Dale was driving home in the rain. It had been a hard days work at Old Man Bruin’s. They had been working overtime to get the hay baled before the rain set in. Although they were about 5 acres shy at the time, Old Man Bruin was pleased. Dale was tired and happy, he had the kind of feeling that one only gets when they have spent the day doing hard work and it was over. Dale thought about graduation next weekend. Finally, he was going to be out of high school and free to do what he pleased. He didn’t know exactly what he planned on doing with his life, but he knew it would all come together when he could work full time instead of half days and weekends. He wasn’t an academic by any means and he had thought about dropping out of school more than once, but his work ethic kept him from doing so. He knew he had to finish and he had. He only had the ceremony to go through and it was all going to be over. The sky was letting loose in full force on that late May evening. He hadn’t seen it rain this hard for almost two years. The raindrops seemed to be the size of acorns as they flooded the windshield of his only slightly used 1953 Ford pickup. He was less than a mile from his house and he looked forward to a quiet evening home alone. His parents had talked about going to the show in Terre Haute and dropping off his younger brother and sister at his grandparents, so when Dale got home it would only be him a hot shower and his favorite radio show, The SmileBrite Comedy Hour. As he approached the driveway, he saw hazard lights blinking a hundred yards down the road from his house. He was curious as to who could be having trouble in this cat and dog raining weather and he drove past his driveway to investigate. The car was a 1955 Dodge Royal, a sweet cherry red color. It was the car of the month being advertised on every radio show he ever listened to. He liked the looks of it and figured some stranger had taken a wrong turn down his dusty dirt road and was waiting for the rain to let up. As he pulled up, the driver side window of the car came down. “Having trouble?” he asked to the person inside, who he could not quite make out. “I think I have a flat tire,” said a woman’s voice on the other end. Dale turned and rolled his eyes. He certainly didn’t want to change a tire in this torrential down pour, and yet he knew from the sound of her voice that the lady didn’t want to change the tire either. “I can change your tire for you, but you’ll have to give me an hour or so until this rain lets up, which may be a little while. I hate to have you sitting in this car the whole time. That’s my house back there, I could offer you a cup of coffee or something while you wait.” The lady inside the car didn’t hesitate a moment to take him up on the offer. As soon as he finished his sentence she bolted from the car and ran around to jump in the passenger side of his truck. When she got inside, he recognized her immediately. “Aren’t you Helen Jinerman?” “Yes, I am, and you must be a Venable if that is your house right up there, Dale is it?” “Yes, ma’am, Dale Venable at your service.” “How much longer do you think it is going to rain?” “Well it’s supposed to rain all night, but I doubt it will be this heavy for more than another hour or so,” Dale said, throwing the truck in reverse and heading backward to his driveway. “It’s a good thing, then that I am not being expected anywhere,” Helen said with a bit of a nervous laugh about her. When the truck was parked in the driveway both of them made a mad dash for the porch for protection against the pounding rain that only seemed to be getting heavier. It was obvious that his parents had decided to toward Terre Haute as all the lights in the house were off and the dogs, Gus and Jasper were securely locked in the barn. “So no one is home?” Helen said trying to wipe the water from her coat before they soaked in. “No there isn’t? I hope that it doesn’t make you uncomfortable. My parents took their monthly trip to Terre Haute to catch a show and go dancing.” “No, no it’s fine, I just assumed no one was home while I was sitting in the car stewing over what to do.” Dale opened the screen door and motioned for Helen to mosey inside so the blowing wind wouldn’t get her even wetter than she had already gotten. Once inside he flicked on the lights and began to undress himself from his dirty, sweaty work clothes out of habit, and stopped himself cold, embarrassed that he hadn’t taken into account that Helen was standing right in front of him. “Sorry, its just that Momma don’t allow us to walk into the house in our work clothes. Umm, you can step on into the kitchen while I get changed up.” Helen whose face had gotten redder by the second quickly obliged and turned toward the door connecting the entranceway to the rest of the house. She was so flustered that she forgot to turn the handle and hit her head on the door before finally getting it open. Dale, whose face was three sheets more scarlet than Helen’s, then resumed taking off his overalls and work shirt and washing up at the sink. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he said to himself pulling the cold water in his cupped hands to his face and washing the days worth of dirt off. Dale was perplexed as to what to do next. His whole evening of being alone and relaxing had obviously be altered as, in his opinion, the most beautiful woman in all of Penn township had miraculously found herself at his doorstep. After he washed up, he peeked through the curtain on the door to see if in fact his eyes weren’t deceiving him. The woman on the other side of the door was definitely Helen Jinerman. Her hair which was naturally curly flowed down just below her shoulder blades, her skin was clear and porcelain. But, the most striking feature about her were those perfectly proportioned red lips. She didn’t even have to wear makeup or anything on them as they were so striking. Dale remembered two years ago when she was a senior in school and he always tried to time his walk out the school doors as to run directly into her. She never said anything, only smiled with those lips, and that made it all worth while to him. It didn’t take long for Dale to realize that he had been staring at her for two seconds too long as she looked up from her seat at his kitchen table and noticed him. Dale again got flustered, but covered for himself rather quickly. “It will just be a few more seconds, sorry to keep you waiting, miss,” he said. “Miss?” he repeated to himself again, “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he muttered once again, this time hitting his palm against his forehead. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. He knew that she was dating that lucky bastard George Baker, who had graduated five years ahead of him. In fact, there had never been a day that Dale could remember when Helen wasn’t with that four-eyed jerk that somehow managed to win the Jinerman Jackpot. Dale rummaged around the entranceway and managed to find a less dirty pair of pants and a clean shirt of his father’s that his mother had laid out to iron, probably for their night out, but opted for a different shirt instead. He dressed in a rush as he wanted to spend as much time admiring Helen before the rain as he possibly could. He opened the door and like Glenda the good witch in that Oz movie his parents had taken him to see once, she glowed while just sitting at the kitchen table tapping here fingers against the wood. “Sorry, about before, I guess, it’s an old habit, I didn’t mean to disrespect you or nothin’” Dale said, trying to make conversation. Helen looked up at him and did nothing but laugh. A kind of laugh that was so infectious that Dale began to laugh with her without even knowing the reason why she was laughing. “Your shirt,” she said. Dale looked down and noticed that in his rush he had button the shirt completely unevenly. His face once again turned red and he quickly tried to fix it, but what he hadn’t noticed is that the buttons were about a size too big for the button holes, and in his nervousness and embarrassment, he couldn’t seem to get the buttons to go back through the holes. “You seem to be having trouble.” “No, no I am fine, its just these stupid buttons.” “Here, let me help you, for heaven’s sake, a man who can’t even button his own shirt right, surprise, surprise.” She rose from the table and walked toward him. Dale felt all the blood from his brain flowing out very quickly as she put her hand on his shirt and began to slowly and methodically unbutton it with ease. “All you need is a woman’s touch,” she said, almost coquettishly as she straightened up his shirt. Dale didn’t know if she was wearing some sort of perfume or she just naturally smelled this good, but he couldn’t help but close his eyes and breathe in as she was that close to him. “See all better,” she said as she patted his chest finishing her work. “Thank you,” Dale said in a very high pitched voice, “very much,” he said in a sound a few decibels lower. “You’re very welcome Mr. Venable, she said. “Please, I’m just Dale, Miss Jinerman.” “Then I am just Helen,” she replied, “So didn’t you promise me coffee or something.” “Yeah, and I am afraid I lied all about that, I don’t have the foggiest idea how to make coffee,” he confessed. She laughed again at his reply and it was just as sweet to Dale’s ears as the first time she laughed. “I guess I will just settle for a glass of water than.” Dale opened the refrigerator, and noticed a brand new six pack of coca cola that his mother must have purchased a few days ago, he offered instead to share a bottle with her and she accepted. “The glasses are in the cupboard behind you there, next to the sink. If you don’t mind. I haven’t eaten anything since lunch so I am going to have a few slices of bread as well. Would you like some bread and butter too?” Helen turned around from getting the two glasses down that she held in each hand with the corners of her mouth turned down ever so slightly in a scowl. “You are only having bread and butter for supper?” “I’m afraid it’s the only thing I know how to make. Momma didn’t leave me anything because Mrs. Bruin usually feeds me, but she was feeling poorly today so I wasn’t asked to stay for dinner after work.” “Well, if you are going to be nice enough to fix my flat tire, then I certainly can be nice enough to fix you something to eat that is a little more nutritious than a glass of coke and a few