A Walk Through Endurance

by Olivia Gaines

  Abel led her through the building, which was larger than she expected, with the library occupying the top two floors. The display was impressive, but she admired the cases in which the items were showcased. Each container, whether open or encased in glass, appeared to be custom made. Abel noticed her admiring the craftsmanship.

  “That is the handy work of Jose Primavera,” he told her. “He is a local contractor who creates displays specific for each showing. Amelie Bishop, the curator, has three major exhibits per year. This one runs through the spring.”

  Julie’s attention was in watching the museum patrons, searching for potential characters in her novel. Her eyes stopped when she spotted a handsome, Hispanic male behind a column. She asked Abel, “I take it Jose is the man hiding behind the case watching her every move?”

  Abel turned to see who she was talking about. He spotted Jose standing next to his daughter, Lupita, a bright young girl heart set on getting her father remarried. Leaning down, Abel’s lips were close to Julie’s ear.

  “One and the same,” he whispered, sending shivers down her spine. “His daughter, Lupita, has been trying for nearly a year to get her father to start dating. She has her sights set on Amelie,” he said as his hand pressed into her back, forcing her closer to him.

  “Abel, is there any chemistry between Jose and the curator?”

  “Tons, but Jose is stupid,” Abel offered, which gained Julie’s full attention. “I say he’s stupid because you see the man standing next to Amelie, that is his best friend Kenny, who is, in fact, an idiot.”

  “That’s not a very nice thing to say,” Julie said.

  “No, he is. One conversation with him and you will say the same,” he said. “The man offered the librarian a fish dinner, but he brought her fresh fish caught down by Tommy’s pond, still on the string and still moving.”

  “Ewww,” she replied.

  “Exactly. Kenny has no idea how to court a woman, yet Jose asked him for help,” Abel said. “The whole Cyrano thing isn’t going to work out even with Jose’s clever artfully persistent approach. There is no way Kenny can help Jose converse with a savvy woman like Amelie.”

  Julie could see that Abel was impressed with the curator, prompting her to ask, “May I ask why you didn’t go for her?”

  “She is young and possibly wants children,” he said, slipping his hand into her own, “I’m 47 and looking to travel and enjoy the rest of my life, not spend my mornings changing diapers.”

  “And what are you doing out tonight with me? I am still of child bearing age,” she told Abel. “What if...whatever this is sparking between us goes further and we both want something more?”

  Abel appreciated the direct approach of Julie’s inquiry, prompting him to ask, “Do you know at this point that you want something more or do you desire the something now?”

  “I am an in the moment kind of woman,” she said. “And you, Abel?”

  “My dear, I am all about the now,” he said. “Right now, I want to get out of here and spend a few moments acquainting myself with those adorable lips that are begging me to kiss them.”

  “You don’t waste any time,” she said to Abel, pulling away from his touch.

  “No, I don’t,” he said. “The house is rented for a year. I either have a year or however long you are here. From the moment I held your hand on that plane, I haven’t been able get you off my mind.”

  “How convenient that I am renting your house,” she said with a tinge of sarcasm.

  “The company you work for rented the house,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips. “I rent homes all across Endurance to companies, individuals, and seasonal hikers.”

  “For a moment there, I felt special,” she said looking at him with questions on her face, “but now I feel like you select the best of the available renters.”

  “I am only trying to date you,” he said lowering her hand. “I’m rusty at this and taking a chance on you, on us, or whatever this is Julie. If you’re not interested, I will not be hurt.”

  “Liar,” she said.

  Abel smiled. “Okay, I would be crushed, but I will get over it. Eventually,” he told her.

  “Well, I have never been one to crush a man’s feelings,” she told him. “Can we get out of here? It’s too many people in such a small space. I feel claustrophobic.”

  “Sure thing,” he said as he led her out a door to a small garden. In the winter, the garden was a misnomer since there were only hibernating shrubs and two park benches. It was cool as a wind blew by them and she shuddered. “Are you cold?”

  It was the look she gave him that made his blood boil. Desire for her shot through his lower body, the sensation nearly made him growl with deprivation from physical contact. His arm went around her shoulder, moving her thin frame closer to him as he lowered his head for a kiss. Julie stood immobile, watching the head full of thick hair with grayed temples come at her. Instinctually, she wanted to back off and run from whatever was happening between them, but the need to connect drew her to him as his soft lips connected with hers in a tentative kiss that bordered on animalistic. She clung to the expensive tuxedo he wore like a second skin. His tongue darted into her mouth and dueled with hers as she held tight to his jacket, melting into him.

  “Oohh, somebody is getting lucky tonight. Work it! Work it! Do your thang, Mr. Burney,” a male voice called from somewhere in the garden.

  She and Abel broke free of their kiss, both searching for the source of intrusion. She spotted Kenny, Jose’s friend, standing behind the dead bushes, pointing at them like a moron.

  “You’re right, he is an idiot,” Julie said.

