by Clark Graham
Tim thought that was harsh, but better than nothing. “Okay, I will meet you at the steakhouse on the old highway south of town. I hear it’s really good.”
“Okay, sounds good, what time?”
“Is six o’clock good for you?”
She could hear hesitancy in his voice so she decided to be nice. “Yes, that is fine. I am looking forward to it.”
When he hung up the phone she got dressed. It was only after she came out that she found the note. It upset her even more. She had half a mind to call Tim back and cancel so she could spend the evening with John but she decided against it. She would do the next best thing, however. She drove down to the hardware store.
John was real surprised to see her walk in and went up to her right away. “Hi, how are you doing?”
“I’ve been better. I just came down to see what I would need to fix my living room chair.”
He smiled, “You would probably be better off just buying a new one. If you cut out the broken spring you will be sitting in a crater.”
She turned to him and got real serious. “I will miss you. We don’t always communicate real well, but I enjoyed your stay.”
He didn’t know what to say. It took him a minute but he replied, “I will miss you, too. I thought that I was bothering you by being underfoot.”
“No, it was nice to have someone to talk to.”
“I am getting paid tonight. Do you want to go to dinner, my treat? I can afford a lot of hamburgers,” he said with a smile.
“No, sorry, I have a date.” It broke her heart to tell him that, especially when she saw the crushed look on his face, so she added, “I do eat dinner every night. There will be other opportunities.”
“Fine, how about tomorrow then?”
“It sounds great. I have to go get ready,” she kissed him on the cheek as she walked out the door.
That night he came home to an empty house because she left early to pick some stuff up at the store. When she did get home, he was already in bed. She was hoping that the date would not go well so as not to add further complications to her life. The problem was it did go well. Tim had been a true gentleman and they had gotten along famously.
She laid back in bed, looking up at the ceiling, trying to figure out her life. It had changed abruptly when John had come into it. Because John was living in her house, she felt she had to prove that there was nothing going on between the two of them. That was the only reason she had started dating Tim.
Now instead of no one in her life, like she had planned, she had two men in her life, and she liked both of them a lot. Not all men were going to be her father. There were lots of men out there who were kind and considerate and not an alcoholic. She was still thinking about all of this when she fell asleep.
The next morning John was just going to quietly slip out of the house and walk to his new apartment, but Susan got up when she heard him moving around. “Do you want a ride to your new place, Future Man?”
“No, you don’t need to bother. I can walk it.”
“It’s not a bother, besides I need to know where you live so I can pick you up for our date tonight.”
He laughed, “Okay, but as for our date, I have some paperwork I need to pick up in this part of town, so I will come and get you.”
“Okay, hop in the Jeep and let’s head out.”
As they were driving along, Susan looked over at John and asked, “Do you think they will come get you?”
“Who?” John asked, not knowing what she was talking about.
“The people from the future. Do you think they will send a rescue mission to get you back to their time? Your time.”
It was something John hadn’t thought about. “I would guess if they were going to, they would have by now. Maybe it was an experimental craft, the first of its kind. Maybe I was supposed to go to some pick up point if something went wrong, but since I had amnesia they left without me. I really don’t know.”
The answer seemed to satisfy Susan.
“This is it,” John said as they arrived. “I live above the garage.”
“Okay, I will see you tonight.”
“Great,” John replied. “I will be there around six thirty. He was hoping for another kiss on the cheek but it didn’t happen so he ran upstairs.
Bill was in the apartment looking out the window when John got there. “I’m just finishing up. I was hoping to be out of here before you arrived.” Bill didn’t turn to face John but remained at the window. “Who’s the girl?”
“Oh she’s just a nurse at the hospital that gave me a place to stay until I got on my feet.”
“You left her house for my garage. Boy, you ought to have your head examined.”
“She was just being nice. She’s dating someone else and is not that interested in me.” John replied.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Bill replied.
John went to the window to look out. Susan was still sitting in her Jeep and seemed to be wiping away some tears. After she did, she finally drove off. John was even more confused. “I just don’t understand women.”
“And you never will,” Bill added.
Chapter Fifteen
When Susan got back to her house she intended to sit on the couch and have a good cry because John was gone and she missed him. She was surprised to see a dozen roses on her doorstep. She read the note. The flowers were from Tim saying that he had had a good time. It made her smile.
She soon busied herself around the house. Looking at the beat up old chair she decided to get a new one. She would have John help her take it to the dump, she thought. Then she added, maybe I can get Tim instead. She smiled to herself. She had not realized how lonely she was until John had come to live with her. She had someone to talk to when she got home. She didn’t even have to do all of the cooking.
Now she was all alone again and decided she wasn’t going to be by herself for very long. It was great having choices. Tim was a perfect gentleman. He made good money and after the war when he entered private practice, she would live comfortably.
