It's Bliss (19 page)

So here he was—crunched for time.

Finding the faculty parking taken up, he backed around and headed toward a vacant space he had seen coming in. As he turned right, he jammed on his brakes, and the driver facing him did the same. The jolt was hard and both drivers sat there stunned. Sheldon blinked a couple of times as he stared at the car in front of him. It couldn’t be, he thought—but it was. It was Miss Lemmon again! He got out of the car and stared at the bumpers. One side of her front bumper was lodged under his.

Lora couldn’t believe it. “Not again!” she groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was get out and face Dr. Ackerman, but he was angrily motioning her to do so.

Reluctantly, Lora got out. She hesitantly walked over to him, looked at the locked bumpers, gave him a mortified glance, and lowered her head.

He began slowly, trying to control his anger, “Why, Miss Lemmon, were you driving recklessly again?”

Her head still down, she mumbled, “I was turning left.”

“
Miss Lemmon, I think you need to go back to Driver’s Ed. In a parking lot, it’s very important that you drive slowly and watch where you’re going.”

“
I know. I’m sorry.”

“
What are you doing here?” he asked suspiciously. He was feeling hexed by Lora Lemmon. Every where he went of late, there she was!

She turned red again, trying desperately to think of an excuse for being in the parking lot of the Franklin Building and why she was in a hurry. “I . . . I have to get to work.”

“
Where do you work, Miss Lemmon?”

She fidgeted and scratched at an ant bite. “Uh, at a fast food place on Syracuse and Main.”

His eyes bored into her suspiciously. “So then, why are you
here
?”

“
I, uh, I guess I was lost or something,” she mumbled, her voice trailing off.

“
Lost? How could you be lost, Miss Lemmon? Do you realize you’ve made me late for an important meeting? Help me lift this bumper off yours.”

Grateful he didn’t wait for her to answer that question, she helped him tug on the bumpers.

“
No, Miss Lemmon! Don’t lift up on your bumper, lift up on mine,” he shouted, stopping to loosen his tie and remove his coat.

“
Oh, of course, it’s just that I’m so . . . so flustered.”

They both worked at it for five minutes and couldn’t dislodge them.

Sheldon looked at his watch.

Miss Lemmon, I must go into my meeting. I’ll call a wrecker and have him come out. You’ll have to remain here with the cars and wait for him.”

“
Yes, Dr. Ackerman,” she said in a small, miserable voice. She watched him go. “Dang it!” she shouted at herself when he was out of earshot.

Sheldon was sweating profusely as he ran to the building. The fact that it was blistering hot and humid didn’t help his disposition at all.

The disheveled professor entered the lounge, and all heads turned in his direction, taken aback by his flushed and angry face.

Nettie looked at her watch and saw that it was seven fifteen. “What happened, Dr. Ackerman?” she asked, concerned.

“
I’m being hexed!” he mumbled under his breath.

“
What did you say?” she asked.

“
Had a little accident out in the parking lot. Would you all excuse me while I call a wrecker? I’ll be with you soon.”

“
Are you hurt? Would you like to postpone the meeting?” Hal asked.

Sheldon shook his head. Holding the phone in a death grip, he told the wrecker where to find the cars and afterwards where to find him. He walked over and sat down, leaving his coat over the chair. “Well,” he smiled halfheartedly, “did you start without me?”

“
No, we were waiting for our punctual professor,” Robert chided with amusement. Everyone laughed, including Sheldon.

His tension released somewhat, his fingers uncurled from their subconscious grip on Lora Lemmon’s neck. “Nice timing, Dr. Bittle. Sorry again for making you wait.”

The meeting proceeded as it had last Friday: the girls reporting first, then the counselors responding. The girls were progressing nicely and were still very hopeful, but the surprise came when Billie Bliss reported.

She stood up, removed her jacket, and whirled around. Everyone gasped, except Sheldon, who simply stared in disbelief. The inches had just melted away!

“
How . . . how did that happen so fast?” asked a dumbfounded Vickie Blume.

“
Well, it really wasn’t as fast as it looks. You see, it began almost as soon as Dr. Ackerman started working with me. I wanted to make sure the pounds would stay off, so I just kept wearing the same clothes—until now.”

“
Tell us, Miss Bliss,” Nettie asked, “have you exercised every day and eaten right all the while?”

“
I have. But the main reason for my success . . .” her eyes, filled with warmth and gratitude, focused on her friend and professor, “is that Dr. Ackerman has helped me in a way no one else could have.”

The gaze of the whole group centered on Sheldon questioningly. He felt a deep flush work its way from his neck to his forehead.

Robert Bittle smiled, his eyes twinkling. “I think we could all use a few pointers here. Could you tell us, Miss Bliss,
how
he helped you?” Every head swivelled in Billie’s direction.

“
How many weeks do you have?”

Sheldon’s deep guttural laugh, which clearly said,
now it’s your turn to be confused
, caused every eye to focus on him again.

“
Will it really take that long, Billie?” Nettie asked.

The group once again fastened on Billie, curious to hear her answer.

“
It took a while for Dr. Ackerman to understand my problem, and all of you would surely have to understand before I could explain how he’s helped me.”

Sheldon quickly stood up and cleared his throat. “I think we should hear from the support counselors now and I’ll be the first. Miss Bliss gives me the credit, but I assure you, it’s really her efforts that have produced the physical effects you see. She has worked at it very hard. Now may we hear from the rest of the counselors?”

The meeting over, the girls were excused.

-

The committee members were now seated in the softer chairs for an after meeting discussion.

