Denise

“I can’t believe it Molly. What do you think of all of this?”

My boss wasn’t too sure and I kind of felt the same way. There was too much going on and when I heard that they had sold the Western harbor, I had been speechless. It was one of the biggest landmarks in the town and now it was going to be converted into a port big enough to take cruise ships.

“It’s kind of sad. All of that time I was trying to keep the land for Nome, it didn’t matter, someone else sold out anyways.”

“Isn’t there something that we can do?”

She shrugged and I could tell that she didn’t think so. Molly was a fighter and if she thought it was too late; I was going to think the same as well. If there was a way to figure it all out, she would know about it and would certainly be trying to do something about it. I wasn’t sure how it was going to change this tiny town, but I knew that it was going to bring in more people.

I was so sick of the same old faces that I didn’t know if that was going to be a bad thing or not. I liked the small town feel, but the fact that I knew everyone here and still wasn’t dating anyone said that I needed a bigger pool to go off of. The men around here just didn’t suit me for some reason and seeing Molly in love, as well as several others that had tied the knot this year, the missing piece was becoming more and more noticeable when I went home at night.

“Well at least there will be new people running around. New faces to meet and learn.”

Molly didn’t seem too happy about that little tid-bit, but I found it hard to show too much enthusiasm for it. She wouldn’t have taken it well. She had went through a lot to keep the cruise lines out of here and it hadn’t seemed to work all that much.

“I don’t know if that is going to be a good thing. We’ve got enough business as it is. We don’t need anymore.”

I wasn’t going to argue with her. I was in need of some fresh faces here in Nome, or I was going to have to do something drastic. I’d even thought about leaving to find a husband. I wasn’t as attached to the place as Molly. I liked it here. It was beautiful, but as I was starting to see the beginning side of thirty soon, I didn’t think I had that much more time to waste. It was time to find ‘the one’ and settle down.

“Well if you think it’s done, I guess it’s done now. There’s nothing that we can do about it.”

“There isn’t, but I’m not going to be happy about it. We’ve always done okay. What use would we have to add more people to this town?”

“Well a few people will get some good jobs and I wouldn’t mind some more men added to the dating pool. There are nearly all men here, but they are all kind of the same.”

She stopped and sized me up. “What happened with you and Larry?”

I tried not to make too much of a face because it was Molly that had set us up, but it was hard not to. I went out with Larry a couple of times and it actually got worse the second time, so much so that I had to basically tell him that he wasn’t my type and that I wouldn’t be calling him again. I’d had to be rude, which I hate to do because he literally just wouldn’t get it.

“It didn’t work out. He was a nice guy and all, at first anyways, but it all went downhill pretty quickly.”

“I’m starting to think that you’re just too picky Denise. There are hundreds of guys here. No one has made your fancy? You are turning down good men because I hear them asking you out all the time.”

“Picky? Says the woman that had to wait how many years till an old flame came back to Nome since no one else would do?”

Her face got red and I felt bad about saying anything at all. I knew that Molly was still sensitive about it. It was true though. She was determined to have her love and she hadn’t dated almost anyone. I’d never known she was waiting for one man in particular until much later. Now I knew and I had to say that the gossip couldn’t have made it any better than the truth did.

“Okay, but that’s different. I don’t know how, but it is.”

I laughed at her answer. She wasn’t sure what she was saying and the more I tried to hear her, the harder it was. Molly was just as picky as me, though I didn’t have an old flame that I was holding onto. I’d been here too long and no one here was really my type. I didn’t know what it was that was missing, but I was sure when I met the one I was supposed to be with, I would know it. It was one of those blind faith things and I was sure that it was going to happen. I put a lot of faith into it happening the way that it did in my head.

“Is your love life that bad that you’re willing to put it in the hands of some outsiders that you’ve never met before?”

That was the gist of it and I was glad that I hadn’t had to spell it out for her. But that’s how desperate I was. I knew that I was taking a chance with an outsider, but it had to be a better option than what I had now. If it didn’t work out with someone from somewhere else, at least I wouldn’t have to deal with them when they went back home.

“Larry wasn’t even from here and look how that turned out? I need to start thinking about it sometime soon. I’m turning thirty in a few weeks. That should be like some kind of sign. I don’t want to have to leave to find someone, but I will if it’s what I have to do. Nome’s winters are too long to do them alone forever.”

Molly had this look on her face and I knew that I had said too much. It was lonely here without someone. Until recently she was single too, so I had a good feeling that she knew what I was talking about.

“You just got to have faith Denise. When it is supposed to happen, it will happen. Sometimes it’s all about timing with these kinds of things. I know that it’s going to happen for you soon. I can just feel it.”

“I wish I was as positive as you were.”

Because I was starting to wonder if there was a man out there for me, at all. If he was out there, I wish he would come soon, because I was sick of waiting. More men could be a good thing because the man of my dreams may be coming soon.