The Stable Boy (7 page)

“That will be a chore.”

“Yes it will. Here they come.”

“Since none of us ate dinner, we picked up enough for all of us,” said Bob.

“Oh good, we can have dinner together twice this week,” said Alison.

“Now, I am not sure if Saturday is going to be a good idea in your condition.”

“It is just a bump on my head, Robert. It is still taking place. Claire will you come and get me in the morning?”

“I will if it is okay with
Bob,” I said. Alison looked at Bob.

“You need to tend to the farm. I would really appreciate it if Claire came to get me.”

“It’s okay with me,” he said, not wanting to upset the patient. We all looked at him with shock. “What? She is right, the farm needs tending to and I know her well enough to know we will not be heading straight home like she should.”

“Man do you two know each other,” Josh said.

“They have been together so long they can practically read each other’s mind,” I said.

“I can only hope for a love that lasts that long,” Josh said looking at me.

“You’ll find it one day,” Bob said. “There is someone out there waiting on you.”

Alison looked at me and rolled her eyes. I smiled and lowered my head.

“I know she is,” Josh said, smiling and not trying to laugh. We finished our sandwiches.

“We are going to leave. I will see you in the morning,” I said as I kissed Alison’s forehead. “Bob, you try and relax the rest of the night.”

“I will, Claire. Thank you for coming with me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Good bye, Alison,” said Josh, as he hugged her. “Thanks for the talk. I will see you Saturday.”

“You’re welcome. I will see you then. I will see you in the morning, Claire. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Josh shook Bob’s hand and we left. As we walked toward the elevator, he took my hand. The look in the nurses’ faces said that they were not expecting that to happen. ‘Yes, he is slowly winning his way into my heart and my bed, one day at a time, ladies.’ I thought to myself. We waited for the elevator in silence. The doors opened up. We waited for it to empty and got in.

“I’m afraid to ask what Alison wanted to speak to you about,” I said as the doors closed.

“She just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to hurt you, emotionally,” he said.

“Will you?”

“Not if I can help it. Now, physically I can’t say for sure,” he said as he came closer, pinning me up against the elevator wall. He leaned in. He
brushed his lips against mine. Licking my bottom lip, I opened my mouth to his. His tongue playfully danced with mine. My knees buckled. The elevator stopped. He pulled away as the doors opened.

We walked to my truck. He parked next to Bob’s truck. He opened the passenger door. I climbed in. I was more than happy to let him drive home. We drove in silence all the way home. He parked the truck and we both climbed out. Climbing the stairs to the porch
, I stared at his backside. I wanted to reach out a touch it, but restrained myself. He unlocked the door and let me walk through first. He had less restraint than I did. I felt his hand cup my left cheek. I smiled. As he closed the door, he locked it. I turned around to meet him. He wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel every muscle in them as he pulled me into him. I threw my arms around his neck, wanting to feel his sweet, full lips on mine.

He backed me up to the door jam of the living room at the bottom of the stairs, feverishly kissing me. Running his hands down my back, he gently squeezed my ass before reaching the back of my thighs to pick me up. I wrapped my legs around him. He carried me, blindly, to his bedroom. We never stopped kissing. We were still entwined when he laid us down across his bed. This time, I unbuttoned his shirt. He took it off. I ran my hands down his chest, feeling every muscle along the way. I wanted him. I needed him. There was no stopping what was about to take place this time.

He unbuttoned my shirt. I sat up and slipped out of it. He kissed my neck, down to my chest. Running his rough calloused hands down my stomach, he unbuttoned my jeans. Kissing down my torso, he grabbed the waist band of my jeans, pulling them down. I arched my back and wiggled out of them. He left the white lacey panties that matched my bra on. He kissed back up my torso. I reached for his jeans. Unbuttoning them, I slid them past is supple ass to reveal his black boxer briefs. It was my turn to give a gentle squeeze. He pulled away, a bit shocked. He smiled. I smiled. I could feel the heat in my cheeks. He slid his arm behind me. I sat up. He reached behind me, undoing my bra. I slid out of it. He kissed down my neck until he reached my chest.

