Love Therapy (Stanton Falls #2) (9 page)

“Completely.”

***

Donna really enjoyed her
date that with Nick.  He had been the perfect gentleman all night long and
really didn’t want the night to end; with him driving ten miles per hour below
the speed limit, she could only assume that he was enjoying the night as much
as she was.  

“Nick you don’t think
this is going to affect our work relationship, do you?”

Nick dismissed her
concern with a hand waive.  

“No way.  Our jobs
don’t even require us to interact and like I told you before, you don’t work
for me.”

“You’re right.  I’m
probably being overly cautious since this is all so new to me.”

“Don’t worry Donna.
 I know you were concerned about dating me or anyone else.  I promise
you that I am going to make sure that you don’t get hurt.  All you need to
do is enjoy yourself.”

Donna didn’t say
anything.  Instead, she stared out the window, and tried to wrap her mind
around the good time she had with Nick that night.  She didn’t want to get
too far ahead of herself since she hadn’t been on a date in forever, but she
knew they clicked well.  The car stopped in front of her apartment before
she realized it.  He got out of the car, and walked around the front of it
to get her door for her again.

A girl could get used to
the royal treatment.  

Donna got out of the car
and walked casually to the front door of her apartment with Nick.  It was
late for a Sunday in Stanton Falls at nine thirty p.m. and he had made it clear
that he wanted to get her home at a respectable hour.  That was just the
kind of guy he was, it seemed.  

“I had wonderful time
with you tonight Nick.  Thank you so much for taking me out.”

“The pleasure was mine.
 I just hope that you’ll let me take you out again.”

“You won’t know unless
you ask.”

“You know
it’s
coming.  I just want to make sure that you won’t
forget me by then.”

“Not possible.  You
have left an impression on me Mr. Dellinger.”

“Good.  I’m happy
to hear that.  Well, I guess we are here.”

“Yeah.  We’re
here.”

Neither of them made a
move, each apparently waiting on the other.  Nick approached her, hugging
her gently.

“I’ll see you at the
office tomorrow Donna.  Goodnight.”

“Goodnight to you too
Nick.”

Donna turned around and unlocked the door.
 
She looked back happily at him and then
walked inside.  She was holding her breath for a while when he hugged
her--
her
heart pounded in her chest as she was really
hoping that he would kiss her.   His hug was still even sweeter than
she could imagine.  It showed her that he was about more than talk when it
came to his desire to take care of her.

“I don’t get why you
insisted on driving Donna.”

She laughed.  As
sweet as Nick was, he could be kind of clueless at times.

“Nick, I think it’s cool
that you always want to drive me every time we are together.  I find it
rather sweet but you know the times we live in.  I don’t want you to feel
like I can’t ever drive myself anywhere.”

“Oh I know that.  I
just like to do those things for you.  One of the ways I take care of you.
 Showing you my love and all that good stuff.”

“Your love huh?”

“Well… uh… I didn’t mean
that in the literal sense.  I don’t really love you.”

“Wait.  So now you
don’t love me.”

A flustered Nick tried
to backtrack on his words.  

“Oh boy.  That’s
not what I mean either.  I….Donna you know … are we there yet?”

She knew what he meant
but it was fun to jab him.  They had only been dating a few weeks so she
wouldn’t expect him to say that he loved her yet.  She did know that she
was growing extremely close to feeling that way herself though.  She wasn’t
quite to that point yet but she wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up there
soon enough. She thought back on the past few weeks and was surprised with
herself.  She never thought that she would be the one believing in love
and a future but Nick was the kind of guy that could change the most skeptical
of minds and hearts.  

“You are so adorable
when you get caught.  I know what you meant.  And I do appreciate you
being so chivalrous to me.  You have a different set of principles.”

“Thanks.  I guess
that I get that from watching how my dad took care of my mom growing up.
 I always felt like there was a certain way that a woman was supposed to
be treated and there really isn’t any substitute for that.  Probably part
of the whole Christian upbringing and such.”

