Lucky Break

"Hey, look out, Kowalski! Watch what you're doing!"

"Sorry!" I grabbed the paint bucket I'd knocked over with my foot, catching it just before the yellow paint spilled out across the green grass of Mr. Jackson's front yard. He'd hired us to paint his house, not re-do his landscaping. Picking up the bucket, I turned back toward the street and smiled as the young woman strolled by. In the afternoon sunlight, her hair glistened a fiery red-gold.

"Why don't you just ask her out and get it over with?" Sam asked, climbing down from his ladder. "You're like one big accident waiting to happen every time you see her."

"She's probably already taken," I said, still staring wistfully after her.

"You'll never know unless you ask."

I nodded, and as the pretty redhead disappeared from view, I sighed and went back to work. But I couldn't stop thinking of her. I'd first seen her two days before when we started work on Mr. Jackson's old Victorian. Shortly after noon, she'd walked by, and quickly caught my eye. I fell for her at once. Literally.

With my gaze fixed on her, I wasn't watching where I was going, and I tripped. Sam laughed, I groaned, and the fiery-haired beauty giggled as she hurried past. Not an auspicious beginning.

The following day, she'd smiled and waved, and I made sure not to fall all over my feet. But when I raised my hand to wave back, I forgot about the paintbrush I was holding. Splatters of canary yellow went flying through the air. This time Sam groaned, I laughed, and fortunately the pretty miss was too far away to realize what had happened.

Things were getting better though, I told myself, thinking again how deftly I'd caught the paint bucket earlier. Maybe soon I'd work up the nerve to talk to her.

***

A few days later, she stopped in front of Mr. Jackson's house, waved, then headed directly toward us. I carefully climbed down from the ladder and went to greet her. Sam followed along behind me.

"Autumn's already in the air," she said, "so I thought maybe the two of you would enjoy a little hot coffee to take the chill off." She reached into the sack she carried and pulled out a cup. She handed it to Sam, then pulled out another for me. "My name's Alice, by the way. Alice Saunders. I just moved here a few weeks ago."

When she smiled at me, I could barely stammer back my thanks. I don't usually get tongue-tied around women, but Alice was different. I'd never felt such a strong attraction before.

"I'm Rob Kowalski, and that's my buddy, Sam Merrill." I jerked my head toward my partner. Actually, it was more like my whole body jerked. The lid came off the cup, and scalding hot coffee sloshed over my hand. I managed to keep smiling, never mind how bad it hurt. Alice hadn't noticed, thank goodness. I really didn't want her to think I was a complete klutz. I'm not. Not really. It only happened whenever she was around.

"Well, nice to meet you both," she said with a cheery nod. "I'd better be going now. Don't want to be late."

I nodded in return and kept smiling, then as soon as she was out of sight I grabbed a clean rag and wrapped it around my blistered hand. "Don't say a word." I glared at Sam, not wanting to listen to any of his wisecracks.

"Maybe you ought to have somebody take a look at that. Want me to drive you to the hospital? It's only a couple blocks."

I shook my head. "I'll be all right."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"At least you know her name now."

"Alice. Alice Saunders," I said, liking the name. "I think maybe she's available." I grinned broadly, thoughts of Alice already soothing my pain. "I'm going to ask her to the fall festival."

"You'd better hurry up. The dance is Friday night."

Each year in September, the town holds a big celebration at the fairgrounds. Farmers set up produce stands, and their wives sell cookies, cakes, and mouth-watering fruit pies. Carnival rides and sideshows keep the kids amused. The weekend-long celebration begins on Friday evening. When the sun goes down, one of the local bands takes the stage. If you ask me, nothing can quite compare to dancing under the stars, and this year I'd have Alice Saunders in my arms ... or so I hoped.

"I'll ask her tomorrow," I told Sam, surprised by the confident tone in my voice.

***

I stood at the edge of Mr. Jackson's yard, waiting for her the next day. My heart skipped a few beats when I saw her coming.

"Rob? What happened?" She looked genuinely concerned when she saw the bandage on my hand.

"It's nothing," I quickly assured her. I had more important things on my mind. "Listen, Alice, I know this is short notice, but would you go to the dance with me on Friday night?"

Her blue eyes rounded in surprise, but then she sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"Oh, OK." I tried to pretend it didn't really matter. "Well, thanks anyway." I turned to go back to work. I should have known she was out of my league.

"I'm working the evening shift on Friday. But what about Saturday?" she asked. "Maybe we could go to the carnival together."

"Really?" I stopped and looked back being extra careful not to do anything that might cause another accident or injury. As it was, I already felt like my heart might pound right out of my chest. Collapsing at her feet might make an impression on her, but one I'd rather avoid. "Sounds great."

Alice pulled a pencil from her purse and scribbled her address and phone number. "Why don't you pick me up about eleven Saturday morning? We could have lunch together first, if that's all right."

"Yeah, I'd like that." I carefully folded the paper she handed me and tucked it away in my pocket. How lucky could a guy get?

***

My luck ran out about four o'clock on Friday afternoon. The accident wasn't my fault, I swear. I wasn't even driving. All I was doing was walking toward my truck to put my equipment away. Sam and I were finished for the day, and I planned to head for the barber shop for a haircut and then spend a quiet night at home thinking about the great time Alice and I would have on Saturday.

That's when disaster struck. Afterward, nobody could say for sure exactly how it happened, but somehow old Mrs. Abercromby lost control of her oversized Buick roadster. She must have panicked and hit the accelerator instead of the brake, I guess, but however it happened, the car jumped the curb and came gunning for me. She not only got me, but she got my truck, too.

Sam said later I was lucky to be alive, and he's probably right. But with bruises, contusions, a concussion, and a broken leg, I sure didn't feel all that fortunate. Of course, I didn't even regain consciousness until after the paramedics arrived and carted me off in the ambulance. The last thing I remembered was thinking I'd have to call Alice and break our date. I'd probably never get another chance with her.

***

"Rob? Oh, my goodness! It's true."

At the sound of the familiar voice, I slowly opened my eyes. I had to be hallucinating. Or maybe I was dead, after all. I thought I could see Alice hovering over me, dressed in white. Her fiery-red hair looked like a glowing halo around her lovely face. It wasn't until she took hold of my hand and felt for a pulse that I realized she was actually there at my bedside. I struggled to sit up.

"Just take it easy," she soothed. "I couldn't believe it when I saw your name on the admissions sheet. I guess this means our date is off tomorrow." She made a petulant face and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, if you didn't want to go to the carnival, you should have told me. You didn't have to get yourself run over by a wayward Buick, you know. You didn't have to break your leg."

The teasing glint in her eyes made me feel a whole lot better.

"Talk about a lucky break." I grinned.

"What?"

"I mean, you work here? At the hospital? You're a nurse?" Stupid questions, but I tend to babble when I get excited.

She nodded, then promptly stuck a thermometer in my mouth. That shut me up.

"Don't try to talk," she scolded when I mumbled a few words.

"But I never knew. You never wore --" I was babbling again as soon as she removed the thermometer.

"I keep my uniforms in my locker and change when I come to work," she explained. Alice smiled again, fluffed the pillow behind my head, and then she glanced around the room. "I'm not supposed to do this, but ..." Quickly she bent down and kissed my cheek.

That shut me up again. I closed my eyes and smiled. A lucky break, indeed.

~~~~~ The End ~~~~~

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