim.

Still…mom took that as a dishonor offense. I was afraid our moms would be dueling with spatulas at 10 paces.

“Will we get to meet this girl?” Mom asked as we approached a check-out line,

“Anna,” I replied.

“And?”

“I can ask her. It’s a bit too soon to just throw it all—”

Mom turned back to me an raised an eyebrow. “You’ve planned a huge future with this girl after only a day, Gregory Robison.”

“Yeah,” I replied with a nervous laugh.

“Since she’s just moved her, let’s treat it as a welcome party.”

“And not a ‘let’s get to know our son’s crush and cause her to run for the hills.”

“Well, it’s taken you a bit to even ask a girl out,” she raised her voice as she spoke.

“Mom,” I hissed as other shoppers turned to us. “Okay, okay, I’ll ask her.”

Mom nodded and threw groceries onto the conveyer belt. “I’ll make a pot roast. Pot roast always brings families together.”

I had to think about how to ask her. Anna already knew how I felt about her, and I to her, but still, it seemed like a bit too much to bring our families together. What if they really did break out in a fight or something? Our families had nothing in common except for our possible Running Bear loved Little White Dove situation