Little White Lies (55 page)

“If she does, I’ll make sure she gets her money’s worth,” Sheri volunteers with fire in her eyes. “Nobody calls me names without paying for the privilege. If she’s smart, she’ll stay in jail where she’s safe.”

It’s easy to see where this is taking us.

“Let’s let the system handle it,” I say with resignation. “We shouldn’t waste any more energy on them… they aren’t worth it.”

“You’re right,” A.J. responds, “every time I think about this stuff, my gut gets tight. It’s going to eat me up if I let it.”

“Okay, no more talk about those people,” Sheri says clapping her hands. “Phil, it’s your day. What do you want to do and when do you want to do it?”

Jennifer sidles up and I put my arm around her.

“Right now I would like to shower and get the hospital smell off me. Give me a half an hour and we’ll let the games begin.”

I give Jennifer a peck on the cheek and leave for my room. Turning the corner I look back and see her smiling at me. What a joy to come home to!

Undressed and heading for the shower I chuckle to myself. I can’t help it. Not too bad for an old retired man. Tomorrow I’ll check on the progress with the new restaurants, A.J. has those new contracts. I’ll have dinner with Jennifer… just the two of us… catch up on things.

The warm spray of the shower interrupts my thoughts. Minutes later I feel a cool draft as the shower door opens briefly and quickly closes. Fingertips gently probe my lower back.

“Who’s that,” I ask, keeping my face buried in the spray to hide my grin.

A sharp slap on the butt is my answer. The world seems filled with hostile forces. Someday, perhaps, I’ll find a way to have a conversation in this house without getting whacked in the process. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just enjoy the moment.

finis

Paul Watkins is a retired businessman living in southwest Florida. A back injury suffered a few years ago forced him to change his lifestyle and cut back on golf and other like pursuits… and take up writing instead. Little White Lies is the first book that has come out of this change in lifestyle.

When he isn’t thinking about writing, he spends plenty of time with his three children and five grandchildren between New York and Florida. Still active in his consulting business, Pauls says most days are pretty full. He manages to play golf occasionally, goes fishing once and a while… and thinks about business all the time.

Paul has no illusions about the high cost of freedom and what we have paid to date for the lifestyle we enjoy. He feels our world has changed for all time and that things will never be the same after 9/11, much as we would like them to be. Still, it’s nice sometimes to escape our reality and hide in a book. and he would like to do all he can to help in that regard.