Junior woke up with the sound of the waves crashing and mixing together. The salty cool breeze flowed through the open patio doors and caressed his skin as he lay half covered by the sheets. He opened his eyes and could tell it was still very early as only a shimmering of sunlight peeked over the horizon and into his hotel room. He had woken earlier than he wanted and he groaned. Once he woke up that was usually it. He normally couldn’t go back to sleep no matter how long he stayed in bed.
He thought about the previous evening. He hadn’t spent it alone and it had been the first time in years. At least as far as being with a lady was concerned, and thankfully Sheila had turned out to be exactly that. A lady. He liked the name Sheila. He had gone to high school with a girl by that name. The Sheila he met yesterday was a totally different person and when her face passed through his foggy brain he grinned. She had a demeanor about her that touched certain chords in him. It also didn’t hurt how beautiful her smile and eyes were, and that she had tons of freckles. For him, freckles were not the icing on the cake. They were the entire cake itself. They were his soft spot; he quit trying to figure out why a long time ago.
Junior and Sheila didn’t spend the entire night together nor did they sleep together. It may have happened if neither of them had decided to say goodnight, but he was glad it didn’t. He had too many emotions going through him to have gone there with her. He had decided to try and not look at Sam as anything more than a friend, but she was still in his heart. He very much enjoyed his evening with Sheila, but it was also his first time with a woman in a few years. He felt like a teenager in high school. He laughed to himself at that realization as he turned onto his side.
They did enjoy each other’s company over dinner and got to know one another. They shared a lot of laughs and didn’t go too deep into the other’s mind. As the sound of a seagull filled his ears he thought about the initial moment when he went to the pool.
He was nervous. He walked into the hotel’s pool room and the smell of the chemicals filled his nostrils. It was something he hadn’t smelled in a couple of years, even going to the YMCA to work out. He didn’t frequent the pool. Swimming wasn’t his forte and he hoped he didn’t look ridiculous on their first attempt together.
When he stepped into the room he saw a large pool, filled with several guests. He was thankful for that. He slowly walked to the side where he could get a bench on which to lay his towel and leave his flip flops. When he first walked in he didn’t see her, but as he approached the bench she came out of the water, her long dark hair flowing down her back. Her eyes were closed and as she stood and wiped them she was facing in his direction. She was breathtaking.
She opened her eyes and when she saw him gawking at her, she grinned and slowly started toward the pool’s edge, closer to where he stood. The sounds of kids screaming and parents laughing at their children were in the air, but he barely registered any of the commotion. His attention was fully on the beautiful woman in the pool whose gaze held his.
“Hi there,” she greeted him in a mesmerizing tone. “I’m glad you changed your mind. I was actually thinking I wouldn’t get to see you again and was thinking about going back to my room.”
He got a grip on his senses and dropped his towel onto the bench and stepped in her direction. He eased himself onto the edge of the pool and let his feet dangle in the warm water.
“I’m glad I didn’t miss you then.”
“What changed your mind?” she asked him as she looked up at him with her large brown eyes. His breathing seemed to have slowed down.
He shrugged and tried to seem nonchalant. “I was taking my shower and your smile kept coming to mind. I thought seeing you again would be good so I took you up on your offer.”
She laughed out loud and he looked at her, baffled.
“Sorry, but I find that rather funny that you were thinking about me in the shower.”
When she said that his expression turned shamefaced and he quickly apologized.
“Oh, my God I am so sorry!” he pleaded and his face burned red hot. “I didn’t mean it like that. That totally came out wrong.”
His urgent begging caused her laughter to fill the room again and the sound of it greatly pleased his ears.
“I’m teasing you. I know what you meant.”
God, please help me not make a fool out of myself with her!
He grinned back at her, thankful she knew what his meaning was. His eyes searched her face as the water ran from her hair and down her brow. Her freckles were hypnotizing and she broke his lack of attention by asking if he planned to get in the water.
“Umm, yeah, but I can’t swim so I’ll stay in the end where it isn’t so deep.”
“Really? You can’t swim?” She didn’t sound as if she was being rude or making fun of him, which he found comforting.
