Courtship of the Recluse

"Let me think about it for a while. Okay?"

His nod was nonchalant. "Fine. I'll be in next Friday. If you decide to take the job, have your things ready then."

He gulped the last of his coffee and stood. "Thanks for your time."

With that he turned and left the diner.

The walk home was quiet, but hardly relaxing. In fact, she was so keyed up when she reached her apartment that she decided to call her best friend with the news.

"Mary? This is Cynthia." She said when a familiar voice answered on the fifth ring. "Hey, you'll never guess what happened tonight."

The voice on the other end of the line responded in a dry tone. "You accepted a date."

"No."

"That's as far out as I can get. What happened?"

"You know that man I was telling you about - the one who comes in at exactly eight every Friday night?"

"The good looking one?"

"I didn't say he was good looking," Cynthia said. "I said he had interesting eyes."

"Yeah, okay - whatever. Did he ask you out?"

"No - well, in a way, I guess. He offered me a job out at his place."

A moment of silence preceded Mary's response. "Let me get this straight. You are talking about the guy everyone in town calls the hermit - Russell Cade."

Cynthia grinned. "One and the same. He needs someone to look after his house while he's working the ranch."

After a long pause, Mary's voice sounded concerned. "Cindy, that's forty miles out in the middle of nowhere. Have you seen that house? It looks like something out of a horror movie. Besides, it's huge."

"So he says. No, I haven't seen it, but I won't be driving the forty miles every day, either. He offered me a hundred dollars a week plus room and board."

Mary gasped. "You intend to stay out there - alone with him?"

Cynthia looped the coils of the telephone cord around her finger. "It does sound a little eccentric, doesn't it?"

"Eccentric? It sounds downright scary."

"Oh, he's not mean. He just isn't social. What can you expect out of a recluse?"

"Cindy, I've known Russell Cade since he first moved to this area - since high school. He's as sweet as he can be and I have no doubt his intentions are honorable. But aren't you a little concerned about what people will say? I mean, a pretty young girl living alone with an eccentric bachelor - and what about Russ? Don't you think he might get ideas?"

"You make him sound like an old lecher. Do you know something I don't? As for what the town thinks, I don't care. I didn't grow up around here like you, and I don't intend to spend the rest of my life working at the diner. Not that anyone cares what I do. We're living in the 20th century, Mary - the end of it at that. Anyway, I'm not pretty. In fact, I'm tall, skinny and awkward. My mouth is too big and all teeth."