Dan told me repeatedly that October is strictly off limits for anything other than harvesting cranberries. I don’t want to believe it. We’re at the end of October; they must be finishing soon. Surely they can manage without him on the farm for one weekend. Other people from his hometown are on their way to Harding for Homecoming. I’m sure about this because his friend’s mother is going to stay on my couch. The two-bedroom one-bath apartment I share with four other girls is no posh hotel, but it’s free, and we love playing grown-up by hosting folks.
Dan probably thinks my repeated requests for him to visit this weekend are silly or needy. Here alone at college after he’s already graduated, I admit I’ve had a few meltdowns. Over the phone. At his expense. Maybe I am a touch needy, but I miss him. His absence is ever present.
My room-mates and I have tidied and cleaned. We’ve got food ready for Marge, who is coming to watch her son play football tomorrow, along with Dan’s best friend and old roommate John Baldwin. I’m trying not to have my hopes up, but I keep suspecting Dan came along with John, despite his repeat denials of being able to get away. It doesn’t make sense for John to come without Dan. At the knock on our door, I’m the first to answer it and look out eagerly, around Marge, and John, who we affectionately call our “Beau John.” There’s no Dan. He wasn’t trying to fool me after all. He truly couldn’t get away.
We usher in our guests and make them comfortable in our little living area. I excuse myself to go to my room, collect my emotions and get over my disappointment. I get it, I tell myself. Dan is always truthful. I need to accept when he tells me how something is, he means it. He’s the most honest and ethical boyfriend I’ve ever had. I really want him to be “the one,” and hope he feels the same. I secretly wanted him to move heaven and earth (or at least gather all the cranberries faster) and come tell me he wanted me to marry him. I wished for it this weekend, but I guess I better get used to farm priorities.
I take a deep breath and return to the kitchen. Beau John and three of my roommates are huddled whispering. What are they up to? Stephanie turns at my approach, and I see tears rolling down her cheeks. “Steph? What on earth are you crying about?”
She gives a little audible sob and comes to hug me. “I’m just so sad that Dan didn’t come. I know how much you wanted him to be here.”
“I’m alright, Lovie!” I hug her back, a little surprised at this outpouring of emotion. “I really am alright. I get it. Cranberries, you know.” I decide to get out of the kitchen and go visit with Marge in our little dining area.
A few minutes later Beau John excuses himself to go to Todd’s, their other best friend and roommate, where he’ll be staying for the weekend. My roommates all bid him goodbye and look at me with somber eyes as they pass through the door to wave him off. “I’ll come back later, when I’m unpacked and cleaned up,” he tells us. They follow him out to the sidewalk while I make small talk with Marge. I determine not to feel sorry for myself. Maybe I’ll go do laps in the pool later, my nightly habit to tire myself enough for unworried sleep. Until pool time, I sit at the dinette talking to my roommates and Marge.
After about an hour, Beau John is knocking on the door again. I consider hanging out with him instead of going swimming. When the door is opened, there’s a tall slender sandy haired man next to him who I immediately wrap my arms around in a death grip. “You came! Wait, where have you been?” It turns out he decided to convince me he wasn’t coming and went to Todd’s to take a shower to complete his deception.
Stephanie’s acting skills came in handy to help him fool me. She confesses that when John was huddled with them in the kitchen and told them Dan was in the car, she laughed so hard she was crying. This is a mean bunch of people who I love.
Later that weekend, when I come back into the apartment with a diamond on my left ring finger, I’m over their practical jokes. I’ll do a lot of laps in the pool to cope with my loneliness until May, but I’ll make it to graduation looking forward to a life with Dan.
What a sweet story!