"Welcome to Tampa," the flight attendant announced, "where the local time is 2:30 pm. The current temperature is 85 degrees Fahrenheit."
Josh smiled. First, he thought it was funny that the flight attendant said it was "the local time", since Florida is in the same time zone as New York, where the flight originated. But he also smiled because 85 degrees sounded a whole lot better than the 42 degrees they left in New York.
"You know," he said to his wife, Emily, "we should visit your parents a whole lot more in the winter."
"Oh, really?" she replied. "I assume that's STRICTLY because you miss my parents, and it has nothing to do with the weather, right?"
"Weather?" Josh said. "Why did you mention weather? Is it nice here?" trying as hard as possible to look sincere.
Emily whacked him on the shoulder. "Please don't play high-stakes poker with our mortgage money. You're a terrible liar."
They both laughed as Emily took her cell phone out of airplane mode and called her dad.
"We just landed, Dad, but aren't at the gate yet. We should probably be outside in 30 minutes or so, so you can figure out when to leave." After her father said something, she finished with, "okay, see you in a bit. Bye." She hit the red 'End" button.
"Do you want to go straight to the hospital?" Josh asked.
"No, probably not. We can go home and drop the luggage first."
Emily's mother was having some surgery the next day and was expected to be in the hospital for a few days. It wasn't major surgery, but Emily always got nervous whenever her parents had any medical procedure. The mother of one of her friends had major complications after a supposedly-simple procedure, so Emily, always a glass-half-empty kind of person, got nervous for ANY surgery. That was half the reason she flew down. Also, she didn't want her dad to be alone.
The plane taxied to the gate and they walked to get their luggage. As soon as their bag came out on the carousel, Emily called her dad. He said it was perfect timing - he'd be at the terminal in five minutes. Emily and Josh walked out into the warm air, and Josh quickly rolled up his shirtsleeves. Yep, he thought, this weather was way better than New York was this morning.
Three minutes later, Emily's dad drove up. He popped the trunk, and Josh put their bag and carry-on in the trunk as Emily got in the back seat.
"Hi, Daddy."
"Hi, sweetheart. How was the flight?"
"It was fine. How's Mom doing?"
"She's fine," he said. "You and I are the nervous ones. She could be going in for open heart surgery and she'd say, 'it's just a procedure.' "
After closing the trunk, Josh got in the front passenger seat.
"Hi, Earl," he said, reaching across to extend his hand.
"Hi, Josh," he said, shaking Josh's hand. "Nice to see you guys."
"How's Barbara doing?" Josh asked.
"It's like I just told Emily -- she's feeling fine and not worried at all. I'm a nervous wreck."
"The doctors know what they're doing. They told you it's not a complicated procedure. She'll be fine," Josh said, trying to reassure him.
"Intellectually, I know that's true. But I still get nervous."
They arrived at the house in no time at all. Josh grabbed the bags and wheeled them back to the guest bedroom. Emily asked her dad what they had for lunch; she wanted to eat quickly and get to the hospital to see her mother. She made some sandwiches, they ate quickly, and they left for the hospital.
Her mother was all smiles when they walked in. She had put on make-up (of course) and looked great. She was happy to see Emily and Josh, both because she was truly happy to see them but also because she didn't want her husband to be alone.
After an hour, Emily pulled Josh out into the hallway.
"Look," she said, "I'm going to want to stay a while longer. Take the car, go home, and sit by the pool. I know you love being outside in this weather, and you don't have to sit here with us. You've put in your time today."
"Are you sure?" Josh asked, hoping Emily didn't change her mind. He didn't want to sound too anxious to leave, but he could only sit in the small room for so long.
"Yes. Go home. I love you."
She gave him a kiss. "I'll call you when we're ready to be picked up."
"Yes, Ma'am, we will come get you promptly. I think you'll be very happy with our limo service."
Emily laughed. They both walked back in the room, and Josh said goodbye to Barbara.
Josh drove back to the house and took Emily's advice. He put on his bathing suit and walked out onto the patio by the pool. He really liked the house his in-laws recently bought. The house itself was nice, but it was the backyard that really excited Josh. There was a large overhang providing shade, except very early in the morning. There was a nice pool with a hot tub at one end. Beyond the pool was more patio space which was in the sun most of the day. Beyond that was a little grass and then a lake.
