Saturday Night

  Once in my apartment, I wrapped some ice in a hand towel for Virgil. There was a red mark under his eye.
“I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” he said softly. I smiled in spite of myself.

“Yeah, I guess you did.” I said quietly.

“Are you glad to see me, at least?”

“I am… thrilled, even… but…” I had so many questions. “How did you know where I live?”

“Your friend Zaira called me this morning,” he said. “At the garage… And boy howdy, is she a force to be reckoned with.”

I chuckled.

“Anyway,” he went on. “She explained to me that you were moping around up here, and I thought since I was moping around down in LaCera, that I might come up here and try to put things right.” He sighed. “You left without saying goodbye.”

“The way you dropped off my keys at the inn… I thought maybe you… that it was what you wanted.”

He looked uncomfortable.

“I could have handled that better. I’m sorry,” he said earnestly.

“I’m sorry, too.”

“You called me your boyfriend,” he said. “When the police were here.”

“It seemed fitting in the moment,” I said. “Sorry.”

“I didn’t mind. Though I think I’m a little old for the term ‘boy’.” He grinned a little.

“Manfriend?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t like how we left things,” he said, ignoring the quip. “I guess maybe I should have called first, but I was afraid you’d tell me not to come.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said. “I mean, I would be glad regardless, even if you hadn’t…” I trailed off. “Did you know him?” I gestured vaguely to the door.

“Not by name, but I’ve seen him around town now and then. He’s related to the Bowman family somehow. Was that the same guy you told me about?”

“Yeah,” I said, shivering. Virgil put an arm around me. As he held me in one arm, he adjusted the ice against this eye with the other, and then looked around my apartment. I imagined seeing it through his eyes, a stark, cold box with little in the way of personality.

“Is it what you expected?” I asked jokingly.

“Not at all,” he said lightly. “I thought you might have a bunch of souvenirs from all your travels.”

“I collect stories, not tchotchkes, I guess,” I shrugged. “I’ve never really spent much time here, it’s just been a place to crash between assignments.” 

He nodded, shifting the ice again.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“Well, it doesn’t feel like a tickle, but I’ll live.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. I didn’t have any words to adequately express my gratitude, nor the other unnamed emotions swirling around in my stomach. I never had so much trouble articulating things before. Words always came naturally to me, but sitting there with him, no words seemed like enough.

“I’d say it was nothing, but…’ He chuckled. “People do crazy things when they’re… When they like someone,” he said as my phone buzzed.

“Sorry, let me just make sure it’s not the police or something.” I said. It was an email from Mel, more stories about LaCera. “Oh, it’s just my editor. My article went live on Wednesday,” I explained.

“I know, I read it.” Virgil said with a small smile.

“Oh?. What did you think?”

“You left out my sparkling personality, but I suppose you needed to keep it professional,” he joked. “Otherwise, I thought it was a very good article about LaCera.”

“I dithered,” I joked back. He smiled wide. “People have been writing in about how much they love the town, their experiences there. Some people are even donating.” I explained. 

“Wow,” Virgil said.

“The post is going viral. People love an underdog,” I went on softly. He nodded.

“So you may just save the town after all,” he said after a bit.

“Maybe,” I agreed. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?” I felt like I should be doing something for him.

“I was going to ask if I could take you to dinner, at least that was my intention when I left LaCera,” he said. “Would you be up for that?”

“Would you?” I asked, gesturing to his eye. He removed the ice from his face. 

“How do I look?”

Handsome, I thought, even though there was some slight bruising. Not much swelling, though.

“Like you go into a fight,” I teased. “Not bad.” I said in a softer tone.

“If you can stand to be seen with me in public like this, then yes, I’m up for it.” He said, smiling. God, that smile.

“I’ll change.” I was still wearing holey shorts and a threadbare t-shirt I’d put on after the shower.

