Run Over

"Oh. Sure. I'll definitely do that."

"Great. And...I should probably get going," Alex said.

"What time is it?" Lisa asked, even though she'd just looked at the clock to see when she needed to feed Twiggy again.

Alex knew she knew but told her anyway. She thanked him then he asked her if everything was okay. There was so much caring and concern in his voice that it also hit her very hard.

"I'm...I think maybe I'm...."

She looked up at him then tried to smile as she said, "A little confused?"

"Oh, good," Alex replied.

"What? How is that good?" an even more confused Lisa asked.

Alex smiled then told her it meant she was having a kind of internal struggle.

"Struggle? With what?"

"With your feelings. About...me."

His voice was soft and quiet, and it sent chills up and down Lisa's back. It did that because he was right. She really was experiencing a kind of mental battle with herself, and admitting it didn't make it any easier.

"Am I right?" Alex asked as he moved a little closer.

Lisa lowered her head and looked down at the rug running along beside her.

"I honestly don't understand what's going on. I was just trying to help this poor dog that I ran over, and now I'm...."

When Alex moved even closer, Lisa's heart began racing.

"Trying to convince yourself you can't possibly have feelings for me, too?"

"Too?" a weak, almost shaky voice asked.

"Yes. You know I have feelings for you, and I can't help but believe you have them for me. But because I'm a little younger than you, you're looking for reasons to tell yourself that's not possible."

Even though that was exactly what was going on, Lisa still wasn't willing to give up.

"You have no idea what I'm thinking, Alex."

It wasn't her intent to put him in his place, but the way she said that made it sound that way.

"Okay," he said so quietly she barely heard him.

He was so close that were she to look up again, she would almost be able to feel his breath on her face.

"I'll give you some time to work through this, okay?" he said in that same voice that gave her chills again.

When she still didn't look up at him, he gently touched her hand then said again, "Okay?"

Lisa's hand felt like it had just been touched by a bare wire and couldn't even speak. She only nodded her head and waited for Alex to move.

"Will you call me or text me if Twiggy needs anything?" he asked as he moved back a bit.

"Yes," Lisa said as she raised her head ever so slightly and briefly made eye contact.

"Okay. And you do that anytime. Day or night for any reason."

"Thank you, and thank you very much for breakfast. And for coming over this morning."

"I'm just glad I could help," Alex told her with a smile that she also saw during a second, very quick glance.

He went over and said goodbye to Miss Twiggy then got up to leave. When he did he saw Lisa staring at him.

"Did you want to say something?"

"I...I was just wondering if...when you said, you know, all of those things, were you...."

She glanced down then looked back at him and finished her question.

"Did you really mean them?"

"Yes. Every word."

Lisa stopped looking again when he answered her, and not wanting to press his luck, Alex said he'd show himself out.

When he got to the door Lisa said, "Have a wonderful rest of your day, Alex."

He turned her way then smiled.

"I've already the best day I've had in a long time, so it's kind of hard to imagine the rest of it even being close, but I'll try."

He saw her trying, too. In her case she was trying to smile.

"Bye, Lisa," he said before letting himself out.

Once he was gone, she went back to Twiggy, sat down next to her and petted her.

"What have I gotten myself into, girl?" she asked.

Twiggy's tail was wapping the floor, and when she barked, Lisa laughed. Then she laughed some more and laughed until she couldn't laugh any more.

"Am I losing my mind, Twiggy?" she then asked.

The dog slid closer and flopped her head on the woman's lap, and that also made her smile.

"I'm so sorry I hit you, but if I hadn't run you over, I wouldn't have met Alex," she said, wondering if it wasn't entirely for her own benefit.

The next morning Alex was up early but wasn't studying when his dad saw him.

"No books?"

"Oh. Hey, Dad. No. I'm a little distracted."

The older man poured himself a cup of coffee then asked his son if he wanted to talk about it.

"It's a woman."

"Oh. Then maybe I'm not the right person," his father mumbled. "I don't exactly trust them anymore."

"It's okay. I'll work this out."

Mike McDonald took a sip then sat down across from his son at the kitchen table.

"What's goin' on?"

"Do you think it's possible I'm looking for...a new mom?"

