Jen and her BFF's Brother

"Jen, I could never make up for all of that. I picked Mitchell's because... " He took a deep breath. "Because I want the best for, well ... for you." He didn't say he hoped he'd have the rest of their lives to make up for all of those other things.

She watched him as he drove and talked. His Adam's apple bobbed when he'd swallow, his hand seemed to fidget on the steering wheel, and he occasionally took an extra deep breath. It was unusual for him, at least the Max she was used to. She debated about questioning him.

"Can I be honest with you, Jen?"

That made her nervous. Was he going to admit he was only doing this to humor his sister?

"Max, of course."

He glanced at Jen, and she thought he might be chewing his lower lip.

"I'm nervous as hell, Jen, nervous as hell."

"Max, why?" She didn't think she was capable of making anyone nervous.

"You," he said, "but in the best way."

"Me?" Jen felt overwhelmed.

"Jenny, at college and when I started working, I dated five women. Four of them were redheads." He glanced at her again as what he'd said was registering.

She wasn't sure how to answer -- the implications of what he'd said were clear.

"Matt ...?" Her reply was an open-ended question.

"Somewhere along the line, I realized why that was true."

Jen's turn to take a deep breath.

"Max? I was always right there."

"That was part of the problem, Jen. You were almost a sister, too close to that for me to put it aside. It was weird, almost like Jamie and Cersai Lannister in Game of Thrones. I couldn't make myself handle it."

Jen was astounded. She'd always had some interest in Max. He was good-looking, smart, and pleasant to be around, but it had always been clear that he had no interest in her as a girlfriend. Now, that appeared to have changed, and she wondered if she was ready for that change. She decided she might echo something he'd said.

"Can I be honest now?"

"Should I be afraid?" he said with a little smile.

"I'm not very scary," she said, "but I'm nervous too. What you've said is a big surprise to me. Added to that is where I've just been."

"Dirk?"

"Yeah, Dirk."

"Got it. We're on our first date. We've gotten that far. Let's see what happens."

Jen smiled. "Let's see what happens," she repeated.

She thought she knew what Max hoped would happen, but she wondered about herself. It would be so much simpler if she knew. She hated to be feeling her way along, not quite blindly this time, but certainly without a solid sense of direction. She hoped time would sort it out for her.

But they were at Mitchell's, and Max was opening her door, helping her out, and offering his arm.

"I won't keep saying things like this, but you need to know that you are an absolute knockout."

"Thank you, Max, but I'm not--" She felt Max's hand covering her mouth. She giggled.

"Now, you are," he said, "and don't fuss about it because I don't want to walk into this restaurant with my hand covering your mouth."

"Okay, that would be awkward. But ..." She laughed as he raised his eyebrows and frowned at her, his hand hovering in front of her.

They went inside, and Jen's eyes went wide.

"Max," she whispered, "this is, well, elegant."

"And you fit right in," he whispered back to her, putting his hand over hers on his arm.

"Ah, and you are?" the maitre d' asked with a smile at both of them.

"Max Engle."

"Yes, Mr. Engle. You and the lovely lady, follow me, please." He led them to a small booth along one wall. Max held her hand as she slid into the booth, then he sat opposite her.

Lovely lady? She'd never been called that before. She knew he was just being polite, but she heard the words. It caused a warm feeling to fill her body and her consciousness. This was all so new, and she wondered if she could adjust.

"Stephanie will be taking care of you this evening," the Maitre d' said, carefully placing a menu in front of each of them. "Enjoy your evening," he added.

"Max," she said, locking eyes with him, then looking around. "This is ... I mean, I feel like I'm in a movie or something. This is exquisite. That's the only word I can think of."

Max smiled. He was enjoying the fact that Jen was a little "off her stride" because he knew he certainly was as well. When he'd decided on Mitchell's, it wasn't because he wanted to impress her; it was because he wanted to show her the way he thought of her, that she was, well, priceless in a way. It was a first date, so he thought he might have gotten a little ahead of himself with his thinking, but he hoped not.

"I thought you might enjoy it," he said, and, as he fiddled with his napkin, he added, "I've never been with a girl I wanted to bring here before. And I need to stop calling you a girl--you're certainly a lady." He loved the smile that had crept onto her face.

