Ruby Tuesday

As he drove to Egham Matthew thought so much for Plan A. He had been planning to take Mary to the Last Night of the Proms Saturday and then talk her into taking off with him to the south of France. Two days in he was going to propose. And now she has run off. He was afraid she would not some back.

LV had not given him a reason for breaking it off but over the years he thought he had figured it out. She had loved him but she would have been trapped in a small world, with him and whatever family they produced. Instead she chose the big world. And succeeded, after all with a full professorship at her age. Not something she could have done with a husband and kids to tie her down.

And Mary was already in the bigger world. Worlds really. Money, Society, Aristocracy. As she flew west over the Atlantic the world he offered her was going to look smaller and smaller.

There was not much he could do now. Give his last set of Proms tickets to his mother and aunt. He smiled to himself, he'd hadn't made to any of the Proms. Anyway they would enjoy going to the Last Night. Cancel a bunch of reservations. He had the rest of the month off. He couldn't go back to work. The HR office had already told him that he worked way more hours than he was supposed to so.

Maybe go for a hike. He hadn't been up the Pennine Way for a long time. It wouldn't be too crowded this time of year.

Wild Horses

Mary knew it was a mistake before she even landed at the airport in Jackson Hole.

As they drove to the ranch her grandfather could tell she was unsettled.

"What's the problem sweetheart?"

She could talk to her grandfather in a way she could not talk to her father. She loved her father but he was old school reserved. He would never have understood. Her grandfather would listen, she would have to put to put up with his folksy sayings and cornball humour, but he would listen.

"I met this doctor" she began.

"Professionally?"

"Yes, at first." and she told him about cutting her thumb and of course he had to tell her to cut towards her chum and not her thumb, because she could always get a new chum, but she plowed on telling him how she discovered the doctor's last name was Crawley and how that had intrigued her. How they had lunched / brunched together and how he was such a great listener and intelligent. And brave, she told him about the medal and his funny wound.

Here he gave her a quizzical look. "You tell that story like you've never the scar yourself"

Mary could not help blushing. She shook her head no. He motioned at her to keep going.

"Then things went off the rails for a while" She dreaded telling him about going to Matthew's flat because she knew he would warn her against judging a man by his clothes. But she went ahead and told him and he did warn her.

Then she told him how she been mugged, she could not tell him the truth about that, and how Matthew had taken care of her. How she had been falling in love with him but she had to get away to decide what to do.

"So far everything you've told me this Dr. Crawley says he is a keeper. I particularly like that he seems to be an old fashioned gentleman. You don't see many of those any more. So what's the downside?"

"It's me. He didn't say it but I know he wants children. Probably lots of them. He's one of nature's family men. I didn't use to see myself like that. I wanted it all." she sighed.

He pulled the SUV over to the side of the highway and stopped. "You're using a lot of past tense there".

"Yes I suppose I am. On the flight over all I could do was doodle childrens' names. Old fashioned ones. It was a mistake coming here"

Her grandfather took out his cell phone. "I'll tell them to get the jet turned around. There's a flight from Salt Lake to London first thing in the morning".

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks"

"Invite me to the wedding sweetheart"

At the airport bookshop in Salt Lake Mary asked the clerk if he knew who Esme Weatherwax was and he sold her a couple of paperbacks. She read them on the plane. She was flattered by the comparison but she could not see the romance in it.

Mary made it back to London at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night. When she got back to her flat she checked her messages., There were none from Matthew. There was a long one from her grandfather.

"Hi sweetheart. Just to be on the safe side I had my people check out your doctor friend. Like I said before he looks like a keeper. Father died in a car accident when he was young. Hit by a drunk driver. Probably why he's teetotal. Mother raised him as a single mother. With the settlement from the accident she bought a house in Egham, which is out by Heathrow. She still lives there. She never remarried. Works as a tax auditor. Have to make sure she never sees my books. He was an excellent student in the regular school system. Boy Scout. Scholarship student at Oxford. Army financed his medical school. Lived with a Lavinia Swire. They broke up when the army sent him to Afghanistan. That must have stung. I know, happened to me when I was in Korea. Worked out for the best. Four years in Afghanistan. One tour and voluntarily did another. Grievously wounded while caring for wounded in a crashed helicopter while under enemy fire. Awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. That's a big deal. And sweetheart you had better look up what grievous means, you know he got shot four times, he got the medal for the first three wounds, not the one in the butt. While recovering wrote a respected paper on treating wounds caused by IEDs. Didn't reup although the army would be glad to have him. Works for NHS as an ER doc. At St. Swithin's. You knew that of course. Works an extraordinary number of hours. Banks most of his pay. Performance reviews indicate excellent performance as a doctor, but he is bad with paperwork, following regulations and it is thought he would not make a good manager. That's OK with me, I'm a loner myself. No debts. No criminal record. A couple of speeding tickets. Outside work, few interests, which is not surprising given the hours he work. Volunteers as a medic at Scout Camps. Spends his holidays hiking or biking somewhere. No evidence of any vices, no drugs, no gambling, no porn, nothing kinky that we can find out about. Not a partier. Not gay. Other than you, no love interests. All in all, except for the workaholic part, which is what drove your grandmother to drink, and I hope you can do something about that, he has the makings of a perfect grandson-in-law. Bring him out to meet me sometime sweetheart. Oh, and you may want to have him sign a pre-nup although in hindsight I regret making your dad sign one. Anyway I've got to go. Bye."