“I know what you mean.
 I know you know my mom from church so you know I grew up around all of
that.  I’m not as heavy into it anymore though, since the issues with my
dad.  Look at me going and being a downer again.  I can turn anything
into an issue with my father.”

“Don’t be so hard on
yourself.  He was a really big part of your formative years.”

“You are probably right.
 Anyway, it looks like the answer to your question is finally ‘yes, we are
there’.  Are they here yet?”

“Oh I can guarantee they
are.  Aaron is one of those ten minutes early is on time kind of guys.”

Donna and Nick got out
of the car, walked up to the front of the parking lot and sure enough, Aaron
called out to them from the waiting area of the restaurant.

“Hey guys.  We got
here a few minutes ago.  They gave me one of these cool flash things for
when it’s our turn.  I’d guess about five minutes left until we are
seated.”

“Great.  Aaron you
already know Donna, but this is a first for Emily and Donna.  Donna this
is the woman kind enough to fall in love with my best friend.”

Donna extended her hand
to a very pregnant Emily who dismissed it, opting to move in for a hug instead.

“You get over here and
give me a hug Donna.  Anyone who can put up with this one here deserves
more than a handshake.  He taking good care of you?”

“Could be better.
 That’s why I was excited for the double date.  
Hopin
’
some of that goodness will rub off on my guy here.”

Not to be so easily
outdone, Nick picked up on her joke and chimed in instantly.

“Funny, I was thinking
the same thing about you meeting Em here.”

“Oh come on guys.
 I saw the smiles on both of your faces when you got out of the car and
you aren’t fooling me at all.  It’s apparent that you both are having a
great time.  It’s strange to me because I know this guy but, one man’s
trash…”

Nick retorted quickly.

“Yeah, love you too
buddy!  Hey Aaron, I don’t know if it’s a new style but your pocket is
blinking.”

“I didn’t even notice.
  Let’s get these ladies some food.”

Nick and Aaron held the
double doors open as their dates walked inside.  When everyone was seated,
Donna and Emily got a chance to talk.

“So how did you meet
Aaron?”   

“You don’t want to hear
our story.  It’s boring.  Childhood sweethearts.  I met him in
Sunday school actually and he’s been buzzing around me ever since.  No way
I could have come back here and married someone else with him around so I
figured I’d go ahead and give in to him.  The rest is history or rather
our story as we like to call it.”

Emily gave Aaron a kiss
on the cheek as he rubbed her shoulder.  

“And now you are
pregnant.  Awesome.  Are you excited about being a mother?”

“Yes, but I already am
actually.  Long story there.  We can talk about it another time when
we get together, but we have Ashleigh at home already.”

“That’s nice.  I
really didn’t like being an only child.”  

“I get that.  I’m
sorry to change the subject so abruptly but I have been dying to hear about you
and Nick from the horse’s mouth.  I have all the inside scoop but these
guys are pals, so they’re always ragging on each other, blowing stories out of
proportion and such.  Aaron has spent forever telling me stories of how
you didn’t know who this guy was even though he was all goo
goo
over you.”

Nick looked at Aaron and
shook his head in disbelief.

“What man?  She’s
my wife.  Did you really think I wasn’t going to tell her about your
mooning over Donna like a lonely puppy?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as
to say I was mooning over her.”

“Well duh.   I
would though.  You should have seen him, not being able to concentrate
when he found out you were back in town.  Then when you started at the
company, like a girl at a rock concert. ‘Aaron, she works here.  Can you
believe it?  How do I look?  What should I do?  What should I
say’?  I felt like I should have charged him a consultant fee just to talk
about you.  I even told him to see the therapist before remembering that
it was you.”

“Yeah.  I was like
‘dude, you’re not helping.’  I should have known better.  I don’t mind
admitting it I guess.  So I might have had a little thing for her.
 When you find somebody nice, that kind of thing happens.”  

The waiter brought back
the food everyone had ordered and Donna was surprised as everyone prayed before
they ate.  Again, something that she had relegated to her mother and older
church people until she had started dating Nick.  That was all different
to her but it felt really nice.  

