by Linda Mayes
***
The next Friday Grace got a call from John.
“Hey there!” he said when she picked up the phone.
“Hi, John.” They hadn’t run into each other since the day they had taken the ride together. “How have you been?”
“Doing great. Just really busy. Had a new herd we had to brand and medicate. Just farm things you probably don’t want to hear about.”
“I don’t know anything about cattle and horses, but I’d love to know more.”
He laughed. “Well, stick with me, it’s pretty much all I know.”
“I doubt that,” Grace said. John struck her as a very intelligent man.
“Well, thank you. I was actually calling to see if you want to have that dinner we talked about tonight, if it’s not too short notice?”
Grace looked at the clock. It was almost three in the afternoon. Maggie didn’t normally get home until after six, and Grace didn’t want to just assume that she would watch the kids. “I’m afraid it might be too late for me to just dump the kids on my mom. I don’t know what her plans are tonight.”
“That’s okay. Louise is staying here tonight and she said she’d love to have Macy, Lucy and Brock come over for a movie night. John and Patty are pretty excited. They’ve got popcorn and hot chocolate planned, and that new Disney DVD that just came out.”
Grace smiled, he had thought of everything. She was still hesitant. She had promised herself that she wasn’t going to get involved with a man again, at least not for a very long time. John sensed her hesitation in her pause and said, “Just dinner, Grace, that’s all.”
“Okay, what time should I be there?”
“Louise will be around for the kids about six and I’ll see you at seven, okay?”
“Sounds good.” It actually really did sound good. She had Charlie and Sarah to talk to at work every day, but that was work. It had been a long time since she’d had a real grown up night out.
The kids were ecstatic when she told them about their movie night. She was almost insulted that they were so happy she was going. Maggie called at five to say that she would be having dinner in town, and Grace told her that she and the kids would be out for the evening.
“Did you need me to come home and watch them?” she asked, surprising Grace.
“No, but thanks. Louise has a whole movie night thing planned for them.”
“Okay then, you have a good time.”
“Thank you. You too.” Grace hung up the phone with a smile. Maggie seemed to be getting softer around the edges as she aged, and Grace liked the newer, gentler version.
Louise arrived precisely at six for the kids. Grace had them in their pajamas and ready to go already. “Oh my, you look so pretty, Grace.”
“Thank you, Louise. I haven’t had a grown-up night out in a while.”
“Well, you deserve it. And so does John. Is Maggie having dinner with Matt tonight?”
Grace remembered the journal entry she had read. She wondered if it were the same Matt, this mystery man of her mother’s.
“I’m not sure. She just said she was having dinner in town.”
“I’m sure it’s with Matt. Those two have had dinner together every Friday night since Maggie came back to town. Matt would like to take her to Great Falls for a real nice dinner once in a while, but you know how stubborn Maggie is—set in her ways. She says the diner here is just fine, and she orders the same thing every time.”
Grace smiled. “Yes, Mama is a stubborn one.”
The kids were milling around, getting restless as the women talked. Finally, Lucy’s patience ran out and she said, “Are we still going, Miss Louise?”
Louise laughed. “Lord child, you are so much like your grandmother. Yes, we’re going. Go on and get in the truck.”
The kids kissed Grace and she told them all she loved them and to be good and have fun.
Once they were gone, she finished doing her hair and checked herself in the mirror. She wasn’t sure where they were going, so she had just picked a nice pair of jeans and a sleeveless black blouse. She slipped on her shoes just as John knocked on the door.
She opened it to find him standing there in a black cowboy shirt, blue jeans and black boots. She was glad she hadn’t overdressed.
“Wow,” he told her. “You look amazing.”
Grace smiled. “Thank you. You look really nice too.”
They went to a place called Ethel’s Steak House. It was nice, but everyone was casually dressed and the décor was cowboy chic.
Their meal was delicious, and Grace enjoyed listening to John talk. He talked about the ranch, and how his parents had worked it their whole lives to make it what it was today. He said he had talked to his mother earlier and she had told him she and his dad were going to a beach party that evening. He found that amusing, saying that he couldn’t imagine either of them in beach attire. He told her that John Jr. was excited to start school, and Patty was nervous about it. He asked about her kids and her job, and as long as she didn’t mention Charlie, he listened to her answers and acted interested in what she was saying.
After dinner John asked Grace if she had ever been to Gibson Park. She said no, she hadn’t had time yet to explore much of Montana. Since it was early, they decided to take a walk through the park that Great Falls billed as The Jewel of the City.
