“I’ve enjoyed it too, Ann.” he said, his disappointment more than evident. “If by chance you’d like to chat again, you can usually reach me any weekday around this time. And just for the record, that dinner invitation is still open,” he added.
Ann decided there was no longer any reason to continue playing the coy divorcee. She liked what she’d seen and heard so far, and had no doubts that Jerry Rankin was a good, decent guy. She replied, “In that case, I wouldn’t be opposed to chatting again over dinner sometime.”
There, she’d done it.
“Wonderful!” he exclaimed. “I’ll be honest, Ann. I’m really glad you said that because I’m not really very keen on telephones-they seem so impersonal and all-and I’ve found that I can relate much better when I can see who I’m talking to, as opposed to staring at the walls. Anyway, just tell me when would be convenient for you. My time is always flexible.”
“I’m free on the weekends… any weekend,” she added, perhaps a little too quickly.
“Would tomorrow be too soon?” he asked.
Ann hadn’t expected such short notice. She thought for a moment and decided that Friday would be just as good as any other time. “No, tomorrow would be fine,” she said.
“When shall I pick you up?”
Amy was going to the football game tomorrow, she recalled. She could fix her an early dinner and still have time to get ready by eight. “How about eight o’clock?”
“Terrific! I’ll swing by at eight then,” he said. “What’s your address?”
“It’s 724 Meadow Lane-in Century Hills, Woodcrest.”
“I know the neighborhood well-it’s one of the few left in Franklin County that still has any character, in my opinion,” he said. “Oh, and I’d better get your phone number as well.”
Ann recited her number, and then Jerry said, “Wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow evening at eight o’clock.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Jerry. See you then. ‘Bye.”
“Goodbye, Ann.”
Her head was spinning when she hung up the phone. Then it suddenly hit her.
Amy! How was she going to react to all of this? she thought in a sudden fit of panic.
Ann’s first impulse was to call Jerry Rankin back and immediately break the date with him. She picked up the phone and started to dial his number, wondering how she could be so selfish to make a date with someone without first discussing it with her daughter. Then she suddenly stopped herself, hung up, and dialed Karen’s number instead.
“Karen, it’s me. I’ve just done something really awful!”
“Good Lord, Ann, what’s happened?” her friend asked.
“I just made a dinner date with Jerry Rankin for tomorrow night and I didn’t even talk to Amy about it first!”
“You what? You’ve made a date with him already?” Karen asked incredulously. “Ann, that’s wonderful! I’m so proud of you!”
“Well, I’m not proud of me. It all happened so fast, Karen! I talked to him for a few minutes, got to know him a little better, and before I knew it I was accepting his invitation for dinner without even giving a thought to Amy. I’m so ashamed…”
“Settle down now, dear.” Karen consoled. “It’s not the end of the world. The important thing is that you actually followed through with this thing and now you’re actually going out on a date. That’s good, honey-not bad. Now tell me exactly what happened.”
Ann managed to get a grip on herself and proceeded to tell Karen about her phone conversation with Jerry Rankin. When she was finished she said, “I’m going to call him back right now and break off the date.”
“Don’t do it, Ann,” Karen advised. “Listen, if you call him back and cancel out now, you may never get this opportunity again. Not only would it be rude, but you’d probably scare him off in the process. I truly think you’re over-reacting to this as far as Amy is concerned. After all, you’re just going out to dinner with this guy, right? It’s not like you’re jumping right into a relationship or anything. He could just as well be one of our clients at the travel agency, for all intents and purposes. The point I’m making is, wait and see if something develops with this Jerry fellow before confronting Amy with it. For now, just tell her you’re going out to dinner with one of our clients and leave it at that. You’ll save both Amy and yourself a lot of unnecessary tension that way, Ann-believe me. I’ve gone through the very same thing you’re going through now and one thing I learned is this: don’t dare tell the kids about a relationship until you’re absolutely sure that you have a relationship in the first place.”
Ann thought it over a moment. Then she said, “Maybe you’re right. It’s just that I don’t like sneaking around-I want to be honest with Amy.”
“And I agree-you should be honest with her. But give yourself a little slack, dear! You’re entitled to a little privacy in your life; Amy doesn’t have to know your every move. If something develops with this guy, by all means tell Amy about him and go from there. But until then, let it be a non-issue.”
Even though Karen’s sober advice made her feel a little better, Ann was still unsure of herself.
“I guess I could just tell Amy that I’m going out for dinner tomorrow night and leave it at that. She’s going to the school football game so I’ll probably make it back home before she does. She’ll never know the difference.”
“There you go! It’s no big deal when you think about it. I have to admit I’m excited for you, though. Where are you two going?” Karen inquired enthusiastically.
“I have no idea-he never brought it up.”
“Aren’t you excited?”
Ann sighed. “I was until I thought about Amy. Now I’m not so sure.”
“C’mon, get excited! Amy will be fine. You’re going to have a great time, dear. I just know it!”
“I’ll probably feel better once he comes by to get me. Until then I’m going to be a nervous wreck,” Ann declared.
“You’ll be fine. Remember, it’s just a dinner date with a nice guy. That’s it-no big deal. Right?” Karen coaxed.
“I guess so… I think I just heard Amy out front so I’d better go.”
“Okay. We’ll talk more about this at the office tomorrow. I’ll see you then.”
“All right, Karen. And thanks. See you tomorrow.”
Amy was coming in the front door as Ann hung up the phone. She snatched up Jerry Rankin’s business card from the kitchen table and slid it into her purse just as Amy entered the room.
“Hi sweetie! Did you get all your homework done?”
Amy threw her books down on the table with a scowl then walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. “I hate algebra! This dick we have for a teacher assigned us two whole pages of problems for tomorrow!” Amy whined.
“Were you able to do them all?” Ann asked, watching her as she took out a can of Pepsi and popped the tab.
“Most of them. I’ll do the rest in study hall,” Amy replied, taking a slug. “We have anything to eat?”
“There’s some fried chicken in the fridge. Didn’t you eat over at Amanda’s?”
“I had some ice cream.”
Ann looked at her reproachfully. “You told me you were going to eat supper at Amanda’s-ice cream sure doesn’t sound like supper to me.”
Amy grimaced and said, “Her mother made a casserole and I swear to God it looked just like dog barf, Mom! I couldn’t have eaten it if someone paid me!”
“Well, eat some chicken then. There’s a tossed salad and some Jello in there too.”
“I’ll just have potato chips instead. Where are they?”
Ann stood up and went over to Amy. “You have got to start eating right, Amy! I’ll fix you a plate and you’re going to eat it.”
“I don’t want chicken, Mother!” Amy protested, glaring at Ann defiantly. “Can’t I just order a pizza instead?”
Ann wanted to put her foot down, but refrained. She sighed and said, “I guess so-it’s better than potato chips, anyway.”
Amy smiled triumphantly, having chocked up another victory. “Thanks, Mom.”
She picked up the phone and ordered a medium pepperoni pizza from the local pizzeria, to be delivered, and gave them the address. After hanging up she turned to Ann and said, “A bunch of us are staying over at Amanda’s after the game tomorrow night. Is it okay?”