I went to the closet in my bedroom and dug around until I found what I was looking for. It wasn’t quite as fancy as the green dress Devola and Ms. Fiona gussied me up in during the Wildflower Festival, but it was still a very nice dress: Dark blue, with thin straps that criss crossed my back, and a swishy skirt that fell just above my knees. I slipped it on, brushed my hair and then slipped on my shoes before I went back to the living room. They were new and ever so slightly too big. I meant to return them, but I loved how they looked with the deep blue dress. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to wear them for a little while. As I came out from around the folding screen, Virgil was looking at the photos on my bookcase. He smiled at the picture of Zaira and I. I cleared my throat. He turned, blinking as he took in the sight of me.

“Wow, you look… really beautiful,” he said after a moment. “I hope it’s okay that I’m in jeans.” I watched as he self consciously tucked in the tail of his shirt. It must have come untucked during the tussle. I was struck again at what that meant.

“You’re perfect,” I told him, as if I would say anything else after he fought the mean faced man to keep me safe… but it was true, he absolutely was. He took me in his arms and it felt so good, so right. He kissed me softly, cupping my cheek in his hand. I almost didn’t want to leave my apartment, I could have gone on kissing him like that until the world ended. It reignited everything I thought I left in LaCera.

“I could go on kissing you until the end of time,” Virgil said softly when he finally paused to take a breath. 

“I could too,” I said in the same low tone. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me so tightly I thought my back might crack, but it felt so good to be in those arms again.

“Come on then,” he said, taking me by the hand. We made our way down the narrow stairway leading out of my apartment. On the very last step, those damn shoes betrayed me. My foot slipped inside the too-large shoe and I pitched forward. Fortunately, Virgil caught me by the shoulders and kept me from tumbling down the stairs.

“You sure are a magnet for trouble,” he joked, pulling me closer and spinning me around. Then he threw his head back and laughed.

“What?” I said. He sent me gently on the ground and I realized one of my shoes had fallen off. He scooped it up, then knelt down in front of me and slipped it back onto my foot.

“Careful now, Cinderella,” he teased. 

I groaned, but I was smiling wide.

We walked slowly, hand in hand, to his truck parked out in front of my building. He opened the passenger door for me, and when he did, my breath caught in my throat. A bouquet of wildflowers, wrapped in green and white striped paper.

“They’re from Devola’s garden,” he explained. “I wanted to… Well, I wanted to take you on a real date.”

“They’re beautiful,” I said, feeling burning hot tears coming back to my eyes. “Virgil, I-”

“Don’t.” His tone was forceful. “Don’t push me away any more, Ella.”

He took me in his arms again.

“I wasn’t going to push you away,” I whispered, breathing in the scent of him. “I was going to tell you thank you.”

“Good, because I don’t think my heart could take it if you told me to hit the road.”

“Thank you for the flowers,” I said. There was a force on earth that could compel me to tell him to leave now, but I wasn’t sure how to tell him that. He held out a hand to steady me as I climbed into the truck.

“You’re very welcome.”

He drove us to a restaurant, and I realized that he must have asked Zaira where to take me, because he picked one I loved. Thinking of Zaira…

“Wait a minute,” I said after a moment. “I must have called you about a dozen times. How come Zaira got through to you and I didn’t?”

“You didn’t leave a message, and my caller ID wasn’t working. I kept grabbing the phone after you’d hung up, I guess. I was trying to keep busy to take my mind off… everything. Anyway, Zaira left me a message with a very explicit description of how she was going to put a stiletto through my foot if I didn’t come take you out tonight. I thought it best to call her back.”

I chuckled at that. It certainly sounded like Zaira.

“Why didn’t you leave a message?” His tone was slightly wounded.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t call me back,” I admitted. “It was easier to pretend there was still a chance for us if I thought you didn’t know I was trying to call you.”

“Oh, Ella,” he said sadly. “We’re a couple of fools.”

“Absolute clowns,” I agreed. He smiled slightly. “I was thinking of driving up to LaCera tonight anyway.”

“We might have missed each other.”

“I’m glad we didn’t,” I said.

“Me, too.”

We pulled into a parking space in front of the restaurant, and he took my hand as we went inside. Once seated, he stretched his arms across the table, taking my hands in his large, warm grasp.

