I was in the bedroom, packing up my late wife's clothing, when I heard a loud *BANG* from the front driveway. I hurried down the stairs, and as I opened the front door, I was nearly struck by a small delicate fist poised to knock.
The fist was attached to a lovely young woman. She stood about 5'4" tall with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, a small nose, and pink lips forming an O of surprise. She was slightly built, thin, but strong. I guessed her size to be about 34-30-35. Her breasts about an A-cup. She wore a dark blue sports bra, mid-thigh tan shorts and sandals. Her sunglasses were pushed up on her head on top of a head scarf.
"Oh," she said, "you surprised me." Then she looked closely at me, "You're not Paul."
"Ah, of course not, Paul is my son. Are you Amy? Paul told me you were coming. He said you were bringing someone...Oh, Hello!" I saw then there was another woman standing behind her. I thought she must be a sister because she looked so similar.
"Yes, I'm Amy Woods. This is my mother, Mrs. Woods. Mom, I believe this is Mr. Ross."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Ross. Please call me Lois."
"And please call me Ted. I'm not trying to be fresh or anything, but you don't look old enough to be her mother."
"You are very kind, Ted, but I am 40 years old. Amy and I just happen to be the same size." Indeed, they wore the same outfit, except Lois wore a white sports bra and brown shorts. Looking closed at her, I could see a few wrinkles around her eyes and a few gray hairs. Other than that, they could have been twins.
"Please come in," I said, and led them into the living room. "Please sit down. Can I get you anything to drink?"
"I'd like a beer, if you have any," said Lois.
"Me too," said Amy. I looked at Lois for permission.
"She's old enough. Turned 21 two days ago"
I got two beers for them and a glass of water for myself. When I gave them the beers, Lois said, "Aren't you having any?"
I said, "I don't drink until after supper. Paul said you would be stopping in on your way to New York. How long can you stay?"
"We were only going to stop for a few minutes," said Amy, "but from the sound of the car, maybe longer. Could you look at it, we know nothing about cars."
"I'll look at it, but I know nothing about cars either."
We went outside and sure enough, I could find nothing wrong with the car, except it wouldn't start. We went back inside, where I called a mechanic who promised to send a tow truck.
When the tow truck arrived, the mechanic looked at the car and pronounced it fixable, but not until the next day. Where upon he hooked the car up and towed it away.
Lois and Amy were looking worried. They were looking around, everywhere but at me. I knew they were stranded and needed help. I was the only one available.
"You can stay here, of course. I have plenty of room and I won't bother you. It will be nice to have someone to talk to. Come inside and have another beer."
The phone was ringing when we got inside. It was Paul saying he was stuck at work and wouldn't be home until late. I had him talk to Amy, where he expressed his regret at not being here. I got the impression from Amy's tone of voice that they might be closer than just friends. All the girls in Paul's life were "just friends." The only thing I overheard her say was, "We'll see what happens."
I showed them to the spare bedroom, and went to make dinner. Over dinner we talked and I finally asked Lois about Mr. Woods.
A hard, angry look came on Lois's face, and she said, "Mr. Woods is no longer part of my life, thank you for asking. He left me six months ago for a woman Amy's age. Said he had to find himself. I hope he finds himself in hell! Now tell me about Mrs. Ross."
I hoped the pain didn't show on my face. "Mrs. Ross, Beth, died about a year ago from breast cancer. I would like to encourage you to get a mammogram regularly. It can save your life. I'm sorry, I don't like to talk about Beth. I'm still hurting. I am only now cleaning out our closets. I'm giving her clothes to the church yard sale. You're welcome to look them over, I think you're the same size."
Lois looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. We can look at her clothes later. Would you like us to do the dishes?"
I could see it was almost sunset so I said, "No, that won't be necessary. I'll get them when I get back. I have to go out now and watch the sunset. I'll be back in about a half hour."
"You're going to watch the sunset? That sounds really cool! Could we come along?" said Amy.
Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. "When Beth was alive we would always to out to the ridge to watch the sunset. When she was dying, she made me promise to continue to do it in memory of her. The thing is, Beth and I liked to be nude when we watched the sunset. I still do this nude in her honor. It won't bother me to have you along, but I understand if you want to change your mind. Or if you want, you can stand on the other side of the rock."
"That sounds so romantic," Amy said, "I'd like to come with you."
"I don't know," said Lois. "I think we need to talk about it. It's not right for a young lady to be naked and alone with a man ."
"Mom! I'm 21! Come on, it'll be fun."
"I have to go," I said, "if you want to come along, just follow the path by the back door, go up hill at the oak tree. I'll be on the left side of the rock at the top." Then I left.
When I reached the rock the sun was on the horizon. I quickly disrobed and when I turned around, Lois and Amy came around the rock. I smiled, then turned around and faced the west and the sun. I could hear the soft sound of zippers and clothing hitting the ground, but my mind was elsewhere.
"Good night, Beth. I love you. I miss you so much it hurts. Be with me please." Slowly the sun slipped below the horizon. I closed my eyes and tried to feel Beth's presents.
I might have fallen asleep, or maybe I was hallucinating, but the next thing I heard was someone calling, "Teddy! Teddy! Can you hear me?"
