When I first met Keela, we were at a beach bar. I was on a week-long vacation trying to unwind after a couple of tough years for me personally. My job had been going well - maybe too well, as I found I was working 70 hour weeks, for which I was well compensated, but it was really starting to take a toll on me. Personally, though, my wife had died of cancer, and my kids had graduated from college and moved out of the house to live on their own, so I had been quite alone. So, some time to unwind and connect certainly seemed in order.
I had wandered into a bar that the hotel clerk had recommended as a place to have a good time, but was not going to just be overrun with the 21 year old crowd looking to get totally drunk. I got a table where I could watch the door and the dance floor, and ordered a glass of ice water, a scotch and their mixed seafood appetizer.
The waitress smiled as she brought the food.
"Need more water?" she asked, noticing that I had drained the glass quickly.
"Sure! The sun and salty air seem to have dehydrated me!"
I saw a couple of women come in the door and watched as they sat together across the room. Not bad, I thought, I could ask either of them for a dance.
Then I saw her enter. A redhead, removing her sunglasses as she moved into the room. This was no dim beer joint, but was still quite a change from the bright sunshine outside. I noticed, particularly, since she had red hair, but her skin was more bronze, not from the sun, but it just seemed to be that way. She sat at the bar and soon the bartender brought her a beer. As she took a pull from the bottle, she began to look around the room, and soon our eyes caught. She hopped off the bar stool and walked slowly up to my table.
"Hi, I hope I didn't misread the signs - are you alone, or waiting for someone?" she asked.
"No, I'm here alone - unless you join me!" as I stood and pulled out a chair for her.
"Keela," she said holding out her hand.
"Eric," I replied, taking her hand.
"So, Eric, what brings you here alone?"
"It's a bit of a long story, the short version is that I needed some time to unwind - too much work, not enough fun. And you?"
At about this point, I noticed the rings on her left hand.
"Well, I live locally, and I just stopped in for a beer."
"Your husband won't mind if you have a beer with me?"
"Oh, well, no he's away, and besides, we are very open and honest with each other. Whatever he does he tells me about, and whatever I do, I tell him."
"Wow, that would never have worked between my wife and me...I was always too jealous for anything like that!"
"Was? Are you not together anymore?" she asked.
"No, she passed away almost 18 months ago. Cancer."
"Oh, Eric, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have pried - please forgive my being so forward!"
"No, it's OK, you didn't know."
"You wore the ring for a long time afterward, didn't you?" she asked, taking my hand, and running her fingers along the base of my ring finger.
"Yeah, taking the ring off was almost as hard as when she died." I replied, in danger of breaking down again, something I hadn't done in months.
"Hey, but you're here to get away from work and troubles, and this town is a great place for that! Listen, since John is away, I could show you around town, and give you someone to talk to. What do you say? Can I buy you dinner, as kind of a welcome to town?"
She must have sensed my hesitation. After all, I was now thinking about my wife, and she was obviously trolling for fresh meat, and I was not sure how to reconcile that. To be fair, I was kind of hoping that hooking up would be a possibility, too.
"Come on," she cajoled, "no obligations, just dinner and walk on the beach."
"OK, you talked me into it - but I do have this plate of shrimp and scallops."
"Alright," she replied, "it's early, so we'll have the appetizers, then walk, then eat a little later."
"Keela? Is that Irish?"
"Yes, my mother was Irish - that's where I get my color! Well, my hair color, anyway. My father is African American. My two brothers are quite dark, but I guess I got more Irish in me than they did, so I got the red hair, and lighter skin - still darker than most Irish girls, I guess!"
We chatted away the time, talking about my kids and my work, and she talked about John. That made me a little uncomfortable, but it was just too nice having a conversation with someone, so I kept telling myself to just let my horizons expand a bit.
When we finished the seafood and I had finished a second scotch, we left for the walk. The scotch had not left me buzzed, but it did have the effect of warming me up. As we got to the beach, we both removed our shoes and headed into the sand. It was now early evening, and the sun was low on the horizon, but the sand was still warm. As we got down to the water, Keela slipped her arm around my back, and I slipped my hand around her waist.
We walked for several blocks and she gently steered us back toward the street, and I walked with her without question. At the street was a small faucet and we washed the sand from our feet and put our shoes back on. As we started walking again, I reached around her waist, and she quickly slipped her arm around my waist again,and she pulled me close in a kind of sideways hug.
Again she was steering the direction of our stroll, and we walked down what looked like a residential street.
"I thought we were going to dinner?" I asked.
"We are - just around the corner!"