by Risner, Fay
“Hover, come here,” she called.
Hover appeared in the doorway and droned, “You yelled.” He looked at the open boxes and the bed piled high with clothes. “Oh Happy Days, is this ransack your closet day? Looks like fun.”
“That's more your style than mine. Just stop picking on me and help me make a decision. In this mess somewhere I hope is a dress that I can wear to the dance. Which one is it?”
“So now you are going? Let me remind you that you adamantly told me you could pick out your own clothes,” Hover recalled.
“I can, but I need some advice. Which one of these dresses do you think seems suitable to wear for a Christmas dance?”
Hover hummed louder as he thought. “It's Christmas. Pick a red dress. No matter how bad it looks on you, you will get credit for the dress being a holiday color.”
“Your idea presentation stinks, but your suggestion is great. Thanks, I think,” Elizabeth said, digging through the pile to draw out the only red dress she had. “This is it. The only red dress I own.”
“Then make do,” Hover said with finality.
Elizabeth tried the dress on. The red, form fitting dress was a warm knit. The dress had reminded her of a large sweater when she bought it. Was this the right choice? How could Bud put her in this predicament? He waited until a few days before the dance to ask her which didn't give her enough time to go shopping. Not that she could have found a dress in Wickenburg. Not many choices in women clothing in the stores in that town.
Hover was right. This dress would have to do. A white nylon scarf wrapped around her neck, over her shoulder and draped down the front and back would fancy the dress up some. She owned a pair of white heels. That might do for foot wear.
Saturday evening, Bud came to the door to escort her to his pickup. He had a thick, red plaid, mackinaw jacket over his broad shoulders, and wore a red checkered western shirt and black slacks. A fresh layer of powdery snow dusted his cowboy boots. His voice was deeply cheerful. “You ready to go?”
“As ready as I'm going to ever be,” Elizabeth said halfheartedly. “I'm not sure I'm dressed right for the dance.”
Bud gave her an approving look. “You fishing for a compliment? Because if you are, you look great!”
“I didn't mean to do that. I just want to look all right since I'm a stranger in town,” Elizabeth said.
“You are all right. I say you're going to have fun, and you will. I'm going to make sure of that. You'll see,” He said, offering his gloved hand to help her walk down the snowy steps.
The closer they were to Wickenburg the more Elizabeth fidgeted. She hadn't been to a dance in years. From the attire Bud had on, she wasn't sure she'd know how to dance the dances Wickenburg citizens did. He looked like he was ready to do a line dance. She just hoped she didn't embarrass herself and her date.
Bud escorted Elizabeth into the large room once they hung their coats on the entry way rack. The holly and mistletoe decorated hall was crowded. Voices mingled together with laughter as everyone talked at once. The band was setting up on the stage at the front of the room.
As they walked passed people, Bud seemed to be a crowd favorite from all the greetings he received. Workers from the grocery store remembered Elizabeth and welcomed her to the dance.
The band struck up a two step. Bud took Elizabeth in his arms. “Okay so far, Lizzy?”
“Yes, this is the one dance I used to be good at, but I may be rusty,” Elizabeth said with a giggle.
“You will do just fine,” Bud drawled, smiling down at her as he pulled her closer to him.
After the music stopped, Bud left Elizabeth standing along the wall and went to get them a glass of punch. The waitress from the diner came from across the room and stopped by her. “Enjoying yourself this evening?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Bud is one of the good guys. Guess you've figured that out,” Susie said, keeping her eyes on Bud across the room at the punch table.
“He is that,” Elizabeth agreed.
“Everyone in town likes Bud. They wouldn't like to see him get hurt. Especially by a stranger,” Susie warned softly. “I see Bud's coming back. I have to go. I just wanted to say watch your step, Missy.”
Elizabeth started to reply, but the waitress turned and melted into the crowd. What was that all about? Is she jealous because Bud brought me to the dance instead of her?
