Love Story, Lubbock Style

"What? Oh. No. Not me," he said once he recognized the look. Her mother saw it, too, and understood why.

"He's a little too old for you, honey," Ali told her daughter who nearly died of embarrassment.

"Mom!" she protested immediately.

Ali let it go then asked Ryan who it would be.

"Oh. Well, all of us, me, Adam, and Carlos, are also actors."

"Uh-huh. And would you by chance be the leading lady's love interest?" Ali asked, trying not to tease too much.

"Mom! Please!" Hannah nearly begged.

Ryan looked at his uncle then rather sheepishly said, "Yes," more as a question than an answer.

"What grade are you in, Ryan?" Hannah asked.

"Seventh."

"You know I'm in ninth, right?" she said as nicely as possible.

"Uh-huh," came the very weak reply.

"Can you stand up?" she asked just as nicely.

When he did, Hannah got up, too, then moved next to him.

"I'm almost a foot taller than you."

It wasn't actually that much. It was maybe six inches, but the point was well taken.

"I can use a step stool and no one will see it," the proud 'director' informed her.

"If I say 'yes', I have one condition."

"Okay!" Ryan agreed before even hearing it.

"No kissing. At least not on the lips."

"Oh."

This reply was much less enthusiastic, but Ryan was old enough to be realistic.

"Okay. I can live with that," he said like a young adult.

"And how many hours a day will this take?"

"Not too many," Ryan vaguely promised.

"Will you be supervising them, James?" Ali asked.

He knew he was committed now, so he told her he would.

"It might be a lot of fun, Han. And you might even be able to use this for credit in your drama class."

"Well, seeing as how my boyfriend and I just broke up, I suppose I could help you out," Hannah said, still looking at James.

"Really? You're gonna do it?" Ryan blurted out.

"Yeah. It really might be fun. So...yes. I'll do it."

"That is SO awesome!"

James and Ryan stayed a few more minutes as they finished their drinks and talked.

Ali wasn't only beautiful, she was intelligent and considerate, as well. She seemed genuinely impressed when what James did for a living came up as she had no idea how to go about creating a website. He explained that there were basic templates one could buy and modify for a reasonable amount of money before letting her know that they were pretty bare bones.

"So if I wanted to you, you know, create one for my beauty salon, how much would that run me?" she asked very seriously.

James smiled then said, "This may sound corny, but I have to say I'm not surprised to hear that you have a beauty salon."

James was so much younger than her that she never dreamed he was flirting until Hannah told her, "He just said you're beautiful, Mom."

Ali pulled her head back a bit then smiled herself before thanking him.

"You're really pretty, too," Ryan told Hannah as his cheeks glowed again.

"Ahh! Thank you, Ryan! That's very sweet of you."

She glanced at James then said to the younger Young, "You're well on the way to being as handsome as your uncle."

That caused James to do the pull back thing, and that made Ali laugh.

"I think someone has a crush on an older man," Ali said, causing her daughter to want to slink under the table.

"Oh, my God!" Hannah said as she threw her arms up.

"My daughter is kind of boy crazy these days," Ali said to James as though only he could hear her.

Hannah was so embarrassed she got up and left the room, on the verge of crying.

"Oh, boy. That didn't go over well," Ali said with a 'what else can I say' look on her face along with another beautiful smile.

"I know a boy...er, a young man who's kind of getting interested in girls, too."

Ryan didn't run away or protest, he just sat there and...glowed.

"Well, Hannah's right, Ryan. You are going to be a very handsome man one day."

"Thank you," he said, a happy little smile on his face.

"I'm really sorry to have bothered you, Mrs. Summers, but..."

"James? Please don't call me that. Please?"

"Okay. My apologies.

"I love having my late husband's last name, I just don't love being called 'Mrs.' and especially not by someone your age. It makes me feel, well, as old as I am."

"You look amazing for someone's who's 30," James said so seriously it took Ali a second to get it.

She laughed then said to Ryan, "Your uncle is a charmer."

"Huh?" the boy replied. "Like a snake charmer?"

His former crush laughed again then explained what it meant.

"Are you by any chance serious with anyone, James?" she asked just as a matter of course.

"My Uncle James is never getting serious with anyone, right?" Ryan both said and asked.

Ali's raised eyebrow made James a little uncomfortable as he tried to set the record straight.

