Taming the Shrew

"A sweat shirt? You've gotta be kidding me! I'm not going on a date with the most gorgeous guy ever wearing a sweat shirt!"

"Well, you could wear a tee-shirt and take your coat off inside," Lindsay suggested as an alternative. She saw the look on Aria's face and said, "These things are super informal, honey. You do not want to wear a beautiful dress to a poetry reading. Trust me."

"Fine. Then I'll wear that really cute new crop sweater with a skirt!" she decided.

Lindsay just sighed. There was no telling Aria what to do even when she asked for advice.

"Hey, I know!" Aria announced after getting ready and coming back downstairs. "Why don't you come with us?"

"Me? Aria, this is a date. A date is two people. In this case that's you and Peter. Three's a crowd, remember?"

Aria came over and sat on her mom's lap and said, "Please, Mom? You can run cover for me on the poetry stuff while I charm him with this cute outfit."

Aria's outfit left about four inches of her midriff uncovered and while it might be perfect for a Taylor Swift concert, it was anything but for a poetry reading. "Maybe that would be a good idea," she agreed without saying why. "But you have to ask Peter. I'm NOT inviting myself along, okay?"

Aria squealed and hugged her mother. "You're the best mom—ever!" she told her. "Oh, you better go change, too." Lindsay was wearing an old University of Washington sweatshirt and a pair of jeans which really would have been perfect.

Lindsay heard the doorbell ring and jumped up telling Aria, "I'll be right back down."

Lindsay grabbed another sweater but one that wasn't too dressy and kept the jeans. She felt overdressed but not so much so she'd feel uncomfortable. As she came back downstairs, Peter was waiting in the foyer with Aria by his side.

"I hear you'll be gracing us with your presence this evening, Lindsay. I'm glad you decided to come along," he said with a smile.

"You're glad that I decided?" she said shooting daggers at Aria.

"Well, it was your idea, right Mom?" Aria said as though it really had been her mom's idea.

"Let me just grab my coat and I'll be ready to go," she said smiling at Peter then giving Aria another dirty look.

"So tonight is a kind of ode to Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Each of the readers will be using one of her poems as the basis for their work."

From the backseat Lindsay said, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."

Peter smiled and glanced at her in the rearview mirror then completed the line. "I love thee to the breadth and height my soul can reach..."

Lindsay smiled at him and received another from Peter. "Go ahead, Aria. Pick it up from there," he said to his date.

Coming to her rescue again Lindsay said, "Aria is very modest about showing off, Peter. She prefers sharing her skills via the written word as you well know."

"I surely he do," he said reaching out for Aria's hand. He saw her smile warmly as she took it then told her, "I've been looking forward to this all week. The days just dragged on waiting for it." He looked over at her and said, "And to see you again, too." He kissed her hand and Lindsay smiled to herself as things were moving along right on track.

That is, until about an hour into the reading. "How many of these are there?" she asked Pete.

"Readings?" he replied seeking clarification. "They usually last a couple of hours or so. Why?"

"Oh, no reason," she said. "This is really...great."

"I knew you'd enjoy it," he told her as he put his arm around her. Lindsay just smiled again and sat back waiting for the next reading. So far, most of them had been very good and she'd thoroughly enjoyed them. Aria, she could tell, was bored to tears.

Fifteen minutes later, the whole place fell silent as Aria's phone rang. Every other person had turned theirs off and this was a huge no-no. Dirty looks and cries of disgust rang out as she pulled it out of her purse. "Turn it off, preppy!" someone called out.

"It's from Jessie," she said looking at the screen. "I'll be right back," she told Pete and her mom as she made her way between the people sitting in a kind of semi-circle around the reading area.

Moments later, Lindsay heard her daughter shriek. Having already interrupted the same reading yet again, Aria stepped back in and called out, "Mom! He's in the hospital. I gotta go!"

Peter had no idea who Jessie was but he knew he was Aria's only means of transportation other than forcing her to call a cab. "Come on Lindsay," he told her excusing himself as they traipsed passed people who were now giving them dirty looks.

"Who's Jessie?" he asked once they were outside.

"Just an old friend's of Aria's," Lindsay said.

As they got in Peter's car Lindsay asked what had happened.

"There was some kind of accident at the shop this afternoon. That was him mom calling on his phone. A car fell on him or something. He's hurt really bad, Mom." She saw tears forming in Aria's eyes as she said, "I'm scared."

