We concluded our drive to Tennessee when Dustin pulled onto a dirt path that circled around the front of a ranch-style home. There was a plump, older woman sitting on a rocking chair on the front porch, a magazine in her hands, when she heard the gravel crunching underneath the tires her eyes shot up and a smile lite up her entire face as she shot up from her spot and quickly yanked open the screen door to shout something into the house. Dustin put the truck in park but before that Mabel had leaped out and was running in her direction, arms opened wide.

"Aunt Sue!" She shouted as the woman mimicked her pose until they finally grasped each other into a tight hug. She had on a long denim dress that had a white floral print around the collar, she wore her greying, light brown hair in a tight ponytail that swooshed when she moved.

"Hey Aunt Sue," Dustin's voice was soft and he had a small smile playing on his lips, as she pulled from Mabel and looked to Dustin, her dimples accentuating her features while she fisted her hands and put them on her hips.

"Dusty!" Her accent was much deeper than both Mabel and Dustin's combined, I hung back by the hood of the truck watching as this woman who was easily a foot shorter than Dustin brought him into a bone-crushing hug. She peeked off to the side of him and met my gaze to which I offered a small smile that mirrored hers. "And who is this little lady?" Her question was directed to Dustin but her eyes continued to follow me.

"That's my girl, RaeLynn," my heart fluttered at his words, "RaeLynn, this is my Aunt Sue."

"Hi, nice to meet you." My feet brought me closer to the group and suddenly I realized that there were two other people greeting Mabel, they all wore grins the size of Texas.

Holding my hand out for a polite handshake she looked at it and tsked, "Come on now, that's not how we do things around here." Before I could retract my hand she had took it only to pull me to her in a hug that was tight in a friendly manner, warm vanilla and lavender filled my nostrils.

"You done good, Dusty," a scrawny man was standing next to Dustin as we ended the hug, he wore a loose fitting pearl snap flannel and a black cowboy hat that looked much too big for his head. He was a head shorter than Dustin and his blue eyes smiled at me with crow's feet, "I'm his Uncle Earl." He greeted me with a handshake, his hands were calloused and rough just like Dustin's.

"I'm RaeLynn, you can call me Rae if you'd like."

"Well, what do you say we ditch this big goon, Rae?" A voice asked from behind me causing me to whip my head back.

"Quit it, Randy." I saw Dustin reach his hand over and smack the much shorter boy on the back of his head, he was about an inch or two taller than me and was dressed in a similar outfit to his Dad's, though his muscular frame filled it out more.

"Oh, you know I'm just playing, cous," his voice wasn't as nearly as deep as Dustin's but his accent was much more prominent.

"Nice to meet, you." I offered my hand and he took it with a light grasp and small shake.

"Well, what do you say we get you all settled inside?" Aunt Sue asked to which we all nodded, tuning back to the truck to get our bags.

"Now if Rae didn't bring so many suitcases we would've been done sooner." Dustin ribbed me a bit and before I could move my mouth to defend myself Aunt Sue already did.

"You know that us girls don't ever leave home unprepared for any circumstance." She elbowed me in a friendly manner and we watched as he rolled his eyes in a teasing way. A laugh was shared between the two of us as he collapsed on the bed in mock exhaust. "Well, I'll let the two of you rest, the rest of the family is coming over for dinner at five." She held up five fingers and gave a pointed look to the sprawled out Dustin who waved a hand at her. She turned on her heel and closed the door behind her.

"Come here," he said his arms outstretched to me, though the rest of his body remained unmoving. I hopped onto the bed and felt his muscles tense underneath my hands that rested on his chest.

"Say, you have one of them cowboy hats?" I asked, craning my neck to look at him with curiosity written on my face.

His eyes were closed and it was like someone suddenly painted a smile on his lips. "I do." He replied, his eyes still closed and smile still intact. "Got a set of cowboy boots to match, too."

"Well, what do you say you put it on then, cowboy." I bent my body over his so that my lips hovered above his ear, slightly grazing it as I whispered. Suddenly his eyes flashed open and the burst of blue and brown nearly took my breathe from my chest. He carried me over to his duffel bag where a hat was sat on top, he reached for it and placed it on my head in one swift motion.