"What I was trying to tell you, buddy, was not to get too serious with any girl too soon. At your age."

He then looked at Ali and smiled before saying something he couldn't believe he was saying, "But in my case, were I to meet that special someone, I could definitely see myself settling down."

Ali smiled then stopped before exhaling and saying, "Marriage, with the right person, can be pretty wonderful."

James knew better than to ask if her husband had been the right kind of person now that he knew she'd lost him, but he didn't think it would be too inappropriate to ask a related question.

"How about you, Mrs...Ali? Are you seeing anyone?"

The older woman raised both eyebrows before laughing politely.

"Me? No. I date a little here and there, but no, I'm definitely not seeing anyone."

Evidently, Hannah hadn't gone very far, because they all heard her call out, "It's time that you should, though, Mom!"

Again, James didn't think it was in good taste to comment, so he stayed quiet.

"Hannah worries about me," she said.

"Well, someone has to worry about you," Hannah called back.

Ali smiled as she looked at James and said, "Voices really carry in this house."

She then responded to her daughter by saying, "I'm fine, honey."

Hannah reappeared then looked at James again and smiled.

"She talks big, but I know she's lonely. She never listens to me, but I'm gonna keep trying to get her to start really dating one of these days."

Hannah paused when her mother turned around to give her the eye, then said, "No matter how mad she gets at me."

"I'm not upset, Hannah. I just...haven't met anyone yet. Okay?"

Expecting to get a tongue lashing later on, Hannah said what she was thinking anyway.

"You just met James."

"Excuse me?" her mom said, a look of horror on her face before turning around and apologizing to her guest.

"No need to apologize," James told her. "It was actually very flattering."

"Ha! Yeah, right. A handsome, young guy like you and an old..."

Ali stopped talking in order to think before finishing her sentence.

"An older...woman like me."

"Mom, you are not old!" Hannah called out as she walked over to her mom and hugged her from behind. "You're hot!"

"You are too sweet," Ali said as she held her daughter's arms. "Wrong but sweet."

"No, Hannah's right," James said very directly, causing Hannah to smile at him while her mom pulled back again then laughed.

"Well, I have to say you made my day," to James before quickly looking at Ryan, who was loving this interaction and saying, "And you, too, Mr. Director."

"Thank you. And Hannah?" Ryan said.

"Yes?"

"We...the cast...is having a meeting today. Would you like to join us?"

"I dunno. Will your uncle be there?" she asked, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"I don't recall the director mentioning any meeting," James said as he looked at his nephew.

Ryan explained why they were getting together and where, and James said he thought he could do that.

"Then I'll be there!" Hannah happily announced before her mom turned around and gave her that look.

"What?"

"Just making sure you remember that Mr. Young is a lot older than you."

"Mom!" an exasperated daughter said again.

"Unless you'd like me to go, too, please let me know you understand," Ali told her politely but in no uncertain terms.

"You can come, Mrs. Summers," Ryan said, not understanding how Hannah felt or why.

"Oh, my g..." Hannah nearly hollered before remembering how immature she was sounding.

"Of course, Mom," she said after a moment to collect her composure.

Not wanting to get involved, James said nothing other than suggesting it might be time for them to leave.

"Mr. Young?" Hannah said very quickly.

"Please call me James, okay?"

Hannah's eyes came alive as she said, "Okay...James. I...I was wondering if it might be possible to, you know, I don't drive yet, and..."

"We'll come get you!" Ryan volunteered without asking.

"I can give my daughter a ride," Ali said, ending the debate before it got started. "And pick her up."

Hannah's look turned crestfallen but she remembered not to pout.

"Okay. Thank you, Mom," she said very sweetly while staring at James.

"What time is your get together?" Ali asked.

"Oh," a surprised Ryan answered. "Hold on a sec."

He texted the other amigos and told them 3 o'clock. Both agreed, and Ryan passed on the time.

"Okay. Thank you. Hannah will be there at 3 o'clock sharp."

Somehow, Ryan got Hannah to go outside with him and leave her mom and James behind in the house.

James thanked her for her time and patience, and Ali only laughed a little as she said, "I think is so wonderful. It almost reminds me of the innocence of my childhood growing up around here. I wish more kids were involved doing this kind of thing rather than what so many kids get into nowadays."

"Ryan's a good kid," James told her. "I'm very proud of him."

