Chapter 19

Head buried in her closet, Betsy was tossing clothes out left and right. Charlie and Alice were standing at the door watching her. They were a little amused by her behavior.

Alice said, “I do believe that Betsy is in a tizzy.”

“Tizzy? Yes, she does look like a person in a tizzy,” Charlie said.

“It could be a dither,” Alice said.

“No. It’s definitely a tizzy, not a dither,” Charlie said.

“I wonder why she’s in a tizzy?”

Betsy growled and then muttered, “I’ll show them a tizzy.”

“I have no idea,” Charlie said winking at Alice.

Betsy growled.

Unperturbed by the looks she was getting from Betsy, Alice said, “It might be a date.”

“She did scream something about having a date tonight when she ran into the house,” Charlie said.

“I wonder who to poor bastard is,” Alice said.

Betsy glared over at Alice. “Poor bastard? I’ll poor bastard you.”

Alice grinned.

Charlie stared up at the ceiling for a second and then asked, “Do you think Chuck finally worked up enough nerve to tackle her?”

“It would appear so,” Alice said.

“He didn’t tackle me,” Betsy said without wondering how they knew it was Chuck. “I tripped.”

Stacy walked over to the door, squeezed between Alice and Charlie, and peered into the room. She said, “It looks like Betsy is in a tizzy.”

“Be quiet,” Betsy said while tossing two more outfits onto the bed.

“So I guess Chuck finally worked up enough nerve to tackle her,” Stacy said.

“I tripped!”

Stacy said, “I suppose that after Gary’s warning of what happened to people who tried to tackle Betsy, Chuck wasn’t willing to take the risk of a couple months in the hospital.”

“These men nowadays just aren’t willing to go all out to get the girl,” Alice said shaking her head sadly.

“I know. There was a time when men would walk thirty miles through the wilderness, wrestle three bears on the way, and face an angry father who was carrying a loaded shotgun just to ask a girl out,” Charlie said.

Alice said, “That was back in the good old days when men were men and women were thankful.”

Stacy said, “I miss those days.”

“There are still Marines,” Charlie said.

“Yes, there are,” Alice said with a smile. “We know how you feel about Marines.”

Stacy said, “At least she doesn’t have to worry about breaking Chuck. He’s built pretty good.”

“Not quite up to Marine standards,” Charlie said.

“That’s true,” Alice said.

Betsy stopped in the middle of tossing a short skirt onto the bed and turned to look at the three women standing at her bedroom door. All of a sudden it dawned on her that they knew a bit more about her upcoming date than they should have known. She didn’t recall telling them that it was Chuck who asked her out.

“How did you know that Chuck asked me out?”

“He’s wanted to ask you out for a while.”

“How long have you known that?” Betsy asked.

“Only for about six months,” Alice said.

“Six months?” Betsy asked incredulously.

Charlie said, “The first time he saw you jog by was about six months ago.”

“He was smitten,” Stacy said with a large grin.

“Smitten?”

“Poor guy hasn’t dated anyone since that day,” Alice said.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me that?” Betsy asked.

“Because it was up to him to make the first move,” Alice said.

Charlie said, “That’s right.”

Stacy said, “That poor guy has been trying to get your attention for months.”

“What are you talking about?” Betsy asked looking blankly at the three woman.

“You didn’t notice him trying to get your attention so that you’d stop and talk to him?”

“Little things like, calling to you when you ran past.”

“Or like, holding up signs inviting you to stop.”

“Uh ... I thought he was trying to drum up a little business for that store of his. It can’t be making much of a profit,” Betsy said feeling a little embarrassed.

“Chuck Cole runs a multi-million dollar investment firm out of that little store,” Stacy said.

“How do you know that?” Betsy asked and then realized that it was a pretty stupid question since it was her job to know things like that.

“Gary and I did a background check on him the day he mentioned that he wanted to date you,” Stacy said.

“When did he mention that?”

Alice said, “I was in the store one morning when you jogged past. He nearly killed himself trying to get out to wave you down. After you flew past, he complained about how you ran past so fast that it was impossible to get you to stop. He asked me how he could get you to slow down long enough to talk to you.

“Of course, his question aroused my curiosity so I asked him why he wanted to talk to you. He said that you were the prettiest woman on the island and that he wanted you for a wife.”

“He said that?” Betsy asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ve really got to find the right outfit,” Betsy said tossing the skirt onto the bed and diving back into the closet again.

“Don’t you want to look over the report on him?” Stacy asked.

Betsy paused and thought about it for a moment. Finally, she shook her head and answered, “No. I think that would not be a good idea.”

“Do I look okay?”

“You look great.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I really want to look good tonight.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Do I look okay?”

Gary said, “Calm down. You look like a million dollars. He’ll be impressed.”

“I want to make a good impression,” Betsy said.

She stood in front of the mirror. Her navy blue skirt came down to her knees. Her light blue silk shirt contrasted nicely with the navy and her golden colored skin. She leaned forward and checked her make up. She wasn’t used to wearing make up and Charlie had to help her apply it.

