by Rikki Dyson
“You’re very welcome,” Lora said, “And I don’t consider you dozing off as being rude.
“How would you like seeing more family tomorrow? While you were dozing, I was thinking, perhaps, we could return Jessie’s SUV to her. We could drive to Rawhide and visit with Sam and see his clinic. How do you feel about that, or would you rather rest a day or two?”
Richard lost his cool and said, “Bloody hell woman, do you see me as a doddering old fool? When do you fancy making this trip?”
Lora was trying very hard not to laugh. “I was thinking, tomorrow perhaps. I was also thinking; if you would like to pack a few things, that from the ranch we could drive here and there, just go wherever the mood strikes us. That is, if you’re up for it?” she said with mirth.
As Richard was getting out of the car, he replied, “Young woman; you do not dally with a man’s vanity.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll try to remember that. I’ll pick you up at eight in the morning. Have a good nights rest.”
The next morning when Lora drove up, he was ready and waiting for her. “Good morning,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind, but we’ll need to go to my place to get the SUV. Have you had breakfast yet?”
“No, as matter of fact I have not. What do you have in mind?” he asked.
“I have Cracker Barrel in mind,” Lora said. “How does that sound to you?”
“Not too appetizing,” he said, “However, I’m sure it’s a metaphoric cognomen. Is the food good?”
She smiled over at him and said, “I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
At the restaurant Richard had difficulty making up his mind, there were so many palate-pleasing combinations on the menu. He did not know what grits were, and had never had country gravy, so he decided on sausage, eggs and potatoes. Those he was familiar with more or less.
The waitress asked, “Will you want toast or biscuit with that sir?”
Richard said with a frown, “Toast please, it’s far too early for sweets.”
The young waitress looked at Lora and rolled her eyes. That started Lora laughing. She took a sip of her coffee and said, “This is gonna be a fun week. I can tell.” When the waitress brought their food, Lora held up her bread and told Richard, “This is a biscuit, would you like to try a bite?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I would,” he said. Lora buttered a half of the biscuit and handed it to him. He tried it and then said, “It’s quite delicious, similar to a scone, but better.” She put a little gravy on a piece of biscuit and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up and he said, “You Americans have been keeping cuisine secrets from us.”
As they left the restaurant, Lora reminded herself: not to get too involved with this handsome, amusing, charming man. When they reached her condominium, she invited Richard in while she packed her valise. On her way upstairs, she told him, “There’s iced tea in the refrigerator, if you would care for some.”
As he drank his iced tea and waited for Lora, he looked around her home. He liked what he saw. A warm contented feeling came over him. He thought to himself; I could be very comfortable here, but would she be comfortable in my home? When Lora came downstairs, she was dressed in jeans and a sleeveless white shirt with a valise in tow. She asked, “Which vehicle will you be most comfortable driving? You do drive, don’t you?”
“Bloody hell woman, when are you going to stop insulting me? Yes, of course I can drive. I was probably driving before you were born.”
“Oh, I rather doubt that,” Lora said, “But I do apologize. I don’t mean to insult you in any way. I know you come from a privileged life style; you know chauffeur, butler, maids and all that sort of thing.”
“For your information Lora, I do not employ a chauffeur. I drive myself. Who told you this rubbish?” he asked.
“You did,” Lora said. “You said you were financial adviser to the queen.”
“No I did not, I said to the crown. There is a difference,” he said.
“Sure,” Lora said. “Like saying, tomatoes or tomatoes. Which car do you wanna drive?”
“Flip a coin,” he said. “Heads I drive yours, and hope I manage to stay on the correct side of the motorway.”
Lora was in front with Jessie’s SUV. She kept a close watch in the rear view mirror. She had cautioned Richard to stay directly behind her. She didn’t want him not seeing her turn and him getting lost. She made sure to turn her signal lights on in plenty of time for him to know she was going to turn.
