“I needed something new,” he said as he sped down the road. “I’d been in a rut since my wife died. So, I let the kids have the other house, bought a new car, and got in and headed north. The gang at the senior center thought I was nuts, but I told them that at seventy I’ve still got lots of miles left. I’m not ready to park this chassis and die.”
“You’re seventy,” Millie said. Oh, dear. She was turning seventy-seven soon. She was out with a younger man.
“Seventy’s not old.”
“Oh, no,” she agreed, and hoped he didn’t ask her age.
The restaurant looked expensive. Millie took in the linen tablecloths and crystal, the jacket-clad waiters, the soft cello music discreetly piped in, and felt immediately concerned for Altheus’s budget. But she didn’t say anything. That would only insult him. She did vow to find something inexpensive on the menu.
That was going to be impossible. Even ordering appetizers wouldn’t be kind to the budget of a senior citizen on a limited income. They ran the gamut, from a Dungeness crab and prawn martini to a morel and goat cheese tart, and prices started at fourteen dollars. Everything was à la carte.
“The mahi mahi is very good here,” Altheus said.
He’d eaten here before?
He grinned. “Please, order anything you want. I’d like this to be special.”
“Simply being out with a new friend is special,” Millie told him.
“I hope it’s going to be the first of many times,” he said, “so let’s make it memorable.”
Being here in this fancy restaurant was memorable enough for Millie. She ordered vegetables in puff pastry, the most inexpensive thing she could find.
And she was going to settle for a cup of tea, but Altheus ordered wine for them. Wine with lunch, it was so extravagant. She hadn’t drunk wine in years.
“Now,” he said, once the waiter had left, “tell me all about yourself.”
“Well, I’m afraid there’s not much to tell,” Millie said with a shrug.
But that didn’t quite turn out to be true. By the time they’d finished their salad, Altheus had heard all about her gardening addiction, her love of books, and her penchant for crossword puzzles.
“I do them, too,” he said. “Keeps the mind sharp.”
Millie wondered how sharp her mind would stay if that waiter kept filling her wineglass. The second glass loosened her lips the rest of the way, and, before she knew it, Altheus had heard about her children, her concerns over Debra, and even worse, had learned that she was almost seventy-seven.
“I’d never have guessed,” he said gallantly. “You don’t look a day over seventy.”
She blushed. “Oh, what nonsense.”
“No matter. I like older women,” he said with a wink, and saluted her with his wineglass.
By the time they finished with coffee and dessert, two hours had slipped by. “How about a drive around the lake?” Altheus suggested.
The way he drove, he should have offered her a race around the lake. But Millie wasn’t ready to go home to that big, quiet house yet, so she said yes. Since they were looky-looing their way around, Altheus drove at a more sensible speed. The sun came out, turning the lake a dark spring blue.
“Here,” Altheus said and pulled the car off the road. “I’m thinking of buying this piece of land as an investment. What do you think?”
“It’s like a wooded fairyland,” Millie said, taking it all in.
“It’s money in the bank,” added Altheus. “Waterfront, too.”
“My,” said Millie, thinking of her tiny nest egg. “I certainly admire you for being so daring.”
“Not daring, just business. I’m a working stiff, Millie. Retirement’s for old guys.”
“Well, I like your attitude,” she said. “What kind of work do you do?”
“I buy and sell real estate. I’m no Donald Trump, but I’ve turned a buck or two. And,” he continued with a puckish grin, “I can even manage to foot the bill for a nice meal. So, next time I take you out to eat, you don’t have to worry about finding the cheapest thing on the menu.”
“Next time?”
The look he gave her made her think of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in The Quiet Man. Oh, how the sparks had flown in that movie! And how they were flying here in this car right now. “There will be a next time, Millie, and soon.”
And, to prove it, he called her the next night. Debra got to the phone before Millie. The surprised look on her daughter’s face told Millie who it was. “It’s for you,” she said as if she couldn’t quite believe it, and handed over the phone.
“Thank you,” Millie murmured. And, as she said hello, she walked out to the kitchen where she didn’t have to see her daughter watching her with that unnerving expression of curiosity and wariness.
“How about dinner with me tomorrow night?” Altheus suggested. “And a movie after. It’s classics night at the Edgewood, and they’re playing Harvey.”
How sweet. He remembered that she’d said she loved Jimmy Stewart. “That sounds wonderful,” she decided.
“Then I’ll pick you up at five thirty.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” she said.
“Looking forward to what?” Debra asked from behind her as Millie placed the phone receiver back on its stand.
Debra’s unexpected presence gave Millie an unpleasant start, making her jump. “I’m going out with a friend tomorrow night,” she said, willing her heart to stop racing.
Debra regarded Millie like she was up to something. “A friend?”
“Yes, a friend.”
“I don’t even have a life yet,” Debra protested. “How could you? And where did you meet a man?”
Debra’s question sounded more like a scold. “Quite by accident.”
“I wish I was accident prone,” Debra muttered. “Just be careful,” she added. “You don’t know anything about this man.”
