Thank you so much for continuing with me and for your support and encouragement.
*
That was how we began, and we became a couple after that weekend... sort of. As Becky had warned me, there was only so much of her to go around. Although her oldest was off at college, Kelly was graduating high school and shopping around for a college of her own.
Then there was this Jerry, whoever the hell he was. How did he feel about this arrangement? Who knows? Probably not over-enthused, I would imagine, but never having met the guy I was only guessing. How would I feel if the roles were reversed and he moved in on Becky?
Then there was me. Funny how before Becky and I established a relationship, I would have given anything, ANYTHING, for just a few minutes with her. Now that phase had passed, and naturally I wanted more. Much more.
How much was there to be had? She had her daughter all but one weekend every other week, and while she was certainly very mature and responsible, Becky would not leave her on her own for any amount of time, and didn't want to either, knowing she would be gone all too soon as well. While part of me didn't like that, but I wouldn't have respected her otherwise.
Then for the every other weekend that Kelly was gone with her father, there was the competition with "Jerry" for Becky's time. I knew better than to complain because I knew this was the way it was going to be right from the start, and if I didn't like it, well...there was no gun being held to my head. That was never said in so many words, but that was the situation, and I was free to handle it however I chose.
Including seeing other women, Becky once said without hesitation. She was not asking for any more from me than what she was giving, so if I found someone I wanted to spend time with also, it was fine by her.
Only problem was, I didn't want to be with anyone else. There was no line of women waiting for me anyway, but it didn't matter if there were or not. I was simply not interested. What it came down to was, I was in love with Becky. Madly, head-over-heels, weak in the knees in love with that crazy amazon.
When I wasn't with Becky, I was thinking about Becky every waking hour. Dreaming about her when I was asleep. Planning what we could do the next time we were together. It was truly all about the girl as far as I was concerned.
I would send out feelers of sorts in the beginning to determine when she would be free, but after a while I just came out and asked her, which was the way she wanted me to be.
One advantage I had was that apparently this "Jerry", in addition to having a regular job, was also an artist who occasionally had to go away for shows and sales. I had no problem filling in when those occasions arose.
That was also a disadvantage, I figured. He was an artist, that meant he was creative. Probably a more interesting guy than me, I figured, which kept me on my toes. This was actually a good thing the way I looked at it. How many relationships go sour because one person takes the other for granted? That was not going to be the case with me. Everyday, every minute with Becky I treated as an audition, a tryout, with my goal the eventual demise of "Jerry" and my elevation to "the man".
Becky, to her credit, never treated me like that. Never played me against him, never mentioned him or anything related to him. The one time I remember drawing Becky into a conversation about "Jerry", she was very diplomatic and honest about it.
I asked Becky how she was able to handle this relationship, as I thought it was not only tough schedule-wise, it had to be difficult for her emotionally.
"No actually, I'm having the most wonderful days of my life now" Becky said happily. "You and Jerry are both great to be with. You're both so very different yet for whatever reason, you both care about me. So I'm the lucky one. You two are the ones that have the tough parts."
"Aren't you ever tempted to tell one of us to hit the bricks?" I asked.
"I've been tempted to tell both of you to shove off from time to time" Becky said chuckling. "I think that one of you will be the one that ends up telling me that you've had enough. Until then, what's that pretentious and corny saying... you complete me? That's what both of you do for me. You both have such wonderful things to offer."
So with that in mind, life went on. During the summer, her ex took her kids Kelly and Eric to Florida for a week. I asked Becky if she would like to go camping for part of that time. She had never been, but in typical Becky fashion, she was game for just about anything.
I still had a tent, coolers, camp stove and sleeping bags from my previous life, so we had virtually everything we would need except food and drink. I asked Becky if she had a preference on where to go. She left it up to me so I took a bit of a risk and chose a very primitive campground up in the Adirondacks.
It was about a two hour drive to Brown Tract Pond, a state campground located near Raquette Lake in the Old Forge area. The weather was always tricky up there, and the old saying "if you don't like the weather now wait a few minutes" must have been coined in that region.
Fortunately, the weather was great as we arrived at the campground. It had been wickedly hot back home in recent days, with highs in the 90's. It never got that hot up in that region, but even there it was easily in the low 80's. Becky drove up the road that lead from the village, which was bumpy and straight up in many sections of the unpaved road.
"Good grief, what the hell kind of road is this?" Becky howled as her car navigated a crazy hairpin turn and found a deep pothole enroute.
"I'm glad we took this way in then, because it's only two miles this way" I informed her. "The other road in is level but it's seven miles and much bumpier.
We made it without mishaps and checked in at the ranger station. Being familiar with the place, I was delighted to see that there was a great water site available. This being a primitive campground, all the sites were private, but this site was more private than most.
We drove back down the dirt road and pulled into our new home for the next few days. It was just as beautiful as I remembered, well hidden from the road and right on the water, with a tiny beach of our own. Despite Becky's grumblings along the way, I could see in her eyes that she was in love with the place. If her eyes didn't give it away, the way she jumped out of the car and flew down to the water surely did.
"Oh Dave this is beautiful!" Becky exclaimed with an exuberance that was almost child-like. "We're all alone out here" she chirped as she jumped into my arms.
"There's other campsites around, but they're hidden by the trees between the sites" I explained, pointing out a tiny part of a tent visible through the cover about a hundred yards away.
"I'm surprised there aren't any yahoos out on the lake with jet skis and stuff" Becky noted while looking out at the water.
"No motors allowed" I said. "That means quiet, which is why I love this place. We can rent a canoe one day and paddle around the pond, or go out to the island" I told her, pointing to the hilly football field sized island in the middle of the almost mile-long pond.
"Oooh I'd like that," Becky said, "but first I have to go to the bathroom. That road rattled my kidneys pretty good!"
"Okay" I announced somewhat warily, and led Becky through the trees.
I wasn't quite sure how she would handle this part of the place. Primitive camping means primitive facilities, and that's what we had... an outhouse.