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  “Love you too, Izzy,” I said to her, holding her. “I’m glad I’m here too.”

  I left her room, closing the door behind me, and walked out into the living room. Dad was sitting in his recliner, reading the newspaper.

  “Where’s Mom?” I asked him as I stood next to his chair.

  “She was tired, she went to lay down. The day took a lot out of her.”

  “I’m going to head up to the house. Do you have the keys?”

  Dad fished the Pirates keychain out of his pocket and handed the keys to me. “You can always spend the night down here if you want,” he said to me. “We have the extra bed in my office.”

  “Thanks, Dad, but I think I want to be in the house and sleep in my comfy, king-size bed instead,” I told him. “Besides, I have the stuff to unpack and things to get to at the house. I’ll stop down in the morning.”

  “Okay, good night, Wes,” Dad said, going back to his newspaper.

  “Goodnight Dad,” I told him, “and thanks for your help.”

  “I do what I can, son,” he said to me with a smile.

  I walked back up the hill towards my house. The air was much cooler now that night had arrived. I could hear the quiet of the farm as I paced my way over the blacktop. When I reached the top, the motion lights came on and lit up the circular drive. I walked over and got a few bags out of the trunk, leaving my baseball gear in the back for now.

  No reason to bring that in I suppose, I thought to myself.

  I took the keys and unlocked the door. I heard the familiar beeping of the alarm system and punched in the code to shut the alarm off. I flipped on the lights in the foyer, and the living room area lit up. Everything looked just as it did when I left in January. The cleaning service did a great job if keeping the house dust-free and looking its best. I would have to remember to contact them in the morning to let them know I was in the house for now, so they were aware.

  I carried my bags into the master bedroom, which was located downstairs and down the hall to the left of the living room. I left the bags at the foot of the bed and walked out and to the left to go towards the kitchen. I flipped the lights on there and walked over to the large refrigerator to see what was in there. Sure enough, it was empty. I then remembered the game room downstairs and decided to go there. I walked back down the hall past my bedroom and opened the door just to the right of the bedroom. The stairway there led down to the game room I had set up.

  Turning the lights on down there, I could see that everything was nicely in place. The pool table was ready to be played, and the big screen TV hung nicely on the wall over the row of leather recliners and couch. I walked over to the mahogany bar at the far end of the room and picked up the remote sitting on the edge of the bar. I pointed it towards the TV, curious to turn on the sports network to see if they had anything to say about me, but then I thought better of it. Instead, I pressed the button for the sound system and turned on some music.

  I looked at the beer taps on the bar, knowing they were not currently connected to anything, but the refrigerator beneath the bar would have some bottles and cans of beer in it. I reached in a grabbed a cold bottle of whatever was there first and popped the top off with the bottle opener screwed to the bar. I took a long swig and then went and sat in one of the leather recliners and looked around.

  The game room was pure luxury, one of the things I treated myself to when I had the house built. It wasn’t a space I used often. In fact, Izzy and her friends used it more for sleepovers than I did for entertaining friends, but I still thought of it as my space.

  I sipped the beer and wondered what the next few days would hold. A quick look at my smartphone told me there was nothing from Randy, and the house phone wouldn’t have any messages on it since I had it shut off whenever I left for the season.

  Another thing I must remember to take care of, I suppose, I thought to myself.

  I felt like I was caught in limbo every which way. I was without a team or job, but that could change at any moment. I was without Izzy, even though she was only a hundred yards away. There were more questions than answers going on in my life right now, and that included Kristin Arthur.

  Just what am I expecting with Kristin? I considered.

  It had been a very long time since a woman struck me like she did. There was something about her that got to me inside. Maybe it was because she wasn’t fawning over the fact that I played baseball or had a lot of money. Maybe it was because she was a smart and attractive woman that showed some interest in who I am. Or maybe part of it was because she was younger than me and part of me liked the fact that a woman that age might still be attracted to me at this age.

  Whatever it was, I was looking forward to finding out, more than I had looked forward to any date I had in years.

  12

  Kristin

  The excitement was running through me from the moment I got out of bed Friday morning. It had been a while since I felt like I had something to really look forward to for the weekend. While I had tried to venture out with Karen and do things on the weekends here and there, it’s not quite the same as having a date with a handsome man. Even though the date wasn’t until seven in the evening, I found myself taking extra time primping as I got dressed for work that morning. I spent a little more time making sure my hair looked right, and I wore a nice pair of black slacks to go with my white ¾-sleeve blouse.

  I took my usual walk to the library that morning, feeling great about myself. When I passed Harding’s Diner, naturally the men were there in their window seats, and I made sure to give them a smile and a wave as I went by. I even got to the library a little bit early, allowing me to open, get the coffee going, turn my computer on and even check in some books before Karen arrived.

