God has given me unique and creative ways people who might one day love each other meet. I'm touched every time another idea pops into my head because it means that God is using me. And I enjoy writng about the rest of the story of these men and women. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do............
an excerpt from "RESCUED"......
She was minding her own business in the bulk foods aisle scooping her favorite dessert, chocolate covered pretzels, when she felt a bump. Someone had run into her. Her first reaction was aggravation. She'd had a really bad day and it would take very little to make her forget her usually quiet, calm demeanor. She tried to smile and turned toward the offender.
A deep voice said, “Oh sorry!”
“I’m sorry too. I wasn’t paying attention.” Maddy looked up into the most beautiful green eyes she ever seen. They reminded her of the moss in the forests that surrounded their fair city. Moss she collected as a kid. She'd picked boxes of the stuff. She smiled when she remembered her mother teasingly complained about every one of them.
Looking back at those eyes and appreciating his square jaw and straight nose snuffed out her aggravation and bad mood. She wondered what it would be like to see those eyes everyday of her life. Then deflated when she remembered who she was. She was too plain jane for any man to take a second look at. She just wasn’t a woman men wanted. Men like him wanted skinny, but shapely, beautiful women, who had perfect wardrobes and perfect noses. And that definitely wasn't her.
He backed up and she pulled a twist-tie out of its container. Then she moved away, back to her cart. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him scooping pretzels.
“These are my favorite too.”
“Hunh?” He startled her. She didn’t expect him to talk to her.
“The chocolate covered pretzels, they’re my favorite too.”
“They are a necessary evil.” She smiled in his direction. But she couldn’t look him in the eye again. They were too captivating. She did notice that he wore a uniform. He must be a policeman or a fire fighter.
Davis looked. She didn’t have a ring on. Why wasn’t she flirting back? In his experience, most women flirted with him.
“No, I wouldn’t call them evil. I call them deserved treats after a long, hard day.” She finally met his eyes with her own. They were brown, the same color as their favorite treat.
“That’s a different way to look at it.” She had always eaten her pretzels with guilt. She loved every bite but thought about the calorie intake as punishment for her weakness.
“Don’t you work hard and deserve a treat at the end of the day?”
She had beautiful long dark hair, a shade darker than her eyes. And the cutest button nose. If he could get close enough, he’d bet she had freckles sprinkled on that cute nose.
“Uncle Nate does make me work hard.” She looked away, almost talking to herself.
He noted some resentment there.
She looked at him again. “I usually sit in front of the tv and feel guilty eating them. But you’re right. I would probably enjoy them more if I thought I deserved every bite.” She beamed. She was so happy he had changed her perspective about dessert. He wasn’t sure he had ever seen anyone so thrilled with a new revelation. She finished her tying and wrote the bin number down.
“Thanks for that.” She went back to her cart and walked away, still smiling.
Davis stared as she walked out of his site. He shrugged. He would have liked to talk to her longer or gotten her phone number. But he got the impression that she was shy and not open to giving strange men her phone number. Maybe he would see her here again. He would definitely do the grocery shopping for the station more often.
Three days later, at two o’clock in the morning, Maddy was sitting on the bumper of a fire truck with an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. She didn’t know how she got here. The last thing she remembered was waking up to a loud knocking on her door. She was coughing before she made it to the floor. Whoever was at the door must have heard her since she was sitting here and not still in her apartment dying.
She looked around and saw some of her neighbors. Mrs. Van Dyke, who lived next door, was clutching her Maltese, Snow, maybe too tightly by the way he was squirming. Her neighbor from across the hall held her nine-year-old daughter in front of her, both arms around her, watching the flames. They were watching their homes fill with fire and crumble to nothing. So far, only the third floor had collapsed. but if the fire fighters didn’t put it out soon, her second floor apartment would be ashes too.
If she wasn’t so used to bad luck, she would probably be upset. She should be crying but the tears wouldn’t come.
She felt a hand on her arm. She looked up at the fire fighter standing next to her. He took his helmet off. It was the blond, green-eyed man from the grocery store.
“Hi.”
She only had enough energy to lift her hand.
“So you live here?”
She noded and lifted the mask off of her face. But her voice was only a whisper. “Yeah…. Well, not anymore.” She looked back at the building. She could now see fire coming out of a second floor apartment. The good news was, it was the opposite end of the building from her place but it might as well be next door.
