I caught the flash out of the corner of my eye. Looking up from my desk I swung my chair around to look out of the window. It was raining hard outside and I had been so engrossed into my work that I had not noticed. I looked at my watch and was surprised to see that it was past six o'clock already. I leaned back in my chair and stretched my arms out over my head and yawned.
Looking back down at my desk I shook my head and decided to finish the rest of my work on Monday morning. "You're the boss," I said to myself. "Send yourself home for some rest." After all I did own the company.
The only reason I was still here on a Friday night this late was because I had let three out of six of my office workers off for the entire week. The very first employee I had hired, or rather my wife had hired at that time, Sheila had a son getting married. That had been fifteen years ago and I was only twenty-two then. Shelia's son was getting married somewhere in the Bahamas and two of her office mates had become great friends over the years and wanted to attend the wedding also.
I grabbed my jacket and headed out of my office shutting the light out as I left. Once I got outside I realized that it was raining harder than I had thought. To make matters worse the wind was blowing so hard that the rain was hitting with some force, stinging a little bit.
I made it to my car in record time and shed my jacket. I loved this car as much as I could love a material possession. There were two reasons for that. Firstly I had always wanted a Jaguar and it was my dream car and everything I had hoped it would be. Secondly and most important I had bought the car with my wife's insurance money after her death a little over a year ago from cancer. She had made me promise to do that, as she knew I had always wanted one but would not spend the money on it. She told me I had built her dream house and this was something she could do for me. She had joked that she wished she could die a couple times so she could get me a houseboat to. She was great that way. Always trying to make me feel better about her being terminal. She was and still is the most unselfish and loving person I have ever seen or been near. I still missed her dearly and when it was at it's worst I would go for drives in the Jag because I could feel her with me then.
Getting onto the interstate was uneventful and almost peaceful even though I was sure the rain had picked up some more. I was only driving a few miles over the speed limit even though the Jag felt impervious to rain I knew it was only as good as the tires were.
I had been passed by a few people who were not as cautious in the rain as I was. In the same respect I had passed several people who were thinking the same about me. I was coming upon another such car when it blew a back tire and got as little sideways. The driver done a good job getting it to straighten back out and started off onto the shoulder of the road.
I could see through the rear window just well enough to see a head of hair that had to be a woman's and no one else in the car with her unless it was a small child out of sight. I pulled over behind her to offer assistance and left my car closer to the road than hers was to use as a shield to protect myself. I turned my flashers on and got out of the car.
She had seen me pull in behind her and had rolled her window down just a little bit and asked "Can I help you?" as if I was the one needing assistance. I knew she was just afraid to get careless with a strange man on the interstate and I was glad she was. A woman had to be careful these days. I could see she had medium length brown hair and she may have been pretty. It was hard to tell in those conditions.
"If you pop your trunk latch for me so I can get the spare tire out I will change it for you. You can stay dry in the car. It should not take but a few minutes," I informed her.
"I can call AAA to come change it but thanks for asking" she said.
"They will most likely be swamped and take a while to get here and plus it is not safe in these conditions to set on the side of the road like this" I replied. I could see she knew what I said was reasonable so I continued, "I understand that you are being cautious and I am glad to see that. A lady has to be careful now. You wont have to get out of the car the entire time I am here" I assured her.
Without hesitation she replied, "Alright and I really appreciate this. I will pay you for the help."
I smiled at her "That wont be necessary. Just pop the trunk for me and I will hurry to get you back on your way home."
"Thank you very much," she said as she was reaching for the trunk latch.
I walked to the back of the car and was already well soaked just from our short conversation. I opened the trunk and pulled out the spare tire and was surprised to see a hydraulic jack in the trunk as well. That was the touch of a man for sure. Most women just leave the unsafe little scissor jack in the car. I assumed it was her husband that had put it there.
Pulling the jack out I knelt down on the ground to find a safe place to put the jack under the frame of the car. After getting it jacked up I had the tire replaced within a few minutes. I put the flat and the jack back in the trunk and closed it. She had rolled her window down a little bit again and I hollered up there as I patted the trunk, "Alright it is ok to head on home now. Have a safe trip."
