Love Story, Lubbock Style

"I'm not handling this very well, am I?" James said, as he smiled a kind of half-smile her way.

"I don't know. You'll have to tell me what you mean by 'this'."

James rubbed his forehead then decided to say what he promised himself he wouldn't say.

"I don't think Ryan and Hannah were the only ones crushing on someone."

Ali's heart skipped a beat and her mouth went dry.

"You...you can't be serious," she said, unable to look at him.

"Are you saying you're hoping I'm not serious?" James countered.

"Well, no. Of course not. It's just that, well, I'm...well, I'm so much older than you, so I...I don't really understand what you are saying."

James waited for her to look at him. When she did, he smiled a very different kind of smile; one that was warm and maybe even inviting.

"I've been trying to tell myself it can't be true, but it is, Ali."

"It is?" she asked, her mouth even drier than before in spite of another sip of tea.

James looked down into the teacup again then looked at Ali.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since we met. And yes, I know I'm a little younger than you are, and yes, I'd really like to help Ryan out, but the truth is..."

He looked right at Ali then said, "I really like you, Ali."

A feeling of rejection washed over him when she didn't say anything, and he immediately found himself regretting having said anything.

Now Ali was looking into her cup as she said, "It's funny. Hannah was telling me that I..."

She stopped talking then laughed nervously before finally looking at James again.

"Please don't laugh, but Hannah said she was sure you'd go out with me were I to ask you."

She started saying how he didn't need to worry, because that was never going to happen when James cut her off by saying, "I would. In a heartbeat."

"What?" a very surprised Ali asked with a little shake of her head.

"If you were to ask me out, I'd definitely say 'yes'. Without hesitation."

She was looking at him so intently it made James ask her what was wrong.

"You're...you're serious, aren't you?" Ali replied so quietly he barely heard her.

"I am. I'm very serious."

"My mind is telling me you are. I just can't understand why."

James smiled then pretended to be very serious.

"Yeah. What guy in his right mind would want to go out with a smart, insightful, beautiful woman?"

From what seemed like a million miles away, Ali heard Hannah's voice.

"Ask him, Mom!"

When her emotion-addled brain registered who was talking and what she said, Ali was so startled she bumped the table hard enough that it rattled both teacups.

"Hannah Summers! What are you doing?" her mother asked, barely able to believe this was happening.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I...I couldn't help myself. I knew James was here, and I, well, I wanted to, you know see him again, and..."

Ali understood now. Hannah was embarrassed but also still wanting to see the very handsome older man again.

"How much of that did you hear?" Ali asked as she told her daughter to come see her.

Hannah slowly walked their way, her head down the entire time.

"Almost all of it?" she said as though she were asking a question.

"Hi, Hannah," James said very warmly and with a genuine smile.

"Hi," Hannah replied before saying, "I'm really sorry, James."

"Don't be."

Realizing he wasn't the one she'd betrayed, he looked at Ali then said to Hannah, "At least not on my account."

"Sorry, Mom," the young teen said. "I just really want you guys to get together."

"Sit down, honey," her mom said.

Ali took her daughter's hand then told her, "First of all, I'm very disappointed that you would spy on me."

"I am sorry, Mom."

"I forgive you. And just as importantly, who I see...or don't see...is my business and mine alone. Okay?"

"I know," her chastened-daughter replied. "But like I said, I just want you to be happy."

"I know you do, sweetie, and I love you for that. It's been very hard since Dad passed away. But I have to be the one to find that special someone...else," her mother said as gently as she could.

"I uh, I should probably be going," James said when he found a convenient place to speak after feeling like a third wheel.

"No. Please don't go!" Hannah said immediately, nearly pleading with him to stay.

He looked at Ali and couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"My mom still hasn't told you if she'll take my place yet," Hannah reminded them both.

"You really did hear everything, didn't you?" her mother said, sort of teasing and sort of giving her some more grief.

"I think it would be better if I left instead," Hannah replied without answering her mom's question. "That way you guys could talk. About, you know...stuff."

Hannah stood up then looked at James and apologized again. After he told her it really was okay, she said something to him that made him and her mom smile.

"At least now I know why you didn't like me back."

The chuckle didn't last long, and when it ended, Hannah said, "For whatever it's worth, I'm really happy that you like my mom, even if you don't like me."