slices of bread and butter.” “Please, don’t. I couldn’t ask you to go to any trouble.” “Dale, if I am going to become a full time housewife next week, I better be able to cook a man a decent meal.” Dale’s face went from excitement to downtrodden. He didn’t even realize that she had finally gotten engaged to George Baker. He knew that he couldn’t ever have anything with Helen, but still the idea that she wasn’t bound by marriage vows still gave him the slightest bit of hope that a miracle could happen. “Sounds great,” he said painting on a forced smile as Helen began to rummage through his mother’s kitchen cupboards looking for something to prepare. Dale took the coke bottle out to the entrance way where his father had screwed the bottle opener to the wall. “I am afraid the best I will be able to do is eggs and hash browns. You’re mother doesn’t seem to keep much food that is easy to prepare thawed. Now where can I find the skillet?” she said. Just before Dale could answer her, there was a loud clap of thunder that couldn’t have been more than a few hundred yards away. The jolt flickered the lights in the house on and off as it sent its surge of electricity. The loud boom made Helen jump and drop the potato she was holding in her hand. “It’s ok, it’s ok,” Dale reassured her. “It’s just a little thunder and lightning that has been added to the storm. “I always hated lightning. It never fails to scare the Hades out of me.” Dale’s smile returned as he saw how shaken a little lightning had made her. Somehow when she was scared, she looked even more beautiful than before. “The skillet, I think is in the cabinet to the left of the sink.” Helen found the skillet, dropped a spoonful of butter in it and lit the gas on the stove. Dale took the open bottle of coke and divided it evenly between the two glasses that she had sat out. “So you’re getting married to George next weekend?” he asked. Helen was now busy washing the potato off and peeling the skin from it. “Yes, how did you know that.” “You just mentioned it.” “No, how did you know I was marrying George?” “Helen, believe it or not we did go to the same school for awhile until you graduated. Everyone and their baby sister knew you were with George Baker.” Helen seemed to be a little embarrassed by the fact that Dale knew this fact about her. “I guess its naďve to think that anyone in this town can have any secrets from anyone else. Not that George and I are a secret, but you know what I mean.” “Yeah, that’s the curse of living in this rural area. All the farmer’s talk, don’t you know that?” “Yes, yes that corner store where they all drink coffee of a morning has more gossip running through it then any beauty parlor I’ve ever been in.” “How long have you and George been together?” “Well, let’s see, I am almost twenty now, and I’ve been with George since I was thirteen so that’s seven years.” “That’s definitely a long time, you two must be very happy together.” Helen turned around from the sink and smiled as she picked the glass of coke and drank it down nervously. She looked off into space for awhile as if thinking about it carefully before commenting on what Dale had said. “Yeah, I guess we are.” The kitchen was filled with silence for awhile as she finished slicing up the potato for the hash browns and placed them in the skillet. The sizzle of the potatoes immediately filled the kitchen with a nice aroma of home cooking. “So what plans do you have for yourself? Any girls you plan on courting?” Helen asked as another bolt of lightning struck, this time flickering the lights for a few seconds longer than the last one did. Dale laughed again as Helen jumped up about three feet off of the ground with the boom. “Ha, ha,” she said, “You didn’t answer my question.” “I guess I haven’t really thought about it much. I mean I have been working for Old Man Bruin and going to school that I haven’t really had time for girls much, I guess.” “I bet all the girls in your class are disappointed you haven’t had time for them.” “I don’t think they noticed much.” “I doubt that, you’re a good looking man there Dale. I think you’ve just been to busy to notice that they’ve been after you.” Dale blushed terribly with her comment. He got even more embarrassed that he was blushing in front of her that it made things worse. He turned his back to her so that she wouldn’t see the red in his face. “I guess not,” he said with his back still to her. Helen didn’t seem to pay attention to his embarrassment as he heard the sizzle of eggs hit the skillet as she cracked them open next to the hash browns. “It should only be a few more minutes. I hope you are good and hungry.” “Yes I am, you really didn’t have to go to the trouble. With this lightning storm, you should probably call your folks and let them know what happened. I can take you home tonight in my pickup and fix your tire first thing in the morning.” “Oh, I am not staying at my folks tonight. I was on my way to George’s house.” Dale was embarrassed again. He didn’t realize that she had taken to staying the night at George’s before she was married to him. “Oh please,” she said, “I know what you are thinking by the look on your face.” “What?” “George works for Midas Trucking. He is out on the road