by Maggie Ryan
Elsie laughed. “I won’t tell her. I won’t have red beets tomorrow night, either, I promise.”
“Thank you,” he said with a warm smile.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she said as she started walking back toward her house.
“Is it okay if I bring some wine?”
“That’d be great! Thanks.”
Matt turned back toward his house, while Elsie headed back to hers. Both were smiling as they walked.
Elsie found herself nervous the next day as she began her preparations for dinner. She changed her mind three times before deciding on her menu. It wasn’t like her to be nervous, and she couldn’t figure out why, until she realized she hoped tonight went well. The more she’d been thinking about Matt, the more she realized how much she had enjoyed spending time with him.
As much as she worried about her menu, the food, and her appearance, her nerves left as soon as Matt arrived. He quickly put her at ease. He was very easy to talk to, and they did just that clear through their meal. There never seemed to be a shortage of topics they were both interested in, and by the time the meal was over, they were talking like old friends.
“Are you ready for some cheesecake?” she asked, taking their empty plates to the kitchen.
“I’m so full, I’m not sure I’d enjoy it much right now. Could we visit a little while, and maybe I’ll have room a little later?”
She was a little surprised to see he’d followed her into the kitchen, carrying more dirty dishes. “That sounds like a good idea,” she agreed, taking the dishes from him. “Let me put these in the dishwasher quick, then we can take some coffee or wine into the living room.”
“Good idea. If you want to put them in, I’ll bring the rest of them in for you,” he said, returning to the dining room.
Ten minutes later she poured two cups of coffee for them, and they went to the living room and sat down on the couch. “Thank you for dinner, Elsie. It was delicious.”
“Thank you. I thought about adding some of Grandma’s red beet salad, but decided maybe I better not,” she said with a giggle.
He smiled as he studied her several moments. “You are an ornery little thing, aren’t you? You would have taken great pleasure in watching me choke some down and tell you it was good, wouldn’t you?”
Her eyes widened. “You would have eaten it, really?”
“My mother taught me manners. It would be rude to refuse it.”
“Not if you knew I made it as a joke. Are you serious; you really would have eaten it?”
“If you would have asked me to try it, yes, I would have.”
“Wow. Your mother was serious when she taught you manners.” She paused a moment. “If I ever meet her I’ll have to thank her.”
He cocked his head to the side a bit as he looked at her. “You like the manners?”
“I do,” she admitted. “I’ve never been with a man who opened doors for me, or other little things like that that you do, but I’m pretty sure I could get used to it pretty easily.”
Matt chuckled, but had a warning for her. “Be careful what you wish for, Elsie. Along with the manners comes an old fashioned mindset, and not everyone’s enthusiastic about that.”
“What do you mean by old fashioned mindset?”
“I believe a woman should be treated like a woman. That includes a lot of things. I’m sure you’ll see what I mean as we get to know each other better.” He paused, but then turned toward her. “I’m sorry, I may have jumped the gun there. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the time we’ve spent together and have been looking forward to spending more time with you and getting to know you better. You may not feel that way, though.”
“I do. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, too.”
“Good. I was afraid I was assuming too much. With that said, though, how about dinner Saturday night?”
“I’d love to.”
“Good. Now, with that out of the way, let’s sit back and talk a little bit.”
She chuckled as she sat back into the couch. “Sounds good. What do you want to talk about?”
“You. Tell me about yourself. Do I understand correctly that you used to live around here at one time, and that’s when you first got close with your grandmother?”
“Yes, I went to kindergarten through third grade here, at Springdale Elementary. Dad got transferred right after school was out, though, and we moved. Grandma always had me come stay with her for a couple weeks or so every summer, and I used to love that. That’s how we got so close, was when I’d come stay with her.”
“Do you have any siblings, or was it just you staying with her?”
“I’m an only child, so it was just me and Grandma. I used to look forward to those two weeks every summer.”
“How long did you do that?”
“I stayed with her at least a couple weeks every summer up until the summer after my sophomore year. I had a job then so I could save money for college, so I didn’t get to come stay with her. We still talked on the phone a lot, though. We’ve always done that, as far back as I can remember. She was cool. I talked to her about things I wouldn’t talk to my parents about.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I love my parents, but they’re more formal, reserved. Grandma likes to have fun.”
Matt laughed. “You felt like you could let your hair down with her?”
“Yep. I could talk to her about anything. If I screwed up, she’d tell me and we’d talk about it, but then she’d let it go. If I told Mom about it, she’d tell me how disappointed she was in me, and I’d hear about it forever. But Grandma would always listen to me. A lot of times she doesn’t even have to say anything; just listen. When I say it out loud, I feel better. That’s why I came here. I was hoping to get to talk to her before she left for Florida.”
“I’m sorry you missed her.” After a few moments, he took her hand in his. “Elsie, I understand what you said about your parents judging you. Mine used to do the same thing. I promise I won’t do that. If you want to talk to someone, I promise I’ll listen, without judging you.”
