Love Story, Lubbock Style

"No."

James adjusted the mirror so he could see his nephew then said, "You know I don't have any interest whatsoever in Hannah, right?"

"Could have fooled me," the dejected pre-teen said as he stared out the window.

"Ryan? She's 14. I'm 28. I know you see her as an older girl, but to me, she's just a girl. A very, very young girl that I can only see as a girl."

He waited until Ryan's eyes looked his way then said, "Okay?"

"Okay," the boy replied. The irritation in his voice was gone, but James knew he was still hurting.

"Two years is a big deal at your age, buddy."

"I know. I never really believed I had a chance, but I kept thinking...maybe, just maybe."

James laughed but in a very supportive way.

Ryan finally almost smiled then said, "Older girls are just so...hot!"

This time his uncle laughed a genuine laugh then told him he agreed.

"Have you ever like an older girl, Uncle James? Not when you were my age, but like now?"

The irony of the question hit him hard as he answered his nephew's question.

"Uh-huh. Yes."

"Yeah? Did she like you back?"

"I don't know. I haven't told her yet," his uncle replied.

"Huh?" a confused Ryan asked.

"It's no big deal."

Wanting to change the subject, James asked Ryan how he thought the first day went without mentioning Hannah.

"Oh. Okay, I guess. At least Adam's mom is willing to provide financial backing."

James stifled a laugh at the grown-up speak and agreed that that was very helpful. And very nice.

"Yeah. They're totally loaded," Ryan said, causing his uncle to have to suppress another chuckle at the thought of them all being drunk.

"Well, owning three car dealerships in a town like Lubbock can do that," James said, finally laughing a little bit.

"One of these days I'm gonna have more money than they do," Ryan announced.

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh. When I become a famous director for real."

"You know what, big guy? You might just do that," his uncle told him providing enough reassurance to let the 12-year old forgot about his recent crush and his recently...crushed...heart.

"Uncle James? Can you stay for dinner?" Ryan asked when they pulled into his driveway.

"Not tonight, Ryan. I have another website to get started on, and I need several hours tonight to get a jump on it."

"Okay. Well, thanks for taking me there and hanging out with us."

"Sure thing, bro," James said.

"Oh. And thanks for asking Hannah. Even if she likes you better than me."

Ryan didn't look sad anymore. He'd already realized Hannah Summers was out of his league, and that she was never going to like him back.

"You know there'll be other girls, right?" his uncle replied supportively.

"I guess."

"Oh, trust me. There will be. You're a Young, dude. And chicks dig Young guys."

"Just not young '-er', guys," Ryan quipped playfully.

Again, the adult reply made his uncle laugh as they said their goodbyes.

"Tell your mom I said 'hey', okay?"

"I will! Bye, Uncle James!" the boy said as he hopped out and ran inside.

James was deep into working up the design for a new dentist in town with his only short break coming for a quick bite to eat. James was getting a free checkup and any work needing done as a result in payment for the new site. The dentist was new in town and an attractive woman about his age who was just setting up her practice, and she'd made it pretty clear she would be open to...other forms of compensation.

Until meeting Ali Summers, James had every intention of taking her up on her offer once the website was up and running. This dentist also happened to be the first woman he'd ever looked at thought that maybe she was the kind of person he could settle down with. The thoughts were short lived, but he'd had them, and as he sat and thought it about, he couldn't help but wonder if that would ever happen with any woman.

But after meeting Ali, James found himself wondering if he was just being an adult version of his nephew or if there really could possibly be something there. And that thought made him realize that it, too, was something very new and foreign to him, as he'd never once wondered that kind of thing before.

With the dentist, it was a generic kind of question, but with Ali it was definitely more specific and a very real question he couldn't shake the rest of the night. So even at 3am, when he finally had to lay down and get some sleep, he was still thinking about the beautiful, older woman with the teenaged daughter who had a crush on him.

His last thought before falling into a deep sleep was, "Or maybe had had a crush on me."

James was out cold until his alarm woke him up at 10am, another thing he loved about being self employed. Not the alarm, of course, but being able to work when he wanted to, and he was definitely at his peak productivity from around 10pm until 2am or so. He'd been a night owl as long as he could remember, and there were few things he disliked more than having to get up before ten o'clock. Eight was 'brutal', and anything earlier than that was...torture.