“I don’t care if I have to wait weeks to see you, or if I have to drive hours and hours to do it,” he said. “I want to try having something with you.”

“We barely know each other,” I said, but I understood what he meant. I felt something pulling me towards him; an invisible string or perhaps something stronger and more inevitable. A magnet, maybe.

“I want to get to know you more, I do. But I like what I’ve seen so far; I told you the other night – you’re beautiful, yes, I’m not going to pretend that’s not part of it- but you’re kind, Ella. You’ve got a big heart, and it shines through in everything you do. Your article… you should see the town. Ms. Fiona tacked it up behind the register in the store. Ms. Lucille put it up in the window of the post office. Even Joe and Aubrey have it up in the diner. The whole town thinks what you did is so special. You wouldn’t have written what you did if you didn’t have that heart.”

I bit my lip. Virgil was kind, too. And brave. And smart. I thought about Cat Benetar. I thought about the way he put his jacket around my shoulders the first time we went to the meadow. And yes, the way he fought the mean-faced man from LaCera.

“I just hope you’ll consider the possibility,” he finished giving my hand a squeeze. “I don’t need an answer tonight, but I had to speak my piece.”

I nodded. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say I was his. But I couldn’t make myself say the words. That little voice, nasty little bitch, reminded me of how Kyle tricked me into believing he was my Happily Ever After, too.

Except… Did he really? Or did I overlook red flag after red flag because my high school crush was finally paying attention to me?

We ordered our food and then ate, sticking to topics other than “us”. He filled me in on the comings and goings in town. He admitted that he’d told a little white lie, saying I came back urgently for something at work, and that’s why I’d left without saying goodbye to anyone, but most folks were understanding, especially once the article came out. I was secretly glad he fibbed for me, even if it was to save face in town himself… It made me feel a little less ashamed to go back.

“So people are really writing in to The Globe with their stories about LaCera?” he asked after a spell.

“Yeah, some of them are so sweet, they made me cry a little,” I admitted. “I’m not normally a soft touch, but something about LaCera…”

“I know what you mean,” he replied. “There’s magic there.”

“I’m not quite sure I believe that, but it’s definitely something special.”

“You’re such a cynic,” he said, but his tone was good natured. We finished dinner, and then as we walked back to his truck, he slipped his arm around my waist and kissed the side of my forehead.

“Would you…” I cleared my throat. “Would you like to stay tonight?”

“I would, very much.” He shyly admitted that he hoped things might work out and we would spend some time together. He packed an overnight bag, and asked Devola to look in on Cat Benetar, just in case. I smiled at that, secretly pleased he wanted me to invite him to stay.

Back at my apartment, we sat on my couch, watching nonsense on TV, still both avoiding the elephant in the room. 

The man literally fought someone to protect you, I said to myself. Without hesitation. 

I pondered this. I pondered my cynical nature. I hadn’t always been that way. I think it started after the first time I was cheated on. It worsened with Kyle, because we spent so much time building a life together. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wasn’t a cynic at all. I was terrified of wanting something I may never have. And here he was, ready to offer it to me, if I would just let him. Ready to go to battle for me. I thought about how readily he made space in his life for me. The way he took in a kitten just because I wanted her. How everyone said he was different with me. It all felt… It felt like a fairytale, and I didn’t think I believed in fairytales, not at 38 years old. And yet…

“Virgil,” I said after a moment.

“Ella,” he prompted when I didn’t continue.

“Let’s do it.”

“Do… what?” He was confused.

“It. This. Us.”

“You mean it?”

“Yes.” I said, nodding. 

He kissed me, one of those deep passionate kisses that made me want to rip off my clothes. He leaned into me, and I melted into him. I felt his hands all over me, and mine on him. We shed clothes as we kissed and groped our way to my bed. I paused to fish a condom out of my bag and then we were entwined again. It was not like the first time, not frenzied and quick, but steady and even. It was electric. It was… perfect, because it was Virgil.