"Oh, here you are." "I was looking all over for you." "You weren't in the lobby." "You weren't in the den." "You weren't in your bedroom." "Kirk, what do you want?" "Dick, how would you like to get into pee-wee hockey?" "What?" "They've asked me to sponsor a team, and I thought you'd want to go in on it with me." "It's only $200." "If it's only $200, why do you need Dick?" "I'm $100 short." "Kirk, I'm really not that interested in advertising the Stratford." "Dick, advertising is only part of it." "I'm really doing it to help the kids, to participate in the community, and to make myself more attractive to women." "Is that your knee I'm touching?" "No." "Sorry." "Anyway, the main thing is, the jersey will say, "The Minuteman Cafe," and right beside it, "The Stratford |nn."" "The main thing is, it's for the kids." "That's true." "All right, count me in." "Great." "Where's the $100?" "I'll get it right after breakfast." "I can get your checkbook." "I know where you keep it." "After breakfast, Kirk." "Okay." "It's just, the sooner I get it, the sooner those wonderful kids can start reaping the benefits of healthy athletic competition." "By the way, what's the team name?" "The Eye Gougers." "Morning, everybody." "Morning." "Hi, George, how are you?" "Oh, fine, you know me." "I'm always fine." "Could I have some time off?" "Sure." "JOANNA:" "Is everything all right?" "Oh, yeah, everything's fine, you know me." "It's just that this friend of mine's coming into town this weekend." "I haven't seen her for a while, and I wanted to take a couple of days off." "Her?" "Is this an old girlfriend, George?" "She used to be." "We were some pair." "There was Eleanor, always shy and simple and innocent, and then there was me, you know, just the opposite." "People might have thought she was plain, but I thought she was perfect." "I almost considered giving up caretaking for her." "It went that far, did it?" "I was fogged up with passion." "What happened?" "Well, I was going to ask her to marry me, but you know how it is sometimes, you mean to do something, and then you put it off, and before you know it, the person's moved." "How long has it been since you've seen her?" "Thirty-one years." "And you haven't kept in touch all that time?" "She moved so far away." "There was no point." "Where did she move?" "Montpelier." "That's 59 miles from here." "I know, I figured I'd never see her again." "Just think, George, since the last time you two saw each other," "America's been in two wars, had seven presidents, put a man on the moon..." "And I've shaved off my mustache." "Hard to know what to talk about first." "Kirk, what are you doing?" "Looking for you guys." "You've been told never to ring that bell." "That bell is for guests only." "You never told me that." "I told you that a half-dozen times." "Well, I never listened." "Anyway, I'm glad you're all here, because this is important." "Who wants a hockey jersey?" "What are you talking about?" "Well, I have to put an order in for the team." "I thought I might as well order a few extra jerseys for us." "I don't want a jersey." "Well, actually, Dick, I was thinking more of Joanna and Leslie." "Actually, more of Leslie." "Now, what are your measurements?" "Kirk!" "Gotta write something down." "How about if I just put "perfect"?" "Now, Joanna, what are you?" "A medium?" "Yeah." "Well, if you don't need me for anything else," "I was just about to shove a pie in the oven." "Hi, George." "Hi, Joanna." "I'm gonna finish arranging the flowers in E|eanor's room." "Hi, George." "Hi, Dick." "You waiting for Eleanor?" "YEP" "You know, there's nothing quite as exciting as an old flame being relit, is there?" "Is there?" "I guess not." "I don't think there's a man alive who doesn't have someone in his past who he thinks about." "Right?" "Probably." "Who's yours?" "I'm not telling you." "What's the big deal?" "This is just guys." "George, get over here!" "It will never leave this room." "It was along time ago, Kirk." "Come on, Dick, name names." "Lorraine, and that's all I'm telling you." "Lorraine!" "Lorraine Butler." "We were..." "We were 17." "And my dad loaned me the car, you know, so I took her to a cornfield." "Took who to a cornfield?" "Hi." "Hi, honey." "Hi." "Who did you take to a cornfield?" "No one, no one." "We were just talking about George and Eleanor, and Kirk brought up how everybody has an old flame," "(CLEARS THROAT) and he asked me who mine was." "Gee, I really haven't thought about her in years!" "Her being?" "Lorraine." "I mean, you know, it was nothing." "We were 17." "It was just a stupid, meaningless night that" "I've never forgotten." "'G°°V9e?" "Huh?" "Isn't that Eleanor?" "No." "'G°°V9e?" "Huh?" "It's Eleanor." "It is?" "Thirty-one years." "Can you believe it?" "Yes!" "Well, let me have a look at you." "Well, where should I put this?" "Upstairs, but we can take care of that later." "Hi, I'm Joanna Loudon." "Hello." "And this is my