“Oh!” Miriam raised a hand to her face to hide her laughter, only to find her hand suddenly being drawn gently down by Jax’s.
“Don’t ever do that,” he said, his tone serious. “Don’t ever cover up that smile. I think it may just be able to launch a thousand ships.”
Miriam blushed again, and it spread like a small fire all over. Felt it in her toes.
“Come on,” he said, rising.
“Where we going?”
Jax offered his hand.
Miriam considered it. She gave in, placed her hand in his.
“Let’s go downtown. Show me around your city.” Jax kissed Miriam tenderly on the cheek, then ran to fetch his car. The kiss was the softest thing Miriam had felt in her life. She stood waiting with her purse in her hands, again transfixed by the beast of a vehicle that Jax pulled up to the club’s entrance. He hopped out, opened the passenger door, and looked at her expectantly.
“What kind of car is this?” Miriam asked, stepping toward the offered door.
“It’s a Shelby,” Jax said.
Miriam raised her eyebrows, surprised and impressed.
“A 1969 Shelby Mustang GT Three-fifty,” Jax said with pride.
“She sure is something,” Miriam said. She could hear the awe in her voice.
“I thought the same thing when I first saw you.” Jax planted another kiss on Miriam’s cheek before closing her door and running around to his side of the Shelby. He started the engine and shifted into first. “You look amazing in red, by the way,” he said quietly, sounding almost shy.
In that moment, Miriam was certain that somewhere in the deep recesses of this earth, in some underground ocean-filled cave, there was a small but indisputable earthquake.
They drove to Memphis. Downtown was aglow with lights, and the streets were packed with people. The Shelby’s windows were down, and as they drove slowly through the city, she could hear the strumming of guitars filling the night air, the music growing into a cacophony by the time they reached Front. The aroma of hot fried food permeated the night air.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Miriam said.
“Just taking in your city,” Jax said. He downshifted into second and made a left on Front Street. “And taking in what Mazz said,” he added.
Miriam blinked back confusion. Mazz had said a lot of insane things that night; she was struggling to remember what Jax meant.
They stopped at a red light where, to their left, couples were dancing to the blues music being played by street performers in the middle of Beale Street. They watched for a moment, then Jax turned Miriam’s face toward his. “Why don’t we do it?” he said.
“Do what?” Miriam asked. He could not mean what she thought he meant. But what if he did?
“Get married?”
Think, Meer. You don’t know him. This is your first date. Love at first sight happens in the classics and usually does not end well. But Mama said she knew, just knew, about Daddy…
Miriam’s thoughts were a tornado shifting this way and that, toward logic and away from it. But in the very pit of her, in her veins and arteries and sinews, she knew she loved this unknown man.
“Well,” she said, turning to look back out the window rather than at Jax, “because we’ve known each other for all of a day.”
“Thirty-two hours,” Jax countered, pulling ahead as traffic started moving again.
“Thirty-two hours,” Miriam repeated.
“And that’s not enough time?”