John drove several blocks and parked his car in the lot attached to the front portion of the park. It was a warm night and the moon was full. John obviously knew the park well. He took Grace’s hand and led her to the trail that went toward the massive flower gardens. They walked, not talking for a while, just quietly enjoying the beauty around them. The flowers were rich in color and fragrance, and there were colored lights along the brick path that wound through them. After a bit, they came to a wooden bench and John asked Grace if she’d like to sit down.
“Yes, for a minute,” she said. “It’s so beautiful here.”
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite places. Patty loves to come here, too. She has Louise make us up a picnic basket and we have lunch by the duck pond.”
“Oh, they have a duck pond too?” Grace asked, sounding like an excited little girl.
“Yes.” John smiled.
“I was just thinking the kids would love it. Especially Macy, she loves any kind of animal.”
John nodded. “She eats up any and everything Luke or I tell her about the cows and horses on the farm. Maybe she’ll be a veterinarian someday.”
“Maybe. It’s amazing to me that she’s adjusted to life here so quickly. She was so angry with me at first, I thought she may never talk to me again.”
“She’s eight. I remember being that age. You want to be like the big kids, but you’re not old enough. You want to play with the little kids, but you think you’re too old. Me, I rode horses, day and night.”
“I read, a lot. My dad left when I was eight. It was a horrible year, and all I wanted to do was escape.”
John took her hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. My dad used to speak highly of yours. I remember when I was a kid and Dad would be talking to Maggie’s father about how she was doing. Your grandfather didn’t seem to think much of Sam, and Dad always seemed to be defending him.”
“It’s funny, and sad, that you know more about my family that I do.”
“It’s a really, really small town. I know more about everyone’s family than even I want to.”
Grace laughed. “Yes, I suppose you probably do, especially with Louise around so much.”
“Oh my.” He groaned and rolled his eyes. “She tells me something new about someone in town every day. She works her tail off around my place, you wouldn’t think she’d have so much time to find out other people’s business.”
“I think she spends quite a bit of time on the phone.”
“Tell me about it. You want to keep walking, or are you ready to go?” he asked.
Grace looked at her watch. It was still early. “How abo
ut a walk around the duck pond if it’s not too far?”
John stood up and reached his hand out for hers. “It’s not far.”
The pond was lit up like the flower path and the ducks swam among the swans on top of the still, green water. There were a few people around the pond, feeding the ducks or having picnics. The path they walked led them through a large, dark clump of trees and on the other side was another path that wound its way up a small hill covered in wildflowers. Grace was awed by the beauty. “There aren’t really any words for this in the moonlight,” she said.
Grace turned toward him and realized that he was looking at her and not the fantastic view ahead of them. His face was so close to hers that she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. She felt her stomach flip and her mouth go dry. Her head was trying to convince the rest of her body that it was time to turn and go home, but her lips really wanted to kiss him. He leaned down just enough so he was even with her face and brushed his lips gently across hers. The butterflies in her belly ignited, and as he put his hand on the back of her waist and pulled her close, her whole body tingled and burned. Their lips met and parted and they explored each other’s mouths with their tongues. John rubbed her back and shoulders with his big hands and traced his fingers down her bare arms giving her goose bumps.
They stood there kissing and touching like teenagers for what seemed like forever. When they finally came up for air, Grace tore herself away from looking into those gorgeous aqua eyes and glanced at her watch.
“Time to go?” he asked.
She nodded. “I probably should be getting home.”
John smiled. He put his hand on the side of her face, his touch like fire on her skin once more. “Thank you for tonight,” he said. “I meant what I said though. We can make this just dinner if that’s all you want it to be. But, if you change your mind and want it to be more, I’d be okay with that too.”
Grace didn’t say anything; she only smiled at him and nodded. John took her by the hand once more and led her back down the same paths they had come. He opened the passenger door, and as he took her arm to help her in, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips once more.
She didn’t object, but this time she didn’t let it go any further. On the walk back to the truck she had told herself she needed to decide what she wanted from John before she allowed anything else to happen. It wasn’t fair to make him think there was a chance for more if there wasn’t.
They made more small talk on the way back to Maggie’s house. John got out of the truck and walked her to the door. He told her not to worry about the kids, that he was sure Louise had them tucked into bed already, but if anyone of them objected and wanted to come home, he’d bring them right back. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek goodnight and she thanked him for a wonderful evening.
“No really, Grace, thank you. I haven’t really been out since my ex-wife left. I haven’t wanted to until now.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. “Good-night, Grace.”
“Night, John.” She watched him walk to the truck before unlocking the door to Maggie’s house and going inside. The house was dark; Maggie must have gone to bed. Grace wished that she and her mother had one of those relationships where she could go lie in bed next to her and talk about her night. She passed Maggie’s door on the way to her own bed and hesitated slightly. She told herself to stop being silly and go to bed. No one knew better that she and Maggie had never had that type of relationship, and probably never would.