Philip grew accustomed to Jill's idiosyncrasies. He'd met her at a pensioners club in Totnes, Devon. and they became friends. Although that wasn't the first time they'd encountered one another, Jill was having a problem with slug pellets in the supermarket. She'd dropped the package and there they were, rolling about all over the floor, but Philip, always the gentleman, came to the rescue...
"We must stop meeting like this," he smiled. Jill returned the smile thanking him for his kindness of late. Then he asked if she was having a problem with slugs. She replied that she was, that she'd tried everything, salt, lime, everything - but nothing had worked. "I have literally had hoards of them in my garden and they do so like my Tom Thumbs."
"Tom Thumbs?" Queried Philip.
"Lettuce, and they were my prize ones too, I say 'were' because the bloomin' slugs have eaten most of them up in one fail swoop overnight."
Jill had a shrill Devon accent but Philip, a cockney, born and bred, moved down from London after he'd retired.
We they sort of got chatting more open then, "Have you tried a half pint of beer?" Philip asked after a thought spasm
"Don't drink beer, Philip - can I call you that?"
"Of course you can, Jill and I didn't mean for you to drink it, I meant those irritating slugs!"
Now Jill looked puzzled.
"Well, what you do, " Philip explained, "you put the half glass of beer out at night and Bingo! Come the morning you will have a glass full of dead and very drowned slugs. They go for the smell of the beer you see, it somewhat attracts them, and when they slide into the liquid they can't get out again because they are plain drunk, and then of course they drown!"
Jill looked fascinated responding with a warm smile which rather attracted Philip.
Well one thing led to another and she tried the beer idea but still no go - well not really, there were drowned slugs yes, but the smell had also attracted hoards more, the beer was all gone and so were her new cabbage seedlings taboot!
"Well that's a shame Jill - I am told it usually works. Tell you what, let me come around and I will see if I can work out something!?"
And so, even although the slug problem was not solved, Jill invited him around to her bungalow once in a while for chat and coffee and that is really all he expected from this very elegant looking and proper lady. But he was soon to realise that looks were not all they seemed.
He complimented her on her crop of silken white hair saying it suited her, and how good she looked for a woman of her age. He was thinking she must be sixty or near and she still had a certain twinkle in her eye.
All went as expected for while. They had interesting chats, she telling him about her life, her late husband, Jerry who had recently gone with a younger woman, how she missed him and her two grandchildren who lived with her only daughter in Canada. Philip told Jill how he'd lost his wife too a year years before with a massive coronary. Not long after he'd come to Devon so she hadn't had much chance to enjoy their new life.
"So sorry to hear that, about Jerry. I just cant understand why he would want to leave you."
"Well, it was my passion with the garden as he called it. The bloody garden and those ghastly slugs he moaned, he was always moaning."
Was he jealous, I mean of your thing with gardening, Jill?"
"Seemed that way. You see he was the teacher who became the pupil, it was he who showed me the basics of gardening and when I took an open university course he didn't seem to like it when I was telling him what was best for the hydrangeas, the camellias and whatever. In fact it seemed to dull our relationship, I guess he'd been used to being the Macho man but there comes a time when a girl has to fight back. Never the mind, I feel I am the better without him. I can't deny I miss having a man beside me at night though, keeping me warm, yes I do miss that!"
Philip gulped, not sure how to respond to that, he played safe and told Jill that he also had just one grand daughter whom he hardly saw, living in Florida .
"You are older than me then?"
"Retired just over a year ago," he smiled. "Had my own building business, sold it and decided to retire early at sixty."
"Then that makes us a year apart," Jill responded with a wide smile, she wasa happy with that.
The chats and the platonic company suited Philip. At his age he felt that was all he really wanted. Jill was a great conversationalist and he liked her immensily. But he didn't want to enter into another close relationship. No, he was quite happy the way he was, he felt he couldn't handle any more emotional tie-ups.
But soon he discovered Jill wanted more than just conversation and refreshment.
One morning during coffee, Jill joined Philip on the sofa and collapsed into sobs as she reminisced about Jerry and how she missed him tremendously.
Philip's natural instinct was to gently comfort her, just that. He put an arm around her shoulders and she immediately responded by closing tightly to him. At the time this meant nothing to him. In the circumstances it was the natural thing for her to do. But it didn't stop there. It was as though the warmth of her slim body surged into his and all those feelings that had been pent up for so long were instinctively released.
The following morning he awoke with a start. It was in the early hours, barely 5am. He felt he had dreamt everything that had happened the day before. At least he'd managed to get back home despite Jill's reluctance. "Stay for the night," she'd urged.
But Philip wasn't ready for that. He wasn't ready for anything except a plain friendship with the lady - just that and no strings. He was altogether bewildered and confused. He'd made up his mind from the start he didn't want all that. Well that's what he concluded. But then the stifled feeling that make a man yearn for deep bonding was something else...
