Beth gave a sigh of relief as she drove away. The kids were all at camp, and she had a whole week all to herself! No one to cook for, no one to drive anywhere, no one else's schedule to deal with. Nothing except what she wanted to do. As she drove home, she thought about what she would do that week. Sleep β definitely. Eat junk food β also definitely. Go to a bookstore without kids and spend all day browsing. As she drove up to her house on the Army post she was surprised to see that a moving van was blocking her usual parking spot.
"Hmm," she thought, "we must be getting new neighbors."
Her last neighbors had moved out in June, and the downstairs apartment had sat empty for a month.
"I wonder what they'll be like?"
The next day, as she was leaving to run errands, the downstairs door opened. "Hi!" I'm Gwen."
She was tall, with light brown hair that had a little bit of red in it.
"I'm Beth. Welcome to the neighborhood. Where did you move from?"
"Oh, we've been at this post for a year already." Gwen rolled her eyes. "They decided to renovate our neighborhood and moved everyone to new quarters. My husband deployed last October so I had to do the whole thing by myself."
"Oh, I hate moving by myself. My husband is deployed as well. Do you have any kids?" Beth was hoping they had a playmate for her youngest son.
"Not yet, we were trying but then he got deployed." Gwen's cheerful manner seemed to dim a little. "Definitely when he gets back."
Beth's heart went out to her. "I'm sure as soon as he gets back it will happen." She grinned. "If our last deployment is any indication, he won't be able to keep his hands off you for months when he gets back! I have three, 2 boys and a girl. They're all at camp this week."
"Congratulations on your free week!" Gwen looked at her searchingly, making Beth wonder what the other woman was thinking. "That will give us time to hang out and get to know each other. Would you like to come down tonight and watch a movie?"
"Sure, sounds like fun." Beth's Southern upbringing kicked in (Always Bring Food) "I'm on my way to the commissary. What junk food can I pick up?"
"Popcorn, soda, and something with dark chocolate." Gwen sighed. "I'm a sucker for dark chocolate!"
"Me too!" Beth had found a kindred spirit. "Okay, I'll see you tonight. Thanks for inviting me." Beth walked to her car, and tried to ignore the thoughts that had gone through her head when she looked at Gwen.
They sat in Gwen's den watching Fried Green Tomatoes, the popcorn bowl between them, each with a large Hershey's Special Dark Bar at her side. They'd found over the course of the evening that they had lots in common. A love of reading, watching old musicals, and deployed husbands.