They got to the hospital about twenty minutes later and Aria saw Jessie's mother and ran to her. "How is he, Sarah?" she asked trying not to cry.

"He's stable now, honey. He was asking for you as soon as he woke up."

Peter overheard the exchange and as Aria ran to Jessie's room, he said to Lindsay, "Jessie isn't just an old friend, is he?"

"No, sorry. He's an old...boyfriend Aria claims to be over. I'm so sorry about all of this, Peter."

"No, it's okay. I just hope he's okay." Both of them stayed outside and waited. "Do you want some coffee or anything to drink?" Peter asked her.

"Oh, no thanks. Hospital coffee is pretty terrible," she said trying to smile.

"Yeah, that's true. Maybe we could just sit and talk?"

Lindsay sat down on a padded seat and Peter sat next to her. They sat in silence for a while then Peter said to her, "Aria doesn't really care for poetry, does she?"

Lindsay lowered her head and said, "You're going to hate me for this, but there's something I have to tell you."

For the next several minutes she explained what she'd done and why she'd done it. "I just wanted my daughter to meet a really wonderful guy and fall in love and maybe..."

"Get married?" Peter said finishing her thought.

"Crazy, huh?"

"Not the wanting your daughter to meet someone part anyway," he said smiling at her. "The rest of it..."

"I know. I am SO sorry, Peter. I'm just a meddling, middle-aged mother trying to play matchmaker and it was all at your expense. I can't even ask you to forgive me let alone expect you to."

"I'm not upset," he told her still smiling.

"You see, this is the reason I wanted my daughter to get to know you. You're so kind and patient and...forgiving."

Peter turned toward her and said, "I didn't say I forgave you, Lindsay. I only said I'm not upset."

"Oh. Right. Sorry. I guess I..."

"But I'd be willing to forgive you if..."

She put her hand on his forearm and looked up at him and said, "Anything! Just name it!"

"Well, I'd like to go out with you sometime."

Lindsay sat there just staring at him trying to understand what he'd just said. "Go out? With...me?"

"Yes, with you," he told her.

"Like...on a date?"

"No, not 'like' on a date. I'd like to actually go on a date with you, Lindsay."

"Peter, that's very sweet of you but you don't have to do anything that drastic to prove you've forgiven me. I mean...if you have, that is."

"For someone who listens so carefully, you sure are missing a lot tonight," he told her smiling at her again.

"I am?" she said as he stared into her eyes.

"Yes, you are." He slid closer to her and said, "Your forgiveness is predicated on your actually going on a date with me. Only then can I offer you full absolution."

"Oh, I see," Lindsay said quietly. "Are you some kind of poetic priest or something?"

"No, just a guy who finally understands which Hammond he fell for. That's all."

Lindsay hadn't taken her eyes off of his and she was suddenly aware her heart was pounding in her chest. It felt like it might explode when he leaned over to kiss her. Her eyes closed and just before his lips brushed hers, they heard, "Hey, you guys!"

Both of them sat bolt upright and looked at Aria. Lindsay looked down into her lap and Aria said, "It's cool. You guys belong together anyway."

Lindsay looked up, blinked several times, then asked, "How's Jessie?"

"He's got some broken ribs and a really bad concussion but he's gonna be fine." She sat next to her mom and said, "And so are we." She took her mother's hand and said, "You were right, Mom."

"I was?" she asked.

"I still love him. When I saw him and thought he might...die...I..."

Aria's eyes filled with tears again and her mother put her arms around her. "Shhh. It's okay, honey. I understand."

They were talking very quietly and Aria said, "Will you tell Pete...Peter...how sorry I am for me?"

She stroked her daughter's hair and said, "He knows, sweetheart. He's not upset. Now go be with Jessie, okay?"

"I'm staying here tonight, Mom. Sarah will bring me home tomorrow, okay?"

"That's fine. Give him my love, too, okay?"

"I will. I'm sorry I messed all of this up, Mom."

"Nothing is messed up, honey. It looks to me like everything is going to be just fine."

Aria smiled and said, "Considering how you were about to kiss my date when I came out, I'd saying everything might be just fine. After all, you're the one who really does love poetry."

"You're not mad at me?" she asked her daughter.

