An Authorized Excerpt
It was a madcap few
minutes while people helped her pick up her things and
straighten up. Finally, she stood alone in the glaring sun
with her assailant. In his mid fifties, he looked fit, was
handsome, and had a warm friendly face. His thinning hair
was almost all gray, but he was far from balding. While
holding her hand, he introduced himself as Sam Waters, and
apologized profusely.
“I’ll buy you a new
vase, and if you want medical attention, I’ll go with you
and pay the bill. I really am very sorry.” Sam ran on with a
steady act of contrition.
“Buy me a new vase
and a latte and we’ll be even,” Angel finally interrupted,
but she didn’t immediately release his hand. After a
pregnant pause where all she did was smile while searching
his eyes, she turned him in the direction they needed to go,
released his hand, and began to walk. She had four steps on
him before he moved.
She watched relief
overtake Sam while they walked back to the boutique where
she bought the vase. He was soon able to converse like a
normal person. She slowed their pace to a stroll, and almost
passed by the shop while lost in her dreams of the
possibilities of the situation.
“May I buy you
lunch?” he asked when they left the shop.
“I was going to meet
a friend when we met so abruptly,” Angel responded,
immediately regretting the remark. “But she’ll understand.”
It was a good recovery after having been caught off guard by
the logical proposal. Duh, she thought, wanting to
smack herself on the forehead. “Let’s walk in this direction
in case we meet her.” While they strolled the few blocks to
the café, she found out much about the man.
He was from
Wisconsin and had retired in his late forties after
inheriting a comfortable fortune from his parents. He and
his wife, Barbara, traveled for several years before they
settled in Costa Rica two years earlier. Barbara died
fifteen months earlier.
“No woman since
then,” she pried.
“No. I loved my wife
very much. She’s the only woman I’ve ever been with. I
mourned her for a long time, still do. I’m not a Casanova on
the make for women.”
Angel took his hand
as they crossed the street near the outdoor café where she
was to meet Mary Beth. She didn’t let go when they reached
the sidewalk. She could see Mary Beth from a long way off
where she sat at a table sipping a glass of wine. When they
were a hundred feet apart, their eyes met. Mary Beth’s face
lit up when she noticed a gentleman at her side. They lost
sight of each other in the crowd for a moment but twenty
paces away, Angel noticed a man in his mid thirties sit down
at Mary Beth’s table. When she and Sam passed by, she heard
the exchange.
“Why is a beautiful
woman like you sitting here alone?”
“I was waiting for
you,” Mary Beth responded, leaning close to her paramour and
batting her lashes. Angel grinned at the scene from a
grade-B movie. Mary Beth could be so sassy.
“Let’s eat here,”
Sam suggested.
“Why don’t we stop
at a market, buy some eggs and vegetables, then go to your
apartment? I’ll make lunch for you.”
After a few steps,
Sam stopped in his tracks. Angel watched as realization of
the implication of her proposal finally dawned. When he
turned to face her, a bit of a shocked expression on his
face, she took his other hand and smiled. “Yes,” is all she
said, but her eyes pled, Please? After a few seconds,
they walked on again, a little slower, and in silence until
they reached the market.
Sam’s apartment was
the upper rear unit of a two story four family on a quaint
side street that wasn’t much more than an alley. His was a
large two bedroom residence decorated nicely and showed a
definite woman’s touch. A picture of Barbara stood on
prominent display in each room. Angel commented on her
evident beauty while standing before one. She lost Sam for a
minute when he turned inward after her comment.. She left
him to his musing and began to prepare the frittata she
planned for lunch.
Sam returned
carrying two glasses of wine. He had freshened up in the ten
minutes he’d been absent. The spirit of his wife must have
moved him forward, but Angel could still see turmoil in his
face. She had already sautéed the vegetables, and had just
slid the baking dish into the oven for its twenty minute
bake when he entered. He sat on a stool on the raised side
of the counter while she remained on the kitchen side. She
sipped her wine and waited.
“How old are you,
Angel?” he asked to break the silence.
“Twenty.”
“Why would you
choose to spend an afternoon with a fifty-four year old man?
You’re young, vivacious, and beautiful. You could have any
man you wanted. Why did you choose me?”
“I left the house
this morning to find a man to spend the afternoon with. The
Goddess led me to you. She pushed you out of that door so we
would meet, and she broke my vase so we would talk. You
opening up about your wife and your loneliness was inspired
by her. I chose you, Sam, because she chose you.”
He refilled their
wine glasses. “You need to learn to live again, Sam.
Mourning your wife was noble and necessary, but you must
live and love again. I’m here to teach you, and you’re here
to fulfill the need that caused me to leave home this
morning.”
