The Blind Date

She smiled. "I'm giving us until desert arrives and then the divorce talk is done."

"You know, I say it's done as of now. What should we talk about instead?"

"Hmmm. We've discussed divorce. How about politics?"

"Liberal Democrat."

"Moderate Democrat."

"Well, that was easy."

"Okay, religion."

"Divorced Catholic."

"Divorced Lutheran."

"Catholic light."

She snickered. "I prefer to think of Catholic as Lutheran heavy. Martin Luther straightened out all that indulgence nonsense and then Rome came along later."

"I really can't argue with that. In fact, my maternal grandmother was Lutheran."

With the heavy stuff behind us, we settled down to discuss the merits of comedy, music, and the arts. It turned out we both had broad interests and found a lot of overlap in everything we discussed. We both liked smart art, whether it's performed on a stage or created in a garret, with paint brush or guitar, and we both gravitate toward things that make us think.

"So, are you still a sailor?" I asked.

"Sure am. Want to hear me curse?"

This woman was making me laugh. "Maybe once we leave here."

"I don't suppose you have a boat?"

"I do. It's small, but it's a lot of fun."

"Are you going to take me sailing sometime?"

"You bet I am. How's Saturday sound to you?"

"I think I can get a sitter. I'll need to check."

After a leisurely desert with coffee we were preparing to leave.

"Carol, I have to tell you that I've had more fun tonight than I expected."

With an affected look of shock and placing her hand on her chest, she exclaimed, "My, you do know how to turn a girl's head with your sweet talk, Mr. Reynolds."

We were both laughing by this point. In fact, I don't think we ever stopped laughing once the discussions of divorce were behind us.

"I'm sorry. What I meant is I arrived here in a bad mood. This room has so many memories and they were haunting me, but you swept them all away and now I'm leaving here with only good memories of our evening together."

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Jim?"

"No, I don't mean that. I just thought that maybe you needed..."

"Do you have any idea how long it's been since a man took me dancing?"

I just stared in amazement at this lovely woman who was rapidly capturing my heart. "Would that be western, ballroom, or some up-tempo rock and roll?"

"I'm not wearing the shoes for western dancing and I'm too full for rock and roll. Besides, I'm old fashioned about some things, and I still think it's nice to be held by my dance partner."

"I think I might know a place. Should I drive, or would you like to follow me?"

"You can drive. I'll even let you lead."

I don't know what I liked more, the smile on her lips or the glint in her eyes.

As we walked out of the restaurant, I felt her hand brush against mine. I'm not so rusty that I don't know the universal signal for holding hands and I took hers in mine for the first of many times. Smiling at each other, we walked to the car and headed off for a late night of dancing in a darkened room while whispering quietly in one another's ear.

"You never told me what excuse she gave for her behavior."

"Oh, some nonsense about being scared and the responsibility of starting a family. The way she talked, you'd think her life was over. I think she was just afraid of growing up."

"Twit."

"And yours?"

"Oh, that's easy. He was thinking with the little head. His girlfriend was one of those top-heavy bimbos who couldn't see her shoes without a mirror." Then she looked at me with a mischievous smile and held up two fingers pinched close together saying, "And I do mean his LITTLE head."

As we walked to my car I thought, "There's no question about it. I will need to thank Henry and Claire when I see them!"

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As I warned you, there is no real ending to this story. Perhaps in time I or someone else might think of one. I only intended to write a brief moment in time when two strangers come together to find a hint of the healing that they both need.