Three Stories Five Unanswered Phone Calls

Pat was quiet on the way back to town. She was tired. She also was disappointed in the man sitting beside her. She thought he was going to propose, but instead he felt sorry for himself and told her that he was going to live his life inside the walls of the nursing home. He was too old and sickly to start a new life especially with a beautiful and lively woman like her.

"Hogwash to whatever you are thinking about me.  We had a good day today. It was fun working on the ranch again. I feel like a new man. Tired, but good. It was almost like the old days except you are doing the driving. I guess I can live with that."

Pat looked at him as she pulled into the parking lot at the nursing home. She said, "Oh really? Well you are wrong. I didn't think that you were old and sickly and should live what few days you had left in the nursing home. You were the one that thought that you were too sick to marry me. At least that's what you told me. Right?"

"No. I don't feel that way anymore, he said. I want you to marry me because I love you and I think you love me too. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?" He gently took her hand and slid a beautiful diamond engagement ring on her finger. "Please?"

Pat's eyes sparkled and as she first looked at the ring then at Rex she said, "Finally! Let's go inside and tell all your friends." Once again all was right with her world.

 If one were to peek in Maxine's window they would see happiness in every corner of her small home.. Maxine was humming in her tiny kitchen as she fixed coffee and put an apple pie bar on a plate for her love; the sheriff of one of the biggest counties in Texas. "He has made me see that K.R. needs to stay in jail for his complete sentence. I'm afraid I have failed him somehow, but the blame is not all on me. Rex needs to shoulder some of that responsibility as well. We both had a hand in poor parenting I'm afraid. I feel so bad for the people that he has conned out of their hard earned money. If I had only known that he had been doing this for so long I think I somehow could have stopped him. Anyway, I'm about to start a new chapter of my life with the man I think I'm falling in love with. He says he's going to marry me. I'm not sure I'm ready to share my life with someone else just yet. He knows about K.R. but he knows nothing about Lill. Of course, she is gone out of my life it seems. I haven't seen her since Christmas time at the cafe in Master City. I miss her, but our secret was too much for her to bear. It's for the best that she is gone. "Do you take cream or sugar for your coffee?"

After they had had their evening snack they went out on the porch to look at the stars. As she turned to face him he said, "Don't you think it's about time to change your last name?" She grinned up at him and said, "I think my name is perfectly fine, Did you have another one in mind?" He grinned at her and said, "Yes I do; mine."

Maxine started listing all the reasons that he would be making a mistake by being saddled to an older woman that wasn't always cheerful and full of fun. "Why do you want to marry me? I come with a lot of baggage you know."

The sheriff grinned and said, "I'll help you unpack your baggage along the years we have together if that's alright with you. So what do you say? Will you marry me?"

Josh was exhausted. He wasn't used to hard work on a ranch. His work didn't require physical exercise any more. He worked out of an office. Soon he would have his own office and have men and women do the field work and bringing in samples for him and others to analyze. However, he could remember working on this ranch; his grandfather's ranch. He was forced to work there as was his father. "It just wasn't right to make a kid do something he hated." Then as he rubbed his neck he thought, "I didn't hate the work. I hated being forced to be a rancher when all I ever wanted to do is be a scientist; a geologist. Why I didn't know about that mine before when I was a kid I'll never know. Well, I guess I do know. It's because I was always cleaning the stables and grooming and bathing the horses. He was never here. He was always gone, now I realize he was at that mine making sure he had all the money he could dig out of that thing. He missed out on a lot and so did I."

The sheriff's phone rang. He hated to have to answer it, but duty called. He apologized to Maxine and said, "Sorry kiddo, I have to take this."

Josh's phone rang. "I'm too tired to answer it. I'm just going to bed and call whoever it is back in the morning." He turned off his phone and got ready for bed. 

Rex looked at his phone and said, "Whoever is calling me this late at night can wait until morning. I'm a happy man and I mean to lay down and dream of the day Pat and I will be married. She said, 'Yes.' I can't believe it." He turned his phone off and not long after fell asleep with a smile on his face."

Allie's voicemail box was full so she didn't get the message when her phone rang while she was sound asleep.

Grandma Lu's phone rang as she was writing the Dude Ranch series. This story was full of romance and continued mystery especially with Maxine. She missed writing children's stories, but she thought she would try her hand at a little more grownup stories. All of a sudden there was her favorite little five year old showing up on her cell phone she always had sitting on the stand by her computer. "Marlee! Did you call me all by yourself? Of course, you can come over. Is everything alright? You what? Yes, you need to come see me. I'll get some cookies out and we can discuss this." She quickly sent a text to her friend, Grandma B. "Marlee is on her way over to have a serious talk with me. She couldn't help but laugh. Do you realize she wants to go to Texas?"