Woodlands

by Robin Jones Gunn

  “Of course. I invited Leah to come with us as well.”

  “Good,” Mrs. Edwards said with a warm smile for Leah.

  Jessica exited the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hand. “I think that’s everything. Oh, Leah, you’re back. Good. I’m about ready to head home. Ida, would you like me to drive you home?”

  Ida looked at Leah, who had been her ride to the memorial service and then to Franklin’s house. With a snap of her eyelids, Ida turned to Jessica and said, “It looks as if I will be needing a ride, thank you.”

  “Are you ready to go?” Jessica asked.

  “I suppose.”

  The two of them returned to the kitchen—Jessica to put the dish towel away and Ida to stow the feather duster. It all seemed so natural to Leah, being in Franklin’s house with her friends and feeling Seth’s arm around her shoulders while he made small talk with his mother. Yet, at the same time, it was all so unreal. Franklin was gone. A wonderful man was showering her with attention and affection. Leah felt as if she had stepped into a parallel reality and wondered how long the two worlds could overlap. Would the dream continue and take over? Or would the old reality return and leave her alone with Hula and a handful of flowers next May Day but no doorstep to leave them on?

  Seth ushered his mom and Leah to the car. Out of respect, Leah opened the door to the backseat so Mrs. Edwards could sit in the front.

  “Oh, no, please, Leah,” Mrs. Edwards said. “You sit in the front. I’ll be comfortable in the back.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Leah said.

  Seth and his mom stopped short and stared at Leah after her abrupt response.

  “What I mean is, I wouldn’t feel comfortable in the front seat if you were in the back. Honest. You’re Seth’s mom. I was raised this way. Sorry I turned this into something awkward. I’d just feel better if you sat in the front, Mrs. Edwards.”

  The generous smile and spontaneous hug that Seth’s mom gave Leah told her she was liked and had done the right thing, even though the remark had come out bumpy.

  “Please, call me Bonnie.” Mrs. Edwards gave Seth a grin that reflected her definite approval of Leah. They got in the car, with Leah in the backseat and Bonnie Edwards in the front.

  Leah had never been one to carry a makeup bag in her purse, but she wished she had one now. After the tromp through the forest, she felt she could use a little freshening up before meeting Seth’s dad for dinner. But all she had was a comb, which she used on her hair. What she really wanted was some eye drops. The pollen in the air had gotten to her. She would love to pop out her contacts, rinse them and her eyes, and then put the contacts back in. As it was, she kept blinking in hopes of cleaning them enough to see clearly.

  The conversation on the way to Edgefield was light. Mrs. Edwards was curious to learn about Leah’s family and her long history in Glenbrooke. Seth glanced at Leah several times in the rearview mirror, and each time, his eyes smiled at her.

  Dinner with the Edwardses turned out to be a casual affair, for which Leah was grateful. They dined in the hotel coffee shop, and she rinsed out her contacts in the restroom. She also applied a cold paper towel to the red bites on her bare legs. The beauty regime was simple, but it was enough to make her feel more comfortable with Seth’s parents.

  The conversation flowed easily, and Leah enjoyed Seth’s parents. They both indicated they approved of her for their son, and Seth seemed proud of her.

  It wasn’t until the drive home with just her and Seth that she allowed herself to believe all this was really happening. She was curious about so many things, and as soon as Seth stopped talking about how much his parents liked her, Leah asked her first question. “Did you take many of your girlfriends home to meet your parents?”

  “What makes you think I had a lot of girlfriends?”

  “Oh, come on! I’m not that naive. Do you want me to guess which number I am? Maybe girlfriend number thirty-two? No, more like forty-seven, right?”

  Seth shook his head. “How about maybe three and a half.”

  Leah studied his profile. “Three and a half? Am I the half?”

  “No, the half was Tiffany Andrews. She was my date to the junior prom, but she asked me, and we never went out again so I’d say she was a half.”

