Before her feet hit the floor, Pat knew what she had to do, but she took her shower first. When she called Jim, she didn’t even say hello. She simply blurted out, “Oh, Jim, I’m so sorry,” and began apologizing profusely for her faux pas on Friday night. “It was an honest mistake. Oh, and by the way, you don’t have to worry about Chuck. I told him last night that we were done.” Blah blah, blah, on and on.
Jim said softly, “Why are you worrying about something that’s over? What’s done is done. It’s too nice a day to spend it fretting.”
“Oh, you’re right, Jim. It is a beautiful day.” Pat was at a loss as to how to continue. She had forgotten her resolve to tell him how much she loved him, just as she’d forgotten her date with Chuck. “Well, I do want you to know that I would have enjoyed your company much more than I enjoyed Chuck’s last night. That’s all.”
“Pat, will you stop? If you didn’t want to be with him last night, you should have told him so. Really, I don’t want to hear that guy’s name again.”
Once again, she didn’t know how to continue. This attitude from Jim was so out of character for him. Still, she persisted. “Sorry about that, but I do want to see you and make it up to you. I hope you’re free tonight, because I’d like to ask you to go to dinner as my guest. I know you like steak.”
“Thanks, Pat, but I’m going to be busy tonight. It’s a great day, though, and I’m free all afternoon. Why don’t we take a ride down to Rogers Park? In fact, why don’t we have a picnic?”
Jim had never rejected her in her life. She didn’t know how to respond. Hoping to hide her hurt feelings, she said, “Oh, that’s a great idea. I’m really excited. I’ll pack the lunch. Mom made a mandarin orange cake this morning. I bet she’ll let me take a couple of slices.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll swing by around noon. That okay?”
“I’ll be ready.”
Pat got dressed and fixed her hair into one long, thick braid. When she went to the kitchen for breakfast, Maureen asked her if she wanted eggs. She said, “No, Mom. I’ll just have some juice and toast. I’m going on a picnic with Jim today. I have to pack a lunch.”
“That sounds like fun. You two haven’t been on a picnic since you were kids. You know what? I’ll make some deviled eggs and macaroni salad. How’s that?”
“That’s too much work, Mom. Don’t bother. I’ll just make a few sandwiches. We have some chips, and I’ll throw in a couple of bananas.”
“It’s no trouble, Pat. I have to make something for lunch, anyway. It’s such a beautiful day, I think your dad and I will have our picnic on the deck. Come to think of it, didn’t you tell me you were going to ask Jim to dinner tonight?”
“Oh, Mom, I’ve made such a mess of everything!” Pat started to cry.
Maureen pulled up a chair across from her daughter, handed her a tissue, and waited. When the tears subsided, she took her two hands and held them. She said, “What’s wrong, honey? You haven’t been yourself since you came down for breakfast.”
“For one thing, I think Jim is mad at me. He wasn’t mean or anything like that, but it didn’t seem as though he cared one way or the other that I didn’t show up last night, and when I mentioned Chuck’s name, he almost bit my head off. And when I asked him to dinner, he told me he’d be busy. I think he has a date with someone.” Pat began to weep quietly.
Maureen took her daughter’s face in her hands, and looking her in the eye, said, “Pat, are you in love with Jim? Because if you are, you have a strange way of showing it. And if Jim has a date with another woman, he’s certainly entitled to that. But I doubt that he has anyone. He was definitely disappointed that you didn’t come last night.”
“Well, he could have easily made a date with another woman last night.”
“Pat, I can’t understand why you didn’t confide in me about your feelings for Jim. More importantly, you should have told Jim how you felt long ago. You haven’t been very fair with him.”
“Everything I did, I did because I never wanted to lose his friendship. I’ve loved Jim all my life. But I’ve also been friends with him all my life. I know I did it all wrong, and that’s why I’m so upset. Now I think it’s too late.”
“Think positive, honey. It’s a beautiful day. Jim did ask you to go on a picnic. I hope you’re going to tell him how you really feel. And believe it or not, when you open up and reveal your feelings, you’ll feel pounds lighter. You don’t know how he’ll respond, but right now, you’re going to think positive. If it doesn’t turn out that he feels the same way, then you’ll cross that bridge when you blow it up.” Maureen stood, took Pat’s hands, and pulled her up. “Now go get the picnic basket. You’re going on a picnic.”
Jim pulled up, and he was in the house before Pat got out of her chair. He gave Maureen a big hug, picked up the picnic basket, and said to me, “Come on, Sweet Stuff. We’ve got a date with some ants.”
The drive down Route 75 was a quiet one. Pat determined she was going to stay positive, but she couldn’t help looking out the side window so Jim couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. She couldn’t seem to shut them off.
Jim commented on the fact that she was awfully quiet. Her response was that she hadn’t slept well.
They drove in the main entrance and parked. Jim carried the picnic basket and a tote bag. There are picnic tables available on any trail one might choose to take at Rogers Park. They chose the Old Mill trail, and both of them were fairly quiet as they soaked up the redolence of the shrubbery. They settled on a table a short distance and to the right of the old mill. It afforded them a bit of privacy, yet they could still hear the water flowing over the dam. Wild ferns and numerous shrubs, a couple of maple trees, and a big oak tree surrounded them in their little niche. Pat spread the tablecloth, set the table, and laid out their picnic lunch.
“There, doesn’t that look yummy?”
Jim laughed. “Yep, the yummiest. It looks like your mother outdid herself with all this delicious stuff.”
Pat pulled a pouty face. “Hey, mister, I made the sandwiches, put in the chips and bananas, and made the lemonade. I worked.”
The pair sat across from each other and began to eat. As they did, Jim said quite nonchalantly, “I got a new job.”