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“No.” Her voice was sullen and heart wrenching.
“No family nearby?” The sound that came out of her mouth told him she was disgusted by that suggestion.
“Oh, they live nearby. But I would never hear the end of it if I mooched a room from him. It’s bad enough that I have to work with him. I don’t think I could handle having to see him twenty four seven again.”
He didn’t know why he said, “My sister lives down the street. She’s been looking for a roommate. Let me call her.”
He walked away after that matter-of-fact statement. She was so shocked; she only gaped at his back. She tried to go after him but she forgot she was connected to the oxygen tank. She threw the mask down but He was already dialing when she got to the cab of the fire truck.
“Wait! I don’t know her. She’s not going to want a perfect stranger in her home.”
“But I know you.”
“You know I like chocolate covered pretzels!” She had to shout to be heard over the noise of the truck and the pumping water.
He ignored her. He turned away and faced the truck. She would just wait until he was done and make him see reason. She was pretty sure the Red Cross or some charity gave out vouchers for hotel rooms to those forced out of their homes after a fire. She wouldn’t impose on her aunt and uncle for a room, even though they were family. And to ask that of a stranger was out of the question.
He turned back to her. “She’s probably still at work. I left a message. I’ll try again later.”
She started shaking her head even before he finished. “You can’t ask her to put up a perfect stranger.”
“If you had met her at the grocery store and found out later that she needed a place to stay. Would you let her stay with you?”
“I don’t know, probably.” Maddy bit the inside of her cheek. She always did that when she was nervous or anxious. The truth was, she didn’t know if she would. She wasn’t usually a friendly person. She kept to herself. That way, she didn’t get hurt.
“My sister has a heart of gold. She would give you the shirt off her back, which she may have to.” She looked down at her ratty slippers and pulled the lapels of her tattered robe tighter around her neck. She definitely needed something else to wear.
“How about this? After I’m done here, I’ll take you to meet her. If the two of you don’t get along, or if you hate her on site, I’ll take you to a motel.”
She shrugged. “Why not?” She didn’t have anything else to lose. She had already lost her home and all of her belongings.
“I’ve got to get back to work. You’ll wait for me?”
“Okay.” She shrugged. She didn't have anywhere else to go.
She watched as he did his job. He helped another firefighter hold a hose on the fire at its lowest point. then he climbed a ladder to take over for a second man dousing the flames on the top floor of the building. She assumed they rotated jobs so one person didn't do the same thing the whole night. Their work was exhausting.
Then, when part of the fire was under control, she watched him and another man roll up the long hose. The strength it took to hang on to an already heavy hose with hundreds of gallons of water shooting out of it was unimaginable. She had always known their job was important and difficult. But watching them do it magnified her thanks.
She stared at the flames as they licked at the exposed beams of the second floor apartments. The yellow and orange tongues engulfed another window as it threw glass onto the parking lot and grassy area next to the building. The firefighters had already asked that the tenants move their vehicles. Although, she didn’t think her vehicle could look any worse. Its coat already had more scratches than paint.
from "ELSIE'S GIFT".....
Rosy walked down the aisle of the grand old theater and took her seat as she had many times before. This was the last concert of the season and she loved the music so much she was not looking forward to the three month wait until the new one started. Tonight's music was written by Beethoven, her favorite composer. She turned, hoping to see her dear friends Ida and Elsie behind her, the elderly patrons of the arts who she enjoyed visiting with as much as listening to the music. But only Ida was there talking to a young man Rosy had never seen before. It was odd since Elsie had only missed one concert in all the time Rosy had known her. She turned back around, willing to wait until they were done visiting.
She looked up at the newly finished ceiling. The theater had been renovated the previous year during the break between concert series. The intricate woodwork on the domed ceiling awed her each time she saw it. She had read that they commisioned a famous artist to repaint the angels and cherubs. All she knew was that she loved to look at the exquisite artwork. She had come here hundreds of times with her father but never admired it until she was an adult.
Her father now worked for a larger orchestra in Chicago. But he had been the director for the Northern Idaho Symphony for ten years. He was the one who introduced her to classical music and made her take piano lessons as a child. He finally let her quit when she threw a crying fit every time she had to go to her teacher's house. And she definitely didn't want to continue listen to the ancient music or go to concerts as a teenager. But now that she was a more mature adult and could appreciate the work that went into writing and playing the music, she didn't miss a concert. She couldn't afford the season tickets but thankfully, she kept in touch with her father's friend, adopted grandfather and the conductor, who gave her season tickets every year for Christmas.
