Suzanne closed her mouth, the opened it again as she inhaled a breath and confirmed, “Well, I did have something specific in mind to do with Charlie, but the truth is, we didn’t actually have a plan… It’s sort of my spur of the moment idea.” She blushed and clarified, “In fact, he for sure wasn’t expecting me, but I have to admit, I am hungry.” Fidgeting with her book, she finished with a mumble, “If he wants, we can go get burgers, or something.”
Just as Charles entered the living room, Colleen exclaimed, “Nonsense! I won’t hear of it. The salad’s made, the bread’s ready to broil, and the spaghetti and sauce can be cooked and served in ten minutes. I mean it’s nothing fancy…. Just Ragú. I’m sure you could choke it down as easily as a burger from a drive-in.”
“Huh? What are you talking about, Mom?” Charlie asked before realizing who his unidentified and unexpected ‘school friend’ was. “Oh-h, h-hi Suzie,” he stammered nervously while he tried to make sense of the madcap scene. “What’s going on?”
Colleen answered everyone at the same time. “What’s going on, mister, is that you have a guest who wants to spend a little time with you and you’re going to go into the kitchen and get water boiling for your spaghetti dinner. Meanwhile, I am going to get presentably dressed to go out to dinner with your uncle. Check?”
Ford smiled at his sister-in-law’s command presence, saluted smartly and answered, “Well, Charlie, you have your marching orders. I, for one, am just going to stay right here on the sofa out of the line of fire until your mom says that we can go.”
Suzie felt boxed in, and a little uncomfortable by how things seemed to be turning out. She hadn’t known exactly what to expect when she showed up unannounced, but she certainly hadn’t expected Mrs. Womack’s response. Rising from her chair, she said, “I’ll keep you company in the kitchen, Charlie, and if you don’t want me to eat with you, I won’t. I really didn’t mean to, umm, impose. I just had a favor I wanted to ask, is all.”
Once again, Charles felt heat rush up his spine and enflame his neck. He could think of nothing more wonderful, or more horrible, than being alone with Suzanne Pomeroy. “Uhh, uhh, sure,” he gulped. “Come out to the kitchen. Okay, Mom, go have a nice evening with Uncle Ford and I’ll eat with Suzie.” He couldn’t believe the words tumbling from his mouth and could only hope he didn’t sound like a complete fool.
“Thank you, Charlie, I know I can count on you to be a gracious host,” Colleen affirmed. Turning to her brother-in-law, she said, “You didn’t say what time we need to be at the restaurant, but it won’t take me very long to get ready. Throw a record on the hi-fi, or watch the news on TV or something. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” As Ford moved to the blonde birch Magnavox home-entertainment center, and the kids headed for the kitchen, she floated on air back to the master bedroom, thinking, “My god, Wally, am I going out on an actual date? With your brother? I hope you don’t mind. But don’t worry, nothing’s going to come of it!”
Meanwhile, at the same time that Ford was sitting on the sofa imagining the invisible peach hiding behind the tiny pitch-black triangle formed at Suzie’s knee caps by her taut dress hem, Clara Krautheimer was walking between primroses, along the cement path from her driveway to her duplex’s front door. As she drew near her porch, a lump under the welcome mat caught her attention. Bending down, she lifted the thick rubber square’s edge and discovered a white box bound diagonally by a thin gold elastic string. Forty years teaching high school English hadn’t dulled her math skills to the point that she couldn’t add two plus two correctly.
“Oh, Charles Womack, you dear, sweet boy,” Clara exclaimed, as she picked up the anonymously delivered treat. Then, crossing her threshold, she said to her calico tomcat, while he meowed his greeting to her, “I honestly wasn’t hinting for myself, Fritzy, when I suggested that his mother might enjoy See’s Candies. Truly, I wasn’t, but that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy eating them all up!”