Truth

TO TELL THE TRUTH

Joyce Peterson

Ruth was meeting her friend, Margery, for lunch to tell her the news. Other people often wondered how they became friends. Ruth was a petite, red head with green eyes that always sparkled as though she were thinking of some funny joke. Margery was tall, with brown hair and blue eyes that seemed always be looking for an answer to one of life's problem. Since they both grew up in this small town that hugged the Pacific Ocean's shore, they had attended the same High School and had both ended up here after college and marriage. That was twenty five years ago. Their children had grown and moved away, but Ruth and Margery still met, once a week, at a restaurant on the pier. Of course the restaurant had changed over the years but not their friendship.

When Ruth saw her friend walking into the small restaurant, she hoped that the frown on Margery's face would disappear when she told her that Sam, Ruth's husband, had a new partner in his accounting business and that Ruth wanted to arrange for him to call her for a date. In fact, she had already given him her friend's cell phone number. Margery had lost her husband five years ago in a boating accident but seemed to be happy living alone and doing charity work, since he had left her reasonably well off. Ruth had tried one other time to make an arrangement for Margery, but that hadn't worked out.

Margery had hardly taken a seat when Ruth smiled and asked her, "Guess what?"

"I know," her friend grumbled, "You want to fix me up with somebody, again."

Ruth remembered trying to do Margery a favor in High School but chose to forget it."What do you mean…again? There was only that once and…"

"Yeah, only once, lately, but looked how that turned out." Margery picked up the menu. "What looks good, today?"

Ruth was determined to wipe the frown off that face. "But you did have a few fun dates before…"

Margery ignored her and scanned the menu as she replied, "…before he found out that my beautiful brown hair was a wig to cover up the straggly gray hair that came in when I lost all my own and had to have the radiation therapy after my cancer operation."

Ruth had gone through all of it with her friend and knew the hurt she was experiencing, not only from the operation and therapy, but being dumped after she had lost the wig on their third date.

"But you're fine now and the wig looks perfectly natural on you," she told her.

"Sure, until your fix-up date for me got too familiar and tried to run his sticky fingers through it. No thanks, sweetie, I think I'll pass." Margery put the menu aside as she said, " How about the the tuna salad today?" She motioned to the waitress who came to take their orders.

Ruth ate silently as she tried to figure out how to get Margery to go out with Alex. Every time she had a plan and started to talk by saying, "Just one date.." Margery shook her head and thought, "Not even one…", or "He's about your sizel.." Margery countered, silently, "He's probably shorter than my 5'7 and have to look up to look me in the eye"… then "..not bad looking.." Margery thought of the last one and laughed out loud, thought, "Horseface" and finally, "…around your age." Margery just shook her head and continued eating.

Ruth was about to give up. However, after she paid the bill and refused any contribution from her friend, she had one final idea. Margery had started out ahead of her but, when she heard her name, turned back. Ruth spoke in a hurry, "Why don't you come to dinner Friday night? I'm having your favorite, Yankee Pot Roast."

Margery wasn't fooled. "Sure, Yankee Pot Roast and your husband's new partner."

Ruth laughed, "You know me too well. I promise I won't have anything sticky for dessert so if he runs his fingers through your hair, your wig won't come off. What do you say?"

They had been friends so long that Margery told her, "OK, just because you're my best friend, a good cook and I do love your Yankee Pot Roast. But it's only for that one night. I mean it."

Ruth smiled. There was a chance. As soon as Margery left to find her own car, Ruth called Sam on her cell phone. When he answered, she told him to invite Alex to dinner on Friday night and hung up so she wouldn't have to explain. Sam didn't like her meddling in other people's lives even if it was for a good cause.

When they left the restaurant, Margery thought, "Only one night. Dinner, that's all." When she got home, her cell phone was ringing. She took it from her purse and sat down on the sofa to talk. When she answered, a man's voice asked, "Is this Margery Davis?"

She didn't recognize the voice and was still unhappy that she had agreed to Ruth's invitation. Her voice reflected her anger with herself as she told him, "Yes, this is Margery Davis and who the hell is this?" She heard a loud laugh on the other end.

"Well, actually I'm more local than I am from Hell and I was hoping to ask you for a date. This is Alex Anderson. I'm Sam Brett's new partner. If this is a bad time, I could call back."

He sounded as if he were smiling, but Margery was still feeling out of sorts and, a little unhappy that Ruth would give her cell phone number to a stranger without asking her. Into the phone she uttered, "How did…"

When he heard the anger in her voice, Alex broke in,"Sam's wife saw how lonesome I was. I moved here just a month ago and I don't know anyone…" He tried to explain.

Margery thought, "Ruth has done it again. She knows I won't refuse." To Alex she said, "I'm sorry. I'm sure you're a very honorable local man, but we will be meeting at the Brett's on Friday night since we'll both be going there for dinner. We can talk about it then."

"Sounds like a plan, see you then," he told her and hung up.

