Devoted (3 page)

“Wow, um…thank you,
Sarah. It’s okay, really. I know that a lot of people are probably shocked
about
me and Braxton
.
I
do
appreciate the apology though. As far as the job…
I
’m
ready to dance naked on the rooftops right now! It would be
a
dream come
true for me. The advantage this would give
me
when I start looking for a job will be tremendous. I truly cannot believe it.”

Sarah laughed. “Well,
pinch yourself, you’re not dreaming. This has nothing to do with
me
being regretful about my behavior either. The job is
seriously about your talents.
I
recognized your
talents right away and you’re a hard worker on top of it. I know you can do this
or I would never recommend you.”

Her praise meant a lot to
me
and I almost felt misty-eyed as I told her, “I’m
sure you know what a great opportunity you’re lying at my feet here.
I
am just so thankful and happy; I don’t even know what to
say. Thank you, Sarah, so much.”

“You’re welcome. We
have a staff meeting this afternoon and
I
’ll let them
know that I’ve chosen you and you’re willing to take the position. Then the
editor will be contacting you from there with the details.”

I
squealed, I knew it wasn’t professional, but I couldn’t help it. Then
I
jumped up and hugged her.
I
couldn’t help that either. She only laughed at
me
; I
think she got how exciting it was for me.
I
couldn’t
wait to tell Braxton and Zoe.

CHAPTER
FOUR

BRAXTON

Even before a big fight
I
didn’t get as nervous as I was on my way to meet
Emmi’s
dad.
I
hadn’t really
thought this through. What if he said no? Do
I
just
say, “Oh well, I tried,” and walk away?
I
couldn’t see
that happening. I’d already made up my mind that
Emmi
was
who
I wanted to spend my life with. So, what if
asking him did more harm than good? What if he says no and she says yes and
then he and
I
have to look at each other across the
table at Thanksgivings or Christmases when he has the turkey carving knife in
his hand? Yep,
I
really should have given this more
thought.

It was too late though.
I
was driving into the parking lot of the Buffalo Wild
Wings.
I
didn’t know what he drove or even what he
looked like. What an idiot,
I
didn’t even think about
how I would find him once I got there. He was going to see
me
looking lost and he was going to think that I’m way too stupid to marry his smart,
beautiful daughter. God,
I
was a mess.
I
pulled open the heavy double doors and as soon as I
stepped inside I saw him.
I
guess I have him to thank
for
Emmi’s
gorgeous blue eyes. There was no way that
this man was not her father and if he
wasn’t
, I’d
probably never see this guy again so I said, “Hi, Mr. Sadler? I’m Braxton.”

“Hey, Braxton,” he said
with a smile and a hearty handshake. He had her smile too or more aptly, she
had his. “I hate to admit this but once I got here I wondered how I was going
to recognize you.”

I
laughed. It was nice to know that
I
wasn’t quite as
big of a dork as I thought I was, or at least
Emmi’s
dad was too.

“I had the same
thought,”
I
told him. “But you look just like
Emmi
.”

Her dad made a face and
said, “You’re not starting off so good here.”
I
suddenly had a dragon in my gut wondering what it was that I said wrong.

“I’m sorry, sir,”
I
said, still unsure of what I was sorry for.

“You’re insulting my
daughter right off the bat, saying she looks like this ugly old man?”

I
laughed nervously and he threw his head back and laughed heartily. He clapped
me
on the shoulder and said, “I couldn’t bring my gun in; I
have to give you at least a little hard time. Let’s go get a seat, I’m
starving.”

My
stomach was still churning when the waitress took our order.
I
ordered the original Buffalo wings, which come in a huge basket with a ton of
fries.
I
wasn’t sure I’d be able to eat any of it.

“So, Braxton, what do
you major in at school?”

“Computer science,”
I
told him.

“So you want to do
something in computers…obviously…?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking
computer networking, setting up internet cafés and things like that.”

“That’s good; you must
be a pretty smart guy.
I
hate to admit it, but I have
a love/hate relationship with my computer at work. It’s made a lot of things
easier, but a lot of times, I miss the old-fashioned way we did things.”

“What do you do, sir?”

“Will you stop calling
me sir? It makes me feel like an old geezer.” We both chuckled. “Anyways, I
sell medical equipment.
I
’ve been doing it for twenty
years and when I first started we had one computer in the office. Now we have
about ten in the office and we each have one of them hand-held gizmos too.
I
used to keep a logbook when I made my deliveries, but now
I have to log it all into the computer. That’s fine on the days when my
computer is in the mood to cooperate.”

I
laughed. “Yeah, they can be fickle sometimes. If it ever happens again, you
could always call
me
. I might even be able to talk you
through it on the phone.”

“Fickle, like women,”
he said with a laugh. “If I have a problem with my woman could you talk me
through that as well?”

“No, sir, I’m afraid
you’d be on your own there.”

He threw his head back
and laughed again. It made
me
wish that my father
laughed occasionally. Our food came and
I
realized
that my stomach had finally calmed down enough that I could eat.

As we chowed on our
wings,
Emmi’s
dad said, “So how did you get into
underground fighting?”

I
wasn’t sure where to start. Did
I
tell the father of
the woman I loved that I got into it because I was tired of women not paying
any attention to me?

