Cornbread & Crossroads

shook her head. “If I’m sick, then I get to be however I want to be. And right now, I’m throwing myself one heck of a pity party. Anybody who chooses to stay in this room with me better be prepared.” She narrowed her eyes at my boyfriend. “Besides, he ain’t here to see me. He’s got something he wants to ask you, and you just happen to be here in my house. Like a booger I can’t flick off the end of my finger.”
“Ew, Nana,” I scolded. “And I can’t believe you’re being even an ounce of rude to him.”
Mason rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, I don’t know how she knows, but she’s right. There is something I need to ask you.”
With everything going on, now was not the time to start popping any type of questions. I stammered and made an excuse that I needed to stay with my grandmother, but Nana put a stop to all my delay.
“Now which one of us is being rude? For pity’s sake, give the man a chance to speak his mind and then decide whether or not to freak out. You two, grab yourselves some iced tea and some cookies and sit out back.” She lay a hand over her heart. “I swear I won’t pass away before you return.”
I glared at her. “Not even remotely funny, Nana.”
She waved a hand at the two of us in dismissal. “Go.” As I grabbed the tray from before, I ushered Mason toward the kitchen and the back door. Before I left the room, she yelled after me, “Birdy, whatever he asks, trust me and just say yes.”
Ada poured Mason some iced tea in a new glass while Mimsy piled cookies onto a small plate. Once I set the tray down on the counter, she handed me the goodies and gave me a knowing nod. The detective held the door open for me to follow through, and I feared he would hear my pounding heartbeats as I passed him.
I set the cookies down on the small wrought iron table that sat in the middle of the brick patio under a huge magnolia tree. Dinner-plate-sized flowers bloomed against the dark green foliage. Normally, there would be huge piles of dark green leaves with brown undersides scattered all over the place, but Nana claimed there had always been a bit of a spell over the entire backyard, keeping it clean from debris and giving it an ethereal quality. So many good memories swirled in my head from playing with my parents to backyard parties. No wonder it remained one of my favorite places to be in this world.
Mason pulled a chair out for me to sit in but hesitated before settling into the one across from me. He picked up one of the cookies but didn’t take a bite. Instead, he worked on freeing all of the chocolate chips from their cookie imprisonment. He cleared his throat a couple of times but uttered not a word. Whatever he was about to say, it had to be pretty big.
Thanks to my meddling friends, my stomach clenched at the possibility of the biggest question a man could ask his girlfriend. With haste, I tried to anticipate what my answer would be, but couldn’t land on a solid response, and I refused to say anything that might jeopardize my relationship with him.
In a panic, I blurted out his name at the same time he began talking. We both chuckled with shared unease.
Mason ran his hand through his hair and sighed before clasping my hand in his. “I’ve been trying to ask you this for a couple of days, but there’s never been a moment where it’s just us. And then we found your grandmother in that way we did, and I just don’t know if it’s the right time or not.” The words flew out of him without a break in between sentences.
I swallowed hard and tried to hide my trepidation. “Whatever it is, just say it and get it over with. I promise I won’t bite.”
“It’s not the simple. What I want to ask you will be a huge step for you and me. And since we haven’t been together that long, I don’t want to scare you. But I honestly believe that it could be good for both of us.”
My stomach clenched, and I drew in my breath in anticipation.
“I know this might be really bad timing, but here goes.” Mason squeezed my hand in his. “I was wondering if you’d like to go on a small vacation with me?”
“Yes,” I blurted without thinking about it.
My ears rang and the world blurred for just a second. It took me too long to register that he hadn’t asked me what I thought he was going to. Was it disappointment or relief that flooded my system and brought everything back into focus?
Mason watched me with care, his head cocked to the side in confusion. “You said yes, but your face looks like you want to throw up.”
I pulled my hand out of his and gripped the glass of iced tea, its wet surface matching the clammy moisture of my palms. Gulping down the cool sweetness, I gathered my senses and thought about his offer.
When I drank the last drop, I set the glass down on the table and put Mason out of his misery. “Yes, I would like to go on vacation with you.”
His shoulders relaxed a bit, and his eyes shone with relief. “For a second there, I thought I’d freaked you out. You said yes so fast, I was pretty sure you weren’t aware of what I’d asked.”
Frosted fairy wings, I’d never be able to keep anything secret from a trained detective. “I was just following Nana’s advice to say yes to whatever you asked.”
He took a bite from a new cookie. “Maybe I should have asked you something more significant.” He raised his eyebrow as if challenging me.
“How about we just stick to the