How could she not smile at what he was saying? They were words she wasn't used to hearing, and they were having their effect, probably because she knew Max well enough to know they were coming from ... his heart? When she thought that, her own heart started beating faster. But it was all happening so fast. She liked to move slowly and carefully, but it seemed that Max had wanted this for a long time, and he was not going to waste time now that it seemed to be working out.

Before anything else could happen, Stephanie was at their table.

"Good evening. My name is Stephanie, and you are ...?"

"Jenny."

"Max."

"Jenny and Max. So wonderful that you're sharing your evening with us here at Mitchell's. I'll do everything I can to make sure it's an enjoyable experience. Have you decided on drinks or an appetizer?"

Max chuckled. "I think we've been a little overwhelmed by what we see around us." He looked at Jen, and she understood what he was saying.

"It is beautiful, isn't it. I'm amazed every day when I arrive. Do you need a little time?"

"Would you like some wine, Jen?" Max asked. "Or something else?"

"Um, wine would be perfect," she replied. "You choose," she added with a smile.

Stephanie bent forward slightly so she was closer to both of them.

"I don't want to embarrass you, but I'll need to see your IDs. While I'm writing and talking, you can retrieve them and just lay them on the table. I'll check, and that will be that."

Matt carried his ID and other wallet items in the pocket of his sports coat, and he retrieved his driver's license and laid it on the table. Jen was able to find hers in her small clutch without lifting it from the seat. Stephanie glanced at both and smiled.

"And do you have a wine preference?" she said to Max.

"Well, I was looking at the whites," he replied.

"May I suggest the Sonoma-Cutrer?"

"Great minds," Max said. "Two of those."

"You'll love it," Stephanie said. "It's my favorite. Back in just a moment."

"Dirk always ordered beer," she said when Stephanie was gone. She thought she saw a look on Max's face. "Sorry," she added. "I won't mention him again." She liked it when Max smiled.

Jen was looking around, admiring everything about Mitchell's, when Stephanie was back with two glasses of wine.

"Sip your wine and take your time with the menu," she said. "If you have questions, just ask. I'll give you a few minutes to review the menu. And, everything is delicious," she added.

Jen opened her menu and began scanning the items. She was breathing hard as she looked at Max.

"Yes?" he said, smiling at her.

"Max, you know what."

He took the menu from her hands and held on to both of them, smiling at her.

"Pretend your mom just asked you what you want for dinner, and she told you the choices you have -- the items on this menu. And you're going to tell her exactly what you want. That's what you're to do now. Can you promise me that?"

"Oh, lord, Max." She picked up the menu again. "That's what we spend a week for groceries. I don't know if I can."

"Look, I'm not planning to bring you here for dinner every Friday night."

Jen snorted quietly.

"Think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime thing," he said, a hopeful look on his face.

"But, Max --"

"-- Money," he interrupted, "is only good for what you can buy with it. And when you can spend it for something and with someone you really treasure, that's the best there is."

Treasure? She'd certainly never thought of herself as a treasure. Was that what he meant? This was all so suddenly confusing. But, amidst her confusion, she understood what he was saying.

"If you insist," she said.

Max nodded his head.

She tried looking only at the words and not the numbers. That seemed to help a little. Was this whole thing a once-in-a-lifetime experience? She discovered quickly that she hoped not.

"Did I give you enough time?" Stephanie asked, a big smile going from one to the other.

Max looked questioningly at Jen.

"I'm ready. I'll have the seven-ounce filet, medium, I think."

"Warm with a touch of pink in the middle?"

"That sounds perfect. Maybe the baked potato with both butter and sour cream and the buttered asparagus."

"A salad, perhaps?"

Jen thought for a second. "I think not. If I had a salad, I'd have to decide what not to eat, and the salad would be left out."

"I understand. And you, Max?"

"I think I'll have the prime bone-in ribeye, also medium, with the same sides as Jen has."

"Excellent. Ready for another glass of wine?"

Max smiled. "I'll let you know," he said. A nod from Stephanie, and they were alone again.

"Tany says you're traveling a lot now."

"I am," he answered. "I seem to have a knack for problem-solving, so that's what I do. And the problems don't always happen here in Columbus. So, I go where they are. Most of the time, I can drive, but once in a while, I have to fly, which I don't enjoy."

"I thought flying around the country would be fun. Seeing lots of places you wouldn't get to otherwise."