Finally,
I
said, “When I was in high school, I was kind of the nerdy
smart guy. When
I
came here to go to school I didn’t
really know anyone and I thought of it as a chance to change a few things I
didn’t like about myself. So,
I
started working out at
this private gym over the summer before school started.
I
met this guy, my trainer now, Sam. He told
me
that he
saw potential and asked if I would be interested. I figured what the heck and
here we are.”

“About to take the
title, I hear.”

I
grinned. “Yeah, I hope so. Did
Emmi
tell you that?”

“She did, she actually
talks to me quite a bit about what’s going on in her life.”

I
didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. “Oh, that’s good.”

“It makes me happy and
it makes me feel safer with her living away from home that I usually know
what’s going on in her life and who her friends are. Do you have a close
relationship with your parents?” he asked.

I
wiped barbecue sauce off my lips and responded, “My mom died a while back, when
I was in high school. Before that,
I
had a good
relationship with them, a great one with her.
My
dad…he kind of fell apart after she died. He drank a lot and he wasn’t around
as much as he should have been…so, our relationship these days is on shaky
ground. At least that’s the nice way to put it.”

“I’m sorry to hear
that,” he said. He looked genuinely sorry. “How many siblings do you have?”

“Just
my one sister, Callie.
She’s still in high school. She’s
a good kid and she really likes
Emmi
.”

“Sometimes I wish
Emmi’s
mother and I would have had at least one more. Being
an only child forces you to grow up a little faster than most,
I
think.
Emmi’s
almost as perfect
as I can imagine any daughter being, but for her own sake I’d wish she
was
a little less serious about life at her age. She has a
little trouble just cutting loose and having fun.”

Shit. If he
was
worried that she was acting older than her age, he
wouldn’t like the idea of her getting married any time soon.
I
think he was reading my mind as I had that thought, either that or it showed on
my face, because he suddenly asked, “So, Braxton, what did you really want to
see me about today?”

It was
do
or die time.
I
tried to put
myself in the mindset of getting in the octagon on fight night, but this was
scarier.

“I, um…” Shit! “I was
thinking about asking
Emmi
to marry me,”
I
blurted out. “I love her, sir…Ed.”

Emmi’s
dad looked like he was trying not to smile or laugh. Finally he said, “You were
thinking about it or you’re planning on it?”

“I was planning on it,
but I was hoping to get your blessing first.” Ed smiled.

“That’s commendable of
you, Braxton. You don’t see that often these days.
I
asked my wife’s father for her hand. He said yes grudgingly, I think.” He
chuckled and then said, “So, you love her, a lot?”

“I love her so much,
sir, that I can’t imagine my life without her.”

He grinned again. “Good
answer.
Emmi
tells
me
that
she feels the same way about you.
I
wouldn’t presume
to stand in the way of love like that. You have
my
blessing, thank you for asking for it. But don’t hurt my daughter.”

“I won’t, sir, at least
never on purpose…I mean…”

He laughed and said, “I
know what you mean. Sometimes, with sensitive women like
my
daughter it’s hard to get it just right. But as long as you’re trying and not
doing anything that you know up front will hurt her, I won’t kill you.”

“Good to know, sir,”
I
told him with a grin and then said, “Ed.”

He snickered. “When are
you planning to ask her?”

“I was thinking about
doing it after my last fight, which brings me to another thing I wanted to ask
you. Would you and your wife be interested in coming?”

“
Emmi’s
mother is not big on the whole fight thing, but if it’s okay if I tell her
about the proposal—”

“Yes, of course,”
I
told him.

“—then I think she’ll
agree to come. Me, I enjoy watching a good fight.”

“I’ll do my best to
give you one, sir,”
I
told him.

CHAPTER
FIVE

EMMI

I
was excited. Braxton and
I
were having a picnic at the
lake and I was packing us a lunch to take. He had just asked
me
out of the blue if I’d like to go. Neither of us had classes so
I
figured, why not?
I
hadn’t told
him about the job yet.
I
wanted to wait until we were by
the lake. It sounds silly, but it was such an exciting thing to
me
that I wanted to savor it a bit and not just blurt it out
and suddenly it was over with.

“Hey, are you almost
ready?” he asked as he walked into the kitchen.

Remembering the last
time we’d gone to that lake with a tickle in
my
belly
and a grin, I said, “Yep, I’ve got my swimsuit, do you have yours?”

He grabbed a string
cheese out of the basket and in spite of my smacking his
hand,
he peeled it open and took a bite. “You didn’t like my skin suit?”

“I’m not going to
answer that on the grounds that I may incriminate myself. But it’s broad
daylight this time, so bring your suit.”

“Okay, spoilsport,
don’t get your bikini bottoms in a bunch. I’ve got it on under my jeans.”

“Good,”
I
told him.
I
definitely liked his
skin suit, but we needed to leave that for when we’re at home, or at least
alone in the dark.

We loaded up the truck
and headed for the lake. It was a beautiful day.
I
was
happy to be with Braxton, I almost couldn’t believe how much I loved him
sometimes.
I
was happy about my new job, I couldn’t
wait to start, and I had to tell Braxton or I would burst.
I
hadn’t told anyone yet, not Zoe or my parents.
I
wanted Braxton to know first and I didn’t doubt that he would be proud of me.
I
glanced over at him.
Most of his face
was covered by his sunglasses
and it was too bad, because I loved his
face.