MARRIED CHRISTMAS

"And in Your book were all written

the days that were ordained for me..."

Psalm 139:16

This story is dedicated to Joriale Lambert,

gone too suddenly soon.

It was time.  His symptoms were too alarming to ignore any longer,  Austin groaned after leaving the E.R.  They'd drawn enough blood to fill an elephant.  They'd taken chest x-rays, an EKG and even a CAT scan.  He had his little girl to think of and plans to make for the worst case scenario in case of terrible, horribly bad news.  

Dallas was too precious to leave to fate.  He must make provision for her regardless of how he felt.  He lifted his eyes to the stormy sky saying, "I'm sorry, Kelly.  I lost you too soon, but I'm going to have to remarry to give our little girl a mother, someone to take care of her if I'm no longer here."  Just saying those words aloud behind the locked doors of his car caused his chest to seize again making breathing nearly impossible.  He felt clammy. He saw stars, but not the ones in the sky.  Finally, he sucked in enough air to keep from losing consciousness.  Austin rubbed his chest until it quit hurting, enough so he could drive home and his babysitter could leave.

"Daddy!"  

"Hey, sugar," he responded while blinking back tears.

Once in the door, his little girl's hug was all the medicine he needed.  She looked so much like her mama.  At least he'd had her tested to make sure she did not have the heart condition LQTS that had taken her mother so suddenly.  

The next morning after dropping her off at the church preschool, Austin went in to his appointment with the pastor.  

"Welcome, Austin.  Come in.  I've been praying for you and wondering how you are coping."

"Not too well, Pastor."

"Oh?"

"I'm afraid, I'll be getting bad news from the doctor's.  I just had a bunch of tests taken.  It's my heart they think."

"Oh no!  I'm sorry to hear that."  

His pastor looked so concerned that it gave Austin twinges in his heart again.  He unconsciously rubbed his chest.  "That's why I need to talk with you.  In case something happened to me, we don't have any close family who could take Dallas in.  My grandmother is too old and my wife doesn't have any relatives to speak of.  Both of us were only children, and my parents have chosen to live lives apart from God and would be unfit to raise our precious daughter.   So I need to marry.  Right away.  As soon as possible.    I'd like to marry before Christmas, in fact."

"Truly?  I didn't know you were seeing someone."  The pastor looked shocked.

"No, of course not," Austin replied feeling offended.  "I mean, I only lost my wife last year.  It's too soon. However, I now find it necessary to find someone as soon as possible.  I thought perhaps you'd know of someone available.  It wouldn't be a love match.  I just need a mother for my daughter.  Of course she'd need to be a good Christian."

"I see," the pastor responded.  

Was the reverend hiding a smile behind the hand he'd pulled over his mouth?  Didn't he know this was serious?  Austin huffed.  "Well, sir, can you think of anyone?"

The man closed his eyes as if quietly praying for a long minute.  "Have you ever considered Dallas' teacher?  She's still single and obviously loves children.  Of course she is a wonderful Christian, but I don't know if she'd ever consider a marriage of convenience."

"Well, I have a good life insurance plan which would pay off my house, leave a stipend to live on.  My wife's life insurance is in a trust for my daughter.  But Miss Hofer would not be a good candidate."

"Why not?" the pastor asked looking perplexed.  Then looked up at the door and smiled beckoning someone to come in.

But Austin had his head down and his back to the door and did not realize Miss Hofer stood there overhearing the conversation.  She shook her head and put her finger against her lips as Austin continued, "Oh, I don't know.  She's too perky and far too pretty.  I need someone who is more serious, someone who won't be so desirable to remarry after I'm gone."

  

The pastor could hardly keep from grinning at the shocked look on the young woman's face before she turned and quietly left.  He'd forgotten momentarily why he'd asked his secretary to watch her class so he could speak with her in his office.  Oh, yes.  He had assumed that Austin had made his appointment to complain again about her artsy-crafty teaching methods for his daughter's class even though Miss Hofer was the best, most loved teacher in the school.   

"So, you want an ugly, dour woman to raise your daughter?"

"Well, no.  Maybe.  I guess I would consider such a woman if you knew such a candidate.  Do you have someone in mind?"

"No.  The only one I can think of is the lady I first mentioned.  Perhaps you should pray about it."