“He’s perfectly nice,” Millie said. Really, how silly Debra was being!
“Yeah, well, that’s what I thought about Ben. I don’t want to have to worry about you,” she added.
“Don’t worry about me. I think you have your hands full worrying about yourself,” Millie said crisply. Honestly, what did Debra think she was going to do at this age?
ONE THING SHE knew she was going to do. She was going to enjoy this little bit of excitement that had come into her life. She dressed carefully for her date, putting on her favorite black skirt and pink rayon blouse. Panty hose were a struggle to get on, but she managed, then slipped into her favorite, easy-walking black pumps—heels were a thing of the past—and put on her pink pearl necklace. Her hair was still a mess, but she did the best she could and vowed to get to the beauty salon the following week. Looking at it, she wished she still had long, brunette tresses instead of this short, gray cotton wool. And her skin—she used to have such perfect skin. “Just like peaches and cream,” Duncan used to say.
Her body had aged in such a sneaky way, each year slipping in some new bit of decay. First it was that lone wrinkle at the top of her lip. Next thing she knew, she had crow’s-feet around her eyes, and her muscles were protesting after a day of working in the garden. Sagging breasts, aging skin, gray hair—it was all such a cruel trick when she didn’t feel old inside. She certainly didn’t feel old to night.
“You’re only as old as you feel,” she reminded herself, and gathered up her purse and coat and went downstairs to wait for her date.
Eric was busy with his video game. “Gram, wanna play?” he offered.
“I can’t to night, dear,” Millie said.
Emily looked up from where she lay sprawled out in an easy chair, with a schoolbook open in her lap. “Are you going out?”
“Yes, I’m going out to dinner with a friend,” Millie told her.
Emily cocked her head, studying Millie. “You look nice.”
“Well, thank you,” Millie said. This was high praise, indeed, coming from a teenage girl. More
than she was going to get from her daughter, she was sure.
The doorbell rang, and that brought Debra out from the kitchen where she was working on dinner, something she hadn’t done much of since Millie moved in. But Millie beat her to the door.
There stood Altheus, looking distinguished in slacks, a shirt and tie, and a navy sports coat. He smiled at the sight of her. “Well, well. You look good enough to eat.”
Millie felt herself blushing. “Oh, really. Come in,” she added, and stepped aside. “This is my daughter, Debra.”
He crossed the threshold and shook Debra’s hand. “You’re just as lovely as your mother.”
Debra was underwhelmed by his gallantry. “Thanks.”
Millie felt like saying, “She’s much lovelier when she’s smiling.” Really, she’d taught her daughter better manners than this.
Altheus looked over at the grandchildren. Eric was involved with his video game and present only in body. Emily, however, was regarding Altheus with unbridled curiosity. Altheus nodded at her. “Hi there.”
She smiled. “Hi.”
“And these are my grandchildren,” Millie said, and made proper introductions, as proper as one could make when the children were still in their seats. “Eric, can you say hello to Mr. Hornby?” she prompted.
If she’d been hoping for a handshake, she didn’t get it. He gave Altheus a quick wave and a hi, and then was back in Video-Game Land.
It didn’t seem to bother Altheus. “Well, shall we go?” he said to Millie. Without waiting for an answer, he took her coat and helped her into it. “Nice to meet you,” he said to Debra, who was now gawking suspiciously. He opened the door and whisked Millie out, saying, “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.” Once they were in the car, he said, “I have a feeling your daughter wants to know my intentions.”
“Or mine,” Millie said. “I’m not sure she’s excited that I’ve found a friend.”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “You said she’s divorced?”
Millie nodded.
“Crabs in the pot,” he said cryptically.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Ever go crabbing?” he asked.
Millie shook her head.
“Well, you catch a bunch of crabs, there’s always one who wants to get away. But if he gets too far, the others pull him right back down. They want him to stay with them, miserable and doomed.”
“Debra’s not like that,” Millie protested.
He shrugged. “With kids, who knows? One thing I’ve learned. They sure don’t like their parents to get a life.”
“Oh?” Millie prompted.
“I started going out with a woman, oh, six months after my wife died. I was so lonely, you know. Let me tell you, my girls ripped into me good. How could I dishonor their mother like that? What was I thinking? This woman would come in and take all Ruthie’s things. On and on it went.”
“What did you do?”
His chin jutted out at a pugnacious angle. “I didn’t stop dating the woman, that’s for sure. I told the girls in no uncertain terms that what I did with my life was none of their damned business. Pardon my French.”
Millie couldn’t help smiling. “I guess I’ll have to tell my daughter the same thing. Without the French.”
That made him chuckle. “Hear, hear. Let her sulk. At our age, we’ve earned the right to do as we please.”
And, after an enjoyable evening of fine food, fine conversation, and a walk down Movie Memory Lane, when he’d returned her to her doorstep, it appeared he wanted to keep on doing as he pleased. “I hope you’ll let me take you out again,” he said as she took her key out of her purse.
She smiled at him. “I would love that.”
