This story has been edited since first posted. Thanks to feedback it was revised and fixed.
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The Florida sun had begun to peak over the nearby houses as I pushed the lawnmower as fast as it could go. My headphones were blaring Led Zeppelin and the sweat beaded on my brow from both the exertion and typical Florida humidity. After having been at it for a half an hour, I was nearly finished. I was hoping I'd be able to fit in my morning run before the heat set in for the day.
The first lesson you learn about living in Florida during the summertime is that mowing your lawn needed to be done at the crack of dawn or at night after the sun went down. Temps average above a hundred degrees and the humidity over seventy-five percent all the time. It is amazing life exists here at all, considering how it feels like mother nature's goal is to kill you with the heat. Air Conditioning is not just a luxury here. It's the only way you don't die.
After too many snowy winters I bought a house in what I lovingly call the land of cul-de-sacs. I was one of the lucky few that could do my job from anywhere as long as I had an internet connection. So along with my girlfriend Sara and her son Ricky, we packed it up for the magical land of no snow. The last few winters we experienced had been with snow accumulations over sixty inches by spring. I had reached my breaking point for snow.
What I hadn't anticipated was that Sara's ex and baby daddy would follow us in an attempt to win her back. They had split up a few years back but apparently, distance made the heart grow fonder. Now I owned a decent sized three bedroom ranch with a pool all alone. Not something anyone could have foreseen especially me. She used the excuse that she felt she owed the loser another chance so Ricky got grow up with his father in his life. I wasn't happy about it but I let her go without a real fight. If she wanted to move back north with the ex then I was not going to argue. I only told her to make sure it was what she wanted. I told her if she left she could never come back. I was not going to be the fallback plan should Sir Douchebag return to his douchiness. That had been six months ago and I hadn't heard from her since the moving truck drove off. I mean I should have been more upset. We only had the whole conversation about her leaving only a day or two before she left. I had been blindsided by her betrayal. Instead of being angry, I just got depressed.
The whole situation had made me a bit of a shut-in. Since I worked from home, I did my running or mowing at the crack of dawn and my shopping late at night. If neighbors didn't know any better they might think a vampire or serial killer had moved in. I was pretty sure that I was the talk of the neighborhood. Most had lived here for decades so the lone single guy who moved in a year ago with a woman and now lived alone was all the gossip. At least that was what their looks told me. I was expecting any day now that one of the local old ladies would be trying to set me up with their granddaughters.
It also didn't help for my mood either that I didn't know anyone here. That made my self imposed isolation effortless. My neighbors were all in their sixties or older which did not give us a lot to talk about except the weather or sports. Correction, all were over sixty but one. Tim next door was in his late 60s or early 70s but his wife Vanessa had to be around my age. That put her at her early 30s. She was also absolutely gorgeous. Most of the men in the cul de sac seemed to have ogled her wearing her workout clothes at one point or another. Vanessa was a petite blonde with a curvy butt and decent bust. I had no idea how Tim, who was a decent looking retiree, landed her. She didn't seem like a gold digger, which is what all men first think with older men and much younger women. From the few conversations I had with Tim, he indicated he was a retired college professor who still taught a few classes occasionally at the local community college. He was not the super wealthy type for a gold digger. I was not sure what his wife did for work but she dressed really nice for it.
As I rounded the palm tree in one corner of the yard I saw Tim stand at the other end of the yard. He was trying to flag me down by waving his arms up and down. The best I can describe Tim was that he reminded me of what I expected your typical ex-hippy professor to look like. Gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. A Hawaiian shirt and a pair of jeans cut into shorts. No beard but he usually sported what looked like a day or two of scruff. I cut the power to the mower and walked over to see what was up.
"Ben, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?", he shouted as I approached.
"Sure, man. What's up?" I said offering him my hand.
"Do you have any spare gas? I am about five min to ten min from finishing my lawn and I just ran out," he asked shaking my hand neighborly.
"No problem. I got one more pass with my mower and I will bring over the gas can before I go on my run."
"I really appreciate it. I was going to fill my gas can yesterday but forgot."
"Don't mention it," I said, "Just let me go finish up."
He gave me a thumbs up and I ran back to my mower. In about two minutes, I was done and putting the mower away. I walked over to Tim's garage with my half-full gas can. As I did, Vanessa ran up beside me on her way back from her jog. I tried very hard not to stare.
"Did my foolish husband hit you up for gas?" she asked smiling at me while rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, but I don't mind. I just filled up last night because I was out too," I replied smiling back.
Vanessa was wearing a pair of black with baby blue trim ultra short jogging shorts that squeezed her ass, along with a matching tank top and headband. Her shoulder length blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked like the poster child for a yoga class.
"So Tim and I have been wanting to ask but we didn't want to pry. What happened to your wife and son?" she asked as we walked up the driveway into the garage.
"Vanessa!" shouted Tim from the garage as he came out to meet us. "Leave Ben alone. It's none of our business."
"No harm in asking babe," she said winking at her husband. "I just know a woman who might be interested if Ben is looking."
"It's ok, Tim," I said trying not to laugh. "I have been suspecting that most of the neighborhood has been gossiping for months now. And no, I am not interested in a girlfriend."
"Of course we have been gossiping!" chimed Vanessa as she kissed Tim on the cheek. "But the person I have in mind doesn't want a boyfriend either."
"I appreciate the offer but I'm not interested right now. Also to clear up any gossip, Sara wasn't my wife," I said directly. "Just my girlfriend and Ricky wasn't my kid."
"So what happened?" Vanessa asked. "You guys looked pretty cute together."
"After we moved here for few months, Ricky's dad started calling more. Usually, it was to talk to his son, I thought. What I found out about a week before Sara left was that she had gotten homesick. The ex promised if she left and moved back with him it would all be better. I literally found out she was leaving while he was driving a truck down to get her stuff."
"Wow that is harsh," Tim said.
"She didn't even tell you she was leaving?" Vanessa asked.
"Nope. Sara was one of those avoid conflict kinda people. I thought we were past that with each other. I felt like she could tell me anything. As you can see, I was wrong."
"I get that but damn. She didn't tell you she was homesick?" Vanessa asked as she kicked off her running shoes.
"Not a word. I think it had to do with the fact that moving to Florida had been her idea. I suspect she was worried that I would be mad."
"Well if that is how she handles stuff then I feel safe to say your better off without her," Tim said filling up his mower. "Communication is key in all relationships. No one is a mind reader."
"Very true. I am probably better off. Just made me a bit jaded that's all," I told them honestly.
