After the fire, Hudson was feeling pretty devastated. The firefighter, Ned Lu, assured him that he had no serious injuries, and offered to let him use the station’s facilities to get cleaned up. Hudson graciously accepted the offer, and followed the engine back to the station. While he scrubbed off the dirt, Hudson decided he would have to find a way to get some money fast, to build at least a small house on the lot. Not to mention, he was already lonely. He hadn’t quite realized how hard it would be, moving to a new town and not knowing anyone. So Hudson decided he could take some time off from studying cooking and learning recipes to pursue a romantic interest.
After getting dressed and grabbing a quick meal of some cereal from the fridge, Hudson set off for the library, full of resolve. He found a computer, logged on, and browsed to the popular dating service SimHarmony.
He had only just finished filling out his profile, when he noticed an oddly familiar smell.
“No no no no!” cried Hudson, as he realized just why that smell was so familiar – it was smoke. The image on the screen flickered and faded to black, and smoke began to pour from the vents on the side of the old monitor. Hudson threw up his arms in disgust, and turned to try another computer.
This one didn’t even last long enough for him to log on to the website. Hudson hung his head in defeat.
I guess I’ll have to do this the old fashioned way, he thought. He called up Ned, since he was the only person in Riverview for whom Hudson had a phone number, and asked him if there were any single young woman Hudson should seek out. Ned had a few suggestions…
—-
Hudson’s first stop was the Joy household. He introduced himself to Elaine Joy, a young woman who lived with her widower father. Hudson turned on the charm and the two discussed gardening and cooking, and joked around.
Unfortunately she had to take off for work rather quickly. So Hudson headed for a large house in the center of town, to meet Meadow Carpenter-Rhodes. Ned had warned Hudson that Meadow was a bit odd, but Hudson was not a man afraid of a challenge.
After Meadow invited him in, Hudson remarked on her floral themed decor.
“Oh yes,” Meadow replied enthusiastically. “There is absolutely nothing I like more than gardening. Flowers, vegetables, fruits – I just love growing anything”
“Well, I can see you are clearly very good at it!” Hudson said with a grin.
“Of course, the sad part is when they die. When my plants die I could just die myself. Sometimes I wish I were a plant. Did you know potatoes contain every nutrient we need to survive?” Meadow stared at Hudson, who started feeling a bit nervous.
“Well, you know, my passion is cooking, I bet if we worked together you could grow some amazing veggies and I could cook them, we could be unstoppable”.
“Unstoppable at what?” Meadow said, confused.
“Uhm, you know. Just unstoppable.”
“I think you’re a bit odd”. She replied, and wandered off outside, talking to herself about seeds and fertilizers.
Yeah, you too cookie. Hudson thought to himself. But a little part of him immediately felt uneasy now that she was gone. Hudson pushed aside his concerns and followed her outside.
“Meadow, are you a fan of poetry?”
“No, really just gardening. I like my guitar okay too I guess” she replied.
Uhm, okay. What girl doesn’t love poetry? Whatever, try it anyway.“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” Hudson recited.
“Well, pretty much anything is more temperate than a hot summer day here in Riverview” Meadow replied stoically.
“Tell me about it” joked Hudson.
“I just did”.
Oh sweetie.
“Okay, you’ll like this one better – That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet –”
“That one’s true at least” she interrupted.
I’ll count that one in the ‘win’ column, Hudson thought.
“I’m hungry,” Meadow complained, and headed inside.
Hudson decided it was time to go, and, after patiently waiting for Meadow to finish making her dinner, presented her with a small token of his affection, which she seemed to appreciate.
—-
Hudson woke up the next morning and immediately called Elaine, hoping to catch her before she had to leave and he was stuck listening to her father Norman tell stories about Riverview in the “old days”. She agreed to meet him at the Gazebo in town.
They talked for hours, about everything they had in common, and everything they didn’t. Elaine also loved cooking, and was a great gardener. She also wanted to have a big family, just like Hudson.
“Elaine, I’ve really enjoyed the time we’ve spent together, and I want to be honest with you – I’ve got big plans for my life here, and I want to find someone who can help me achieve my dreams – it’s going to mean sacrifices and hard work, but I know in the end it will all be worth the effort.”
“Oh Hudson, I know you’re going to do great things. It’s just — I can’t leave my father alone right now. He’s still so broken up about my mom’s death, I really need to focus on him.”
“Don’t you think your dad wants you to be happy? Isn’t that what your mom would want?”
“We will be happy Hudson, don’t worry about us.”
“Just, promise me you’ll think about it Elaine? We could do great things together.”
“I know, Hudson, I know. I’m sorry…”
—-
The next morning, Hudson made a phone call.
“Meet me at the Gazebo? I have something important to ask you”.
