style="font-size:15px;"> Just walking through Charlie’s big old house brought back memories for Lola. She passed the doors leading to Serena’s and Ron’s bedrooms, and fondly remembered when the three of them were youngsters and squabbling over the bathroom to wash up for supper. Serena and Ron were Charlie’s daughter and son, Lola’s cousins, but she loved them as though they were her sister and brother.
Now Ron was in the military, stationed in Germany, involved in something called Special Forces—which meant, to the family’s dismay, that whatever he was doing was too secret to talk about. He was married to a beautiful, petite woman named Candace, and they had a young son no one had seen except in snapshots and photographs. The last time Lola had seen Ron in person was at his wedding. He had been stationed in South Carolina at the time, and the whole family had traveled from their various locations to attend the wedding. It was also the last time she had seen Serena, Lola recalled with a sigh. Serena was completely immersed in the study of law at Georgetown University. Mesmerized by Washington, D.C., and politics, she also held a part-time job in a senator’s office. In one of her letters, she had humorously described herself as a gofer for a secretary to the senator’s main secretary. I’m all but invisible to anyone important, but how I love it, she had written.
Would either Ron or Serena ever return to Rocky Ford? Lola wondered while washing her hands. It would be so great if they could all get together. Charlie would be beside himself if his kids all came home at the same time, if only for a brief visit.
Well, at least she was here, Lola thought, running a brush through her hair. She had mentioned getting her own place when she came home, and Charlie had actually paled. “No, honey, no! I’m so glad you’re home, you have to stay here. Humor an old man, Lola.”
He wasn’t an old man, but he was a crafty one, Lola thought with a small laugh. As Duke Sheridan had said, everyone knew Charlie Fanon. What she could have added was that everyone liked Charlie Fanon. He was a character, no two ways about it, but thinning hair and slight paunch aside, his infectious smile and kindly nature made him a lovable character.
Anyway, she hadn’t looked for an apartment, and she loved living with Charlie again. Her old room was exactly as she had left it, which she planned to do something about one of these days, as high school decor didn’t do much for her anymore. But it was so special to know that her own little domain had always been here, even when she’d been on the other side of the globe.
Returning to the large country kitchen, she asked, “Anything I can do, Charlie?”
“Nope. Everything’s ready.” He placed steaming bowls of soup at her place and his.
They sat down, and Charlie said grace. Smiling at his niece then, he said, “Dive in, but be careful. It’s hot.”
Lola took a cautious taste. “Hmm, delicious. I knew it would be.” She broke off a chunk from the loaf of crusty French bread in a basket between her and Charlie. “So, how’d your day go?” she asked.
“Great, just great,” Charlie answered.
Lola smiled. Every day was great to Charlie. He found something good in everyone he met and something good in every day. Most of his customers were old-timers who came in for coffee, doughnuts and gossip. They bought their daily newspaper from Charlie, and their favorite magazines. His business certainly wasn’t a high-income venture, but he had started it—renovating the large front parlor of the house—after retiring from the telephone company, where he’d worked as a lineman ever since moving to Montana from California.
“How was your day?” he added after a moment.
“Business was very good, one of the best since I opened the store. Most of it was due to one customer. Charlie, do you know Duke Sheridan?”
Charlie nodded. “I know him. Why? Was he in the store today?”
“He sure was. Uh, Charlie, what do you know about him?”
“About Duke? Well, let me see. He’s a successful rancher, hard worker and keeps pretty much to himself.”
Lola’s eyes widened. “Keeps to himself? Charlie, Duke Sheridan is the biggest flirt I’ve ever run into.”
“Duke is? Never heard that about ’im. Well, I really only know him enough to say hello to. But seems to me that kind of reputation would have spread around town.” Charlie cocked an eyebrow and grinned. “Flirted with you, huh? Probably thought you were the cutest little thing he’d ever seen.”
“He said something to that effect,” Lola said dryly. Her tone of voice changed. “Hasn’t he ever been married?”
“Not that I know of. Though I do recall that he and a gal by the name of Tess Hunnicutt were close for quite a spell. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Tess for a long time. Maybe she left town.”
Probably over a broken heart, Lola thought with some cynicism. Despite Charlie’s good opinion of Duke’s reputation, she couldn’t stop thinking of the man as a heartbreaker.
“Anyway, he asked me out to dinner. Insisted on it, to be honest. I had customers coming in…Incidentally, Betty had to leave early because her son Brian broke his arm at school. She called from the hospital. Brian’s arm was set and casted, and he’s doing fine. Betty will be back to work in the morning. But I was very busy, as you can imagine. Duke was pressuring me for a date, and just to get rid of him I finally said yes.”
“You could do a whole lot worse than date Duke Sheridan, honey.”
“Yes, and maybe I could do a whole lot better.” She frowned slightly, remembering the pressure Duke had put on her, making a game of it but pressuring her nonetheless. It had been flattering, yes. He was, after all, one of the bestlooking men she’d ever seen. But maybe he was a little too sure of himself, maybe a little too macho. Commitment to any man wasn’t at the top of her list of priorities, but someday she hoped to marry and have a family. It was just that Duke didn’t quite seem to fit her idea of a life partner.
But then, did she know what kind of man would fit an idea she had never really formulated?
“How old is he, Charlie? Do you know?”
Charlie shook his head. “My guess would be as good as yours. Probably around thirty-five, wouldn’t you say?” Charlie’s grin flashed. “Good age for a man to settle down.”
Lola couldn’t help laughing. “One date is not a forerunner to a man settling down, Charlie Fanon.”
“No, but every man who ever got married started out with one date, Lola Fanon,” Charlie retorted.
“You’ve already got us married? And I thought Duke was a fast worker,” Lola said teasingly. “You’ve got him beat by a mile.”
They laughed together, then Charlie said, “Well, I know some man’s gonna sweep you off your feet one of these days, honey, and as I said, you could do worse than Duke Sheridan. When’s your date?”
“Friday night. He’s going to pick me up at eight.”
A twinkle appeared in Charlie’s eyes. “Maybe I’ll ask him what his intentions are.”
“Maybe I’ll ask about his intentions,” Lola said in a quick response.
Charlie