After a trip to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth to kill the morning breath, he went to the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot. He grabbed his phone out of habit then sat down to see who'd called or texted. He kept his alarm low and had all notification sounds turned off, so it was always a surprise when he woke up.

He saw the number '8' in the text box and opened it up. Three were from clients, two were from his brother, two more were offers to buy his house at a fair price, and one was from Ali. The moment he saw it, James was wide awake and sitting up straight in the kitchen chair as he read it.

"Hi, James. Sorry to bother you, but Hannah was pretty upset when she came home. Not angry. Just...sad. I finally got her to admit the obvious, and yes, she does have a huge crush on you. It took me a few minutes to get her to open up, but we talked for nearly an hour, and I think everything is mostly okay. I say 'mostly' because she said she doesn't want to be in the movie anymore."

James had been excited about the text, but now he knew what this would mean to Ryan, and he felt terrible for his nephew and budding director.

"I feel terrible about this, because I know how much it means to Ryan. It's obvious how close you are with him, because not many men would have done what you did in order to get a girl his nephew likes to 'star' in it."

There were a couple of smiley emojis and then the remainder of the text.

"I had to get Hannah to give me your number, so she knows I'm texting you, and that put her back in a funk. She'll get over it, but I felt I had to let you know. I am truly sorry, but she's 14 and well, I'm sure you know how teenagers can be. I stressed how she made a promise, but she just will not come back. I wish I was texting you with better news, but I wanted you to know this so you could at least let Ryan down easily, and maybe find a replacement, if that's even possible now. Again, I apologize, and if there's anything I can do to help out, please don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

It ended with a few sad emojis, and James sat there and reread it again as his coffee pot gurgled.

As he sipped a first cup, James thought about what, if anything, he might say in reply. It certainly wasn't Ali's fault. It wasn't really even Hannah's. Her mom was right. She was a teenager, and teens weren't exactly known for their dependability. In fact, James felt a little twinge of guilt knowing why Hannah didn't want to come back. He was the reason, why, and while it wasn't his fault, either, he still felt responsible. And now his favorite nephew, who was his only nephew, would be in a jam. More importantly the Lubbock version of Love Story might never get told!

He finished the cup, poured a second, then sat back down and started texting Ali back.

"Ali. Hi. No worries. We'll figure out how to make this work. And please tell Hannah no one blames her, okay? I understand about being a teenager, and yes, I understand she may have had some kind of puppy-love feelings for me. For what it's worth, Ryan was a little bummed on the ride home when he realized Hannah doesn't feel the same way about him as he does about her. But as you said about Hannah, Ryan will also get over this. In fact, he may already be okay with it. As far as finding a replacement, I don't know if Ryan has anyone else in mind, but I'll see what we can do."

He almost hit 'send' after thanking her for letting him know but didn't. Instead, he sat there for a few seconds debating then decided 'what the heck'.

"Of course, if you were available to, you know, star in the Lubbock version of Love Story, that would solve a lot of problems!"

He made sure to add some silly emojis to avoid sounding like he was serious or some kind of an idiot, then thanked her and hit 'send'.

"Mom? What's so funny?" Hannah asked when she heard her mom laughing.

"Oh. Nothing, honey. Just a silly text from someone."

Hannah cautiously asked her mom if she'd texted the news about her to James yet.

"I did," she replied.

"And?"

"Well, that was the text I was just reading."

"Oh. He must have said something about me and how stupid I was to...like him."

Ali set her phone down and turned to look at her daughter.

"Hannah? You are not 'stupid'. You're 14, and 14-year olds get...crushes."

"Not on grown men," her daughter replied with a hint of embarrassment.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I had the worst kind of crush on one of my teachers when I was a freshman, too."

Hannah wanted details, so her mom shared the story as a way of letting her know this was normal. And that these crushes always passed.

Hannah felt better and told her mom 'thanks' but also mentioned she was hoping to never have to see James again.

"I'd die!" she added at the end.

"No, you wouldn't die. He understands. And remember, he's just like you and me. I'm sure he's had crushes on older women, too."

"You mean...like you?" Hannah replied, teasing her mother.

