Belated Kiss

by Abby Tyler

  “You watch that grandbaby of mine,” T-bone said, hoping to change the subject.

  But Luke and Savannah just laughed.

  “We get it, Dad,” Luke said. “We’re just happy for you.”

  Ruth

  Ruth chose a quiet cafe only a block from the pediatric clinic. She switched shifts with a coworker to get the time off. In an ordinary situation, it might be odd to spend time with a man’s family after only two dates, but, of course, Luke and Savannah were the reason they had met.

  Technically, she had known them first.

  She held the table, making sure they had waters and menus ready, waiting for the group to arrive. Her belly fluttered with nerves, even though there wasn’t anything that should make her anxious. But something in her wanted this to work.

  She adored Luke and Savannah and could see herself being part of their family. And something about Theodore just fit. The way they ate dessert first. They could laugh at themselves when the ice cream hit the pavement or a dog nearly knocked them into the lake.

  She had decades of experience in sizing people up. And she understood Theodore. She felt like he understood her, too.

  When the family arrived, she stood and waved. Other customers stopped talking to get a peek at the baby in the bucket seat. Newborns were such a treat. The time was so fleeting.

  “I got us a spot here in the corner, away from most of the tables,” she said, breathless and hoping they would approve of the oversized booth.

  “I love it,” Savannah said. She looked a little weary and slid onto the cushioned bench with a sigh.

  “Set the baby over here,” Ruth said. “I can hold her if she fusses.”

  Luke placed the car seat on the bench beside her and slid opposite them next to Savannah. Theodore sat on Ruth’s side, leaving the baby between them.

  “How did it go?” Ruth asked, shifting aside the blanket so she could see Maybelle’s sweet face. It was good to be a maternity nurse. It was natural for the couple to trust her with the baby.

  “She’s gained weight, and everything looks good,” Luke said. “She’ll probably sleep through this due to the shots.”

  Ruth nodded. “I’m so glad you could get out for a minute.”

  Savannah sipped from the glass. “So nice to get a change of scenery for a day.”

  “How is Pops?” Ruth asked.

  “I had the easy job,” Theodore said. “Driving the truck and waiting. I don’t think I coulda handled the needle going in.”

  Ruth’s laughed. “It’s a lot. Trust me, we don’t enjoy sticking babies.”

  The waitress brought them menus and clucked over the Maybelle. Ruth already knew what she would order and watched them with happiness in her heart. She went to restaurants occasionally with friends and sometimes with a coworker. But a big happy gathering of family was something she’d missed so much with Christina all the way in California.

  Her eyes misted and she dashed the tears away. The ache of her loneliness bit her deep. She should have tried dating before. But then, perhaps the world knew she needed to wait for this.

  They ordered sandwiches and warm soups. The conversation moved from the baby to the weather to football. They spoke of how well the baby’s other grandfather Boone was doing with Maybelle.

  “We got three kittens in yesterday,” Luke said. “I’m hoping we can do an adoption day soon. We have our foster families filled up.”

  “Please let me know if I can help,” Ruth said. “I work three shifts a week, but on other days I can certainly lend a hand.”

  “Thank you,” Savannah said. “It’s nice to have someone with your expertise at the ready.”

  Ruth wanted the afternoon to go on forever, but of course, Savannah needed to nurse and wasn’t ready for trying it in public just yet.

  Ruth walked them to Theodore’s truck, the chill wind whipping her hair. Her eyes smarted from the cold, but also from seeing their time together end.

  “Thank you for organizing the lunch,” Savannah said. “I hope we can do it again as Maybelle gets bigger.”

  Ruth nodded. “Yes, please let’s do.”

  Theodore squeezed her hand. “Talk to you soon?”

  “Yes.” She thought for a moment he might kiss her, but of course he hadn’t yet, and probably the first time shouldn’t be in front of his kids, no matter their age.

  She waved them off, lingering on the sidewalk until she could no longer see his taillights.