"I don't have time to pray that much, pastor.  I need to act soon so I can make sure to add a new wife to my will and to have a mother in place for daughter."

"If I wasn't a pastor, I'd tell you to check the bars.  You'd have better luck finding a desperate woman there more easily than here in church.  Godly women tend to wait on the Lord until He brings the right man into her life, a man who is willing to woo her, a man who will love her as Christ loves the Church."

Austin stood up offended.  "I'd never darken the doorstep of a tavern, especially not to find a wife!  You know my parents are alcoholics.  That's why they are unfit to take over the care of my daughter if I die!"

"Now Austin, sit down.  Why don't you at least ask Miss Hofer out for dinner.  You might be pleasantly surprised."

Austin tried to shake the thought out of his head.  Of course, he'd noticed his daughter's pretty teacher.  His daughter talked about her non-stop, so much so in fact that it scared him.  He was afraid that she was forgetting her own mother and had latched onto this young woman as a substitute.   He blew out a long breath, one he'd had trouble taking in while rubbing his chest.

"Perhaps.  I'll pray about it," he said morosely.

"If all you have against her is that she is pretty and cheerful, you might want to reconsider your prejudice against her.  I think your daughter deserves someone joyful in her life."

"But if I die, she would most likely be remarried before the next year's out.  Then my daughter would have some stranger for a father."

"That's the rub, isn't it?"

"Well, I guess it is something that kept me awake last night, one of several things in fact."

"You'll have to trust God for your future, Austin, as well as your daughter's.  You aren't God, you know.   Yes, you have suffered a great loss, but God is still good.   You have to turn it loose and give it to God."

That afternoon when he picked up his daughter, his eyes locked with Miss Hofer's.  She had a funny look in her eyes, a wary one in fact now that he thought about it.  He had no idea why she did not look quite as cheery as usual.

Before he could turn and leave, his daughter ran back to hug her before once again putting her hand in his.  He nervously cleared his throat and glanced around.  All the other children and parents had left.  Austin realized his daughter often dawdled in the classroom.  It was almost as if she never wanted to leave.

"Miss Hofer?"  His voice cracked like an adolescent, pimple-faced boy, and he was just as nervous.

"Yes?"  She looked at him in a distrustful manner.

"Would you be free to go to dinner with me Friday?"  His voice squeaked only a little.  

His hands were so sweaty that his daughter dropped her hold of him, rubbed her hands down her coat and complained, "Eew, Daddy!  You're hands are slimy."  Then she brightened.  "Please say yes, Miss Hofer.  Daddy, would like that more than anything!  I think he gets tired of my kisses."

Austin had a sudden coughing fit.  "Dallas!" he said sternly when he caught his breath.  "That's enough.  Let Miss Hofer answer."

"Umm.  I'm sorry, but I'm busy Friday night."  Karie knew it was childish and wrong to tell a lie, justifying it by keeping her fingers crossed behind her back.  

"Oh, but I need you to go to dinner right away!" he sputtered.  At the look of alarm on her face, he decided he needed to calm down.  Austin took a deep breath and politely asked her again.  "How about tomorrow?"

Karie sighed.  She knew now that the man would keep asking until she agreed to dinner.  It might take a whole plate of spaghetti, or a platter-sized steak, or a bread-bowl full of chowder to talk him down from this sudden fixation on her.  It was off-kilter.  Of course she'd noticed for some time that he was an attractive man who admirably was devoted to his daughter, but now he seemed to be slightly unhinged.

"Yes, I'll go out to dinner with you.  Just tell me when and where, and I'll meet you there."  No way was she going to tell him where she lived or be trapped in a car with him and his weird notions.

"The Fireside Dinner House, 6:00."

She gulped.  That was a fancy place.  Still she had committed to it, so nodded.  "Until then." She forced a smile, purposefully aimed it at his daughter.  When she looked up, he looked like a deer in the headlights.  "Are you alright?" she asked suddenly worried, especially at the way he rubbed his chest.

He looked pale as he whispered, "It's the first time I've dated since my wife died.  I didn't know it would be so hard."

"We don't have to go out, sir, especially since you obviously aren't ready."  She was feeling relieved.  

"No!  I need to do this.  I'll see you there," he declared decisively before he spun on his heels and marched out pulling his daughter behind him.  She looked back grinning and waved.