Caught completely off guard, Ali stammered for a moment as she tried to answer.

"What? That...that's...ridiculous! He doesn't feel that way about me, Hannah. I meant there was probably a teacher or some other older woman in his past from when he was your age. That's all."

Hannah surprised her mom even more when she came over, leaned down, and hugged her in the chair she was sitting in.

"Mom? I really wish you'd find someone."

Her mother's expression and demeanor changed immediately as she said, "Ohh! That is so nice of you to say, honey!"

Hannah stood up then said, "It isn't just me being nice, Mom. I really want you to be happy."

"I am, honey. I'm very happy," Ali said, unwilling to admit to her daughter that she was often lonely to the point of sadness.

But finding someone wasn't easy. No, finding someone was easy. Finding the right someone was what was hard. She'd recently tried to do that, she just hadn't tried very hard. But she had at least made an effort. But so far, at least, it had been an exercise in futility.

"Liar," Hannah said, smiling for the first time.

"What? I am not lying!" her mother replied too loudly.

"Okay, Mom. Whatever you say!" Hannah told her as she grabbed an apple then walked out of the kitchen. "But I bet James would go out with you if you asked him!"

Stunned, Ali whipped back around and nearly hollered, "Hah! Yeah, right!" which drew a long laugh from her beautiful daughter and which caused her to sit there and think about that for several moments before shaking her head.

"Yeah, right," she told herself again as she decided to get up and do a load of laundry.

The clothes were drying when Ali noticed another text from James. She'd forgotten about her talk with Hannah, and yet she found herself smiling and almost excited when she opened it.

"Sorry to bother you again, Ali. But I really need to talk to you. Is there any chance I could drop by sometime today?"

Without so much as a thought to what Hannah said about not wanting to see James again, Ali texted him right back and told him that was fine.

"Would it be okay if I headed over right now?" James replied.

She almost told him 'sure', but she hadn't done her hair or makeup, and while that wasn't necessary, she didn't want him seeing her like that.

"If you could give me a half hour or so, that would be wonderful," she wrote.

"Sure. See you then. And thanks!"

Ali headed straight upstairs and immediately changed clothes. With the lounge pants gone she began brushing out her hair before using a curling iron to put a little wave it. Satisfied, she sat back down and put on a little foundation, some eyeliner, and a bit of mascara. She looked at the tube of lipstick, and for a moment, she thought about painting her lips, too.

"Get a grip," she told herself before taking a quick look in the mirror.

For a woman of 43, Ali Summers looked amazing. For a woman of any age, she looked very good in spite of her tendency to be her own worst critic.

"Mom. Where are you going?" Hannah asked when she saw her mom wearing a pair of jeans and a nice sweater—and makeup.

"Oh. Nowhere, honey. But I did want to let you know that James will be coming over."

"What? Mom! You promised!" her daughter said, the hurt in her voice coming through loud and clear.

"I...I didn't promise, Hannah. I only..."

"How could you?" Hannah wailed before running upstairs and slamming her bedroom door.

Ali'd lost track of time, so when the doorbell rang, it startled her. She glanced at the clock as she headed toward the door, and it was 37 minutes later, and that meant James was there.

She stopped at the door, took a deep breath, then smiled and opened it.

"James! Hi. Please come in."

"Thank you," he said as he came inside.

As Ali shut the door, he took a look at her and said, "Wow. You look...amazing."

Ali laughed and said, "Yeah, right."

She saw James staring at her and smiling, and it made her tingle from the inside out.

"Um, yes. Yes, you do," he told her as he gave her an exaggerated once-over.

"Well, you seem to have quite a knack for making me feel good. Thank you."

She led him back to the kitchen and offered him coffee or tea, and he told her he'd have whatever she was having, so she put on some water to boil and got out two cups and two Earl Gray teabags.

"So what's going on?" she asked as she was setting the cups and saucers down. James had no idea she'd chosen them from her china set, something she rarely ever did.

"Well, as it turns out, without Hannah, we don't really have a cast. And that means no movie. So as you can imagine, Ryan and his buddies are seriously bummed."

"Oh, my. Not having a leading lady would make producing a romance movie very difficult," Ali said as she sat down.

