Page 208 of Banter & Blushes

SUNSETS AND SECOND CHANCES: A SWEET SUMMER ROMANCE

JESS HANSEN

CHAPTER 1

Elva smiled at the stack of contractor bids on her desk. Rays of sunshine beamed through the front window onto the neat piles of papers; illuminating the top sheet. Picking up her readers, she unfolded them carefully, placing them on her face. “That’s better,” she grinned. It was hard to believe that she needed those now. In some ways, she still saw her twenty-five-year-old self staring back from the mirror. Where all the years went, she wasn’t sure. But they flew by.

“John Mitchell,” she read out loud to her empty office. Lifting the paper up she scanned the total price. “Huh,” her nose scrunched, “promising,” her head nodded up and down before sorting the bid into a smaller pile of contractors scheduled to meet that afternoon. Heading the project to build a Fire Station equipped with EMTs on the north end of the Landings was proving to be a much larger task than she ever imagined.

Walking down the hallway, she admired the lifetime of memories on the wall. Photos of her family and those she met over the years that became family. When she opened this restaurant so long ago, she was just a girl with a dream. Now she’s a mature woman with roots and community, all thanks to this charming little town. The Landings felt like a cozy town written in a novel. The kind of place everyone wanted to live in. A place where everyone knew your name, your gossip and what you're making for dinner tonight. And Elva loved every minute of living here.

“Hello!” She heard her best friend’s cheerful voice announce her arrival. Josephine Donahue was Elva’s first friend in the Landings and her constant companion ever since. The two volunteered to help at every community event in town together.

“Hey,” Elva used her left handto fluff up the back of her short salt and pepper hair before pulling off her red trimmed readers and setting them on the counter.

“Are those the bids for North Shores?” Joe asked as she settled herself onto a metal stool at the restaurant counter.

Friends for nearly forty years now, she knew she could always count on Joe. “They are. Some are really close but a few others,” she shook her head back and forth, “phew.”

“I know you’ll pick the best candidate.” Joe’s white hair glistened underneath the large tortoise shell sun glasses fixed atop her head.

Pulling out two white coffee mugs, she set them on the counter. “I sure hope so. One is set to be here anytime and then a few more tomorrow to speak in person about what they think they can do for us. I’m hoping they can work with us on the price, some.”

Joe poured sugar in her cup before stirring it with a spoon, clanging it back and forth. “If anyone can negotiate a good price, it’s you. The committee made the perfect choice in picking you to head things.”

“Aww, thanks.” She looked from her mug to her friend. “I feel very privileged to have this honor. I know not everyone wants the Landings to grow and honestly, I’m not sure that I do either. But I know that we need some growth to better serve those who live here. This is really something that should have been done a long time ago.”

“You are probably right. What time is the contractor coming in? I don’t want to get in your way,” she sipped her coffee.

“Anytime now and you are never in the way, my dear friend. You should stay and listen to his proposal. You are on the committee, after all. When I called him yesterday, he seemed pretty eager to chat. ”

Right on cue, the front door of the restaurant opened, bringing with it rays of sunshine pouring into the front lobby of Gandolf’s. The familiar chin- a-ling of the door chime announced his arrival as a tall man stepped inside, dressed in a brown canvas work shirt and brown work boots. His salt and pepper hair was trimmed neatly, barely visible under a ball cap. The matching stubble on his face outlined an enormous smile that made the skin around his eyelids crease. “Hi!” He smiled at the ladies, enjoying their coffee. “I’m looking for Elva?”

“You’ve found her,” she walked around the bar toward the entrance to greet her guest properly. Her naturally enormous smile brightened her face as she got near him, her blue eyes sparkled with flecks of gold meeting his gaze.

Elva looked at the vision that just stepped into her life and giggled like a schoolgirl before she ran her fingers through her short, tussled hair, fluffing up the back just a little more.

He was probably around her same age, mid-sixties, muscular and strong, every bit the rugged outdoorsy looking man, she was sure. “Hello,” she held her hand out for him to take, “I’m Elva. You must be John Mitchell?” She waited for him to agree to his identity.

His sun kissed face softened as his eyes locked with hers. “Mitch, please. That’s what all my friends call me.” A mischievous smile crept across his face, making his eyes crease around the edges under his hat.

“Friends, huh?” She teased with a wink, “we are practically strangers.”

“Well,” his hand still holding hers in a long handshake, “I’d like to remedy that.”

Josephine giggled from the counter, unable to control herself. She hadn’t heard a line like that in quite a few years.

“We will just have to see about that,” Elva flirted back, not sure how far she wanted to take it yet.

“I hope we do,” his green eyes sparkled at her.

“Can I pour you a cup of coffee?” She offered, still caught in his stare.

“Our first date? Perfect,” he winked at her as she pulled her hand back to return to the coffeepot.

Joe giggled again. “I like you,” she offered without being asked. “Josephine Donahue,” she waved, not willing to give her hand to shake. “I was going to leave, but I think this is a show I’d like to tune into.”

“Oh, Joe,” Elva shushed her friend and put a cup down two seats over for Mitch. “Cream? Sugar?”

---