Love in Bloom (23 page)

“Thank you so much,” she told him.

“No, thank you for driving all the way over here. Say, I was just thinking.”

“Yes?” Did she sound eager? Too encouraging?

“How about letting me really thank you for your trouble? Would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?”

“Oh, well.” Why not? It would be nice to have lunch with someone her own age, with someone who had a voice lower than hers. “I'd love to.”

So then, before she knew it, Altheus Hornby had her phone number and address, and they had plans for him to come pick her up at eleven thirty. “I'll take you to the Two Turtledoves. It has a great view of the lake.”

“That sounds wonderful,” said Millie. Lunch with a handsome
man—Alice would be green with envy. Millie almost giggled like a schoolgirl at the thought.

As she drove home, she found herself singing Tony Bennett's “Because of You.” You're a silly, old woman, Millie, she scolded herself, but it didn't wipe the smile off her face.

She got home and carefully carried her flowers into the house, settling them on the dining room table. The card she'd put in her scrapbook. Amber had written, “You've so been there for me, and I just wanted you to know it.”

You've so been there for me
. Her own daughter hadn't even told her that. Millie sighed. Life took the oddest turns.

She had just tucked away Amber's card when the kids came home, each bringing a friend. Millie shifted gears from Queen for a Day to Grandmother of the Year and got busy making cookies, which they devoured with much gusto and minimal thanks. The large amount of cookie consumption was, in itself, high praise, she reminded herself.

“Who sent flowers?” Debra asked when she got home.

“A friend of mine.”

“Oh.” Debra sounded disappointed.

For a moment, Millie almost wished she'd lied and said they were for Debra. But, no, Debra was going to have to get out and start planting more good things in her life and start seeing the sunshine as well as the rain. Then maybe she, too, would have flowers.

They watched a movie together that night, a romantic comedy that did little to make Debra laugh. Mostly she slumped on the couch with a martyred expression on her face. Millie decided not to share with her daughter about her lunch date.

But it was no fun keeping such delicious news to herself, so the next morning she called Alice.

“Are you ready to come home yet?” Alice greeted her.

“Oh, no. I'm having too much fun out here.”

Alice gave a snort. “Since when?”

“Since yesterday. Alice, I met someone.”

“Met someone?” Alice echoed. “You mean, a man?”

“Yes. We have a date for lunch today.”

“Oh, my God. How did you manage to find a single man our age?”

“By accident,” Millie said, and proceeded to explain how she met Altheus Hornby.

“That is simply amazing,” Alice said. “And I'm jealous. Ask him if he's got a brother. And, Millie.”

“Yes?”

“Don't play too hard to get. At our age there's no point wasting time.”

Millie chuckled and rang off, then went to make the all-important decision of what to wear. She settled on her navy blue slacks and a white turtleneck, covered with her favorite thick red blazer, accessorized by the red glass bead necklace Duncan Jr. had given her for Mother's Day. Her hair wasn't as easy. She wished she'd had time to go to the beauty salon to get it done. The curl from her last perm was nearly gone. She styled it as best she could, then made up for the fact that her hair was less than perfect by applying some lipstick. There. That would do.

Altheus arrived promptly at eleven thirty. He looked her up and down and grinned, then made her blush by observing, “Millie, you're quite a dish.”

“Oh, don't be silly,” she said, with a little wave of her hand.

“I've got to tell you,” he said after he'd helped her into the car, “I've been looking forward to this since yesterday. I was beginning to think I'd made a mistake moving up here.” He gunned the motor and squealed them backward out of the driveway and onto the street.

Millie surreptitiously grabbed for the door handle. “What did bring you here?”

“I needed something new,” he said as he sped down the road. “I'd been in a rut since my wife died. So, I let the kids have the other house, bought a new car, and got in and headed north. The gang at the senior center thought I was nuts, but I told them that at seventy I've still got lots of miles left. I'm not ready to park this chassis and die.”

“You're seventy,” Millie said. Oh, dear. She was turning seventy-seven soon. She was out with a younger man.