"You have every right to be, James. And I think it's also wonderful that you're taking the time to mentor him and his friends."

"I don't know about that, Ali. I just want to be there for my nephew, but I do know the other two boys, and they're good kids, as well."

"I have no doubt," she said with a smile that hit James so hard it surprised him.

She noticed his reaction and asked if everything was all right.

"Sorry. Yes. Everything's fine," he said as he recovered and smiled.

"I must say it was a pleasure meeting you, James."

"You too, Ali. And thank you again."

"No. Thank you. I'm not...worried...about my daughter. But she's gone totally bonkers lately over boys, and I do want to make sure she doesn't, you know, make some...big mistake."

"I understand. It's not the same thing, but even Ryan's started taking an interest in girls. But I'm sure you noticed that just by the way he looks at Hannah."

"Oh, I noticed," she replied with another little laugh. "I think it's very sweet."

There was a fairly long pause where James didn't say anything, so Ali asked him again if everything was okay.

He found himself on the verge of telling her she was beautiful, but that wasn't all. For the briefest of moments, he wanted to ask her out more than he'd ever wanted to ask any woman before. The sheer insanity of the second thought caused him to dismiss it then and there, but it took another second or two to talk himself out of the first.

"Yes. I'm fine," he finally said.

"Okay, then. I probably won't see you when I drop Hannah off, but this was very enjoyable."

"I agree," James said as the desire to say something close to his first idea came overpowered his judgment. "Say. Maybe we could do this again sometime."

Ali's slight hesitation seemed to signal she found that less than interesting, but she smiled then said, "Oh. Well, sure. That would be very nice."

"All right. Well, I uh, I guess I'll see you when I see you then."

Rarely at a loss for words, James felt downright foolish for saying that, but Ali either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Yes. I hope so," she said before thanking him again for being there for Ryan as well as for giving her daughter something constructive to do over the holiday break.

Ali stayed on the porch as James headed to his vehicle where Hannah had turned to look at him while Ryan stood next to her looking at Hannah.

"Bye, James!" she said a little too sweetly as he got to the car.

"Miss Hannah," he replied with a smile and a nod of his head.

"See you soon!"

"Yep. Three o'clock," he told her.

As they drove home, Ryan was on fire.

"That was the best time ever!" he said the moment they were on the road.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah! Was I right or was I right?"

"About?"

"Hannah. Who else?"

"Oh. Sorry. Yeah, she's a very pretty girl."

"Uncle James? Do older women ever date younger men?" his nephew asked with genuine concern.

James chuckled but not in a mean way.

"Yeah. Sometimes. But you know Hannah's a lot older than you, right?"

"It's just two years," Ryan countered.

"True, but the difference between 14 and 12 is pretty big."

"Yeah, I guess. But a guy can always dream, right?"

James reached over and mussed the boy's hair and told him they could and reminded him to dream big.

Ryan smiled then asked if he was right about Hannah's mom, too.

"You know what? You were two for two day, good buddy."

"See? I told you!" the boy said, a look of happy satisfaction on his face.

"Yes you did, didn't you?" James replied before mussing Ryan's hair one more time.

They just had time to grab a sandwich before leaving for the warehouse. It had warmed up nicely for December, but by three o'clock it would start getting chilly again. The average high that time of year was 55 or so, and as they drove by a bank the sign said it was 48 degrees with an expected overnight low of 38.

Adam and Carlos were there waiting when Ryan walked up, but when the boys saw James they barely said hello to their friend.

"James! Why are you here?" Carlos asked, a big grin on his face.

"I'm not really sure. But this is Ryan's baby, so I'll just hang out until..."

All three boys stopped looking at him, and when James turned around to find out why, he laughed. Hannah was walking their way, and that explained everything.

"You really got her to do this, didn't you?" Adam asked without taking his eyes off of the 14-year old 'goddess'.

"She is SO fine!" Carlos said as he continued staring.

A honk of the horn caused James to realize he was staring, too. Just not at Hannah. He was having fun watching the boys go gaga over an older girl. When he looked toward the noise, he saw Ali waving at him. Or maybe it was more beckoning than waving.

As he headed her way, Hannah smiled so big it looked painful then said, "Hi, James!"

He barely heard her but he did kind of smile back and mumbled, "Hey," as he walked by, his eyes now focused on the other pretty girl.