James then stood up and held out a hand. Hannah looked at him then at her mom her smiled and nodded. When James took her hands in his he said, "I do like you, Hannah. Just not like that, okay?"

Hannah managed a little smile then forced herself to look at him as she said, "Okay. And I think I knew it was impossible. But it's not impossible for you and my mom, right?"

James looked at Ali again who only smiled.

"Maybe your mom and I can discuss that."

"Once you're upstairs and in your room," her mom added.

"I'll close my door and put my earbuds in. I promise," Hannah told her as her mom extended her arms, too.

"I don't love your eavesdropping, but I do love you, Hannah."

"I love you, too, Mom," she said before smiling at James and leaving the kitchen.

"So," James said when they heard Hannah close her bedroom door.

"Yes. So," Ali replied, her head now much more clear even as her heart and tummy were doing some crazy things.

"I really will go out with you if you ask me," James told her with another smile.

The teacup became even more interesting as Ali stared into it again.

"I...I've never asked a man out before. Okay, I did ask someone to go with me to a Tolo dance in high school, but that's it."

James moved over to where Hannah had been sitting then looked into Ali's eyes and said, "I really do like you, Ali. A lot. So maybe I can make this easier for you."

"Ali? Would you like to go out with me sometime?"

As she tilted her head as though she was weighing her answer, James also asked, "And will you play the lead in Love Story, Lubbock style, with me?"

"Well, I it would be pretty terrible to make Ryan or his friends to have to give up on their dreams."

"Right. We don't want that, do we?" James said as he reached over to take her hand.

Still not sure that was actually happening to her, Ali cautiously gave her hand to him then said, "No. Definitely not."

"That was the easy part. Now...will you go out with me?" he asked again.

"You're really sure about this?" Ali asked, desperately needing to be sure that he was sure.

"Very."

"Even if I'm not...still in my 30s?"

It took James a few seconds to recall the 'grandmother' comment, but when he did, he laughed.

"Yes. Even if."

Ali's heart was already beating fast, but when James began leaning her way, it nearly exploded as her entire body trembled in anticipation. She not only let him kiss her, she kissed him back and put her hand on his face before it ended.

"Wow. You really are serious, aren't you?" she whispered when their lips parted.

"I am. And you really are beautiful, Ali."

"If...if you say so," she told him one more time with a sweet smile.

"I do say so," James said, before softly kissing her one more time.

"So this is what it's like to lose your mind," Ali said just as quietly as before. But this time she smiled, and so did James before he addressed her rhetorical question.

"I don't know. I'm thinking I finally came to my senses."

Ali laughed then asked a real question as her heart began slowing down a little.

"So when is rehearsal?"

"Let me call the director, okay?"

"Okay," Ali told him as she stared at his handsome face wondering how and why he could possibly really be interested in her.

And yet, deep down, she knew that he was. And she also knew that she was now feeling happier and more excited than she'd been since her late husband was alive, and that realization scared her as much as it thrilled her.

"Ryan can have the 'crew' there in about an hour."

"Then I guess I'll meet you there," Ali said.

"What? No. You need to memorize your lines on the way."

"I can't. I don't have the script."

James pulled out his phone, tapped it a few times then said, "Now you do. And you can work on them while I drive us there."

Ali was doing her best not to smile as she said, "You're a very interesting man, James Young."

"True. And I'm also very...talented," he informed her with faux smugness.

Ali's mind wasn't the kind to 'go there', but all it could see was how 'talented' James really was as they...

Her short daydream was cut off when he added, "And modest, too."

Unable not to laugh, Ali did just that then told him she needed to get her coat and let Hannah know where she was going. A couple of minutes later, Hannah came down the steps with her mom, and when James saw her, he gave Ali a quizzical look.

"I think my daughter approves of my having taken her place," she said with a devious little smile her Hannah couldn't see.

"Ah, okay. Alles klar!" he replied, using the only German phrase he knew in his best German accent which was pretty bad.

"Don't quit your day job," Ali teased as she grabbed her purse and told him she...they...were ready.

Five minutes into the drive, no one had said a word.

"Why aren't you guys talking?" Hannah asked, the silence driving her crazy.

Both James and her mom went 'shhh!' at the same time, causing them both to laugh.

James saw the look on Hannah's face and told her that her mom was learning her lines.

