Passion in James County XIII: Nancy's Quest
Chapter twenty-two
Nancy found herself facing another weekend alone. Dawn was staying overnight with a friend from school, the boys were away at Boy Scout camp for the weekend, and George was gone on an overnight business trip.
She got up early Saturday morning and cleaned the house, which didn't take her as long as she thought it was, mainly because she was a very neat housekeeper. Since there were some things she needed from the grocery store, she drove to the mall. As she drove, she began to think. And, for once, she felt as if there might be something she could do to help herself, even though she hadn't taken action yet. Her discussion about happiness with Ted kept returning to her and, as she remembered the things he said, , she debated whether or not she ought to call a therapist. Maybe therapy would help her solve the problems she had. She was still nervous about telling a stranger what she'd been doing, though, and fear of what the therapist's reaction would be kept her from making the call she knew she needed to. She had gotten the names and numbers of a few therapists from friends. One, in particular, came highly recommended. The name and number were in her purse. "I'll call her first thing Monday morning," she told herself as she turned off the street into the mall parking lot.
She found what she wanted in the store and was carrying her purchases out to her car when she heard a vehicle braking to a stop behind her, then a horn blew.
"Hi, Nancy," a familiar male voice said.
Nancy, startled, turned and looked. Ben Morris, grinning, was sitting behind the wheel of a shiny red pickup truck. She looked at the smiling young man and felt a fluttering in her stomach. She was bothered that she had such a strong reaction to seeing the young man. None of the other men she'd slept with, even Ted, affected her the way Ben did. Why did he, of all her lovers, have such a strong affect on her? Memories of the weekend they'd spent together swept through her mind and she felt her legs getting a little wobbly.
She walked over to Ben's truck. "Hi, Ben," she said. "Is this your truck?"
"Yeah," he said. "I've been saving up for a long time to buy it. I had just about enough saved and my Mom gave me the rest of the money so I could get it. She said it was an early graduation present. Do you like it?"
"I don't know that much about trucks," Nancy said, looking the shiny vehicle over. "But it is nice-looking."
"You want to go for a ride?" he asked.
Nancy knew she should decline the young man's offer. On the other hand, how much trouble could she get into going for a ride in his truck? And Ben did look like he really wanted her to go. He acted like he really wanted to show it off. She didn't want to disappoint him. "Sure," she said. "I'd love to."
She put her packages in her car and locked it, then she walked around to the truck's passenger side and climbed up into the high cab. She was glad she was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Climbing up into the truck in a skirt would have been embarrassing. "This truck is kind of high," she commented as she buckled herself into the bucket seat.
Ben smiled. "It's a four by four, with the special off-road suspension," he told her proudly.
"That's nice," Nancy said. She had no idea what he was talking about.
"You want to go off-roading?" Ben asked.
"I...I don't think so, Ben," Nancy said. "I'm not exactly sure what are you talking about, but it sounds as if it could be dangerous."
"Not really," the young man said, "but if you don't want to, I won't."
Ben drove down the street and out into the country surrounding Jamestown. He pushed a tape into the tape player and music filled the truck, soft music, not rock and roll.
That surprised Nancy. "That's very nice music, Ben," she commented.
"Yeah, you probably thought I'd put in a heavy metal tape, didn't you?" he replied. "I don't like that kind of music. It's noise as far as I'm concerned."
"I think so, too," Nancy said. "I wish my kids felt the way you do. I keep trying to get them interested in better music, but..." She shrugged.
He drove out into the country and turned onto a series of narrower and narrower roads. "Ben, where are you going?" Nancy asked after a while. They were headed into a heavily forested area and it seemed like the road, which was now dirt, was about to disappear any minute.
Ben glanced over at her and smiled, but kept going. "You'll see," he said.
"Ben!" Nancy exclaimed, "I have to get home, there are things I need to do today."
"Is your family waiting for you to get back?" he asked.
"Ah...no...nobody's home," Nancy replied. She was immediately sorry she had told him she was home alone. "What...what if he asks if he can come over to my house again, then what?" she thought. "What will my answer be?"
The road widened out again, and became paved. Ben continued on a little farther, then he turned onto a side road and drove a short distance. Finally he turned into the driveway of a large modern ranch-style house that had a three-car garage attached to it. He reached up and pushed a button on a device attached to his sun visor, and one of the garage doors began to open. When the door was up, he drove into the garage and shut off the engine. He pressed the button and the garage door closed behind them.
Nancy assumed this was his home, and suddenly was very nervous. She hadn't counted on this. She assumed he'd brought her to his house because his mother wasn't home. The last thing she needed was to be alone with him in an empty house. "Ben, we...we shouldn't be here like this!" she protested. "What...what will your mother say about you bringing me home?"
Ben turned and grinned at her. "You don't have to worry," he said. "Mom went to Atlantic City for the weekend. It was some kind of tour the state psychological association sponsored. I'm glad I ran into you. There's something I wanted to tell you. Why don't you come on in the house with me? I'll get us a couple of sodas and we can talk, all right?"