husband, Dick." "Hi." "Hi, Dick." "And our neighbor, Kirk Devane." "Hi." "Eleanor Smathers." "I've got to run." "I just wanted to say" "I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and that it turns out to be everything you ever hoped it would be." "Oh!" "Thank you." "(WHISPERING) Get lucky!" "Eleanor, it's really nice to have you here." "I can just imagine the million questions you two must be wanting to ask each other." "George?" "Can I take your bag?" "Oh, that's all right." "It's light." "I packed for the weekend." "Oh, well, in that case, let me show you to your room." "Eleanor seems like a real nice lady." "That's not Eleanor, Dick." "George, it has been 31 years." "Oh, I knew she'd look older, but I didn't know she'd look different." "What do you mean?" "She's not plain anymore." "No, she's a very attractive lady." "Yeah." "I could always talk to the old Eleanor." "I think maybe that lady's heard everything I have to say." "George, don't you think you ought to give this a little more time?" "I've only got a weekend." "I know, but, I mean, it's long enough to become friends again." "What did you expect?" "I expected to fall in love again." "Here, let me hang that for you." "Oh, thank you." "You have certainly done a wonderful job in restoring the old Stratford." "Thank you." "George deserves most of the credit for keeping it up." "Must be exciting seeing him again." "Yes." "He's changed a great deal." "I'm sure." "It's funny, but I always thought of George as, well, dashing!" "George was dashing?" "Oh, yes." "And very sexy." "Really?" "I've never thought of George in that way." "Oh, well, no, you wouldn't now." "But, oh, if you could've seen him then!" "I remember one time..." "George was always very good at making things with his hands, and I always admired that, and so I asked him if he would make something for me." "A couple of weeks later," "I was in my room one night when I heard this rustling at the window." "I went to the window and looked out." "(GIGGLES)" "It was George, climbing up the side of our house." "That nut had made a ladder." "He called it his stairway to paradise." "My father called it disgusting and told him never to bring it around again." "But of course he did." "Oh, I just loved him." "Well, I'm sure George still has a little of the old George left in him." "Oh, I don't know." "He seems to have gotten awfully rough around the edges." "Maybe seeing you again will bring out some of that old charm." "Ready to tie on the feedbag?" "I think he means have lunch." "Excuse us." "Everything okay?" "I guess." "Eleanor happy with her room?" "She's happy with her room, yeah." "What isn't she happy with?" "George." "I get the feeling she thinks he's a little too rustic." "He thinks she's too sophisticated." "Well, darn it, why did they have to be disillusioned?" "Why couldn't they have just taken one look at each other and fallen in love all over again?" "Because that's not life." "That's a stupid paperback novel." "Thank you, Mr. Sensitivity." "I'm sorry, I'm not a hopeless romantic." "This coming from a man who bought a 200-year-old inn because he thought James Madison slept here." "Look, don't get me wrong." "I mean, I wish George and Eleanor weren't disillusioned either, but, I mean, you have to face reality, the same way I had to face the truth about James Madison." "But you still believe he stayed here." "And I always will." "Well, I am not going to write this weekend off." "They'll talk, and get reacquainted, and they'll find out they haven't changed as much as they think they have." "Eleanor says she wouldn't dare be seen without her lip gloss." "Hi, George." "Oh!" "Hi, Dick." "Did you want something?" "I don't want to bother you while you're working." "That's all right." "It's no bother." "Come in." "(CHUCKLES)" "Dutch doors are tricky." "Yeah, the Dutch are a funny people." "So, how's everything going with you and Eleanor?" "How did you know that's what I wanted to talk to you about?" "Shot in the dark." "Things still a little awkward between you two?" "Oh, no, there's no awkwardness." "We just can't think of anything to say to each other." "How am I going to get Eleanor back to being Eleanor?" "I don't think you can, George." "Oh." "At least..." "At least not completely." "Well, how much would you say I could get back?" "Depends on how much you do." "What would you do?" "Well..." "You ought to maybe try to do some of the things you used to do together." "I mean, you know, Joanna and I have done that." "Five years ago, we took a second honeymoon." "You know, we went to the same hotel, had the same room, ate in the same restaurant." "What'd you have?" "I don't remember, George." "The point is that it was great, you know, we re-lived a lot of memories, and we were honeymooners again." "Well, I like the idea of the hotel room, but I don't think Eleanor would." "George, that's not what I'm suggesting." "Do you remember one place where the two of you