Bud handed her the punch. “Drink up. The band won't give us much of a break between their sets. They like to play.”
Elizabeth nodded and sipped her punch as she studied the crowd. Everyone seemed be having a good time. As far as she could tell, they weren't paying any attention to her. Maybe she didn't have any other Wickenburg citizen to worry about yet except for the waitress.
Bud looked worried. “You're awfully quiet. Not having a good time?”
“I am. Just powering down as Hover Hill would say until the next dance,” Elizabeth said, smiling at him.
By the time the evening was over, Elizabeth discovered she had really enjoyed herself. One little doubt nagged at her. She was too easily caught off guard by Bud's folksy charm. Sometime, she just might say something about her past that would trip her up. Bud was too smart. He'd be quick to call her on the lies she told.
Then there was that waitress. Her warning had Elizabeth baffled. She wanted to ask Bud what he knew about the woman, but she resisted. She didn't want to hear a story about his old girlfriend.
When they arrived at the house after the dance, Bud pulled up by the porch in front of the rick of wood and escorted Elizabeth up the porch steps to the door. Bud took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. His head dipped toward Elizabeth's face. His mouth brushed her lips tenderly.
Elizabeth slipped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. Bud pulled away so he could look at her. Surprise showed on his face. He wasn't the only one that felt that way. Elizabeth surprised herself when she didn't resist his kiss. Maybe she should have pushed him away, but she didn't do that. She didn't think she'd ever feel this way again about a man after what Steven did to her.
Bud pulled her to him, ready for another kiss. Suddenly, the porch light came on, flooding them with a yellow glow. They parted and stared up at the bright light.
“Sorry,” Elizabeth said, feeling an embarrassed flush creeping across her face.
Bud grinned. “Dang it! Makes me feel like a teenager caught by your parents sparking with you. You sure that robot likes me?”
The door clicked as the latch unlocked. Elizabeth giggled. “Who knows about Hover Hill. I'm not even sure he likes me. At the very least, he just now gave me the signal that I should call it a night. Thanks for a lovely evening, and good night, Bud. See you tomorrow?”
“You got it.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before he bounced down the steps to his pickup.
Elizabeth opened the door. Hover, arms folded across his chest, stood in the middle of the living room. He looked like he was ready for a confrontation with her.
“Why did you turn that porch light on just now?” Elizabeth groused.
“It was taking you too long to come in. I thought you had trouble finding your key in your purse with it so dark. It's too cold out there to waste time and get all chilled. I wanted to give you light to be helpful,” Hover excused.
“Thank you for your help, I think,” Elizabeth said, starting around him.
“Did you enjoy your evening?” Hover asked.
Elizabeth stopped to study him. “Yes, Hover. I did have a good time.”
“That's all that counts. I am glad for you. Now that you are home, I can power down,” Hover droned softly. “Good night, Beth.”
Suddenly, Elizabeth felt her anger disappearing. “Good night, Hover. Thanks for waiting up for me.”
Bud was right. Hover had acted like a parent or an older brother, waiting up for her to get home from a date. That wasn't what she'd had in mind when she brought the robot with her.
Obviou
sly, Hover's memory bank clearly remembered their conversation about her being safer with a man along on this trip. She smiled when she realized Hover was taking his job of protecting her very seriously.
Chapter 9
After the late night out, Elizabeth surprised herself by waking up early. She dressed and quietly wriggled into her coat to keep from rousing Hover out of his power down mode. She stepped out on the porch with the feeling she had plenty of restless energy to walk off.
The screen door slammed behind her, making the only noise in the morning stillness. The birds were even too cold to cheep. Her breath floated in tiny clouds in front of her face as she walked carefully down the frosted steps.
She looked around, thinking about how she was stuck out here in the middle of no where. She had placed herself in a self imposed exile away from everyone she knew because of a rotten man. Snapshots of Steven and her before he left her flipped through her mind like the pages of an old photo album. At the time, she thought they were a happy couple and look how that turned out. Clearly, she wasn't a good judge of men in past years and probably not now or in the future.