Pat almost choked on her deviled egg. She put her hand to her mouth and sat upright with a jolt. “You did what? Where?”
“I got a job as an administrator for GE in one of the main offices in Dallas. Hank told me about the opening, I applied a month ago, and they called me this morning to tell me I got the job. I have to go in on Monday to get all the details worked out. Then I have to report for work in three weeks.”
“Oh, no, you’ll be so far away!” Pat almost started to cry and began to feel that positive attitude of hers slipping right over the Silver Lake dam. This wonderful day was beginning to look mighty stormy.
Jim looked at her seriously and asked, “Would that bother you?”
With tears in her eyes, she said, “Well, of course it would. What would I ever do without you?” Then, half in tears, she gave a little laugh. “It’s a good thing I solved my problem with Chuck.”
Jim took hold of her two hands across the table, gave her a very serious look, and said, “Pat, I already know what I would have told you to do with Chuck.”
She was a little puzzled by his behavior, as she had been all day. “You do? I haven’t even told you the problem, yet.”
“You don’t have to tell me the problem. Chuck isn’t the problem. We are.”
Now she was getting uneasy. Why was he behaving so strangely?
“I don’t understand. Why are we the problem? I thought we were getting along very nicely. Did I do something to hurt you again?” She was ready to bawl.
“You’ve done nothing wrong, my sweet girl. Today I’m going to tell you something I should have told you long ago, and that is how much I love you. I’ve been in love with you from the day you threw water in my face and dubbed me Jimbo. I probably didn’t know it until you stopped talking to me in our senior year, and after that, I got the idea that maybe you were interested in someone else, not me. I’ve always been afraid of losing your friendship.
“You’re so beautiful, Pat. You can have any man you want. Did you think I didn’t know that? Chuck being a case in point. It never occurred to me that you could ever feel the same about me as I did about you. But I loved being your friend. One of the best things that have happened to me in a very long time is the fact that you didn’t show up last night.”
Her heart was racing. He had just said that he loved her, and yet he was glad that she hadn’t shown up the night before. What did he do, meet the love of his life between last night and today? She was afraid to ask, but she did.
“What was so significant about me not showing up?”
“Your sister. She did show up, and she squealed on you, Pat.” He laughed, then squeezed her hands. “The two of us have been dancing around each other for way too long. Don’t you think?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Your problem with Chuck is solved. Just tell him you can’t go out with him because you want to marry me. Please?”
Her racing heart was now in her throat, and she couldn’t speak. She jumped off her bench, ran over to him, sat on his lap, hugged him, kissed his face all over, and started to cry. She pulled back, looked him in the face, and said, “I was going to tell you that same thing today. I love you so much, Jim Murray. I didn’t think you could ever love me after what I did to you. But I’ve also loved you from that day I threw water in your face. I’ve always known I loved you.”
She kissed him squarely on the mouth and could feel the heat in her body fill her with passion. The two of them lingered in that embrace for quite a while.
Then Jim asked her to stand. He got up and told her to sit down. When she did, Jim said, “I brought champagne. We have to have a toast to us. But before we do…” He paused, got down on one knee, and held out a small jewelry box. It held a beautiful star sapphire flanked by smaller diamonds that took her breath away. He said, “Pat, you are the love of my life. Will you marry me?”
She practically pulled him upright, kissing his face all over again. “Yes, yes, yes!”
They sat together at the table, and Jim put the ring on her finger. He smiled. “It fits. I was concerned about that.” He gave her a peck on the nose.
She held up her water glass and said, “I’ll drink to that,” while Jim opened and poured the champagne.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, holding hands. Pat leaned her head on his shoulder and said softly, “Does this mean I don’t ever have to get you to rescue me from another relationship?”
“Well, doggone. I hadn’t thought about that. Then what in the world will we talk about”
They both laughed. Then Pat proposed a toast. “To my wonderful sister, Frannie. May she find happiness in whatever road lies ahead of her.”
“I couldn’t have expressed it any better. Hear, hear!”
She looked him in the eye and said, “You know, Jim, one of the things I love the most about you is the fact that you never questioned me about how deeply I was involved with any of the guys you helped me get rid of. If you loved me, weren’t you jealous? I know I was jealous as hell when you asked June Carney to the senior prom. Why do you think I was so mad at you? “
Jim took a few minutes to think, then with a wry smile said, “Is that the reason you got so mad at me when I invited her to the prom? I thought it was because you didn’t want anyone else telling me what to do. You know you used to order me to jump, and I’d say, ‘How high?’ That’s amazing. Just think of all the time we’ve wasted because we didn’t want to lose our friendship with each other. But getting back to your question, yes, I was also jealous as hell. But helping you meant I got to be near you, so it didn’t matter as long as you wanted to get rid of the guy. That way, I felt that somehow I still had a chance.”
“I think we should have a toast to all the broken hearts we’ve strewn in the pathway of love. What say?” Once again, they held up their glasses. “Hear, hear!”
Pat gave him another long kiss and said, “I’ve only had one sexual relationship, Jim. It was the biggest mistake of my life, and I’ve regretted it ever since. All the others were simply dates. Something to do. Guys to fill the void in my life.”
“Let’s drink to the fact that in the sex department, the two of us will have plenty of discovering to do.”
They did drink to that, and now it was Jim’s turn to kiss Pat. He said, “Well, I can’t say the same. I’ve had a number of dalliances. But none of them meant a thing. And I don’t care what you’ve done in the past. It’s only now that counts. And I think there’s only enough champagne for one more toast. What shall we toast to?”
They toasted their love for each other, then turned the bottle upside down.
“Let’s go tell your parents,” Jim said. “But first, hand me that thermos. I brought coffee.”