Judith

I hope you will enjoy my story and comment on what you liked and perhaps didn't like to help me improve.

Many of my stories, originate in memories and events in my life. All contain a combination of real and fictional characters with names changed as appropriate to protect the 'guilty.' They are often memoirs spiced with a kinky imagination.

This story began with the publication of JUDITH. I wrote JUDITH at the request of a friend who wanted to tell the story of her first interracial relationship. When I finished writing it, I thought that Judith A. Williams and Richard Jones had finished telling their story. It seems I was wrong, there is more. JUDITH Part 2 is a continuation of their story. Enjoy!

From JUDITH (Part 1)

Cheryl, the innkeeper, extended her hand and said, "Let me show you to your room," as Richard handed her the room key. She was talking about the history of the inn and other small talk and she glanced at the number on the key tag. She mentioned that the inn was old, dated back nearly to the Revolutionary War, and had one suspected haunted room. She smiled and said "Unless you want a change, you will be staying in that same room." She quickly followed up with the fact that the room was haunted in a good way and returning guests often requested the room and reported that a dream they had in it, invariably a good dream, had not long after come true.

As she opened the door, Richard thanked her, entered the room and commented that he needed a good dream and was looking forward to it. Richard did have a dream about that night, about Cheryl.

The next day Richard and Judith danced, talked to mutual old friends, drank perhaps a little too much, and eventually the wedding celebration was ending. They were still together as they danced the last dance. Uncharacteristically verbally awkward, Richard asked if she didn't have a ride, if he might see her home?

Judith smiled and said, "I don't live far away. If you like, you can walk me home." As they walked they talked. She explained that she and her mom lived close to each other and close to her business, never saying what her business was.

They were walking by the inn that he was staying at and Richard attempted small talk by telling her how nice it was and how the staff were welcoming and gracious. She smiled and mentioned that she worked at the inn in college and how Cheryl, the current owner, had become a very good friend. She told him that even as a child she remembered it being an inn and how she had often dreamt of one day owning it.

As they walked on she told him that her mom's house was only a little more than a block away and gestured that they should head that way. Richard was confused and asked like a disappointed little boy, "Your mom's?" Judith had been in this situation before and knew what she had to say, the not so hidden meaning she wanted to convey, "Mom watched my little girl, Melanie while I was at the wedding. I need to visit mom for a while before I take Mel home."

Richard had no expectations, not really, hopes maybe, but no real expectations. He asked, "Do you live nearby? Will you be ok in the dark getting home without a car? I would be happy to get my car, wait until you are ready, and then take you and Melanie home."

Judith pointed toward the marina docks that extended from just across the road, "See the lights at the tops of the masts? Find the one that reaches highest into the sky and chases stars and under it is my home." He realized when she squeezed his hand that they had been walking holding hands. For how long?

Judith let go of his hand, turned toward a house on the right and asked, "If you are staying the weekend and you want to come by tomorrow night I'm told I make great lasagna?"

This ploy had played out for Judith before. Tell them you are a single mom and quickly before they can think about it, test to see if they are still interested.

Richard answered in a heartbeat, "I was going home tomorrow morning but now I'm staying to eat my favorite pasta dish with a beautiful woman." She smiled and when he asked if he could bring wine she said yes.

He quickly followed with an awkward question about Melanie and asked if she thought it would be appropriate for him to bring something for her. She liked that he asked. She liked that he implied that having dinner with Melanie would be ok, but answered, "It's nice that you asked, but Mel with be at my moms."

After an awkward moment of silence she took the initiative and kissed him, just a nice on the lips kiss with one warm hand on the side of his face the other on his jacket sleeve.

As he turned and started to walk back to the inn she mentioned, "Don't forget to tell Cheryl you'll be staying."

A few more steps and when he turned she was gone. When he arrived at the inn, less than five minutes later, Cheryl was behind the desk. After saying hello, he asked if he could extend his stay. She smiled and said, "already taken care of, you can stay as long as you like. If you need anything just call me. This is my cell number." She handed him a business card.