  I was sitting in my office doing some paperwork when Karen strolled through the door. She came into my office, amazed to see me sitting there with stuff done already and with a smile on my face.

  “What got into you this morning? Did you get here at 6 AM?” she said, surprised.

  “I was just feeling good this morning, so I got here a little early and got some things done. The coffee is ready if you want some,” I told Karen with a smile.

  Karen went and poured herself a cup and came in and sat down in my office. She saw me typing away, still smiling and feeling good.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” she said, leaning forward and putting her coffee down on my desk.

  “I don’t know what you mean, Karen,” I replied, barely able to contain myself and smile.

  “You’re one of the few people I know that are always in a good mood Kris, but today seems even extreme for you, so something must have had happened yesterday after you left here.”

  “Nothing much really,” I said casually. “I just went and did some shopping at Wally’s yesterday and ran into Wes Martin. We chatted a bit, and he asked me to dinner tonight.” I kept typing, glancing up at Karen to see her reaction. She had a look of disbelief on her face.

  “Are you serious?” Karen said, shocked at my statement.

  “Yep,” I said, showing more excitement now as I stopped typing and put my feet up on my desk. “We’re going to Angelo’s tonight at seven.”

  “I can’t believe he asked you out after meeting you for just a few minutes,” Karen said, standing up now. “You must have really knocked his socks off. That’s great, Kris!”

  “It is great, isn’t it?” I said proudly. I stood up, and Karen came over and gave me a hug.

  “Do you know what you are going to wear?” she asked me. I could see the excitement in her eyes now too.

  “I have a pretty good idea,” I told her. “I don’t want to wear something that is too dressy or formal or something that is too revealing. I have this great red dress that I think will be perfect. It’s not too fancy, it fits me really well, and I think Wes will like it.”

  “Oh, I’m so excited for you,” Karen said.

  We spent the next few minutes discussing details ab
out going to Angelo’s before the first patrons of the morning came into the library. Karen went out to the desk to help them while I tried to busy myself with my work in my office.

  It was difficult to concentrate on the work I had to do: answering emails, placing book requests and setting up programs for the upcoming spring break, but somehow I managed to get through it all. I was even too keyed up to worry about eating lunch and completely skipped over it. That last hour in the library before five seemed to drag on forever, but by the time it rolled around, I eagerly shut down my computer and grabbed my things to go.

  I walked out into the library as Karen was checking out the last visitor of the day, a young woman and her child checking out a few children’s books. Once they were set and walking out the door, Karen turned and looked at me with a smile. I looked back at her with nervous excitement and shrugged my shoulders and smiled.

  Karen gathered up her things, and we walked out the door together. I locked up for the night as we strolled up the street a bit.

  Karen, your place is the other direction,” I said to her as we kept walking.

  “I thought you might want some help getting ready,” she said. Karen may have been just as keyed up about the date as I was. I decided that I could use a friend’s advice as I got ready to make sure I looked my best.

  “That would be great, thanks,” I said to her. We walked by the diner, and a few of the gentlemen were perched in their spot to watch us. Karen gave them a big smile and blew them a kiss as we went by.

  “Enjoy your dinner guys!” she yelled as we were going by. She then took my hand, and we ran up the street together.

  We went to my apartment and headed straight for my bedroom so I could get out the dress I had chosen to show to Karen. I walked over to the closet and pulled out the garment. It was a cap sleeve red dress that was fitted at the waist and then flared out at the skirt. The neckline was not very deep but was not conservative either.

  I held the dress up for Karen to look at and she seemed to like it.

  “Do you want help with makeup?” she asked me.

  “I don’t think I am going with any,” I told her. “I want Wes to see me, not a caked-up version of me. Maybe just some lipstick and my nails.” I looked down at my nails and realized they were not in the best shape to start with.

  “Could you help me with my nails after I shower?” I asked her.

  “You bet, I’m on it,” Karen replied. She reached over to her large handbag and pulled out a variety of nailcare items.

  “Go shower, and I’ll get everything ready,” she ordered, pointing over to the bathroom.

  I turned on the shower, making it nice and hot, and stripped down and climbed in. I even took some time to shave my legs carefully, something I didn’t do that often recently. I found that when you live in a colder climate, no one sees your legs for months. I made sure to avoid any nicks and took long, slow strokes with the pink razor in my shower to make sure I did a good job.

  After getting out of the shower, I made sure to put moisturizer on my legs, making them shiny, soft and smooth. I wiped the fog off the mirror and took a good look at myself, happy with what I saw. I smiled and winked at myself as I wrapped a towel around my body and worked on drying my hair. My hair always had a little bit of curl and wave to it towards the ends, and I thought this would lend a great look for the night.

