Run Over

"Pshaw!" a flattered Lisa said as though that was nonsense.

"Twiggy ate half the can and lapped up a lot of water, so she should be fine for an hour or so."

He looked back at the very skinny dog and said, "Didn't you, girl?"

Once again, his warmth toward this poor creature warmed her heart as she watched the dog eating up the affection.

"You ready?" Alex asked as he stood up.

"Um...yes. I think so."

"All right. Then let's go get some human food, shall we?"

In the foyer, he held her coat for her as she lifted her hair.

"Thank you!" she told him before reaching for her scarf and gloves.

Alex then opened the door, smiled, and said, "After you I come first."

Lisa needed a second to get that quip, too, but when it hit her she laughed. She tried to groan so she could tell him how bad that was, but there was that smile again and she couldn't help herself.

He opened her door, helped her up into the cab then went around fired the truck back up. In just the short time he'd been inside, the engine was nearly cold. But there was still a little residual heat and the cabin warmed up fairly quickly.

"Let me know if you're too cold or too warm," Alex said once the heat kicked in.

"I'm fine. Thank you, though," she told him when, for the first time, she thought about being seen with him in public.

For some reason, one of the first episodes of a show called "Cougar Town" which starred Courtney Cox as a divorced, 40-something woman. She and a girlfriend were at a sporting event and they were trying to decide if a woman their age sitting behind them was with her son or her boyfriend. Until she kissed him.

Suddenly feeling very strange, she glanced over at Alex.

"Everything okay?" he asked in his typical cheerful way.

"Yes. Everything's fine."

And maybe it was. After all, it was just breakfast at IHOP. It certainly wasn't a date, and what difference did it make what anyone else thought? Or at least that's what Lisa told herself as she tried to pretend it really didn't matter.

Once they were seated, Alex asked if she knew what she wanted.

"And don't you dare try ordering Special K," he said as he playfully warned her while pointing at her.

Lisa wore a size 8 comfortably, and yet she was still self-conscious about her weight. She had no fat on her anywhere, but she felt like she was...thick...and thick in all the wrong places.

"You could use some pancakes," Alex told her just as playfully.

"No. Sorry, but those would go straight to my...."

Not sure if she should say it, she stopped.

"Don't even say your butt," Alex said quietly, finishing her sentence.

"Okay. Then I'll say hips."

Alex laughed and told her she was funny.

"You haven't seen my hips!" she replied, now feeling a little more relaxed.

Relaxed enough to say even more quietly than Alex had, "Or my butt!"

Alex's response not only surprised her it shocked her.

He leaned her way, smiled again, then said, "Not for any lack of trying on my part, though!"

Lisa's eyes got very wide while another one of those feelings she'd had at the clinic her so hard it scared her more than his comment surprised her. But before she could come back with a fake 'shame on you' reply, their server reappeared with their coffee.

"You guys decided yet?" the young girl who looked to be maybe 19 asked.

"Pecan pancakes," Alex told her. "For both of us."

"Coming right up!" the girl said as she spun around before Lisa could say a word.

Alex saw the way she was looking at him and said, "You know you wanted them."

A half dozen witty replies swirled around her brain before she realized they were all half...witted.

"If I can't get back into these jeans, I'm blaming you!" Lisa told him with a little shake of her head.

Alex sat there smiling, and just before she asked, "What?" he laughed then said, "I can live with that."

A smaller 'something' hit her this time, and when it did, Lisa had to seriously ask herself what was going on.

She found herself smiling as she said, "You don't lack for self-confidence, do you?"

She was trying to be playful herself, but when Alex got serious, she felt terrible.

"I'm sorry. I hate cocky people, and that wasn't what I was trying to do."

She could tell he wasn't 'hurt'. He was only being honest. The truth was she liked men who were confident. She despised those who were cocky, though, but it hadn't even crossed her mind that Alex was like that.

"I wasn't thinking that at all," Lisa said very sweetly. "I...I actually think you're very nice."

Alex winced and that made Lisa feel even worse.

"Did I just say something...else...that was offensive?"

"Offensive? No. Not at all. I was just hoping I was doing better than...nice."

Lisa's heart rate sped up by ten beats a minute in less than a second.

"I...I don't understand," she told him as she tried to read his emotions.