“And I hope you’ll let me kiss you good night,” he added. He took her by the arms and turned her to face him.
Millie’s heart began to race. If she were to be honest, she’d have to admit she’d entertained this very thing as a secret fantasy. But really, it was rather preposterous to be kissing a man on her front porch at her age, and a man who was seven years younger than she was at that.
“Oh, Altheus, I don’t know,” she began.
“I do,” he said, and pulled her to him and kissed her.
She felt a jolt as if someone had applied those emergency-room paddles to her chest. Oh, my. She pulled away, completely frazzled. “Really, Altheus, I’m seven years older than you.” And I haven’t kissed a man other than Duncan in fifty-four years. What was she thinking?
That it felt awfully good. And yet, she felt so silly, like she’d just been caught trying on her granddaughter’s clothes.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Altheus countered. “You’re an attractive woman, Millie, and I enjoy being with you. And I certainly enjoyed kissing you just now.” He put a finger under her chin and raised her face, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t you miss this?”
With her husband gone, one of the things she missed most were those little moments of closeness—the hugs in the kitchen in the morning, the soft kiss good night before they turned out the lights. She had to nod and murmur, “Yes, I do.”
He gave her a hug and another kiss, this time on her forehead. “I think we’ve got something good going. Let’s enjoy it.”
She smiled up at him. “I think you’re right, Altheus.”
Who would have thought it? So many people at her age were starting to live in the past. But here, in this new place, Millie was now living in the future.
Buds
TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR GARDEN LOOK GREAT
Regularly pinching off (or deadheading) spent
blooms on reblooming plants will often hasten
the development of new blooms, as well as improve
the appearance of your plant.
Taking a stroll through the garden with your
morning coffee on a regular basis will help you
become more familiar with your plants and their
particular growth habits. This will allow you to
spot any developing problems or unusual growth
and determine whether it’s something that
needs further attention.
To gauge bloom times, make note of when plants
flower in gardens in your neighborhood. Nursery
plants are often shipped from warmer regions, so
they’re not always reliable indicators of when
your plants will bloom.
Vinegar makes a great organic weed killer. Pour a
little directly on weeds. But pour carefully or it will
also take out your flowers.
Make a treasure map of your garden by taking
pictures and marking the location of your spring
and fall bulbs with rocks or pretty stones. That way,
you won’t accidentally dig them up when planting
or turning mulch into the soil.
NINETEEN
IT WAS SATURDAY, and Slugfest, Heart Lake’s annual spring festival named after the Northwest’s famous pest, was in full swing in spite of intermittent May showers. The downtown section of Lake Way had been cordoned off and packed with everything from bounce houses and climbing walls to sidewalk chalk art, with chalk provided by the local merchants. Every restaurant, local church, and ser vice club had set up some sort of a food booth along the edges of the street, which was packed with revelers. Amber and her family walked along the street, bundled in raincoats, taking it all in.
Amber had saved up her cookie money so she could spring for eats, and now they were sampling hamburgers from the Family Inn.
Ty frowned at his. “This is a case of E. coli waiting to happen.” He gathered their burgers and handed them back to the cashier. “You wanna cook these a little longer?”
She looked at him like he had a problem, but nodded and took the gut-rot burgers.
“If all their food is this bad, they’re in trouble,” said Amber.
Had Ty checked with this restaurant? They
could sure use help. Should she even bring up the subject, or would she risk ruining a perfectly good day? They’d had so few, especially since her big blow-up. Well, what the heck. “Did you ever drop off an app there?”
He shook his head. The woman handed him back the burgers. He took another bite of his. “This was a waste of money. And probably even going there would be a waste of time. If their food’s this bad, they don’t know anything.”
She wanted to push him to at least check it out. WWMD? (What would Millie do?) Millie would probably drop the subject, saying something like, “Whatever you think, dear.”
Except these days, Ty needed help thinking. His brain was in a TV-numbed depression fog and the family money tree was shriveling. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life doing price comparisons at thrift stores and scrounging day-old bread from the bakery and having barely enough money to pay the rent.
It was as if Millie was standing next to her whispering in her ear, “Well, then, give him some armor.”
“They’d be lucky to get you,” she said, working hard to keep her words casual. “And who knows? You may save them from going out of business.” That hadn’t been so hard. And it was certainly true. There, try that on for size.
He gave a thoughtful nod. “Maybe I’ll check it out next week.”
It was such a small thing. A maybe. Not a for sure that he’d follow through, certainly not a guarantee he’d even get an interview, let alone a job. But it was progress. Progress of any kind was good. She smiled at him and gave his arm a squeeze as they started walking toward the bounce house.
Halfway there, she spied Millie on the opposite sidewalk, strolling along next to a big man with gray hair, each of them eating a cotton candy. Old friends, maybe, a brother in town visiting? No. The way they were looking at each other, it was plain to see they weren’t related.
“There’s my friend, Millie. Let’s go say hi,” she said, giving Ty’s arm a tug.
“You say hi,” he said. “Seth wants to get to the bounce house.”
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