Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (6 page)

Thirty minutes passed since
she
turned up the heat and the temperature in the house still lingered at fifty-eight degrees.
She
rechecked the thermostat and the lever
pointed to
heat, but nothing. Maybe the pilot light
had blown
out or at least
that
's what
she
hoped because
that
's a minor fix.
She
quickly took a hot shower and got ready to go to shopping and
grab some lunch, but first
she
needed to
call Mike and let him know about the heater.

*****

Sam's grocery looked like a little mom and pop place. The parking lot had only twenty parking slots. On the far right side, close to the parking lot were two gas pumps. As
she
pulled in
she
looked over at them and noticed on top of the one of the pumps said Ethel. It
was
barely legible because of all the muck in the glass window.
You just don't see
that
anymore
,
she
thought. When
she
pulled up two men
stood outside the door fussing about politics.
They waved to
her
when
she
drove in the parking slot.
She
said hi as
she
walked past them to enter the store. They stopped their talking but didn't speak to
her
.
People up north were not very friendly, including Mike.

As
she
walked in, to the right a clerk
was
sweeping up a bag of sugar
that
had
burst hitting the floor.
A
n overweight lady wh
o sat at the cash register
gave
her
opinion on everything the clerk
did
wrong, but didn't offer any assistance. Maybe
she
did help a little,
she
pointed to the dust pan.

Lana
noticed there
was
n't much of an obvious food selection.
She
decided to go down each aisle to find something to fit
her
fancy.
She
grabbed a few can goods and some lunch meat at the deli. There
was
n't a large selection of fresh vegetables, so
she
selectively chose a few
that
looked good. Later
she
would
go to a bigger grocery store to grab some more wholesome looking veggies. They did have a nice meat department
with
fresh
looking
meat.
She
bought some steak, bacon and chicken. The steak
would
be for the last night.
She
made sure
she
had
enough steak for Mike, just in case.
She
also grabbed two large potatoes for baking.

The drive home
was
as beautiful as
the drive
last night.
She
took
her
time and enjoyed the scenery. The morning fog lifted and
she
could see the ocean better, and it
couldn't be any more
amazing.
She
could see for miles in all directions. There's an endless view of lighthouses everywhere, on their own little peninsulas. In the distance there were ships, yachts, and sailboats. To
her
surprise and delight
she
saw the sailboat Maltese Falcon.
What a tre
at
and
s
he
couldn't believe
her
luck. For years
she
had seen pictures of t
his
beauty, and now
she
got the privilege of seeing it in person.
She
giggled at herself and decided
she
now
liked the beach
.

As
she
turned on Shadow Lane there were four houses on the cul-de-sac. All the houses were on the beach side and none were on the wooded side. Mike's house
sat
at the end and it faced the road. The houses all looked like cookie cutter homes
with
small front porches and huge back porches because of the beautiful view of the ocean. Gray seemed to be the going color for the exterior and all of them were trimmed in white. None of the houses had garages, but they all had designated parking slots made of gravel.

She
noticed the only greenery
were
some Azaleas bushes
that
surround
the houses.
Other than that
,
the only foliage
was
some dune grass splattered around the sand.
Lana
didn't mind
the lack of grass
because the beaches shouldn't look like the suburbs.

Driving into
her
designated slot
she
noticed Mike's truck, and
she
wondered how long he'd been working,
she
hoped not long. Deep down
she
knew if he just got there,
she
would
get to spend more time
with
him.
She
hooked all the plastic bags on
her
arms and toted them in the house.
She
eagerly looked forward to seeing him. To
her
surpris
e
he didn't greet
her
at the door
.
She
put the groceries away, after a few loud noises
she
realized he
was
busy
in the attic.

She
noticed
the fire caught hold and
she
tossed
in a couple of logs. Once the room warmed up
she
took off
her
jacket to tackle the salad. But first things first,
she
took a swig of chamomile tea.
She
bought several kinds, but
that
was
her
favorite.
She
loved to try many different kinds of tea.
Many people love wine tasting, but
Lana
preferred tea. Sometimes
she
mix
ed
her
own concoctions; lemon rind, honey, milk, and fresh or frozen fruit. Consummating the flavors is what
she
called it. Some concoctions turned out great and some not so great.

The stairs squeaked
with
heaviness as Mike stomped down them. He mumbled and cussed under
his
breath about the heater. He walked in
with
a dirty face and grungy hands and carried a piece of round metal tube
.
Many times
she
helped
her
husband work on machinery and
she
knew right away it
was
the electric starter.

With
one eyebrow cocked he said. "It's the starter to the furnace and I'll
have to run to town to replace the part
." He glanced over and noticed the fire and commented on it. "Wow, you started a fire, not too many women can do
that
, I'm impressed." He wanted to start a conversation
with
her
, and
the fire
was
the first thought
that
popped in
his
mind.

"Well I guess I'm not a typical woman, and I guess I've been single for so long I only have myself to depend on,"
she
answered
with
out glancing into
his
eyes.
She
didn't know what it
was
about
his
baby blues, but it sure
was
difficult to look into them. When
she
finally gathered the courage,
her
face turned red.
His
did too.
She
took a deep breath and added. "Besides if you get cold enough you can get
a rip roaring fire started, its' called survival." Wow,
she
just couldn't get over how pretty
his
eyes were, and he even had dimples when he smiled.
Her
stomach fluttered and
her
heart skipped beats under
his
constant gaze. It's a good thing
she
didn't make a living pre
dicting what people looked like
because i
n Mike's case
she
would
go hungry. He looked nothing like
she
thought.

Taking
his
time, he gathered up the part and headed for the door. Under normal circumstances he could think of a great excuse to stay or start a co
nversation.
His
mind went blank.
He couldn't talk to
her
about the part,
she
might
be bored. Maybe he could
talk to
her
about
her
trip but
that
seem
ed
desperate. He could revert back to college and ask
her
what
her
sign is. He laughed at himself about how stupid it
was
back then, and it's still stupid. Then
his
eureka moment happened. He
would
ask
her
to lunch,
that
's what he'll ask
her
. He stopped dead in
his
tracks.

With
out paying attention,
she
tried
to decide if
she
should invite him to lunch. Boom!
She
ran right smack into
his
back and tumbled to the ground.
When
she
slammed into him,
she
felt like
she had run
into a brick wall. He quickly turned around and grabbed for
her
and he almost slipped and fell himself.

They both laughed hysterically, and then he lent a hand to help
her
stand. "Are you all right?"

"I only have a bruised eg
o and maybe a bruised bottom. I didn't expect
you to stop so quickly,"
she
said as
she
rubbed
her
butt. Their laugh broke the ice.
She
noticed he held
her
hand just a few seconds longer than he had to, and
she
let him.

Mike stood there for a few minutes deep in thought. Finally, in a very quick tone he asked. "It's lunch time and since I knocked you down the least I can do is buy you lunch.
That
is, if you want to come with me
? Do you want
to come
with
me?"

She
could tell he
hoped
she
would
. He
acted
like a school bo
y shuffling
his
feet and waiting
for an answer. He looked tall standing there, anticipating a response. It reminded
her
of a junior high school boy asking out the cute girl to homecoming. In
her
mind
she
wondered if
she
should make him wait for an answer, watch him squirm.
She
decided
she
couldn
't do
that
.
She
came up
with
an answer
that
seemed like
a great alternative for them to eat together. "I have a better idea, I have everything for a big salad and some hot tea and
why don't
you
join me?"