"I didn't have the heart to tell Ryan he should have lined up another girl—just in case. In fact, I never gave any of it much thought because it seemed like no big deal to me."

He paused then added, "At least that's how it felt at first."

Ali smiled understandingly then said, "But now that you've seen how much it means to Ryan, you feel responsible to help him find a solution."

"I see you're also insightful," James told her with a smile that caused another 'tingle'.

"Also?" she asked as the tea kettle whistled. The gas stove made quick work of the water, and seconds later, the tea was steeping.

"Yes. You're obviously beautiful, and it's clear you're very intelligent. And now I know you're also insightful."

Ali laughed an almost nervous laugh as she said, "Oh. Okay. If you say so."

"You don't think you're insightful?" James asked as he raised the bag up to release more flavor.

"It wasn't that word I was objecting to," Ali told him before asking if he'd like milk or sugar.

"Just sugar, please. And what word was so funny?"

She rolled her eyes as she took the lid off of the sugar bowl.

"What? Beautiful?" James asked. "Because that's not even in dispute."

Ali laughed again and thanked him before repeating what she'd just said.

"Okay. If you say so."

James noticed the way she stopped looking at him when she finished the sentence, and his instincts told him she might just possibly be interested in him.

"I do say so," he quietly told her before setting the bag on the saucer.

"So...how can I help?" Ali asked as she added some sugar to her tea, as well.

Before James could speak, she told him with a smile, "Just don't ask me to ask Hannah to come back, okay?"

"No. Of course not."

James took a sip, told her it was delicious, then said, "I was wondering if maybe...if you'd consider possibly taking Hannah's place."

Ali was taking a sip herself, and nearly spewed the tea.

"You can't be serious!" she said. It wasn't mean. It was just so 'out there' it made no sense to her.

"I'm old enough to be Ryan's grandmother, so you can't possible think I'd..."

James's sudden laugh stopped her in mid-sentence.

"Grandmother. That's very funny," he told her.

"Why? Why is that so funny?"

"Um...because Ryan is just two years younger than Hannah, remember?"

Ali looked away again and used a tiny spoon to stir the tea even though it wasn't necessary.

"And I've never heard of any grandmother being in her 30s."

Ali's eyes opened wider than the saucer in front of her.

"Thirties! Listen to you!" she said with a shake of head and a little smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

"I'll uh, I'll play the leading man if you'll take the part."

Ali was so stunned by his comment that she sat there frozen for a second or two.

"I know you work, but Ryan is willing to well, work around that, if you'll, you know, help us out."

The answer should have been a very simple, easy, "Thank you for asking, but that's not possible."

Instead, Ali's mind was a jumble of thoughts and feelings as she suddenly imagined doing this. It wasn't the 'doing' part that was causing so much mental turmoil. She owned the beauty shop and could also work as little or as much as she wanted. It was more the thought of James kissing her at least once during the production. And that thought entailed him taking her in his arms and telling her he loved her and couldn't live without her, or words to that effect.

It wasn't cold in the house, but Ali had goosebumps all over her arms. For the first time, she thought about her daughter and what she might say were she to tell her that she was going to take her place. And more importantly that James was going to take Ryan's place.

"I...I don't know, James. I...I'm not sure how Hannah would feel about that."

"Oh. Sure. I hate to admit it, but that never even crossed my mind," he told her apologetically.

Now he was the one looking into his teacup. Neither of them said anything for several seconds before he looked up and smiled at her.

"I think I might have gotten...what's that phrase? Irrationally exuberant?"

"You're not old enough to remember Alan Greenspan!" Ali playfully teased.

"Alan who?" James replied, playing along. He had indeed heard of the man, and he was also familiar with his use of that term from back in 1996.

Now Ali laughed, and once James knew she wasn't upset, he finished his thought.

"My uh, irrational exuberance was over the possibility of you...and me...together in this play."

Ali's facial expression changed, and James took as a sign that her feelings about that possibility were very different than his.

"You don't exactly see it that way, do you?" he said a lot more quietly with no small amount of disappointment in his voice.

Ali was now reading is expression as well as analyzing his words. The conclusion was more than a little surprising when it hit her.

"James? Are you...are you trying to tell me something?" she asked, her head tilted slightly and her eyebrows raised high.