“So, you think I should move back here for good?”
“Er...” I stuttered as I tried to process the question. Was she seriously considering moving back, or was this just small talk? And if she did mean it, how should I answer?
Of course, I thought she should move back; because I was selfish, and I wanted nothing more than to see her every day for the rest of her life. But that didn’t make it the right decision for her.
Cameron and I would do everything in our power to make her happy, but could we offer her more than what she had in LA, and what I saw in that photo?
“Shit, look over there.” Just down the road a little way I spotted a large vehicle that seemed to have been struck by a falling tree. The back windshield was clearly shattered. The route was so quiet that if anyone was inside, they could easily be trapped there for hours.
Muriel pulled up behind the Volvo and leaped out of the car.
I joined her, and we peered through the windows to see an old lady at the wheel, unconscious.
“Damn it.”
I tried the door, but it was locked, so I knocked desperately at the window. It took a worrying minute before she stirred, and Muriel and I heaved huge sighs of relief before the woman looked at us with stern eyes.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, as though we’d wandered into her home uninvited.
I shouted through the closed window, explaining that we’d been passing by, and she appeared to be in trouble. After a little coaxing, she agreed to unlock the door.
“I think she’s in shock,” I murmured to Muriel, who nodded in agreement. “We should take her to the hospital.”
“Ma’am, I’m Muriel. What’s your name?”
“Agnes. Agnes Butterfield.”
“That’s a beautiful name.” Cameron wasn’t the only charmer in town; I could turn it on if I needed to. “Now, Agnes, let’s get you checked out at the hospital. Do you want to take my arm?”
The lady’s face transformed from stern to bashful as I reached down to offer the use of my elbow as support.
“That’s quite an offer, young man,” Agnes said. “But perhaps you should take me dancing instead?”
Muriel laughed, and I had to grin too.
“We’ll see about the dancing once we’ve got you a full bill of health. You must have had a nasty shock when that tree fell.”
“Pah, it was nothing. I just had a little nap to pass the time. But if you insist, we’ll go to the hospital on the way to the dance.”
Muriel climbed back into the driver’s seat while I got Agnes settled in the back. Once back in the passenger seat, I tested my phone for a GPS signal.
“I’m still getting nothing on my phone. Do you know the way?”
“Yep. Honestly, I know these roads like the back of my hand,” Muriel replied as she pulled away.
Agnes chatted happily all the way to the hospital, with only the occasional strange comment that suggested she might be suffering from shock, heat stroke, or a concussion.
“So, are you two an item?” she called out from the back seat, and I looked at Muriel awkwardly.
“I’ll let you take that one,” I said, and Muriel glanced in the rearview mirror with a warm smile.
“We’re... it’s complicated.”
My heart sank a little. I’d hoped for a simple affirmation.
Muriel gave out very mixed signals, and didn’t know what to make of them. One minute she casually talked about moving back here, and the next she couldn’t even tell a stranger that I was her boyfriend.
I wished I could interview Muriel properly, pull out my pad and pen and bombard her with questions, but I knew from her behavior this morning that if I pushed too hard, she’d run.
Agnes seemed to understand what Muriel meant, and she tapped the side of her nose conspiratorially. “Complicated, I see. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Muriel started giggling, and I had to nudge her in the ribs to stop her.
“What does she think I meant?” she whispered.
“That we’re having an affair, probably,” I whispered back, and Agnes piped up again to confirm my suspicions.
“I had a lot of ‘complications’ with young men back in my day until I met my Richard, and then everything became perfectly simple. Fifty-three years, we were married. I never even looked at another man after I met him.”
“That’s really beautiful.” A sorrowful longing seemed to replace the amusement in Muriel’s voice, and her expression was pensive.
“But you kids have fun while you’re young,” Agnes continued. “You spend a long time dead.”
“Very good point,” I replied, knowing full well that I needed to be poked with a cattle prod before I’d allow myself to just have fun. I never would be a just have fun type of person.
Except when Muriel was around.
And especially when we were naked together.