Karrie dreaded the doomed dinner.  She couldn't think of anything more awkward.  She tossed and turned the night before and woke feeling exhausted.  So before school the next morning, she knocked on the pastor's door and asked, "Do you have a minute, Pastor?"

"So he asked you, did he?" the pastor grinned.

"Oh, my goodness, you know about this?"

Driving the smile off his face, he felt he had to tell her the truth.  "Yes, he's feeling an urgent need to get married, which would necessitate a marriage of convenience for all intents and purposes.  Did he tell you, he thinks he is facing a health crisis and wants to have a mother in place for his daughter a.s.a.p?"

"No," she sighed sitting back in the soft chair facing the pastor's desk strumming her fingers on the chair's arms.  "That explains a lot, I suppose.  I was afraid he was a mental case, and it was becoming a bit scary."

"I'm afraid I feel responsible.  After all, I suggested your name to him.  Look, if you don't want to get involved, I'll be happy to tell him you are not interested."

"No, I owe him a dinner.  Since his daughter is in my class, I feel an obligation to know what is going on in her life."

"Alright then.  I'll be praying for you both.  Let me know what happens, or if you suddenly find yourselves in need of a preacher..." he added laughing.

"Now you're scaring me, pastor.  Don't even joke like that!" She couldn't help looking horrified.

"But more seriously, if you don't mind me asking, Karrie, why haven't you married before now.  I've seen how the single men look at you.  I know you've had plenty of opportunities to date."

She looked down at her fisted hands.  "Just between us, I was jilted at the altar.  It was to be a Christmas wedding, but I found out he was seeing my best friend behind my back.  It has made me leery of dating.  In fact I have to admit, I have struggled to trust any man ever since then.  I'm not sure I ever will."

"I'm sorry to hear that.  I have to believe you will be a prize for some fortunate man some day.  I'll admit, my wife and I wondered if you and Austin would suit, especially since you are his daughter's teacher and see each other at school often enough.  But that was before this sudden eagerness which I'm sure is off-putting, especially since you overheard what he said.  He'd be mortified if he knew you heard part of our conversation."

"That certainly was shocking," she admitted.  "Well, I need to hurry to gather up my class.  Thanks, Pastor."

Karrie met him at the restaurant after an hour of trying on one dress after another.  Dusk had settled in as she sat in her car with her forehead resting on the steering wheel.  She felt like banging her head against it, but wouldn't want to have to explain the red welts on her forehead.  Closing her eyes and taking several deep, calming breaths, she finally stepped out of her car only to thud into a man's chest.  "Oh!"

"Excuse me, Miss Hofer.  I was afraid something was terribly wrong the way your head was down on the steering wheel and hurried over in case you needed assistance for a medical emergency.  After losing my wife so suddenly, I guess I get overly concerned," he added apologetically.

"Understandable.  But you can call me Karrie, if I can call you Austin."

"I'll try, but I'm quite used to calling you Miss Hofer when I speak of you with my daughter.  I want to instill respect for her elders in Dallas."

"Oh, you make me feel quite ancient," she said smiling hoping he had a least one funny bone in his body.  She could not abide a man who was unable to laugh at himself.

He looked at her, blinked, then snorted.  She'd take it as a chuckle and hoped he'd let loose later.  But then she glanced back at him, blinked and blinked again before tearing her eyes away.  Yes, they needed humor to make it a good date.

She stared at the menu.  "Oh, my, this looks delicious, though the cost of this meal would shod every child in a small village.  What do you recommend?"

"I don't recommend the sole then." 

He said it with a straight face.  Was he making a joke in the spirit of hers?  

"I think I'll order the steak and lobster," he continued.  He finally smiled at her and winked, causing her to blush.

"That sounds good.  At least at this price, it will keep not only the restaurant, but a rancher and fisherman in the black a wee bit longer.  Thank you.  I can't remember when I dined at such a nice place, if ever."

"It's been years for me as well.  One of my regrets is that I didn't treat my wife to nicer dinner dates.  Ever since Dallas came along, we usually settled for fast food.  Kids meals with prizes became our price point."

"Is it wrong that I sometimes order kids meals in the drive-thru?  I like to collect the toys for my prize box at school," she said.

"I don't think they have age limits for that kind of thing.  I wouldn't be worried that the kid's- meal-police are after you."

