Doug called Jo the following afternoon. "I hope I'm not calling at a bad time," he said.
"Not at all!" Jo replied. "I was just catching up on some housework while I wait for the washing machine to finish. You gave me an excuse to sit down and take a break."
Doug laughed. "Glad to be of assistance." Suddenly he turned serious. "I have a confession to make. The real reason I didn't call before was that I just couldn't get up the nerve to. See...my last relationship ended so badly that I've just been plain scared to take the risk again."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Jo sympathized.
"Her name was Maggie," Doug continued. "She was a bartender, and I really fell for her, hard. She was pretty, smart, funny, full of life...you know how they say love is blind? Well, it sure was in my case...Anyway, my sister-in-law Grace...I told you about her...she did some investigating, and it turned out that Maggie and her boyfriend were scheming together to rob the Oklahoma City bombing victims of their settlements."
"That's terrible!" Jo exclaimed. "I sure hope she got what she deserved!"
"She did," Doug assured her. "Afterwards I felt so stupid for having been so trusting. I'll sure be more careful next time."
"I don't blame you!" Jo agreed. "Well, I can assure you that I'm no crook."
Doug laughed. "Getting busted for having pot was the only trouble of any kind I've ever been in."
"I got into some trouble when I was a teenager, but nothing serious," Jo replied. "Since graduating high school, I've been as good as gold."
"Hey, I was wondering if you and your daughter would like to come over tonight," Doug suggested. "Nothin' fancy, but I thought maybe we could have dinner and watch a movie, if you want."
"That sounds all right," Jo agreed. "Do you need me to bring anything?"
"Just yourselves." Doug chuckled.
Jamie was in her bedroom watching TV. Jo walked down the hallway and knocked on her door. "We have an invitation to go to Doug and Clay's for dinner tonight," she said.
"Aw, I wanted to spend the night at Taylor's," Jamie protested.
"That's all right," said Jo. "I'll just drop you off at Taylor's before heading over to Doug's."
Jo made mizeria (cucumber salad) to take to Doug's anyway. She dropped Jamie off at her friend Taylor's and got to Doug's at around six.
Doug was sitting on the sofa watching TV when Jo arrived. He was wearing jeans with a striped shirt with the top button undone.
His face lit up when he saw her. "Jo! Come on in! Where's Jamie?"
"Spending the night with one of her friends."
"Clay's out with friends, too." Doug looked at the covered dish she held. "I told you you didn't have to bring anything!"
"I know." Jo smiled. "This is mizeria. It's my mother's recipe."
"Well, it looks tasty," Doug replied. "I suppose it'll go OK with lasagna. Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask if you like lasagna..."
"I love it!"
"Say, since neither Clay nor Jamie is here, how about if I take you out to a movie after dinner? Anything you particularly want to see?"
"Hm...how about 'Zombieland'?"
"Aw, don't tell me you like those kind of movies!"
"Well, if you'd rather see something else..."
"Naw, that's OK. I'll take you to see it if you want."
He did, and ended up enjoying it much more than he thought he would. "Well, now I'm glad you suggested it!" he told Jo as they left the theater afterwards. "It was a lot better than I thought it would be!"
"I knew you'd like it." Jo smiled. "Would you like to come in for a drink? All I have is beer."
"Beer's fine!" said Doug.
They drank their beer and talked about their jobs and their children. "I'm a receptionist for an OB/GYN," Jo told Doug. "All I see all day long is babies and bellies."
Doug laughed. "I'm in landscaping," he told Jo. "Been doin' that for about thirty years now. Nothin' fancy, but it keeps the bills paid and a roof over our heads."
"You must really enjoy it to have been doing it for so long," Jo replied. "When I was younger, I really wanted to be a police officer, but I couldn't pass the physical because of my asthma."
"Are you OK now?" asked Doug.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine now," Jo said. "I just start wheezing sometimes when I get really stressed out."
"Well, I've had a great time, but I guess I need to be heading on home now," Doug finally said.
"Thanks for taking me out," said Jo. "I had a great time too."
"Thanks for going out with me," Doug replied. "Maybe we could do it again sometime, if you'd like."
"I'd like that."
"Well, beautiful lady, can I kiss you good-night?"
"Please do!"
He did. Jo watched as he drove away, wondering whether she'd ever hear from him again. She hoped she would.