Fools "Rush" In

Chapter 12 - Let's Get Personal

Norman felt the crushing weight of disappointment descend on him; up to this point he'd been surprised by this woman in nearly every way... captivated, even. To find out that it had all been an act to get him to contribute to her charity was enough to crush him.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" He asked, and there was an edge in his voice that caused her eyebrows to come together in consternation. "This whole thing... the drumstick, the trip here... it was so you could extort money from me?"

Now Elaina's eyebrows lifted almost to her hairline and her already large eyes became huge. The blush that was already there, deepened to a near purple as she realized what his words meant. Quickly though, the disbelief turned to amusement and she began laughing. Naturally, this reaction caused Norman's temper to flare.

"What in the hell are you laughing at? You find extortion hilarious?" He shouted.

It took a second for Elaina to gain control and looked up at the sky before making eye contact with him. "Calm down, Norm, you're jumping to conclusions. I didn't bring you here to shake you down for money."

"Then what, Elaina? What exactly is your plan here?"

"I just need you to understand what our goal is here and then maybe... talk about it. Use your media - both social and traditional - platform to bring awareness. I think if enough people heard about what we're doing, they'd see the need and want to copy it."

"So you need my fame?"

"Yeah, more or less; it's the one thing I don't have. I've more than enough money to run Macbeth Plantation for the next 3 to 4 generations, but my dream is to see hundreds of these types of settlements built across the country." Elaina waved her arm around to indicate the grounds. Then she turned back to Norman, and this time she was chewing on her lower lip, an action that caused his stomach to flip flop and his mind to momentarily forget what they were even arguing about.

"Listen," she said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Will you at least withhold your decision until you've seen the whole operation and meet some of our residents this evening? I promise you'll be able to be out of here first thing in the morning if you want."

Norman folded his arms across his chest and studied her face. He wished like crazy that he could figure out what it was about her that caused his emotions to run amuck. In the end she'd never been dishonest with him, just was frustratingly hard to read. Finally, he gave a slight nod.

"Okay, you better show me where I'm gonna be sleeping tonight so I can put my things away." He answered, and when she clapped her hands together under her chin and flashed him a huge smile while bouncing on her heels, he wished he could say yes a thousand more times.

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It was past midnight and Norman lay awake on the surprisingly comfortable bed inside one of the first two cabins Elaina had shown him earlier that day. She'd brought him back here in a 4-seater Gator a couple of hours earlier after a nice evening spent having dinner with a few of the families that had found their way to Macbeth Plantation. The stories they had told were hard to hear at the beginning, but all ended with hope for a better future. They were all brutally honest, which he had appreciated. It drove home the deep need for what Elaina and Mrs. Tess were providing.

In every story he listened to, a common theme was present; the obvious love and respect they had for Elaina. They spoke of how she never used the words "I or me", instead it was always "we and ours", in matters of the house or food or gardens or... anything. Of course, the feeling was mutual; her face shone with pure love any time she looked at the people seated around the enormous dining table. He found himself wishing she would look at him with the same look.