"I still can't believe you told Laurie I lived in the garage."
"Naked."
"Well, I can believe you'd say it, but that she would
believe it?
No way! I mean, come on! Look at the size of that thing. And with your truck in there? You can barely get around it."
"Well, you could have slept in the bed."
Hi. I'm Ashley. Mack's a dear, but if I hadn't saved him he'd have turned into one of those old men you see with a week's beard on his face and food stains on his chest. It's not that he's naturally a slob, but living alone let his personal standards slip.
We were stretched out on the couch when we had that convo. I was tucked into Mack's arms - his hands resting lightly on my breasts, and I could hear him inhaling the softly apricot aroma of my hair (he likes that). It had been three months since Laurie had come snooping and he had fed her the bogus story about me living naked in the garage. Mack and I had chosen to ignore the gossip even as we laughed at the more outrageous bits: I was actually his daughter and we were in an incestuous relationship, I had intentionally burned my house to get close to him, I'd divorced my husband because I was having an affair with him. If nothing else, they were imaginative. And Laurie seemed to be at the heart of many of them.
"You know we can't let this continue."
"Us? I'd hate to think we'd break up over some gossip."
"No silly," I said to him; "I mean Laurie and her gossip. I think I'm going to invite her over ... tomorrow ... it's time she and I had a little heart to heart."
"Do you want me here for backup? I can standby with a chainsaw. We could bury her behind the garage. No one ever goes back there."
"That's because of all the junk. No dear, I can handle Miss Laurie. I want you to go elsewhere - I think we can talk a little more freely that way."
******
Ashley's house was nearing completion. The outside was done, sheet rock, electric and plumbing finished. The painters were due next week. We knew the rumors that had quieted would pick back up when the house was done and she didn't move back in. But we had settled that; she belonged with me, and by god I definitely belonged with her.
My bed -our bed -never felt better. Every night I had this lovely woman beside me, breathing softly in my ear; often holding my hand against her belly (do you know how sensuous a sleeping woman's belly feels?) and then she'd wake me with light kisses – and sometimes not so light caresses. I never want an empty bed again. I couldn't take it.
*******
Hoover and I took off on errands before Laurie showed up and were gone close to two hours. He was a great traveling companion; always standing between the front seats, making sure I drove properly, and of course making sure I stopped at Ruth's Drive Thru Coffee so he'd get a biscuit.
When I went into the kitchen the two women were sipping coffee and smiling while they talked. Damn! I was lookin' forward to burying her under the old Studebaker.
"Hi Mack, would you like a cup? I'm afraid the coffee cake is all gone."
"Nah, I'll go busy myself out in the garage."
"Mack ..." Laurie piped up; "I'm sorry about everything I've been saying about you and Ashley. I didn't realize ... I mean, I guess I wasn't thinking about how I look to the neighborhood. I'm, I'm really sorry. Ashley says she has never been happier except for the gossip."
Now I felt like a heel. I don't know why - hell, I hadn't done anything wrong. "Ah, it's alright. Excuse me, I'm gonna go out to the garage now."
*******
Laurie began hangin' out at our house and the more she was around the better I got to know her. Yeah, I know - big surprise. She turned out to be an interesting woman, college educated -she'd married right after graduation and never put her degree to any use. Ten years later she was just another suburban housewife with time on her hands.
*******
The first time Laurie and I had coffee I could feel how lonely she really was. Her husband was constantly on the road ((he's in sales), and her only friends were the Castlemire twins, and Mrs. Hoffman – the biggest gossips in the neighborhood, and all at least twenty years her senior. I had an idea of how things were for her because I'd been through something similar until I got a job; all the other women in the neighborhood worked – she was left with the gossips.
*******
Most of the time I didn't mind Laurie being around - hell, she and Ashley could talk about stuff I had no idea about, and I could see that made both of 'em happy. I'd join them, thinking I was the man and I knew all about everything. Nope. They showed me how I was stuck way back there somewhere, while time and history moved on. And I didn't mind because they helped me learn; not just about current political events, but about health, climate change, and the economy beyond the stock market. Hell, I even learned the right way to prepare something called gazpacho – but I still haven't tried it. Yet.
The more Laurie hung out at my place, the more she smiled and the more relaxed she looked. I couldn't help but notice just how good looking she was as the lines relaxed around her face. She must have been a traffic stopper in college. Christ, she may have been a jaw dropper in junior high.
'Course the gossip never let up; there were plenty of bored women (and a few old men) who had nothin' to do but talk about their neighbors. The few stories I heard had included Laurie; I guess proving that if you aren't with us we'll talk about you. Anyway – she'd be over at our house most Saturdays and Sundays - if her husband wasn't home - about ten for coffee and talkin'. The women could discuss anything they wanted, but I noticed they never talked about the neighbors. Politics, weather, travel – anything but. Laurie had a sharp mind; she could drill to the heart of an issue -pro or con – in just a few sentences. I had to admire that.
