~ ~ ~
Dory had said yes, and Gray and Julie Ann’s first afternoon together had been spent sitting on the patio of the local Dairy Queen eating hamburgers and drinking milk shakes. Julie Ann wasn’t oblivious to the peculiar looks thrown their way, but she didn’t care about anything else besides the man sitting in front of her. Once she got over the shock of Gray asking her for a date, she enjoyed herself.
She soaked up his stories about school and the people he’d met there. College was a dream for Julie Ann. She’d been working and saving for two years, and she’d been studying to make the highest possible grades so that she’d be eligible for a scholarship. Now she was able to ask questions about everything she didn’t know, and Gray seemed delighted to answer her.
After lunch he walked her to her afternoon job at the TG&Y, where she worked in the dry goods department cutting dress lengths for customers and keeping the shelves and pattern file cabinets stocked. As she waved goodbye to him, she felt a heady sense of pleasure. The world hadn’t been a friendly place, but perhaps it had its compensations after all. Time spent with an intelligent, handsome man might just be one of them.