“No, I haven’t ever been able to relax enough to learn. It’s a long story,” he informed her and slid into the water. Even though the water was warm on his feet it was still slightly sensitive in other areas. He heard her snicker as she watched, but she didn’t say anything about it.
For what felt like ten minutes, but was actually an hour, he walked around and waded in the pool as she occasionally swam. Mostly, they talked about their time at the beach and where they were from. She informed him she only lived an hour away from Torrington, on the other side of Hartford. He learned she was there alone and he admitted the same. When they parted ways, they did so with plans for dinner that evening. They had stepped from the elevator and onto their floor, both dripping water from their swimwear.
They walked down the hall together, neither seeming nervous. Her room came up before his and he looked at the room number on her door. Five zero seven. His room was only four doors down and when she asked where his was, he had no problem telling her.
“Hmm, well that’s convenient,” she laughed.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he grinned and didn’t have a clue as to why.
Breaking the moment, she asked, “So we will meet downstairs in the lobby at eight o’clock, then?”
“Yeah, that sounds great. Unless, well you know, if you get ready before me you can call my room and tell me to get my butt in gear or something.”
She laughed. He loved how her laughter touched his ears and he grinned.
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
She went into her room and he walked away. He couldn’t believe how it had all played out. He hadn’t had any plans on meeting someone or having dinner with a beautiful woman, but obviously, someone else had.
At 7:45 his hotel room phone rang and he snickered to himself because he had a good feeling who it was. He wasn’t disappointed.
“Okay, you. Get your butt in gear,” she told him when he answered and laughed in his ear.
Laughing, he replied, “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I’ll see you in front of your door in ten seconds.”
They hung up and he grabbed his wallet, phone, and room key. Again, he was filled with surprise at what was happening. A date with a beautiful woman. He just had no idea how beautiful and wasn’t prepared for what he saw. When he stepped out of his door and walked the short distance to hers, she was stepping into the hallway. When his eyes fell upon her his breath completely left him for a couple seconds. Only a few feet away was Sheila, dressed in a short lavender sundress and her long dark brown hair twisted in a bun on top of her head. She wore barely any makeup, just enough to show off her eyes a little more, as if it was needed. Long dangling earrings accentuated her face and she filled out her dress as if it was one of a kind, created only for her. Her perfume was one he didn’t recognize, but it might as well have been an intoxicating drug. He felt completely out of his league.
“You see something you like?” she asked him. Obviously, he was staring at her with bug eyes and an expression that gave him away.
“You’re gorgeous.”
Grinning from ear to ear she thanked him. He didn’t realize until he lay in bed thinking. He was so busy having a great time with Sheila and overtaken with their conversation that Sam never entered his mind.
He sat up on the edge of the bed and looked through the patio doors. Another soft breeze entered the room, causing the curtains to stir. The sun let the world know it was time to get out of bed as it spread its bright and brilliant colors across the sky. A bird flew across the sky and in front of the waking sun. He took a deep breath. He didn’t know how to feel about the revelation. Sam.
He stood and went to the bathroom, and badly craved a hot cup of coffee. When he walked back he looked at his laptop that had been sitting on the small table the entire time he was there. He hadn’t opened it once and honestly, he didn’t want to. He thought about the possibility of Sam answering his email that he sent weeks ago, but shrugged and told himself she wasn’t going to. Instead, he got dressed and grabbed his key and wallet and walked out the door. It was time for coffee and breakfast. He wondered if Sheila was awake.
***
Sam
Sam finished packing her things into her suitcases. With hands on her hips she looked around the hotel room to be sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She set her purse and cell phone on the bed with her luggage and looked at the time. The cab would be arriving any moment.
Standing in front of the mirror she wanted to make sure she was presentable before going out into public. Who she saw staring back at her was a changed woman. Still healthy, by the grace of God and she knew that for a fact. If there was no God, she had no clue why she was still alive with everything she had been through. She was eternally grateful.
Quickly she grabbed a scrunchie and put her hair into a ponytail. Lately, it seemed to be getting on her nerves and she had half a mind to cut it off. With her hair in place, she looked at herself again and was happy with her image. She dreaded the flight back to Florida although she was, in a way, happy to have her trip over and done with.