He groaned as he reeled his neck back to take in the sight of me, my legs wrapped around his muscled torso as I tipped the hat in his direction, like a gentleman cowboy would do in the old western movies. "You make one sexy cowgirl."

"Hm, maybe we can take some pictures for a calendar." I joked as he flopped me onto my back on the bed, my legs still around his waist as he lowered himself to be face to face with me. "But for now, let's unpack." I quickly unraveled my legs and crawled to the other side of the bed, Dustin wasn't happy with this.

"You're no good for my heart, girly." He said as she shook his head, a smile on his face regardless.

"Come on now, Dusty, these bags aren't gonna unpack themselves!" I jeered causing him to lunge at me.

"You're gonna regret that, darlin'." With that, he arms snaked around my waist and I erupted into a mess of laughter.

There was a loud clashing noise and I shot up from underneath Dustin's heavy arm being draped over me.

"What in the hell is that?" He moaned in response to my words.

"Just the dinner bell." He answered as if I should be used to it.

"Oh hell, Dustin, I didn't even get to unpack." I groaned seeing as we had fallen asleep after our little wrestling match.

"It's fine, they don't expect you to be dressed to the nines."

"It's not what the expect, it's that I should be." I countered before moving over to my bags and picking out a un-ripped pair of jeans along with a floral, off-the-shoulder blouse quickly dressing myself before going over to the mirror to fix up any make-up I'd smeared off.

"You're so damn pretty, Rae." He came up behind me, in nothing but a pair of blue jeans held on by a belt, his abdominal muscles weren't quite defined but he was strong and fit; it showed. His large arms enveloped my waist and pulled me against him to which I released a cross between a moan and a sound of protest.

"Would you put on a shirt and quit flirting with me!" I wiggled in his grasp, he only tightened his hold.

"But, I like you." Burying his head into my neck caused a sigh to push past my lips as I feel back into him and my head fell on top of his my hands placing themselves on top of his. "Alright, let's get this dinner over with so I can bring you back up here and show you how much I like you." I laughed at his comment but felt a pull in the pit of my belly at the under lacing tease in his voice.

Dinner was a big affair. I carefully selected a seat, making sure I wasn't going to spoil the meal for Mabel. I watched as she chatted with a girl cousin who looked to be close in age with her, they took turns shooting daggers in my direction, I assumed Mabel had caught her up to speed on her brother's evil girlfriend. Everyone settled into their seats and there must have been about fifteen added people that I hadn't had the chance to meet yet. Before any introductions could be said, Uncle Earl said grace.

"Bless us O, Lord and these gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen." He finished and everyone else followed in suite by saying, "Amen".

"So, Dustin, are you gonna introduce us to this girl you've brought." A woman who wore glasses perched at the edge of her nose and her blonde curls pulled back nodded in my direction with a tight smile.

"This is RaeLynn, she's my girlfriend, Aunt Coralee." He told her as he reached for the dinner rolls placing one on each of our plates.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"Well, RaeLynn, this is my husband, Noah," she nudged the man who sat next to her whose head shot up and he offered a small smile before licking his lips as his eyes darted back to the food that laid across the table. "And our three kids, Addie-Lee," she pointed to the girl who was chatting with Mabel, "Noah Jr." a young boy who wore a toothless smile and waved politely, I waved back my heart felt like it was soaring at the sight of him, his blonde crew-cut reminding me of a young Dustin, "And baby Jane." She finished, moving to the side to reveal a baby who was sat in a height chair, a bowl of applesauce spilled in front of her.

"Hi," I said softly looking at the baby from across the table, she gazed at me for a few short seconds before losing interest. When I turned back to my plate Dustin had already filled it for me, I turned to see him wearing a sheepish grin and mouthed a 'thank you' to him.

"That's my Grandma Mae," Dustin whispered, pointing to a woman, her skin sagged around her cheeks, though she seemed in good spirits as she chatted with Aunt Sue. Her hands bony and frail as she picked up her fork and pushed around the peas on her plate. "My mother's mom." He finished, the woman's hair was short and whiter than the first frost of winter. Looking closer, through her thick framed glasses I could see that she had a pair of sparkling blue eyes, they looked like someone had look a paintbrush with brown and splattered it across them.

"They're just like yours." I whispered, barely audible to myself although, according to Dustin's nod, he had heard it.