Thenty-five cents

Jay was hardly one of those running-nuts, he called them, those people who ran every day come snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night. No, but he did usually find time on most weekends for a good long run. He said it beat the weekly stress out of him and reminded him he should take better care of himself. In addition, the extra time allowed him a break from his routine.

One Saturday, he took a long run rough an unfamiliar residential neighborhood up on the hill that overlooked the city. Tall, shady old oak trees lined the street. The homes sat further back from the sidewalk. Few cars passed him as he ran through the quiet area.

"Hey, Mister! "Ya want some lemonade?!" a young girl shouted at him as he ran past her house. Jay slowed to a trot and looked back at her.

The girl squinted and waved to him from where she stood by a card table decorated with ribbons, gift wrapping bows, and a couple balloons. Her cardboard sign said LEMONADE 4 SALE and leaned against the front of her table. Two aluminum folding chairs sat on either side.

Jay checked his watch, then trotted over to her table. "That would be great. Thank you so much." He stooped and he mopped his forehead. "How's business," he asked as he caught his breath?

"Well, not too good. You're my first customer," she said as she pawed her long red hair out of her face and tried to tuck it back under her Chicago Bears baseball cap. "But maybe more people will come later." She took a small paper cup from her stack and filled it with lemonade. Before she gave it to Jay, though, she blinked several times and said, "That'll be a quarter, Mister."

"Yes, of course," he nodded to her as he patted his pockets. He removed a small wallet, the one he carried when running for just-in-case. He handed a dollar bill to the girl and then took the cup of lemonade with a paper napkin.

She pursed her lips, though, as she looked at the dollar bill. "Can you pay with a quarter?"

"Well," Jay nodded to her. "One dollar is like four-quarters. So, can I buy four cups of lemonade? I'm pretty thirsty." he smiled at her. Then, he put his empty cup back onto the table.

The girl looked up at him and starred for a moment, but then ran away.

Jay watched her with a cheerful smirk and then turned to continue his jog. He left his dollar on the table.

"Sir," a woman called to him! "Uh, Sir," She shouted to him again!

Jay turned and looked. A woman, possibly the girl's mother or older sister, quickly walked towards him from a nearby hammock.

"Yes, Miss," Jay replied? He cleared his throat and straightened his tank-top as he trotted back.

The woman said, "Well, um, thank you for stopping at my daughter's stand," she said as she stroked her long brown hair." Uh, she wants to give you your change back."

He took a breath before he cleared his throat. "Oh, that's okay. She can keep the change. I just wanted to support her small business, you know." He watched her face.

Her daughter spoke up. "See, Mommy? He says it's okay."

"Well, thank you, Sir. We're just learning about money," the woman smiled. She squinted a bit like her daughter when she did so.

"Me too, young lady," Jay replied to her with a wink, then mopped his brow again. When his grin widened, his dimples showed. He then paused and turned to her mother again. "I wonder, could I buy you a drink? I hear this place has great drinks and excellent service."

The woman glanced at the ground and appeared to blush. Then, she looked up and said to him, "Well, thank you. That's nice of you, but…."

Her daughter interrupted her, though. "I think he's asking you on a date, Mommy. You should say, Yes."

Her mother covered her face with her hands as her cheeks shone red. "Oh, my," she said as she looked up at him. "Well, I suppose I could join you some lemonade." She softly laughed.

Jay reached for a folding chair and pulled it out for her with a courteous nod. Then, he waited for her to seat herself.

Meanwhile, her daughter took a second cup from her stack, filled both cups with lemonade. She then winked at her mother by closing both of her eyes at once.

Jay raised his cup to the woman to make a toast. "To you and your daughter. Thank you for the delicious lemonade." They smiled at each other for a moment, tapped their paper cups together, then took a sip.

"I didn't get your name," the woman asked?

"Oh, sorry. I'm Jay. I was just jogging past and noticed your daughter's lemonade stand. I couldn't resist," he said with a mild laugh and a nod to her daughter.

"Well, I'm glad you stopped by. Bree has wanted to open one for a while. I'm Tara, by the way."

"It's very nice to meet you, Tara," Jay said as he raised his cup to her.

They chatted together for some time. Meanwhile, Bree watched and repeatedly re-filled their cups. Soon, though, she interrupted them. "Sorry, but I'm all out of  lemonade." She tipped the pitcher up-side-down to show that, indeed, it was empty.

"Well, I suppose I should be going," Jay said to Tara. I need to get home and change. He wrinkled his nose as he gave her a playful frown.

When Tara stood from her chair, Jay stood as well and pushed in his seat. He then took a couple more dollars from his wallet and put it on Bree's table. "That's for all the extra lemonade we drank," he told her. "Thank you so much." He winked at Bree by closing both of his eyes at once.

Bree glanced at her mother and then at Jay again before she took the money. "Thanks, Mister," she said, then quickly put the money into her pocket. 

Jay turned back to Tara. "And thank you for a nice visit. Maybe I'll start running this way more often," he said to her with his boyish grin.

Tara smiled in return as she wrote something onto one of the clean napkins. "Well, if you'd like to call ahead for a reservation sometime, here's our phone number." She folded the napkin and left it on the table for him.

She turned back to Bree, "Okay now, time to get cleaned up." She began to help Bree disassemble the lemonade stand. Bree whispered something to her mother.

Jay stepped onto the sidewalk to jog away, but before he got far, Bree shouted to him, "COME AGAIN!"

Jay looked back. Both Bree and Tara stood there waving at him. He waved in return, then checked his pocket. He still had the napkin Tara had given him.