She turned to face him, studying him momentarily. “Thank you for that offer, Matt. I appreciate knowing you wouldn’t judge me. I don’t think I can talk to anyone else about it yet, though. I let someone use me, and I feel like a fool. I just have to get past it so I can decide what I want to do with my life now.”
He nodded. “You know, just because someone used you doesn’t mean you let them.”
She was quiet for several moments, thinking about his words. “You may be right. I’ll give those words some thought.”
“Good. You said you have to decide what you want to do with your life now. Does that mean your job was affected by whatever happened?”
“Yes. Well, not directly, I guess, but yes, sort of. Yes, it was. Well, kind of.”
Matt tried to hide a chuckle, but when he failed, she thought back to what she’d said, and laughed, too. “Let me try to explain it a little better,” she suggested.
“Thank you,” he said with a squeeze to her hand, which she found to be very encouraging.
“I’m a nurse. I was working at a local hospital in a small town, much like Springdale. A man used me, and then when he got caught, he spread rumors about me that were not true, in an attempt to save face. He was a local boy who grew up there, so most people knew him, or his family. I was an outsider, so everyone seemingly automatically believed Paul over me. People pointed and talked about me everywhere I went, even in the hospital. My hours at the hospital got changed, and I was getting fewer hours. I asked my manager why, and she was honest. She felt bad, but she told me a couple of the doctors didn’t feel comfortable working with me as long as those rumors were going around.”
“Doctors bought into the rumors?”
“I don’t really know if they believed them or not, but the fact that they felt uncomfortable with me working there told me a lot. If people were putting that much thought into me and the rumors, they we
ren’t paying attention to what was important, so I resigned.”
“Finding another job as a nurse shouldn’t be too difficult. Have you decided where you’re going to look? The local hospital here in Springdale always seems to be looking for a couple more nurses.”
“I don’t want to work in another hospital, or at least not yet.”
“I understand,” he said with another squeeze of her hand. “If I hear of another nursing job here, though, would you be open to it?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. I haven’t really thought too much yet about where I want to live. I just knew I had to leave there.”
“Louise said you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want, so there’s no big hurry to decide, is there?”
“No, not really.”
“Then you can take your time to decide what you want to do and where you want to live. Take some time to get over what happened. I’m sure in due time you’ll know what’s right for you.”
She thought about his words for a couple minutes, then laid her head against his shoulder. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For listening to me, not judging me, and making me feel better.”
He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him, before leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “You’re very welcome, Elsie. I’m glad you feel better.”
They talked for an hour before they had some cheesecake. Before he went home, they agreed on where they were going to dinner on Saturday.
Chapter 3
Elsie spent some time over the next couple days thinking. She thought about what Matt said. Paul had made her feel like a fool when people in that small town heard the rumors. But had she let him? She certainly didn’t see any way she could have stopped him, so maybe he was right. She’d always thought she’d made it easy for him, but maybe not. Maybe it wasn’t all her fault. Really, what could she have done? He betrayed her trust, which was all his doing, not hers. Then he started false rumors, which again, was his doing.
She could have denied the rumors, but in a small town, that probably would have just served to stir the fire. No, she still felt she did the right thing. She didn’t have any family keeping her there. It was just the first place that had offered her a job out of college, and she took it, thinking she’d like living in a small town. But now it was time to move on. That thought made her feel a little better, but she still didn’t have a job, and didn’t have any plans for her future. She didn’t feel like she actually belonged anywhere.
She hadn’t really considered staying here in Springdale until Matt mentioned it the other night, but that thought kept running through her mind. She’d love to live close to her grandmother again, and she and Matt seemed to have some kind of a natural connection. It was too early to say if it was going anywhere other than just good friends, but she seemed so comfortable and happy around him, and he’d told her pretty much the same thing. She would like to give it some time and see if anything developed. Even if they just became good friends, having a good friend living that close to her beloved grandmother made this sound like a wonderful place to look for a job and settle down.
She decided to give it two or three weeks. If she still felt the same way, she’d start looking around town for a nursing position somewhere other than a hospital. Nurses working at doctors’ offices didn’t have to worry about working weekends or holidays, like you did in hospitals, so those positions weren’t as easy to get, but it never hurt to send out resumes. If she didn’t get any responses, there were a couple nursing homes, and they were generally more likely to have openings. Like hospitals, you had shifts, weekends and holidays to contend with. She was used to it, though, so she could do it again.
Elsie went for another walk Saturday afternoon, but kept checking her watch. She wanted to be sure she had plenty of time to get ready before seeing Matt. She’d been looking forward to seeing him again, and since he was taking her someplace a little more formal this time, she wanted to dress up a little for him. She didn’t usually worry too much about her appearance, but she found herself going over her wardrobe in her mind, wanting to find the perfect outfit for Matt.
