5-minute romance
Just when Charles fears he’ll never be able to fall in love again, he meets Melanie in an unlikely place…and she changes everything
Charles Winters couldn’t believe he was lost in a sprawling corn maze. I’m a cartographer, how do I lose my sense of direction? he mused.
“I think we need to go this way, Daddy!” his eight-year-old daughter, Julia, beamed, tugging on his hand.
Since his wife had passed away three years ago, Julia liked to take charge. And as he followed her lead, he couldn’t help but smile at her confidence and spirit.
She’s so much like her mother, he thought, his heart filling with a familiar ache.
“Why don’t we go this way?” Charles said after a few minutes, shading his eyes from the golden autumn sun as he cut the corner of the towering corn stalks.
Suddenly, a young woman plowed into him. As he caught her arm to keep her from falling backward, he looked down to find deep green eyes and a smile so beautiful that his breath caught in his chest.
“Oof, I’m so sorry!” Her voice was soft, as her cheeks blushed crimson.
Charles swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “Oh no, it’s my fault,” he stuttered. But before he could say more, she flashed him a grin, rounded the corner again and disappeared.
Whoa, what just happened? he thought as he fought the ridiculous urge to run after her. Then he heard a giggle and saw Julia grinning knowingly ear to ear.
Fifteen minutes later, they rounded another corner and his heart fluttered. The same woman was sitting on a hay bale looking exasperated. “I’m going to be stuck in here forever,” she groaned, smoothing her auburn hair back from her face. “Are you here alone?” Julia asked, plopping down next to her. Butterflies erupted in Charles’ stomach as the woman smiled at his daughter. “I just moved here and started teaching at the high school,” she said. “I’ve been manning the school’s dunking booth at the fall festival, but after my shift was over, I thought I’d try the corn maze… that was over an hour ago!” “Don’t worry, I know the way,” Julia said excitedly. The woman hopped up taking Julia’s outstretched hand. “My name is Julia, and this is my daddy. What’s your name?”
“It had been years since he had been so drawn to a woman”
“I’m Melanie, it’s very nice to meet you both.” She offered her hand to Charles.
“I’m Charles.” he grinned. “Okay, lead the way, kiddo. We don’t want to miss the pumpkin carving contest!”
“Oooo, that sounds like fun! Can you tell this is my first festival?” Melanie’s eyes twinkled with delight.
“You should come with us!” Julia exclaimed. “Shouldn’t she, Daddy?”
Charles couldn’t think of a better idea. It had been years since he’d felt so inexplicably drawn to a woman. Everyone had told him it was time to move on, but his heart had never been ready. But now…
“Yes, please join us,” Charles agreed, reflecting Melanie’s smile as the warm feeling in his chest expanded to a full-on glow.
As the trio wove their way through the corn, he learned that Melanie had also lost her spouse. Her husband had been in the military and lost his life in a training exercise two years earlier. She’d recently moved to town for a fresh start.
“Do you have any kids, Melanie?” Julia asked as she skipped happily alongside her radiant new friend.
“Not yet, but I hope to one day,” Melanie smiled, sneaking a glance at Charles, who was listening intently. “I’d love to have a little girl exactly like you.” Charles simply looked at them in awe. After another half hour, they finally escaped the maze. “Just in time for pumpkin carving, face painting and bobbing for apples,” Charles chimed as his daughter did a small victory dance at the exit.
“This has been the best day ever!” Julia shrieked a few hours later, throwing her arms around Melanie, whose warm, bubbly laugh left Charles feeling like his heart was about to burst.
“Thank you both for rescuing me,” she said, her green eyes sparkling up at Charles. “I probably would have gotten lost in there and ended up looking like one of the scarecrows. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had such a wonderful time.” “I couldn’t agree more,” Charles said. This stranger who appeared out of nowhere had certainly made an impression on both him and Julia. “What do you say we try it again sometime?” he added.
“What, get lost with you? Anytime,” Melanie said as they locked eyes, a pink blooming on her cheeks that had nothing to do with the crisp autumn air.
And as they gazed at each other, for the first time in a long while, Charles felt full of hope. “Good,” he smiled, “because I think I have a new sense of direction.