John, on the other hand, was young, strong and handsome. He was her mystery man. He wouldn’t even have the shirt on his back if it weren’t for her. Still somehow she had fallen for him. There was just something about him that drew her in.
After getting all of the paperwork he needed from the doctors at the hospital, John stopped by a florist and bought a daisy for Susan. He then walked over to her house. He knocked on the door and she answered. She smiled as he gave her the flower. “I need to get a vase and some water, come in meanwhile.”
It was when John entered the house that he saw the roses on the end table. Susan was in the kitchen by this point. All he had was a dead end job to offer her and here she was dating a doctor. He thought of just taking her out to dinner and then not going out with her again.
That’s not what his heart was telling him. It was telling him, it was now or never. When she came back into the room she noticed that he was staring at the roses. She suddenly felt bad. It was a stark comparison between the dozen roses and the single daisy.
“I think I will put this on the kitchen table,” she said and then went back into the kitchen to do just that. When she returned she asked, “where are we going for dinner? Do I need to change?”
It was a silly question and she felt foolish for asking it because John was in one of the only two pair of pants he owned and it wasn’t fancy in the least.
“Las Vegas. You might want to take an overnight bag.” He looked away from the roses to see the shock on her face. He didn’t know why he said it; just a fit of jealousy he guessed. He figured he was losing her so he would go for it. It was all or nothing now.
“Las Vegas?”
“Yes, I figure we can elope since you have no family to speak of and since I have no family that I know of. As far as I know, my parents have not been born yet.”
She stood there in stunned silence for about five minutes. To ease the tension he got
down on one knee and did it properly. “Susan, will you marry me?”
In her head she was screaming, ‘no, no, no.’ it made it all the more surprising when her lips said, “yes!”
John jumped up and threw his arms around her in a bear hug. She started pounding on his chest, “I can’t breathe.”
He released his grasp. “I am sorry, I was just so excited.”
“Let me go get a few things and then we can go.” All the way into the bedroom she was berating herself, ‘are you crazy? You know nothing about him!’ In her heart, however, she was dancing. It was so spontaneous and sudden that she loved every second of it.
It was like the day she ran away from home with her brother. It had not been planned. He had said, “I can’t live like this any longer. I’m leaving. Are you coming?” She had said yes that time too. She had never felt so free. Her father would never beat her again.
She selected her nicest dress to get married in. Then she picked up the blue negligee she had thrown into the corner. She was going to need that after all. She packed everything in an overnight bag and then called the hospital and told them she wasn’t going to be at work for a few days. She was taking personal leave.
She was all smiles when she came out of the bedroom with an overnight bag. “Ready?” He asked.
“Yes, let’s hurry before we come to our senses.” They both piled in the Jeep for the eight hour drive to Las Vegas. They talked about their future plans and ambitions. He mentioned the conversation he had with Granger and about crop dusting in Idaho. She said that her enlistment was over in six months, so they could move to Idaho after that if the job was still available.
They were both feeling good about life when they checked into a motel to change and have a shower. She made some calls and found a nice suit for John. They then headed over to the all night wedding chapel to get married.
It was a small building on a corner and they had to wait in line to get married as there were three other couples ahead of them. When they got there, a receptionist got all of their information and then the preacher performed the ceremony. It was short and sweet and they had a passionate kiss at the end. When they went to leave their paperwork was already done. All they had to do was sign it.
They went back to the motel where the new negligee came on and then came back off in a matter of a few minutes and they spent the rest of the night entangled in each other’s arms.
Chapter Sixteen
It was well into the afternoon when John woke up. He looked over at Susan. She looked so peaceful laying there. Their arms were still around each other but he needed to get up as his hand had fallen asleep and was tingling badly. When he tried to move, it woke up Susan.
“Oh, good morning,” she said. She was truly happy. “It wasn’t all a dream. We did go crazy and get hitched.”
“Yes, and had such a wonderful night,” he said as he pulled his arm out from under her head. He started moving his fingers trying to get the circulation back.
“Mrs. John Buck,” she said as she contemplated her new name. “Or I could just go by Susan Buck. I guess legally I should go by Bobby Sue Buck.”
John was surprised by this. “Your name is Bobby Sue?”
“Yes, most people go by their first name and then shorten it. I go by my middle name and I lengthened it. My parents thought it was so cute to have twins. They named us Bobby Sue and Bobby Joe. It didn’t work as he went by Bob and I went by Susan. The only people on earth who called us by our actual names were our mom and dad.”
“Bobby Sue Buck; it does have a ring to it. I like it,” John replied.
“Just think, I came close to being Bobby Sue Ralston.”
Chills went up and down John’s spine. He had heard the name before. Memories started flooding back as he jumped out of bed and started pacing wildly around the room completely naked.
