I had just turned into my driveway and saw what appeared to be a package by my front door. It was Halloween so I assumed whatever trick it was would be ruined, it was raining hard and water was blowing into the porch.
As I ran to the door I noted it was not a package, it was a person, a small woman.
Lacey?
A wet and shivering woman lifted her head and began to cry.
"I'm sorry. I could not think of where else to go."
I took her bags and rushed us inside.
She looked like hell. Her eyes were red and puffy; she had been crying a long time. She was wet and shivering so I took her to my second bedroom, took her clothes off then put her into a warm shower.
I went to her bags, opened them and saw everything in them was wet. I dumped it all into my washer then went to my room and got a sweatshirt for her. I returned to the shower and saw she had stopped shivering so I led her out and dried her off. I helped her put on a sweatshirt and led her to the kitchen.
I fixed hot chocolate for both of us and added some Kahlua to hers. I took two dinners I had cooked from my freezer and warmed them up. As we waited on them I studied her. She had lost perhaps fifty pounds. Twenty of those pounds she probably needed to lose but she was now definitely underweight.
It had been five years since I had seen her, my wife. That last time was in my living room, I was trying to end our marriage. We had been separated for a month and she wanted us to give it another try.
I had placed a folder from a private eye firm on the coffee table in front of her and left the room. She was gone when I returned. She had left the photographs out.
Months later I learned she had vanished that day, had just packed up and left. Yet there she was, five years to the day.
I placed her pasta and chicken dinner in front of her and watched her eat. It had obviously been a while since her last meal. I fixed her another chocolate and added a bit more liquor to it than I had the first time. She gave me a very grateful smile.
I had decided to hold off on the questions until the morning. After she finished the chocolate I steered her to bed, covered her up and kissed her cheek.
"Sleep as late as you need," I said and after turning off the light I left her room. I came back to check on her about five minutes later and she was sound asleep.
I asked myself who did I need to call and came up blank. It occurred to me she was right, I would be the only person she could think of.
As I cleaned up the kitchen it sank into my brain I had handled her naked body more than once. I had not had a sexual thought about her in five years. I laughed at myself about having one now.
The girl I had been dating called and told me the weather was too bad for us to go out. She told me she would call me the next day if she could. As expected she never called me again.
I was not a good date. I lost track of conversations and was not a good sex partner. Often I lost my erection before the woman could orgasm. My few orgasms were by my hand.
I refused to blame my ex wife but everyone else did.
The only person anywhere close to being family was asleep in my house. I chuckled at the improbability.
The next morning was Saturday and it was still raining. We were in a drought so everyone that did not own golf clubs was happy for the rain.
I checked on Lacey and found her still asleep. It was a bit after nine and I expected her to sleep until noon.
I put her clothes in the dryer and sat for my third cup of coffee. I set the coffee maker for a fresh pot but did not turn it on.
I was sorry I had shown her the photographs. She did not deserve that kind of pain. I did not either but I knew she was a free spirit when I married her.
I heard a commode flush so I turned on the coffee pot and started the toasts. I got the grape jelly out and put it on the table. Grape jelly toast sandwiches were her usual breakfast and she had gotten me hooked on them.
"Good morning. Where is the stuff from my bag?"
"In the dryer. I was all soaked. Fix yourself some coffee and sit down. Your breakfast is almost ready."
She saw grape jelly on the table and smiled. She was still up when the toaster popped and brought the toast to the table with her.
She ate in silence then got another cup of coffee.
"I want to thank you for bringing me in and out of the cold. For giving me a bed to sleep on. For giving me food. I was expecting kindness from you but would not have been surprised if you had called the cops. I would have been OK with it, jail cells are dry."
"Where have you been?"
"Everywhere. Kansas first, I have a step-sister there but her husband would not allow me to stay there more than a week.
Then Denver trying to get a job but only finding one in a hotel cleaning crew.
Then Las Vegas where I again got on a hotel cleaning crew.
I followed a lead for a job in Los Angeles that proved to be false. Got on another cleaning crew job until that company went under. I became homeless."
She took a swig of her coffee and said, "I guess I should confess all of it."
"You do not need to. I understand people have to do things they don't want to for a meal and a place to sleep. How did you get back here and how long have you been back?"
"I stole money from a clients wallet and got on a bus, I got here yesterday afternoon. The rain began when I was still almost four miles away from you. No one stopped to offer me a ride. I was hoping I would not die before I got here. When you brought me in and got me warm I thought I had."
I got up and kissed her softly. "I am glad you made it," I said.
I picked up in the kitchen and left her with her coffee. I brought her the smaller bag she carried and gave it to her.
"The stuff here was not very wet. I took everything out last night and wiped it off. The bag was dry this morning so I put it all back in."
She was grateful then embarrassed. She knew I had seen her box of condoms.
The dryer buzzed and I pulled out the clothes and dumped them on her bed. Lacey came with me and folded what needed folding and I hung up what need hanging up. It was then I noticed that her ass was in plain sight when she bent over the bed.
She found the panties she wanted and put them on.
"I'm sorry. I have lost my modesty the last two years. I will be more careful while I am here."
"There is no need to go overboard on that," I said with a grin.
She laughed and threw panties at me. I caught it and stuffed it in my pocket.
"Don't you dare?"
"Dare what?"
"Jack-off then use them to wipe yourself."
"You remember that I see."
She smiled then her face became serious. "I remember everything. I thought of you every day. When I hit rock bottom in L.A. it came to me you are the only family I had."
She began to cry so I went to her and held her to me. When her sobs stopped I kissed her lips and said, "Welcome back home."
She gave me a ravenous kiss then went into her bathroom.
I did notice she did not have much. We needed to go shopping.
I went to my bedroom to get dressed and waited for her to emerge. She was wearing the same clothes she was wearing on my porch. They were very big on her.