Her uneasy mind went to the wonderful evening she'd just had with Bud. He was as different from Steven as night and day. For that very reason she had to be careful. His boyish grin made her head swim. The looks he'd been giving her kept her from thinking clearly. When she first met Bud, she'd worried that she'd give away her secret unintentionally. Now she had to worry about being hurt by another man. One that she didn't know very well, and maybe, she shouldn't take the time to get to know. She wasn't going to stay in this North Pole exile forever. She missed her friends, her apartment in the city and her teaching job. Speaking of friends, Zoe must be worried sick about her. When it seemed a safe thing to do, she should call Zoe and explain what happened so her friend wouldn't worry anymore.
Alerted to the crunch under her boots, Elizabeth concentrated on where she stepped in the frozen snow. She pulled her coat closer around her and moved briskly to keep warm. She was almost to the pasture fence when she heard the tractor behind her. She stepped out of the trail and waited for Bud to drive by her. He nodded, smiled as he parked and hopped to the ground. He opened the gate as he asked, “Want to go with me to put the hay out?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Bud grabbed her by the waist and helped her into the tractor. He climbed into the seat, shifted gears and drove the tractor toward the milling cows. When he got to the herd, he honked the horn to scatter the cattle. Once he had the bale off the tine, he drove in a circle around the cattle and headed for the gate. “You look pretty chipper this morning after a late night out, Lizzy. Have a good night's sleep?”
“I did. Thank you very much. That dancing must have tired me out. I slept like a log,” she said, smiling at him.
“I'm glad you had fun. That's the first time I've seen you happy. I'm going to have to find more ways to keep you smiling. You have a nice smile and a pretty laugh,” Bud complimented.
“Oh well, don't work too hard at it. You must remember I'm not going to be here past June.” Elizabeth watched the trees to keep Bud from seeing her swimming eyes. Now that she was in his presence again she wasn't in such a hurry to leave. When am I ever going to make up my mind what I want to do?
“Lizzy, can't you ever see yourself settled in one place.” He paused and added, “And happy?”
Elizabeth's voice tightened. “I have reason not to believe in fairy tales with happy endings. I can't let myself even dream about such things as a home and happiness. I'm pretty sure a happy ever after life isn't going to happen for me.”
Bud pulled her to him to offer her comfort. He wrapped his arm around her so she could lay her head against his shoulder. “Don't ever give up on happy ever after fairy tales, Miss Negativity. Most of them do come true.” He stopped the tractor. Elizabeth pulled away from him. “You gonna be all right now?”
“Yes, I'm find. Thank you for being such a good friend even if you are a glass half full kind of guy,” she said with a weak smile and climbed down.
“You betcha. Any time,” he replied.
Elizabeth watched Bud drive away before she went inside. The house smelled like freshly perked coffee. She kicked off her boots, threw her coat and gloves on a chair in the corner and went to the kitchen. “Hover, I sure could use a good cup of coffee to warm me up before I start work on that book this morning.”
“At your service, Beth. How is Farmer today?”
“His name is Bud, and he's just fine,” Elizabeth said. She took the cup and headed out of the room. “I'll be in the office if you need me for anything.”
Right after lunch, Hover came to the office door. “A car is coming toward the house.”
Elizabeth swallowed hard. “Could you see who was in it?”
“A woman.”
“Really.” Elizabeth was relieved Hover didn't say a man. Who would be coming to visit her? She peeked around the curtain. “Oh, it's Susie from the diner. Wonder why she'd come way out here? I suppose she has another dire warning to give me to keep me from dating her boyfriend.”
“I feel as if I have missed something. Would you care to translate?” Hover droned.
“You did miss something. I'll explain later. Now go into the kitchen out of sight. I don't want you to come out until she leaves.”