His dad eyed him for a couple of seconds then said, "Alex? I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

Alex took a minute or so and gave his father the short version of events from the way this woman showed up at the clinic until he left her house the day before.

"Oh. Well, at least it makes sense now. The part about looking for a...surrogate mother."

Alex didn't say anything, but his dad had plenty more to offer but need one other piece of information.

"Just how much older is she?"

"I don't know for sure. But ten years? Maybe a little more."

"What about school and your career? You're just getting started. Do you really want to saddle yourself with all that additional responsibility?"

"That's a good point, Dad, but there's something about this particular woman. She's...she's unlike any other woman I've ever met."

"You've met plenty of pretty girls, Alex. And you can meet as many more as you want to. So why settle on one that's got at least ten years on you?"

"That's the thing. I can't answer that. All I know is she makes me feel...alive. She...."

He looked at his dad then said, "Don't laugh, okay?"

His father raised an eyebrow and took another sip but didn't commit.

"She inspires me."

"Alex. You barely know her."

"Yeah. And yet I can't shake the feeling that...."

His father had become jaded and cynical about women since his wife walked out on him and their son. He no longer believed in what he called 'nonsense' like the idea of soul mates, and he probably didn't even believe in love anymore. So Alex decided to end the conversation and do some studying.

As he got up to leave, his dad said, "Listen. If this woman makes you happy, you owe it to yourself to find out."

Alex didn't ask, "Find out about what?"

He knew this was the best his father could do where women were concerned, and that very short response was a very positive sign.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime," the older McDonald replied as though he were the Oracle of Delphi. Of maybe of Fargo, North Dakota.

But after an hour of reading and rereading the material he had to know for the next week of class, Alex realized he was too distracted to study. It was now 9am on Sunday morning, and all he wanted to do was see Lisa again.

He held off texting her for another hour then gave in.

"Good morning! How's our girl doing?" he wrote, a smile on his face as he thought about her.

Lisa had been out already and bought enough dog food to last at least another week. She was trying to stay busy to keep her mind off of a very attractive, younger man she'd woken up thinking about, so when her phone buzzed it startled her.

She, too, was smiling as she read the short text.

"Good! She made it to the door three more times yesterday and first thing this morning again. And thanks to the area you cleared, I didn't have to go out with her, so thank you for that."

"That's great! Did she come straight back inside?"

"She did!"

"That's a good sign. Sounds like Twiggy thinks she's found a home."

"Well, she has. Barring an owner that's looking for her, I'm definitely going to keep her."

"She's a very lucky girl to have...met you," Alex wrote.

Lisa sent some smiles back, and Alex debated for a few seconds then texted back, "And I'm a very lucky guy to have met you, too."

Lisa's heart skipped a beat when she read it before deciding to take a risk.

"It's funny but I feel like the lucky one," she wrote.

Now feeling more confident, Alex upped the ante.

"Are you saying you're at least considering something more than just friendship?"

That text sent a 'warm chill' through her body. But had Alex not asked she wouldn't have volunteered what she'd been thinking all morning. Now that he had, she felt she needed to share her feelings.

"I'm still not 100% sure, but I have to admit that you're pretty much all I've been thinking about since we went out for breakfast yesterday."

"It's Sunday, and I hear that some people 'do brunch' on Sundays. Would you maybe like to do brunch with me?"

Another wave of warmth washed over when she read his reply.

"To tell you the truth, I ate something about an hour ago, so I don't think I could do brunch. But I'm definitely going to want something for lunch in a couple more hours if that works for you."

Alex was so happy with her response he did a fist pump and said, "Yes!" loud enough that his dad heard.

"Someone must be talking to his older girlfriend," the senior McDonald called out.

"We're going out for lunch," Alex called back as he told Lisa that sounded great and asked when he could pick her up.

"You don't need to spend more money. I'm happy to make something for us if you'd like to come by here again. Besides, I'm sure Twiggy would be as happy to see you as I'll be."

"So you're happy to see me, huh?" a very happy Alex wrote.

"Maybe. A little," Lisa wrote back with some emojis that indicated she was teasing.

"I'll gladly take whatever I can get!" Alex replied, saying something similar to what he'd said the day before.

She sent some smiles back and Alex told her he'd be there around noon.

