Amazingly, Bobbi and I slept until just before daybreak. That was way off schedule for her, but I think she was exhausted from the flight home. Plus, that wasn't taking into account the rather vigorous sexual activity we had engaged in. I was both physically and emotionally spent. I had slept like a baby.
It was so nice to have such a lovely woman sleeping next to me. I told her that when she woke me up sometime before 5:00 in the morning. Then I asked her, "Honey, how often can we do this? I love having you sleep next to me."
"I want to be here every night, but I know that I'll have to take it one day at a time with my mom." She explained, "Once you meet her, you'll understand. She's pretty fragile, and losing my dad was super hard for her. For me too. That goes without saying."
"I get it." I really did. Family is most important. I told her, "Just know you could move in with me and I'd love that. I'm really smitten Bobbi. I want you night and day."
That brought on another bout of tears and lots of hugs and kisses. We both got very worked up. Again. But instead of making love, we ended up falling back asleep in each other's arms.
When we woke up again it was fully light outside. We'd slept until nearly 8:30 a.m.
I called the office and left a message that I would be available on cell if need be.
Bobbi called her mom. (She was supposed to be catching the train southbound.)
We went for a morning swim, then showered, and headed out to grab breakfast at the airport. After breakfast, we went for a flight in the Cessna 172.
I put Bobbi in the left seat. She was nervous, but very competent. I could tell she'd had lessons before. I let her taxi and takeoff. She managed our climb, and our turn out of the pattern, calling our position on Unicom.
We then did some basic Dead Reckoning navigation and ended up landing at the San Luis airport. I let her fly the pattern while I handled the radio. I hardly had to help her land. Bobbi was all business.
We went into ACI Jet where she worked, and introductions were made. It was obvious the gang at ACI loved Bobbi. Everybody was happy to see her, asking her when she was coming back to work.
We then took my other old truck over to my work, and I checked in, introducing Bobbi to my crew. When we left, I could tell she was bursting at the seams with both pride and happiness. It kind of made our relationship official.
I had her handle the radio on our return flight, letting her taxi and takeoff for a straight-out departure from SBP. The tower was very happy to hear her familiar voice, welcoming her back.
It was a crystal-clear day, so we flew north up Los Osos Valley, then out along the coast, headed to Monterey.
I handled the radio on approach, and took over the airplane when I could tell she was getting too nervous to make it fun for her. (Monterey is a tricky approach for a novice.) We came to a full stop, tied down in transient parking, and met my parents for lunch at Woody's.
Well, if it wasn't official before, it certainly was after that. My dad, in particular, loved her and gave her a high five when he learned that she drove the fuel truck at ACI Jet. We had a really nice lunch with my folks, then headed back to fly home. Bobbi was nearly skipping back to the airplane.
I handled the radio again to let Bobbi concentrate on operating the aircraft. We took off over the ocean, then made a fairly lazy 270-degree turn, climbing out over Santa Cruz. We overflew the Salinas airport, turning south to fly down the Salinas Valley, home to the Paso Robles airport.
Bobbi made the radio calls on Unicom at our home base and flew a nearly flawless pattern. She landed with just one little bounce, into a twelve-knot headwind that was blowing twenty degrees off the runway. I only had to help a little bit at the end with the rudder. She was a natural. She was beaming when we tied down at nearly 4:00 o'clock.
We went home and got her packed up. I met her mom, arriving just after 5:00 at her house. Nancy is a very sweet lady, and it is obvious where Bobbi gets her joyful and playful approach to life. I could see the sadness though. Nancy will likely be mourning the loss of her husband until she dies. No wonder Bobbi wanted to take things "one day at a time." She was wise beyond her years.
And of course, through everything, the relationship we both had with Jenni lingered in the background. We were together at Bobbi's house when each of us got the first text of the day from Jenni.
Bobbi's mom asked, and rightly so, how Jenni felt about all of this. We both told her the story of how we all had met. She had correctly deduced that Jenni and I had somehow become involved prior to leaving for Japan. I explained that we had established a close friendship, but that ours was not a romance.
Nancy asked, "Are you sure Jenni doesn't have stronger feelings for you than just friendship?"
Bobbi then explained how Jenni and she had talked at great length about everything. It was obvious Nancy trusted her daughter to be fair and kind and thoughtful.
She told Bobbi, "I'm so glad you two worked everything out honey. She's been your friend for so long, and she's not had an easy life. She needs your friendship." She then turned to me and asked, "Do you know about Jenni's upbringing? Her story?"
I explained how, as Jenni and I had gotten closer, she confided in me some of the ugly details about her parents.
Nancy closed her eyes and shook her head. "That poor child." She opened her eyes and looked at us both, "Jenni is lucky to have you both. My Matthew really liked Jenni. I'd like to think he made a positive difference in her life."
The three of us talked about Jenni, and her situation both past and present. Eventually, the subject came back around to where Bobbi and I thought our relationship was headed.
I took Bobbi's hand and said, "Your daughter is one of the most special people I've ever met. Sweet, kind, and very sharp. My hope is that we're together for a long, long time."
Bobbi beamed up at me and said, "I could say the exact same thing." She turned to her mom and said, "Garry and I will probably be spending lots of time together. We get along so well. And you can probably tell I'm pretty crazy about him." She squeezed my hand.
Nancy said, "I can tell just by watching the two of you that you're both quite fond of each other. I'm so happy for both of you." She took her daughter's hand and said, "I'm glad you waited until the right man came along, and that he's a man and not a boy."
Nancy looked over and winked at me. I felt myself blushing.
When Bobbi and I parted it was much harder than I thought it would be. I had fallen quite madly in love with Bobbi. I had no doubt she was in love with me.
It's funny though, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening texting back and forth just like we had before. I could see how much the experience in Japan was going to help us both navigate the times when we were going to be separated. We both wanted to be together all the time.
Interlaced with my text messages to Bobbi were messages from Jenni. She was anxious to know if Bobbi and I had "talked" yet.
Bobbi was apparently getting the same questions.
I decided I'd text both of them together, telling them both how I felt, as gently but firmly as I could. I was not 100% opposed to what Jenni and Bobbi had in mind. But after sharing the magical twenty-four hours with Bobbi I had zero interest in anybody else. Ever.
