Chapter 1: George
I knew that the woman I had been living with in the last few months wasn't the same person with whom I had spent the best part of my life. This new woman had deep lines on her forehead. The eyes that I had seen dance with light and laughter were now small and distant, the mouth had hardened to a straight line. I had no idea when the foreign entity had replaced my lovely partner. I had been busy.
After retirement I had been bored and restless. Doris finally tired of my constantly being "under foot" and encouraged me to take on consultant work as a private contractor. In the beginning it had been a part time job. As I took more jobs, I made more contacts. I began to get a reputation as a reliable, honest contractor who could get a job done efficiently and effectively. I was having fun. At first I took Doris with me on my trips. We used them as little vacations and saw many places we'd always wanted to visit. At some point, though, I spent more time working and less time with Doris. She decided that she'd rather stay at home than be alone on the road, so I made the trips by myself.
I guess that had been about 8 months ago. On one of the trips – or after several – the strange woman took up residence in our home. I have no idea why it took me so long to notice...which is probably why she became so firmly entrenched.
When I finally noticed the difference, I tried to talk with the stranger. I brought home flowers, found little gifts that had once delighted Doris, made the bed, brought her tea...the stranger remained and never spoke of where she came from. When I tried the more direct approach, I was met with a fixed glare and silence.
In bed she wore flannel pajamas. She'd never done that. All our lives together we'd slept naked next to each other, deriving comfort and peace feeling the skin of the other even in our sleep. When I tried stroking her hip or placing my hand across her belly, actions that used to make her snuggle closer to me, she now turned from me and feigned sleep...or just ignored me. We hadn't made love in months. Completely unnatural.
Now I sat across from the stranger and every now and then would see a glimpse of my love for the first time in many months. I watched as the conversation animated her...but she looked at me and all changed. The mouth once again became a hard line and the eyes lost the spark....and now there was sadness in them.
We were having dinner with our daughter, Janet, and a friend of hers. She asked if we would mind joining her and Jay for dinner. Jay wasn't "new". They had been seeing each other for a few months, but this was the first time they had asked us out for dinner. It had taken Janet a long time to recover from the death of her husband seven years previously. She had lost herself in her children and work. The children were out of her house now and starting lives of their own. She had finally realized that work was a cold companion. Jay was the friend of a friend whom she had met at a dinner party. They had met, evidently spent hours talking, and had been seeing each other as much as their traveling schedules would allow. He was a nice boy.
I sat lost in thought for a moment, then began listening to the conversation a little more closely.
"Mom, what was the name of that place where you and Dad used to go when you left Scott and me with Gran?" Janet's voice brought me back to the conversation. "You know, you took us with you only that once and we were miserable."
Doris paused for a moment.
"Pequoi's Lake", replied Doris quietly without looking at anyone, picking up her water glass for a drink.
"Okay, so satisfy my curiosity about something I've wondered about for years. What in the world was the attraction to that place. There was absolutely nothing to do there. There was no boat for the dock, no fishing poles for the lake, no people around....nothing. I think Jay and I walked forever around the lake...several times. Oh, we did skip rocks," she looked at Jay with a smile, "got quite good at it actually. You have to remind me to teach you some day. Other than that, there was nothing other than cards in the house."
I looked at my plate and smiled as I took a bite of my salmon. Pequoi's Lake. The picture was vivid in my mind. Doris was beautifully naked on that dock. There was no one anywhere for miles.
She had been at home with a rambunctious 3-year-old and a 6 month old for several weeks. One had been sick then the other. She hadn't been out of the house to speak of even for groceries and it had taken its toll on her. I had helped when I could, but it was one of those times that work kept me away much of the time and we had no family near to help. When Scott had finally gotten well, I called one of her sisters into service to take care of the children for a long weekend. I had heard of Pequoi from a friend who had a house there. He had offered the use of it when I wanted but warned that there wasn't much anything there but peace and quiet.
From the first moment Doris had stepped into the house to see, through the full wall of glass, the view of the large deck ending at the lake front, she fell in love. She looked at me with a wicked smile, stripping slowly and sensuously right there in the living room with bags and supplies all around. She held my eyes as one article of clothing followed the other onto the floor, the sofa back...across my shoulder. When she was finished, she walked over, placed a kiss on the tip of my nose, then walked out the sliding doors onto the deck. The sun shone brightly as she held her arms up as though offering herself to her deity. Head thrown back, arms upstretched, she was my high priestess. Her breasts rose seductively, her slightly rounded belly was exposed showing its soft hardness, thighs slightly parted to reveal her inviting, warm femininity. I was enraptured. This was my mate. Mine. At that moment I felt like no man in history could be so fortunate. I made my way to her. She slowly undressed me then closed her eyes, took my hands, and took them on a tour of her body. We made love with a passion that we had missed for years. Children have a way of robbing you of that without you realizing it. We spent most of the weekend on that dock, even at night. I found that Doris was truly a moon worshipper. I had only thought she was beautiful in the sunlight.
I came back to dinner and looked at Doris across the table. There was that sad look in her eyes. I didn't want it there. I wanted nothing more than to see that look of abandonment and joy I had seen on the dock.
I wish I had paid a little more attention to the answer Doris gave Janet. I was a little curious about what she had said. No, on second thought, I had enjoyed my memories more.
"Dad, do you remember the time Mom got so angry with you for coming home late on Christmas Eve?"
"I remember."
"And I remember apologizing to your dad, in front of the two of you, a few weeks later after I found out why he was late," Doris added looking directly at Janet with a flash in her eyes just short of anger. "You would do well to recall that most important part of the event."
