Let Me Call You Sweetheart Chapter 2, Page 14

Rosemary needed Lee's full attention. There were two very important things on her mind and she wanted to share them with him.

"Lee darling," Rosemary walked over to Lee sitting at the breakfast table, "can you talk to me now please before you get going on something else?"

Lee looked up at his wife who stopped rubbing his shoulders to speak. "Sure Rosie, but you can talk and rub at the same time."

"Oh Lee, of course I can," she said sweetly while her brain was going a hundred miles an hour.

"Do you know that Dee's parents aren't going to be able to come for her and Nathan's engagement dinner party?" Rosemary asked.

"No, I didn't, why not?" Lee asked wondering what that had to do with them.

"It seems they don't have enough money to afford a trip this far twice. Plus, Dorothy, her sister, wants them to come to her home for Christmas dinner in Brookfield. So, it's just too much for them." Rosemary sighed.

"That's too bad." Lee agreed. "That must be disappointing for all of them."

"It won't be, if I can help it." Rosemary started. "We need to talk to Bill, but I think we can help." Rosemary shared her idea with Lee and he liked her idea.

"Oh Lee you should meet little Paul!" she said delightedly. "He is an orphan at New Hope Orphanage and cute as a button, but withdrawn. When the children go by Lillian, who is teaching them how to play piano, he just sits on the sofa.

"Rosemary, I bet you went over to him and made friends." Lee nodded.

"I sure did, the poor little thing was all alone." Rosemary admitted. "Both times now I was able to get him to come out of his shell and laugh."

"That's great Rosemary, you're so good with children." Lee admired his wife.

Rosemary was hoping that Lee would understand that she wanted to see him more to get to know him. Maybe the two of them could drive up there and visit Paul. It broke her heart to see him alone. Now Lee being the smart man he is and knowing his wife so well, already knew what she was getting at.

Lee lovingly suggested, "Rosemary, after church tomorrow, let's take a ride to Brookfield. It'll be nice to get out for a ride before the winter settles in."

"Lee, really?" Rosemary knew how much Lee and her were on the same wavelength. They were soulmates and they both knew it – for the most part.

"Yes, really. Now, I do have to talk to Bill like you suggested." Lee got up and kissed his wife.

Nathan got back from rounds with Newton and was giving him a brushing when Sam was walking past. He saw Nathan and stopped to talk.

"Hello Constable!" Sam greeted "Have you got a minute?"

"What's this Constable greeting, you can call me Nathan. So, sure I have time." Nathan answered.

"I know that there's been talk about Hope Valley getting more people moving here with the oil business and that means expansion of the town and homes." Sam started. "So, I've been thinking about what this might mean for us. One of the things I've been doing, is helping Elizabeth with the boys after school on the days when they don't have music practice."

"Well yeah, some of the boys are interested. Bill and I take turns teaching guitar and Johnny helps with other instruments. Dee would hope more would join in." Nathan added.

"See, that's what I thought, but some of the boys want to get out some of their energy, so I've been teaching them football. They seem to enjoy it and even some of the graduates have joined in too. So, here's what I propose. It would be a positive team effort to continue on the weekends to practice. If we could get other local towns to do the same, we could eventually play against the others." Sam offered.

"Where do I come in your idea?" Nathan stopped to think about this.

"You know all the surrounding towns and the Mounties, so maybe you could contact them and see what the interest might be? Plus, I need help with our own youth here. There's strength training, obstacle footwork, catching and receiving. I can't possibly teach them all, especially as our town grows." Sam urged.

"How about talking with Jesse? I know Clare's having a baby soon, but he could help getting it started. Then there's the soldiers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John they might pitch in. Meanwhile, I will telephone the other Mounties later and run this past them. I think this is a great idea!" Nathan was on board.

"Nathan," Sam continued, "you know it doesn't have to end with football. There's soccer, baseball..."

"Yes, I'm well aware, let's just start with football and see how it goes." Nathan smiled.

Back at Faith's house, Dee was making up a list of people to invite to the wedding as Faith suggested. Faith knew her roommate was a little down, and this is what Dee needed to do. When Dee was done with her list, she stopped by and talked with Emily to get addresses of Nathan's family, which weren't many. Now, all she needed was Nathan to give her the list of Mounties he wanted to invite. She walked over to the Mercantile and asked Flo about pretty stationary. Flo had a nice selection from previous weddings, including her own, so Dee was in luck. Before she left she stopped to see Allie who was in the back at the switchboard.

"What are you doing Allie?" Dee asked.

Allie quickly closed the catalog she was looking through. "Oh nothing." she answered and smiled.

"Doesn't seem too busy today." Dee commented. Allie wasn't sure if Dee saw what she was looking at, but quietly slipped the catalog to the side.

"No, it's not, but I expect it will pick up soon. Seems Judge Avery is on the phone to the Mountie offices a lot." Allie shrugged.

"All right, I'll just leave you be, I just want to show you the stationary I picked up for the wedding invitations. Isn't it lovely?" Dee asked.

"Yes, it's pretty. See you later Dee." Allie dismissed her as Dee left puzzled. I wonder what that is all about she thought.