"See you then!" Lisa wrote. But before she sent it, she looked at the list of emojis, smiled, then clicked on a big red heart and sent it with the short reply.

"Yes!" Alex called out again.

This time his dad walked toward the sound of the noise and said, "You really like this woman, huh?"

Alex looked at his dad and said, "Yeah. I really do."

"Well, don't let my shitty attitude ruin your chance to be happy, Alex. I can't help you with the age thing, but if you really like her, all I can do is wish you the best of luck."

Again, Alex thought about saying something like, "Coming from you, that's high praise."

But instead he opted for, "Thanks, Dad," before going upstairs to shower and get ready.

The sky was a bright blue, but the temperature was a balmy 22 degrees. Even so, Alex wore a nice button-down shirt under his coat rather than the sweater or sweatshirt the weather demanded. It wouldn't be cold inside Lisa's house, and he wanted to make the best possible impression, and this was the nicest shirt he had.

Lisa also started getting ready as soon as their texting ended. She showered, washed her hair, then got out and dried off before wrapping her wet hair in a towel. As she waited for it to get dry enough to use the hairdryer on, she sat down and started doing her makeup.

She did her best to ignore the faint little lines she could just make out around the corners of her eyes as she covered them with foundation and then eye liner and shadow. She then added a touch of blush but held off on the lipstick until she got dressed.

When her hair was only just damp, she removed the towel then began blowdrying it. Once it was dry, she very carefully pulled a dark-gray sweater over her head making sure not to get any makeup on. Jeans were the obvious choice, but she chose a pair of black pants...just because. Lastly, she used her curling iron to turn the bottom ends of her hair in a bit then took a look in the mirror.

She looked fantastic but couldn't admit it. All she could see was a woman who was almost 40 years old staring back at her, and that woman was screaming, "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

"I have no idea," she said out loud to herself before putting on a pair of earrings and a very pretty necklace and finally a small dab of perfume.

Whatever self doubts she was struggling with vanished when Alex pulled into her driveway. Twiggy heard him first when the tires crunched the icy snow outside. She sat up and barked, and when Lisa went to the door, Twiggy got up and hobbled her way alongside of her new owner.

Alex saw them both as he walked toward the door. He smiled and Lisa saw it, and that made her smile as she opened it for him.

"Hi!" she said, a huge smile glued to her face.

"Hi yourself!" Alex said as he checked her out in a very flattering way. "You look amazing!"

"Thank you! And may I say you look quite nice yourself."

Twiggy barked, and Alex bent over and petted her as the 'three-legged' dog stood there and lapped up the attention.

"She seems happy," Alex said as he looked up at Lisa.

She was smiling and told him that was going around. Alex stood up, smiled back, and said he agreed.

"So what's for lunch, Chef?" he asked, the smile still there.

"Road hoagies."

"Mmm. Sounds delicious," Alex said, even though he'd never heard of such a thing. "Um...what's in them?"

Lisa laughed then told him how she made them.

"So the bread and mozzarella soaks up the olive vinaigrette which all goes quite nicely with the slices of turkey breast in the middle."

"Seriously?" Alex said with a look of love in his eyes.

"Sound good?"

"That sounds fantastic!" he told her.

As she began getting things ready, Alex asked if he could help.

"Sure. That would be very nice."

He did his best to stay out of the way and only bring her what she asked for or needed, but at one point she told him she had to have something from a top shelf in one of the cabinets.

"There's a step ladder behind that door over there," she told him.

Alex ignored her and walked over to where she was.

"How tall are you?" she asked as he smiled at her.

"A shade over 6'2"."

"Oh. So you may not need the ladder," she replied rather quietly as he stood less than a foot away from her.

"I think I can reach it," he told her as their eyes met then locked. "Can you show me again where it is?"

Lisa couldn't hold his stare much longer anyway, so relieved, she turned around toward the cupboard and pointed.

Alex was now directly behind her as he asked which of the things she needed.

"The green bowl. Right up there," Lisa told him as he moved even closer.

"I don't see it," Alex said as he looked up.

Lisa moved right up to the counter then pointed again.

When she did, Alex followed her and now stood less than an inch away as he looked over her shoulder.

"Oh. I see it," he said just above a whisper as he slowly and softly ran his fingertips up then down her arms.

