“Hey, Mr. Harris!” Rick smiled, taking his hand off his trusty gun.

“Well Eleanor! Aren’t you a sight? Darling, you’re glowing!”

“Thank you! You’re looking great. Is Margaret feeding you, though? You’re lookin' a little thin.”

“Ah, you know, she says I’m overweight.”

Which he was, but Elli just grinned.

“Never! Come on over to my house. I’ll cook for you.”

“Bless your heart, Eleanor, always such a sweetie.” Elli’s smile got brighter as she felt Shea smiling at her.

“Here for dinner?”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a nod, “Mr. Harris, this is Shea Adler, my boyfriend.”

It felt so good saying it to someone else that it almost calmed Elli’s nerves…almost. Shea shook Rick’s hand, a grin on his face.

“Nice to meet you.”

“You, too, son. You look familiar, do I know you?”

“He plays on the Assassins, Mr. Harris,” Elli commented.

Shea smiled at her, and she smiled back.

“That’s how I know you! My grandson is a big ole fan, says he’s the next Alex Welch.”

“We’ll need one when Alex retires; you make sure to tell him that.”

They shared a laugh as Rick hit the button to open the gate

“I sure will, Mr. Adler. And, please, take good care of our Eleanor. She really is a magnolia.” Elli’s face warmed as both men smiled at her.

“Will do, Mr. Harris,” Shea said, still not letting his eyes leave Elli’s.

“Good luck in there,” Rick said with a wave as he walked towards the security house. Shea hit the gas, driving through the gate. They drove for a good ten minutes before the large plantation house came into view. Shea took in a sharp breath, before looking over at Elli.

“You never mentioned that your family was rich.”

It wasn’t the first thing she hadn’t told him, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Shea had seen plantation houses before, but Elli’s parent’s house was probably the biggest he had ever seen. The driveway went around a huge white fountain that had to be at least 20 feet tall.

Shea parked behind a red BMW and got out, going around to let Elli out before looking up at the house. Huge maple trees surrounded the house, but all you could look at were the six huge white pillars that held the second floor balcony up. It looked like the windows went floor to ceiling. The white of the house made the blue of the window shutters and door stand out vividly. It was really an elegant house. If he had his guess, he would say there were at least 30 rooms. The place was huge!

It looked like something straight out of “Gone with the Wind.”

Elli cleared her throat, and he looked down at her. She looked so beautiful tonight, but she was so nervous that she was making him nervous.

“It’s kinda big.”

“Kind of?” he asked looking back up at the house, hell, the mansion. Through the big window above the door he could see the huge sparkling chandelier.

“Jeez, El, it would have been nice to prepare for this. I mean, you never once said your parents were loaded.”

“It never came up.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, taking her hand.

“Well, come on.” Shea started walking, basically pulling her along.

“Now remember, my mother is crazy, my sister is a bitch, my brothers are morons, but my daddy is amazin’.”

He loved when she got nervous like this, her little twang got thicker, and he just wanted to eat her up.

“Your brother’s wives are nice, but stupid for dealing and breeding with your brothers,” he said with a grin as they climbed the stairs.

“I love when you listen.”

He laughed as they walked up to the door. Elli took a deep breath before opening the wide door. He didn’t know how she got it open, it looked really heavy. He followed her into the house. Shea look up as a very pump white lady came through a door, a tray full of glasses balanced in her hands.

“Ms. Eleanor! Look at you!”

“Mrs. Harris!” Elli gushed, running over to the older lady, kissing her plump cheek, “I saw Mr. Harris, he said you aren’t feedin' him.”

“Now ain’t he a lie. I feed that man, don’t you listen Eleanor. He just wants you to fuss over him.”

Holy crap, did he come to Clarksville or step back in time to “Gone with the Wind?”

“You know I will, too!” Elli gushed, kissing her again.

“I tell you what, Ms. Eleanor, you havin' that boyfriend I’ve heard about is doing wonder. You look fantastic.”

Shea had to smile at that. He liked knowing that he was the reason Elli looked fantastic.

“Why, thank you. Since you brought him up, Shea, this is Ms. Harris, she was my nanny.”

Shea smiled, waving awkwardly. He couldn’t shake her hand because she was still holding the tray.

“My, my, Ms. Eleanor, he’s a looker.” Elli grinned back at Shea, winking at him.

“Damn right about that one.”

Elli turned from Ms. Harris, coming towards Shea as Ms. Harris laughed and left the room. Elli took his hand in hers, and then looked up at him nervously. The girl that was just talking to Ms. Harris was gone, and back was the nervous Elli.

“Okay, you have met two people out of three that will be nice to me. I’m warning you, Shea, it’s not gonna get better than that.”