  Instead of going home right away, she sat on the bench outside the restaurant, savoring the bite of the wind. She wanted to hold onto this happy memory for as long as she could. All that waited for her now was her quiet, empty house.

  It had been fine for so many years. In fact, for a long time, she’d enjoyed the peace. But now she saw how much life her home could hold.

  And she wanted it all.

  T-bone

  Later that week, T-bone paused when he saw Ruth’s text for an invitation to dinner at her house. He was going to need more clothes. As soon as he replied with a yes, he drove into Branson for another pair of khakis and dark blue trousers. Plus his first tie. Ever.

  When the day came, he propped his phone on the mirror, playing a video over and over on how to tie the darn thing. After a half-hour of sweating it out, he thought he had a reasonable version done. He had to mop down his forehead, though, from the pure stress of trying to get it right.

  He ought to get another opinion. He still had some extra time, so he stopped by Luke’s house. He could get his baby tickles in, and also see if Luke could approve his look. Luke often wore ties to events for veterinarians, and probably had the thing mastered.

  When Luke opened the door for T-bone, Boone was sitting in his recliner, the sleeping baby on his lap. He had his program on mute.

  “What’s the occasion?” Luke whispered as they retreated to the kitchen to avoid disturbing them.

  “I’m meeting Ruth.”

  “Third date already?”

  “Yeah. Dinner at her house.”

  “That tie is not right.”

  T-bone looked down. “That’s why I’m here.”

  Luke reached over to pluck out the knot. “You’ve never done it before?”

  “No reason to.”

  Luke quickly retied it so that the two lengths were the same and the knot was neat.

  “I’m never going to get it. I watched the videos.”

  Luke chuckled softly. “Let’s practice a bit. Let me get a tie. Keep an eye on them?”

  T-bone stood in the door between the kitchen and the living room while Luke headed to the back bedroom.

  Boone looked up and met his gaze. He wore old overalls like always, weathered house shoes on his feet.

  “She’s a sweetie, ain’t she?” T-bone said.

  Boone nodded. He rarely spoke aloud these days. He stroked the baby’s head.

  Luke returned with a tie and Savannah. “I’ll sit with Boone,” she said, twisting her long hair back in a band. She looked tired.

  “Up late with the babe?” T-bone asked.

  “Every two hours lately. We’ll get through it.” She flashed him a quick smile and sat on the sofa, laying her head on the back cushion.

  Luke and T-bone headed to the cat room where they could talk normally.

  “All right, untie it, and we’ll do it again at the same time,” Luke said.

  T-bone pulled the knot loose, displeased that he had to do it all over again. “Why can’t I just leave it?”

  “Because next time we might not be around,” Luke said.

  T-bone sighed. “All right.”

  Luke stood beside him to show him each turn. T-bone fumbled, grumbling and groaning, until he got it.

  “Now undo it and try again.”

  “You’re killing me, boy,” he said.

  “Think of it as making up for the years you didn’t have to put up with my antics growing up.”

  T-bone watched his son’s face, but only saw honest amusement. �
��Well, all right. I suppose I’ve given you cause to give me at least a moment’s grief.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  Luke made him practice three more times before he was on his way to Branson, a bouquet of flowers made by Danny resting in the passenger seat.

  Maybe he’d watched a few romantic movies that week, maybe he hadn’t. Flowers were common, he surmised. The whole list of things he knew about courting could fill a postage stamp, but he was willing to learn.

  His phone navigated him to a neighborhood in Branson he’d never seen, and instantly his nerves rattled his bones. Tall stately houses with big porches and tall round columns were set back from the road.

  He spotted the number she’d texted him painted on the curb. The biggest and grandest of them all belonged to her.

  He sat a full five minutes in his truck, not sure what to do. He’d pictured some cozy little house, white sofas, plants all around.

  Not this.