On the card was of course the name of the inn and address and in the lower right corner was her name, Cheryl Stone -- Innkeeper with her phone number. He thanked her and as he walked toward the stairs he glanced again at the card and noticed the other name on the card in the upper right corner, Judith A.Williams -- Innkeeper.

He turned back to Cheryl and asked, "Did Judith just call you and mention my reservation?"

She did not answer directly but smiled and said, "That card has her number on it as well if you need it. Have a nice night, sweet dreams, Richard." He noticed that she called him Richard and not Mr. Jones.

When he entered his room he picked up his phone and searched the internet, "Bay View Inn." There it was, "Owners: Judith A. Williams and Cheryl Stone." As he looked at the web page he saw pictures that included both Judith and Cheryl, sometimes individually, sometimes together, sometimes in the foreground, sometimes in the background at an event. There was one picture of them together in the background holding hands. When he looked at that picture he felt deep inside, something intuitive, something that told him he was looking at a picture not only of business partners but a picture of a couple. He flashed back to his dream of the night before and smiled at the possibilities.

Richard had a second dream that night about meeting Judith at the wedding.

(Dear reader, if you read JUDITH, you read in some detail the events in both dreams. In the following pages you will read if and how the dreams came true.)

~~

JUDITH -- Part 2

Richard awakened confused and disoriented. A light flashed annoyingly somewhere. He looked around and saw he was in his room at the inn but the dream was so real, why wasn't he on Judith's boat? Still confused and disoriented Richard looked at his phone and a few things became clear.

It was very late Saturday night, near midnight. He had slept only a short time and his telephone message light was flashing.

He keyed the message system on his phone. The only message was from Judith, "Hi Richard, it's Judith, I hoped I might catch you but I'll leave a message." After a short pause she continued, "I'm looking forward to our dinner. You asked if you could bring some wine. Just a suggestion, there is a wine store called 'The Whiners' just a few blocks from you. When I was there a few days ago they had Brunello di Montalcino, a great Italian wine on sale. Cheryl can tell you where the store is." She continued, "So unless I hear from you I'll see you at dinner." She added, "My boat is on Dock A, that's the first dock on the right, sixth slip in. It's dark blue and you'll see the name, 'Star Chaser' in silver letters on the side. Remember, Dock A, sixth slip in. Just follow the sound of Bob Marley."

As she said goodnight and ended the message Richard wondered how he had missed the call and remembered he had switched his phone to silent for the wedding. He switched it back to ring.

A moment later it rang. It was Judith again, "Hi, it's me again, I'm glad I reached you. I'm sorry, I know it's very late...."

Richard interrupted, "Hi Judith, I'm so glad you called back. I just listened to your message. Of course, I'll be there. I'm looking forward to it."

Judith continued, "That's great!" She hesitated and seemed to be nervous but continued, "I don't mean to be pushy...I don't know if you are interested...but I just thought I would ask...I am taking Star Chaser out to watch the sunrise in the morning and I usually do it with Mel but..... if you want to you're welcome to come along.

Richard thought for a moment that he had passed some unknown test and was being allowed to meet Mel and his answer was simple, "I would love to! What time?"

She added, "Well, about the time, that's the bad news. To be out of the harbor and far enough out to be away from shore lights, to make the trip worthwhile, we have to cast off at 4:15. If you packed a bathing suit bring it with you. If it gets hot we can swim.

He simply replied, "Hey, I love the idea I'll be there."

She answered, "Great, I'll take Mel to my moms and we'll make a day of it." Richard had not heard that phrase in a long time, "we'll make a day of it." He liked this woman Judith, more with every interaction. She said, "Dinner may become a late lunch, it's in the fridge now. You won't have time to get the wine but I've got it covered. I bought a case of it a week ago."

He said, "A case?"

She said, "Yes a case for the inn."

Richard told her, "Thanks, I'll be on time." He paused for a moment and said, "I really enjoyed today and meeting you." He didn't wait for a response but continued, "So you did realize your dream and bought the inn?"

She replied, "I had fun today too. Yes I did buy the inn. Cheryl and I bought it when we were together."

