ALMOST HEAVEN

Chapter 17

Clyde paused as he stepped out of his truck in front of the house. It was chilly out but he was warmed by what he saw. It was early evening and the days were shorter. It was already dark, and Laurel had turned on some lights in the house. As he stepped onto the porch he could see a candle burning on the dining room table and Laurel was moving around the kitchen.

He noticed that the old concrete planters on either side of the steps to the porch each had a big pumpkin sitting atop them. Laurel had gone somewhere and bought some corn sheaves that were set up on the two posts on either side of the top of the stairs. They had some mums and other colorful gourds piled up at the bottom of the sheaves. It looked pretty.

He opened the front door and stood there for a minute. It was warm inside and he could smell something good cooking. He was pretty sure Laurel had said she was making a beef stew for dinner. He could also smell that she must have made bread earlier. He took off his jacket and hung it on the set of hooks by the front door. He took his shoes off there as well and headed into the kitchen.

As he passed through the dining room, he had to stop and admire the new dining room table that had been delivered a few weeks ago. It was beautiful, similar in style to the bedroom suite they had bought. It had a nice Arts & Craft feeling to it. Laurel had set a thick pillar candle on it that gave off a wonderful spicy scent. The table was set for the two of them.

"Damn, Laurel, whatever you're cooking smells so good." He swooped into the kitchen and grabbed her around the waist. She yelped as he picked her up.

"Clyde Logan, how the hell did you sneak up on me? I never heard the front door open."

He smiled down at her. "I was extra quiet." He kissed her throughly and then he set her down on the floor "How are you, angel?"

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again. "I'm great. How's things at the bar?"

"Good. Quiet for a Thursday. It'll be hard to leave here after dinner to go back."

Clyde wandered over to the Dutch oven on the stove. He looked around for a pot holder to take the lid off as he grabbed a fork from the drain board.

"Hey, stop that. We're going to eat in just a couple of minutes."

"I was just gonna do a test taste," Clyde said with a grin.

"I'll tell you what you can do. Grab that salad bowl out of the fridge, please. Can you put it and the bread basket on the table?"

Clyde reluctantly put down the fork with an exaggerated sigh. Then he pulled pack the cloth over the bread basket. "Damn, you made biscuits. We better be eating soon, Laurel Anne. I'm starving." He grabbed the bowl of salad out of the fridge and headed into the dining room.

Clyde had just finished his second helping of stew and was thinking about a third helping as he buttered another biscuit. He looked over at Laurel who was, as always, watching him with a bit of wonder whenever he ate. He smiled at her. "I like what you did on the porch. It looks nice, Laurel. You got a nice eye for that kind of thing."

"Thanks, love. It's nice to have a place to be able to do stuff like that. I've never had the chance before. Are there a lot of trick or treaters around here?"

Clyde looked thoughtful. "I don't really know. I'm always working the bar. We have a costume party. It's a big deal around here."

"Wait, you have a costume party at the bar, it's a big deal, and you wait four days before Halloween to tell me about it." Laurel looked at Clyde in surprise.

"Uh, yep. I mean, I never participate. I just throw the damn thing. I just didn't think of it. I mean, are you fond of dressing up on Halloween?"

"Sorta, I mean, we'd always dress up when I was in college and go to the bars. We had a big party last year in Shenandoah. Everybody dressed up," Laurel said.