Follow that Car:Love Letters #2

Dear Reader, 

I hope you enjoy this week’s installment of LeeLee’s Love Letters. In this submission, the writer notices “her” on the fly. He and his boys had been kicking it at the park. Their usual pick-up game had ensued for hours. Thankfully he had showered afterward because he was about to meet the woman who could become his future wife.  

— 

Follow that Car 

Nights at the park were typical. Some nights Hunter drove, and other nights he caught a ride. This night he rode with a buddy and next-door neighbor. After the game and a quick shower to wash away the sweat, they stopped to chomp down a sub at the local deli. 

They were headed for home in Butch’s muscle car when Hunter saw her. Butch had seen her too. It was hard not to notice a woman in a Jeep Wrangler on the dark, empty streets. But she was driving in the opposite direction. 

“Dude, follow that car,” Hunter said to his friend. 

“What? Man, what are you talking about?”  

“C’mon. I think I just saw the most beautiful woman in the world.” 

“Yo. We see beautiful women all the time,” Butch replied.  

But for some reason, he whipped the old Mustang around and began to trail her. 

She had not gotten far at first. But then she sped up, turning here and there, crossing one intersection after another.  

“Keep up,” Hunter told his friend. He would have kicked his buddy to the curb and grabbed the wheel if he could.   

Finally, she stopped at a gas station, parking next to an open pump. A few feet behind, Butch pulled into the same station, careful to find a pump within eyeshot.

Hunter was now close enough without being obtrusive. What now, though. For the last ten minutes, he had forced his friend to follow her across town only not to have a plan.   

“Man, you’re scared she’s ugly, right?” Butch teased. 

“Nah, I know she’s not,” he said. But inwardly, he considered that the girl he chased across town might be deformed or something. Why else would she take so long to get out of her car? He pushed his shallow thoughts aside and thought about rushing over to help her. Perhaps she was in distress. Maybe she saw them trailing her. He envisioned her spraying mace on him. Or worst.

“I might as well fill up while you figure it out,” said his friend.  

When the car door slammed, Hunter started to get out behind him.  Then he heard another car door slam. It was hers. He held his breath as he witnessed all the beauty he had initially perceived. 

With satisfaction and sheer impulse, he opened the door, walked over to her, and quite nervously introduced himself. She responded kindly, but she did not give her name.  

Then before he knew it, he told her how he followed her. Her eyes widened.

Where could she go? Stuck between her car and a nozzle in her tank, she did not leave or scream. He gave her more information about himself, including the firm he worked for and his boss’s name. “In case you want to report me to the authorities.”  

She listened. She told Hunter she never met anyone as forthright as him. He took her comments as a good sign, and when he asked for her number, she gave him her business card. 

Later that evening, he texted her. He said he wanted to set up an appropriate meeting. 

“How’d you like to join me for lunch this week?” 

She agreed to coffee. 

They met. They laughed. They agreed to another outing. And then another. 

Every day they talked, and each time, he admired her more and more. In his mind, he, “the consummate bachelor,” had found his wife. 

They began to take walks on the weekends. They played chess on Sundays under a park pavilion. They had many things in common. He said he knew of her father–an elected official for their district. She realized she had dated his cousin. 

Without warning, she stopped accepting his calls. The weeks crept by. Hunter gave her space, purposely avoiding the places she might be, but involuntarily looking for her at every gas station he passed. 

Then one Saturday, during a family gathering, he spoke privately to his cousin (the one she had dated). His cousin admitted that she was a good woman and he had not been a good man. Hunter beat his cousin up (with his words). 

Days later, she called. Hunter nearly jumped out of his office chair when he saw her name pop up on his phone. 

“Can we talk in person?” said Lydia.

He agreed and they met for coffee. She thanked him. 

“For what?” He asked. 

“Your cousin called to apologize,” she said. “I must apologize to you.” She shared her story and explained her disappearance. He listened and asked if they could start again, as friends, with the talks and walks and coffee and chess.

For a year, he valued her time, treated her with respect, and she did the same. They attended  church together, which led to community Bible studies. She met the rest of his family, and then she formally introduced him to hers. 

One balmy Sunday afternoon, after supper, Hunter asked her to take him on a jeep ride. She loved to drive and he enjoyed the view. She drove all over town, turning here and there, crossing one intersection after another.

Before heading home, Hunter asked her to stop at the park for a round of speed chess. As they approached the pavillion, Lydia noticed a crowd of familiar faces. When she turned her attention to Hunter, he bent down on one knee before their family and friends and presented her with a princess cut diamond engagement ring. 

She accepted, and today they are living, happily, as one. 

p.s. Butch was Hunter’s best man.

Words of Wisdom from Proverbs 18:22 TPT 

“When a man finds a wife, he has found a treasure! 

For she is the gift of God to bring him joy and pleasure. 

   But the one who divorces a good woman loses what is good from his house. 

   To choose an adulteress is both stupid and ungodly.”