Pumpkin Spice

I made it in the house by 5:46 and got a perturbed look from my mother. "Shave," she demanded.

I nodded and did a hurried shower and shave, coming down the steps with my shirt half buttoned at 5:59 when the doorbell rang. On opening it as I finished the last button, I was surprised to see Connie Milburn reaching out to press the button again.

"Ken?" she said in surprise. "Did Agnes invite you to dinner too?"

"Agnes is my mother. My scheming mother, I might add."

Connie laughed, covering her mouth with her hand in embarrassment. "I met Agnes at church this morning and she invited me to dinner tonight, but she said 'Call me Agnes' and I never caught her last name."

I nodded, knowing that sounded just like my mom. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on in."

We talked during dinner, with Connie giving up a few details on her background. She was from Indianapolis and had worked in the school system there for three years after graduating from IU.

"So how'd you end up here?" asked Mom.

"Saw an ad for the opening and felt like I needed a change."

"Do you like it?"

"It's been really nice so far. Definitely a change of pace from the city."

I didn't think she was interested in telling more so I gently steered the conversation elsewhere and she gave me a pretty, little smile; whether it was in appreciation for helping protect her or just because she had such a pretty smile, I didn't know.

Mom excused herself after dessert, allowing Connie and me to talk for a bit in private, but I still tried to keep from being too nosy. By 7:45 or so, she mentioned needing to get home to finish her grading, so she thanked Mom for the invitation and I walked her out to her car.

"Ah, Connie, thanks for coming this evening. I'm glad Mom invited you and I enjoyed getting to know you, at least a little. I, ah, I'd love to continue this sometime soon—maybe Saturday night at a restaurant where we can talk privately without a meddlesome mother being around?"

I think she tried to suppress it but Connie giggled and agreed, saving her phone number in my phone before saying goodbye and heading out.

***

We spoke on Monday evening to finalize plans and we met for a casual date at the restaurant on Saturday evening. We both seemed a bit nervous, though I knew why in my case. I found myself liking a girl for more than a bit of mutual, short-term fun for the first time in a long time, since Maxine in fact. I hoped her apparent nervousness was for the same reason, but couldn't help wondering if I was making her nervous or if she had a similar reason to mine.

Not being sure which, I didn't bring it up, for every minute we were together meant another chance we had to learn something about each other and maybe change an opinion or firm up the one we already had. Since I knew which way I was leaning, I could only hope she was feeling the same way.

When we were ready to go, I walked her to her car in the restaurant parking lot.

"Connie, I'm sorry I was a little nervous this evening. It's the first time I've done this in quite a while, but I'd love to see you again sometime soon if you'll give me another chance."

She smiled and gave a little nod, a little encouragement without a real promise, and said, "Call me, okay? Good night."

I opened her door for her and closed it after she was in and ready. Then I watched her drive away, hoping it wouldn't be for the last time.

***

Following our first date, my meddlesome mom took it on herself to push things along by inviting Connie to Sunday dinner again the very next night. Since my ox, in the form of my harvest problems, was still in the ditch, I wasn't at church to stop her but I wouldn't have if I'd been there.

Once again, we had a nice dinner and Mom succeeded in slipping out again to let us have time to talk for a while.

"Ken, I need to tell you something. You know I came here to accept the teaching position, but that's not the only reason I left home. I needed to get away, away from my parents and, well, away from my ex-fiancé too. Last night was the first date I've been on since I broke up with him."

"Connie, you don't have to tell me if—."

"No, please, Ken. I need to. I was nervous last night, if you couldn't tell, but you were so nice and didn't pressure me, so I need to tell you before you...before you say anything. I don't want you to expect anything and then be disappointed."

I nodded, hoping I was getting the right vibe while also hoping that she wasn't about to say she was completely uninterested or that she was a Lesbian or something.

"After I broke up with Mike, my fiancé, I needed a change in scenery, well away from him, but close enough I could make it home to see my parents when needed and to see a few friends from time to time without having to worry about running into him every day. See, we lived together for over a year after we got engaged before I finally pulled the plug on it and that was back at Christmas. I ended up living in a teaching friend's spare bedroom through the end of last school year. Now, I'm a little nervous, no, make that a lot nervous about putting my toe back in the dating pool for the first time since then.