  He held his phone, tempted to make up an emergency, anything to get him away from this strange mansion that somehow held the woman he’d showed his RV park. What fancy things happened in there? He’d only just learned to knot a tie.

  But the porch light popped on. She’d seen his truck. He picked up the flowers and opened the door, knowing full well he’d rather shovel the dog run at the animal shelter than walk up the steps.

  Still, he knocked on the broad double door with its shiny brass lights on either side.

  Ruth smiled at him in a dark blue dress, her hair pinned up in an arrangement of curls that looked straight out of a magazine.

  Now he saw it. The way she carried herself. Her confidence. She came from means. Had married means. Lived in it.

  “I love this,” she said, lifting his tie.

  Even with it, he felt underdressed, like he ought to be wearing a suit instead.

  But he glanced down, and Ruth’s feet were bare. This made him smile, and his panic receded a notch.

  He passed her the flowers.

  “Danny’s work?” she asked. “That boy is so talented. I’m almost done with dinner.”

  He followed her through an entryway with a staircase that spiraled up to the second floor. They passed through a dining room with a long table, two places set at the end. There was more than one fork. Good thing he’d watched Pretty Woman.

  The kitchen was bright and shiny with stainless steel appliances and matching pans hanging over a counter right in the middle of the room. He’d never seen anything like it.

  A pot bubbled on the stove, and a salad filled a clear bowl. As Ruth pulled a glass vase from a cabinet filled with all manner of crystal knick-knacks, T-bone shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to breathe deeply.

  “Do you drink wine?” she asked.

  “Not usually.”

  She smiled. “I’ll make some iced tea. I didn’t think to pick up some Big Red.”

  That made him crack a smile. He had to remind himself that this was Ruth, the woman he’d gone out with twice, who texted him when she had free moments at work, who had arranged a lunch for his family. They got along, big house or not.

  She lifted the lid off a fancy dish and presented him two little cakes covered in chocolate, barely a bite each. “Dessert first, as is our tradition? I thought these petit fours wouldn’t kill our appetite.”

  He fumbled with one of the wee cakes. “I like this tradition.”

  Ruth lifted her cake and popped it in her mouth. They grinned like school kids taking a skip day.

  Ruth brushed her hands together. “If the dining room seems too formal, we can always eat at the breakfast nook.” She turned to a small bench and table situated in front of huge windows looking out on a back yard. String lights made bright webs between the trees.

  “Anywhere there’s a plate is good enough for me.”

  “Unless it comes on a stick, then even a plate is optional.” She smiled at their shared memory, and it set him at ease another notch.

  Still, the house was so grand. Never in his life had he wandered a house with fancy floors that matched the counters, and big curtains like Scarlett O’Hara, and everything shined.

  And he’d only seen a small part of it. He could tell there were many more rooms. You could put his store and all the RVs parked on his grounds inside it and still have a second floor to live in.

  But he tried to breathe and calm himself. Ruth acted the same, talking about the hospital and asking after baby Maybelle. They carried the dishes into the dining room and sat knee to knee.

  Dinner was good, chicken and rice. A fluffy white cat wandered into the dining room, snaking between both their legs as they ate.

  “That’s Charlotte,” Ruth said. “She loves everyone.”

  He reached down to pet her. She was like a walking cloud.

  After dinner, they took cups of coffee to another room, full of sofas and a wall taken up by bookshelves.

  “I forgot the creamer,” Ruth said and hurried away, leaving T-bone to look over the shelves. A line of pictures showed the progression of a baby girl to a teen, then a graduate, and finally a bride. One image showed not only Ruth, looking younger and radiant, but also a tall, handsome man. The girl was between them in a fancy gown, maybe prom or something. Was this the late husband?

  A framed certificate took up a section of the shelves, along with what must be some of Ruth’s nursing things. A stethoscope. A laminated badge.

  But his insides dropped as he realized Ruth’s name was on none of it. Instead, it read Harold Cambridge, M.D.

  Her husband had been a doctor.