  Chapter 4 – Staying the Course

  The month of March eased into Endurance with the arrival of the largest crowd Julie had seen to date, with runners preparing for the Way Too Cool 50K Run. In her mind, there was nothing cool about running 31 miles unless she was being chased by brain munching zombies. The other thing that wasn’t cool were grown men walking around in running shorts with loose body parts either flapping left and jingling right or being snuggled so tight, it looked as if a bag of chicken parts were being held, hostage.

  Nuts.

  It still came down to a big set of nuts. This time, at least 3,000 of them had shown up to run a marathon at an elevation of 4,839 feet above sea level. She did notice a change in the town in late February, when a great number of the early, serious runners showed up to get acclimated. Even though she’d been in Endurance for well over a month, she still got winded riding her bike to the library. She was also getting winded each time Abel took her out and came back to her place.

  The make out sessions were heating up, but she had reservations about the man. At 47 years old, he was indeed in prime shape and a hell of a specimen of a gent, but the whole kid thing bothered her a bit. The curator of the museum didn’t appear to be much younger than she was – although kids were not on her list of things to have in any future, alternate or present. But, she didn’t appreciate the idea of being in a relationship with a man who immediately said no. Accidents happen and as her mother often said, “Your plans and God’s plans are never the same.” The idea of fate being cruel and gifting her with an offspring by Abel Burney made her hesitant to move forward with him.

  Tonight, she planned to take him to dinner. Her intention had been to pick him up at his office, but whenever she saw him, he was either in the coffee shop, the library, or at Della’s Diner. So, she called him and asked about dinner plans. This evening, she craved the succulence of a juicy burger washed down with an ice-cold beer for her supper.

  “Pick me up at The Cupcakery,” he told her, trying to shield the excitement in his voice, “I should be ready by 6:30.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” she said, hanging up the phone while looking down at her notes. Thus far, the preliminary outline of her book was coming together and the structure of the story was sound, but she needed a few more characters to round out the novel. The No Limit Bar and Grille s
ounded like a great place to meet a few interesting people.

  INTERESTING WAS THE last thing that came to mind as they entered the eatery on the outskirts of downtown on Miller Road. It wasn’t far from Tommy’s Park and the Farmer’s Market, which she had yet to visit. That too was in her plans once she mastered riding the bicycle. To date, she was able to ride as far as the center of town square and back, which was a pretty good start for someone who considered physical fitness walking up three flights of stairs.

  The air remained cool for the month of March with runners taking advantage of what they labeled as ideal weather to get the endorphins going. Julie thought it was ideal weather to sport her sweater sets on dates with Abel. However tonight, she wanted to have a good conversation with him about kids, the future, and other topics if they planned to continue seeing each other.

  Abel too enjoyed the cool weather, looking better than the burger she wanted to devour in a well-fitted pair of dark jeans, a Polo, and a snazzy zip front deep blue cardigan.

  “You are going to like this place,” he told her as he slid into the passenger seat of her tiny rental, looking like the Hulk had carjacked the vehicle. “It’s more for locals, but others have found it and Saturday nights can be crowded.”

  The parking lot looked like the joint was giving away free hot wings. She located a spot in the rear of the grille, then she and her hot date walked around front to receive a number and a vibrating alerter to advise them when it was time to be seated. However, Abel spotted the owner, Owen Tate. He waved at him and the blonde-haired hunk waved back, summoning them to come inside. Slowly, they headed in, skirting around revelers at the bar towards a table that Owen held for them. In the far-left corner, Abel saw Rui Conners, the history professor, and his eight-year-old daughter, Simone, engaged in an animated discussion. “With her antics, that kid keeps her father on his toes,” her date whispered in Julie’s ear as he held her chair, before taking his own seat.

  A pretty young woman jaunted over, her eyes devouring Abel as she asked for their drink orders. To her surprise, when the young waitress bounced away like Tigger pumped up on bee pollen, Abel’s eyes didn’t follow her tight little bottom.

  “She was flirting with you,” Julie said to him.

  “Didn’t notice,” Abel replied, looking at the menu.

  Julie cleared her throat, “I don’t get it. You are a good-looking man in your prime, the women ogle you wherever you go, but you don’t seem to notice.”

  “I notice,” he admitted. “I just don’t care.”

  “All men care about that kind of thing,” Julie challenged him. She waited for Abel to look up. Their eyes met and held, “I’m interested to hear what makes you so different.”

  “Julie, I have nothing left to prove to anyone, not even myself. Young women are for young men. Older men with younger women are trying to recapture their youth. If I have to pop a pill to be with a woman, then she is the wrong woman.”

  She sighed loudly as the waitress returned with their drink orders, ready to jot down their dinner selections on her pocket pad. Julie ordered the burger with a side salad. To her surprise, Abel ordered fries and nothing more. With the food selections made, Julie needed to change the story. She wanted to get deeper and have a real conversation with Abel.

  “Listen,” she said. “I really don’t know what we are doing here, but I enjoy your company. However, before we can move forward, we need to talk.”

  “Fine, talk,” Abel said. He had a few things he wanted to say as well because he was tired of making out.

  “The curator at the museum, Amelie, she is not much younger than I am,” Julie said. “I’m 39, granted I don’t want any children, but my plans and the Almighty’s might differ. What if...by chance...it happens?”