The teen girl smiled then said, "Whew. I thought you guys were already fighting."

Unable to concentrate, Ali laughed. When she did, so did Hannah, and James joined in with them.

"You know what I just figured out?" Hannah asked.

"What's that?" her mom asked back.

"This is a whole lot better."

"This?" Ali asked.

"Yeah. You and James rather than me thinking that, you know..."

"Oh. Okay," her mom said with a little laugh.

"You're really okay with this?" James asked.

"Yes. I'm totally okay with it," Hannah told him. And the truth was, she was very okay with the new arrangement and even happy about it.

There was another lengthy period of quiet until James looked over and noticed how intently Ali was reading again.

"So what do you think?" he asked.

"This is good. I mean...really good."

When she looked over at him, he saw that her eyes were wet.

"Yes, it's that good," Ali told him. "It's so...romantic!"

"I know," James replied with another warm smile.

"Wait. Didn't Ryan put this together all by himself?"

"Almost," James told her, a little smile offering her a hint of something more that was as of yet unspoken.

"Almost?"

"The overall idea is his. But I may have provided some guidance where the romance is concerned."

James was also aware that Hannah was still extremely quiet. As he tried to find out why, Ali told him someone else was reading the script, too.

"What do you think, honey?" her mom asked.

"It really is a love story," the young girl replied.

"And these are your lines, huh?" Ali asked James as she warmly smiled at him.

"The romance-related stuff is mine. For better or worse," he told her, the same kind of smile on his face.

"Interesting," Ali said, not offering anything more as to what she meant.

"I see three bicycles," James said, as he pointed up ahead.

Hannah's return to the 'movie set' prompted smiles, looks, and a couple of shy, "Hi, Hannah," comments from Adam and Carlos.

"Hi," she said back in her old, friendly tone of voice as her mom and James walked up.

When Adam saw her he stopped smiling and stared. Carlos was so surprised his native Spanish took over.

"Chinga!" he said quietly.

"I told you she was beautiful," Ryan quietly said. He knew the meaning of the word and understood why his friend had used it.

"Boys? This beautiful lady is Hannah's mother, Ali Summers. Ali? These fine young men are Adam and Carlos."

Ali told them both it was a pleasure to meet them as the pre-teens stared, barely able to say, "You, too," back to her.

"So are we ready to get started?" James asked his nephew.

There were two camcorders on tripods, but the costumes weren't ready. And with the change in the lead, Adam's mom said it would be at least another week. But they needed that time to rehearse, so for now, it was no big deal.

"Okay. So in Act 1, Scene 1, our future lovers meet for the first time on the hospital," Ryan explained as he walked around showing his actors where they would stand for the opening scene.

Before anyone realized it, two hours had passed, and Ali found herself thoroughly enjoying the experience. She'd assumed it would be more like an elementary school play with stilted language and a lot of silliness. But it was actually a very thoughtful story in which a younger man who was suffering from a serious form of cancer made an indelible impression on a beautiful, older nurse who eventually falls in love with him.

And, just like in the original movie only with the male-female roles reversed, the handsome, brave, younger man dies as the woman he loves tells him how much he means to her. They didn't get anywhere near that far during this first rehearsal, but there were only three acts to the movie, and each act had less than five scenes, so it wouldn't take long to get there.

After agreeing on the time of their next get together, Ali told Ryan how impressed she was with his work. The boy beamed with pride but was too humble to say anything more than, "Thank you."

Even Hannah was looking at him in a different light, and were he say, a couple of inches taller, she was thinking she might just be able to see herself with a younger guy someday. After all, her mom was kind of with one now, and even at this very early stage, she seemed over the moon with him.

What she didn't know was that by the end of the day, her mom was imagining telling her three best friends about her new...boyfriend...with the worst part coming when she told them his age.

"Oh, so he really is a boy!" Ali imagined them saying and laughing as the realization of what she was doing hit her.

Of those three friends, one of them had been close to her for nearly 20 years, and she was the closest thing to a sister she'd ever had. After an hour of fretting, Ali felt like she had to talk to another adult or else she might explode.

"Helene? Hi. Do you have a moment to talk?" Ali asked after her best friend picked up.

"Of course. What's going on?"

"Well, a lot. I think."

"Ali? Are you okay?"

"That's the big question. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure."