  “And the other two?”

  Seth extended his arm on the top of the steering wheel and casually responded, “There was Fiona in Sweden my senior year. We were together for all of three weeks before her previous boyfriend came home from the university. She told me she was getting back together with him because they ‘spoke the same language,’ which was, of course, true in more ways than one.”

  “That must have been a heartbreaker,” Leah said.

  “Better than a bone breaker.” A sly grin crept up the edge of Seth’s mouth. “Her boyfriend was huge! He could have snapped me like a dog biscuit and tossed me off some fiord. I still think Fiona made the wrong choice getting back together with him. He dominated her life, and she was this free-spirited, creative woman. I have no idea what happened to her. I always hoped she met some musician. She could have written lyrics for him.”

  Leah liked the way Seth spoke of this woman with such respect. “And number two?” she asked.

  “Ah, number two. That would be Tessa. She’s the one who broke my heart.” Seth paused.

  Leah didn’t know if she had the right to probe. The sad truth was that she had no comparable stories to tell him. She had never had a guy return her interest in him.

  “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” Leah said.

  “No, I don’t mind. It’s funny how it still hurts a little. I really fell for Tessa my senior year at college in Boulder. I thought she was the one. She had long, blond hair and was homecoming queen that year. It took me two weeks to work up the courage to ask her out. I couldn’t believe it when she said yes. We went to dinner and seemed to hit it off. So I asked her out again. We went out six times. No, actually seven times. Then one of the guys I played racquetball with took me aside and told me she had spent the night in his dorm room and had slept with his roommate the night before.”

  Seth shook his head. “Here I’d just taken her to a movie and kissed her good night at her door. As soon as I left, she went to be with this other guy. I asked her about it, and she said I was the kind of guy she wanted to marry. But since she wasn’t ready to get serious yet, she still wanted to have some fun.”

  “I can imagine how much that must have hurt,” Leah said.

  “Hurt me enough to make me boycott women for several years.”

  “And now? You’ve obviously ended your boycott.”

  “I settled my heart with God the last few years in Costa Rica. I knew what I wanted in a woman, in a relationship with an equal partner. That’s why I was so amazed when I saw you the first time at the Little League game. It was as if God took my wish list for the perfect woman and put it all together, and there you were.”

  “Your wish list, huh?” Leah asked with a smile.

  “You don’t have a wish list?”

  “Not really. But I have been known to wish upon Pluto.”

  “And what exactly happens when you wish upon Pluto?”

  Leah turned to Seth and with a grin said, “You, I guess.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Me, huh?” Seth said, as he stopped the car in front of Leah’s house. “You wished upon Pluto, and you got me, huh? What would have happened if you wished upon Neptune?”

  Leah shrugged playfully and said, “A guy who carries around a forked spear and likes seafood?”

  Seth let out a deep laugh. “I hope that doesn’t mean my being connected with your wish on Pluto is your way of telling me I’m a dog?” Seth got out of his side of the car and motioned for Leah to stay where she was so he could come around and open the door for her.

  As he offered her a hand out, Leah answered him with, “No, but I noticed you came with a dog, or at least you got a dog the first time we did somethin
g together.”

  “Yes, and by the way, how was Bungee the night you had him?”

  “Oh, he was great during the night,” Leah said carefully, as she unlocked her front door and led Seth into the kitchen. “I took him for a long walk around the block, and he was good and tired when he went to bed.”

  “He sure needs a lot more attention than I’ve been able to give him. I’ve felt bad about leaving him alone in the apartment so much. And he needs a yard to run in.”

  “That’s for sure,” Leah said.

  Seth went to the cupboard and pulled out Leah’s coffee beans and filters as if they already had discussed his staying for coffee. They hadn’t, but Leah had hoped he would come in. And here he was, in her kitchen, making coffee.

  “Did I detect a hint of sarcasm there?” Seth asked. “Where does that come from?”