She turned around again when she heard sniffling and saw that Ida was crying. When Ida noticed her, she cried harder and almost fell out of her chair trying to reach Rosy.
"What is it ida? What's happened to make you so upset?”
Ida gasped and her eyes widened. “You don't know?”
"Know what?” She had gone to visit her father over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Elsie....” ida's next words were so mumbled she couldn't understand. She just held onto her friend and waited for her tears to subside. She noticed the man who was there had left.
"Her service is tomorrow.” Ida wiped at her nose and put the dirty tissue in the pocket of her purse. Ida was looking for another tissue and pulled out an empty case.
"Wait, service? You mean she....?” Rosy immediately began to cry as well. Elsie, who was like a grandmother to Rosy, had always listened when she needed someone to talk to. Her father, being a man, didn't understand her or her fluxuating emotions. So she always went to Elsie for the things her father couldn't give her.
Ida noded. “She passed two days ago.”
Rosy turned and searched her own bag for tissue. She pulled one out for Ida and one for herself.
They both sat quietly sniffling when Ida's friend returned. He handed both women a glass of water.
"Thank you dear.” Ida said.
Rosy was puzzled by his presence but accepted the drink. Then Ida enlightened her. “Rosy, this is elsie's grandson, Richard. I know she's mentioned him to you. Richard, this is our dear friend, Rose Marie Strauss.”
"Oh yes, of course. It's good to finally meet you.” They shook hands. Elsie had raved about him endlessly. And lately, Rosy had tuned her out. She got tired of hearing about a man she had never met and probably never would. But now he was here in person. And she had to admit that he was just as handsome as Elsie had said he was. He had soft golden brown hair that was just long enough to curl around his collar. And he had light green eyes with a hint of amber around the iris. He was well dressed in a navy suit and yellow shirt. He didn't wear a tie but looked like he stepped out of a magazine cover anyway. She was glad it was dark and hoped he couldn't tell she was blushing.
"And you. My grandmother spoke of you often.” he noded regally. He reminded her of the dasing young lords of the regency novels she liked to read.
The lights flickered signaling that the orchestra was ready. Ida mumbled that they would talk more at the break and they all settled in their seats to listen. But the music only made Rosy cry more. One of her favorite pieces they played that night was also Elsie's favorite. And both times she and Rosy had met at Elsie's house for a visit, her friend had played it. She wasn't sure she wanted to come to another concert without Elsie to keep her company and have coffee and a visit with afterward.
As soon as the lights came back on, Rosy ran for the bathroom. She didn't want to look back and see that Elsie was gone. She went directly to the sink and washed her face with cold water. She leaned against the wall while she dried her face. She heard the door open and turned to face the wall. After all, she didn't want anyone she knew to see her breakdown. Most of the people here knew her since her father was a part of this symphony for so long.
She wasn't sure she wanted to come back here without Elsie to brighten the theater. She looked like everyone's grandmother. She was plump and short. Elsie didn't wear the latest fashions, sometimes even Rosie cringed when she saw her. But she had the heart of an angel and the patience of a saint. Rosy wasn't sure what the phrase meant until she met Elsie. The woman was so peaceful, she made everyone around her change too.
But Elsie was her grandmother. If she could have adopted Rosy, she would. She said so. And now she was gone. Rosy now had a huge gaping hole in her heart.
She felt an arm go around her and squeeze her tightly. She looked over her shoulder and found Ida holding her and crying right along with her. A few minutes later, Ida and Rosy walked back to their seats hand in hand. They got through the rest of the concert with only a few sniffles. When it was over, Richard said he had to leave, return some phone calls and make sure the rest of his family got to their hotel okay.
Ida and Rosy sat side by side in Ida and Elsie's seats and talked until the ushers said they had to leave so they could lock the doors. They talked about Elsie and her generosity. She always donated a row of season tickets to a local charity to share her love of music with those who might otherwise not be able to listen to it. She visited several nursing homes each week and made everyone feel loved. And they talked about her love of God. Elsie was the reason that Rosy was going back to church. She had stopped going when her husband died, thinking God must not care about her if He would take him away from her. But Elsie convinced her that even though Ed was taken from her so suddenly, God still loved her.