until next Wednesday. I am heading over there to fix that place up before I actually move in. You know, paint the walls, mop the floors, clean the cobwebs out of the corners.” “Oh yeah, that’s exactly what I thought you were doing.” “Sure you did,” she said with a smile and a wink, which sent Dale into another blushing episode. The food was ready and Helen found the cabinet with the dinner plates in it and scooped the hash browns and sunny side up eggs onto the plate. She looked down at the plate before she handed laid it on the table with a look of embarrassment. “Oh I am sorry, I didn’t even ask you how you liked your eggs? I hope this is ok for you.” “Definitely, you guessed my favorite way to eat them,” Dale lied because he had always rather have them scrambled. She smiled at him and sat down at the table as he began to eat. Dale wasn’t used to her type of cooking as it was very different than Momma’s, but just the fact that Helen Jinerman had cooked them for him made it taste so delicious. They sat in silence for a few moments as she watched him eat. He told her time and again how wonderful everything tasted, and how she didn’t have to do this for him. The storm seemed to be taking forever and that was alright with Dale, the longer it stormed the longer Helen stayed right there with him in his kitchen. Everything about the evening was great, if only the name George Baker wasn’t mentioned again, Dale could believe he was in heaven. The lightning outside didn’t dissipate, but it intensified. And with every single jolt, Helen jumped in her chair a little bit, and the final one that knocked the lights out completely made her jump out of her chair. “It’s ok, it’s ok. I am sure the lights will be on in a second or two. Just a power surge, but just in case, I will go and get some candles.” Dale got up from his chair to leave the kitchen, when Helen grabbed his arm and held it tight. “You aren’t leaving me alone in this pitch black house, with lightning striking the ground all around us.” It was a good thing for Dale that it was dark because the smile that was strewn across his face couldn’t have gotten any larger. It seemed too good too be true, but for this moment in time, Helen Jinerman was depending on him, she was clinging to him. George Baker could kiss his ass right now. “Ok, the candles are in a drawer in the living room. I think I can get us there without bumping into too many things.” “Just walk slow so I can’t let go of you.” The two sauntered there way out of the kitchen into the rest of the house. Every ten seconds or so the house was ablaze with white light from the lightning strikes. Finally, after only bumping into the doorway and a little chest, Dale found the drawer with the candles. When they got there, they both laughed at their own stupidity. It would have been far more intelligent to bring the matches from the kitchen stove with them so they could walk back to the kitchen with some light for guidance. Nevertheless, they made their way back to the kitchen and soon they were surrounded by the soft glow of the candles. Dale’s eggs hadn’t gotten too cold during the delay so he was pleased when they sat back down. Dale stared down at his plate not knowing what to say to Helen next as he was afraid he might slip up and say something stupid that would make him blush. When he was finished he looked up and found that Helen had been staring back at him the entire time. When their eyes met, Dale wasn’t sure, but he could feel a little tension between them. He didn’t know if it was just the storm and the candles, but there was definitely something about this moment that made the temperature in the room raise at least ten degrees. “Dale, can I ask you a really, really personal question. I mean you don’t even have to answer it if you don’t want to, but I am curious.” “I guess.” “Have you ever, you know, with a woman?” Dale dropped his fork to the plate making a loud clank before she even finished her query. “I, uh, I, uh, I don’t know how to answer that.” “Well, its not a question with many possible answers. I ask because well with my wedding night coming up and I just wondered if you.” “I don’t want to insult you or nothing, but I guess, I figured after seven years together, your first time wouldn’t be on your wedding night.” Neither of them had noticed, but in the five minutes since they had gotten the candles, the storm had let up and there was just a light drizzle outside. The lightning that knocked out the power had completely stopped. “I know, a lot of people think that, but no, it’s just that.” Helen started to say before she was interrupted by the ringing phone. “Who in the world could that be,” she asked Dale. “I am guessing someone has spotted your car and checking to see if you got out of the storm ok. Hold on a second.” Dale got up from the table and answered the ringing phone. Helen sat there at the table diligently waiting on him to finish the conversation. Dale peeked at her a few times while at the phone and noticed that she never took her eyes off of him for a second. He wondered how lucky the back of his head was to have those gorgeous eyes in a fixed gaze upon him. “That was my grandmother. It seems that my parents were worried about