  “I might as well tell you, your little Bungee Boy tore down the barricade I left up in the mudroom and had a free-for-all in my house.”

  Seth glanced around. “Anything broken?”

  “No.”

  “Looks like you managed to clean it all up.”

  “It only took me three hours,” Leah said dramatically. She opened her dishwasher and pulled out two coffee mugs.

  “Why didn’t you close the door?” Seth asked.

  “I wanted Hula to be able to get away from Bungee since I had to block off the doggy door to the backyard. I thought Hula might want her space. As it was, she stayed huddled in the mudroom, and Bungee had the run of the place.”

  “Did he ruin anything?”

  Leah had to wait a minute before answering because Seth was grinding the coffee beans. As soon as he spooned them into the filter, she could smell the rich aroma. “Not really. He just made a gigantic mess.”

  “I’m sorry, Leah.”

  “No need to apologize. I should have known Bungee is fast growing beyond the sleepy puppy stage. And I should have put up a bigger barricade.”

  Seth poured water into the coffeemaker and pushed the start button. It was quiet for a moment between them as they stood facing each other by the kitchen counter. Seth reached over and lightly fingered the ends of her hair. “Did I ever tell you how much I like your hair?”

  “As a matter of fact, you did. More than once. However, the first time, you were slightly spacey so I wasn’t sure how much of what you said was true.”

  “Really? What did I say?”

  Leah felt her cheeks blushing.

  “That good, huh?” Seth said, touching his fingers to her rosy cheeks. “What else did I say?”

  “Nothing much.” Leah looked down. “Just enough to let me know you were interested in me.”

  “And you didn’t believe me, did you?”

  “Well …” She hesitated, not sure if she should tell him of his mini-concert at the Dairy Queen. Any woman would question what a man said immediately after he had sung a list of hamburgers.

  “Come here,” Seth said, drawing Leah to him in a hug. He held her close. “Believe me, Leah. Trust me.”

  She wanted to. But something made her hesitate. It suddenly struck her that everything had happened so quickly and had seemed a little too perfect. Things didn’t go along the lines of “perfect” or “smooth” in her life unless she did lots of preparing and planning. None of this was planned.

  Leah didn’t pull away from Seth on the outside; yet on the inside she began to put up a barricade. The feelings she had were similar to how she felt about Bungee. He could be in her house but only within the limits she set for him. She felt frightened to think Seth might break through and have the run of her heart. She hadn’t had time to think all this through yet.

  Leah guessed that Seth sensed her reluctance. He released her from his hug and held her at arm’s length. “You haven’t told me my number yet.”

  “Your number?”

  “My number. Which boyfriend am I? Which number? Forty-seven? Ninety-three?”

  Leah pressed her lips together and looked into his deep blue eyes. Seth seemed so sincere, so open to her. She knew she shouldn’t be skittish. She had trusted him with her secret about the Glenbrooke Zorro. She could trust him with this truth.

  “Seth, you’re the first and only.”

  “Oh, come on, I find that hard to believe.”

  “I’ve never led much of a social life. Surely you guessed that.”

  “You know everyone in this town. They all adore you. I can’t believe none of the guys I’ve met has come knocking on your door.”

  “Believe it, Seth. I’ve always been everyone’s pal and never anyone’s girlfriend.”

  “Their loss is my gain.” He drew her close again, and Leah had the distinct impression he was about to kiss her. She turned her head, and his nose ended up in her ear. Seth let her go.

  “Am I coming on too strong?” he asked gently.

  “Yes,” Leah said. “I mean, no. I mean … I don’t know. I know you’re going to say I’m too much of a skeptic, but I still can’t get used to the idea that you’re interested in me.”

  Seth took two steps back and crossed his arms in front of him. “What can I do to convince you?”

  “Nothing. You don’t need to do anything. I guess I need a little more time to get used to all this.”

  “Okay,” Seth said, unfolding his arms and reaching for the coffeepot. “I’m in no hurry. We can take it as slow as you want.”