The visit had been productive. The only thing she hated was not being able to see and talk to Junior. She had sent an email and checked earlier, but he hadn’t responded. She hoped whatever he was doing and wherever he was that he was having a good time. He deserved a break from the stress of life. She heard a horn blow from outside and peeked her head out the door.
“I’ll be right out!” she yelled at the driver and waved to him.
She quickly grabbed her two small bags from the bed and took a moment to glance around once more. She thought she had everything, but always double and sometimes triple checked. Closing the door, she walked to the cab and the driver helped put her luggage in the trunk.
“Thank you. I just need to return the key. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time, ma’am. I’m in no hurry,” the driver told her.
Once the key was out of her hands and she was on her way to the airport, her emotions seemed to misbehave. Her thoughts traveled through the previous six days in Torrington, and memories of other times surfaced as well. Wiping her eyes as tears welled up, she shook her head and told herself she had to get over it all. Moving back to Torrington was something God had told her to do. It wasn’t something she came up with herself.
There were several wonderful things that happened during her six days there and thinking about them made her feel better. The first thing was the new place she was shown by her landlord. She recalled how she immediately fell in love with it and knew she wanted to live there. It would be without a doubt the loveliest place she had ever lived in, not counting her place on the beach in Florida.
The next thing was when she decided to ask Mr. Landford if he would be willing to sell the entire house to her, instead of renting the first floor. She couldn’t believe her ears when he told her that was a great idea and he had been thinking of putting it on the market anyway. They talked about the value and agreed on a price.
The next day he went to his attorney and had a sales contract written up. Sam got on the phone with her banker in Florida, had them transfer the money into his account, and signed the papers. It was as easy as one, two, three. She was amazed at how it fell so easily into place. She was now officially a homeowner and was ecstatic.
The third and last, but certainly not the least amazing thing, was that she saw an empty building on East Main Street that looked as if it had at one time been a restaurant. What really amazed her was how it looked remarkably similar to the one God revealed to her in her vison. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised. God worked in mysterious ways and she was truly blessed. She wrote down the number to the real estate agent and called about it. It had been a restaurant until six months ago and went out of business. The agent told her it wasn’t due to the location, but was for other reasons she couldn’t reveal. They set up a time for Sam to see it and she was glad she had.
When she walked into it she overlooked the fact that it had been sitting for months, untouched. It was dirty and dusty and would need a cleaning crew. What attracted her the most was the set-up of the dining room—it could hold up to one hundred customers at a time. Possibly more if she moved things around. When she walked into her favorite part of the building, the kitchen, she gasped. Literally everything she would need to open, except food, was still there.
When she asked the real estate agent why the previous owner left everything, she said he just gave up. He didn’t want anything to do with it and said to keep the price reasonable enough to where if someone wanted to buy it, they could have it all. She stared at the agent in disbelief. When they walked out of the building she told the agent she would be in touch. She wanted to open her own diner and needed to contact her bank to see if she could get the loan. She knew she could buy it out right, but with buying her house within the same week she didn’t want to push her luck. Getting a loan, she knew, would be the best option.
As she neared the airport and her mind began to clear from her daydreaming she was reminded at how great God always is and how He was blessing her tremendously again. She knew she could never show enough gratitude, but she hoped God knew how grateful she was. She wondered what Junior would think about it all. She knew her parents would be thrilled, but it was Junior’s opinion she was most curious about.
An hour later she was on her plane waiting to take off. She could see clouds beginning to form in the skies above them, but she wouldn’t let them darken her day. She closed her eyes, rested her head back, and silently prayed to her Lord and Savior.
“Lord Jesus, thank You so much for having me come up here. I know I took it upon myself to come without telling Junior and I paid for it by not being able to see him. I also know I was being stubborn by not calling him. Please forgive me and please make him be safe. I want to thank You for everything You blessed me with on this trip. The house and the possibility of having a building to make my dream come true. I am so grateful for everything You do for me. Please, if it is Your will, Lord, please make this loan go through so I can do that, and please make this be a safe flight home, Lord. I love You. In Your name, I pray. Amen.”