He kissed my right breast first then worked his way to the left. I let out a slight moan. He kissed down the center of my torso. Grabbing the waist of my panties, he pulled them off as he continued to work his way down. I reach down, running my hands through his hair. I motioned for him to come back up. I was not ready for that. He did. We kissed. His tongue played around with mine as I reached to pull his boxer briefs off. He slipped out of them.
Centering himself at my opening, he entered me. I immediately moaned. He followed with one of his own. He took his time. We did it, slowly. It felt so good to have him inside of me. I ran my hands down his muscular back. He was in a push up position. I pulled him onto me. I wanted to feel his entire body down the length of mine.

Passionately kissing him, I ran my hands through his hair. He breathed in deeply. He moaned. I felt my own coming on as I let him take me to a place only my husband had ever taken me. My back arched
as he gently bit my neck. We laid there with him on top of me kissing for another few minutes. I always thought my husband was the only man I would ever make love to. Having another man in my life was not an option for me when my husband’s life was taken. I had taken those solemn vows at our wedding and meant every word of it. Tonight, I gave into temptation. It felt good, but still felt wrong. I felt like I was disappointing my husband. I got up to leave.

“Where are you going?” Josh asked in a soft, sweet voice.

“Um, I am going to my room,” I said, voice shaking.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” he asked kissing my shoulder.

“Nothing, I just rather sleep in my own bed,” I said, attempting a smile over my shoulder. He could see the tears forming in my eyes.

“Claire, please tell me what is wrong. I can tell that something is bothering you.”

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me what you are feeling. I can tell that you are upset. Please, I just want to be able to help you through it.”

“I feel like this was wrong,” I said lying back down.

“Why?” he inquired.

“I took my marriage vows and meant every word of it. I know John is gone, but this is the house we built together. He is still very present here. I feel like I am disappointing him.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Do you believe your husband would want you to be alone the rest of your life?”

“No, I think he would want me to be happy.”

“Then why are you putting yourself through this?” he asked pulling me close to him.

“I still very much love him,” I said as the tears began to fall.

“You will always love him. There is no denying it, but you have to begin living your life again. I want to be a part of it. Will you allow me to do that? I just need you to take it one day at a time with me. We can begin this new adventure together.”

“You sound like Alison when you talk like that,” I said through tears, laying my head on his chest.

“Gee, thanks,” he said laughing.

“I don’t mean for that to sound bad, but she says the same things,” I said, laughing. “I can do one day at a time with you.”

“Good,” he said, kissing the top of my head as he wrapped his arms around me. I wrapped my arm around him and hugged him tightly. He reciprocated. I fell asleep in his arms. I dreamt of John that night. It had been a long time since I had seen him in my dreams. We were at the kitchen table talking.

“Hey, honey,” said John. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too,” I said. “It is not the same without you. I need you to come back to me.”

“I can’t, baby,” he said, reaching for my hand.

“But, I can’t live without you.”

“Yes, you can,” he said. “You have Bob and Alison here and that young man in the back bedroom.”

“I am so sorry that he is here in our house. I never meant to hurt or disappoint you.”

“You haven’t. Why would you think that you did?”

“Because I have broken our marriage vows by making love to him, I should have never given into it.”

“Listen to me; you cannot live the rest of your life alone. I want you to move on. I will always be with you in life and love, but I cannot be with you on Earth anymore. You need to find love again. Open your heart to him, he is here for you.”

“But, I still love you so much. I don’t know if I can.”

“I love you, too. I always have and always will. You can love again. You will love again, with him.”

“Oh, John, I don’t know.”

“I know that he is younger and there are certain things he does that remind you of me. When that takes place, just know that is me giving my approval,” he said with a smile and a wink.

“Okay, I will try to do this, one day at a time,” I said smiling at him.

“Good,” he said. “Now, give me one last hug before I have to go.”

“Okay,” I said, standing up. I wrapped my arms around John. It felt as if he was really there in the kitchen with me. The hug felt so real. I turned my head up to kiss him, but he was gone. I awoke to an empty bed. The sun was shinning in the bedroom window. I looked at the clock. It read 7:30am.

4 Friday

I got up. Going upstairs to shower, I noticed that the front door was open. I looked out of the screen door. I saw Josh feeding the chickens. That was generally my job. I went up stairs, showered and got dressed. I had to go get Alison, but I would make breakfast first. I went down stairs. Josh was eating a bowl of cereal.