"Alex. What...what are you doing?" Lisa whispered as her entire body trembled.

"I uh, I can't quite reach it now because there's an incredibly beautiful woman in my way."

As he spoke, he used his entire hands rather than just the fingers.

"I...I thought it was just you and me here," Lisa said as though she couldn't possibly be this 'beautiful woman' just as quietly even as goosebumps spread out all over her.

"It is. It's just me and this amazing, beautiful woman," Alex whispered as he lowered his head and placed face near hers.

"You're making it very difficult to finish lunch," she told him as his arms slowly wrapped around her waist.

Alex heard the faintest little moan then nuzzled her neck.

"Sorry," he told her.

"I...I don't believe you are," Lisa replied, her voice shaky, as she put her hands on his.

"You could always move to the side," she heard him whisper as he kissed her neck.

"I...I could. But for some reason I'm not really all that hungry right this minute," she said, her voice growing even more unsteady as her breathing grew faster.

As his body pressed against hers, she felt him and gasped.

"Sorry," he whispered. "You have that effect on me."

"I...I don't mind...at all," she said as she instinctively pressed against him.

"Come here," Alex said, again nearly whispering as he gently turned her around.

Lisa let him and when they were face to face she felt like her heart was ready to explode. Her eyes were darting back and forth between his as Alex gently brushed her hair back.

He didn't say anything, but when he began lowering his head, Lisa saw his eyes close, and when the did, hers closed with them. When their lips met for the first time, she slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"I've wanted to do that since you walked into the clinic," he told her with another smile.

"I'm...I'm glad you...waited," she said, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Yeah, that wouldn't have gone over so well, would it?" he said with an even bigger smile.

Her trembling turned to something closer to fear as she said without looking at him, "I...I should move so you can, you know, get the...the thing...I need from...up there."

She kind of pointed back over her shoulder and then moved to the side a little.

"Oh, right. It is lunchtime, isn't it?" Alex said without taking his eyes off of her until she was out of the way. He then reached up and got it and handed it to her.

"Thank you," Lisa told him even as she looked at what he gave her rather than at him. "I'll just...I'll go ahead and finish making, the um...the...."

"The hoagies?"

"Yes. Those. I'll make those now."

There wasn't any more physical contact let alone romance during lunch. They talked but the conversation seemed strained, and all of it was on Lisa's end.

"I moved too fast, didn't I?" Alex asked near the end of the meal.

"I don't know," Lisa told him.

"I'm sorry if I did. I...I've never felt like this about anyone before, so I think maybe I was a little too...forward."

Lisa looked at him then told him, "I wanted to kiss you, too, Alex."

"But?"

"I'm not...I...I don't do...you know. The um, the one-night stand thing."

"What?" Alex replied with a shake of the head.

"You know. Hooking up."

"I know what one-night stand means. I just can't believe that's what you thought I wanted."

Lisa looked out the window for a moment then looked back at Alex.

"That's just the thing, Alex. I don't know what it is you do want."

"I can promise you that's not what I want. I can also tell you that I really want to get to know you better, Lisa. And I promise I'll....."

"You haven't asked me how old I am yet."

He gave her another confused look which only confused her.

"When I told you I was thinking about you, too, what I was thinking about was...was why a guy your age would even consider, well, you know...dating or seeing...a woman my age."

She stared at him then asked, "So...why would you, Alex?"

"Did you miss the part where I told you how beautiful you are?" he gently asked.

"No, but...."

"Did you not hear me tell you that no one has ever made me feel the way you do?"

"I did hear you, but you...."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I am crazy attracted to you both physically and mentally?"

Lisa looked at the half-eaten hoagie on her plated then said, "You're a college graduate and soon you'll be a veterinarian. I...I have an associate's degree in general studies, so it's not like there's that much...mental going on."

Lisa was so caught up in her feelings and the renewed doubts that she wasn't aware of what she'd just said or how it sounded. But when Alex started smiling, she quickly pieced it together.

"I just said I'm...mental, didn't I?" she asked, a smile forming on her lips, too.

"Not quite," Alex replied. "But that's not what I meant. I was just trying to convey how much I like you, and that I like...everything about you, Lisa. I'm not the most...artful orator...but I am honest and sincere."