When You Least Expect It (32 page)

             
“Somebody must love you, Mr. Knight.” 

             
This made Ray blush, especially after seeing the return address.  It was from Amanda in Texas.  He couldn’t imagine what this was. 

             
“I don’t know Marlene; I’ll have to open it to find out.  After all, it could be a bomb!”

 
              They both laughed and he went back upstairs to open his surprise, and what a surprise it was.  Amanda had remembered his birthday!  She had sent him a silly Texan sweatshirt.  He loved it.  Now he had something he could actually touch to remind him of her.  He sat and stared at it a long time before trying it on.  It fit perfect.  He looked at himself in the mirror, liking what he saw. 

He picked up the phone and called her.  She answered on the first ring.

              “Yes?” 

             
He wondered why she sounded scared.  “Hi!  I got the gift!  Thanks so much!  I can’t believe you remembered!” 

             
Amanda laughed.  “I never imagined you would be so excited about a sweatshirt.  It couldn’t wait until a decent hour before you called me? You scared me!” 

             
Ray smacked his forehead!  He’d forgotten about the time difference.  It was only six o’clock there!  “Mandy, forgive me. Were you sleeping?” 

             
“Um, I was, yes.  But, after hearing all this excitement, I’m now wide awake.  Did it fit?”  She rubbed her eyes and willed herself to wake up.  It touched her to know how excited this made him, she was so glad she’d decided to send it.

             
“It fits perfect.  What I like most about it though, is that you gave it to me.  Thanks.” 

             
She smiled to herself, “Happy Birthday, Ray.”

             
Ray was so unbelievably touched; you would have thought she’d given him tickets to see the Beatles. They talked a little more about his birthday plans, and seeing his girls, and wishing more than ever that she was closer.

             
“I’m sorry I woke you so early, go back to sleep if you can.”  Ray was genuinely embarrassed about the early call.

             
“I think I’ll get up and start my day, this was a nice way to start it.  Too bad you can’t bring me over some coffee.”

             
“I would love to do that if only I could.”  This statement made him a little sad, but he tried to keep it light.  “For now though, I hope you have a great day, and thanks again for my ‘don’t mess with Texas’ shirt.  Believe you me little lady, I never will.”

             
Amanda laughed at the fake Texas drawl.  “Not bad.  I could
almost
believe you were from Texas.” 

             
They laughed at that and hung up, both feeling a certain stirring in their hearts, as they headed their separate ways, in their separate lives, for the day.

Chapter 25

              Amanda was going on another Internet date.  This time with a younger man named Dan.  He was a P.E teacher, and was eight years her junior.  By the looks of his picture, it promised to be an interesting night.  What made it even more interesting was that she had two dates.  She was meeting a second man she met online at Nene’s after date number one.  She found this a bit naughty, very much unlike her, but very intriguing.

             
She decided to dress casual, settling on jeans, a black sweater and high-heeled boots.  She wrapped a small red scarf around her neck, which matched her big red hoop earrings and with a quick touch-up of her make-up, headed out the door.  When arriving at Nene’s she took a deep breath and walked confidently to the front door, turning heads as she went.

             
She stood there at the door trying to recognize Dan.  She didn’t see anyone that looked familiar, or that resembled the picture Dan had sent.  She asked for a Corona with a lime. She tried not to look as uncomfortable as she felt as she waited for someone to approach her.  She struck up a conversation with the bartender trying to ward off the advances of the two men on either side of her. 

             
“Amanda?”

             
She turned and was pleasantly surprised to see Dan.  He was very attractive.  Six feet tall, blond hair, blue eyed and with a great body.  She reddened slightly as she looked him over.  She stuck out her hand.  “Hi Dan.  Yes, I’m Amanda.  Call me Mandy.” 

             
He took her hand and they just stared at each other for a moment.  He tore his eyes away from hers and guided her over to his table, very much taken by her.

             
“You are beautiful.  I could drown in those brown eyes of yours.”

             
She blushed again as he continued to stare.  She had to admit she was very flattered by this reaction.  After all, he was one gorgeous man, and could probably pick and choose from any woman he wanted. 

             
“So, what should we drink?”

             
“Well, I have my beer; I think I’ll stick with that.” Amanda continued to eye him appreciatively, wishing she had not made that second date.  She really wondered why she told him to come here too.  What had she been thinking?

             
Dan and Mandy talked about each other’s jobs, and past loves, and what they wanted now.  He was a bit of a slow talker, which had surprised her since he was a teacher.  It sounded to Mandy as if he had always been a loner.  He’d been married once; his wife had cheated on him, so he’d moved back to Texas from Connecticut.  He made it perfectly clear that he did not trust women on any level.

             
She had tried to argue this point.  “Dan, not all women are the same.  Not every woman you meet is going to hurt you.”

             
“True.  But I’m never going to know who will and who won’t.  I never thought my Donna would, and she hurt me in the most horrible way.  She slept with my brother.  They both hurt me.  No thanks, I don’t ever want to risk being hurt like that again.”

             
She noticed the glaze that went over Dan’s eyes.  She drank her beer and wondered why he was here on this date.  She was afraid to ask. 

             
He suddenly jumped up and laughed.  “Why are we talking about this?  Let’s go out and have some fun!  Are you game?”