As I headed back to my car she tried to shout something out at me and I waved my arm up in the air to acknowledge whatever she was saying. I figured she was just going to try to force payment on me and I wanted to avoid that uncomfortable situation. I saw her exhaust as she started the car. I was pretty chilled and soaked to my bones from the rain and cranked the heater up on the Jag. I pulled out and seen her pull out behind me and I headed on home.
Once I got home I got out of my wet clothes immediately and settled into my hot tub. It was part of my wife's dream house. She had had it built in a small-enclosed room right off the master bedroom. Sliding glass doors made up the two outer walls. The outer bedroom walls were on the other two sides. In winter time we could just keep the sliding doors closed and stay warm and see the beautiful snow. She had loved the snow but hated the cold so this was the best of both worlds for her. In warm weather we could sit in it and enjoy whatever breeze would come through the doors also.
I found myself sitting there wondering what the woman in the car had looked like. Odd I thought as I had not thought of another woman since my wife's death in any normal form for a man. I was hit with a twinge of guilt. I got out of the hot tub once I felt relaxed and warm. Took a shower and laid in bed and read until I fell asleep.
I must have slept well because the next thing I knew I was being woke up by the sunlight coming through my bedroom window. I slid my legs around to the side of the bed and sat up and stretched. Deciding even though I didn't need one a shower would feel good about now.
Just as I was rinsing off I heard my doorbell ringing. Knowing it would be my buddy Ted I shut the shower off and threw a towel around myself. It was a nice but not overly expensive area my wife had had our house built so I knew it wouldn't be a solicitor. I opened the door holding the towel around my waist still dripping water.
To my surprise it wasn't Ted but instead it was an attractive blonde woman in her thirties if I had to venture a guess. Once again I felt guilty because for the second time in two days I had thought of a woman's looks. "I'm sorry," I said. "I thought it was someone else or I would have been dressed more appropriately before answering the door" I apologized. I was wondering who this lady was and what she wanted.
Looking away but not before taking a quick scan of my chest and shoulders she turned her head shyly. "I apologize if this is a bad time," she said. "I can come back at a more convenient time for you."
Curious now as to whom this was and what she wanted I said "that's alright. Is there something I can help you with?" I asked politely.
"You don't recognize me from last night do you?" She asked. You changed my tire last night in the rain." Sensing my puzzlement she answered the question that was on my face. I am sorry for probing but I got your license plate number last night and my brother and sister-in-law are both police officers so I had them get me your address this morning."
"Oh, I am sorry. I didn't recognize you. I never got a good look at you last night. Please come in and I will get dressed" I said.
Taking another quick look at me clothed only in a towel she thanked me and followed me in. "Have a seat in the living room and I will be right back" I said as I walked out of the room. I was wondering if she was looking at me as I walked away. I realized that the guilt I had twice felt was no longer making it's presence felt.
Going into the bedroom I put on a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. Nothing fancy, as she was dressed casually. After combing my hair I headed back into the living room. "Would you like some coffee or anything to drink?" I asked her, as I looked her over myself with a quick glance and afterwards realizing that it was probably just as obvious as hers had been. I was pretty sure she was in her mid thirties and she was still quite attractive. She had smallish breast and her hips probably were not as thin as she wished for. As far as I was concerned she was just about right though. I had always liked hips on a woman and breast were not that important.
"No thank you" she answered. "I was nervous last night when you stopped and offered to help last night so I used my brother to make sure you wasn't someone I should be afraid of."
"I came over to ask you and your wife or girlfriend out to lunch as a way to say thank you."
"Actually I have neither right now" I informed her. "My wife passed away about a year ago."
She put her hand up to her face and said, "I am so sorry, I didn't know" her voice trailed off.
"That's alright," I said. "No way you could have known."
"It's just that I knew this beautiful house had a woman's touch for sure" she replied.
"Thank you. She" I hesitated "Kerry had a way of turning anything into a nice place to be."
