“I know the perfect spot. I’m a hamburger and fries girl. Not nasty fast food, obviously, I mean a real, quality hamburger with steak sauce. Let me introduce you to good Midwestern food. You know about our love of cheese up here, from wherever you’re from, don’t you?”
He laughed. “Is my Southern accent that obvious?”
“Like lemonade on a cool front porch, sugar.” She drawled in a terrible likeness of Southern tones. “That’s my Scarlet O’Hara impression. Awful, I know. Anyway, burgers and I am a little girly and do prefer wine to beer. How about I meet you there?”
“You don’t want me to pick you up?”
She wrinkled her brow. “I live with my folks, silly and Dad… yeah, I don’t think that’s a great idea. I’ll tell them I’m going out to meet some girlfriends.” She gave him her number and the address of the steakhouse.
He undid his seatbelt and couldn’t stop what he was sure was a stupidly happy grin. “I’ll see you at eight, then.”
“See you, Doctor Matt.” She said, waving as she pulled back onto the street.
---
“Do you always drown your food in junk?” Emma teased after Matt dumped most his garlic butter on his baked potato. He looked up, gave her a sideways smile, and poured just a little more on.
“It’s the only way I know how to eat a potato.” Matt suggested. He tried to keep things light, despite the large number of customers in the Mitigoog Road House. He didn’t feel nearly as crowded as he might at a theater, but it wasn’t what he preferred. “As many toppings as you can stuff on them. Otherwise, it’s just a tasteless root, right?”
“You’ll fit in around here, that’s for sure.” She reflected. “Though if you eat like that, you’ll look like you fit in around here too.”
“Not a chance. I’ll confess I’m kind of a gym rat. It’s part of why I took the apartment; they have a gym. I don’t always eat as I should, but I tend to burn off the calories.”
“I see.” He noticed her checking him out. He was glad he did have some muscle, as he was fairly sure his nervousness about being surrounded by people was making him a little sweaty and fidgety. “Any other hobbies I should know about.”
“Cycling. Rowing. I’m outside whenever I can get out. How about you?”
She lifted and dropped her shoulders again, an action he took to be one of her favorites. “There’s not a lot to do up here. I read a lot and hike.”
“The hiking must be great up here. By the way- what does Mitigoog mean? Weird name, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
“It’s Ojibwa for trees. Which,” she said motioning around her to the exposed pine floors and walls of the building, “is pretty much what we’re known for around here other than the lake. Do you like to swim?”
Although he could, he hated to do so. Another fear potentially exposed. He decided not to tell her that rowing was part of his therapy, in a bid to overcome the irrational terrors that had kept so much of his life in check. He must have paused for too long, because after a moment’s silence, she asked. “Hey, do you like to dance?”
In the other room, a live band was playing old time rock and roll. It wasn’t his favorite music and he wasn’t a great dancer. That didn’t matter. Any excuse to get closer to Emma was fine with him.
They went to dance floor as a slow song struck up. “Oh. Now I don’t get check out your moves.” Emma suggested as he put his arms around her.
“Slow dancing is more my thing anyway.” He assured her. Emma draped her arms over his neck and they moved in close to sway with the song.
She smelled amazing, he decided. As they moved to the music, his tension slowly ebbed. The crowd became less real as she became even more so in his arms. They didn’t speak. Their eyes met instead, an understanding of desire and attraction instantly passing between them. She rested her head against his chest and he moved a hand up to her shoulders. If they hadn’t known better, the other dancers would have thought the two had known one another since high school, rather than just going on their first date.
“I wish we could just go on dancing.” She murmured after a while. “This is nice.”
“I didn’t expect to meet a beautiful woman my first day here.” He whispered in her ear.
“I wasn’t expecting to meet a cute guy either. Oh, damn it.” She pulled away from him and he turned to see what she was worried about.
He’d half expected a jealous ex-boyfriend to be approaching, ready to start trouble with the new guy in town. They hadn’t discussed dating history yet, not on a first date over dinner, but he knew there was no way a women as pretty as Emma could have grown up in such a small town without having met at least one seriously interested fellow. Instead, he saw the rapidly approaching, flannel-shirted Reverend Frank Butler with both of his fists clenched.
For a man of God, he was awfully quick to get in someone’s face, Matt thought as the man stepped right up to Matt. “Son, I don’t know how you do things wherever you come from,” the Reverend snarled, blowing warm air into the young doctor’s face. He’d just come from dinner, Matt registered. Was that spaghetti breath? “Around here, a man wants to court another man’s daughter he has the decency to ring a father’s doorbell first.”
“Sir, I didn’t mean-”
“I know what you meant. I know what you intended.” Butler try to reach out and grabbed his daughter by the hand, but she resisted and pulled away. The band stopped and the other dancers stopped what they were doing to watch events unfold.