  I walked out into the bedroom and saw Karen had laid out all her nail supplies on the bed. I sat down across from her, and she set to work like an expert, trimming and smoothing my nails, so they were all just the right shape and uniform. Karen then buffed my nails so that they were looking great, and then set about putting a clear base coat on each nail.

  “Wow, you really know what you’re doing,” I said to her as we waited for the base coat to dry.

  “My mother owned a salon, so I picked up all the tricks along the way,” she said with a smile. “I think this red will be great with your dress,” she said to me as she picked out a deeper red than the color of my dress.

  It had been a while since I pampered myself and felt “girly” like this, and I was having fun just getting ready. Once my nails were dry, I was ready to start getting dressed. It was already a little after six, but Angelo’s was only right down the street, so I didn’t have far to go to meet Wes.

  I went over to my dresser to pick out some underwear for the night. I actually gave some consideration to what I would wear for the first time in a while, and Karen could see me studying the drawer.

  “What’s wrong?” Karen said to me.

  “I don’t know what to wear,” I said, tossing aside some items as I searched around.

  “Well,” Karen said as she got off the bed and stood next to me, staring into my underwear drawer. “I guess the question is, do you think this is anything he is going to see tonight?”

  I did blush a little at the thought. I honestly hadn’t considered whether things would actually get that far on this date. While I certainly didn’t anticipate that happening, I guess the truth is I wasn’t sure. I decided to go with something in-between, choosing a pair of red lace boyshorts I had. I held them up for Karen to see, and she approved. I then went with a red lace bra to match, figuring that was the right way to go.

  I put on the bra and panties and looked in the full-length mirror I had to the right of my dresser. I was happy with the way things looked, and Karen nodded in approval in the background. I then chose a pair of black patterned pantyhose that would complement the dress nicely and carefully slid them up my legs. I slipped the red dress over my head, and Karen helped me with the zipper on the bodice. I turned to her and asked her what she thought.

  “You look fantastic,” she said to me.

  I went over to my closet and grabbed my black strappy heels and put them on. I hadn’t worn heels like this in a while since I didn’t have any dressy places to go, so I made sure to walk around a bit to get used to them. I figured they gave me a little boost in height as well since Wes was so much taller than me.

  “I think I’m ready,” I said confidently to Karen.

  I glanced down at my watch and saw it was nearly 6:45. I still had a few minutes before I could walk down to Angelo’s. I realized would need to wear something for a coat since it was still getting chilly at night here in Chandler, so I went back to the closet to see what options I had. I grabbed a black shawl I had in the closet that I thought would both look nice and provide me with the extra warmth I was seeking.

  Karen gathered up her things in her handbag, I grabbed my purse, and we were ready to head out the door. As we slowly walked up the street towards Angelo’s, I could feel butterflies building in my stomach.

  “You okay?” Karen said, sensing something might be wrong.

  “I’m just feeling nervous all of a sudden,” I said to Karen as we moved along.

  “You’ve got nothing to be nervous about, Kris,” Karen reassured me. “Don’t take it too seriously. It’s just a night out. Relax, be yourself, and have fun. That’s all you can do.”

  “Thanks, Karen,” I said as I hugged her again as we reached the wooden front door of Angelo’s restaurant.

  “You make sure to give me all the details,” Karen directed. She pulled open the door for me as I walked through the door and up to the server’s podium.

  I had never been in Angelo’s before, but had heard plenty about it from the people in town. It was a nice Italian restaurant, nothing too fancy, but it was considered a special location by many in the area. The lighting was dim inside as I looked around and saw many of the typical trappings you find in restaurant décor on the walls. Music played softly in the background, and an older gentleman came up to the podium moments after I arrived there. He was dressed impeccably in a dark suit and tie and greeted me with a broad smile.

  “Can I help you, Miss,” he said to me politely, with just a hint of an Italian accent.

  I looked around the restaurant and didn’t see Wes sitting anywhere in the front part of th
e dining room, so perhaps I had gotten there ahead of him.

  “I’m… I’m meeting someone here for dinner tonight, but I think I may be here before him,” I told the gentleman.

  “Oh, you must be meeting Mr. Martin,” the man said to me with a smile. “Please, come right this way.”

  I followed behind the man as we wound our way through the main dining room. The restaurant was much bigger inside than it looked from the outside, and I didn’t know there was even a back room to go to. We walked into a smaller room that had just three or four tables to it, and the gentleman led me over to the table in the corner where I could see the shape of a man in a dark suit with his back to us.

  “Mr. Martin,” the gentleman stated, “Your guest has arrived.” Wes stood up right away as I arrived and smiled at me as I walked around to the other side of the table. The gentleman pulled out the dark leather chair for me to sit on, and I sat down. He then handed me the white linen napkin to place in my lap. I looked over at Wes in his nicely pressed black suit and gray tie.