“Oh no, we had sex! What I have I done? What have I done?”
“Well, yes, we had sex, and it was quite enjoyable actually.” She didn’t understand why he had become so upset.
He stopped all of a sudden and faced her. She was still in bed and the upper half of her bare body was exposed. “You don’t understand,” he said. He was still very upset. “You are my grandmother, and we just had sex.”
She looked shocked. “How can that be? How can you be sure?”
“Okay, okay. Maybe you are right. It could be just the same name. Let me think, what do I remember about my grandmother?” He went back to his pacing. “Okay, I know she was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and she became a doctor. Oh, wait, that comes later. She used to tell me how her family had to move to Peoria, Illinois, to escape some trouble her father had gotten into in Missouri. That doesn’t match you, does it? Tell me that doesn’t match you.”
Susan looked at him a minute and said, “I become a doctor?” The very thought of it made her happy enough to forget that she just married her grandson.
“Oh, no, it’s true. You are my grandmother.” He had stopped his pacing long enough to wait for an answer, but he was pacing again.
“It could be worse,” she said in an effort to comfort him.
“How could it be worse?” he said as he looked over to her. She was still exposed. “Cover up, Grandma.”
“Oh, okay,” she said as she pulled the blankets up to her chin. She looked over at him. “Don’t you think you should put on some clothes, too?”
He looked down at his naked body. “Um, right.” He walked over to the chair where he had put his pants and slipped them on.
“So what do we do now? We are married,” Susan simply asked.
John sat down dejectedly in the chair. “I have no idea. I should have waited until I got my memory back. It’s all my fault.”
“I have a plan. It is obvious that a normally married relationship isn’t going to work between us. We can get an annulment.”
“Oh, so we just go and tell the judge that you are my grandmother, but my parents have not been born yet, and he will annul the marriage.”
Susan laughed before she was able to answer. “Yes, you tell him that story and I will explain that you are mentally unstable.”
Even John had to laugh at that one. It relieved the stress of the situation.
“Get dressed and don’t worry. I will fix this,” she said. “Did you ever pick up that paper stating that you had amnesia?”
“I have it at my apartment.”
“Good. I will need it.” She thought for a minute and then said. “You say my name becomes Bobby Sue Ralston?”
“Yes, and I am Jason Ralston. It’s good to meet you.”
“You really should introduce yourself to a person before you marry them.” They both laughed.
After that they went down and got breakfast and then started their long drive home. She tried to get more information from him about the future but he felt that he had given her too much information already and that he might have doomed his own future already. He sat there and sulked until she changed the subject.
It was dark when they arrived. She tried to talk him into staying the night. She offered him the roll out bed and the spare bedroom, but he would have none of it. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts so she dropped him off at his apartment.
When he walked into the place he looked around the room and saw the bare wood paneling and the meager kitchen that was stocked with hand me down pots pans and plates. He sat in the corner on the floor and sighed deeply. He not only had messed everything up, he now remembered what life was like in the future with cell phones and computers. To live without all those things wasn’t going to be fun.
Life had just gotten a lot worse. He had a beautiful wife one minute, but it all had slipped through his fingers.
Susan arrived at her house and started gathering the paperwork she would need. It was an effort to keep busy and not think about all the things she had been through over the last few days. After unpacking, she turned on the television and sat down on the couch. She happened to
notice the roses out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at them and then said out loud, “So I am soon to be Mrs. Bobby Sue Ralston, and I’m going to be a doctor.”
They both went to work the next morning as if nothing important had happened in their lives. Since John had not been scheduled to work, he got away with it. For Susan it was not the same. She was spotted by Doctor Ralston before she made it completely through the front door.
“I’m surprised to see you here. Didn’t you ask for today off?” Tim asked.
“Yes, I did, but since our plans, I mean my plans have changed I saw no reason not to come in.” She looked around the ward and half the beds were empty. “Where did all of our patients go?” She already knew that the rehabilitation group took a lot of them this time of the month to pursue getting them up and walking. This was a patch them up and send them off type of hospital.
“It was a good day to take off. There isn’t much going on here. Rumor had it that you and the amnesia guy eloped. Mary saw the two of you driving north.”
She turned to look him straight in the eye. “Yes, we did, but it isn’t going to work out. I was in the middle of a wonderful wedding night when something awful happened. He got his memory back.”
“How can getting a memory back be awful?” Doctor Ralston asked. He was confused.
“I’m his grandmother.” She watched as the expression on his face turned from questioning to utter shock.
“Oh, no, are you sure?”
“Positive. I made some phone calls this morning. We have a date before a judge tomorrow. I will need tomorrow off instead.”
“Absolutely, is there anything else you need?”
“Yes, I want you not to be upset with me. Can we go out again sometime?”
He was still head over heels for her. “Of course! Where do you want to go?”