Gone Country

Chapter 37 (For The Love Of Chocolate)

*Brant*

"The only thing I'm going to regret about my decision is that I won't be able to be with her twenty-four seven," I told Austin when I brought the bottle of Corona up to my lips again.

He had brought me to the lake for a beer or two where I had explained how much getting this job meant to me. Austin understood completely, just like my father when he told me, "It's time for you to start taking care of you, son." All my life I've been working for my family, and though I love them unconditionally, I habitually wondered when was the right time to stop and start preparing for a future for myself.

It's been weighing heavily on my mind the more I fall in love with Charlotte. How could I possibly have a life with her if every penny I have goes to my parents? She and I would have to live with them for the rest of our lives because I wouldn't be able to afford to buy a house, pay the bills, and completely provide for my own family that I wanted to have with her.

It was time that I really did become a man. I have talked to my father countless of times, wanting to know if he thought bad of me for wanting to help myself instead of my whole family. The only thing he kept saying to me in return was, "You're a man now, Brant, it's time for you to make your own decisions." It wasn't until recently did he give the hint that it was time to take care of myself, and with me came Charlotte.

I took another swig of my beer with my eyes staring off across the glowing lake reflecting the sunset colors in the sky. When I looked down into the water at myself, I couldn't help but wonder about Charlotte. She was my other half. Whenever I looked at myself, I could see us. Austin gave my back a pat, letting me know that he supported my decision. "Do you think it's crazy to marry at a young age?" I asked my best friend.

"Yes, but if we're hypothetically talking about you and Charlotte getting married, I've been expecting to have the best man conversation with you."

I chuckled, glancing over at him to see he was already grinning at the thought. "You do look good in a tux," I joked.

"Damn right I do," he laughed.

I hadn't asked the question for right now as if I was going to ask her today, I mostly wanted reassurance that if I did ask sometime this year he wouldn't think that I was making a huge mistake. Charlotte has told me that she didn't think we were ready for that kind of responsibility, but I feel like she has only been telling me that to ease my mind when everyone pressured the marriage subject on me. I felt like I was ready now and I wanted her to be ready too.

"Hypothetically speaking," Austin said, nudging me to get my attention. "If you got married, I'm sure it would be one of the best decision you ever made."

I thanked him for both being a friend I could rely on and for using a hypothesis to unsubtly get his point across. "I bet she's home," he whispered. I already knew she was, the sun was starting to set and it shouldn't take her four hours to eat a BLT. "Come on, let's go explain to Charlotte how much of a man you're becoming."

I stood up, taking the truck keys out of his hands before he even thought of driving. He's been through three beers in the last ten minutes, six in total of the couple of hours we've spent here. There was no way I was putting my life in his hands. He gave a pout, muttering something about how adults were buzzkills. I had a feeling that Austin would never fully grow up. I'd be taking care of him for the rest of my life.

I got him to the truck, along with the empty travel cooler of alcohol he had brought for my birthday. I've told him how I wasn't a big drinker, mostly because of Phillip and how he use to scare Charlotte when he drank a little too much. Austin didn't care if I was a drinker or not, he used me as an excuse to down a couple of beers every once and a while.