"What I'm trying to say is that you seemed really sweet and understanding last night when I probably looked like a bundle of nerves and I appreciate that so if you're thinking of asking me out again, I want you to know that I'd like to take any potential new relationship slow for a while and that, well, to put it bluntly, I probably won't be a second or third date-lucky type of girl. If that's what you're looking for, I'm sorry but please keep looking, okay?"

She looked a bit surprised when I smiled. "Connie, I like what I'm seeing so far, and you've said nothing, just now or in any of our conversations so far, to scare me off. I hope this doesn't scare you off either, but I'll admit that I've done some pretty stupid things in my life when it comes to relationships—I won't bore or burden you with the details—but I hope and pray I've matured as much as I think I have since then. Now, as much as my mom would love to have a handful of grandkids, I'm not in a rush to get anywhere...or any particular stage in a relationship...on any certain schedule. I'd rather take time to get things right rather than just rushing to get them done only to find out we don't know where to go from there. Do you know what I mean?"

She understood and held my arm as I walked her out to her car. Once again, I watched as she turned around and drove away, feeling all the time that I'd miss her until our paths crossed again.

***

We talked on the phone a couple of times in the week that followed, and she agreed to go to dinner and the high school football game on the following Friday evening when we had a home game. We had a nice time and I saw her again on Sunday morning when I was finally caught up and back in church for the first time in three Sundays.

She sat down next to my mom, but it wasn't long before Mom saw a friend and excused herself, climbing past Connie in the narrow pew aisle. After speaking with her friend, Mom returned, but she had Connie just scoot over rather than trying to climb over her again. This put Connie and me side by side where we whispered a bit before the start of the service. In addition, I suspect Mom probably noticed when our hands came together at some point in the sermon and stayed that way until it was time to rise for the closing hymn.

That night, she attended our Sunday dinner again and Mom made herself scarce as soon as the meal was over.

"Think we're being set up?" Connie asked.

"I know we're being set up, but I don't mind if you don't."

She nodded and said, "I think Agnes has done quite well so far. I appreciate her, and you, giving me time."

When I walked her out to her car at the end of the evening, she leaned in and kissed my cheek before saying goodnight and getting into the car to drive away.

***

The Deerfield Bucks' football game was away the following Friday and Connie had to ride one of the team buses to help chaperone the team and the cheerleaders. We spoke by phone a couple of times during the week and I asked her out for coffee and dessert on Saturday night.

"As long as they have creamer other than that pumpkin spice stuff," she laughed.

I liked Connie more with each encounter; every time we talked, I learned more about her and felt like she was learning about and liking me, too. When I asked her out for the coffee and dessert during one of our phone discussions, she even agreed to allow me to come to her home to pick her up for the first time.

It was a nice little house in town, one and a half stories with a small yard.

"I've leased it for the year to see how things go here before I decide to pursue purchasing anything if I decide I really like it here and want to stay permanently."

"Ah, how are you liking it so far?" I asked, the gnawing anxiety that I'd felt since our conversation about her reason for coming to Deerfield slipping through. I was concerned that she might decide to leave even before we had a chance to see how much we liked each other.

"Not getting nervous, are you?" she asked before chuckling. "Seriously, Ken, I really like it so far. I'm finding the people to be really nice and pretty interesting. Some of them, including my present company I might add, are even nicer and more interesting than I'd expected."

"Uh," I uttered, my tongue completely tied. Fortunately, the evening was young and I was able to work my foot out of my mouth before too long and we had a nice discussion for the rest of our date.

When I took her home afterward, we looked at each other as we stood in the light of her front porch after she unlocked her front door. "Thanks for a lovely evening, Ken. I look forward to doing it again soon."

She hesitated before reaching for the knob and bit her lower lip. Hoping she was thinking what I thought she was thinking, I leaned in and gave her a short, gentle kiss on her lips. It was short and sweet and our bodies didn't touch but we both smiled when I drew back. "Good night, Connie. I look forward to it too."