Susie knocked just as Elizabeth made it to the door. “Good morning. Come in out of the cold.”
“I intend to.” Susie stepped in far enough for Elizabeth to shut the door.
“Take off your coat and let me get you a cup of coffee,” Elizabeth said, trying to be friendly.
Susie looked around the room. “Don't bother. I can't stay long. I have to be back to the Maidrite before the supper crowd swamps the place. My waitress won't be able to keep up alone.”
“Would you like to sit down?” Elizabeth pointed to the couch.
Susie got right to the point. “No, I said I'm not going to stay long. I just came to talk to you about Bud. So how serious is this thing with you and Bud?”
Elizabeth bristled. “Pardon me? And you should know our business why?”
Susie eyed her right back, not flinching. “For starters, he's my brother. I'm worried about him getting in over his head with you being a stranger and all. He doesn't know you as well as he should.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth said softly. “Listen, I'm sorry to sound so defensive. I didn't realize that you two were related.”
“Well, I guess that's allowed. I don't want to be this nosy, but I look out for my little brother. It looks rather strange to me that you have a man living with you. Yet you're willing to date another man. Bud's been hurt before by a woman. I hate to see it happen again just because he's too softhearted. You understand what I'm saying?”
“Of course, I do. To answer your question, the man living here is just a friend of mine. As for Bud, we had a really good time on our date at the Christmas dance. I think he's a great guy, but as I've told him, I will be leaving here sometime before the first of June.”
Susie's brow furrowed. “I see. Did he take the idea that you would be leaving okay?”
“I think so. Even if I wanted to stay, I can't,” Elizabeth said.
“Just so Bud knows that.”
“He does,” Elizabeth assured her.
“You can see how I might be concerned. You're living with a good looking man, and my brother gets starry eyed every time he talks about you. Does it seem really fair to Bud that you're living with a man and dating Bud?”
Elizabeth grimaced. “It wouldn't be fair at all if that were the circumstances, but like I said, the man living with me is just a friend.”
“One thing is for sure, I've never known Bud to take up with a woman that has another man living with her. That isn't like him at all. That's why I'm worried enough to talk to you,” Susie said.
“You shouldn't worry. I explained to Bud details that you aren't aware of. That's why he doesn't mind dating me.”
“It's not like this man is kin. You have said as much, and that he is not your husband,” Susie probed.
“I repeat, he's just a good friend that's staying with me for a while,” Elizabeth said. If she had to answer Susie's questions honestly, everyone in town might know about her business by nightfall.
“I guess that will have to do for right now. Doesn't look like I'm going to get anything else out of you, and I have to get back to town,” Susie said as she pulled her coat zipper up.
After Bud's sister left, Elizabeth said, “All right, Hover. The coast is clear.”
Hover came from the kitchen. “And you called me nosy.”
“I know, but she's just looking out for her brother,” Elizabeth excused. “I can certainly relate when I think about the days I worried about Scott.”
Hover asked, “Now I want you to tell me why you knew this ominous warning from the waitress was coming before she entered the house?”
“Her words to me at the dance last night were something like Missy watch your step. Bud is a good guy. I had the feeling then she wasn't done with me yet.”
“You guessed right. She came back for a second round.”
Elizabeth put on her winter gear. “I think I successfully warded off another attack from her. Now I need some fresh air. I'm going for a walk to do some thinking.”
“What are you going to think about?”
“What kind of mess I'm going to get into with Bud's family by dating him. I don't need anymore headaches in my life right now. Bud has invited me to his family Christmas dinner. Maybe I should turn him down,” Elizabeth told him.
“Maybe no more problems would be nice, but a good romance in your life would sure perks you up,” Hover stated.
“Hover, there is no end to your talents. Now you're Dear Abby. I'm not the type that cares about romance. What do you think about that shocking bit of information?”
“I'm telling you there is romance right in front of you. You should seize the moment as they say,” Hover replied and left the room quickly.