"I think my dad might be right," Alex said, only confusing her even more. Alex saw the confusion and tried to clarify.

"He tells me I need to study less and date more. Now here I am with someone I really like, and I'm so out of practice she has no idea I'm flirting with her."

Lisa blinked several times then swallowed hard as she tried to speak.

"Flirting?" she finally said.

"I was trying to," Alex admitted, another smile on his face.

His eyes were so blue Lisa couldn't stop staring at them even as he explained that he actually was flirting with her. They were the kind of eyes that one rarely saw on a man. They were...Brad Pitt eyes, and Lisa's wandering mind was telling her that he probably had that same kind of lean, hard body underneath all those clothes.

But before she could tell him he must be crazy, or blind, or...both...their waitress came back with their food.

"Two pecan stacks!" she said as she set them down. "If you need anything else just let me know, okay?"

Lisa said, "Thank you," but was still off in never-never land when she heard Alex's voice.

"Maple or one of these...fruity syrups?"

"Oh. Um...maple. Please."

"Say when," he said as he began pouring over the three pancakes on her plate.

"When!" she told him before he really got started.

He poured at least four times that much on his then sliced through all three pancakes and speared a huge bite.

"Bon appetite!" he said before stuffing the food in his mouth.

Lisa loved the differences between men and woman, and one of them was the way they ate. She cut out the same amount but only picked up one piece of one cake with her fork. By the time she put it in her mouth, Alex was spearing three more large chunks, dipping them in syrup and stuffing them in his mouth.

"So good!" he said after moving the food to one side of his mouth while reaching for the coffee cup in front of him.

"They are good!" Lisa agreed as she put a second small piece on her fork.

She ate just over one of the three cakes by the time Alex took the last bite on his, and she smiled when she realized she was probably about as full as he was.

"Are you really not hungry or are you just trying to make a good impression on me?" Alex teased when she pushed the plate away.

"Ha! I thought someone said he wasn't cocky?" she teased back as she grabbed her cup.

"Oooh. That smarts and...touché!" he said with another little wince and a smile.

Feeling pretty good about herself ended when Alex asked, "So...are you? Trying to make a good impression on me?"

Rattled, but only for a moment, Lisa smiled back and told him, "I think your dad may be right. You do need to go out more."

This time, before Alex could come back with something, she said, "With more girls your age."

Now feeling downright smug, Lisa took a sip and tried not to smile.

Alex noticed and said, "But they're...boring."

"Boring? Women your age are boring?"

He sat there and looked at her long enough that she felt rattled again.

"It's more than that," he finally said.

"I...I don't think I understand."

Alex tilted his head a little as though he was examining her.

"I'm not sure I do, either," he quietly said. "All I know is...well, there's something about you, Lisa. Something...something very...special."

She started to respond but stopped.

"What?"

"No. It...it wouldn't be appropriate."

"No. Go ahead. Tell me," Alex insisted.

"Well, I was going to tease you about, you know, needing a mother figure in your life, but then I remembered what you told me, and I...I felt terrible."

"Oh, okay!" Alex said with a chuckle.

"I really didn't mean that," Lisa said apologetically.

"I know you didn't. You're too nice to say anything like that."

The sincerity of his words hit her and hit her hard.

For the third time, their server saved Lisa.

"You guys have a great day, okay?" she said as she tore off the check.

"Thank you very much!" Lisa told her.

The girl looked at her then looked at Alex before saying, "You guys are a really cute couple!"

Alex saw the look on Lisa's face and as she started to correct the younger woman, Alex said, "Thank you! We think so, right, honey?" as he shifted his gaze from the girl to the woman.

After the waitress left, Lisa just sat there in silence trying to understand. Alex was most definitely flirting. He also wasn't cocky, so that made sorting through this even more complicated. She wasn't sure how long vet school was, but she thought it was three or four years after college. So Alex might be as old as 27, but even so, she was...39. And while he was gorgeous, she was still...39.

"You ready?" she heard Alex ask, snapping her out of her latest trance-like state.

"Um...yes. I'm ready."

They were halfway back to her house when Lisa finally got up the nerve to ask.

"Alex? What's going on here?"

"Going on?"

"Yes. The flirting and...the flirting."

"Wow. I really am out of practice," he replied with a small laugh.

"No. I'm serious. I really don't understand."

"Ah, okay."

"Wait. What?"