Karrie began to relax and was enjoying her meal until he ordered dessert.   He lost no time in revealing his true purpose.

"Miss Hofer, Karrie, I need to let you know why I've asked you out tonight.  I believe you heard me say that I needed you to accept a date with me as soon as possible.  You see, I'm expecting bad news from my doctor."  Upon saying that, he rubbed his chest and seemed to have difficulty breathing.  

"Are you okay?"  He was scaring her.

"I don't know.  That's why I need you to marry me.  I know this is sudden, this being our first date and all, but I don't want you to be unaware of my purpose.  I need to secure a mother for my daughter in case something bad happens to me."

"What are the doctors saying?" she asked concerned pushing aside the other thing he'd confessed.

"I won't know for at least another week.  I'm being referred to a heart specialist.  My E.K.G. needs to be read by him, as well as my other tests.  December 18th is the soonest I could get in to see him."

"I'm sure that if it was more serious, they would have been able to get you in right away," she said with more confidence than she felt.  Thinking of his daughter Dallas made his concerns seem more naturally urgent.  He looked to be in too much pain to respond.

"Wait, did you say you need to marry me?"  It was as if she suddenly allowed that comment to filter through her brain.

"Yes, so will you?"  He dug in his pocket and flipped open a ring box with a generous square diamond set in a surround of smaller ones.

Karrie was speechless, aghast.  "You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am.  What if something happened to me before I got in to my doctor's.  What if I died tonight?"

"What if I died tonight?  Surely, you can trust God to give you the time you need to court some lady, not pop the question in sixty minutes."

He glanced at his watch.  "It's sixty-seven minutes.  My wife died in less time even with the paramedics arriving in less than ten minutes.  I am just trying to consider my daughter.  She likes you a lot.  You would make a wonderful mother..."

"But I'm too beautiful, too perky," she blurted out.

"What?  How did you know I said that?  Did the pastor tell you?" he narrowed his eyes to a glare.

"No, I happened to be walking past in the hallway.  It was a shock to hear you say that, I must admit.  Too pretty?  Really?  But too perky?  That's ridiculous!"

"Well, maybe I should have used the word, 'flighty.'"  He knew he'd misspoken before it left his mouth.  Looking at the bolt of anger flash through her eyes and the thunder about to rumble,  he looked around for the waiter in order to ask for their desserts to be boxed up and his bill to be brought to him before she blew.

"Flighty?" she gasped a little too loudly, enough to turn heads at the tables nearest them.  "Flighty is so beyond perky, you can't even see it from there.  If that's what you think, how could you ever assume I'd be worthy to take the place of your daughter's mother?"

Now he felt like a bull with a red flag waved in front of his nostrils.  "Take the place of my daughter's mother?  You could never take my wife's place!" His raised voice was reverberating amongst most of the diners.  Even those who were hard of hearing were suddenly adjusting their hearing aids as if they'd felt the vibrations.

She stood, threw her napkin down on her apple blossom dessert and stomped out forgetting to grab her coat.  By the time she beeped to unlock her car she was shivering, not just from anger, but from the cold.  Nevertheless, nothing could make her go back into the restaurant to retrieve her coat.  What an insufferable man!  He was so spiteful, he'd probably pull his daughter from her class.  That sent a pang to her heart so sharp that she rubbed her chest as she drove through a thick sheet of rain which soon turned to sleet.  The roads were slick, so she forced herself to slow down, but was thankful that she'd had the forethought to drive herself to this  date of disaster.  

Sure enough the next day, Dallas was not present, nor the next.  She did not seek the pastor out, but by the end of the third day with no Dallas, the pastor poked his head into her classroom after the last students left.

"Knock, knock, can I come in?" he asked timidly.

Karrie sighed.  "Yes, of course.  I suppose Austin told you about our horrible, no good, very bad date.'

"He didn't say much, just that he was taking Dallas out of our preschool."

"I'm sorry.  Part of it is my fault, but he is the most ridiculous, insane man I've ever met.  Considering my ex-fiancé, that's saying a lot!  Did you know he proposed between the lobster tails and my apple blossom dessert, which I never even got a bite of by the way?  But after insulting me, I must admit I began raising my voice, but nothing like he did.  The whole restaurant could hear us.  I'm sure, even the cooks in the kitchen did as well."

