“Well,” the deep voice said with a thick Midwest accent, “lucky for you, I like being tall.”
Tanned, earthy, and muscled hands stretched up to grab the box, and the man plopped it down on another one next to her.
“Thank you!” Evelyn said, turning to the kindhearted stranger. But immediately she had to shift her gaze upward due to his height. Her heart flushed, and redness came into her cheeks.
He was cute alright. And perhaps if she had felt better and wasn’t missing her pawpaw, she may have tried to flirt in some way. But her heart was too heavy for thatnonsense.
His handsome dark eyes speckled with kindness, and his face was smooth. He had dimples as he smiled. Her heart simply pooled like a little schoolgirl all over again.
Wearing light-red flannel and washed-out blue jeans, he nodded to her and left, calling over his shoulder, “To let you know, that medicine ain’t gonna help much with that fever of yours. You’re as red as a tomato.”
I’m not flushed from a fever,she thought to herself.
She hurried to get in line after everything was placed in her basket, and she got right behind him, completely unintentionally. She refrained from coughing as he placed his stuff on the register. Hewastall! He had to be about six-foot-three. Evelyn leaned to the side to try to ease her back pain.
He glanced back at her then turned to get out his wallet. “What are the flowers for?”
“My pawpaw.”
“You buy flowers for your grandpa? That’s awful sweet. Where’s he at?”
She looked away. “At Crest Hill.”
He gazed at her in a pause. And then he grabbed her basket and put it up on the counter. “Add this to my bill,” he said to the cashier.
“Oh, are you—” Evelyn began but then stopped. “Thank you.”
“I’m a soldier myself. Only the finest are buried there. I’m sure he was a damn good man.”
“Yes,” she said slowly. “He was.” After he gave her a brief smile, she thought to ask him his name. But she had to do the dreaded check first.
“I, uh…” She moved to step next to him. Peering out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.
The ring.
Her heart was crushed.
“You what?” He smiled at her.
“I, um, really want to thank you.”
He gave her the bag. “Don’t mention it. Pay it forward.”
Next thing she knew, he was gone and out the door.
She didn’t even get to know his name.
Chapter Three
“I don’t even have a Christmas tree,” she said to herself as she walked in through the door. She rubbed her face in exhaustion. The pain in her body had mounted to a point of needing to lie down, and so she did. She flopped on the couch once more and sulked. There was no lie she could tell herself now. Her mind kept going back to how lonely she felt since Pawpaw passed, and as she basked in her squalor, the horrible encroaching feeling dawned on her. She was destined for a state of disrepair as much as her house was. But the man in the ad from long ago? Too perfect and unattainable.He would never go for a girl like me.
Most certainly not. He apparently had his whole life together, and she? Well, she couldn’t even fix herself a proper meal those days. And the man at the drugstore? Married, as he should be. But still she rolled her head off to the side with her arms draped carelessly on the couch. The act of kindness he gave her was going to have to suffice.
Evelyn kept staring at the empty corner in her living room. There were still a few unpacked boxes nearby, a dusty end table she was unsure if she’d keep, and a few storage boxes full of clothes that no longer fit her.
She smiled and decided to get rid of it all to make room for aChristmas tree. Each box of clothing was taken to her sedan so that she could donate it, and soon the table followed. She vowed to herself that she would lose weight for spring, and so all those extra spring clothes were no longer necessary. Before she could slow down, half of the things in her living room were gone. Happiness came over her, exfoliating her dead soul like warm and cleansing sands on achy feet.
With a cup of tea, she sat in front of her computer and opened Facebook. Her mission was clear. She was going to ask if anyone had a spare tree to donate or sell so close to Christmas. Her fingers drummed on the desk. Her brown eyes focused hard. And to her surprise, numerous people responded.
