It was 7:00 when Reba woke to the sound of her buzzing alarm clock. She opened her eyes and gently touched the snooze button. She rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. When she finally started to doze, she heard her alarm clock again. This time she sprang up and pushed the off button.
After sitting on the edge of her bed, staring into space, she finally got up, walked over to the closet, and grabbed her robe. She tied it and then ran downstairs to the sound of pure silence. Today was the first day of her week by herself. Cheyenne, Van, and Elizabeth had gone on a cruise and Jake was spending the week with his grandmother. As she walked into the kitchen, she paused. She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. The sound was glorious. Van and Cheyenne were'nt fussing or making mushy sounds to one another and Jake wasn't yelling or running around the house. Nothing could ruin this week for her.
She walked over to the refrigerater and took out a carton of orange juice. She grabbed a glass and poured some. On her way to the table she grabbed the newspaper and sat down and began reading it. She was humming a little tune with her angelic voice.
At that moment Brock walked quietly in the front door. He stopped moving when he heard her voice coming from the kitchen. He smiled and continued into the kitchen.
Reba was unaware of Brock's presence until he said these words, very softly, "You know, after all these years of being apart, I have never forgotten what a beautiful voice you have."
"Brock!", Reba yelled frantically,"Don't do that! You scared the stew out of me!"
"I'm sorry." Brock said chuckling,"I couldn't resist."
"It's not funny!" She demanded while turning around to give him a mean look. He walked over to the table and sat down next to her. Reba tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help laughing about the whole thing.
"So what are you doing today?" Brock asked with a hopeful look on his face.
A curious look came over Reba's face as she answered, "Well, in a minute I'm gonna run out to the grocery store and pick up a few things."
"Oh. Sounds like fun." Brock said smiling.
"Well as a matter of fact, I've got to get running now. I slept later than I expected. I never hit the snooze button, but for some reason I did this morning.Maybe I'm just getting old." Reba said while standing.
"Well your the best looking oldster I have ever seen." Brock said as he walked slowly to the back door.
Reba wasn't sure what to say. She really wasn't sure what he had meant. After a moment of thinking she said to Brock, "I'll see you later." Then she turned and exited the kitchen.
After changing clothes, she ran downstairs and grabbed her purse. When she reached the car she opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat, she thought I wonder what he meant. Does he still think I'm hot? Well,I don't blame him. Reba thought perking up a bit. She shut the door, and drove off to the market.
(At the market...)
While walking down the produce isle, looking for some fresh tomatoes, Reba spotted a man eyeing her. He was very good looking and there was no mistake to be made. He was definitely looking at Reba. She blushed and continued looking at the tomatoes until she saw the perfect ones. After putting them in her basket she looked up to see if the mysterious man was still there. When she saw that he wasn't there, her face turned to a small dissappointed frown.
After checking out, loading all of the groceries into her car, and placing the buggy where it belonged, she got in the car and started to back out. While she was backing out she was not paying attention to what was behind her, but instead trying to find a suitable radio station to listen to.
Suddenly she felt a hard rumble and heard a really hard crash and glass shattering. She shot up in the driver's seat and looked in her rear-view -mirror. She had hit another car! How could I be so stupid! She thought. I am such a careful driver! She got out of the car and ran to look at the damage on both her car and the car that she had hit. There was a busted tail light on her car and a cracked window on his. She was so worried about what had happened that she didn't even notice that the other driver had gotten out of his car and was standing right behind her.
"Nothin' a little duct tape can't fix." said the man standing right behind her.
"Excuse me?" Reba asked hastily. Then she realized who it was that she was talking to. It was the mysterious produce guy."Oh...right...uh duct tape?" Reba said nervously.
"I was just kidding. Uh..My name is John." He said while reaching out his hand to Reba. She just looked at him, thinking to herself how handsome he was. Then she snapped back in to reality and said,"Yeah my name is duct--I..I mean Reba." she said with a serious look of regret on her face and then quickly reached out her hand to shake his.
"Listen I am so sorry about this. I am just not right today. I hit the snooze button and I never hit the snooze button and now this. I don't know what's wrong with me." Reba said.