“Daddy, stop it! I’m a grown woman.” Emma demanded.
He put a finger in her face. “You live under my roof, you live by my rules. You want to be hellbound, you go on and pack your things and get out! Now are you going to be a problem for me, or are you going to get home right now?”
Matt reached over and took her hand. “Seems to me, Reverend Butler, that you’re the one with a problem.”
The man seethed, his eyes narrow and locked on the doctor. He thought to say more, raised and shook his fist, then turned abruptly and stormed out. The band picked a rowdy song to distract everyone from the incident, leaving Emma and Matt alone and unhappy on the dance floor.
“I should go.” She muttered.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Matt assured her. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but she turned away.
“I’m sorry. It’s… I have to go.”
“You were right though. He can’t tell you what to do.”
“He kind of can.” She insisted, returning to their table to get her purse. “For now. I don’t have the money to get my own place yet. Maybe… maybe later this year. I’m sorry.” She started to leave, then paused.
“Thank you. For sticking up for me. And, and everything.” She kissed him on the cheek, resting a hand on his arm for a moment. Then she was gone.
Matt dropped back into his seat. Just when he was starting to have some hope, it was snatched away as quickly as it came by. He took a fork, angrily stabbed his leftover steak, and dropped his head into hands, dejected.
It would be several minutes before he could settle the check. The entire time, he fumed over his misfortune, feeling more and more self-conscious and sure that everyone was talking about the stranger in their midst, confronted by their spiritual guide and set adrift on his date.
It wasn’t how he wanted to start his new life. Not at all.
---
“What the hell’s got into you, kid? You still moping over the little Butler girl?” Doc Baker was sitting across from him again, the trio from Mitigoog Family Health Care each nursing their morning coffee. It seemed Mary was intending to play a non-speaking role in her relationship with the doctors, as was her dour custom. Matt had almost come to regard her as furniture. He wondered how she’d ever gotten a job as a receptionist, but wasn’t comfortable asking just yet.
The old doctor, on the other hand, was more than happy to fill an empty space in a conversation. Before Matt could respond, his mentor sl
ammed his hand down on the table. “I know what you need! You need a new date. That’s just the thing for you.”
“I don’t know about that.” Matt was still stuck in the hotel on the outskirts of town for at least another week, apparently. “I haven’t met that many women since I came to town. Everyone’s either married or, uh…” He trailed off. It had been raining all morning, leaving huge tear streaks on the window next to their table. The weather matched his mood- dark and depressing. He felt bad letting it rub off on the Doctor, as he really was a kind, patient boss.
“Senior citizens?” Doc Baker completed his sentence, and threw back his head for a laugh. “We’ve got a bushel full of them up here, that’s for sure! In the fall, there’s going to be lots of big, burly hunting men, if that’s more your speed.”
It was Matt’s turn to chuckle. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Well, there you go. You better find a fresh young face, and soon. Fair is coming up. Don’t worry, though. Temperature is going up this weekend, and that means we’ll see a lot of our southern neighbors from Flint, Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids hustling up this way to go camping and take in the lake. Might be some pretty young things among them. You never know!”
“We’ll see.” Matt suggested, in hopes of ending the conversation.
“That means no. Boy, you’ve really got your heart set, don’t you?” Doc rubbed his chin and thought about it. “Nothing for it. You need to woo her away.”
“I’m not much of a wooer.” Matt glumly replied.
“Geeze, boy.” Doc Baker looked disbelieving. “When I was your age, I wasn’t half as talked about as you and I still managed to win over a lovely women. She was my wife for forty years, and it was a happy life together. You need to get out there and show a little backbone.”
“You’ve met her father. I’m not sure what to do about that.”
“He is a pill, that’s for sure. Still… he might come around if you’re persistent.”
Mary cleared her throat. “I like chocolates.”
Matt and Doc looked at her, both surprised to hear her speak. “What?” Matt was the first to ask.
“I like chocolates. You could get your girl a box of chocolates and that might help you win her over.” Her unhappy expression never faltered. “I’m just saying.”
No one spoke for a minute. Wanting to break the silence, the Doctor coughed, drank down his coffee, and motioned for Mary to hop out of the booth.
“Better get back to the salt mines. You coming, Matty?”
“Let me just finish my coffee. I’m right behind you.”
Left alone in the nearly empty diner, Matt’s mind wandered back to the night he’d danced with Emma. Had her hair smelled like strawberries? He thought so. She’d seemed so slight and soft against him, a slip of a girl with a quick wit and an inviting smile. How had he let her get away?
He was just resolving to find out where she lived and knock on her door when he saw a streak of blue passing his window in a hurry. The woman was wearing a raincoat and running, but she looked familiar.
Matt had already paid, so he jumped out of the booth, threw a tip on the table, and ran into the rain. “Emma!”
