Chapter Five - Trudy

Trudy closed her eyes for a few seconds to clear her head, but Ward Sullivan still stood behind the counter when she reopened them. 

He was surprisingly handsome in brilliant light reflecting off the snow on the other side of the big front window. He looked like the cowboy on the old cigarette billboards.

And his eyes were so blue…

Before she could respond, he winked at her. Again.

She felt her cheeks heat.

“I took a part time job here, since I didn’t know what to do with myself after retirement,” Ward said. “I’m not much good at sitting quietly and relaxing.”

“Me neither,” Trudy heard herself say in a very natural voice. 

“Besides, I spend a lot of time here anyway,” Ward said. “I love woodworking.”

“It’s a lovely hobby,” Trudy told him approvingly. “Phillip enjoyed woodworking, too.”

“I know,” Ward said. “I bumped into him here all the time. He always had a project going.”

Trudy smiled fondly at the idea.

“Say, I’ve got a break coming up,” Ward said. “Would you like to grab a latte?”

Trudy’s heart began to pound.

He wanted to spend his break with her. He wanted her to go somewhere with him.

A beverage was involved. 

Was that a date?

“I-I I have to run, I forgot my library books in the car,” she stammered stupidly, spinning around and bolting out the door like a nervous teenager.

She slammed the door open again, sending the bells jangling, gulped in a breath of cold air, and headed down the street as quickly as her feet would carry her. 

She was practically jogging, in spite of the snowy sidewalks, when she made a sharp right onto Park Avenue and nearly knocked over a young woman carrying a cheese tray from the Co-op grocer’s.

“Oh, dear, I’m sorry,” Trudy said, then suddenly realized it was Natalie Bell. “Natalie, goodness. I’m so sorry.”

“No worries, Trudy,” Natalie replied. “I wasn’t looking where I was going myself, I dropped a glove somewhere around here and I can’t seem to track it down.”

“Let me help,” Trudy said, feeling relieved to have a project to take her mind off her embarrassment. 

“I crossed the street at the corner, from Jolly Beans,” Natalie said. “I came up from the Co-op to Jolly Beans and was headed back to Carla’s Place when I realized it was missing.”

Carla’s Place was Natalie’s grandmother’s house. When her grandmother passed, Natalie and her brother Chris decided to turn the house on Park into a gathering place for the elderly in Trinity Falls village, and name it after their grandmother. Natalie seemed to be constantly picking up donations from local businesses to drop off over there.

“Let’s head back to Jolly Beans,” Trudy suggested. “Maybe you dropped it when you were picking up whatever Pete was donating for Carla’s Place.”

“Good thinking,” Natalie said. “How are you doing? What brings you to town today?”

Trudy sighed and looked over at the girl. She was young, but she surely had more experience with potential new relationships than Trudy did. At least more recent experience. After all, Natalie and Shane Cassidy had just fallen in love.

“You know my Phillip passed a ways back,” Trudy said as they crossed the street. “Everyone always said I’d find someone else, but I never thought I’d want to. I still don’t think I do.”

Natalie nodded thoughtfully.

“I mean, in answer to your question, that’s not why I’m in town today,” Trudy said. “But it’s the reason I almost knocked you down.”

“There’s someone?” Natalie guessed. “And you saw them just now?”

“There is,” Trudy said nodding. “He seems very nice. But I think I just ruined it.”

“How so,” Natalie asked. 

They had reached Jolly Beans, but Natalie looked like she had no intention of going inside. She was fully focused on Trudy. 

Trudy might have hugged her if she wasn’t holding that big cheese tray.

“I was going to pick something up at the hardware store for Chad,” Trudy said. “And there he was, right behind the counter.”

“Professor Sullivan,” Natalie breathed. “He’s so handsome, Trudy.”

Trudy fought back the urge to giggle, but she must not have done a very good job.

Natalie grinned back at her conspiratorially. 

“Yes,” Trudy said with as much dignity as she could muster. “Anyway, he asked if I wanted to go get a latte and…”

“And what?” Natalie asked after a moment, her hazel eyes widening. 

“And I ran away,” Trudy admitted. 

“Y-you did?” Natalie asked, her eyes sparkling, as if she was trying very, very hard not to laugh.

Trudy nodded and then suddenly realized she wanted to laugh too. Giggles bubbled up in her chest and escaped from her lips before she had consciously decided to let it happen.

Then Natalie was laughing too, her shoulders shaking.

“That’s only a little strange, right?” Trudy gasped.

“Maybe he thought you forgot an important appointment,” Natalie suggested kindly. 

“Oh dear,” Trudy said. 

“What?” Natalie asked. 

“I think I shouted out something about library books,” Trudy said. 

“You did?” Natalie asked. 

“Probably?” Trudy guessed. “It all happened so fast.”

“I get that you weren’t sure you wanted to have coffee with him,” Natalie said. “But why run away?”