“Seventy's not old.”

“Oh, no,” she agreed, and hoped he didn't ask her age.

The restaurant looked expensive. Millie took in the linen tablecloths and crystal, the jacket-clad waiters, the soft cello music discreetly piped in, and felt immediately concerned for Altheus's budget. But she didn't say anything. That would only insult him. She did vow to find something inexpensive on the menu.

That was going to be impossible. Even ordering appetizers wouldn't be kind to the budget of a senior citizen on a limited income. They ran the gamut, from a Dungeness crab and prawn martini to a morel and goat cheese tart, and prices started at fourteen dollars. Everything was à la carte.

“The mahi mahi is very good here,” Altheus said.

He'd eaten here before?

He grinned. “Please, order anything you want. I'd like this to be special.”

“Simply being out with a new friend is special,” Millie told him.

“I hope it's going to be the first of many times,” he said, “so let's make it memorable.”

Being here in this fancy restaurant was memorable enough for Millie. She ordered vegetables in puff pastry, the most inexpensive thing she could find.

And she was going to settle for a cup of tea, but Altheus ordered wine for them. Wine with lunch, it was so extravagant. She hadn't drunk wine in years.

“Now,” he said, once the waiter had left, “tell me all about yourself.”

“Well, I'm afraid there's not much to tell,” Millie said with a shrug.

But that didn't quite turn out to be true. By the time they'd finished their salad, Altheus had heard all about her gardening addiction, her love of books, and her penchant for crossword puzzles.

“I do them, too,” he said. “Keeps the mind sharp.”

Millie wondered how sharp her mind would stay if that waiter kept filling her wineglass. The second glass loosened her lips the rest of the way, and, before she knew it, Altheus had heard about her children, her concerns over Debra, and even worse, had learned that she was almost seventy-seven.

“I'd never have guessed,” he said gallantly. “You don't look a day over seventy.”

She blushed. “Oh, what nonsense.”

“No matter. I like older women,” he said with a wink, and saluted her with his wineglass.

By the time they finished with coffee and dessert, two hours had slipped by. “How about a drive around the lake?” Altheus suggested.

The way he drove, he should have offered her a race around the lake. But Millie wasn't ready to go home to that big, quiet house yet, so she said yes. Since they were looky-looing their way around, Altheus drove at a more sensible speed. The sun came out, turning the lake a dark spring blue.

“Here,” Altheus said and pulled the car off the road. “I'm thinking of buying this piece of land as an investment. What do you think?”

“It's like a wooded fairyland,” Millie said, taking it all in.

“It's money in the bank,” added Altheus. “Waterfront, too.”

“My,” said Millie, thinking of her tiny nest egg. “I certainly admire you for being so daring.”

“Not daring, just business. I'm a working stiff, Millie. Retirement's for old guys.”

“Well, I like your attitude,” she said. “What kind of work do you do?”

“I buy and sell real estate. I'm no Donald Trump, but I've turned a buck or two. And,” he continued with a puckish grin, “I can even manage to foot the bill for a nice meal. So, next time I take you out to eat, you don't have to worry about finding the cheapest thing on the menu.”

“Next time?”

The look he gave her made her think of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in
The Quiet Man
. Oh, how the sparks had flown in that movie! And how they were flying here in this car right now. “There will be a next time, Millie, and soon.”

And, to prove it, he called her the next night. Debra got to the phone before Millie. The surprised look on her daughter's face told Millie who it was. “It's for you,” she said as if she couldn't quite believe it, and handed over the phone.

“Thank you,” Millie murmured. And, as she said hello, she walked out to the kitchen where she didn't have to see her daughter watching her with that unnerving expression of curiosity and wariness.

“How about dinner with me tomorrow night?” Altheus suggested. “And a movie after. It's classics night at the Edgewood, and they're playing
Harvey
.”

How sweet. He remembered that she'd said she loved Jimmy Stewart. “That sounds wonderful,” she decided.

“Then I'll pick you up at five thirty.”

“I'll be looking forward to it,” she said.