Those last few words gave him pause. He momentarily flashed back to the picture of them on the web-site and Friday nights dream. But she didn't give him time to think about it or respond. "Ok then, get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

After they hung up, Judith called her mom and they agreed it would be best to bring Melanie back and let her sleep over at "Grammys" house.

After a while, Richard got up to close the window and reset the thermostat. He needed a good night's sleep. As he looked out the window he saw Judith climbing the dock ramp carrying the little girl. As he watched he was saddened for a moment as he thought about Julie and the baby she carried when she was killed.

~~

The telephone alarm rang but Richard was already awake, showered and getting dressed.

Coming down the stairs into the lobby he was met by Donna, the same woman he first met when he arrived at the inn. She said, "Good morning Richard. Judith called and asked me to give you this. She handed him a beautiful canvas bag with "Bay View Inn" embroidered on the side. Inside were two bottles of wine and two embroidered "Bay View Inn" beach towels.

Donna smiled and said, "She asked me to give you one bottle but the bag held two. I know Judith likes to swim off the boat and I'll bet she didn't tell you to bring a towel so....I packed the wine in one for each of you. You're all set. Have a fun day." and her smile widened and she winked at him like she knew something he didn't.

Richard thanked her "Thank you Donna, Thank you, Thank you" and looking at his watch he said good bye and headed out the door.

He made his way to the dock. There was a nearly half moon on a cloudless very early morning so he didn't need much extra light. He noticed that in spite of the moonlight the sky was filled with stars. As he approached the boat, light was shining down from above in the mast somewhere and reggae was softly playing from inside the boat. Judith was standing in the cockpit, near a very impressive large steering wheel, doing something with rope. He had a moment to observe her before she saw him. She was dressed in a white hoodie sweatshirt and navy blue shorts. The kind of open leg running shorts that left little to the imagination. Her dirty blond hair was in a single short ponytail that hung down her back. He noticed she was barefoot and as he looked at her red polished toe nails he saw ornate gold rings on a few of her toes.

The motor was running, ta-pucka-ta, ta-pucka-ta, unlike any motor he had heard before. He would later learn it was the unique sound of a small diesel motor. He would, in the course of the day, learn to speak sailboat.

She saw him approach and with a long warm hug and a quick kiss she welcomed him aboard and told him they could talk and have coffee and something to eat when they were underway. After a few words implying he would be glad to help get underway she said, "I've done this alone so many times I could do it blindfolded. Sit and enjoy the show." She winked.

He sat in the cockpit near the wheel, but out of the way, and watched the magic. Judith jumped off the boat and went on the dock to the front of the boat, he would later learn that she was casting off the bow line. When she returned she cast off the stern line. As she did those shorts left little to the imagination as she bent over he could see the curve of her hip joining the muscle of her butt cheek. She then jumped back aboard. He watched as she adjusted a few control levers near the wheel and the boat started to move. With her at the wheel the boat pivoted into the channel and left the dock area behind. She explained that the trick to leaving at night is to have all your neighbors unaware that you had left.

As they motored slowly out of the harbor she explained a few things about what she was doing and why. Once they cleared the harbor entrance Judith pushed the control near the wheel and the motor and the boat speed increased. She invited him to steer while she made coffee. She showed him the compass and explained that his job was to keep it pointing East South East as best he could.

Judith asked how he wanted his coffee and as she left to go below she cautioned him, "Call me if you see any boats headed our way, ok?"

He laughingly replied "Yes Captain!"

She turned, smiled, and said, "If you weren't fun and cute I'd make you walk the plank for insubordination." She laughed and disappeared below.

She returned with two mugs of hot coffee and croissants. She put the tray holding the croissants on the cockpit cushion. Standing right beside him she handed him a mug and put her warm hand on his on the wheel and squeezed it. Politely dismissing him to enjoy his coffee she told him she would join him in a moment as she took the wheel. She again did something with the controls and the boat speed increased again. He did not see it but she then lifted a cover that shielded a computer screen and after just a moment at the keyboard said, "Ok we can sit and talk now and enjoy our coffee."

