Ch.35 (cont.)
I left the Road Warrior behind as I climbed
behind the wheel of the CJ -7 Jeep and fired it up. It had a nice throaty sound
not loud but mellow letting you know it was there, but not being rude or offend
the senses. I still had the top down and the fresh air was good for my soul as
I drove down the Redwood Highway into Crescent City and son I was pulling into
the parking lot of the Crescent City Sheraton. I parked the Jeep and grabbed my
cell phone out of my blazer and dialed Darla’s number and said I would meet her
in the lobby of the hotel , she said she would be down in a few minutes after
all I was a few minutes early. I found a comfortable chair and checked my
messages as I had one from the guy who is watching my house , I would call him
but it may spoil my dinner so I just postponed till after I ate. He probably
just wanted some more beer money for watching my house. In fact I may just wait
till tomorrow as I could care less about anything except having a good time
with Darla.
I was paying attention to my cell when I
looked up and Darla was standing there looking like a million bucks and I knew she
was worth it as she had the same privileged information about me. She was way too
pretty for me to be accompanying me anywhere, but I was the best she had tonight.
She was a tall woman I would say 5’10” in a raised sandal, her tan legs earlier
hidden by dark stockings, sported a nice tan. She had on a comfortable sand
colored dress and wore a square turquoise necklace that looked like it cost a
fortune and with the matching ear rings framed her young looking face. A slight
gray at the temples wasn’t hid , but added
touch of elegance to her blond curly hair, and embraced her overall
appearance as someone who wore a smile and proudly so because she was confident
of her looks and should surely be. So business like this morning and now so gorgeous,
it was hard to believe it was the same woman as I greeted her, and I asked her
if she would like to walk to where we were going to eat . She said sure and
took my chair as I stood up, she sat down and produced a pair of comfortable
flats from a bag she carried with her.
She says. “Excuse me while I slip into some more
comfortable walking shoes.” She seemed always organized as she slipped off the
sandals and put on the flats. I regretted asking her to walk after seeing how
gorgeous she looked, but thought she might like to see a bit of downtown life
and Crescent City Sheraton was in the heart of it all. The flats looked nice
but I liked those sandals better. Besides why was I worried as I needed to work
with this woman so I needed to keep my distance from her as if I had any chance
of being someone she would be interested in. We headed out the door of the hotel
and were soon walking down the main street heading for the waterfront where I was
sure they had a strip of restaurants.
Small talk revealed that she was fond of seafood
and I found the place where I had seafood dinner takeout when I was there with
the Jeep after I bought it. It wasn’t a deli but it did offer outside dining
and a gorgeous sunset from the table where we were seated. We shared a huge marinated
seafood platter that was brought to the table and set on flame. We had a salad
and she enjoyed a white wine from a local vineyard, and I just had apple juice.
We talked some shop and I repeatedly dabbed
at the corners of my mouth to make sure I left no traces of food and tried my
best to avoid dropping anything in my lap and felt that for an old man I was
doing good at being mannerly. It had been a long time since I had a chance to
eat with someone so pretty and her beauty was intimidating me and making me
very self-conscious. She adored the fact she had my total attention and played it
by drawing attention to herself by running a finger in the neckline of her dress,
fumbling with her earrings, sitting erect and then stretching at times. Our conversation
was business at first but turned more personal as we went along. Soon the sun
had set and we decided to pay the bill and walk on the beach for a while.
Darla offered to pay and I said no it was
my treat. She reminded me that since we discussed business it was all tax
deductible and that we would let Ann and Lee pick up the tab. After all we had
only a million apiece and Ann had so much more. I liked her style and I laughed
and heartily agreed. Why not? They were
the reason I was here in the first place and the same went for Darla, besides
from the sounds of things it looked as if Ann needed all the tax deductions she
could get.
We walked up the coast for awhile till it
was really dark and then we decided we had better return and call it a night. We
returned to the restaurant where we had started and there was a bonfire on the
beach by a younger crowd. We paused sat on a park bench and watched them for a
while not really ready to end the night so soon , and talked some more of our lives back home in
Ohio, our past failed marriages and our failed attempts at dating since, with
no success. I refused to discuss Leann with her instead avoided that
conversation for now. Besides I had about as much a chance with Darla as I do
with Leann at this moment. Darla and my self’s
little get together allowed each of us to learn more about each other. In fact I
felt more at ease with Darla after this night and looked forward to seeing her
again. I avoided any of my rants about the environment and planting trees as I didn’t
want her to get any preconceived notions about me.
At last I helped her up off the bench by offering
her my hand and we soon walked up the street to the hotel and I left her with a
thank you for the company, and she hugged me briefly and awkwardly for a few seconds,
and we parted in the lobby of the hotel and within minutes the cold night air
was revealing stars and blowing through my hair as I drove the Jeep along the Redwood
Highway back to the Road Warrior. I spent little time thinking of Leann instead
my thoughts were with Darla, and how strange it was that I had to drive over thirty
five hundred miles to have dinner with a woman who was practically in my
backyard. As I went to sleep I just hoped and planned to have more dinners with
Darla and was looking forward to it. In fact we had plans in the morning to look
for property and hash out more details of what we were looking for in terms of property.
As I settled to sleep I was looking forward to it.
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