Chapter 6

I put out food for Ben, helped Dollars into her jacket, and donned my coat. We walked back out with Dollars taking my hand again. I opened the door for Dollars and "helped" her into the passenger seat. I cranked Sweet Adeline and backed out of the barn closing the door behind us. We pulled out on the road and drove into Notasulga.

We attracted attention even in the dark of wintertime Alabama. The parking lot at the station was brightly lit. I pulled in and said, "There is one rule for ladies in Sweet Adeline. They must wait for the gentleman to open the door for them. She's an old fashioned car and old fashioned good manners are required or her feelings get hurt."

Dollars looked at me and giggled lowly and throatily. "You just want to look at my legs."

"Well, that's true, too." I went around and opened her door. She got out of the car showing lots of beautifully toned legs.

She looked at me. "Get a good enough view?" I smiled but said nothing. We went inside to see Mossy at his desk. There were three other people there. Dollars ran up to Mossy excitedly saying, "Sarge, you have to come out and see Abe's ride!"

"Okay, Cents. My! You sure do look good this evening."

"Abe is taking me to dinner. C'mon!"

"I've seen trucks before and ridden in his."

"This is different."

He looked over at me with my arm around Dollars' waist and said, "Good evening, Ace. Is she for real?"

"In any number of ways, Sarge."

We all went outside except for the dispatcher who was stuck. We got outside and they all stopped in their tracks. Mossy said, "Now, that is a car." He emphasized every word.

Dollars said, "Her name is Sweet Adeline. It means sweet noble. I think it fits her and her driver." She looked at me and gave my hand a squeeze. Mossy looked at the two of us standing together with a slightly shocked look on his face.

Mossy said, "Jim, go in and relieve Barbara and let her see this." One of the men nodded and went inside. A moment later, the older woman who had been dispatch came out.

She gasped and said, "Cents, you look gorgeous! Your dress looks great next to that old car."

Mossy chuckled. "Trust Barbara to get her priorities straight."

Dollars blushed a little, "This is Abe Easton, our new firearms instructor. We're going out to dinner. Sweet Adeline is his car."

Barbara smiled. "You've got yourself a nickel! His car is hot, too." Now, we both blushed.

Mossy said, "Cents and Nickel. I like it. Okay, head inside folks. We've peace to keep and they have dinner to eat." Everyone went but Mossy. He looked at us and smiled. "This is working out better than I could have imagined." He laughed. "Have a good evening, Cents and Nickel." He went inside still chuckling.

I opened the door for Dollars and closed it gently. I walked around and got behind the wheel. She said, "I'll never live this down." She grinned. "I don't want to either. Onward to my place. Let's show off to Teresa!"

I drove over to their house. I opened the door for Dollars and handed her out. Teresa had come to the door. She saw Dollars get out and ran out to hug her. "Cents, you look great." She looked at me. "Abe, the car is gorgeous, too."

Dollars said, "Meet Sweet Adeline. Abe is driving tonight. She's a great ride."

We left minutes later and went to downtown Opelika. We quickly found that Mondays aren't good evenings to eat out at nice places. I headed west on Fredericks and then it changed to Glenn as we crossed from Opelika into Auburn. We stopped at Acre, another great place though not specializing in Cajun. We had great meals with a glass of wine each.

We were almost finished eating, when an older couple entered the restaurant. They said something to the hostess. She thought a moment and came to our table. She said, "I'm sorry to bother you. Aren't you driving the fancy old car?" I nodded. "The couple who just came in asked about it. Would you mind talking to them?"

I stood. "Not at all. We would be glad to. Please tell our waiter that we will be back for desert and coffee." I helped Dollars up. The hostess nodded and led us to the couple. I said, "I am Abe Easton and this is Miss Millicent Ingram. Sweet Adeline, the Chrysler, is mine."

"Mister Easton, This is my wife, Margaret. I am John Lofton. Our first date was in my brother's car. His was green but very similar. I hope you don't mind but we sat in it for a moment. It was wonderful to relive old memories."

We shook hands all around. "I'm glad you did. I would be glad to give you a ride."

Missus Lofton said, "No. Thank you very much. It's a fine car and reminded us of high school when we started going together."

"Thank you for the compliments. It's a great car and I feel like her custodian rather than her owner. I bought her needing some work and enjoyed getting everything right."

Dollars said, "I feel so regal riding in it."

John said, "A beautiful lady in a beautiful car. It doesn't get much better than that, does it Abe?"

"Sir, you have the situation well described."

He said, "Thank you for talking with us and allowing us to disturb your meal. Have a great evening." We shook hands again. They followed the hostess to their table and we returned to ours. We shared a desert with coffee. I paid the check and we left. Again, Sweet Adeline rolled off in quiet splendor and took us to my farm. I pulled into the barn and turned off the motor.

Dollars turned toward me in her seat and said, "Kiss me, Abraham." I did and took my time. Finally, we broke the kiss to get some air. "That's great. You can stop doing that in about six or eight hours. However, I want a rusty nail along with more kisses. I guess we must go inside for the nail."