Alex looked over at her then said, "I'm starting to understand myself now."

"That makes one of us," Lisa told him, now so confused she couldn't think straight.

"You're letting me know you're not interested. In a very kind, polite sort of way."

"Huh?"

"It's okay. I get it. Not everyone is going to like us back, right?" he offered, only confusing her even more.

"Alex? I can't ever remember feeling so hopelessly lost in a conversation before."

When he looked over he furrowed his brow indicating he couldn't make sense of what she was saying.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Um...no. Not at all," Lisa said.

"I like you, Lisa. That's why I've been flirting. It's what people do when they like someone. It lets them find out how the other person feels."

He took his eyes off the road long enough to turn her way again then say, "But in this case you don't feel that way about me. I can't say that doesn't hurt a little, but if that's how you feel then that's how you feel."

Finally it made sense.

"Oh, my goodness! You think I don't like you, huh?"

"And the beautiful woman finally gets it!" he said jokingly.

When she laughed, Alex felt like she was adding insult to injury, because in spite of his playful words, he really was deeply disappointed.

"It's not really very funny," he said.

"Alex?"

He gave her a quick look but didn't speak.

"It's not that," Lisa said.

"Then I don't understand."

She went to explain when he said, "Oh. Gee. Duh! You like someone else. I'm not usually this thick, but maybe I am that out of practice."

"What? No. It isn't that, either," Lisa said, her voice now much more sympathetic.

"No?"

"No. Not at all."

Alex raised his eyebrows to let her know he was listening.

"There isn't anyone else, but it's more than that. I mean, you're...in college. Veterinary school but still college."

"I won't be come June," he reminded her, smiling for the first time since IHOP.

"And that's fantastic. I mean, becoming a veterinarian is...huge."

"But?"

"But...we're...I'm...I'm older than you, Alex. A lot older."

"That's it? That's the only reason you don't...like me back?"

"Well, no, but...."

"Then what else is bothering you?" he asked with gentle patience and kindness.

"Isn't that enough?" Lisa asked him as nicely as she could.

"Is it?" Alex asked back in an equally kind tone of voice.

Lisa sat there and looked at him as she again dealt with a rapid heartbeat and a ton of confusing emotions.

"I...I don't know," Lisa said so quietly Alex barely heard her.

"Then let's find out."

"What?"

"Let's give this a chance."

"Alex. I...I don't know. I mean we barely even know one another."

"That might be because we just met, and that's something we can change," a smiling Alex told her.

When she didn't respond, Alex made a suggestion.

"Lisa? How about this? For now, let's just work together to get Twiggy better and maybe along the way we'll see if there's something more to this."

He looked over at her, smiled, then asked, "Is that too much to ask?"

It was as if a pressure valve had been opened for Lisa. This was a way for her to give herself time to think without turning him down before she could really sort through these feelings.

"As friends, right?" she asked, her own eyebrows now raised.

"For now," Alex told her, that amazing smile causing another flicker inside of her.

"I suppose that would be okay. I have no idea why you want to be more than friends, but if we can keep it at the friend level, then...okay."

As he got ready to turn into her driveway, he gave her another quick look then said, "I'm not promising to keep it that way. I'm only promising to start out there."

He pulled in, stopped the truck, then said, "Okay?"

The things she was feeling were inexplicable for many reasons, and yet she couldn't name one of them. It made no sense to her whatsoever, and yet she was feeling them nonetheless.

"Okay," Lisa heard herself saying, her voice almost hollow as Alex jumped out and came around to help her out.

He walked her to the door and was going to say goodbye when they both heard Twiggy barking.

"Is she okay?" Lisa asked as she fished the keys out of her purse.

Alex was cupping his hands and trying to look through the glass pane on the side of the door.

"I don't know. I can't see her."

Lisa opened the door and Alex followed right behind her.

"Oh no!" he heard Lisa say just as the smell hit them both.

Twiggy was crying more than barking, and they assumed it was because she knew what she'd done.

"This and the old collar tell me she was probably once an indoor dog," Alex offered as Lisa held her nose and went to get paper towels and some white vinegar.

"Let me get it," Alex insisted once she had them both in her hands.

"You don't need to do this, Alex."

"One of us has to, and the other one should go sit with Twiggy and pet her."

"Aren't we reinforcing bad habits?" Lisa asked.

