Ann fidgeted with a pencil lying on her desk. “I guess I may be over-reacting a little. It’s just that I want this to work out so much, Karen, and I’m afraid that it won’t because Jerry’s going to start wanting more than a friendship out of it.”
“Could it be possible that you don’t trust yourself, either?” Karen said.
“Karen!”
“I’m serious, Ann. My instincts are telling me that you wouldn’t necessarily cringe at the opportunity of getting intimate with Jerry, but you don’t want to admit it to yourself. Listen, Hon. I’ve been through the very same thing myself. After I got divorced, I had cold feet about sex, too. It’s a natural defense mechanism. You tell yourself that you’ve just gotten over an ugly relationship and that you aren’t going to make the same mistake twice, so you hold out for Mr. Right to come along. Let me tell you something I know from experience-you’re just wasting your time waiting for Mr. Right because he doesn’t exist! And in the process of waiting for this imaginary character, you let golden opportunities slip by-like Jerry Rankin, for instance. He may well be as close as you ever get to Mr. Right, so I wouldn’t let him slip through your fingers too quickly if I were you. Capiche?”
Ann remained silent a moment then said, “Alright, Karen. As usual, there might be some truth to what you’re saying. Why do you have to be so damn psychic all the time? You always seem to know what I’m thinking!”
Karen smiled. “Age, my dear, that’s all it is. There’s wisdom in getting older and that’s about all I can see in it.”
Ann took a sip of her coffee. “Well, I’m still going to ‘hold out,’ as you put it. At least for a while. After all, I just met Jerry-I hardly know the man! There’s nothing wrong with getting to know somebody before you go to bed with them, is there? Or am I just being old fashioned?” she added with a trace of sarcasm.
Karen shook her head. “No, you’re just being cautious, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Especially nowadays with all the crazies out there. The point I’m trying to make is that you should watch that you don’t get overly cautious to the point that you scare Jerry off, that’s all. Give him a little slack, anyway. You’re asking an awful lot of him and you can’t expect him not to slip up on occasion. I’ll be frank, Ann. You are an absolutely gorgeous woman and I’m sure that Jerry is quite aware of that. That, no doubt, makes the temptation to slip up even greater.”
Ann made the same surprised face she always made whenever somebody complimented her looks. “Okay, Karen. I’ll keep that in mind. I might as well tell you now why I’m so nervous about all of this. Jerry wants to take me to his country retreat this weekend and I haven’t given him my answer yet. I have told him, though, that if I do decide to go that I have no intention of spending the night with him. He was quite understanding of that and he says that he just wants to visit the place before the weather starts getting nasty. What do you think I should do?”
“Go ahead and go with him! There’s nothing wrong with that-especially since you’ve already informed him that you aren’t spending the night.”
“I think I will. It sounds simply wonderful. He apparently owns an A-frame house nestled in the woods somewhere in Hocking County. The way Jerry describes it, it’s nothing short of Paradise.”
“This guy must be loaded, is all I can say.”
“He seems to be doing quite well with his real estate business.” Ann said.
“God, how I envy you, Ann! This guy almost sounds too good to be true. Hang on to him, gal!”
“I intend to do just that as long as things keep going as well as they are.”
Karen snatched up one of the travel brochures from Ann’s desk and started to leave. “I’ll chat with you later-I’ve got a client waiting for an itinerary. You go, girl!”
Ann laughed and realized that she was in an exceptional mood all of a sudden. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this happy and she likened the experience to those rare magical moments she used to have when she was a teenager in high school. Like when she would find out that some gorgeous guy she had had her eyes on for weeks was going to actually ask her out on a date, stuff like that.
She realized that for the first time since her breakup with Sam that things were finally beginning to look up a bit. Nothing had really changed, granted, except for her fledgling relationship with Jerry Rankin. And maybe that was why she was suddenly seeing things in a more optimistic light.
Jerry is good for you. That’s what Karen had told her. And she was right. Ann thought about Jerry’s country retreat and decided that not only was she going to accept his offer but that she was actually looking forward to it. It would be nice to get out of town and take a long drive through the country and enjoy the fall foliage. Most likely they would leave early Saturday and return that same evening. Amy would be fine in the meantime-she could either stay at home or go out with her friends. No doubt she would be tired from the Homecoming Dance on Friday, anyway.
Suddenly it dawned on Ann that she had forgotten to tell Sam about Amy’s dance and wondered now if she should call and inform him. Then she remembered that she’d seen a letter in Amy’s purse addressed to Sam earlier that morning and that Amy no doubt would have mentioned the dance to him in the letter. Ann hadn’t been surprised to see the letter-Amy hadn’t talked to her father in a while and she had been into writing letters lately for some unknown reason-and her only concern now was that Amy didn’t mention Jerry to Sam in the letter. At least not in any sort of negative way. The last thing she needed now was for Sam to somehow turn Amy against Jerry and ruin things before they even had a chance to get off the ground. Then she recalled Shelley Hatcher and a smile came to Ann’s face. Sam was certainly in no position to criticize who she went out with!
Just then, the telephone rang and Ann picked it up.
“This is Ann Middleton, how may I help you?”
CHAPTER 17
Dusk had fallen as Sam pulled up beside the mailbox and retrieved his mail. Thumbing through the four or five pieces, he saw a letter from Amy, tossed the stack onto the passenger seat, and resumed up the long driveway to his home. Once inside, he went into the kitchen and opened up the letter from his daughter, thankful that she had finally gotten around to making contact with him. He hadn’t talked to her in over three weeks for one reason or another and he silently cursed Ann again for not informing him of her recent number change.
The first thing he saw when he unfolded the contents was a picture of Amy wearing a lovely blue formal dress. Sam stared at the photo momentarily, in awe of how beautiful his little girl was and how much older and mature she looked dressed in the formal attire. He then laid the picture aside and began reading:
Dear Dad,
It seems like ages since we last talked so I decided to drop you a line. Mom told me that you’ve been trying to reach me but I never seem to be at home when you call. I’ve just been so busy lately with school and everything-you know how that goes!
I’m finally starting to like it a little better here now that I’ve been here a while. Columbus is so big compared to Smithtown and sometimes it’s a little scary when you think about all of the crime and everything else that’s going on here. I’m sure glad we don’t live on the East Side-all you ever hear about on the news are all the drug-related murders that always seem to be going on. Woodcrest is a pretty small suburb-sorta like Smithtown in a way-and I’m glad we live here. It feels safer and the kids are pretty nice. I think I’m finally adjusting to school. I’ve made a few friends that I really like and most of the kids are pretty cool. I’m trying to get better grades, too, Dad. I guess you can’t ask for miracles to happen overnight, though! (So please keep this in mind when you see my grades for this nine weeks!)