"Shawn!"
Billy, Allie's 5 year-old nephew ran towards the man at the end of the aisle in the grocery store and surprised him.
"Billy!"
As Allie, her brother, and sister and law made it to the end of the aisle, Shawn had grabbed Billy in his arms and was hugging him. With Shawn were two teenagers, his daughter and his son. Introductions were made and small talk ensued. Shawn was a co-worker of Allie's at the open pit mine and had graciously agreed to take Billy and his dad on a giant truck ride, something little Billy would not soon forget. What better for a 5-year-old than a big truck ride?
Shawn asked Allie's brother how much longer they were in town and was told they were only going to be in town another two days, they'd be leaving that Friday morning.
Shawn's daughter was eyeing Allie with great interest and when Allie noticed, the 15-year old asked point blank "Are you married?"
"Cynthia!" Shawn exclaimed.
Allie laughed and said "It's okay. No, I'm not married."
"Seeing anyone?"
"Cynthia!"
Still laughing, Allie answered "You are a curious one, aren't you? Nope, not seeing anyone. Now tell me why you're so curious."
"Well, if you're single, do you think you could be my dad's date for my aunt's wedding on Saturday. After all, your family won't be here so you should be free!"
"Cynthia!"
By then, Shawn was really embarrassed. Allie smiled and asked "Cynthia, do you have a date for the wedding?"
"No, what's that got to do with anything?"
"Well, I'm just wondering how you'd feel if your dad tried to arrange a date for you..."
Cynthia bit her lower lip and then said "I guess you're right, I'd be mortified. Sorry dad. But you seem to be so nice and you certainly know how to talk to people and I think you could stand up to the rest of the family. Dad would need that."
Allie turned to Shawn. "Call me Friday night if, after sleeping on it a few nights, you like your daughter's idea."
With that, they all went their own way to finish getting groceries. Of course, that night, Allie took a lot of ribbing from her brother but, as Cynthia had guessed, Allie could take it.
After seeing her brother and his family to the airport on Friday, Allie went back home and cleaned up her home. It was only after 8 pm that night that the phone rang. It was Shawn.
After a few niceties, Shawn apologized for his daughter's behaviour. That prompted Allie to ask "Why would your daughter be worried about you needing someone to stand up to your family?"
"It's not really my family but my ex wife's family. Her sister is marrying a good friend of mine and he insisted I had to be there. Cynthia figures I would need help facing my ex and her family. I think I'd be fine but she was really impressed by you and firmly believes I'd be even better with you on my arm."
"So, what do you want to do?"
"Well, Cynthia did have some very good points and besides, I kind of like you. What I know of you anyway. On the other hand, I'm not sure it's fair to put you in this situation right on what would be our first date."
"I kind of like you too but I'm not sure about dating a coworker."
"I work in the mine and you work in the office. We have no dealings with each other. The only time we see each other is during courses that the company gets us all to take. I don't think we'd be in any conflict of interest situation. You know, I don't think anyone at work would care actually and if you prefer, we could keep it quiet."
"Good point and yes, I'd like to keep it quiet to start with. But tell me, how bad was your breakup? And how special is that ex family-in-law of yours?"
Shawn and Allie spoke on the phone for over two hours, discussing his family and hers and the wedding the next day. As they talked, they found that they had a lot in common despite growing up at opposite ends of the country. The conversation was easy and comfortable. Finally, they agreed that Allie, a designated driver for life, would pick up Shawn at 2:30 in the afternoon for the 3 o'clock ceremony in town.
The next day, Allie let herself sleep in so she could stay up later that night without feeling too tired. Getting ready for the wedding, Allie took special care of her hair and make up, wanting to look nice for Shawn. Fortunately, she'd been shopping a few weeks before and had a nice summery cotton dress she could wear with a short jacket in case it got cool.
As she was putting on her pantyhose, she punctured them with one of her nails and had to throw that pair out. She was down to her last pair so she was very careful in putting them on. She was ready in lots of time to get to Shawn's place.
When Allie rang the door bell, she was surprised to see Cynthia open the door. Cynthia had on a very cute strapless dress in a deep green that accentuated her natural colouring.
Both of them at the same time said "Wow, you look great!" And laughed about it. Cynthia motioned for Allie to come in and said "Dad's just struggling with his tie."
Allie asked "Where's your brother?"
Cynthia answered "He's with mom. I insisted on being here to help dad choose his shirt and tie."