OO-RAH!

Chapter 3

"Who. . .was. . .that?" was the first thing Billie-Mae says to me once I was inside the house again. I laughed a little as moved past her to grab one of her bags and head up the stairs. 

"That's Mr. and Mrs. Taylor's grandson, Chase Taylor." I answer her vaguely. I made my way up the stairs and turned into what used to be Mama and Daddy's room. A month after their funeral, I had talked to Billie-Mae about her moving in with me so she could help me with the farm. Knowing Daisy would have a fit if I changed her room into a guest room (even though she wasn't going to be visiting as often anymore), I reluctantly turned Mama and Daddy's room into Billie-Mae's room. As soon as I opened the door, the familiar smell of Mama's flowery perfume and Daddy's fresh leather scented after shave made my chest tighten up. The feeling soon washed over when Billie-Mae came up to my side, asking even more questions about Chase.

"When did he get here? How old is he? Where's he from? Why is he here? What does he do for a living?" She asked without stopping for air. I turned around smiled at her like she was crazy. 

"He got here yesterday, he's twenty-one, I'm not sure where he's from, he's a Marine, and he's here because he's on leave after a very long and intense deployment in a top secret location." I answer her many questions as best as I could. I walk back out of the room to grab her last two bags and she continues to follow me. 

"A Marine?! Cousin, you have great taste in men." she jokes and I chuckle in return. "And he's only been here one day and he's flirting with you like that? Where can I find me a military man?" she jokes again. I shake my head at my cousin's jokes and comments about Chase. 

"So what's he like?" she asks. We plop down on the bed and Billie-Mae crossed her legs on the bed and faces me like we're sixth graders telling each other deep secrets. 

"Well, he's nice, very helpful, well built, generous, and down right hot." I cave in to the childishness of the conversation. "I was in the middle of making dinner last night, when Mrs. Taylor called asking me to hurry on over like there was an emergency. So, I drop what I'm doing a run over there. She ends up being fine and I told to stop giving me attacks, and she makes me come in. She starts talking about how she thinks I could use a friend or someone to talk to since Daisy hasn't been any help in that department, and I thought she was trying to set me up with another random guy. But, she begs me to give him a chance so I agree and she's fixing me up like I'm going out or something, and she leads me into the living room, and there in front of me is the most gorgeous man I've ever seen in my  life." I tell Billie-Mae about the first time I saw Chase. "He was in his green camies and he the sleeves rolled. His arms are so strong and his chest is just so broad." I let out a loud sigh as I fall back on to the bed. 

"Sounds like you got a crush, Hayden." Billie-Mae says with a little laugh in her voice. I looked up at her and smiled. 

"You got that right." I joke. Billie-Mae flops onto her stomach and rests on her elbows next to me. 

"So, what were y'all doing before I got here, huh?" she asks, wiggling her eyebrows at me. I swing my arm up and hit her teasingly on her back while chuckling. 

"Well, it was almost a kiss, then you rang the dam doorbell." I said, making it sound like I was angry at her. 

"Forgive me. From now on, whenever he's around I will leave the two of you alone unless I am told otherwise." she informs me. We both laugh at our jokes about the conversation. We sit up and I start helping Billie-Mae unpack her bags and get settled in. 

Billie-Mae and I have always been really close growing up. She was Mama's younger sister's daughter, and she looked just like her mama. She had the same wavy chocolate brown hair as her mama, and the fact that Billie-Mae had cut super short made her look even more like Auntie Jeanie. She had her mama's big, round green eyes and high cheekbones. Both of us were on the shorter side, we both got that from our mamas. Billie-Mae wore glasses her whole life, due to the fact her and her Daddy, Uncle Ray, were as blind as bats. Billie-Mae was very curious, and very intelligent. She worked really well with numbers and knew a lot about history. I always shared my secrets with her, and told her everything just like I used to do with Daisy. As of now, I feel like Billie-Mae is more of a sister to me than Daisy is.