Chapter 5

Brad thought that at work and at home things were going good for him. In his house the ceilings and the walls were painted and the new dark wood flooring was installed. With his neighbor’s help he hung the large flat screen TV over the fire place. His next project was going to be the kitchen which could use new cabinets, a granite counter top and new appliances. That remodeling was something he would hire a contractor to do and there was in no rush to do it. Some new furniture would be a nice touch but again there was no rush to do that.

For the most part nothing much different was happening at the clinic and most of the appointments were being filled. The time delay in a patient asking for an appointment wasn’t that long so any consideration to the hiring of another dentist was put on hold.

Brad was now into his second round of seeing patients since they were coming back for their six month teeth cleaning. He met Valerie Brandle who came in for a cleaning. He couldn’t help but think in seeing and talking to her that Steve was a lucky man.

On Saturday at close to noon Brad had exited the food store and was carting two bags in walking to his CRV that was in the parking lot. He noticed a lady standing by a car whose trunk lid was open. He also noticed that the left front tire of her car was flat.

“Need some help?” he said.

“Yes I do and that would be nice of you to give me a hand.”

“Let me put these bags in my car and get some gloves and I can change the tire.”

Changing a tire is not rocket science was the thought he had. All you need to do is to loosen the lug nuts, take them off and replace the tire. Figuring out how the jack works and where it is mounted under the car is the challenging part in replacing a tire. Having figured that out he replaced the flat tire with the donut spare. He could see this lady was very appreciative of him doing this and at the same time he couldn’t help but notice that she was about his age and well above average with her looks. She had on gloves which prohibited him from seeing if she was wearing a wedding ring.

He put the flat tire in the trunk and closed the lid.

“I can’t thank you enough for what you did. I really do appreciate it. My name is Tessa Wilke and thanks for being a Good Samaritan.”

“It is the least I could do for a pretty lady. My name is Brad Crawford and it’s nice meeting you. Tessa is an unusual first name. The only other time I ever heard that name mentioned is when I spoke on the phone with a Tessa who worked for the Wilkinsing Foundation.”

“That’s me.”

“You are Valerie’s assistant?”

“Yes I am.”

“I am the dentist that you found the office manager for.”

“I remember doing that. Did I make a good hire for you?”

“She is worth her weight in gold.”

“Is there anything else I could do for you?” asked Tessa.

That was a straight line she just gave him and he thought it best he would let it go without making a flippant remark. After a few seconds of thought before he said, “Yes you can because if you aren’t married or if you don’t have a significant other and it doesn’t present a problem I would like to take you out to dinner for making that good hire.”

He could see that his saying that momentarily stunned her and she now had to think about what to say.

“There is no problem and sure, why not. I don’t have plans for later if you want to do it tonight.” He said he did and she gave him the information on where she lived.

In driving home he congratulated himself on this sudden impulse move he made to ask her out. He wasn’t sure what prompted him to do that and it surprised him that he did it.

Brad remembered her having a cute face and shoulder length auburn hair. Based on her being Valerie’s assistant he thought she must be intelligent. Because of the coat and jeans she was wearing he had no idea of what type of body she had. For some unknown reason he thought he should impress her which had him make a reservation at the Embers restaurant. This restaurant was on the expensive side but he had a feeling that Tessa would be worth the expense.

Brad was pleasantly surprised when Tessa opened the door to her condo. She was wearing a form fitting four inches above the knee dark red dress. The dress showed Brad that she had a slim figure with nice legs. He also observed that she was not short changed in the breast department. He mentally patted himself on his back for making the reservation at the Embers.

Tessa offered him a drink which he accepted. He looked at the condo and noticed how it was tastefully decorated. He complemented her on her appearance and on how the condo was decorated. He could tell she appreciated hearing him saying this.

At the Embers after checking their coats Brad followed her to the table with his eyes on her nice backside. He noticed sitting at a table also dining there were Steve and Valerie Brandle to who Brad gave a little wave of his hand and nod of his head. Valerie smiled in seeing her assistant Tessa with Brad. Steve also smiled along with giving Brad an enthusiastic thumb’s up sign with his hand. Things were getting better and better thought Brad.

Dinning with Tessa was very nice. The conversation they had was of the getting to know you type. He learned that she received her undergrad business degree in marketing from Stanford. She said she was never married although she came close one time. She enjoys working at Wilkinsing and has become accustomed to the laid back atmosphere of a small town but wishes there were more in the way of activities she could do or could attend. Golfing was suggested by people at work and that is something she is considering doing.

Tessa expressed her interest in fishing when Brad mention that he does do some of that on weekends. She became more interested when he mentioned he either bakes or smokes some of the trout he catches. She said smoked fish is one of her favorite foods.

Others subjects as work along with things to do in the area and their individual families were discussed. The time just flew by and Brad was a little surprised it had when he was presented with the check.

On the drive back her condo Brad asked if he could get another date with her and could that be done without him having to change a tire first. She laughed at his statement and told him that yes he could. Tessa further said while the Embers was nice it was also expensive. Just going out for pizza and a drink was something she said was fine with her. He told her he would pick her up at seven next Saturday.

Saturday couldn’t come fast enough as far as Brad was concerned. It finally did and having pizza with Tessa made for an enjoyable evening. Besides having a nice personality the sweater and jeans she was wearing showed he to be a very attractive lady.

Brad continued to date Tessa and was taking her out just about every weekend. They visited the golf driving range and hit some balls along with playing miniature golf. The movie theater by the hospital along with visits to both Ken locations were some of the things they did.

The visit to Ken’s West was interesting because this time Brad was with a good looking lady and not just sitting at the bar wishing he was. A fellow who appeared to be half in the bag asked Tessa to dance and she politely turned him down. This fellow was getting to be obnoxious and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Because he kept bothering her Brad started to rise from his chair but he felt a strong arm on his shoulder pushing him down and someone saying for him to stay seated.

Brad looked to see who said that and saw it was Larry Muller who was one of the bouncers here and who was a patient of Brad’s. Larry along with another man walked up to this annoying man and pressing this man’s elbows into his side they picked him up and carried him outside. Brad made a point to thank Larry the next time he sees him.