They arrived at the ranch a little after noon. Mr. Chen was there and was surprised to see them. Lora told him they were going into town to visit the clinic. “That will please Doctor Sam very much,” Mr. Chen said. “He enjoys people being interested in his clinic and his horses.”
Mr. Chen offered sandwiches, tea or lemonade. He was making Harlan’s lunch when they arrived. Lora took tea, but was not hungry. Richard said he fancied a sandwich.
Lora told Mr. Chen, “Take Harlan his food, I’ll take care of this hungry mans needs.”
Richard thought of many things to say to that, however, he didn’t want to over step his boundaries. When Lora handed him his plate, the smile on his face told her what he was thinking. She was very flattered, but not sure where this relationship was going. After all, they had only known each other less than a week.
As they drove into Rawhide, Richard remarked, “What a charming little village.”
“Yes it is. It has grown somewhat in the last twenty years,” Lora said. “I wish you could have seen it and the ranch way back then.”
“Describe it to me,” he said.
Lora told him about the day she and Jessie came to see the ranch, and how they came in the wrong way and bounced across the pasture. Then when they did find where Sam was building their ranch house; it was just a hole in the ground and what a nice man Sam’s Uncle Bryan was. Lora told Richard how it took quite a while to get the house build and about Jessie and Sam living in the basement and how happy they were just to be together and that Stacey was born in the basement. She also told him about their honeymoon to China and how Le Chen came into their lives. She took a deep breath and told him about the hard times and how Mr. Chen helped with Stacey and what a handful she was back then. Lora had Richard, laughing with the adolescent antics of the lovely young woman he so admired.
Richard said, “I envy you your memories of family. It was just my older sister and myself. I know our parents loved us, but our up bringing was so restricted. We were taught, that our enthusiasm should never over shadow dignified behavior.”
Lora wanted to reach out and take this man in her arms. She felt he’d had restrained love from reluctant parents who didn’t know how to express emotional love. Lora just couldn’t imagine living that way. She had always been surrounded with love.
Chapter-18
Pioneer Community Hospital
Their personal conversation ended as Lora pulled into the parking lot of the clinic. Doctor Sam was surprised, but pleased to see them. Lora said, “We brought the Daimler home so Jessie wouldn’t have to come get it. What’s she driving anyway?”
“Would you believe Stacey’s old wrangler,” Sam said. “I told her I would drive the jeep and she could use my truck, but no, she said, ‘If it was good enough for our daughter it’s good enough for me.’ To tell you the truth Aunt Lora, I think Jessie driving Stacey’s old jeep is her way of coping with our daughter living so far away.”
Lora looked at Richard and smiled, and then she asked Sam, “Are you busy or do you have time to show Richard your clinic?”
Sam smiled like a kid with a brand new toy and said, “I’ll make time.” As Sam showed Richard around, he told him how the clinic started out in the family home, donated by Henry Fairfield after his mother died. Henry has been a great benefactor along with many other generous people, Aunt Lora, here for one. In the early years, she helped me get used equipment the big hospitals in Houston and other cities were getting rid of for bigger and better ones. I can
’t leave out my grandmother. She sat aside a portion of her inheritance to benefit the clinic. I never knew where the help was coming from until after she passed away. She had always been my most enthusiastic supporter along with Jessie. Her encouragement meant the world to me. She drew the plans for this hospital. I knew she had wanted to be an architect, but her father would not hear of it. He was an old fashioned, controlling man. None of us knew she had money. She wrote long letters to both of her children and us five grandkids as to why she chose to do things the way she did. I can tell you Richard, it was all motivated by love.”