She sat near him and said "Isn't it nice that the inn chef sent over chocolate croissants for us?" She explained that the inn baker was always baking very early because they started breakfast service at 6:00 am. She mentioned that she often took inn quests out for sunrise and sunset sails.

As she sat beside him he noticed she continued to watch the horizon in all directions even as they talked. Bob Marley came up through the hatch to join them in the cockpit. Was it his imagination or was the boat motion in sync with the music?

Richard realized that the boat was steering itself and kiddingly asked, "Wait a minute, if your boat can steer itself why did you ask me to steer?"

She laughed a little, pointed to "Captain" on her sweatshirt, and said, "Because I'm the Captain and I like to know my crew will do as I tell them. Just so you know in the future the correct response is 'Yes Ma'am!'"

She laughed and smiled again and touching his arm added, "the real reason is that when you are close to shore and a harbor entrance, as we were, someone always needs to be watching for other boats......OR you can think of it as obedience training. You passed both tests........so far." She gave him a quick kiss. The word obedience brought him momentarily back to a long ago love and his inability to meet her expectations. He shook off the memory and casually mentioned that he was glad she said to wear something warm because the golf jacket he had on was barely enough.

Judith said, "I can fix that" and taking a sip of her coffee and handing it to him to hold, went below for just a moment. She came back with a sweatshirt just like hers but of course in a larger size in navy blue and also monogrammed with the boat's name. She smiled, the smile he was coming to love, and said, "Take it off" indicating with her hand that she meant his jacket. Giving him a pivot of her hips as if implying striptease she watched smiling as he put the coffee in the tray and took the jacket off. He then reached out for the sweatshirt and she playfully put it behind her back as she shook her head no. Judith motioned with her hand for him to stand and said "the tee shirt too." Richard was never more grateful for the countless sit-ups and workouts that gave him, well, maybe not a six pack but a very flat muscular stomach.

He was surprised when, in just the remaining moon light and dim light from below she stepped forward and put one hand on his chest and kissed him. Not a crazy passionate kiss but a far beyond friendship kiss with her tongue testing his lips but not pushing in. Her fingers were gently running over his chest and pinching his nipples ever so lightly and then running slowly down his abdomen to his shorts teasingly pushing as if to go further with just her finger tips inside the top of the shorts. She stepped back momentarily and pulled the sweatshirt on over his head. When he tried to respond and hug her she pushed him away onto the seat and sat beside him again. It was clear to him that she was in control of how far and how fast any physical relationship was going to happen and that was fine with him

They sat very close to each other talking while they moved farther from shore. Judith sat with her hand gently on the bare skin of his thigh. He glanced down and was reminded again of something that with Judith did not seem to matter. Even with a tan her hand was......well......White. He also saw that she had a wedding ring on. As he stared trying to understand the ring she interrupted him.

"Is everything ok? If you're feeling seasick tell me and we'll turn around."

Richard, thinking quickly and trying for small talk said, "Oh, no no no I'm fine......I was just wondering about the boats name "Star Chaser."

Judith knew it was something else bothering him but replied, "I love sailing at night. While sailing one evening I looked up and saw the light at the top of the mast against the sky and the stars. For a moment that light moving against the night sky was, in my mind anyway, chasing stars and I named her Star Chaser."

She was silent for a moment and the said, "Richard be honest with me. You were frozen staring at my hand on your leg and something was going on in your head. Tell me!"

He thought for a moment and said, "Two things, I'm Black and you're White and we have never talked about that and" He hesitated, "You are wearing a wedding ring."

Judith looked at him intently, thought for a moment and responded, "About race, I don't care. I really liked you from the moment I met you at the wedding. The chemistry was right between us from the very beginning, at least it was for me. I'm not looking to prove anything. If you care, if it bothers you that I am White then we have a problem." She did not let him respond but continued, "about the ring.....with Mel and the Inn and Cheryl I just don't need men hitting on me. It was my wedding ring and I will wear it until some really really really lucky man or woman gives me a different ring to wear."