As he exited his car in the super market parking lot and walked toward the entrance someone shouted out his name.
"Bill!" An obvious female voice yelled out.
He looked up, trying to find the source of the woman shouting his name. He almost didn't recognize her. She'd be what, twenty four by now? A young blond woman in worn jeans and an oxford shirt was standing just a few feet ahead of him. It was Melanie. He had first met her ten years earlier when he and his former wife had moved into a small subdivision only a couple of miles away.
She had been their first baby sitter in the new house; she had lived directly across the street. A neighborhood of young couples with children, it had been ripe with available sitters. Melanie had been the best--that perfect combination. She was responsible and mature for her age and both kids adored her.
He had treated her as a responsible young lady--not as a child. She had come to him with typical adolescent problems but their conversations had never strayed to sexual matters. He had become not a replacement for her own father, who could be a bit distant, but not like an older brother, either. He had never had the slightest sexual feelings toward her. He had been a mentor and they had shared mature but never flirtatious conversations.
At fourteen she had been tall, gangly and rail skinny. As a young teen she had been cute but certainly not pretty. She played with the kids--she entertained them. She was firm and loving and as perfect a sitter as there was in the neighborhood. The kids enjoyed their time with Melanie so much that they were always asking when mommy and daddy were going out again so that Melanie could come over.
He had lost track of Melanie in her senior year of high school. She wasn't around much; he hardly recalled seeing her come and go across the street. The kids had gotten older and didn't need a sitter for short outings. As Melanie got into senior year activities and boys she was often not available to sit.
He remembered seeing her once; on that occasion he hardly recognized her. He was down at the dock preparing to take a Catamaran out for a couple of hours. There were often young girls in skimpy bathing suits hanging around looking for a boat to go out on. Most could sail and would help crew. Most were also underage so he avoided them.
He heard another man who was working on his boat say something to one of the girls--calling her Mel. The young lady in question was a stunning example of late teen womanhood. Blond, tall and well formed with, as they used to say, an impressive rack--easily the most attractive young woman in sight. She recognized him before he recognized her.
"Hi Mr. Davis!" She exclaimed, smiling broadly. What a smile, he thought.
"Melanie? I almost didn't recognize you. How have you been?" He had replied incredulously.
"It's Mel, Mr. Davis, only my parents call me Melanie anymore." She had replied, moving toward his boat.
Oddly, he knew her birthday. She had been like family and her birthday had always been marked on the calendar on the refrigerator. She would just have celebrated her nineteenth birthday in the last few months. She was certainly not the Melanie he remembered.
She'd gained a smidgen of height--easily five eight or better--but there was nothing gangly or awkward about her. She was a stunning young woman; when she smiled she was absolutely enticing. He realized she would be graduating from high school in a few weeks.
"It's Bill, Mel, call me Bill." Bill replied.
Melanie asked immediately about the children; she had loved sitting for them and had missed it. Bill asked her about college; she would be attending a school in the Northern part of the state some four hours away. She got serious for a moment, expressing sorrow at the demise of his marriage.
His first wife had hit the ten year mark and decided she needed to find herself. She had initially demanded custody of the kids--primarily for the child support she would receive. Their daughter had asked to leave and live with dad. A school counselor, an independent shrink and a court appointed advocate had agreed.
His ex thought she should still receive the same amount of child support; she obviously lost on that count. Within a year she had remarried a guy with some coin--the first of three marriages over the next ten years, including one to a drug dealer. Husband number two in her string of four didn't want a little boy around, so both children now lived with their dad. She no longer needed the child support--therefore, she no longer needed the children.
Years later, when the kids were in their middle to late twenties and his ex was on husband number four, they all reconciled. Husband number four was a fine man and the ex had mellowed. At the time he met Melanie at the dock, the children didn't even want to go visit mom a hundred miles away. Finally it was agreed without lawyers and judges that they didn't have to.