Sam showed Richard the hospital. We have five floors. Each floor has twelve rooms with two beds in each and one private room in each wing. We have a maternity ward with six rooms, two beds in each. We’re as well equipped as the big hospitals. We even have an ultra sound and a MRI machine, CAT scan. I thought about naming the clinic after my grandmother, but I knew she wouldn’t approve of that, so I asked Henry about calling it ‘Fairfield hospital.’ Of course, he vetoed that, but came up with a most ingenious idea. He asked the kids in the intermediate school to come up with names. We had the town council and the school board members to vote and decide on the name. I want you to know it was a ten-year-old boy in the fifth grade that came up with the winner. He even gave his reason. He said we should name it, “Pioneer community hospital,” for all the people that came before us. For without them we would not be here. That young man won fifty dollars and his picture in the paper. His name was Shaden Griffin. He’s in college now at A& M. His ancestors helped settle this part of Texas.
Sam proudly showed them the lab, ICU, radiology, pulmonary and respiratory, the cardiac unit, OBGYN, the family clinic and the emergency room. On the ground floor was the cafeteria, physical and occupational therapy section, plus offices and records division.
Sam told Richard, “We have specialist in other fields that work with us two or three days a week. We’re very lucky to have a great nursing staff and physicians assistants. At present we only have one ambulance, but in time we’ll get another.”
Richard was impressed and said, “Doctor Scott, I’m amazed. This is such a well-equipped, modern little hospital. I know you prefer to call it a clinic, but regardless what you call it, you have every reason to be proud of what you have accomplished here. Sam smiled and asked them to come for supper. He knew Jessie would want to visit with them for a while.
Lora said, “We’d love to. I wanna take Richard to the ‘Hanging tree’ and show him where Stacey and Eric used to work.”
Sam chortled and said, “Well, if you wanna call what she loved doing work. Jessie was never too crazy about her singing there. The only reason she didn’t lock horns with our daughter over that, was because Eric was there.”
“The Harmon’s are nice people,” Lora said. “Stacey was always safe with them. Most of the people that go there are regulars.”
When they reached the ranch, Jessie was pulling into the driveway. She was surprised to see her Aunt Lora, however, not surprised to see Richard Heath with her. Jessie hugged her aunt, shook hands with Richard, and said, “Now, please come in. Le left us a roast in the oven, so I hope you’ll have supper with us.”
“We would be delighted,” Lora said. “We were by earlier and left your Daimler. Le was here then, has he gone back to Austin?”
“Yes,” Jessie said. “He made a few dishes and put them in the freezer for me. All I have to do is pop them in the oven.”
While Jessie and Lora were putting the food on the table, Sam and Richard were in the sanctuary talking. They had met at the wedding, but didn’t get a chance to really get acquainted. Now they would rectify that. Sam knew Shane and Stacey thought highly of Sir Richard. Sam remembered John Foley, Shane’s uncle was titled a sir also. He wondered what these two men had done worthy enough to be knighted. Sam watched Richard’s eyes as they followed Lora when she came in to tell them the food was on the table.
Harlan was in the dining room as they came in. He and Richard shook hands. The food was delicious and the conversation pleasant. As was expected, the conversation turned to ranching. From what Richard could gather, good quarter horses brought a good price. He noticed, that Doctor Sam Scott was as animated about the ranch as much as his clinic. Richard listened and realized how passionate these people were about life. No wonder Stacey was such a spirited young woman.
Shortly after supper, Lora and Richard said their, good byes, and headed for Waco and the Hanging tree. They spent two hours there visiting with the Harmon’s. Lora taught Richard how to dance the ‘Texas two step and the waltz.’ Richard thought he knew how to waltz, but he was in for a surprise.
“It’s amazing how you people take the fundamentals of life, rearrange them and adapt them as your own.” Richard said.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Well, my lovely lady, for starters, your Texas two-step was once known as, ‘the fox trot, and your waltz would hardly be recognized by Johann Strauss.’ Don’t take me wrong it’s delightful, your evolutional development is quite agreeable, as a matter of fact,” he said with a smile.
“In plain words, you’re saying, you like it?” Lora asked.
“Yes,” he said. “It is quite agreeable.”
“Well,” Lora said. “Let’s just do it and not talk it to death, okay?”