Max chuckled. "It's such a hassle, since 9-11. I've talked with the old-timers, and they say it used to be fun when you went to the airport twenty minutes before your flight left, checked in, and jumped on the plane. Doesn't work that way now."

"I suppose not," she said. It's been years since I've flown anywhere, and I was so young when I did, I don't remember a hassle." She laughed.

"I have a friend who has a plane. Maybe we can get you up in the air that way, maybe skydive."

"Oh, God, no way," she replied quickly.

"Just kidding. But we might be able to have him take us up."

"Can I think about that one for a while?"

"Sure."

Instead of slowing down, everything was going faster and faster, and it was nearly sweeping her off her feet. This was an uneven matching of people, if there ever was one. Max knew exactly where he wanted to go and was working as hard as he could to make it go where he wanted it. She was fumbling along, uncertain, testing, wondering, still recovering, even though she thought she might know what she wanted. It was just ... so fast.

Stephanie was there with their meals, and Jen was sure she'd never seen such a beautiful piece of meat in all her life. And Max's -- they were amazing.

"Enjoy," Stephanie said. "Ready for the refill yet?"

Max looked at Jen, who shrugged. She'd never had wine quite like this, and it was once-in-a-lifetime, right?

"Two," Max said.

Jen carefully cut into her filet, taking a bite. As she began to chew, she looked at Max.

"Max, this is ..." She closed her eyes. "... wonderful."

"Mine too," he said. "I'm beginning to find in life that, often, you get what you pay for."

"Really?" She took a bite of potato, then the asparagus. "You know what you said earlier. This is definitely not what my mom fixes for dinner."

Max laughed, hoping he didn't spew his baked potato.

They finished the meal, everything so good there wasn't the smallest scrap left on any of their dishes. The wine finished and the check taken care of, they headed for Max's car.

"Do you like your Fit?" she asked when they were inside the car.

"Works for me," he answered. I get about forty-two miles per gallon on the road. If I go on, say, a four-hundred mile trip, I get about two hundred and thirty dollars expense money, and the gasoline is about thirty dollars, so I bank a couple of hundred dollars. If you do that two or three times a week, the bank account grows very nicely."

"An expense account. That sounds great."

"It is. I travel enough that I don't have to buy much food other than that. It all helps."

"So, that's why you can take me to Mitchell's," she said, laughing.

"That's not why I took you to Mitchell's. I explained that before. Where to now?"

That surprised her -- she hadn't been thinking about what would happen next. She'd left that up to Max, but now he was turning it over to her, it seemed. But she did have an idea she knew would surprise him.

"Let's stop at the DQ for a Blizzard. It would make a great dessert."

Max couldn't contain his smile ... and didn't want to. A curtain of relief swept over him as he realized that Jen was, well, feeling more comfortable with this new relationship. Going to the DQ was fine with him.

They ordered, Max paid, slightly less this time, and they sat at a small table with two sticky spots and dug into their Blizzards.

"You dropped this," she said, handing him a small piece of paper.

"Thanks. Did you look?"

A guilty smile. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I couldn't stop myself."

"And?" he said, looking at her with one eye closed

"I'm not sure I'm worth two hundred and eighty-six dollars, but I'm flattered that you do."

"And twenty-six cents."

"What?"

"Two hundred eighty-six dollars ... and twenty-six cents."

Jen laughed and took another spoonful of her Blizzard.

They sat at the sticky table, laughing, slurping their melting ice cream, and munching the crunchies.

They drove to Jen's house and talked a little longer.

"Max, I had a wonderful time tonight, and I hope you know that."

"Me too, Jen." He reached up and pushed the lock of red hair away from her eye. "Beautiful blue," he said simply. His head moved toward hers as his hands went to her cheeks. Their lips met gently, held for several seconds, Max sensing rather than hearing Jen's sigh. He could barely tear his eyes away from hers but finally climbed out and came around the car to open her door. He squeezed her hand tightly as he helped her stand.

He held onto her hand as they walked to her door, Jen happy her mom had not turned on the porch light.

"I'm out of town from Sunday till Thursday, but how about next Friday?"

"Okay, if you promise no Mitchell's."

"I promise," he laughed. "Good night, Jen. I'll be calling you if that's okay."

She snorted. "Of course," she said and leaned in to meet his lips once more. "Good night, and drive carefully."