  Leah held up her cup, and he began to pour the coffee very slowly. “Is this slow enough for you?” he teased.

  “That’s perfect.”

  They shuffled into the living room with their coffee and a bag of cookies Leah pulled out of the cupboard. Seth sat on the recliner, and she stretched out on the couch. For the next hour and a half they talked about a dozen different topics. Leah began to feel more at ease. She scolded herself for being so paranoid about giving herself to a relationship with Seth. She guessed it was her lack of experience that made her hesitant.

  When Seth left, he kept his word about taking things slowly, and he didn’t kiss her good night. He promised to call her the next day at work and asked if she wanted to plan on dinner and a movie on Friday night.

  Leah went to bed dreaming of Seth’s kiss in the woods. The sensation of being circled in his embrace and feeling his lips on hers was intoxicating. The only thing she could compare it to was the way she had felt as a child on Easter Sunday when the pungent fragrance of lilies filled the sanctuary, and she was allowed to stand up in church and shout.

  Tonight, in the stillness of her room, she felt the intoxication of Seth’s touch as strongly as she remembered the scent of those Easter lilies. However, something was keeping her from standing up on the inside and shouting her declarations about Seth.

  The next day Seth called her twice. First he phoned before she left for work just to say good morning and to give her the list of movies playing so she could choose which one she wanted to see Friday night.

  The second time he called was late afternoon, right before she left work. He said the lawyer had phoned, asking if they could meet Monday morning for the reading of the will. Seth told Leah the lawyer would be calling her as well.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “You’re mentioned in the will, obviously.”

  “What time Monday morning?”

  “Nine o’clock. Do you think it will be a problem for you?”

  “No, I can make arrangements.”

  “Good,” Seth said. “I’m sure looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night.”

  “Me, too,” Leah said and then hung up. Leah had to do some fancy schedule changing with two other employees before she could arrange to be gone for an hour Monday morning.

  Seth called again on Friday afternoon and said he would pick her up at 6:30.

  “I was thinking about that,” she said. “Why don’t I drive to your place or meet you at the restaurant in Edgefield? It would be a lot easier than your driving home after work, then driving all the way here, and th
en we turn around and go back to Edgefield.”

  Seth paused. “Are you sure? Because I don’t mind coming to get you. If you wanted, I could pick you up right at work, and we could go to an early movie and then to dinner.”

  “No, I’d rather change out of my work clothes,” Leah said. “I’ll just come to Edgefield at 6:30. Where should I meet you?”

  “My place, I guess. Oh, and I’ve been meaning to tell you, the spinach was fantastic.”

  “Good. I’ll make you another one.”

  Seth chuckled. “You don’t need to make me another one. I simply wanted you to know I enjoyed it.”

  As Leah hurried home from work Friday, she wondered if she was overdoing it with Seth. Offering to make him spinach, insisting on driving so he wouldn’t have to.

  It reminded her of something Shelly had said several months ago. “Leah, you seem like the kind of woman who is only comfortable when you’re in charge of things. Every once in a while it’s good if you let someone else take control. Let others give to you for a change.”

  The comment had come during the practice for the annual church Christmas pageant when Leah was doing everything from sewing wise men costumes to coaching kids on their lines to showing up early at the performance to making sure enough chairs were set up.

  Leah wondered if she actually could let herself relax with Seth tonight on this, their first official date. Could she stop being in charge?

  In an effort to get herself started on the right foot, Leah decided to take a bath. It wasn’t a long bath, but then she wasn’t given to such luxuries so the twelve minutes she soaked in the warm tub were restful for her. Then she made liberal use of her only bottle of hand lotion. The bug bites on her legs had turned to small, red dots. Not that it mattered; she planned to wear jeans. She always wore jeans.

  Leah began to dress but then wondered if her chinos might be a little nicer. She didn’t know what kind of restaurant Seth planned to take her to.