driving back all this way in the storm so they won’t be coming back tonight. It seems that the weather has gotten a little worse south of us.” Dale sat back down at the table, wondering if Helen was going to continue the conversation she had struck up. He really didn’t want to say that he hadn’t been with a woman. Not to say he didn’t have the desire or the option even, it’s just when he looked at all the other girls he saw, he constantly compared them to Helen’s beauty and none of them ever came close to measuring up. “Anyway, the answer to your question is no, I haven’t. I’ve had the opportunity, but…” he stopped himself before he completed the sentence. He knew he was about to say “but because none of the girls were ever as beautiful as you.” and he really didn’t want to embarrass himself like that. “George has.” she said. “You mean you and George have.” “No, just George, not me.” “You mean he had when he was fifteen before you guys ever got together.” “No, I mean he has as recently as last month.” Dale couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and it made him incredibly angry. Here that idiot George had the most beautiful woman and yet he was running around on her. “How could anyone be so stupid.” Dale said, his anger showing through. “I know, I know, and I am still marrying him.” “No, no not you stupid, him stupid. I couldn’t believe he would do that to you, the most beautiful woman in the world.” “What?” “I didn’t say that?” “Yes, you did, you called me the most beautiful woman in the world.” Dale was utterly embarrassed. He couldn’t believe himself. Now George Baker wasn’t the biggest idiot, Dale Venable was. Helen was surely going to jump up from the table and run out of the house in a mad panic. “You know Dale, I didn’t really have a flat tire.” “Excuse me?” “I made it up. I knew you were going to be home alone tonight, and I faked the whole thing.” “You mean, you don’t have a flat tire?” “Well, I do now. I used my nail file, it worked pretty well.” “I don’t understand.” Helen took his hand in hers. She had an electric touch to her skin, and it made Dale’s palms sweat like crazy. He started tapping his heel up and down against the floor in a hope that it would somehow release some of the nerves that were pulsating throughout his entire body. “Your grandparents live next door to my parent’s house. I was outside helping my mother in her garden when your parent’s dropped off your little brother and sister. I overheard your mother say that you would probably work late and not drop by like you normally do.” “I still don’t understand what you are saying, Helen.” “It’s funny, I always thought it was so obvious to you when I was in high school. Didn’t you know that I always timed my walk to the door of the school so I would get there at the exact same moment you did.” “No, you didn’t, I did that.” Helen laughed, “I guess we both did that.” “I didn’t even know you knew I existed, I was two years younger than you, and besides you were always with George.” “You know George isn’t here right now.” They both leaned in at the same time, and like a dream Dale’s lips met Helen’s. Those perfect lips were now firmly pressed up against his, and her tongue was gently massaging his. It had to all be a dream, Dale knew it all had to be a dream. This couldn’t be reality. He couldn’t be sitting at his kitchen table, kissing Helen Jinerman. It just didn’t seem possible. Helen stopped the kissing and looked at him. She smiled such a smile that even in the soft light of the candles, the room was lit up. “You don’t know how long I have wanted to do that.” “I bet it’s not half as long as I wanted to do that.” Dale had a new confidence about himself and Helen. If this was a dream, he was going to make the best of it. He picked up one of the candles and blew the rest out. He stood up from the table and extended his hand to her. She looked up at him for a second before grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. He led her through the house into his bedroom. She didn’t seem to be apprehensive at all. He wondered to himself if she would pull back and say, “no,” but the words never came out of her lips. He laid the candle on his nightstand and looked deep into her eyes. He put his hand through her soft curly hair and kissed her again, this time a bit harder than before. While he was kissing her, she was unbuttoning the shirt of his that she had buttoned up less than an hour ago. The shirt fell off his shoulders and revealed his muscular physique. She pulled away from his lips and began kissing his chest with light kisses that felt so soft and so wonderful. She rose back to face him as he gently pulled the zipper down on her dress revealing her heaving chest, and then her body as her dress hit the floor. She was breathing quite heavily now, and Dale was afraid she may be having second thoughts of what she started. “Do you want me to stop?” he whispered in her ear. She didn’t say a word just shook her head, “no” as she laid down on the bed and pulled him on top of her. Dale looked into her eyes and lost himself. A few hours ago she was nothing, but a mere dream, but now it was happening. Dale Venable was about to achieve the impossible, the Jinerman Jackpot.