Since Alex was Sam's new partner, Margery was sorry that she had been rude but from the time they had been young, Ruth had always managed to get her into situations where she didn't belong. Like the time in High School when Ruth had asked her to stay overnight then, after she had cleared it with her mother, Ruth had arranged a date for the two of them with boys the neither of their mothers would have approved. She wondered if she herself would approve Ruth's choice this time.

Alex put the phone back in the stand. He had called Margery from the office.. He hadn't been invited to dinner as yet but he saw Sam heading toward his office with a worried expression on his face. When Sam apologized for inviting him to dinner as soon as day after tomorrow, Alex told him he'd be glad to be there. He didn't tell Sam that he had already heard about it, thinking that Sam might have forgotten to tell him earlier. He didn't want to get Sam in trouble with that cute little red-headed wife of his.

When he went home later that day, he looked in the bathroom mirror to assure himself that he might be a reasonably good catch. He stood as tall as he could and told the mirror, "5'9, not dark and handsome, but turning gray and fairly presentable," he observed, as he patted his flat stomach.

Remembering the phone conversation , he thought, "She sounds like someone I would like to know. She certainly has a mind of her own." Not like Evelyn, who wouldn't stand up to her family when they kept insisting she had married a loser. He was fifty before he married, for the first time ,8 years ago. Evelyn was forty and had assured him she loved him, but after seven years, she asked him for a divorce. He thought, for sure, her family had a hand in her divorcing him. He had made a success of his business and, after they married, he was so happy that he had never thought he would be starting over again, not only in the dating game, but in a new business adventure. Thank goodness, his ex-wife had left him with enough money to buy the partnership with Sam. He figured the rest of it went to her family.

The partnership looked like it would be a good one and now…but he would put that thought on hold until after Friday night. He hadn't realized how much he missed having a woman in his life. Even before Evelyn, he had no trouble getting dates with the women with whom he came in touch. He still wondered why he had waited until Evelyn to marry.

Sam left work a little early. He wanted to find out what Ruth was up to, why she had told him to invite Alex to dinner on Friday instead of making it next week. He loved that little redhaired wife of his but she did have a bad habit of meddling in other peoples lives. He didn't want anything to happen to make Alex feel he had made a bad choice by moving to southern California from Chicago to become his partner. He knew that Alex had divorced shortly before the move but Sam hoped Ruth would stay out of his personal life. Sam was a rather chubby man but, because of his width, and being an extra inch or two taller than average, the weight sat well on him. He had a good sense of humor which he needed to call on , often, with a wife like Ruth. His hazel eyes twinkled at the thought of her antics.

On the way home, he tried to plan what he would say to her, not that anything would change Ruth. "Maybe that's why I love her," he thought, as he smiled to himself.

When he got in the house, he went to the kitchen to find her. She was stirring something on the stove but didn't look around when he put his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck..

"OK, what are you doing this time?" He asked.

When she looked at him, she gave him that big eyed stare that seemed to be her trademark for explaining anything. "What on earth do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"You know what I mean. What's the idea of asking Alex to dinner day after tomorrow instead of inviting him for next week when he might have time to think about it?" Sam told her.

"Oh, that," she said. "Well…" Sam knew she would have an explanation with, perhaps, the semblance of the truth but not all of it. She cleared her throat and continued, "You knew I was going to have lunch with Margery, today."

Sam hummed, "Um huh," and nodded his head. "And…" he encouraged her.

Ruth was up to the challenge. She turned and kissed him as she said, "Well, I happened to mention that I was planning to have Yankee Pot Roast on Friday night and Margery practically asked me to invite her. You know how much… she… likes …my…" She slowed up when she saw the look on his face.

Sam began to see through the plan, "…Pot Roast." He concluded for her. "I see, and of course you immediately thought that Alex would make a good partner for her." When Ruth shook her head, he added "…so I had to make an ass of myself and ask Alex to come for dinner on Friday. How many times have I asked you to not meddle in other people's lives?"

"At least a hundred, smart ass. But who knows? It might work out fine." Ruth kissed him and turned back to the stove.

Friday afternoon, Margery couldn't understand why she was actually looking forward to meeting Sam's new partner. Nothing could come of it, but she decided to wear the brown pant suit, that someone had told her was beautiful on her, and, of course the blue silk blouse that matched her eyes. "Flats," she thought as she scanned her shoe rack. "Just in case he's my size or less.

Thursday , on his lunch hour, Alex had found one of the few men's specialty shops in the area and purchased a new gray sports coat. Evelyn had bought his clothes for the last few years of their marriage and after their break up, he had purchased whatever he could find in his size at the local men's shop near his apartment. Thursday, the salesman pointed out that the style of the gray jacket was just right for him and, of course, he had a pair of black trousers that were made to go with it. Alex had never been one to fall for a salesman's pitch but he tended to agree with one this time.

Friday, Sam left work early. He stuck his head into the door of Alex office. "Hope you haven't forgot about dinner tonight?" Ruth had told him to do that or he wouldn't have.