used to spend a lot of time?" "Yeah." "Well, then, take her there." "I can't." "Why not?" "I traded it for a truck." "Is there another place?" "Yeah." "I can think of one." "You know, Dick, that's a good idea." "How'd you ever come up with that?" "I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic." "I'm glad Eleanor waited 31 years to come back." "Why's that?" "If she'd come back before I met you," "I don't know what I'd have done." "What are you doing?" "Come on." "Come on, sit down, go ahead." "How is this?" "What are we doing here?" "Don't you remember?" "This used to be the Clover Cafe." "We used to come here every Saturday." "Oh, my gosh!" "We'd have dinner, hold hands, watch people." "But it's a shoe store now." "I know, but it's still our spot, isn't it?" "May I help you?" "No, thanks, we just wanted to sit here." "Oh!" "George, I feel silly sitting here." "Yes, it was Dick's idea." "He thought if we could go back to one of our old spots, maybe things would be like they used to be." "Oh." "I was hoping they could be, too." "You were?" "That's why I came back." "I have to admit, George, I have thought of you often over the past 31 years." "I wondered if you got married, what your life was like, if you ever thought of me." "(CHUCKLES)" "I never got married." "My life's the same as it always was, and I thought about you a lot." "You didn't get married, did you?" "I came close once." "The family I work for hired a young man to build a gazebo." "You know how I've always been attracted to a man who could make things with his hands." "I know." "What happened?" "It didn't work out." "I thought I was in love with him, but he had one big problem." "He couldn't make me laugh." "Did I make you laugh?" "All the time." "Oh, George, you were always so dashing." "You were always so simple." "I know you mean that in the best possible way." "Why'd you go to Montpelier?" "My family moved there." "Well, you were 18." "You didn't have to go." "It was a chance to move to a bigger city." "It was exciting, challenging, adventurous." "And I thought you'd stop me." "Why would I stop you from doing what you wanted to do?" "Because I thought you loved me." "I did, but you moved to Montpelier." "I thought you'd come after me." "I didn't know you wanted me to." "That's why I went." "Are you telling me the last 31 years have all been a misunderstanding?" "Oh, George." "Oh, shoot!" "Please, we can't sit in a shoe store regretting the last 31 years." "We can for a minute." "Now wait, George." "We've both been happy." "We've both done pretty much what we wanted to." "Any chance we could pick up where we left off?" "I think we've both changed too much." "I was hoping you could change back." "I guess there's no point staying here." "Unless you wanted to look at some shoes?" "No." "Come again." "Are you staying here?" "Yes." "Good." "Do me a favor, will you?" "Ring this." "Yeah, harder." "Yeah, faster." "Yeah, okay." "He did it." "He told me to." "Did not." "Did too." "It's okay, it doesn't matter." "It does too." "Does not." "What do you want, Kirk?" "They made up a sample jersey for me, and I wanted to show it to you." "Leslie, I want you to see this, too." "Let's see the back." ""The Minuteman Cafe right beside the Stratford |nn."" "Obviously the manufacturer made a mistake." "Obviously." "The question is, is it a mistake you can live with?" "Okay, it's not." "I'll make a phone call." "In the meantime, Leslie, would you like to try this on?" "Kirk, it's a little small." "Put it on, let's see how small." "(SIGHS) Come on, Kirk, grow up." "Please, for Kirky." "Hi, George." "Hi, Dick." "Has Eleanor come down yet?" "I haven't seen her." "How did things go this afternoon?" "Not great." "In fact, she's leaving in the morning." "I'm only dressed up like this because" "I'm going to take her someplace real special her last night here." "Where are you going to take her?" "I don't know." "I'm really sorry, you know, things didn't turn out the way you planned." "Eleanor says we've both changed too much." "I don't like change, Dick." "I know if Eleanor hadn't gone to Montpelier, this wouldn't have happened." "I don't like Montpelier, either." "I don't think I blame you." "It's just that I don't feel like I've changed." "I'm sure Eleanor doesn't feel like she's changed, you know." "I mean, none of us feel like we've changed, but we have." "I mean, if you really love someone, I guess you allow them to change." "Maybe that's what love is, you know, change." "That reminds me, Dick, do you have change for a dollar?" "George." "Oh!" "You're wearing a suit." "I know." "You wore a suit the night of our senior prom." "Well, this is a different suit." "It becomes you, George." "You look very dashing." "You look..." "Simple?" "I was going to say beautiful." "Oh." "Now this is the Eleanor I remember." "Your carriage awaits!" "George, you always could make me laugh." "I didn't mean it to be funny, but what the heck."