Max walked quickly to his Fit, waved, and was off.

*****

"So, honey, how was your first date with Max?" Claire was ready and waiting when Jen came through the door.

"Hi, Mom. It was good, really good." She looked at her mother. "Seems that I was terrified, and he was so nervous he could hardly stand it.

"Really? That seems strange since you two have known each other all your lives."

"That was exactly the problem, Mom. It seemed so strange to be on a date with Max. He was always, well, almost like a brother."

"I guess I can see that a little bit. But, he's always been such a wonderful person."

"He still is, Mom. He still is. But he had the same feelings I had. He said it was almost like ..." She paused. "Have you seen or read much of Game of Thrones?"

"Just a couple of episodes on ... was it HBO? I didn't care much for it."

"I can see that, too," Jen said with a chuckle. "There are a brother and sister in it who have an, well, incestuous relationship, and he said he felt a little like that."

"Jen," her mother said sharply, a stern look on her face. "You're not going to ..."

"No, Mother, I'm not going to you know what. And, I didn't with Dirk either. I'm still a virgin." She wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad about that admission.

Claire smiled. "Not until you two are married anyway."

"Mom!"

Claire laughed. "But you said you had a good time, despite all those "feelings" you two were having?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling pensively. "We went to Mitchell's, you know."

"I've heard that's very expensive."

"That's almost an understatement. He spent two hundred and eighty-six dollars on dinner."

"Jen, oh my gosh. He must think an awfully lot of you to do that."

"We both tried to be honest with each other, and he said some things that I could never have imagined."

The inquisitive look on her mother's face said she was waiting to hear more.

"He said that almost all the girls he dated in college and after were redheads. He said it took him a while to figure out why. Mom, I don't know what to do."

Claire looked at her daughter, working to digest and understand what she'd said. It was difficult to climb into her mind and also experience what she had in the last few years. The thing she did know was that Max had always been first-class, and she could only hope that one day he'd be a son-in-law. Of course, that was up to Jenny.

"Are you going out with Max again?"

"He's going out of town, but we're supposed to go out again next Friday."

"At least you know that much."

"I do, and I learned tonight that, despite the nervousness when we began, I felt so comfortable with him that I know it will be the same next Friday, whatever we do. I didn't tell you that we went to the Dairy Queen too."

"After Mitchell's?"

"Yeah, and we each had a Blizzard and laughed ourselves silly. It was so much fun." She paused, looking at her mother, knowing what was coming next.

"And you still wonder about what's happening?"

"I know," she said. "I was so nervous, and then, as time passed, I got so comfortable with him, like I was floating on a cloud or something. Then, he kissed me good night and walked me to the front door, but then he turned, and by the time he was halfway to his car, it had turned into a storm cloud, and I was unsettled again." She looked like she was about to cry.

"Honey," Claire said, not sure what to do or say.

"I wonder how long it takes your mind, heart, and soul to accept that not every male is like Dirk. I can say it and understand it, but ..."

"Jen, I had no idea it was that bad."

"I wasn't willing to admit it, Mom. I'm sure he would have, well ..."

"Jen, no."

"That's all he finally wanted," she said, a hopeless look on her face.

"Oh, my god," Claire gasped.

"And now Max is going to suffer because of it."

"Talk to him about it."

"I could never do that."

"If he really cares about you, he'll understand and want to help. It's to his benefit to do it, you know. Plus, you said earlier that you two tried to be honest with each other. This might be a good time and a good subject for some honesty."

"I don't know if I can do that."

"Let me ask you then, and I know it's kind of early, but do you think he's a guy you could spend your life with?"

"Mom, I don't know." She paused, taking a deep breath. "He's the best man I've ever been around, but I'm such a mess, I don't know."

"Talk to him next Friday."

"Maybe," Jen said, a futile feeling nearly overwhelming her.

***

Over the next several days, Max and Jen texted and face-timed, Max smiling and laughing while Jen was much more subdued. She wondered if he could tell, but if he could, he didn't say anything. On Wednesday, they talked about her first day of classes, and on Thursday, he told her how much he was missing being with her. She wondered if the phone was sensitive enough to pick up the pounding of her heart.

"Tomorrow," Max said expectantly as they were about to end the last call on Thursday. "Can hardly wait."