"It's only 8 o'clock. I can be there in 10 minutes if this is serious."

"I...I hate to bother you like that," Ali began saying.

"Stop. I'll be right there, okay?"

Fifteen minutes later Helene Jarvis was sitting in the living room with her best friend and asking her what was going on.

Ali drew a long breath then exhaled loudly.

"There's a boy who's making a...a movie. And he wanted Hannah to be the leading lady."

"Uh-huh," Helene said as a way of letting her friend know she was listening and waiting for the important part.

"Well, that didn't work out so well. And the reason it didn't is because this boy's uncle came over to provide moral support for his nephew when he asked Hannah to um, star in the movie."

"Okay."

Ali explained the rest of the story as it had unfolded to include her daughter's comment about asking this man out.

"This boy's uncle. Who's...younger than you," Helene said, filling in the blanks.

"Um...yes."

"Okay. And?"

Ali then walked her through James's second visit to the house and what ensued.

"O...M...G!" Helene said when she realized Ali was on the verge of telling her that James kissed her.

"Exactly!" Ali replied.

"Wait. You think that was...a bad thing?"

"Wait. You don't?" Ali asked, now feeling very confused.

"Earth to Ali!" Helene said as she waved her hand in front of her friend's eyes. "He's a successful website designer. He's caring and conscientious. And he's...what did you say? Gorgeous?"

"I...I kind of did say that, didn't I?" Ali admitted.

"And he told you he likes you. No. He really likes you! And he kissed you."

"Yes! Exactly!" Ali said triumphantly, now that her friend finally understood.

"Yeah, I'm not seeing the problem here. At all."

"What? Helene! How can you not see it?"

"Well, gee. Let me see. I've been married to the same man for 18 years. We have two wonderful kids, a nice house, and we maybe do it twice a month. We're both crazy busy, and while we still really love each other, there's just no time for romance. And let's be honest. After that long with someone, it's not like you're gonna be surprised in bed, right?"

"Helene!" Ali said as though that was somehow 'lewd' even though she laughed when she said it.

"It's true! It's...it's nice. It's...comfortable. But what you've got is...HOT! And these days I'd give anything for hot. Shoot, I'd gladly settle for really warm!"

"We're the same age, Helene. James is..."

She couldn't finish the sentence because she didn't know.

"I don't know for sure, but I get the impression he isn't even 30 yet."

"If you don't stop talking, I'm gonna orgasm right here on your couch!" Helene told her friend so seriously it made Ali laugh.

Feeling a whole lot better, Ali admitted something.

"He really is hot."

"Hot or...smokin' hot?"

Helene was leaning toward Ali for details, and that made her friend laugh again.

"Let's put it this way. When he kissed me, I felt like my..."

She looked around to make sure Hannah wasn't listening in again, then whispered loudly, "My va-jay-jay was on fire!"

"I knew it! You...you little bitch, you!" Helene quipped. "You know I hate you, right?"

Ali laughed then reached over to hug her best friend.

"I hate you, too!"

As Helene pulled away she told her BFF, "Ali? You owe it to yourself to at least give this a go. Hannah obviously likes him, too, so I can't see any reason not to at least try."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, hell yeah!" Helene said so emphatically it made them both laugh.

"Okay. I'll do it," Ali announced.

"And by 'do it' do you mean you'll be..."

Being Helene could say 'doing it', Ali stopped her.

"Okay, okay. I get it."

Unwilling to let it go, Helene pushed one more time.

"So...will you? Be getting it?"

Ali looked around again then said, "Do you know how long it's been since I 'got it'?"

"Yes. I'm so sorry. Unfortunately, I do."

The twinkle in Ali's eyes answered the question.

"But you want to 'get it', huh?" Helene teased.

"I could think of worse things," came the rather coy reply.

"Well, I say—do it! And do it often. And even more importantly, you need to tell your best friend EVERY detail, okay?"

Ali gave her a little look then said, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

She tried not to laugh then told Helene, "But with any luck, IT will happen. And please God, let it be soon."

"I am SO happy for you, honey!" Helene said as they hugged a second time before moving on to work, the kids, and other topics of a less pressing nature.

By the time Helene left, Ali was 'all in'. This could be the biggest mistake of her life, but after taking with her best friend, she no longer cared and couldn't wait to see James Young again.