Author's note: This story is set in the 1960s, in a time of no social media or cell phones. There is a long lead-up before things get cooking, so please show some patience. Thanks.
Eli was just finishing cleaning out the area where his family's sheep had been penned up for several days at the county's farm show when he saw a flash of gold behind a row of hay bales next to him.
As he kept sweeping, he kept looking to see what it was, and finally, when he moved toward the back of his area, he realized it was a girl. She had long, curly blonde locks, and just for a second, she glanced over his way.
Eli was stunned - the girl was really, really cute. She had deep blue eyes and when their eyes met she gave him a smile that lit up her face.
He just nodded his head and smiled back. As he continued his chores, he kept sneaking glances her way, and at least half of the time, she was looking at him, too.
The girl was wearing bib overalls over a plaid flannel shirt, and was tending to a horse that somebody else had brought in.
Eli was completely inexperienced when it came to talking with girls, and was as shy as could be, but he knew he'd have to at least introduce himself to this girl.
Jodi had heard somebody in the next stall doing some raking, but it wasn't until she led the horse deeper into her stall that she looked over and saw it was boy. As they smiled at each other, Jodi took him in: he was tall, wearing a flannel shirt, tight jeans and boots, and he had a handsome face with brown eyes and fairly long dirty blonde hair.
As they kept looking at each other, Jodi got the sense that he'd be over to talk to her. She liked what she saw, but she was painfully shy and was almost hoping he wouldn't do it.
Once he was done, Eli forced himself to go over and say hello. He was 17, a junior in high school, and, other than attending church and some social events at the church, he hadn't been out in the world much. But he had been feeling some kind of mental pull that was beginning to make him want to see what else was out there.
Something told him he had to at least meet this girl.
Jodi saw him walking toward her and knew there was no way to escape. And, really, for one of the first times in her young life, she was actually hoping to meet a guy. Her family was very conservative, their lives were centered around their church, and she was halfway through her junior year at school. All that made for a pretty dull life and she was starting to think about ways to expand her horizons.
Something told her she had to at least say hello to this guy.
Eli put his arms on the hay stack, leaned forward and said, "Hi, I'm Eli."
As he reached out with his hand, Jodi stepped forward, took it, and said, "Hi, back. I'm Jodi."
They chatted about the farm show for a few minutes, he asked about her horse, and they realized that while she would be there for the next couple of days, he was leaving. When Eli's mom came by to let him know it was time to go, all he could manage was, "Well, nice to meet you, Jodi."
It wasn't until he was in their truck and about 5 minutes down the road, he thought to himself, "You idiot - you don't even know her whole name or where she lives. You're probably never going to see her again."
Jodi was wistfully thinking, "That was nice while it lasted, but I don't even know who he is. Oh, well."
Fate, however, decided to bring them back together again.
On a Saturday afternoon in late October, Jodi's church put on a new event, A Day on the Farm, with hay rides, bobbing for apples, lots to eat, games and plenty of other stuff. She was in charge of the milk shake stand until 3:00, then was free to have fun until her parents came to get her around 5:00.
About 10 minutes before her shift was over, she looked at the short line of people waiting to get shakes and she saw Eli at the end of the line. He hadn't seen her yet, so she played it cool. When he was the next one to get served, he finally saw her and she watched as his face broke into a smile, which she matched while giving him a quick wave.
As she handed him a peanut butter shake, she leaned a little closer and said, "Hey, I get off in a couple of minutes, can you hang around?"
"Absolutely. And this is a really good shake."
Eli waited for her as he polished off the treat. When she came out of the booth, he reached out his hand to her, and she took it with a strong grip.
She said, "It's a nice surprise to see you again."
"Yeah, I was a dope last time. I didn't even get your full name or where you live."
"Well, it's Jodi Benton, and I live outside of Dorseyville, about five miles from here."
"OK, I'm Eli Wallace. I live close to Dorseyville, too, just across the river in Gentry County. I guess you go to Dorseyville High; I go to South Perry."
"That's interesting. I live pretty close to the river. I'd bet we're not that far apart. Do you know where the Dairy Freeze is? I'm only about a quarter of a mile from that, down Smith Road."
"Wow, then we're not far apart at all. Do you know that intersection where Stanley's Farm Implements is? We live on Downey Road back a few houses from the corner. So we're probably only about, what, a mile and a half from you."
"That's really kind of ironic. Hey, I was going to get something to eat; do you want to come along?"
Eli was thrilled to do anything with Jodi. He had never been in this situation before with a girl and he wasn't sure what to do or say. His palms were sweaty and his heart was pounding.
"Sure, I could do that."
Jodi was giddy inside. She didn't know anything about this boy, but she knew even though she was nervous, she had to at least keep talking to him.
They ended up getting sloppy joes, french fries and Cokes and sat down at a table in the shade to eat. They discovered they had a lot in common: both had one sibling (Jodi an older brother, and Eli a younger sister), neither one played a sport at school, neither one knew for sure what they were doing after they graduated, and both admitted they didn't have much in the way of friends.
The more time they spent together, the easier the conversation got, which was a new experience.
"I really don't like a lot of the girls I know at school," Jodi said. "They talk about everybody else and they're mean. So I just do my work and then go home."
"The guys I know aren't much different. I'd rather be by myself than hang around with them. All they talk about is girls and cars."
Pretty soon - way too soon for either of them - it got to be about 5:00 and Jodi said she had to meet her parents at the front gate.
Eli looked into Jodi's eyes, mustered up all of his courage and said, "Um, do think I could have your phone number? Just in case, you know, we'd want to talk some more?"
"Oh, Eli, that's sweet. Yes, I'd like that."
She pulled a pen out of her pocketbook and wrote it on the palm of his hand, and said, "How about next Saturday night? Can you call then, maybe around 8?"