"Snooze button?" John asked curiously. A look of humiliation came over Reba's face.
"Never mind" she said akwardly.
By this time cars were trying to get by and horns started honking.
"Looks like we better get out of here. Umm...y-you wouldn't wanna come over to my house and get a bite to eat would ya?" John asked Reba.
"Don't you mean try and figure out who's gonna pay for what?" Reba asked giggling.
"No", he said laughing,"I mean eat lunch." John smiled at her.
"Sure, but we better hurry and get out of here before we have more damage done to our cars." Reba said as the cars honked.
"Yeah. Okay. just follow me." John said happily.
(At John's house...)
"So tell me about yourself, Reba." John said to her as he handed her a glass of iced tea to go along with her ham sandwich.
"Well, uhhh...what do ya wanna know, besides the fact that I'm an early bird and that I am a perfect driver?" Reba laughed.
"No seriously." John said sitting down across from her.
"I have 4 children and and I am divorced." she said.
"I'm sorry. How did it happen?" He said looking concerned.
"Uhhhh...It's a long story that I have decided to put behind me." she said looking sad.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to uhh...nevermind."He said with the look of regret in his eye.
They talked for about another hour and Then when they finished eating Reba said,"Thank you so much for lunch! I better be going."
As she stood, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door John stopped her and said,"How would you like to go to a movie with me tonight, say around 7:30?"
'Uhhh...yeah sure." Reba said as a big smile came across her face. "Let me right down the directions to my house." She said excitedly. "Okay. See ya tonight, I guess."
"Can't wait." They both smiled at each other. And then Reba turned and walked out the door.
Once the door was shut The both of them paused and stood thinking. Then in unison, without knowing that they were doing the same thing, they both said "yes!" and went on with their day.
(After the movie...)
"Thank for a really nice time tonight, John. Would you like to come in?" Reba asked hopefully.
"Of course!" He said. They walked in the back door and sat down at the kitchen table.
"So uhhh...good movie, huh?" Reba said as she looked around akwardly. She also didn't notice that John was inching his chair close to hers. She finally took notice when his chair was just inches from hers.
"Yeah, it was a great movie. And do you know what I liked about it most of all? He said while placing his hand on hers.
"What's that?", she asked, not really thinking about the question but only the fact that he was holding her hand and then looking deep into her eyes.
"Being there with you." he said putting his face only milimeters from hers.
Then he gently kissed her soft lips. She was shocked. How could he like her so much when a few hours ago she had beaten up his car with hers. She pulled away and then looked in his eyes and smiled. Then he said, "Reba, I--" He was stopped when Reba put her finger to his lips. He smiled as she pressed her lips to his. This time it was more intense. John ran his fingers through her firey red hair and she put her hands around his neck as the kissed.
At that moment Brock quietly walked in the door, unaware of what was taking place in the kitchen. He stopped about mid-way in the living room and looked up to shockingly find Reba kissing another man. His mouth dropped. A tear came to his eye as old memories of Reba and him came to his mind. He turned to go to the door. Reba had absolutely no knowledge that Brock was standing there watching. Once he was at the door he turned to take one last glance at the two and he quietly left. For a moment he just stood out side her door. Then the tear that came to his eye started rolling down his face, followed by more tears. Then he walked away.
Inside, Reba and John were still in a lip lock when John pulled away and said,"I should go." "Why?" Reba asked, wanting more.
"Because I really like you, Reba." He said smiling.
After he gave her one last passionate kiss, he got up and headed towards the door. Reba followed. He gave her a really big hug and then kissed her on the forehead. "Bye, Reba." He said smiling to her. She smiled as he shut the door. She leaned her back against the door and thought about John. She didn't even know his last name or his phone number. But oh how he made her smile. All she could think about were his soft blue eyes and his perfect brown hair. And his scent. How she longed to smell him once more. The thought crossed her head that she would drive to his house to see him again, but she didn't want to seem pushy. Maybe he's the one I've waited for! she thought and walked up stairs to get ready for bed.