"Oh, boy, I didn't know it was that bad.  I am so sorry, Kerrie.  It's probably for the best that he withdrew poor Dallas.  But I'm sorry she has to suffer for his misguided proposal even if he had a good motive--security for his daughter and financial security for his future bride.

"What?  Oh, never mind.  I do know I'll miss her.  A lot.  She was a delight.  Her mother must have been wonderful, because her dad is an idiot!  A certifiable nincompoop...Hello, can I help you?"  Sir Austin himself had arrived just in time to hear her insults.

"Hello, Pastor, Miss Hofer.  I just came to return your coat and to gather up the rest of Dallas' things.  She said she had made something as a Christmas gift for me and had one of her pictures on the bulletin board.  She thought she'd left her favorite sweater in her cubby as well."  He looked sheepishly around at anything but her.

Karrie busily gathered the little girl's things and handed them to the man.  She made the mistake of looking up at him before jerking her eyes away.  He looked so sad that it hurt her heart.  "I'll miss Dallas.  I know a teacher isn't suppose to have favorites, but she was mine."
Why had she blurted that out?

"She hasn't stopped asking why she can't come back here.  Dallas hasn't settled very happily in her new school, I'll admit.  I've had to come pick her up early the last two days because she can't stop crying.  She misses you terribly."

Karrie felt her backbone stiffen.  "Well, why not let her come back?  Surely, we can be adults about it.  Leave her and pick her up in the church office if you don't want to see me, and Mrs. Welch will happily escort her to my class."  She dared him to look away.

"Okay.  I will.  But like you said, we can be adults about it.  I won't need to involve Mrs. Welch."

"Fine."

"Fine.  Oh, so here's her things back.  I guess I won't be needing to take them home yet, except for her sweater.  You can put her picture back up and put her clay hand print Christmas gift she made for me back with the others.  I won't let on that I saw it."

"I won't tell, if you won't tell," she offered.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," he said hanging his head with flushed cheeks.

"I'm sorry for insulting you," she responded back with a blush.

"Could we do a do-over?" he asked.

"What!"  She looked around for the pastor's support, but he was long gone, evidently thinking they needed privacy.  After looking at Austin a long time to size up his sincerity, she finally suggested, "Maybe, we could do a fast food drive-through, so if we start yelling at each other, no one else will hear."

"You're kidding right?"

"No, I'm dead serious.  I'll get a kid's meal.  I wanted to get one of the little dolls dressed like an elf they are offering for prizes in December."

"Okay.  I'll need to get a sitter, so how about tomorrow night.  I can pick you up at your house at 6:00.  It's not like we can both drive ourselves to the drive-thru separately."

She supposed she'd set herself up for this one.  Sighing, she took his phone and put her phone number and address in it.    She looked up to see him grinning like a little boy at Christmas.

"Thanks.  Just so you know, I still hope to marry before something bad happens to me.  But you can always tell me to get lost."

Karrie opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say.  So she only nodded.  "See you tomorrow when you bring Dallas.  I'm so happy to have her back."

Karrie packed up her things to go home in a distracted manner.  Her mind was spinning.  He still wanted to marry her after all that?  She could hardly believe it.  Her first engagement came after they'd dated for a year.  Then they set the wedding date for a year later.   She had planned out the whole wedding hardly noticing that her fiancé was losing interest.  But wasn't that how it was supposed to work, not rush into something?  Dating was suppose to help a couple really get to know each other, but she'd been broadsided, fooled.  She hadn't known him as well as she had thought she did even after all that time.

But what if she went in with eyes open, knowing that it wasn't a love match, knowing that she'd get a very precious little girl out of it.  Her bio clock was ticking, and she knew she really wanted children.  More and more women were having babies in their late thirties and early forties, but she didn't want to wait that long.  Would it be wrong to enter a marriage to get the girl?  That's all he wanted from her, really.  If he was okay, then she could be okay.  Was he insane though?  Was she?  If he did die a premature death, she could carry on.  At least Dallas would have one parent left like the man said.  Would she be okay with that.  What would be easier, a marriage with him in the picture, or a marriage with him out of the picture?  And the least important, though still important, he was offering her financial security, something single preschool teachers did not have.  Hmm.

When he picked her up in his clean, newer model car, she melted into the heated seat.  The conversation was slower to thaw.  But she looked over at him when he cleared his throat.