             
She smiled at him.  “No, I can’t.  I have plans later.  Maybe we can do it another time?”

             
He looked at her suspiciously.  “What kind of plans?”

             
She tried not to let her feathers get ruffled.  “Well that’s neither here nor there.  We planned to meet for a drink, not for the evening.  I’m happy to make another date with you if that's what you’d like but not for tonight.  In fact, I have to get going.”  It was getting dangerously close to the time her second date, Andrew, was meeting her.

             
Dan was giving her a very dirty look.  Alex would say he was ‘mad-dogging’ her.  However, he surprised her.  “I understand.  Shall we meet on Friday for a real date?  We could go see a movie or dancing, whichever you wish.  It’s your call.”  Amanda considered this for a moment.  She’d decided to have a three-date rule.  The idea of seeing Dan again was appealing so she agreed.  “I’ll meet you at the theater by here.  Seven o’clock?” 

             
“It’s a date, sweetheart.  See you then.”  He took her hand and kissed it.  “It was a pleasure to meet you.”  He strode off, his eyes lingering on hers for a long time before he turned and walked out the door.

             
She sighed.  She liked Dan.  He seemed genuinely nice.  She did her usual comparison to Ray, and as usual, it did not quite meet her expectations.  Damn that Ray.  She laughed.  The funny thing was that she didn’t want to meet someone as great as Ray.  She wanted Ray. 

             
She sat there nursing her beer when someone sat down at the table. 

             
“Amanda, I presume?”

             
It was Andrew.  “Hi.”  This was all she could muster.  Obviously, she was not a two dates a night kind of girl.  She was too old for it she guessed.  She was still recovering from her first date. 

             
“Aren’t you the quiet one?” He called over the waiter for a drink.  He ordered a Rum and Coke.  “So let’s get this party started.  Are we eating or just drinking.”  He sat right next to Amanda and put his arm around her.  “You sure are a looker.”  He began to nibble on her ear.

             
Amanda pushed him away.  She was appalled that she had not even said two words to him and he had his tongue in her ear!  “Excuse me!  Can we hold off the mauling at least until ten words have been spoken?”

             
Andrew laughed.  “Let’s not play shy, girl.  We both know you put that ad on the Internet so you could get lucky.  So, let’s blow this joint so we can both do just that!” 

             
Amanda knew this was part of the risk in Internet dating.  Luckily, she’d devised a plan to get her out of these predicaments.  “Fine.” She grabbed her purse.  “Let me go freshen up first.”  The smile she gave him would have melted the hearts of even the coldest man.

             
He swatted her on the behind.  “That’s my girl.  I’ll finish up my drink.”

             
She left the table.  She walked toward the restroom, looking back to see if he was watching.  When she was satisfied that he wasn’t, she walked straight towards the front door.  She asked the bouncer to watch her until she got in her car.  She pointed to her date.  “That man is drunk and won’t leave me alone, please, don’t let him follow me.  The bouncer assured her she was safe, so she hurriedly walked to her car.  She got in, and drove off like a maniac.  Once she was a safe distance, she started to laugh hysterically.  So much for her single wild life!  She could barely handle one man a night, so she’d better reconsider trying for two.  She headed home, exhausted from her night on the town. 

             
                                                        ~~~

              Ray had tried to have a serious discussion with the girls over dinner.  Unfortunately, they were in no mood for it.  Every time he broached a subject, they’d make fun of him, or laugh hysterically.  Obviously, this wasn’t the time or the place.  This only concerned him more.

             
They talked about other things, and ate until they could eat no more.  Dinner was quite an event.  They laughed and had a good time, and put off the time to leave for as long as they could.

             
The ride home was usually quiet.  Ray always felt it was apprehension more than anything was.  Carrie always gave the girls the third degree when they got home.  He felt bad for them, but didn’t know how to change it.  If he’d known that, maybe he’d still be home with them.

             
As they drove up, Carrie was just getting out of her car.  He groaned inwardly, as the girls groaned out loud. 

             
“Okay girls.”  He sounded as cheerful as he could.  “I’ll see you soon.  I love you.” 

             
The girls hugged his head as they got out of the car.  “We love you too, Daddy.”  Nikki had tears in her eyes as she hugged him.  “Take care of yourself.  I’ll call you.” 

             
Ray had to fight back his own tears.  This feeling was short lived.  Carrie was on her way towards the passenger window. He fought the urge to speed off and rolled the window down to see what she wanted.  She bent over and smiled.

             
“Hey Ray.  How are you?”

             
Ray was stunned.  “I’m fine, you?”  His voice sounded like a squeak.

             
“Great!  Thanks!”  She waved and headed in the house with her arms around the girls.

             
Ray sat there for the minute wondering when and where the earth’s atmosphere had shifted.  She was great? She was smiling at him?  Ray shook his head in amazement.  He decided the best thing to do was to stop trying to understand women.  It was just never going to happen. 

             
                                                        ~~~

              Amanda got home and poured herself a glass of wine.  She was overwhelmed.  She kicked off her boots and called Hilary.

             
“Hello?”

             
“Hey Hil, I’m home.”

             
“You’re home all ready?  That was a quick date.”

             
Amanda laughed.  “You mean that was a quick
two
dates.”