Moe Came Over!

When it rains, it pours.

Moe's hunt ended on a weekend in the middle of September. I saw him the next Friday, and he came right up to talk to me.

“You're back,” I greeted him. “Did you have a good hunt?”

“It was great!” Moe answered with a big smile. “I'll call you Sunday and tell you all about it. There's not time now, and I probably shouldn't be telling hunting stories in the Temple, anyway.”

“That would be great,” I told him, “but you don't have to wait so long. You could call and tell me all about it tomorrow.”

“I won't have time before Sunday,” he apologized. “I'm afraid I'll be too busy. I've still got to unpack.”

Honestly, Moe was the SLOWEST man I had ever met!

That same week I got a call from my sister-in-law's friend who'd been interested in me the previous spring. His divorce finally went through that week, and he wanted to take me out., and I didn't know how to tell him no without hurting his feelings. He came to the Temple Friday, but I'm afraid I wasn't very polite to him. I was washing out the Salad bar when he came in, and instead of going and sitting down with him and visiting I just kept on cleaning. He stood around talking for a little while, then finally left to go on a session. After he left one of the ladies I know came up and scolded me for not talking to that 'handsome' man.

Saturday I went on a blind date with a fellow one of my friends worked with. His wife had just left him, so my friend wanted to cheer him up and help him meet some new people. She and her husband doubled with me and her friend. We went to the Olive Garden for dinner, and it was really nice. My date was very good looking, he kind of reminded me of Paul Newman, but he was short, and small. Not that there's anything wrong with being small, I always wanted to be, but I wasn't. One of the nicest things about Moe was that he was 6' 4”, so even though I was 5' 10'' I felt small when I stood next to him.

Sunday morning I almost called Moe to invite him to dinner, but I chickened out. After church Holly decided she should call him and invite him over.

“Do whatever you want,” I told her, “but I'm not going to have a thing to do with it. I've got to take Stephen to see the Bishop so he can be interviewed for his baptism.” Stephen would turn eight the following week, and was getting baptized the week after that.

When Stephen and I got home the kids were jumping all over each other with excitement. Holly had called Moe, and he had said he would come!

I couldn't believe Holly had really called him, nor could I believe that he had actually said yes, but he had.

Moe came over at 6:00. Stephen grabbed his hand as soon as we opened the door and exclaimed, “Come see my bedroom!”

“Mine too,” Alyssa cried, not to be outdone by her little brother. After all, she was only nine, and just as excited to show off as Stephen. Russell was twelve, Holly thirteen, and Linnea fifteen, but that didn't stop them from taking Moe to see their rooms, as well. Then Linnea made crepes with blackberry syrup for our supper while the rest of us visited.

After we ate Stephen began showing Moe some Chaps he'd made out of old Levis.

“Where's your rope?” Moe wanted to know.

“I don't have one,” Stephen told him sadly.

“Well, you and Russell go look in the back of my truck,” Moe suggested. “There's lots of rope in it. Bring a piece inside, and I'll show you how to lasso a cow.”

The boys were so excited. They found the rope, brought it into our big living room, and Mow taught them how to tie a lasso. At first they tried throwing it over a chair in the middle of the floor, but pretty soon they discovered it was more fun to catch people. Jeffrey, my little sister Sharon's toddler, was just the right size for roping. He would laugh and run around the room while Stephen and Russell threw the rope at him, missing most of the time. That got kind of rough after awhile.

“Who thinks they could get out I tied them up to this chair?” Moe asked. Of course Russell and Stephen were sure they could, but the girls weren't about to be out-done, and they also wanted turns. They spent the rest of the evening tying each other up to see who could escape the quickest. They laughed and played so hard I thought I'd never get them calmed down.

Eventually Moe had to go home, but he left his rope so the kids could keep practicing.

“Will you come back tomorrow?” Stephen wanted to know.

“Yes, come back, come back,” Alyssa plead, Russell joining in with her. Linnea and Holly were too mature to beg, but they were smiling and sure had enjoyed themselves.

“Sure, I'd love to come back for Family Night some time,” Moe told them as he extricated himself from Stephen's hugs.

We said good by, then watched as he walked down the front sidewalk to his truck. It had been a fun evening. My cheeks actually ached from smiling so much as we watched the kids play. I really liked Moe.

“Now, if I can only get a chance to talk to him by myself and get to know him,” I thought. “One thing's for sure. As long as I get Holly to ask him, I think he'll do anything.”