“Looking forward to what?” Debra asked from behind her as Millie placed the phone receiver back on its stand.

Debra's unexpected presence gave Millie an unpleasant start, making her jump. “I'm going out with a friend tomorrow night,” she said, willing her heart to stop racing.

Debra regarded Millie like she was up to something. “A friend?”

“Yes, a friend.”

“I don't even have a life yet,” Debra protested. “How could you? And where did you meet a man?”

Debra's question sounded more like a scold. “Quite by accident.”

“I wish I was accident prone,” Debra muttered. “Just be careful,” she added. “You don't know anything about this man.”

“He's perfectly nice,” Millie said. Really, how silly Debra was being!

“Yeah, well, that's what I thought about Ben. I don't want to have to worry about you,” she added.

“Don't worry about me. I think you have your hands full worrying about yourself,” Millie said crisply. Honestly, what did Debra think she was going to do at this age?

 

ONE THING SHE
knew she was going to do. She was going to enjoy this little bit of excitement that had come into her life. She dressed carefully for her date, putting on her favorite black skirt and pink rayon blouse. Panty hose were a struggle to get on, but she managed, then slipped into her favorite, easy-walking black pumps—heels were a thing of the past—and put on her pink pearl necklace. Her hair was still a mess, but she did the best she could and vowed to get to the beauty salon the following week. Looking at it, she wished she still had long, brunette tresses instead of this short, gray cotton wool. And her skin—she used to have such perfect skin. “Just like peaches and cream,” Duncan used to say.

Her body had aged in such a sneaky way, each year slipping in some new bit of decay. First it was that lone wrinkle at the top of her lip. Next thing she knew, she had crow's-feet around her eyes, and her muscles were protesting after a day of working in the garden. Sagging breasts, aging skin, gray hair—it was all such a cruel trick when she didn't feel old inside. She certainly didn't feel old to night.

“You're only as old as you feel,” she reminded herself, and gathered up her purse and coat and went downstairs to wait for her date.

Eric was busy with his video game. “Gram, wanna play?” he offered.

“I can't to night, dear,” Millie said.

Emily looked up from where she lay sprawled out in an easy chair, with a schoolbook open in her lap. “Are you going out?”

“Yes, I'm going out to dinner with a friend,” Millie told her.

Emily cocked her head, studying Millie. “You look nice.”

“Well, thank you,” Millie said. This was high praise, indeed, coming from a teenage girl. More than she was going to get from her daughter, she was sure.

The doorbell rang, and that brought Debra out from the kitchen where she was working on dinner, something she hadn't done much of since Millie moved in. But Millie beat her to the door.

There stood Altheus, looking distinguished in slacks, a shirt and tie, and a navy sports coat. He smiled at the sight of her. “Well, well. You look good enough to eat.”

Millie felt herself blushing. “Oh, really. Come in,” she added, and stepped aside. “This is my daughter, Debra.”

He crossed the threshold and shook Debra's hand. “You're just as lovely as your mother.”

Debra was underwhelmed by his gallantry. “Thanks.”

Millie felt like saying, “She's much lovelier when she's smiling.” Really, she'd taught her daughter better manners than this.

Altheus looked over at the grandchildren. Eric was involved with his video game and present only in body. Emily, however, was regarding Altheus with unbridled curiosity. Altheus nodded at her. “Hi there.”

She smiled. “Hi.”

“And these are my grandchildren,” Millie said, and made proper introductions, as proper as one could make when the children were
still in their seats. “Eric, can you say hello to Mr. Hornby?” she prompted.

If she'd been hoping for a handshake, she didn't get it. He gave Altheus a quick wave and a hi, and then was back in Video-Game Land.

It didn't seem to bother Altheus. “Well, shall we go?” he said to Millie. Without waiting for an answer, he took her coat and helped her into it. “Nice to meet you,” he said to Debra, who was now gawking suspiciously. He opened the door and whisked Millie out, saying, “I don't know about you, but I'm hungry.” Once they were in the car, he said, “I have a feeling your daughter wants to know my intentions.”