"Ali. Hi," he said as he walked up the driver's window.

"Hi."

"Long time no see," James said, a huge smile now on his face.

"Oh, right," Ali replied as she grabbed a jacket.

"Are you staying?" James asked hopefully.

"No. I was just hoping you'd have better luck getting Hannah to wear it. It's getting chilly, and yet she insisted on leaving it in the car."

She took a longer look at James, smiled, then said, "She tried leaving the house with bare arms, but I put a stop to that."

She paused, smiled again, then said, "I think the reason why is pretty obvious."

James understood but was too modest to say anything other than, "I'll see if I can talk her into wearing it," as he reached for the coat.

Ali thanked him, and James thought she was going to leave, but she sat there for a moment then looked at him again.

"It's funny, isn't it? Hannah has a crush on you, and I'm pretty sure your nephew has one on her."

James laughed and told her it was true.

"Oh, to be young and pretty again," she said with a little laugh.

James was still smiling, but his tone was serious when he replied.

"Um...in my humble opinion, Ali, you're both young and very pretty."

Ali cocked her head to one side a little then smiled.

"And you are very sweet, James."

"I was just being honest."

She looked at him for a couple of seconds then said she should probably get going.

"Okay. And if it helps, I can give Hannah a ride home."

"I couldn't ask you to do that, but thank you."

"You're not asking, and I'd be more than happy to."

"That would save me a lot of time. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I'm sure," James told her.

"Well, in that case, I accept. Thank you, James."

"Anytime," he replied with a warm smile.

She smiled back but didn't say anything before driving off.

Just seconds later, Hannah was wearing the jacket which she claimed she meant to bring with her. When James walked up with it and held it out, she turned so he could put it on her, and the way she smiled at him reminded him of what her mother had just told him.

"Okay, people. Let's get back to work!" Ryan called out.

The way he seemed to glare at his uncle made James wonder what might be going on, but he soon forgot about it as the 'director' began explaining the plot of the movie before asking Adam about costumes, props, and money.

Ryan had already written the script for the movie and sent it to everyone's phone after he got Hannah's number. This time, the dreamy look on his face told James what was going on as he recalled what he said to Ali about a second crush. He laughed a little when he wondered what she'd say if he told her there was a third crush going on but quickly dismissed that thought, too.

"So we'll meet back here at 1 o'clock tomorrow, okay?" Ryan said about an hour later.

Adam and Carlos hopped on their bikes and headed off together, leaving three people standing there.

"I should call my mom to come get me," Hannah said to James, that huge smile back again in full bloom.

"No need. I'm..."

He looked at Ryan then said, "We're taking you home."

Ryan's expression perked up as did Hannah's but for different reasons.

"Oh, that's very kind of you," Hannah said almost demurely.

"We're happy to take you home, Hannah," Ryan told her, causing the older girl to look his way and smile.

Ryan's return smile confirmed what James already knew. His nephew had it bad for this 'older woman'. And when they got to the car, Ryan opened the back door for Hannah who had clearly hoped to ride up front with James.

"Hop in," James told her as he walked around to his side.

"Oh. Sure," she said as she got in before Ryan closed her door.

On the ride back to her house, Ryan would ask Hannah a question which she would quickly answer in as few words as possible before immediately asking James something. The third such cycle resulted in something James knew was coming as Hannah asked him if he was seeing anyone even though that had already been discussed.

"No. I'm not seeing anyone," he told her with a friendly smile as he looked at her in the mirror.

"Oh. Neither am I," Hannah told him.

James couldn't see Ryan, but he was pretty sure his nephew was feeling left out and possibly even hurt.

"I do kind of like someone, though," James added.

That comment caused Hannah's smile to disappear, and although he didn't see it, Ryan's face lit up a little.

"Oh," Hannah said very quietly.

"I'm not seeing anyone, either, Hannah," Ryan let her know.

She glanced over at him and kind of rolled her eyes sending Ryan's mood crashing in a big way.

There was utter silence the rest of the way back to the Summers' house, and when James pulled in, Ryan didn't even bother getting out to open Hannah's door.

James told her goodbye, and Hannah said it back, but it was said perfunctorily and without emotion.

"You okay?" James asked his nephew as they backed out.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You really like her, don't you?" James said.

"It doesn't matter," came the terse reply.

"Something bothering you?"