"Mom. I love you. More than anything. I can be such a bitch sometimes and you're always so patient with me. That's why I love you so much." She looked at her mom and said, "I never blamed you for Daddy leaving, either. That was just another weapon I used against you. You know I love you right, Mom?"

Now Lindsay was crying. "Yes," she said trying to stop the tears from falling. "Yes, I do. And I love you too, honey. Very much."

They hugged each other before Aria stood up. She turned to Peter and said, "This is all my fault, Pete. Sorry...Peter. There's really only one guy on the entire planet who could put up with all my...crap...and still love me and he's laying in the hospital bed over there. I'm...I'm really sorry."

Peter stood up and offered her a hug. "Then you need to go be with him."

Aria kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thank you. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, my mom really likes you." She looked over at her mother who was giving her a look of complete surprise before she added, "A lot. You guys are perfect for each other so...go for it."

Her mom's look softened and Aria said, "She you tomorrow, Mom. And thanks. For everything."

As she walked off, Lindsay wiped away the remaining tears and said to Peter, "I knew my angel was in there somewhere. I didn't know what it would take to bring her back to life, but I'm so glad she's alive and well."

"We could make the last few minutes of the poetry reading if we leave right now," he said extending his hand to her.

She took and said, "That sounds wonderful."

On their way back Lindsay said, "I really do feel bad about how this turned out."

"You mean you being alone with me?" Peter asked politely teasing her.

"Well, when you put it that way," she said. "It's just that I pride myself on being open and honest and what I did was so...sleazy."

"Love makes us do crazy things sometimes. You love your daughter so you did something crazy. Makes sense to me. Besides, I'm kind of glad I'm with you—alone."

"Stop!" Lindsay said trying not to laugh. "I know we both like poetry and art among other things, but you attended my birthday party a week ago and you saw the number of candles on my cake."

"Yes, I did. Both of them," he told her.

"Oh. Ha...ha. Very funny." Aria had a '5' and a '0' on top of the cake so there really were only two candles.

"You see, I do pay attention," he said smiling at her briefly.

"Yes, you do," Lindsay told him. "I meant it when I wrote you that last email when I was pretending to be Arial. I could't believe how many things you managed to squeeze into such a short, sweet, romantic poem." She waited for a second then told him, "It nearly made me cry."

"The pictures you sent me of Arial made me think she was the person behind the emails, but I wasn't responding to the photos. I was responding to the words. Your words, Lindsay. It was what you wrote that got to me. The things you said...they...they really touched my heart." He stopped at a red light and looked over at her. "You touched my heart. I just didn't know it was you when I responded."

"Are you disappointed it wasn't Aria?" she asked still feeling very guilty.

"Close you eyes and I'll answer your question."

"Close my eyes? Why would I..." The way he was looking at her did it to her again. Something flip-flopped in her stomach. "Okay," she said softly.

He leaned over and kissed her and said, "There's your answer."

Before Lindsay could speak or do anything, they were moving again and neither of them spoke again until they were back at the location of the poetry reading.

People were streaming out of the doors and Peter said, "Looks like we missed it."

Lindsay laughed briefly and said, "Yep. Missed it by that much."

Her voice sounded odd like she was trying to imitate someone. The way she said it told him he was missing something so just asked. "Okay, what don't I get?"

"You're a little young to remember Maxwell Smart," she said. "He used to say that all the time."

"I've seen the movie," he let her know. "It was...cute."

"Not the movie. The TV show with Don Adams. You know, where he went down in the telephone booth to Control Headquarters." She looked over at him and said, "Do you even remember telephone booths?"

"I saw one in a museum once. Does that count?"

"Ahh! I'm dating a child!" she said pretending to be put out.

Peter looked over at her and said, "Did I just hear you say we're dating?"

"What? Dating? No! Be serious. We're going to a...well, we were trying to go—back—to a poetry reading. Dating. Sheesh. Get real!"

"Okay, I will," he said. He turned toward her said, "I real—ly like you. I'd real—ly like to see you again. I real—ly want to get to know you. How am I doing so far on the getting real thing?"

"You nut," she said playfully. "Rather well, actually."

"Well enough to kiss you again?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, maybe...one more time," she said quietly as she leaned toward him.

This kiss was a bit longer and a little more romantic. When it ended Lindsay said, "Wow. You're good at that, too."

"I'm full of surprises. Just give me some time and you can discover all of them," he said as he kissed her again one more time. "Like that. I asked if I could kiss you one more time but kissed you twice."