“Do I look okay?”

Gary looked up at the ceiling. Frustrated, he said, “You look outstanding. Don’t worry about it.”

The sound of the alarm went off indicating that someone had entered the property. Gary looked down at his hand held computer and said, “He’s on his way up the drive.”

“I’ll meet him outside,” Betsy said.

“No, you won’t,” Gary said.

“Why not?”

“I’ve got to do the papa bear thing,” Gary said.

“What’s that?”

Gary said, “I’ve got to threaten him with bodily harm if he lets anything bad happen to you.”

“I can take care of myself,” Betsy said.

“I know that and you know that, but he doesn’t. All fathers, or in my case father figures, are expected to threaten young men taking their daughters out on a date for the first time. If I don’t do it, then the world will start spinning faster, and everyone will fall off,” Gary said.

“That’s ridiculous,” Betsy said while crossing her arms across her chest.

“Maybe, but we don’t want to take the chance,” Gary said.

“I’m ready to go now!”

“You’ll just have to wait.”

“I don’t want to wait,” Betsy said.

Gary smiled and said, “It’s tradition. You have to wait a little bit so that he has to wait a little bit while the father does his best to make him miserable. You can’t violate tradition.”

“It’s a stupid tradition,” Betsy said unsure if it was really tradition or if Gary was having a little fun at her expense.

“Alice will let you know when to join us,” Gary said before leaving the room.

Betsy shook her fist at his back. She finally had a date and Gary was making her wait. She had already waited a long time to have her first date and didn’t think it was fair.

Alice entered the room. It was obvious to her that Betsy was frustrated. The fact was that she sort of supported Gary in what he was going to do. Her father had done it when her husband had come to pick her up the first time.

“You’ve got to let the men play their little games,” Alice said.

“Why?”

Alice said, “One day you’ll be a mother and you’ll appreciate it when your husband does this.”

“I don’t like it now.”

“Neither will your daughter,” Alice said.

Gary sat at the kitchen table with his pistol in pieces and his cleaning kit out. His pistol was already clean, but he went through the motions of cleaning it. He was about a quarter of the way through the process when Chuck entered the room. The young man’s eyes immediately flew to the pistol.

Gary said, “Just cleaning the tools of my trade. Don’t worry about it.”

“Your trade?”

“I’m in the security business. I protect my clients from any and all harm that might be directed in their direction,” Gary said while running a cleaning pad over a part.

“You must be good at it,” Chuck said.

It had never dawned on him that Betsy might have a bodyguard. She was always alone when she ran past the store. Looking at the man seated at the table, he realized that he was likely to come on the date with him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Gary grinned and said, “I’m very good at it.”

Stacy came into the room. Chuck was about to greet her when she pulled out her pistol. It took her just a few seconds to dismantle it for cleaning.

“My sister, Stacy, is also on the security team,” Gary said.

“Hi,” Stacy said.

Her hands moved almost on their own while she went about a task that was second nature to her. Her confidence in handling the weapon couldn’t be faked.

“I didn’t know you were in security,” Chuck said.

“We try not to be too obvious about it except when we need to be obvious about it,” Gary said.

Wiggling her eyebrows at him, Stacy said, “It’s an art.”

“I can see,” Chuck said looking at the pistol parts spread over the table.

Gary said, “I don’t think you want me or Stacy to go with you on your date, do you?”

“Not really,” Chuck said.

It dawned on him that this was the ‘old father scares the hell out his daughter’s date’ gambit. He decided this was about the most effective delivery that he’d ever seen. Intimidating was too gentle of a word to describe it.

Stacy said, “You’ll make sure she’s all right, won’t you?”

“Yes,” Chuck said.

Gary said, “We’ve got your word on that?”

“Yes,” Chuck said.

“Good,” Stacy said.

Gary, without looking at what he was doing, assembled the pistol. It seemed to take him only a couple of seconds. He slipped the pistol into his shoulder harness and then rose from the table.

Charlie walked into the room and sat down where Gary had been. She smiled over at Chuck and said, “Hello, Chuck.”

“Hello, Charlie,” Chuck replied pleased to see a friendly face.

Charlie reached into her purse and pulled out her pistol. Chuck’s face fell upon seeing it. She took it apart to clean.

Gary said, “She’s backup in case Stacy and I fail to survive in our duties to protect Betsy.”

Chuck said, “Let me guess, everyone here carries a gun.”

“Got it in one,” Gary said.

Charlie said, “I told you he was a smart one.”

Chuck said, “I’ve got the message. Be good to Betsy.”

“He is a clever one,” Gary said.

Furious, Betsy stormed into the kitchen. She stopped next to Charlie. With her hands moving in a blur, she reassembled the pistol and then handed it to Charlie.

In a voice dripping acid, Betsy said, “If you’re done making my date miserable, it is time for us to leave. Even if you haven’t been successful in making him miserable, it is time for us to leave.”