by Margaret of TellOurLifeStories
Last month the first installment of this
story appeared.
I Met
Him on a Fall Day, Part II
Well, yes, we went out to dinner. He
talked and then he talked some more. I found out that he
was in sales.
Nice enough and very attentive, we
started to see eachother regularly. It was refreshing
for me. His name was Arthur. We spent fall days driving
around our beautiful county and beyond and hiking and
taking in the sites. I cooked, he ate. He cooked and I
ate. We enjoyed eachother's company and things were
going along.
I had a group of girlfriends from a
company that I had worked at and they were just at
marrying age and seriously dating. A wedding invitation
arrived. Arthur, of course, was my date.
There is nothing like the fall in
northern Calirornia. Being from the midwest, I could say
that there is nothing like the fall there either and
maybe that is true no matter where you are. It is the
most golden time of the year. Leaves scuttle across the
road, rain blows in and the ground has a damp earthy
smell. It starts to get dark earlier and the lights come
on as people cozy up in their homes. Meals turn from
summer's lighter fare to bigger food in anticipation of
the coming holidays. The evenings chill down.
The wedding took place at a golf course.
The day was fine. We were all dressed up. It was a long
drive through the country to get there. The bride was
radiant and I was glad for my friend on her special day.
Her new husband looked so happy and the families mingled
easily. After the ceremony, we went into an elegant bar
area that had big comfy club chairs and polished
cherrywood tables. All of us girlfriends were excitedly
talking about how wonderful the bride looked and how
happy a day it was. Arthur attentively asked what I
would like to drink so that he could go and get it and
one of my friends asked, "who's the guy?" I explained
that we had recently met and were going out. "He dotes
on you," she remarked. "I wish Peter were like that."
We all talked some more and it was
comfortable in that I could socialize with my friends
and not worry about taking care of Arthur as he was
happy in a crowd of strangers and met a few people on
his own.
We sat down for dinner at the white
linen tables and enjoyed a fine meal. One of my friends
who was seriously dating was at the next table. I leaned
over and whispered to Arthur that maybe they would be
next to marry. He took hold of the idea and started
describing what was happening at their table. "There he
goes," he said. "He's getting her some more wine. He
looks smitten. He's a goner."
He went on like this and we were both
looking over at them, but trying not to let on. Finally
my girlfriend's boyfriend walked over to get more food
and passed our table and Arthur said to him, "if you ask
her, she'll say yes." The boyfriend was nonplussed and
his face reddened. But he laughed.
November and Thanksgiving came and went
and then December was near and with it my birthday.
Arthur was determined to make it a special day and we
decided to go to Napa and have lunch. He came early in
the morning to get me. The December air was chilly, but
it was sunny out. We stopped at a winery and didn't have
any wine, but wandered around the building and went up
to see the views of the valley from a terrace laced with
now bare wisteria vines. We took pictures and arrived in
St. Helena right around noontime. We were both hungry.
And if there was anything Arthur loved to do more than
dine at a fine restaurant I'm not sure what it
was.
We had a lovely meal in one of those
bustling, prosperous, restaurants with unusual,
tempting food items and took our time savoring the
bites....
To read the conclusion, please go to
www.tellourlifestories.com , click the
Story Showcase and you will see the end of the story in
I Met Him on a Fall Day, Part II.
