Reed dropped my hand and placed his arm around my waist and said, “Why do I get the feeling that being married to you is going to be nothing but an adventure?”

I peeked up at him with a coy smile and said, “Hold on, baby. It’s going to be one hell of an adventure.”

I rolled my eyes as Courtney let out another curse word. As if the noise from the plane wasn’t bad enough as I tried to read, Courtney kept sighing every five minutes. I glanced over at her, and she was pulling out yet another row she had just crocheted.

“What am I doing wrong? Shit. I don’t remember how to do a double crochet.” She pulled out the pattern again and whispered, “What in the hell does back loop only mean?”

I looked back down at my Kindle and tried to tune out Court as I got back into my story.

“Wait, I think I remember how to do the double crochet. I take the hook and—oh wait, do I? Or was that knitting? Shit on a brick, why did she show me both?”

I let out a sigh and turned off my Kindle. “Can I see it?” I asked as I held out my hand.

Courtney just looked at me and let out a small laugh. “You want to try crocheting? Please, Reed. I don’t even know what I’m doing, let alone know how to show you how to do it.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew what I was about to do could end up causing me grief in the future, and Courtney would have a lot of fun with it, but I had to. She was driving me crazy. I opened my eyes to find her holding up the blanket.

“Why are there holes in it?”

I reached for it and took the hook from her. “Because you’re not keeping the same tension throughout. If it is too loose, you’ll get the holes, and if it is too tight, you’ll have a hard time attaching the next row. Here, look…this is how you do the double crochet.” And I began crocheting.

I looked over at Courtney, and she was sitting there with her mouth hanging open, staring down at what I was doing.

Her eyes moved up and looked into mine. “How…wait. Wait just a damn second here. You know how to crochet?”

I nodded my head and said, “Are you watching?”

She let out a laugh and quickly covered her mouth. “You know, if I had known this a year ago, I would have totally called you a tree-loving, cultivating-plant pussy, crocheting cocksucker!”

I dropped my hands and looked at her. “What?”

She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Cocksucker was the only thing I could quickly think of that started with a C.”

If I didn’t love her so much, I would be so pissed at her. “Here, if you don’t want my help…”

I handed everything back to her, and her smile dropped.

“Wait! Show me again.”

I rolled my eyes, took everything back, and showed her again.

“May I ask you something?” she said.

“Not if you are going to make jokes about it.”

“I promise, I won’t,” she said as she attempted to hold back a giggle. “Um…where did you learn to crochet?”

“And knit. I know how to knit, too,” I said as I whipped out two rows on the blanket.

Courtney busted out laughing, and I turned and glared at her.

She used both hands to cover her mouth. “Sorry! Okay, I’m sorry. I won’t laugh.”

“My grandmother taught me, Paul, and Wesley all how to crochet, knit, and…” I lowered my voice and said, “Darn.”

Courtney leaned in closer to me and said, “I’m sorry. What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”

I looked away and then back at her quickly. “Darning.”

“What in the hell is darning?” Courtney asked.

I let out a long sigh and said, “It’s a sewing technique for, um…well, for repairing holes and worn-out areas on fabric and stuff.” I shrugged and returned the crochet hook and yarn to her.

She began chewing on her lower lip, and I was regretting even telling her.

She held up her hands and said, “I’m trying. Really, I am, but…Oh. My. God. That is too funny!”

I picked my Kindle back up and turned it on while Courtney sat next to me, having a laughing fit. When she finally settled down and tried to start crocheting again, she busted out into another laughing fit. I ended up turning off the Kindle again and closing my eyes. It didn’t take long before I ended up falling asleep to the sounds of my wife giggling next to me.

I jerked my eyes open when I felt something moving on my leg. I lifted my head and looked around. Courtney was looking out the window, and her nails were now digging into my leg.

Ouch! Son of a bitch. We must be landing. “Court, angel, you’re going to put holes in my leg.”

She snapped her head around and looked at me with a scared expression on her face. “We’re landing.”

Courtney loved flying, but she hated the takeoff and landing parts of it. I grabbed her hand and began kissing it, and then I ran my fingers up and down her arm.

Once we were on the ground and getting off the plane, Courtney took my hand and said, “I have to tell you, I’m super turned-on right now.”

I looked at her, surprised. “How come?”

She scrunched up her nose and said, “For some reason, knowing my big ole cowboy knows how to crochet, knit, and darn…well, it just turns a girl on.”

I let out a laugh and said, “Oh yeah? Maybe I should crochet, knit, and darn in the nude for you.”

Courtney let out a laugh. “That might be fun!”

When we pulled up to the house, I wasn’t surprised to see Layton and Whitley sitting on our porch swing. Courtney had called Whitley before we left New York and filled her in on everything that had happened. Courtney jumped out of the truck and ran up to Whitley. The next thing I knew, they were making their way over to the tree house and climbing the steps. I glanced over toward Layton, and he gave me a weak smile.

I walked up to him and stuck out my hand.

“Welcome home, dude.”

I shook my head and let out a sigh as I ran my hand through my hair. “Thanks. Nothing like being on Texas soil.”

Layton grabbed two suitcases, and I took the other two, and then we made our way into the house.

“Just set them in the living room. I’ll grab us some beers, and let’s head out back.”

Layton and I sat down on the rockers and looked out over the garden Courtney and I had been working on.

He let out a small chuckle and nodded in the direction of the garden. “It amazes me how these two have just melted right into country life.”