Finally, she gave up on her walk and went back to the house. She couldn’t understand why she cared so much about how she looked tonight, but she did, and she couldn’t shake it. Maybe a nice relaxing bubble bath would help. Then she’d be able to choose an outfit and do her makeup without hurrying.
She was glad she’d started getting ready early, as she tried on nearly every dress in her closet before she found one she thought would work. Everything looked too casual, or too formal. Finally, she settled on her favorite little black dress, which she paired with much more casual red jewelry to keep it from looking too formal, and to give it more of a fun impression. She did her makeup to match, keeping it more casual and fun, and was finally satisfied just minutes before Matt rang the doorbell.
She answered the door, and was stunned when she saw Matt standing there, looking hot. There was no other way to describe it. She’d only seen him in blue jeans and a tee shirt, or his uniform. He was handsome in either of them, but wearing khakis and a sport shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he looked fantastic. The shirt accentuated his broad shoulders, and she swore she could almost see his muscled chest through his shirt, which was crazy, since she’d never seen his chest. How did she even know it was muscled? One quick glance and she found herself smiling. Oh, yeah; it was definitely muscled! As she glanced a bit lower, the pants hugged him perfectly. Oh, my.
She suddenly realized she hadn’t said a word to him yet. She forced her eyes back up to his, which she noticed were looking her over, as well. Before she had a chance to say anything, he caught her eyes. “Elsie, you look lovely this evening; purely lovely.”
She tried to hide a smile, and she felt her face flush. “Thank you, Matt. So do you.” She shook her head. Did she really say that? “I mean, you look—”
“Are you trying to say I clean up good?”
She felt her face turning a deeper red, and she nodded. How embarrassing. Matt, the perfect gentleman, though, helped her out. “Thank you,” he said casually. “Are you ready to go? I’m anxious to try this restaurant. It’s new, but I’ve heard several good things about it.”
“I’m ready,” she said, trying to recover. “Let me grab my purse.”
“You may want to get a sweater or jacket, too. I have a sport coat in the car. It’s supposed to get chilly this evening.”
It had been warm all day and she didn’t think she’d need a sweater, but she realized this was part of his old-fashioned ideas. He liked looking out for her, and knowing he was watching out for her gave her a warm feeling, so she agreed. “Thank you,” she said. She invited him into the house, and disappeared to her bedroom. She came back a couple minutes later with a sweater and her purse, and they left. She smiled as he led her to his car with his hand on her back, and opened the car door for her.
The restaurant turned out to be fantastic, and once again, conversation flowed easily as they enjoyed their dinner. “I know you said you like to take walks. Have you been doing that while you’re getting settled in?”
“I have. Grandmother’s house is in a wonderful spot. There are so many good places you can walk to. I wanted to ask you something, though.”
“What’s that?”
“When I was little, I remember our family getting together at grandma’s, and we’d follow the lane and walk back to the woods behind her house. Not very far into the woods was a clearing and a place for having a bonfire. We used to have a picnic, then roast marshmallows while we all sat around the fire.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It was. We all had such a good time. Is that still there? I was going to take a walk back to the woods and see if I could find it, just to look around and soak in the memories, but I thought I better ask first. I don’t know if the same person owns the woods now, or if they’d mind me walking back there.”
Matt hedged a bit. “The same man owns it, and the spot is probably still there. I’d rather you not go into the woods by yourself, though. If you want to go see if it’s still there, I’ll go with you sometime.”
“Why can’t I go back by myself? All I want to do is sit down on one of the logs, if they’re still there, and look around, let the memories overtake me.”
Matt chuckled. “I’ll let you do that if we go together. In fact, I’d love to hear some of the stories.”
“But why don’t you want me going there alone?”
“The guy who owns the woods is getting up in years. He used to have his family back there rather frequently, as well, and let other friends of his use it, like your grandmother. Now, though, he lets some of his grandsons use the woods for hunting. I think they let their friends all use it for hunting, too, and maybe target shooting. I’ve heard shots coming from the woods at random times, so I’d rather you not go back there alone.”
“Oh,” she said, a sad look on her face. “That’s too bad. That was always such a nice place to have a fun bonfire. It’s a shame no one uses it for that any more.”
“I agree with you. I’d still love to hear about some of your memories from the bonfires your family had, though.”
She thought a couple moments and smiled as she remembered one event. She told him about it, and he shared a similar experience his family had had camping one summer. The rest of the evening was spent with the two of them laughing as they shared stories.
Over the next two weeks, Matt and Elsie began spending several evenings together each week. They admitted they felt an attraction to each other, and it felt natural to both of them; nothing felt at all forced. They truly enjoyed spending time together.
The only problem they’d had in their time together had been with her attitude. When she was in a bad mood, for whatever reason, she could be rude. Matt talked to her about it, and although she agreed he didn’t deserve the treatment she was giving him, his talks didn’t seem to be helping. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be as much of a problem to her as it did him. After giving it some serious thought, he decided he had to do something to get her attention the next time it happened.