She vanished just as the year ended.

 

We met in July when I walked into Starbucks and saw her sitting there. She was drinking a coffee and the name on the side of the cup said, “Shelly”. She looked up at me and as our eyes met, she smiled. I smiled back and after getting my order I took a seat at a table across the room from her. I went to Kindle and opened up the latest book I was reading and was soon lost in the story.

 

Suddenly I became aware of someone standing next to my table. I looked up and found myself looking into the face of an angel. Shelly stood there smiling down at me. As always happened when confronted with a beautiful woman, I could think of nothing to say.

 

Shelly stood there smiling at me for a second and then said, “Hi, what are you reading?”

 

I just sat there looking into that beautiful face and my mind was blank. After a few minutes I found my voice and said, “It's the latest Michael Vey novel by Richard Paul Evans.” I said as I felt myself blushing because what twenty-five-year-old would be reading a book written mainly for teenagers.

 

“I love Richard Paul Evans,” She said, “his romance novels are the best. I don't think I've read any of the Michael Vey series though.”

 

“Well, they are kind of written for teenagers but I love all the research he puts into them.”

 

Then she just stood there for a moment without saying a word. She just smiled at me with that sweet smile. Suddenly, I realized that I hadn't even asked her to sit down.

 

I stood up and pulled out the chair across from me.

 

“Would you like to sit down?”

 

She just looked me in the eye and said, “I thought you'd never ask.”

 

We both took our seats and I wasn't really sure what to say. I couldn't believe this beautiful woman could possibly be interested in me so why had she walked over here and joined me?

 

“I assume your name is Shelly.” I said, “I saw it on the side of your cup.”

 

She gave out a short little laugh and said, “You're very observant. I'm Shelly Price. Now you know my name do I get to know yours or are you going to keep it a secret?”

 

I felt my face turning red but I said, “I'm sorry, my name is Maxwell Stewart, my friends just call me Max.”

 

“Well Maxwell, I hope we become good enough friends that I can call you Max.”

 

I couldn't believe my ears. I wondered if one of my friends had put her up to this. Some of them had a real warped sense of humor. I looked around the coffee shop to see if I could see anyone I recognized. Then I looked her right in the eye and said, “I hope so too.”

 

We sat and talked for close to an hour and then Shelly said, “I think I’ve taken enough of your time. Don’t you have someplace you have to be?”

 

I smiled back at her and said, “Well I actually have the day off, so I really don’t have any place to go.” Or any place I’d rather be, I thought to myself.

 

Shelly just smiled at me and said, “What a coincidence, I don’t have any place to be either. You want to go do something together?”

 

I didn’t even have to think about my answer.

 

“Of course, that sounds great. Do you have any preferences?”

 

“I love the outdoors, maybe we could just go for a walk.”

 

“That sounds like a great idea. We’re not that far from the Jordan River trail; it’s a nice hike. Would that be, okay?”

 

“Oh yes, I’ve been there before. There are usually a lot of nesting shore birds this time of year.”

 

“Do you have a car? We can take mine and leave yours somewhere or we can just meet at the trailhead.” I said as I felt my heart racing at the thought of spending my day off with this beautiful woman.

 

“Oh, I don’t have a car.” Shelly said, “I usually take public transit everywhere I go. But we can take your car that would be fine.”

 

“Okay, it’s right out here. Do you want another coffee before we leave?”

 

“No, I’ve had plenty. Oh, I’m so glad I met you!” Shelly said with enthusiasm.

 

We walked quickly out to my car and I opened the door for her then walked around and got in on the driver side. When I started the car, I realized that I had left my radio on the classic country station I listened to on Sirius XM. I looked over at Shelly and she was looking back at me with this shocked look on her face. I thought, oh no now she’s really going to think I’m nuts.

 

“You can change the station if you’d like.” I said as I looked at her.

 

“Are you kidding? I can’t believe you listen to classic country music. I love it. Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard. I just knew this day was going to be great!”

 

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Every girl I had ever dated was into pop music and I just couldn’t find any interest in it. My father had listened to a lot of classic country, mixed with some Elvis Presly, and I still found happy memories associated with this style of music. But usually, girls would change the station as soon as they got in the car. I can tell you I am not a fan of Taylor Swift.

 

I drove to the nearby trail entrance to the Jordan River Parkway. I hurried around to open the door for her and she held out her hand for me to help from the car. I was pretty sure I was dreaming. We entered the trail and began walking along the river bank. Her childlike enthusiasm was contagious. She seemed to be excited about everything and her knowledge of the wildlife was so surprising. She told me about each of the ducks we passed along the way. She knew their common names as well as their scientific names. She described how to identify each of them and what their major characteristics were. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a flock of greater Canada geese flew right over our heads and landed in an open field next to the river. Then when a kit fox ran across the trail and disappeared into the underbrush, she wrapped me in hug so tight I could hardly breath. I felt that I had died and gone to heaven.