When I'd first met Shari she was a recently divorced single mom. Her marriage hit the rocks when her ex-husband encountered the perfect storm of alcohol, drugs, and gambling.
Their divorce was rocky and just as difficult as the reasons for it. At one point her ex beat the hell out of her and she ended up in the hospital and he ended up doing ten years in prison.
I ran into her at the grocery store one day, or should I say that I actually met her daughter Samantha first. Sam, as I came to know her, asked me to reach for something on an upper shelf and as I turned to hand it to her I met Shari.
Both Shari and Sam had a vulnerability to them that endeared them to me almost immediately. We chatted in the aisle of the grocery store and later that night we met for dinner at a local pizza parlor. We had a lot in common with a mutual love of the outdoors and the mountains. Both Shari and Sam were avid hikers and so was I. Mother and daughter shared a lot in their appearances but where Shari was a sandy blonde Sam sported raven black hair.
A few months later the three of us were returning from a camping trip when we stopped in Winnemucca for lunch and Sam noticed a wedding chapel across the street.
"Wouldn't it be cool if you two went over there and got married today?" she said.
Shari and I looked at each other and an hour later we were married. Just that fast.
There followed some great years as Shari healed from her lingering trauma. Sam struggled in her studies but we all worked together and got her past high school and that fall we got Sam into a local junior college.
Then one fall day Shari had a pain. It wasn't much, just a new pain in a new place and while she initially played it down I could tell she was concerned. I took the initiative and got a doctor's appointment scheduled. What we heard wasn't good news.
Shari's condition declined and it was Sam who stepped up to help. I couldn't afford to quit work to care for Shari and our insurance didn't cover home care. Sam had been struggling in college the same as she had in high school so in some way I think quitting college to care for Shari was an easy choice for Sam.
It was a difficult winter season and Shari had a bitch of a time with the cold. Chemo had left her extremely sensitive to cold. In response I put in for a transfer with my job and they were great about facilitating a move to southern California.
In January we left the snow of Montana behind and embraced the warmth of the Mojave Desert. We found a place not far from Palm Springs but not so close that it came at a crazy price. It was a decent home on five acres of scrub land and it came with a pool and easy access to a trail into Joshua Tree National Park. The park was literally our back yard.
Shari was out at the pool almost constantly and the warm desert air improved her spirit even if her health wasn't improving. When she wasn't out by the pool she was sleeping in a hospital bed the hospice team had brought in for her. We'd set it up in the glass-walled living room so she'd have the best view in the house.
My unexpected surprise after we moved in was my first sight of Sam in a bikini. She was quite impressive with her long black hair and black bikini. She had her mother's well-proportioned physique and to be honest I didn't mind the view.
One day Sam left to do the shopping and when she came back her long black hair was gone and in its place was a cute 'do that made her look just like Audrey Hepburn in the movie 'Roman Holiday'. Her long braid having been donated to a cancer charity.
I deeply approved of what Sam had done and so did Shari. A few days later when I was in town I picked up a classic wide brim sun hat for Sam to wear by the pool and I started calling her 'Hollywood' when I'd see her lounging by the pool.
By May the 'warm' weather was turning hot. Very typical of the Mojave Desert.
It was also a hot day in May when Shari didn't wake up for breakfast.
A few of our new neighbors attended the funeral and some of my family flew out as well. Shari's siblings didn't bother and none of Sam's old friends could make it either. But we had each other.
That night when everything was done I noticed that Sam was sleeping on my bed. The black funeral dress and the black shoes were still on her. I removed the shoes for her and then got on the bed and cuddled up to her. She moved her arm over mine and held my hand. Through the night I woke up a few times to hearing her sob.
The next morning I woke up alone and finally got out of the suit and tie I'd worn all night.
I got on my shorts and a Henley and headed out to the kitchen for breakfast. Sam was in the pool doing laps and I left her to it.
I'd used my three days of bereavement leave for the funeral so it was back to work for me that day. It was just as well because it got my mind off of things. I spoke to Sam when I left and she went back to her laps.