“I was just… overwhelmed,” Trudy said. 

Natalie lifted an eyebrow.

“I don’t even know what a latte is,” Trudy admitted, suddenly feeling weepy instead of giggly. “I’m out of my depth, especially with a college professor.”

“Well, now that part’s easy,” Natalie told her firmly. “A latte is basically a coffee with milk.”

“Really?” Trudy asked, stunned.

“Pretty much,” Natalie said. “They steam up the milk or something first, I think. But to me, it just tastes like coffee with lots of milk. It’s yummy.”

“Oh,” Trudy said. “Wow. Now I feel kind of silly.”

“I think you might have the wrong idea about Professor Sullivan too,” Natalie said. “Any man who takes a job at a hardware store has to be down-to-earth, right?”

Trudy thought about it and nodded.

“I guess it’s too late now,” she sighed. 

“I’ve got an idea,” Natalie told her. “Why don’t we go into the café together. Even if my glove’s not there, we’ll get you two lattes to take back to the hardware store.”

“What if he’s already decided I’m a too eccentric?” Trudy asked.
 
“Then he doesn’t deserve you,” Natalie said brightly.

The happy young woman sounded so confident that Trudy couldn’t help but think she must know exactly what she was talking about. 

She opened the door and gestured for Natalie to go first since she had her big tray. A delicious breeze of coffee and baked goods greeted them as they entered.

“Ahh,” Trudy said.

“Mm,” Natalie hummed at the same time. 

“Hey, Natalie,” Pete called out from behind the counter. “You left your glove.”

“Nice detective work,” Natalie told Trudy with a smile. “Thanks, Pete.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Oh, you got a cheese tray from the Co-op, eh? My favorite.”

“You know you’re always welcome to visit Carla’s Place,” Natalie told him. “You donate enough I that ought to give you your own room over there.”

“This place keeps me pretty busy,” Pete chuckled. “But I’ll pop by and stick my head in, some point soon.”

“Great,” Natalie said.

“Hey Trudy,” Pete said. “How are you?”

“Just fine, Pete,” Trudy said. “And yourself?”

“Can’t complain,” he said, gesturing to the busy café with a smile. “I count myself a lucky man every day.”

“May I purchase two lattes to go, please?” Trudy asked him.

“What size?” he asked. 

“Medium?” she guessed.  

Natalie nodded approvingly.

“Coming right up,” Pete said, heading back to the coffee area.
 
“See?” Natalie said. “Easy peasy.”

“I can’t thank you enough,” Trudy told her honestly. 

“I think I know a way you can,” Natalie said, smiling so that her hazel eyes crinkled up, like she had a fun secret.

No wonder Shane Cassidy’s kids had fallen in love with her.

“Whatever you need,” Trudy told her. 

“I’ve got a booth for Carla’s Place at the Winter Wonderland Festival,” Natalie said. “I just know more folks would come check it out if we had some of your famous peppermint hot chocolate.”

“Say no more,” Trudy told her. “I’d be glad to run over an urn and some paper cups with lids, that’s easy as pie.”

“Really?” Natalie asked, looking like she had just won the lottery. 

“Of course, dear,” Trudy said, smiling at her fondly. “But I would have done that anyway. I still owe you a favor just for you. Call it in anytime.”

“Two lattes,” Pete said, placing the two steaming cups on the counter. 

Trudy paid and grabbed her cups while Natalie waited. 

“Want me to come with you?” the young woman offered.

The temptation was immense, but Trudy knew this was something she needed to do alone.

“I’ll be just fine, Natalie,” she assured her. “You tell your family hello from me. Alice, too.”

Natalie smiled, her cheeks a little pink, as if it pleased her to think of the Cassidys her family.

A moment later, they were out in the shivery winter air once more. 

Natalie headed left toward Carla’s Place.

Trudy waved to her, took a deep breath, and then crossed the street on her way back to the hardware store. 

This time, she slowed down and enjoyed the wintry town decorations. The candy canes would still hang from the lamp posts until January, and most of the shops had kept up their Christmas things. 

Folks were bustling around, but at a slower pace than last week when everyone had been frantic to shop for gifts. Today, they were stopping to say hello, and browsing the outdoor sale racks a few of the shops had put out.

At last, she reached the hardware store.

It suddenly occurred to her that Ward might have run out for a coffee on his own, and she might be stopping in the hardware store with two lattes and no hands for shopping.

Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway, she reminded herself. It was one of her favorite quotes, and she always heard it in John Wayne’s voice, as if he had coined the phrase just for her.

She reached the door and was just trying to figure out how to get inside without spilling any coffee when Ward opened it for her.

“Hey there,” he said softly.

“I changed my mind,” she told him bravely, holding up the cups.
​
He smiled down at her, his blue eyes twinkling, and she felt a little shiver, like maybe he was a magnet and she was a bit of metal about to get drawn right to him.

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