Written By Brad Harness
Mark and his wife Julie spent two hours racking their brains to come up with a list of three men in town that they knew were single men, in Francine’s age range.
“This one here…Jim Foster…he’s a nice fellow. I could fancy him myself…!” chuckled Julia.
“And Harry Dingle, well he has been divorced for a few years now and I heard he’s back on the dating market…” said Mark.
Julia pointed to the third eligible bachelor on their list.
“Jerome Tillson…he’s my pick. I bet we can hook him up with Francine and she’ll forget all about you, my dear” she told him, patting his hand. She left her hand on top of his for a moment, both of them gazing down at their wedding bands.
“Let’s find his phone number and you ask him round for a beer, and then you can start to carefully lay out our plan for Francine…”
In her kitchen, staring out her window at Mark’s house, Francine thought back to her Sunday School days, to her teacher Mrs. Jones, and to the parable of Jesus about the Sower of Seeds.
“That those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with perseverance.”
That’s me…Perseverance, she thought. Mark is almost mine, I just know it.
Then the doorbell rang. I wonder who that could be, she thought. Opening the door she was surprised to see an unfamiliar man. But a handsome man, tall and dark.
“Yes?” she asked him.
“Hi, my name is Jerome. I heard through the grapevine that you need some help with your dishwasher…it’s not working?”
“I do. And you can fix it?”
“No worries. Take me to your dishwasher for a look-see.”
She smiled, then led the way. She caught sight of him in a hall mirror. He was checking her out. Alright!, she thought, I still got it.
She squatted down after opening the dishwasher door and he leaned in to see the problem. She could feel the warmth of his breath as he spoke.
“Looks like the timer switch…”
But she heard “I like the way you look, Francine. I hear you are unattached. Me, too.”
Could she discard her Mark project and latch on to this hunk Jerome? Of course…Perseverance, and all that!
~ THE END ~
