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The next morning they woke when Becky's phone rang. She grabbed it and answered quickly, hoping not to wake Tim. "Hello?" She listened and then said "Thank you," hung up and woke Tim.
"Hon I'm sorry, but that was Home Hospice. Bill has taken a turn for the worse. I hate to do this but we need to leave and go back home."
"Of course we do. Grab a shower while I call room service for breakfast," he said.
After Becky finished, Tim showered quickly and started packing until their breakfast arrived. They both ate solemnly and then finished packing and headed down to checkout. While Becky settled the bill Tim had the valet pull their car up.
The drive home was mostly silent, both wrapped up in their thoughts. Becky was coming to grips with the impending probable loss of her husband of more than forty years, and Tim was struggling with the loss of a friend and mentor as well as the certainty that his relationship with Becky would be changing. Just how, he didn't yet know.
When they arrived at Becky's home they discovered that hospice had installed a hospital bed in the living room. Bill looked pale and weak, but smiled when he saw the two of them.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt your special weekend together," he said.
"Don't be foolish," Tim said. "You are the most important person to both of us."
"Yes, you are, my love," Becky added.
"Thank you," Bill said, "Please understand that I don't want Becky to be alone after I go. And Tim, she loves you and I think you love her. There is nothing better I could hope for. I'll be gone soon and there is nothing any of us can do to change that. So please go forward and be everything to each other."
Neither Becky nor Tim knew how to respond to that.
The next morning Becky called Tim. "He's gone."
"I'm so sorry, hon. How can I help?"
"I'm waiting for hospice to arrive and declare. Since he was under their care there's no need for an autopsy if they sign off. Then they will call the mortuary to pick him up. I think I need to deal with all this myself, but thank you for offering."
"Let me know if you need anything, hon."
For the next four days Becky texted Tim just once a day, checking in and initially letting him know how the funeral plans were progressing. On the appointed day Tim showed up at the funeral home and paid his respects. He followed the procession to the graveyard and stood a decent distance from the widow so as not to create gossip.
Becky spent the following month grieving the loss of her long term husband. Many nights she cried herself to sleep. She never texted or called Tim, although she longed to, because she needed to be true to her husband's memory.
For his part, Tim ached for contact with Becky. But he understood that she loved Bill, and needed to grieve for him. He only hoped that, once the hurt eased, she might resume her relationship with him. He had come to understand that it was much more than sex...
After three months Becky finally called him. "Would you like to have lunch?" she said
"Certainly."
"Tim, it's JUST lunch, understand?" she said.
"Of course, Becky. However you need things to progress," he replied.
That lunch led to weekly meetings and then a few times a week and finally Becky invited herself to his cabin for dinner.
"Tim, we need to talk. Or rather, I need to talk. Please just listen until I finish," Becky said.
"Of course, whatever you need," he replied as they sat together on the sofa.
"You know that Bill had to talk me into our affair. In the beginning I felt very guilty when I left here and went home to him. Sometimes I would tell him that and say that I wanted to stop. Every time he managed to talk me out of it.
"And I can't deny that I enjoyed our time together, and I don't just mean the sex. That was great, but you're an all-round great guy. You made me laugh, and taught me things, and gave me love even knowing I was devoted to Bill. Very unselfish.
"When he passed my doubts came back, but he wasn't here to talk me into seeing you. I've struggled with that over the past six months. And I struggled with the realization that I love you. At first I thought it was just misplaced gratitude, but it isn't. I do love you, yet there is still a part of me that feels I'm being disloyal to Bill." Becky paused.
After several minutes of silence, Tim said, "Are you finished? That all sounds too much like a goodbye speech."
"NO! Not at all. In fact, just the opposite. I came here tonight to tell you I want us to become a couple, if you want. And I have something else to tell you that you probably won't believe. Last night Bill came to me as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep. He told me he was disappointed in me, that you are a great guy and I deserve to be with someone the rest of my life. He kissed me on the forehead and said 'I'll see you on the other side when it's your turn to go' and then vanished," Becky explained.
"I love you, so you should know I want us to be together more than anything in the world, but only if you're sure," Tim said.
"Hon, I am more sure than ever, and we have Bill's complete blessing," Becky assured him as she moved to sit right next to him. She leaned in to kiss him and as their lips met she pushed her tongue into his mouth, frenching him for the first time since they met.
Their kiss went on for several minutes and when she broke it off she said "I have wanted to do that forever, but could never violate Bill's prohibition on it. Now he's given us complete license to do everything we want together."
"So where do we go from here," Tim asked.