"No. Dogs live in the moment. Literally. Just seconds after they make a mess they have no idea what they did. So if one were to, say...rub the dog's nose in it, it would have no idea why that's being done."

"That makes sense," Lisa told him as she realized she'd never thought of that before.

"But any dog understands love and affection, and Twiggy needs a lot of both."

Alex thoroughly cleaned the mess while Lisa petted Twiggy and said, "Oh, you're such a good girl!"

After disposing of the poo outside in Lisa's trashcan he walked back to where she was sitting with the dog and said, "Twiggy could walk if you didn't have tile and hardwood. Are there any rugs we could use to make a path to the door for her?"

"Oh. I uh, I never of thought of that," she replied, almost adding the word 'either'. But Alex had no idea she'd never heard about dogs 'living in the moment' so she just got up and went looking.

"Will these do?" she asked when she came back with two long, rolled-up rugs.

"Yes. These are perfect!"

Alex unrolled them and between them they made an L-shaped path from the bedroom and then to the back door.

"Okay. Now let's stand her up and you get the leash, okay?"

Lisa went to grab it while Alex raised the bony dog up on its feet.

"Good girl!" he told her once she was up. He then moved her onto the rug so she could be sure her paws wouldn't slip and waited.

Twiggy sniffed the rug then took one small step while holding her bad leg up.

"She's doing it!" Lisa said as she rooted for the dog to keep going.

She bent down and attached the leash to the frayed collar and moved to her right side.

Twiggy needed some help in the snow, so while Lisa did that, Alex grabbed a shovel and cleared a small area for her to use.

By the time they got back inside, Lisa was even more impressed with this caring, younger man than she was before.

"You're pretty remarkable, Alex," she told him.

"Thank you, but I just love animals. That's what drew me to want to be a vet in the first place."

"Then you're very fortunate. Far too many people see going to work as a drudgery, but you'll have a job you don't really see as work."

Alex laughed then told her that was the plan.

"Dealing with the animals' humans will be the real problem for me."

"Something tells me that won't be much of a problem," Lisa replied with a warm smile.

"I hope so."

"You're a very nice-looking young man, Alex. That means almost every woman will be happy to be friendly towards you. And from I've seen, even other men tend to be nice to attractive men."

Before Alex could say anything, Lisa added, "Even though they're not attracted to them."

He laughed again then said, "So you think I'm attractive, huh?"

The realization that the conversation had taken a sharp turn caused a RE-turn of the earlier feelings. A quick flutter hit her hard before she said anything.

"Maybe. A little," she told him even as she also realized she was now flirting with him. A little.

"I'll take it!" he told her. "Especially coming from such a beautiful woman."

"Beautiful. Sure. You uh, you saw me this morning in...all my beauty...so the cat's out of the bag on that!"

"I saw you," he said, his voice quieter and more serious. "And yes, you looked just as beautiful then as you do now. And right now you look amazing."

Now feeling overwhelmed, Lisa reached down and unhooked the leash then said, "I thought we were going to keep this friendly."

"Hold on. You're the one who told me you think I'm hot," he told her with a smile that was clearly playful.

"Hot? I did not use that word!"

"But you do, right?"

"I...you...what I said was that you're a...reasonably attractive guy."

Alex made a sour face and shook his head.

She saw him smile before saying it, and even though it wasn't politically correct, it still made her laugh when he coughed and said, "Indian giver," as part of the cough.

"I am not!" Lisa replied almost like a teen girl would.

"Are to," Alex said in a deep voice as though he'd been hurt.

"Okay. Fine. You're...."

She was looking at him but couldn't keep doing so as she said, "Handsome."

Alex laughed then jutted his jaw out to indicate smugness then said, "That's more like it!"

She tried as hard as she could not to laugh, but because he was so nice, and yes, so...handsome...she laughed.

"You're even more beautiful when you laugh," Alex told her, the serious look and tone of voice back.

"Um...I...we...don't you think we should give her something else to eat?" Lisa asked as that flutter came back even harder than before.

"Not yet. I'd space it out every four hours. Only half that amount from now on. Once she starts putting on some weight you can cut back to three times a day and then two."

"Oh, okay."

"And you should schedule a follow-up with the clinic for two weeks down the road. That cast will need to come off, and we'll want to make sure everything looks good."