Page 38 of A Love So Sweet
Max thought about her options. She didn’t know how long it would be before she heard from Treat, and she was a little hungry and cold.
“There she is now,” he said as a woman pulled up in an old pickup truck.
“Chris, are you bothering that young lady?” the woman asked. She wore her long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail much like Max’s, and her wide smile brightened her friendly blue eyes.
“No. He’s been really sweet,” Max said.
“She just got into town today, and I was inviting her to have dinner with us,” he answered.
“Why, sure! I have plenty of salmon and chicken, corn on the cob, and I know we have enough Jell-O for dessert,” the woman said. “By the way, I’m Vicky Smith, Chris’s better half. His manners could use a good overhaul.”
“I don’t know,” Max said. The responsible side of her wondered if she was getting herself into an unsafe situation. They seemed nice enough, but…
A car pulled up with another older couple in it, and the driver rolled down his window. “Hey, Vicky. Y’all coming to the bonfire tonight?”
“Oh yeah, we’ll be there,” Vicky answered. “Hey, Marge.” She waved to a woman walking by. “You coming to the bonfire?”
“I’ll be there!” the woman answered, and continued on her way toward another couple.
Max watched the interactions, and unless she had entered some alternate Stephen King universe where the entire town was involved in hacking up tourists, why shouldn’t she go spend some time with them? After all, she could answer Treat’s call at their house just as easily as she could sitting on the dune in the cold.
MAX HAD BEEN hungrier than she’d thought she was, and the meal was delicious. She helped Vicky with the dishes while Chris gathered blankets and chairs for the bonfire she’d heard them talking about earlier. She was glad she’d accepted their generous invitation. But now that the conversation had stalled, thoughts of Treat came rushing back, and she wondered how much longer it would be until she heard from him. It was already dark out.
“Did you come out just for the festival this weekend?” Vicky asked as she handed a plate to Max for her to dry. She reminded Max of her own grandmother. She had the same generous spirit and made the same type of quippy remarks to Chris as her grandmother used to make to her grandfather.
“No.”I came searching for my boyfriend.
“Work?” Vicky pressed.
“No, not work.” Max dried another dish and placed it on the counter.
“Love?”
Yeswas on the tip of Max’s tongue, but she didn’t say it. She didn’t want to get into a big conversation about Treat. She was already nervous about finding him at all tonight.
“No wonder you seem sidetracked.” Vicky set down the dish she was scrubbing. “I’m gonna tell you what my mama told me many years ago. She said, ‘Men are like weeds. Some will strangle you until you can’t breathe, and some will strangle you once, see you can’t breathe, and till your soil for the rest of their lives to make sure you’re never strangled again.’ Then she would wink at me and say, ‘If he strangles you again, get your caboose right back here. If he tills your soil, make me some grandbabies.’ And that was that. I’ve never looked back. You just need to find your tiller, Max.”
“I think I already found him. I just have to find himhere. We keep missing each other’s calls.”
“Gotta love technology,” Vicky said. “It’s not like the old days when you dated the boy down the street from the time you were thirteen until you married him at eighteen.”
“Is she telling stories again?” Chris came into the kitchen with his coat on.
Max loved these two already. “I like Vicky’s stories.”
“See that, Chris? Not everyone has heard my stories as many times as you. Are we ready? Truck packed?” Vicky asked, drying her hands on a dish towel.
“All set.” Chris waved toward the door. “Let’s go.”
“Max, did you bring a coat? It gets cold, even with the bonfire. Chris, grab one of my coats for her.”
“Um…? I thought you were taking me back to my car.”
“To your car?” Vicky asked. “Oh goodness, Max. You can’t wait around for a man all your life. Come for a little while. Meet our friends.”
Max pulled out her phone one more time, and the voicemail message light was on. “That’s weird. I didn’t hear my phone ring, but there’s a message.”
“Sometimes that happens around here,” Vicky said. “I think it’s the Lord’s way of telling us to put the darn things down every once in a while. Unplug. Relax.”