***

After such a lovely evening and that tiny little kiss that gave me more thrill than I would have ever guessed, I really looked forward to seeing her on Sunday morning at church. For that reason, I was quite disappointed when she never showed up. I missed her on Sunday evening, too, when Mom and I had dinner together but both of us felt her absence.

Hoping that my kiss, or whatever, hadn't scared her off, I debated calling but didn't want to seem too needy even though I felt far too needy at this stage in our relationship or whatever it was. I finally settled on a short text message.

Missed you today. Hope you had a nice day.

She never responded and I had trouble getting to sleep.

***

Connie: Missed u 2. In late. Call me 2nite?

Her message was waiting on me when I woke up early the next morning. Mom said I was grinning like a fool when I came down for breakfast while trying to compose my response. I finally settled on Will do. Good luck at school today.

It rained part of the day so I serviced equipment and took care of some other items, including moving my herd to another pasture once the sun finally peeked from behind a cloud. Mom teased me about being on Cloud 9, but I was really wishing the day would pass quicker so I could speak to Connie again. I was liking the young lady more than I would have ever guessed when we met less than a month earlier.

Seven o'clock finally arrived and I dialed her number.

"Hi, Connie, can you talk?"

"Hi, Ken," she said with a hint of excitement in her voice that thrilled me. "Give me just a minute, okay?"

She was back in far less than that and said, "Thanks for a lovely time on Saturday evening. There was a message from a friend in my voicemail when I got home that evening; she invited me to come see her up in Chicago so I left early yesterday morning and didn't get home until really late. I missed seeing you, ah, and Agnes, at church yesterday...and last night."

"I, ahem, we, missed seeing you too."

"I'm glad." To my surprise, she added, "Say, would you be interested in going for ice cream tomorrow evening? We wouldn't have to stay out long if—"

"What time can I pick you up?"

***

We went to the local ice cream shop on Tuesday evening and got a couple of cones before sitting down on one of the benches outside the shop. Watching Connie lick the ice cream in that cone was about the sexiest thing I'd seen in years and once she noticed me watching, she somehow made it even sexier. I must have been really distracted because she reached out then and wiped the side of my cone where melted ice cream was about to drip on me.

"Eat," she whispered, giving me a prim little smile. She swirled her tongue around her cream and I barely righted my cone in time to keep my scoop from falling out of the cone. She shook her head and looked away as trying to keep from laughing...or maybe to avoid being embarrassed.

I quickly got back on track with my cone and we talked as we ate the rest. When we finished, she took her napkin and dabbed the side of my mouth, getting the stray ice cream, before sliding her hand, still holding the napkin, around my neck and pulling us together.

There's something about kissing a girl who's just eaten mint chocolate chip ice cream and that something is oh-so good. Her tongue swept between my lips and teased mine before making a hasty, tasty retreat. Mine chased after hers and we were soon doing a mint chocolate chip-raspberry truffle shuffle. She was grinning as much as I was when we finally parted.

"I've been wanting to do that so much," she whispered, her soft hand running over my cheek. "What the hell," she added before leaning in and kissing me again.

I suspect this one would have gone on for quite some time longer but a wolf whistle interrupted us and I looked around to see a young man and woman looking at us.

"Hi, Miss Milburn," said the girl teasingly.

"See you in class tomorrow, Miss Milburn," added the boy.

They walked away, hand-in-hand.

"I'm so sorry," I said, feeling terrible for having embarrassed her in front of her students.

"Don't be. I'm not. Though I guess we shouldn't overdo it. Let's go, okay?"

When we reached her house a few minutes later, I walked her to her front door.

"Ken, I've been debating this all evening, because...well, I wanted to get to know you better first and because it's a lot to ask."

"Connie, what is it?"

"There's a really exclusive, invitation-only costume ball in Chicago on Halloween night...and I've got two invitations."

I chuckled, not seeing the problem. "Congratulations. You said it was exclusive; how'd you end up with tickets?"