"I see," she whispered. "So are you saying you're devious?"

"No, not really. I'm saying your kisses are a lot like Lays Potato Chips. No one can eat...or have...just one."

Lindsay pushed him away playfully and said, "You really are a nut!"

"Would you like to go somewhere?" he asked.

"Yes, but it might be better to wait until our um...second date since we are dating. Well, according to you anyway."

"The gentleman in me agrees to wait as long as the lady in you would like," he said smiling at her.

"What makes you think there's a lady inside?" she teased back.

"I don't think. I know. I know because I've seen her. Or rather...read her." He reached out and softly stroked her hair and said, "You are so beautiful, Lindsay. It's a rare thing for beauty to run continuously from the outside—which is incredibly beautiful, by the way—to the very core of one's being. But that's what you are—beautiful through and through."

"There's a new exposition at the Seattle Art Gallery I'd love to see," she said as she reached up and took his hand.

"I was already planning on going—alone," he told her.

"Well, were you to ask me to go with you, that would be a second date and..."

"Lindsay? Would you like to go to the art exposition with me tomorrow?" he asked immediately.

"I thought you'd never ask," she replied sweetly.

That night, Lindsay lay awake doing something she just didn't do. She was making mental checklists. Normally, she followed her heart. She didn't like weighing pros and cons and making diagrams to plan things out. If it 'felt' right, she went with it. In her heart, seeing Peter felt right so why was she laying awake at 3am assigning weight to the various plusses and minuses she came up with about pursuing a relationship with him? The only reason she could come up with was the number 17—the number of years between their ages.

Everything else fit. They had the same interests in virtually every area that mattered to her. No, they hadn't gotten into any deep, philosophical conversation about the origin of life on earth, God vs evolution, Left vs Right, spend vs save, but she knew enough about how he felt with regard to each to them to know they were in synch. The one thing she didn't know was whether or not he was good in bed, but Lindsay did know she wasn't. She couldn't definitely say she was 'bad' in that area. She simply couldn't affirm she was any good at it. To her credit, she was willing to learn and she almost laughed when she said out loud to herself, "Lindsay isn't just willing, she's eager to learn."

Fifty years old and still learning about love making. It sounded so sad it bordered on pathetic. Then again, unless she'd cheated on Harold, how could she have gained any experience?

So it all came back around to 17. She wasn't vain but knew she was at least in the top 10% of women her age in terms of looks and most would say in the top 1%. Even so, in ten more years, Peter would still be very handsome and she would be...60. She lay there running all this through her mind until she came to the conclusion this wasn't about a lifelong relationship but having some fun with a very attractive younger man. If lasted a few days or even a weeks, great. If it was just one more date, that was fine, too. And if lasted for a few months that would be wonderful. Regardless of how this went, it let her get back into the pool, so to speak, so she could be ready to meet other men and at some point, hopefully meet 'the one.' "Until then, live a little," she told herself before finally drifting off to sleep.

This evening's exhibition was a tribute to the graphic masters: Durer, Rembrandt, Picasso, Goya, and Hogarth. Lindsay loved the opportunity to dress for a formal occasion and she was relishing the opportunity to do so tonight. Peter had texted her and let her know he was wearing a suit and she couldn't decide what was more exciting—seeing him dressed up or dressing up for him. She wanted to say 'for the occasion' but every time she thought about what to wear, the first thing that came to her mind was what would please Peter.

A trip to Saks proved fruitful after less than an hour of looking. Lindsay settled on a Halston Heritage crepe gown with a draped back in a soft blue color called 'foam.' She loved the fitted waistline and high front slit as well as the way the dress was cut out in the back exposing one half of her bare back while cover the other. The detachable silver belt was silver and would be perfect paired with a pair of dangling earrings. She also bought a pair of open-toed sandals with ankle straps in a taupe color to complete the look and couldn't wait for Peter to see her in it and when he did, she wasn't disappointed with his reaction.

When he saw her for the first time in it, the look on his face told her everything she needed to know but hearing his words was a pleasant bonus. "I've never believed in heaven before, but I must have died on my way here and ended up there."

She tried not to laugh but couldn't help it. She felt as though she were being picked up and taken to her high school prom again and the only word which accurately described her mood was giddy. "That may be the lamest line I've ever heard," she said in reply.