"Be there with bells on," Alex told him and hated himself for coming up with such a trite expression.

Ruth was so busy she hadn't heard Sam's car come in the driveway. She looked at the roast once again and took the temperature. The vegetables were ready to start so that everything could be served at just the right time. When she looked at the dainty, stemmed glassware, that held the pudding dessert that would be eaten with the small dessert spoons, she laughed when she remembered what she had told Margery about having a dessert that wouldn't leave Alex with sticky hands.

Sam had come through the dining room on his way to the kitchen, "What's so funny and why have you got the dining room table set up like that?" Ruth jumped when she heard him. "Guilty conscience again?" He asked.

"I didn't hear you come in," Ruth told him. "I was just thinking about the dessert, "she said and continued without explaining. "Oh, you mean why I have the table set so you and I sit at the ends and Margery and Alex have to sit on one side, together. I thought it would be a nice arrangement."

Sam didn't ask for any further explanation. He knew it would be no better.

At seven o'clock, exactly, the doorbell rang. When Sam opened the door, Alex stood there and Margery was just getting out of her car in front of a neighbor's house. The men waited for her to join them.

Looking from one to the other, Sam asked, "Did you two come together?"

Alex had been studying Margery as she came up to them. He answered, "No, but I wish I had been so lucky."

Margery heard him and felt the ice breaking. "Thank you. You deserve that good Yankee Pot Roast meal we're having," she told him and saw a grin on his face. She thought, "Maybe I should thank Ruth. I'll see…later." To Alex she explained, "I'm Margery, Ruth's friend." She held out her hand to him and could feel the warmth and strength in his as he took it.

Sam intervened, "Sorry you two, I didn't mind my manners. "Margery, this is Alex Anderson, my new partner. Alex, Margery has already told you who she is. Now that that is over we better…"

Ruth, who had come to the door to see what was taking so long, interrupted him, "Sam don't keep them standing out here. bring them in. There are cocktails on the serving table in the living room."

As she started to go, Alex held out a package, "Here, this is for later. It's a dessert wine."

Ruth took it and thanked him. "Just so it isn't sticky," she told him as Sam and Alex both gave her a questioning look and Margery tried not to laugh.

When they got to the dining room, Ruth seated Margery and Alex together at one side of the table. "I thought the view would be better for you two, on this side." They looked up to see the big mirror on the wall opposite them.

"Sorry," Sam tried to apologize.

"Looks good to me," Alex said as he turned to Margery "How about you?" All she could do was nod and try not to laugh at Ruth's maneuvering.

The Yankee Pot Roast was savored and bragged about for the first part of the meal, but when it was time for dessert, Ruth asked Sam if he would get it. She had started on a list of places she thought that the two guests would like to go. Since Alex was new to the area, she kept telling Margery that "Perhaps Alex would like to see this place, or that place, or the other place…"

When Sam came in with the dessert, Ruth passed them out. Aas she did, she warned them, "Be careful with those small spoons. If you get pudding on your fingers, they might get sticky."

Margery, joining in the fun, looked at Alex as she said, "I'm sure you would never do a thing like that."

Sam almost spit out his first bite as he exclaimed, "What's with this sticky bit?"

Ruth gave him that wide-eyed look, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Margery laughed as she said, "It's just something between Ruth and me. Only girl talk. Ruth, this dessert is delicious."

Alex saw a diversion was needed as he agreed with Margery about the dessert then, guided the conversation back to Ruth's list of places he should see. They all stopped to eat and when they were finished, Alex won points with Margery as he helped the two women clear the table and take all the dishes to the kitchen.

When they were finished, Ruth asked Sam to open the dessert wine gift and bring all of them a glass to the living room so they could talk.

When they were all seated in the living room, had sampled the wine and made the appropriate comments about its taste, Ruth started on her "places to go" list, again. Margery had about all she could stand, besides, wine had always made her a little giddy.

Alex, sitting next to her on the couch, had received so many good points from her during the meal that she, honestly, would have looked forward to going out with him. He was smart, handsome and was even a few inches taller but she knew what would happen, eventually, so, might as well let him know now.

"Alex, to tell the truth, I think we would enjoy seeing those places together, but when I think of the rides, I can only imagine what might happen…"

"Margery, NO," Ruth said as she saw her friend reach for her wig.

However, Margery was not deterred, as she explained, "Last year I had a cancer operation and had to have Radiation Therapy. This is what happened." She pulled off her wig to show the gray hair that was starting to cover her head. She expected everything except what happened.

Alex was laughing as he pulled her to him and kissed her. "I like honesty in a woman," he said, "I hope you like honesty in a man." He pulled off his toupee. "I've been bald since I was thirty. They do a good job on these things," he told her, "I don't see any reason why we shouldn't take advantage of them," he said as he helped her put hers on and put his own back.

Margery thought there was only one thing she could do to show she agreed with him. She put her arms around him and gave him back his kiss, with interest.

Across the room, Ruth clapped. "See, Sam. It worked out. They're a matched set!"

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