  “Got it!” Ruth said, returning to the room with a tiny white pitcher of cream. “Would you like to watch a movie or just chat?”

  T-bone couldn’t come up with a thing to say. Why was Ruth interested in him, a washed-up old man from Applebottom?

  “Theodore?” Ruth glanced from him to the shelf and back again. “Oh, yes. Harold was a physician. We had a good life.” Her smile faltered. “Are you all right?”

  “Sure. Yes.” He sat on the sofa and picked up a cup of coffee. “Is he why you became a nurse?”

  “My being a nurse is how we met. Quite the cliché.” But her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Is something wrong?”

  He shook his head.

  Mercifully, she selected a movie, and he could focus on the screen. But when he kept their goodbye to a hug and loaded into his truck, he couldn’t shake the notion that Ruth had no idea that she was dating someone so terribly wrong for her.

  Ruth

  After Theodore had gone, Ruth sat for a while in the breakfast nook, looking out on the backyard. She had a picture of Theodore now, but she wasn’t sure she would send it to Christina.

  He’d agreed to pose with her in the family room, but he looked pained. Something had definitely gone wrong after she left him alone to fetch the creamer. But what? Had she never told him that Harold was a doctor? Did that matter?

  But that moment seemed to be the turning point. He’d sat through the movie, but there was none of their usual warmth. And despite almost kissing her at the Applebottom Courthouse, this time he practically ran out the door.

  She decided a chat with a girlfriend was definitely in order. But maybe not with any of her current crowd, who’d all been close to her as Harold’s wife. They all still did the same things they’d done when she was part of a couple — bridge parties, charity events, and the country club.

  While she considered them all friends, they weren’t the sort for heart confessions. She needed someone who went a little deeper, preferably someone who’d known her before Harold.

  In the end, she called Marilyn, a high school friend she rarely saw these days. But they kept in touch just enough to warrant a lunch invitation. And Marilyn didn’t run in the same circles as Ruth’s other friends, who would be likely to gossip about Ruth’s predicament.

  Marilyn met her at a French cafe near the hospital a few days after the troubling dinner with Theodore. It had bee
n almost a year since they’d seen each other face-to-face, and Ruth stood in surprise when Marilyn walked into the restaurant.

  They were the same age, of course, and had graduated together. But while Ruth had been a nurse and a doctor’s wife, Marilyn had started a family early, had her husband walk out while the three babies were still small, and she’d raised them alone.

  She’d reinvented herself multiple times over the years, working an office job, then becoming a legal secretary, then going to law school herself. The last time Ruth had seen Marilyn, she’d looked intimidating in her power suits and sleek hair. Her stilettos could have punctured a car door. And that was for a weekend brunch.

  But today, Marilyn looked laid-back with hair in cute blond spirals, a long, loose sweater, and fluttery skirt. She could pass for forty, easy.

  “Marilyn!” Ruth said. “You look fantastic!”

  Marilyn moved in for a tight hug. “So do you. Your hair is so wild, like an Earth goddess.”

  Ruth laughed. “It’s so good to see you. You’re so casual!”

  “Made partner,” Marilyn said. “I have nothing to prove. Farewell, glass ceiling at Hoffman and Ferrero. A woman is at the top.”

  Ruth clapped her hands together. “Oh, if that horrid beast of a husband could see you now.”

  Marilyn slid her bag on the back of her chair and dropped onto the seat with a grace Ruth envied. Marilyn had definitely come into her own.

  “Oh, he did. Evelyn, my youngest, got married last summer and insisted he walk her down the aisle even though they hadn’t laid eyes on each other in ten years.”

  Ruth sat forward, bracing her elbows on the table. “How did that go?”

  “We all kept our chin up, for Evelyn’s sake. But he hadn’t picked up the tux we rented for him and showed up in a shabby brown number. He drank too much at the reception, and I had the DJ cut off his mike after ten rambling minutes of an incoherent speech.”