"Good question. I had a terrible roommate my freshman year of college—not that I claim to have been a great one, mind you—but I met Nita Vallardi late in our freshman year and we became best friends. We ended up rooming together for our last three years. Her mom, Mrs. Vallardi, runs a costume shop in Chicago and she supplies some free costumes for the event and gets a few free invitations in return. She gives them to friends with the understanding that they'll rent their costumes from her at a good discount. It's really advertising for her, like the fashion designers that lend dresses to the women attending the Oscars, only there's not nearly as much money in costumes so she can't quite do it for free.

"Anyway, Nita's mom gave her two pairs of invitations—they don't call them tickets. Since Nita's been worried about me moving to the boonies—her term for it," she laughed, "she offered me the extra pair. That's why she invited me up to Chicago yesterday. She'd get to see me then, will get to see me again when I come for the fitting, and then will see me again at the event. And, this one's funny now, but she figured that by giving me the invitations that she'd be sure that I'd have a date at least once this fall."

We laughed together at the last part. "Connie, it sounds like your friend has your best interest at heart, though I'm not sure if I'd call our area the boonies."

Connie chuckled. "Believe me, Ken, this area is the boonies."

"I don't know. You think we're actually big enough to qualify for that?"

She laughed again on getting my meaning and gave my arm a little punch. "Well I like our boonies, or whatever, and I'm enjoying getting to know the people here. Some of them," she said as she moved closer and put her hands on my waist, "a lot more than others."

Surprised at her move, I beamed back at her and moved my hands to match hers, barely resisting the urge to pull her into my arms against me. "I'm glad you like it, Connie, and I'm really glad that I had a chance to meet you as a result."

Her eyes smoldered as she looked at me, and I felt the heat as she stepped in a little closer. "Ken? Will you go to the costume ball with me?"

She was so close that my urge to resist failed me completely and I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her that last inch. Our bodies touching, I could barely breathe as I tried to will myself from revealing what my libido was doing to me. "Connie, thank you. I'll gladly go with you."

"Good. Now that's settled, are you going to just stand there holding me or are you going to kiss me again?"

At this point, I would have done it even if she hadn't asked, but I gladly complied with her wish, loving how she felt in my arms as we kissed. When our lips finally parted, we were both breathing harder than normal, my eyes peering into hers and hers into mine, and the connection I'd been suspecting—and hoping for—was confirmed. Still...my hands slid from around her waist, down her sides, and into her hands.

"Thanks for inviting me, Connie. I like you a lot and look forward to the party and seeing where this, this thing between us, goes. It's been a good while since I've cared about anyone or been in any type of relationship, so please be as patient with me as you asked me to be with you. I don't want to mess it up by pushing too far or too fast, okay?"

She smiled and nodded. "Patient and slow and let's see where it goes. For now, though, I think I need to go inside before I violate our agreement and let things get out of hand."

She gave me another kiss, this time shorter but still quite sweet, before letting go and moving toward the door.

I clung to her hand for a second, turning her back toward me. "Connie, one question: I need a costume for this party and I can only get it at your friend's shop in Chicago, right?"

She grinned. "That's right. I have an appointment with Mrs. Vallardi next Sunday afternoon at 1. Want to go with me?"

***

The trip to Chicago was about three hours each way, but the good thing was those were hours Connie and I spent in the car together, talking and getting to know each other better. I'd liked her before but was quite pleased at how she opened up to me and that I felt myself doing the same with her. As a result, I was liking her more by the minute.

Nita and her husband, Ron, met Connie and me at Mrs. Vallardi's shop. To my surprise, she didn't have costumes in mind for us. Instead, she looked at each of us in turn, took some notes, and then took a ton of measurements. Those not getting measured were filling out a rather lengthy questionnaire.

"Since people come from all over for it, the ball is held on the Saturday before Halloween. Check-in at the hotel where the event is held will be at 3 p.m. that day. I'll have your invitations and your costumes altered to fit you at 3:30, so text me when you arrive and I'll send you a time between 3:30 and 5:30 to come pick it up. The costume ball starts at 8 p.m., so you'll have plenty of time to go to dinner, or whatever, and still get dressed by the time it starts."