"I went to my doctor's today.  They got the results back." He still rubbed his heart though, so she prepared herself for the worst.

"I'm embarrassed to say that I'm perfectly healthy.  They said I was having panic attacks.  That it wasn't surprising as it sometimes happens after one suffers a significant loss as suddenly as I did.  My heart is fine even though it still hurts at times, and I have trouble catching my breath, like am doing right now.  I'm nervous, if you can't tell."

"Do you need to pull over and wait until it passes?" she asked.

"No, they gave me meds which helps the severity of the attacks and taught me ways to fight them.  I hope you don't find me totally crazy, after all I've said and done.  If so, I'll gladly turn around and take you home."

"No!  I told you I'd really like the prize in the happy meal, if you don't mind, that is."  She suddenly felt perky and smiling so much her cheeks hurt.

He grinned.  "I'd love to go through the drive-through with you."

After he ordered, they sat there waiting while beaming back at each other.  He handed her kid's meal over to her as he took his sack.  He carefully set their drinks in the car's drink holders.  

"Do you mind if we eat in your car?" she asked worried in case she dropped a French fry with ketchup on it onto his pristine upholstery.  

"No, but I think I'll pull over and park while I eat."

"Shoot!  They didn't give me a doll in my happy meal."  She looked up to see him pale with eyes looking like a pair of full moons.  

"Oh, no.  I forgot."

"Forgot what?" she asked.  "Don't worry if you forgot to order the right prize in my kid's meal.  I can come back another time and get one."

"No, I forgot to tell the manager to forget my previous order, the one I made before I got good news from the doctor."  He was rubbing his chest again and looked like oxygen wasn't getting to his brain.

"What are you talking about she said with her mouth full of French fries.  She licked ketchup off her lips as she lifted a small box out of her kid's meal.  What's this?  I've never seen them give something in a small box like this?"

He suddenly tried to swipe it from her almost upsetting her diet Coke.  

"Careful!  What are you doing?  You almost spilled my drink all over your clean car."

He tried again to grab the box off the open palm of her hand.  Instead she gripped it tightly.
What on earth are you doing?  This is mine!  It was in my box."

He finally folded his arms and huffed.  "Okay, go ahead and open it."

She did and almost spit French fries out of her mouth.  "What?  The ring?"

"I told you I still wanted to marry, but that was before I found out my good news.  I forgot to tell my friend who's the manager to switch the prize back to the doll and to save the ring box for me."  

"Oh, well, here then," she said, almost sorry that it wasn't another real proposal.  This guy was full of surprises.   "Wait," she said jerking it back right before he could take it.  She lifted out the ring and put it on her finger.  "It sure is beautiful."

"No, you are beautiful.  You're the real prize.  That's just a stupid ring.  I'm sorry I annoyed you so much."  He wiped his hand over his face and sighed.

"Wait, you think I'm beautiful?" she asked.

"And perky, remember?" he grinned then took a long slurp on his Coke.

"Yes." she said.

"Yes?" he nearly choked on his drink.

"Yes, I'll marry you, if you still want.  I was starting to count on being Dallas' new mother."

"You said, yes?  I can't believe it.  After the bizarre way I acted?"  He began to fight for his breath.

"She turned his face to her and said calmly, "Take a small breath.  Relax.  Make the next one deeper."

He stared back at her, then at her lips, then back to her eyes, to her lips.  He was breathing fine again with just a hitch that he could fix.  It involved kissing her.  She leaned in and met him halfway.  Suddenly his heart no longer hurt.  He wove his hands in her hair and pulled her closer finding he did not mind the taste of ketchup on her lips at all.   

Suddenly, Karrie pulled back.  "I'll wear your ring on one condition."

"What's that?" he asked rubbing his chest again.

"That we get married on Christmas break.  Last time I was engaged, we waited so long that he backed out.  I don't want you to do that.   I want to be married by Christmas."

"I can't think of anything better than married Christmas!"  And he kissed her again as the car next to theirs blared its horn.  

They jerked up to find their pastor and wife waving and laughing.  Karrie held up her hand to show the ring.  The pastor rolled down his window, so she did as well.  "Does this mean you'll be needing my services soon?" he asked chuckling.

"Very soon," she blushed.  "I can't let this healthy man get away!"