The houses had fences between them that extended almost to the lake. Most people had planted large bushes to provide privacy, as the fences were not solid. Sitting on the patio, looking out over the pool and into the lake was very restful.
Josh heard some laughter and splashing at the pool next door. He had never met the neighbors; he wasn't even sure if Earl and Barbara had met the neighbors, although Barbara, being incredibly friendly, probably had.
As Josh was listening to some music and surfing the internet on his tablet, he suddenly heard a shrill scream next door followed by loud crying. He quickly ran around the fence to see if everything was okay. A young boy was laying on the patio holding his leg and crying. There was some blood on the patio. His mother was kneeling next to him trying to see how badly he was hurt.
"Do you need some help?" he asked.
"Yes, please," the mother replied, clearly nervous and frustrated.
Josh got the boy to roll over so he could find the source of the blood.
"Okay, not a big problem," he said, trying to reassure the mother. "He just cut his knee on the brick, but it's not too deep."
Then he turned toward the boy.
"What's your name?"
"Eric," the boy replied through his tears.
"Wow, I'll bet that really hurts. You're very brave, Eric. Let me clean up your cut, and you'll be good as new. Okay"
Eric nodded. The mom smiled at Josh's comforting -- and complimentary -- words.
"Is there a sink nearby?" Josh asked.
"Yes, in the pool bathroom," the mom answered, pointing to a door.
"Okay, please get me a wash cloth, some antiseptic cream or liquid and a couple of bandages."
Josh picked up Eric and carried him into the bathroom. The mom brought the supplies, and Josh washed his knee. He applied the ointment and covered it with a bandage.
"Okay, Eric, you're good as new," Josh said. Then he leaned close to the boy's ear and in a stage whisper, loud enough for the mom to hear, he said, "maybe your mom will give you an extra dessert tonight if you say your knee is still hurting. It won't work tomorrow, but maybe tonight. But let's keep that our secret."
Eric looked at Josh and smiled. Then he gave him a thumbs up. The mom smiled, too, since Eric had stopped crying. Eric ran back outside.
"Thank you so much," the mom said. "I am not good with blood, and usually he freaks out. You were really good with him. Thank you."
"Not a big deal," Josh said. "I help coach my nephew's basketball team, so I'm used to dealing with them."
Suddenly the mom grabbed Josh and hugged him very tight.
"It's a big deal to me. Thank you."
Josh felt her bikini-covered breasts smash against his bare chest. He gently wrapped his arms around her, suddenly holding on to her bare back. With the full-body contact and minimal clothes on either of them, Josh realized he was getting hard. He was careful not to pull the woman against his body, but she held on tight for 30 seconds.
Finally, she broke the hug and took a step back.
"I'm sorry," she said. "Blood freaks me out, and I always worry about Eric. You really saved the day."
Up until this point, Josh was concentrating on Eric. For the first time, he actually looked at the woman. She was probably in her young 30's, he thought, just like Emily and him. She had pitch-black wavy hair that fell below her shoulders. She had a very attractive, long face with large, brown eyes. She was fairly tall, maybe 5' 6", he thought. She had small breasts that looked perfect on her lean body. She had a flat stomach and well-toned legs. And she looked really good in her orange bikini.
"No need to apologize," he said, "I understand." Then he held out his hand. "I'm Josh. I'm Earl and Barbara's son-in-law, from next door."
The mom started laughing as she reached out and shook Josh's hand.
"You saved the day, you patched up my son, and I hugged you -- and I never even told you my name. Hello, Josh, I'm Jessica."
"Nice to meet you, Jessica," Josh replied with a chuckle.
Jessica now really looked at Josh for the first time. He was a good-looking man with a muscular chest. He was around 6 feet tall, she figured, with a full head of neatly-trimmed black hair. He had a fair amount of dark hair on his upper chest. She thought she saw a bulge beneath his bathing suit -- the only piece of clothing he was wearing - and realized she felt it when they were hugging.
"I don't really know your in-laws, but I see them, and we wave to each other. I pretty much only know people who have kids Eric's age. Can I offer you a cold drink or some wine for saving my son from his life-threatening knee scrape?" She smiled at her own hyperbole.
Josh was mesmerized by her smile.
