REKINDLED YOUTH

REKINDLED Part 4

     CHAPTER FOUR

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Jimmy Changas was not yet into the noon rush, so Dale and Sarah got a nice little secluded table by the big stone Hearth, behind some plants. He helped her with her chair and said, "See, Chevrolet is not dead." She mockingly complained, "It's chivalry, Bozo, get it right". "We sure can banter", he said in his best Michael Keaton voice. "Johnny Dangerously" she said. He smiled at this and offered, " I won't make that mistake again, you're too good at movie trivia. From now on the clues get impossibly hard". She smiled and challenged, "Bring it on, Dr. Fronkenshteen".

They ordered lunch and glasses of the Liebfraumilch, and then she made a yukky face, "I suppose you want to share the food again, that's so unsanitary"! "Oh you love it, and you know it" he argued. They grew quiet for awhile and sipped the delicious wine, and then she looked at him seriously and asked, "How did you know I actually wanted you to find me?" He looked back and eventually answered, "Because our hearts were communicating with each other spiritually. That's how you fall in love." She looked at her wine glass and back at him,"Good Answer", she said softly.

The food came, and surprisingly she was the first one to grab a shrimp off his plate. She cut a portion off her sirloin and put it right next to his Broccoli. "That's so unsanitary", he mockingly complained. She grinned and he just stared into her smile, wanting to kiss that beautiful face. He thought that she was feeling the same, but decided to wait till later. She asked, "when are you going to kiss me"? He grinned and jokingly said " Well, being as how as my romance technique is so cheesy, probably with a movie setup. I have discovered the best romantic movie of all time, titled 'Old Fashioned'. And it is a Christian film, if you can believe it. I watched it twice last night, you could say I was obsessing on it." She said,"I'd like that".

They both whispered a short blessing of the food, and began to enjoy the meal. They remained quiet for awhile, and then Dale asked "Is the reason that you left Greenridge so abruptly because you decided not to seek revenge on me? I certainly deserved some pay back for the way I treated you back then." She stared at the Hearth for a moment and said painfully

"I'm not very proud of that moment, but I did have plans to show you how much you hurt me. It all sounds so stupid, now, but I was going to make you fall in love with me and then dump you. Now I'm the one with the badly written romance movie." He could see the light glinting off the tears in her eyes, and he sang "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands". She replied, "Must Love Dogs", softly. She launched into a half crying, half laugh and he confessed "You accomplished the first part of your goal. I am in love with you". She stared into his eyes longingly as she daubed her eyes and nose with a tissue.

He declared, "No more serious stuff, let's get this party started. Job one is to laugh and enjoy our meal. Job two is to go find a copy of "Old Fashioned" and obsess on it. Job three is to find harder clues for our movie trivia quiz. You are incredibly good at it. " She smiled and stole another shrimp from him. He slid her plate to his side of the table, said "Kidding", and slid it back. They ate and smiled for awhile, making small talk about movies they had enjoyed.

After finished their plates, the waitress took them away and brought back some complimentary coffee and mini-desserts. Dale reasoned, "We have a dilemma, I've got the movie free at my motel room but I think the gossip wouldn't be favorable on you. If we rent the movie and go to your place, the gossip probably wouldn't be so bad, but we would be out two bucks for a movie rental." She grinned, "You sure are a tightwad". "You didn't let me finish" he continued, "I will spring for the movie, and ALSO for several boxes of Kracker Jacks to eat during the movie. As an added bonus, if the prize is a ring in any of the boxes, I will propose to you. Is that romantic enough?". She shook her head as she looked down at the floor and laughed "This is getting worse by the second". "Is that a yes?" he demanded. "How can I refuse a chance to watch you self destruct, eat Kracker Jacks and watch a movie. It's every girl's dream", she joked, "let the games begin".