That night when we went to bed I guess I expected Sam to sleep in her own room but instead she slept with me. In some way I didn't mind because I'd bought the big bed with two people in mind even though Shari never slept in it. There was plenty of room.
In the morning I woke up happily spooned with Sam. Sometime during the night we'd cuddled up and it was nice.
And for a couple weeks that's what we did and we never spoke of it. Sam would simply come to my room to sleep every night and I accepted it as our new normal. During the day we did our thing and while there was some of the usual family affection going on there was nothing more. The spooning didn't happen every night but when it did happen we both liked it. It was reassuring to not be alone.
One morning I awakened cuddled up to Sam and became aware of my very hard cock happily pressed between her butt cheeks. Shorts and pajamas between us, of course. My one hand was gently holding her belly. I gave a tentative push at her and then fully awakened. Ashamed of myself I got up and got the coffee going before stripping off my clothes and slipping into the swimming pool to cool off.
I was worried she'd be upset when she got up but she never mentioned it.
It was around this time that I noticed Sam had been taking care of everything around the house. The laundry was always done, the yard near the house was always clean, and she even washed the windows when they needed it, which was no small chore. The kitchen was likewise immaculate.
That night at dinner we chatted about it and she simply said she wasn't going back to college until the fall so she needed to do something to keep herself busy and this was what she wanted to do.
In late June I woke up one morning before dawn and it took me a moment to assess the situation.
During the night my cock had slipped out of my boxers and was now pleasantly nested between Sam's impossibly soft thighs. My hand was under her top and my thumb was just barely brushing the bottom of her right tit. I stopped myself when I realized I was gently rutting at her. A big part of me wanted to fuck her. Another part of me wanted to get out of this situation as quietly as I could.
With as much patience as I could muster I slowly withdrew my cock from between her silky thighs. Her ass pushed back at me and I sighed. I wondered for a moment if Sam wanted more but then I told myself I was imagining things. I pulled away from her and quietly left the room.
Less than two minutes later I was in the pool cooling off and in so many ways.
July and August in the Mojave Desert are the peak heat months and we discovered that in abundance!
100°F is common in the desert during the summer. In fact it's not unusual to happen every single day.
What is uncommon was seven days in a row of 115°F to 120°F!
It's when it gets really hot that you discover why most homes in the desert are one-story concrete slab-floor homes. They're easier to keep cool especially when it's insanely hot out. The natural coolness of the ground comes through the slab floor and it helps to keep your home tolerable during the heat.
Sam and I had no problem avoiding each other during that extreme hot weather. Even with the air conditioning chugging away all day the house was still hot and it was even hotter outside. Sam kept to her side of the bed and I kept to mine.
It was that last day of the heat wave when it hit 120°F that did it. The power went out that afternoon due to so many people running their A/C in an effort to keep cool.
The house had a back-up generator but its job was to keep the refrigerator running so our food didn't spoil. It wasn't near enough to power the A/C.
The house got hot but thanks to the slab it was still about twenty degrees cooler than the outside. Which meant that at midnight it was about 95F inside as opposed to the slowly cooling 115F of the outside.
Naturally, Sam and I had spent much of the evening in and out of the swimming pool to keep cool. Around 11pm I rigged up a fan in the bedroom to make the most of the situation and a bit after midnight Sam and I finally called it a night and went to bed. It was so damned hot I didn't bother with wearing anything.
Sometime during the night the power came on again and the A/C did too. But instead of coming on at an energy saving 78F it came on at its default setting of 65F.
Between the fan and the A/C the bedroom got chilly.
During the night I recall waking up cold and I pulled up the blanket. Sam was on her side of the bed and I covered her too.
The next time I woke up I discovered that Sam had gotten closer to me during the night.
I was behind her as usual but this time there was very little between us. She had gone to bed topless and I knew this because my hand was pleasantly occupied kneading her bare tit. Her nipple was at attention and I checked the other one and found it likewise.