Chapter-19
Salado and Galveston
Lora and Richard left the Hanging tree around ten p.m. and headed south to Salado. Lora had called ahead and made reservations at the stagecoach inn. They had breakfast at the inn. This time Richard was more venturesome in his choice of menu selections. After breakfast, they visited the boutiques, art galleries and gift shops. After having lunch at a sidewalk cafe, they took a carriage ride around old Salado. Before the day was over, they found themselves walking hand in hand. When they visited the central Texas museum of Scottish heritage, Richard asked, “I wonder if Stacey told Shane about this museum.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it,” Lora said. “They had precious little time before the wedding.”
“Of course, you’re right; I don’t know what I was thinking.”
At the end of the day, they had dinner at one of the many nice restaurants in Salado. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about. Lora asked, “Where would you like to go from here?”
Richard took her hand and looked at her for some time, then kissed her hand and said, “You are my guide, you tell me.”
Lora had the feeling he wasn’t meaning geographical, but she smiled and asked, “Have you ever seen the gulf of Mexico, other than Houston of course?”
“I’ve been to Miami,” Richard said.
Lora wrinkled her nose and said, “It’s nice there, but not the same. I’ll take you to Galveston and Padre Island. Then you can say, you’ve seen the Gulf of Mexico.”
They both seemed reluctant to say, goodnight. They were the last customers to leave the restaurant. The young waiter stood and kept clearing his throat, trying to give them a hint. At Lora’s door, Richard took her hand once again and kissed it. As she stood and looked at him, she put her arms around his neck and they kissed. Lora knew his kiss would be nice, but was not prepared for it to be as nice as it was. She wanted to stay in his arms always, but knew it was too early for thinking like that. Lora was no fool, she knew Richard desired her too, but she just couldn’t handle a one sided love affair right now.
After saying, goodnight to Lora, Richard could not get her off his mind. He felt she wanted him as much as he wanted her, but something was holding her back. He had never wanted to be with a woman as much as he did Lora. Neither of them were children, so what was holding her back? Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe he had misinterpreted her feelings towards him. He knew there was an age difference, however, no more than Shane and Stacey. Richard tossed and turned. He thought, I’ll tell her I’m in love with her and ask her to marry me. No, he thought, it’s too soon. If she turned me down, I might not see her again. I can’t chance
that. Finally, towards dawn, he fell asleep.
The next morning, Lora knocked on Richard’s door. When he didn’t answer after the second knock, Lora thought maybe he was in the shower. She went back to her room and waited a few minutes, and then she called his room. She was about to hang up when he finally answered. He was groggy with sleep.
“Where you still asleep?”
“Yes,” he said. “What time is it?”
“It’s eight-twenty. I thought you might be hungry.”
“Yes, right,” he said as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Give me a minute to shower and I’ll be right with you.”
“I need coffee,” Lora said. “I’ll meet you in the coffee shop downstairs.”
Lora was drinking a cup of coffee and scanning a road map. She looked up as Richard came in. He looked as if he hadn’t slept well, he saw her and came to the table.
He said, “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, I’m just an early bird,” Lora said. “I’ve been getting up early for so many years, it’s just a habit with me now.” Conversation was at a minimum as they ate. Finally Lora said, “You didn’t sleep well, I take it. Are you feeling alright?”
Richard sat his coffee cup down and said, “No young lady, I did not sleep well and do not ask me, if I fancy to carry on.”
Lora smiled at him and said, “Richard, I think we need to get something straight between us. You keep referring to me as ‘young woman or young lady.’ It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but I feel I must tell you, I’m only two years younger than you.”
Richard had the strangest look on his face. Lora asked, “How old did you think I was, anyway?”
“I thought you to be around Jessie’s age.”
“You’re joking,” she said.
“No, truly,” Richard said. “I thought perhaps the age difference was why you weren’t interested in me.”
“Not interested in you! What did I do to give you that idea? On second thought, don’t tell me. Are you ready to see more of Texas?”
