I knew what was happening, she planted a lip-lock on me and I had a hell of a time pushing her away. That’s when I saw Angie watching. If you know where Angie is, you better tell me, Dad, or I’m walking out of here and never coming back. I’m serious. She’s my girl! I want to get to know her better. Hell, I think I want to marry her. I can’t pull this off,” he said, waving his arms about, “without her. Will you help me out already for God’s sake?” Josh pleaded.
Lip-lock? It must be a new term for kissing. The devil on Angus’s shoulder started a lively dance. Marriage. Maybe he’d get to rock in a chair with his very own grandchild. He just knew he was going to make a wonderful grandfather. Then he remembered the look on Eva’s face and the way she’d said, your son, like he was the Devil incarnate.
Angus pulled his pipe out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. He chewed on the stem, his eyes on his son. “I’m too old to be offering advice. You’re on your own, son!”
“That’s it? I’m dying here, and you’re telling me I’m on my own? What’s wrong with this picture? Thanks for nothing, Dad.”
Angus removed the pipe clenched between his teeth, and stared at it. “In my day, which was a lifetime ago, a fella would crawl on his knees, flowers in hand and the truth on his lips. If that didn’t work, then the fella would throw a pebble at her bedroom window at night, and when she opened the window he’d sing her a song. Doesn’t matter if the fella sounds like a frog. It’s the thought that counts.”
Josh was listening intently. “Yeah, yeah, what else would that fella do?”
Angus shrugged. “I never got beyond the singing part.” He watched his son out of the corner of his eye and was pleased at what he was seeing.
“How far did you have to crawl?”
Angus wanted to laugh out loud, but he didn’t. “Up the walkway, up the steps, across the porch, and into the foyer. She kicked me out. I got two holes in my trousers for my efforts.”
Josh looked down at his jeans. They were sturdy. What’s a few holes? I can always buy another pair. “Thanks, Dad! I knew I could count on you. Take care of things, okay? I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Angus was so pleased with himself he made his way out to the loading dock, where he fired up his pipe and smoked contentedly. There was a lot to be said for experience.
Eva opened the front door. How quiet the house was. The first thing she saw was the brown envelope on the foyer table. It had enough stamps on it to go around the world at least three times. Eva’s heart fluttered when she looked down at the address on the envelope. In a few minutes the mailman would be here to deliver the mail.
“Angie!”
“I’m up here, Mom. Do me a favor,” she called down. “I see the mailman coming up the street. Give him the envelope on the table.”
“Sure, honey.” Eva picked up the envelope and slid it into the drawer of the table. The only way Angie could see the mailman was if she was sitting on the window seat in her room. Crying, from the way she sounded. Carrying out her charade, Eva opened the door a few moments later to accept the mail. She commented on the weather for a minute, then closed the door.
She called upstairs. “Angie, come down and talk to me. You know I can’t do the stairs comfortably. Please.”
Eva was right, she saw as Angie descended the stairs and stood next to her—her daughter had been crying. “How about a nice cup of hot tea? Tea always makes things better. At least that’s what my mother always said.” She wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulder and led her into the kitchen.
“I don’t want to talk about this, Mom.”
As Eva bustled about the kitchen, she said, “Well, I for one can certainly understand that. Men are so callow. They don’t have the same feelings women have. I guess that might be a good thing. I think I would be remiss as a mother if I didn’t point out to you that there are two sides to everything. You should ask yourself how that young woman got into the store. If she came uninvited, then you can’t blame Josh for that. Ask yourself if Josh acted like he was enjoying the meeting. He looked kind of stiff to me, like he didn’t want her there, but that’s just this old lady’s opinion. I didn’t see him return her kiss. He just stood there. That’s the way I saw it. You only heard the young woman say they had a date for the Harvest Ball. You didn’t hear Josh agree, now, did you?”
“Whose side are you on, Mom?” Angie sniffed.
“The right side. I happen to think Josh is a stand-up kind of guy. He didn’t beat around the bush the day he eavesdropped on you. He fessed right up, didn’t he? It’s when things fester that the problem gets out of hand. In short, my dear, I think you saw something you never should have seen. Having said that, it probably meant nothing. That’s why you shouldn’t have seen it—because you reacted without giving Josh a chance to explain or defend his actions. Now, drink your tea.”
Angie picked at the fringe on the green-checkered placemat. “So what you’re saying is I should go back to the store and wait for Josh to come to me and…explain what I saw.”
“See! Now you’re getting it! Yes, in my opinion, that’s what you should do. If you don’t, you’ll always wonder what he would have said. You did tell me you really liked Josh. You told me you dream about him. He might be the one, Angie.”
“She kissed him. You saw her. Kissing is…Kissing is…”
“Quite wonderful, depending on who is doing the kissing. I did not see Josh returning the kiss in question. There was no passion there that I could see. No reciprocity. That’s about all I have to say, Angie. Think this all through, and don’t throw away something on a jealous whim that could otherwise turn out to be wonderful.”
The doorbell rang, cutting off whatever Angie’s response was going to be.
“I’ll get it, and then I’m going back to the store,” Eva said. “Finish your tea. By the way, I won’t be home for dinner this evening. Angus and I are going out for Japanese. He loves the knife show the chefs provide.”
Outside, after Josh Eagle had run up to the Bradfords’ front porch and rung the bell, he ran down the steps and out to the walkway, where he dropped to his knees. He sucked in his breath and proceeded to knee-walk his way to the Bradford front porch the moment the front door opened.
“Angie! Angie! Come quick! Hurry, dear!”
Thinking her mother fell or banged her knee, Angie barreled to the foyer. She almost screamed in relief when she saw that Eva was all right. She turned and looked where her mother was pointing. Her jaw dropped at what she was seeing. Josh waved. Angie, more or less, wiggled her index finger as she watched the man’s progress. She could tell it was slow going for the tall man on his knees.
Eva tactfully withdrew and left by the kitchen door. She peeked around the corner of the house. He was still crawling. She laughed all the way to her car.
Angie walked out to the porch, her arms across her chest to ward off the October chill. By the time Josh reached the steps, Angie took pity on him and motioned for him to get up. “Do you mind telling me what you’re doing?” There was a bit of frost in her tone that did not go unnoticed by Josh.
Josh struggled to his feet. “Angie, look, what you saw…It wasn’t…It