  “It won’t from me,” Abel said, looking at her with intense blue eyes, “I can’t have any more.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t be. It is intentional,” he said, watching her face. “After my wife divorced me and used Ralph as a meal ticket, I got snipped. Those were the worst years of my life, fighting with her to see my own son. I never wanted to go through that again, so I fixed it so I wouldn’t have to deal with such issues.”

  “Abel that is horrible, on so many levels,” she said to him. “Love isn’t a once in a lifetime thing. People fall in love several times over the course of their lives and have more children.”

  “I didn’t want more,” he told her. “Okay, now we have that out of the way. You don’t want any and I can’t have any, what else do you wish to discuss?”

  “Sex,” she said.

  Abel choked on his beer.

  “I want to have it with you, but I dunno. You seem to stop each time things start to heat up,” she said. “Is there a problem?”

  “No,” he said laughing. “Honestly, I was actually enjoying the old-fashioned courtship of a lady. Nowadays, these young people have an app, and they pick a sex partner like they are buying a pair of shoes. You like, swipe right—you don’t like, swipe left.”

  “Abel, you sound like you know a great deal about it,” she said, watching his expressions for subtle tells.

  “When my son started college, I found myself very alone, so I downloaded the app and started swiping,” he said. “I got swiped out after three of those dates.”

  He chuckled a bit at a memory.

  “That memory looks good, please share,” she said, as he blushed under her gaze, “Abel, we are friends first.”

  He shook his head in refusal, but she encouraged him.

  Giving in, he began. “Okay, I went out with a much younger woman, and at first, it seemed like a great deal of fun until we went back to her place,” he said frowning. “I don’t mean to brag, and I’m not, but she carried on so loud that I had to stop to make sure I wasn’t hurting her.”

  Julie pressed her lips together.

  “Please take into consideration, I can run ten miles and barely break a sweat. But, this young lady,” he paused to shake his head, “it was like she’d mixed her Adderall with her diet pills. She bounced all over the place and finally, I’d had enough. I gave her one of my sleep tabs and told her it was Ecstasy just to make her ass go to sleep,” he said frowning. “I know I am a horrible person for doing that, but I may be the only man who slipped a woman a Mickey to make her go to sleep, so he could get away.”

  Julie couldn’t help herself. She busted up laughing.

  “Did you ever call her again?”

  “Hell no!” Abel grumbled. “That was too much. Any man who wants to do that all night needs to see a shrink. At my age, I appreciate quality over quantity.”

  She didn’t respond to what he said, just watched the subtle expressive changes on his face. Abel’s words were spilling all the endorphins he could muster about his needs, yet she hadn’t voiced her own. Truthfully, she didn’t know what she needed. Therefore, she was unable to explain what she wanted. Short term was easy. It was the long-term planning that made it difficult to open the discussion.

  “Julie, are you an all-night partier?”

  “No Abel, I am a love maker,” she said to him, smiling as she blushed, “I am adventurous though.”

  “Be more specific,” he said. “One of my swipes said she was adventurous and wanted to peg me.”

  She laughed again. “You are funny,” she said.

  “There is nothing funny about your date coming out the back room with a penis bigger than the one attached to my body. It was also hers...or his,” he said with his face contorted, his eyes squinted as if trying to understand the reason why the Devil likes Hell to be so warm. “I still have nightmares about that shit.”

  He laughed a bit as he said, “I ran out of her front door in my drawers with my shoes in my hand, praying that no one saw me. ‘Hey look, Abel Burney is in his skivvies running down the street.’ I would have never lived it down.”

  The waitress returned with their food orders and they ate in silence. Abel couldn’t
take it anymore. He was beyond the making out portion. Yes, it was a refreshing change of pace, and he was an endurance runner, but he couldn’t see the finish line. The man in him craved a big win with the woman seated cross the table.

  “Where does this leave us, Julie?”

  “At your place for the night,” she replied without a moment of hesitation. “I brought my toothbrush.”

  DINNER TURNED TO DANCING as a live band kicked out a few country rock songs. Owen Tate came over to the table, and he spoke briefly for a few minutes before getting back to his customers. A different young lady kept her eyes on the tavern owner, watching every move he made.

  “What’s their story?” Julie asked Abel since he seemed to know everyone and almost everything about the locals.

  “Don’t know, truthfully,” Abel answered, looking at the young woman, “Ivy Summers is new in town.” With a quick glance in Owen’s direction, Julie noticed the stoic, yet handsome proprietor welcomed many of the patrons by name.

  “He isn’t new, though is he?”

  “No. Owen is a widower with a 4-year-old son. His wife died in an accident on Saratoga Springs Road a few years ago. That young lady,” he said gesturing to Ivy, “he recently hired to help with the seasonal crowds.”

  Abel continued, “She’s protective of him. But, I don’t know if it’s going to work out for her though. Owen isn’t ready.”

  Julie stared at Ivy Summers. From behind the bar counter, the sienna-colored beauty watched her boss with a fiery intensity. When a woman looked at a man “that” way, he didn’t stand a chance. Ivy was going to wear Owen Tate down until he changed course and speed, and gave her what she wanted.