My Love Story ~ Part Nine

To read the prior gory details of my dramatic romance, click here.
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I knew who had sent the rose. The car salesmen that I worked with were giving me a hard time. I grinned and shrugged. "It's unsigned." I told them when they asked me who my new guy was. (A girl has to keep some things to herself. Discretion is a lost art.) "OH! A secret admirer!" They all chimed in. These men reminded me of the guys I went to school with...in sixth grade! I laughed it off.
That night, I told my parents about my surprise rose.
"The card was unsigned, but I know Bumper sent it." I told them.
"No, I bet it was Mike." My Mom said. I think I had failed to tell her about Bumper telling me - through his friend Terry - that he liked me. (See? There are those sixth grade tendencies again!) I really didn't think much of it. I had seen how quickly Bumper liked girls, and then all of a sudden, didn't like them anymore. I couldn't handle that kind of heartbreak right now, and maybe not ever. I filled Mom and Dad in at the table that night. Dad was a little miffed that Bumper would send me a rose without talking to him first.
"No, Mom, I know it's not from Mike."
"How do you know? It wasn't signed?"
"I just know."
"Well, if Bumper sent it, don't acknowledge it. Just ignore him." She told me. I knew what she meant. She didn't want me fluttering over to Bumper all starry-eyed over one rose. He needed to prove himself to me, and to them. After all, he had been Mike's friend. How did we know he would be any different from Mike.

That night was our Wednesday night service. I got to church before Bumper. He came into our auditorium as I was walking out. I was waiting on my pastor's wife to arrive so we could practice the solo that I was singing that evening. As I passed by Bumper, he flashed me the biggest, toothiest grin I had ever seen. I did as Mom told me, I just kept walking, without a word.
When I went up to the piano to practice, Bumper was in his usual seat, with about three girls around him. I was, once again, thoroughly disgusted. Were they all blinded to how they looked, chasing after a guy like that? "Wait a minute." I thought to myself. "Is that how I looked, when I was dating Mike?" Eww. It was too horrible to imagine. I would never do that again!
After church, he approached me.
"Did you get something from me today, Valerie?" He asked me, smiling. He did have such a nice smile.
"Yes. I got something." I told him, keeping a straight face.
"Well? Did you like it?"
"Yes...it was nice. Thank you."
I headed out the door before he hounded me anymore about it.

He tried talking to me anytime he had the opportunity. He asked to sit by me. I said "No." He asked me out. I told him that he'd have to ask my Dad about that first. I was pretty confident that Dad would tell him "NO WAY!"
Bumper kept trying to talk to me.
"Valerie, I really like you. I wish you'd give me a chance." He would say.
"Why? What are your intentions?" I'd ask as haughtily as I could.
"My intentions? My intention is to marry you. I want to make you my wife. I want to have children someday. Three boys. The first one will be Terry Lee Basham, III- whom we'll call 'Buck'; the second will be James Owen and the third will be Gilbert Owen and we'll call him 'Gib'."
I stood there, listening, mouth agape. For one thing, I'd never known a guy to have so much to say. For another thing, I couldn't believe what he was saying! This was more than I bargained for. Was he serious? What dream world did he live in anyway? I'd never marry him, much less raise a passel of boys with him! The nerve! This was the guy who called me a "universal traveler" and laughed me to scorn at every turn! MARRY HIM?? Fuhgettaboutit! I was headed to college!
"Furthermore," He went on. What? There's more? "I want to take care of you. I want to buy the food you eat, the clothes you wear, everything." He actually looked sincere. "VALERIE! How could you think anything nice about this guy?" I told myself.
"That's nice." I said. "But, I don't think so. Not now, and not ever!!!" I turned to leave.

Every time our paths crossed - at college, at church, at bus meeting, it was more of the same! Trying to talk to me, trying to apologize for being a jerk, telling me how I was the one for him. He seemed oblivious to my lack of interest, and even my disgust for him.
Bro. Graham started to tease me about it all. "I think he's probably the one for you, Valerie. You better not say "never", cause it could happen." He would say with a grin.
Finally, he wore me down enough that I agreed to let him sit with me in church. I started being polite to him, and hey, that was a big step for me! We had regular conversations about what I would do at college, about my family, my perceptions of him during our camp years, and so forth. We actually became friends, but no more! I wasn't dating him, I was just being nice.
It was March now. I couldn't believe how in just a few short months we had gone from mortal enemies, to friends. Later, I found out why. One day, I stumbled upon Bumpers' prayer list in the church auditorium. You couldn't mistake his handwriting! I found out that Bumper and his friend, Terry, got up early each day and went to our church auditorium. There they both prayed. I'm not sure what Terry prayed about, but Bumper was praying for me, and for my Dad, to like him. The list had Valerie Courtney written at the top, and Ron Courtney beneath that, and then many other names. Perhaps my change in feelings were the work of the Lord.

Was the Lord answering his prayers, or mine?

To be continued...