The wrecker had come and gone. Sheldon had parked his car and assured Miss Lemmon that there was no damage, but told her if there was a next time, he would call the police to take a look. Her reply more than puzzled him. “If there’s a next time, Dr. Ackerman, will you please request Officer Bates?” He found himself shaking his head, not only over her odd request, but over all the episodes having to do with Miss Lemmon.

“
What is it, Shel?” asked Nettie, as she watched him.

“
Oh, nothing—at least I hope it’s nothing. Well, now I’ll explain why I asked you to stay for a few minutes. I need your help.”

“
It doesn’t look like you need our help,” Hal said, smiling. “Miss Bliss is literally glowing, as well as looking much better.”

“
But it won’t last, Hal, I assure you. Her problem is just temporarily on hold.”

Robert expelled a breath of exasperation. “Come on, Sheldon, tell us what her problem is.”

Sheldon chuckled. “How many weeks do you have?”

“
You can’t be serious,” Robert replied, his voice thick with skepticism.

“
I am, Robert. I wish I could explain it, but it isn’t my place to try. I hope Bliss will be able to do so soon, and I hope all of you will be able to understand it sooner than I did.”

“
I’m afraid if Billie does the explaining, we won’t,” Nettie stated, smiling.

Sheldon returned her smile, nodding. “Maybe when the time comes, I can help. Now, folks, I have only one more idea to help Bliss with her problem.”

“
Bliss?” questioned Robert. “That’s the second time you called her by her last name.”

“
The name Billie doesn’t suit her.”

Robert’s brows arched and the three glanced at one another. Sheldon gave them a sardonic smile. “All right, you three, it’s not what you think.” He cleared his throat nervously. “Now, to get to the reason I asked you stay for a few minutes. Billie Bliss has decided not to get married. All I can say is, she has become disillusioned with young men. However, I know that if a nice, old-fashioned young man came along, whose values matched hers, she would change her mind and her problem would be solved.”

“
Oh? Let me get this straight,” Nettie said. “
You
want to find a husband for
her
, and
she
wants to find a wife for
you
?”

“
What?” Robert blurted out.

Nettie filled in the other two on Sheldon’s Wednesday night call. Sheldon leaned upon his knees, tapping his fingers together, trying to be patient.

Robert raised his brows again and Hal chuckled.

Nettie leaned toward him, curious. “What is it you want from
us
, Shel?”

“
I want all of you to help me find that old-fashioned boy for Bliss.”

Time crawled by as the three silently digested what each thought was an absurd request.

A smug look on her face, Nettie said, “I thought only we women were guilty of being matchmakers.”

“
Now you know how desperate I feel,” Sheldon replied. “Wednesday afternoon I had decided to pull out of the project and find some one else to be a support counselor to Billie Bliss.”

The three began to take Sheldon seriously. Reneging on a commitment was not his style.

“
What changed your mind, Sheldon?” Hal asked.

Thoughtful a moment, he answered. “You know . . . I’m not quite sure.

Well, how about it?” he asked, looking at each of them.

Robert shook his head. “I would like to help you out, Sheldon, but I wouldn’t touch it with that proverbial ten-foot pole.”

“
I think I’ll pass, too,” Hal said.

“
You aren’t going to bail out on me, are you, Nettie?” he implored, looking like a man fearful of his imminent demise.

“
Shel, I think I’ve been the most avid matchmaker in the history of Claytonville, but a few years ago I got burned and I promised my husband I would give it up.”

Gloom settled over Sheldon like a sweaty horse blanket. “I guess I’m on my own.”

Sheldon, ready for bed, wandered around aimlessly trying to come up with a way to find a worthy young man for Bliss. The exercise of coming up with and then rejecting one idea after another, left him totally exhausted; nevertheless, he couldn’t turn off his mind.

The progress Bliss had made in her weight management was amazing, but at the moment, what he really cared about was that she seemed happier.

Though realizing that cheerfulness was her natural disposition, Sheldon agreed with Hal—she literally glowed—and he desperately wanted to keep her feeling this way! He needed to buy time. After he had paced a few more times around the room, the obvious solution hit him. “That’s it!” he exclaimed aloud. It was an idea for buying time, while giving him the opportunity to learn more about that subtle essence Bliss called romance.

Checking the time, he saw that it wasn’t quite 10:00 p.m.,so taking a chance that Bliss wouldn’t be in bed, he called her. It rang and rang. He was about to hang up when she answered with a breathy hello.

“
This is Dodds. Did you just walk in?”

“
Yes, I’ve been over visiting my family. They all asked about you and wanted to know when you were coming over for dinner again.”

“
Well, that brings me to the reason I called. I would like to see more of your favorite movies.”

“
You would? Oh, that would be wonderful.”

Sheldon noted that she sounded as excited as a child on Christmas eve.

He wondered why, since she must have seen all of the movies several times.

“
Since tomorrow’s Saturday, we could see a couple of them if you came over in the afternoon. We could watch one before dinner and one after.”

“
I have a better idea. How about my taking you and your whole family out to the Maplewood Country Club for dinner tomorrow night after watching the first movie? Then we can go back and watch another one if there’s time.”

There was silence. “Bliss? What is it?”

“
I don’t know what a professor at Fairfield University makes, but I am surprised that you can even afford to belong to the country club, let alone take our whole family out.”

“
You forget, Bliss, I was in business for years before becoming a professor.

I have a few investments that supplement my income from the college.”

“
Oh. Then I accept for my family. I’m so excited. Thank you, Dodds.”

“
It’s my pleasure, Bliss.”

“
And, Dodds, let’s watch a couple of romantic comedies. You seemed rather down the day you came to my apartment. You need to laugh more.”