The night went on with
everyone sharing stories and laughing.  Donna was having the time of her
life as a result of dating Nick.  She didn’t know where things were
headed.  She couldn’t predict the future, but she did know that she was
having a great time with Nick and she couldn’t wait to see what the future
held.  

Recently, her life had
been changing for the better and she was soundly convinced that it was all
because of the man sitting beside her.

She placed her hand over
his on the table as everyone talked, and said her own private thank you to God
for the joy He was letting her experience.  

***

Three weeks later.
 

Nick stood in the flower
shop looking at various bouquets.  He wanted to find something that would
convey to Donna just how special she was to him.  She was the one for him
and he was sure of it by then.   They had only been dating for a few
months, but it felt like it was just right.  The best thing in his mind
was that it wasn’t even a carnal feeling.  Not that he wasn’t physically
attracted to her, because he was.  He acknowledged those feelings but that
wasn’t what he cared about because he knew that those feelings could come and
go.  More importantly, they simply enjoyed each other’s company.

Being with her reminded
him of when he would watch his mom and dad together.  Or even Emily and
Aaron.  They had the kind of oneness where they kind of clicked together.
 It was funny because when they were together he was happiest and when
they were apart, all he thought about was getting back to her again.  He
could have written a million love songs with her as the centerpiece of each of
them.  It was lucky for him that he couldn’t really hold a tune or else he
probably would have been singing to her every day.  That would have
probably ended the relationship before it ever started.  

In the midst of thinking
about her, he understood why men those days could totally frustrate women.
 He always found it strange how some guys would date a woman for several
years, engage her for a few more and then set a date to marry, only to break it
off at the end.  That wasn’t the mold he fit.  He was more of a grab
the bull by the horns and hang on for a great ride kind of guy.
 Everything in him was pushing him in that direction and he wasn’t the
type of guy that needed months or years to tell he was in love.

A featured bouquet
caught his eye and he stopped in front of it to read the descriptor card.

For your Love

Nothing says love like red roses

Nothing says beautiful like white lilies.

The perfect combination creating

A shower of romance she’ll never forget...
 

Show her how you feel with this unique
arrangement today!  

At first thought when he
entered the flower shop that day, he was going to get her a dozen red roses but
that was too cliché, even for him.  He looked at the blended combination
of red and white flowers and knew instantly that it was the one he wanted to
give her. He had found out completely by happenstance recently that her
favorite flower was the white lily.  He was supremely excited to be able
to find a mixture with red roses.   It was the perfect bouquet to say
tell her a bit more about how much he cared about her.  Nick hadn’t told
her the depths of his feelings yet but he felt like that day was going to be
the day he did so.  In fact, he was bursting inside to let her know right
then.  Luckily for him, it was Friday afternoon so she would be at the
other job and not the office.  He was sure he wouldn’t have accomplished a
thing with her there.  

“Nick.  Did you
find something you like there?”

Tom was the owner of the
flower shop.  Nick had seen him around town occasionally but didn’t know
him well.  That was before meeting Donna of course.  With her having
been such an anti-romantic when he first met her, he was determined to pull out
all the stops on the romance train including surprise flowers on an ongoing basis.
 Because of that, he and Tom had come to know each other on a first name
basis.

“Yes sir, I have.
 I want to get this one right here.”

“Oh for your love.
 Getting serious if you’re moving up the chain like that.”

“Well I certainly hope
so.”

“Congratulations for you
then.”

The older man grabbed
the clear bluish vase.

“Did you want this vase
with it as well?”

“Why not.  It’s the
whole package that caught my eye.”

“Ok.  Let me get
these packaged up for you then.  When and where do you want these
delivered Nick?  The usual?”

“No I don’t think so
today Tom.  I’m going to deliver these myself.  That’s the great
thing about being the boss you know.  Nobody is going to ask why I took a
long lunch.  Today I think that I deserve to be the one to see the smile
on her face when she gets these.   How long before they are ready.”

“Give me five minutes
and I’ll have ‘em raring to go buddy.”

“Thanks Tom.”

He couldn’t wait to get them to her as soon as
possible.