That Surprise Visit Make Me Happy Part -3 Continues…

A little rainbow flag that signaled that my office was a safe space where LGBTQ+ students were welcomed.

And now I just had to wait for next Wednesday. Either this would help someone, or it would all blow up in my face.

—

The smell of apple pie wafted around the house.

I had my unruly hair in a loose bun, meticulously made to look casual. Tank top and a red shirt tied at the front. Jeans. Makeup.

I wasn’t stressed, no way. Just casual coffee with a friend.

With the Pastor’s wife.

Fuck.

Just coffee. Nothing else. It could never be anything else.

Never.

So, stop dreaming, Liv. Just stop.

I heard a car come to a halt on the gravel. Looking out the kitchen window I could see a blue minivan next to the truck.

She was walking towards the house in a green blouse, jeans and boots, with a jacket over her arm. Her honey-ginger mane was back in that hot French braid down her back.

I went out to meet her on the porch.

“Welcome to Sunflower Ridge, Mrs. Hanson.”

“Thank you!” She came right to me and gave me a friendly hug cheek to cheek.

“And please, call me Maggie.”

“Ok Maggie.” I smiled.

It felt nice saying that.

She turned around on the porch.

“That’s an amazing view, it’s beautiful out here.”

“Yeah, it’s quite something isn’t it? Please, come in.”

She walked in through the hallway and nearly twirled around the open space when she got to the great room, admiring the high ceiling, large windows and the exposed beams.

“Oh, I love this house, it’s beautiful!”

“Thanks, my great grandfather built it in the 1920’s. The original farmhouse was a little south of here, but it burned down when my Dad was a kid.”

“So, has your family lived here for generations? That’s amazing.”

There was something different about her today. She was so much more animated, more alive somehow.

“Yes, since the 1890’s. My family immigrated from Germany. I’ve got some cousins somewhere near Fargo, but my Dad and I are the only ones left here though. Not sure what I’ll do with the place when he’s gone.”

She went quiet.

“How long has he got?”

“Hard to say. Maybe until Christmas.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She came to me and gave me a real hug. A proper one, enveloping me in her arms and not letting go for a while. It felt wonderful. When she let go I choked down my tears.

“Thanks. I didn’t know how much I needed that.”

She took my hands with a comforting smile.

“That’s what friends are for JERRY.”

“Luv. My friends call me Liv.”

“Okay. Liv. I like that, it’s pretty. It suits you.”

She was standing very close to me. I could feel her breath on my lips, and her eyes were looking into mine.

And then they flicked down to my lips. Just for a fraction of a second.

She let go of my hands and took a step around me.

I stood there, heart racing as she walked around the room, looking out the windows, praising the view out to the main fields West of the house.

She had felt it too. That perfect moment to kiss. If I had just moved an inch towards her, given her just a little hint, would she have…?

No. Stop.

But she had thought about it. Her eyes gave her away.

No. I was reading too much into it.

I reached for the safety of coffee and pie.

“Uhm… how do you take your coffee Maggie.”

“Oh, black please.” I turned towards the kitchen.

“Like my conscience,” she added playfully.

I couldn’t help giggling.

“Ha! That’s a good one. What dark secrets could a demure Pastor’s wife have?”

I realized too late how that was a very wrong thing for me to say. Once, I had been exactly that dark secret.

Shit.

I put a K-Cup in the machine and pushed the button and looked up to see her standing in the doorway looking at me with a hard-to-read look on her face.

I looked down.

“So, I guess they told you?”

She gave a shadowed smile.

“Yeah, they did.”

“Look, I’m sorry…”

“No. Don’t be sorry Liv, they should be sorry.”

“What?”

“Judging from what Ellen told me, you were taken advantage of when you were quite young, and certain people in this town made it their business to slander and bully you for it.”

I was so stunned I just stood there with her cup of coffee in my hand.

“And even now, at the bake sale, the Andersons still carry a grudge for something Elizabeth should have taken the blame for years ago? It’s shameful.”

The tears just came. I didn’t heave or shake, my throat just tightened, my eyes burned, and I could feel them running down my cheeks.

“And how you just stood there and gracefully let it wash over you, let it flow around you like it was nothing. I didn’t know what it was about then, but I admired you for it. But now that I know… I don’t know how you do it Liv.”

I heard myself say it through the tears, like listening to another person speaking.

“Years of practice.”

She came to me and took the cup away and sat me down on a chair. She pulled up another one and sat holding my hands.

“I’m sorry I upset you. I didn’t mean to. I truly… admire you.”

She moved a lock of hair plastered to my wet cheek back behind my ear.

I blinked and wiped the tears, looking up at her.