She stopped running, turned and stood in the rain, looking back at him. She hesitated. “Matt! Come on, follow me. Let’s get out of the rain!”
He ran after her as they ducked on to the porch of the empty church. “I have the keys. Just a second.” She let them in, flicking on the lights.
They stood dripping in the entryway to the holy place, each dripping on the carpet and exchanging nervous looks. “I’m sorry about the other night.” She began, catching his eye, then looking away. “I just wanted to say that. It’s not right you’d be treated that way.”
“It’s okay.”
“Not really.”
“Okay, not really.” He agreed with a little smile.
She noticed his grin and returned it. “I hope that you still like it up here.”
“I do. I like the peace, the quiet of it all. It’s the right pace of life for me. I guess I’d always hoped I’d be a country doctor.”
“You don’t get much more country than Mitigoog, I guess. Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. That’s all.” She turned to leave.
“You can make it up though.” He suggested.
“Oh?” She asked, her voice rising with a hopeful note.
He took a step closer. She didn’t retreat. Remembering where they were, he didn’t plan to try to kiss her. But he did reach across the emptiness and took her hands. “Emma Butler, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the fair this week?”
“So formal, Mr. Conroy.” Her words were light-hearted, but her voice shook slightly as she said them.
“I’m a Southern boy, and I don’t feel like we got off on the right foot. I’d like to ask your father’s permission, but if he says no, I’d like you to know I’d still be honored if you chose to meet me all the same.”
She thought about that. “He’ll say no. I’m sure of it. But… I wouldn’t mind if you asked.” She kissed him again on his cheek, lingering. Then she whispered. “And I’ll be there either way.”
---
No one was more surprised than Matt Conroy when he found he was driving through the winding backstreets of Mitigoog with Emma in his passenger seat on the first evening of the Adams County Fair. He said as much after commenting on how pretty his date was.
“I didn’t think he’d say yes either, to be honest.” She admitted. He started to turn the wrong way, so she quickly corrected his turns. “Main Street is that way.”
“Thanks. So- why do you think he was okay with it?”
“What can he do? Lock me up in a tower? I bugged him about it, and I think Mom probably spoke with him. He was terrible about me dating when I was in high school. If he didn’t approve of the guy and hadn’t seen him in our church every single Sunday, he pretty much chased them off.” She sounded a trifle bitter as she spoke, then switched gears by changing to an upbeat tone. “But that was then, this is now. And here we are on Main! How would you have ever managed to get here without me?”
“You’re a great navigator, ma’am.”
“Ma’am? Hmm. I can get used to being called that, I guess.”
“Well how about Emma?”
“Mmmm… I’d say ma’am is better.”
“Sweetie pie?”
“Maybe.” She laughed.
One thing he soon found out about Emma was that she had a taste for cotton candy. After paying for admission, they made a beeline to the cotton candy booth. Soon, they were tearing off airy threads of the sugary stuff. She happily stuffed a big wad of it into his mouth, which he did his best to polish off in one gulp. She clapped at his efforts.
“Impressive stuff, Mr. Conroy.”
“Friends call me Matt, ma’am.” He managed to say between bites of the fast-melting candy.
“Oh, but we’re very formal here in the Midwest, Mr. Conroy. I might call you honey bear, though.”
“You call me whatever you like, so long as you call me.”
She pointed to the “high striker,” the strongman game. “Care to test your strength with the mallet, Mr. Conroy?”
“Oh, all right. I suppose. Though I’m better at shooting the ducks, if truth be told.” When it was his turn, he hit the mark and the striker went up, up, up to 900 just short of the bell.”
“Well that’s a rip!” Emma proclaimed. He started to shell out some more money, but she stopped him. “I’m teasing! Don’t. I know you’d hit the bell if you kept at it, I’m just messing with you.”
“To be honest, I’m not always good at knowing when I’m being picked on.” He admitted.
“That’s okay. You’re smart, and that’s great. Maybe I’m not as smart as you-”
“I don’t believe that for a second.” Matt interrupted. She took his arm and they walked the fair together, taking in the smells and sights. Normally, he’d be nearly sick from all the pe
ople. With her on his arm, he felt much stronger.
“Okay, book smart. I’ve got a lot of common sense though. If someone were picking on you, I’d tell you right away.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
“You look out for me, I promise to do the same. It’s only fair.”
They found a quiet bench beside the ferris wheel and sat to finish their cotton candy. “What do you plan to do with yourself?” Matt asked. “I wanted to know more about you before but, you know. Things didn’t go so hot.”
She sat close to him, nearly snuggling. “Oh, let’s call this the first date and forget about that. The burger was kind of dry anyway. I should have known something would go wrong. It’s never a good sign.”
ROMANCE: His Reluctant Heart (Historical Western Victorian Romance) (Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Fantasy Short Stories) Page 131