Lillie stepped onto the porch of her tiny cabin and was met by the brilliance of the setting sun on the western horizon. Placing her hand on her forehead to shield her eyes, she wondered if he was out there somewhere right now, watching her.
She turned and looked at her reflection in the window. Her plain cotton dress, damp and clinging to her skin from the late afternoon heat and humidity, accentuated her figure. She raised her arms above her head and turned in a slow seductive circle.
She cupped her hands to her mouth. "Why don't you come out and show yourself?" she teased, in her smooth southern drawl. There was no answer, but she thought she saw a shadow of movement behind the huge moss-covered oak in her front yard.
Lillie, who had just turned eighteen this past November, was the youngest widow in the valley. She wouldn't be a widow now, she thought, if that old tree hadn't fallen on Jake and mashed him flat as a pancake. But, what happened had happened, and there wasn't a thing in the whole world that would bring Jake back to her.
Lillie sat in the rocking chair Jake had made for her. It was solid oak, strong and sturdy. She thought back to the day of the funeral and how her Pa had said, "You're gonna need a man around to help with these chores. I got your ma to tend to with her bad back and all, so I ain't gonna be of much help."
"I can do them myself, Pa," Lillie remembered saying. "I'm a grown up woman."
Her Pa turned and spit a dark stream of tobacco juice. "Jake was a good boy, no doubt. But you can't tend a garden, plow corn with that old mule, keep up hogs and chickens, and do all the homemakin a woman's got to do all by yourself. I know you're powerful sad that Jake is gone, but I don't think you should wait too long to get hitched up again. And another thing, you're nigh on twenty years, and your belly ain't swelled up with the first youngin."
"Pa, don't say such as that. I can't think about youngins or another husband when I don't even have this one long buried."
The memories continued as she rocked and watched the glare of the sunset turn into the purple cloak of night. Crickets chirped, and somewhere in the distance, a night owl screeched. Lillie squinted in the direction of the oak but saw no shadow. Had he gone? If so, she knew he would return.
****
Billy Ray slipped down the bank of the creek bed as easily and quietly as a deer. He knew Lillie Perkins hadn't seen him. He had spent most of his nineteen years hunting and trapping in these hills and hollers, and he knew how to be quiet and nearly invisible. Tonight was no different. When his chores were finished, he had walked the two miles to her cabin. On the way he thought on how he had tried to court her. Lillie enjoyed the attention he paid her, but there was something about that ole Jake Perkins that won her out. Billy Ray was jealous because she had picked Jake for a husband, but not angry. Jake had been a good man, hard workin and honest. But now, Jake wasn't around anymore, and Lillie needed someone to look after her, and he was just the man to do it. Even if he had to play second fiddle to Jake's memory, it was worth it to have Lillie.
Billy Ray, with his hands tucked in his overall pockets, continued walking the creek bed. Maybe if I went back now, she might be sittin at her needle work, he thought. I might be able to peek in and get one more look at that pretty face before I go home. There had been many a night he had laid in his cabin and thought about Lillie. He glanced up at the full moon and made his decision. He would go back for one more look.
****
Lillie finished carrying the last bucket of water from the well for her bath. She already had a large pot boiling on the stove to add heat to the water. After such a long day walking behind that ole mule, she was ready to relax. She released the string holding her hair tied to the top of her head. Her long blond hair fell easily below her shoulders. Before slipping out of her dress she stopped long enough to add some fresh honeysuckle blossoms to the water.
Outside, Billy Ray was making his way slowly toward the cabin. He knew she hadn't gone to bed because he could see the light of her kerosene lamp. He slipped up silently around the porch and ducked below the partially open window. Slowly, he raised his eyes to the bottom of the window ledge. "Glory be," he muttered at the sight before him. Lillie was unbuttoning the first three buttons on her dress. He could see the tin tub filled with water, and he caught the smell of fresh honeysuckle. He knew the right thing to do would be to look away at this most private time, but he couldn't force himself. He didn't want to.
Lillie suddenly turned toward the window. Billy Ray ducked quickly. He heard her footsteps on the wooden floor. Then she was at the window, peering out. She was holding the front of her dress together with one hand, while she pulled the thin cotton curtains closed. Billy Ray held his breath. He didn't think she saw him, but he wasn't positive. He waited until he heard her footsteps as she walked away, and then slowly raised his head again. Now, silhouetted by the curtain, Billy Ray saw the cotton dress drop to the floor and Lillie step out of it.
She looked over her shoulder toward the window for a moment, turned back to the tub, and smiled. She slipped easily out of her under garments and stepped into the tub. She reclined and let the fragrant water encircle her. She hummed an old mountain tune as she squeezed the sponge over herself.
The outline of her body just before she stepped into the tub made Billy Ray's heart skip a beat. She was prettier than any of those women he had seen in the city girl's magazine last year. Her skin looked soft and smooth. Her breasts were large and firm, like melons on the vine. Her hips were well rounded and sturdy. She is one fine lookin woman, Billy Ray thought, as he felt himself growing large inside his overalls.
The humming stopped. Lillie tossed the sponge from the tub and began speaking softly. Billy Ray leaned closer. Over the splashing water he could hear her.
"Oh my lover, caress me now. Touch me how I liked to be touched. Lay me down and let me spread myself for you. Your hands big and strong, and yet tender against my skin. Yes . . . just like that." Through the thin curtain he could see the outline of her left hand as it moved across her breast. Her right hand was below the water as she began to rock gently back and forth. Her movements were becoming more determined, her head rolling from side to side. Moaning now, she called, "Oh yes, take me."
Billy Ray couldn't stand the pressure any longer. He unsnapped the two buttons in the crotch of his overalls and released his cock. He stroked himself slowly as he continued to watch and listen.
"My lover," she nearly wailed, "fuck me hard now." Lillie was thrusting her hips in the small tub. Water splashed onto the floor. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she yelled with each thrust as she neared completion. Billy Ray's mind was spinning. Sweat poured from his face as he quickened the pace on his rigid cock.
"Billy Ray Shaw!"
He stopped suddenly and nearly fell over backwards.
"Billy Ray Shaw, I know that's you outside my window. And I also know you have been watchin me for a long spell. Now, if you don't get in here this minute, I'm gonna come out there and drag you in here myself."
Billy Ray quickly stepped onto the porch and was met by Lillie wrapped in a small quilt.
"My, my, my," she said, staring downward. "Looks like sumthin's done got you all worked up. I don't reckon you been watchin me while I bathe myself now, have you?" she teased.
In his haste to get to her door, Billy Ray had forgotten to button his overalls. Not only that, but his cock was standing straight out and as hard as a corn cob.
"Miz Lillie, I . . ."