              “Hey,” I said. “I was just coming down to make breakfast.”

             
“That’s okay,” he said. “I know you have to go pick up Alison.”

             
“Yeah,” I said, concerned. There was something about the tone of his voice. “Are you okay?”

             
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “You called out for John in your sleep last night.”

             
“I’m sorry. I dreamt of him,” I said.

             
“I am sorry what took place between us made that happen. I will understand if you do not want to continue on. “

             
“No, I do,” I said. “I know that this going to sound weird, but he told me to open my heart to you.”

             
“He did?”

             
“Yes, Josh, I think I am finally ready to live again.”

             
“That’s great to hear,” he said with a smile. “We can slow down. I promise not to come on so strong.”

             
“You were not coming on too strong. I like the pace we are at.”

             
“Okay,” he said, standing up. He came over to me. Pinning me the counter, he kissed me. As his tongue danced with mine, the phone rang, putting a stop to our passion. We looked at each other and laughed.

             
“It’s always something,” he said with a smirk.

             
“I am going to say this is Alison,” I said as I reached for the receiver. “Hello.”

             
“Hello, I am ready to blow this popsicle stand. The doctor said I can leave. He is doing the paper work now.”

             
“Okay, I am on my way,” I said as Josh ran his tongue across my neck. My knees buckled.

             
“I will be ready when you get here,” she said. I could hear the smile in her voice. It was as if she knew what just took place.

             
“Okay, see you in a little while,” I said. “Bye.”

             
“Bye.”

             
“I just wanted to give you something to think about while you were gone,” Josh said as I hung up the phone.

             
“If I think about it, I won’t be able to drive.”

             
“Mmm, that sounds promising,” he said.

             
“Does it now,” I said as I kissed him. Pulling away, I said, “I may not be home most of the day, knowing Alison. I am going to pick us up some dinner from the diner in town. What would you like from there?”

             
“You, just you,” he said. He kissed me again. I did not want to leave his embrace. He pulled away. “I’ll see you when you get back.” He turned and walked away, going back to working outside. I just stood there for a few minutes. The things he has awoken inside of me. I grabbed my keys from the key holder.

             
Rubbing it, I said “Thanks, John.” Driving to the hospital, I blasted the music and sang along. I felt myself smiling. I had not had anything to smile this much about in along time. I parked my truck. I went to Alison’s room to find her dressed and waiting for me.

             
“Hey,” she said. “I am still waiting on them to say it is okay to leave. It should not be too much longer.”

             
“Okay,” I said. “How are you feeling? How is the head?”

             
“I am okay. My headache went away. I am not having any dizziness or anything, so they said it was okay to go home.”

             
“That is great,” I said.

             
“Enough about me, what were you doing this morning when I called?” she asked with a grin.

             
“Um, nothing, just doing breakfast dishes,” I said as my voice suddenly got higher.

             
“Liar, I could tell by your voice there was something else going on,” she said.

             
I could feel the heat in my face. “We were kissing.”

             
“Did I ruin the moment, again?”

             
“No, not at all,” I said.

             
“Did the moment already happen?”

             
“Maybe,” I said laughing at her.

             
“Woohoo, now I just need to get you drunk enough to tell me everything,” she said as the nurse came in with her wheelchair.

             
“I think I walked in at the wrong time,” said the nurse. We all laughed.

             
“Yes, you did,” I said.

             
“It is time for you to leave Mrs. Everett.  Are you ready?”

             
“Been ready,” she said, climbing into the chair. We went down the hall in silence. Alison and I just kept looking at each other and laughing in the elevator.

             
“I am sorry,” I said to the nurse.

             
“I understand the power of best friends,” she said. “There is always and unspoken language that the only the two of you can understand. I am the same way with mine.”

             
“Good, I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable,” I said as the elevator doors opened. I went ahead to get the truck. I pulled up to the door. Alison climbed in. We were out of the parking lot before she spoke.

             
“So, are you going to tell me the dirty details or am I going to have to beat it out of you?”

             
“You are so wrong on every level,” I said. “First, I am going to tell you that yes we did make love, but I panicked right afterward. I felt like I was cheating on John.”

             
“Oh boy,” Alison said.

             
“Yeah, it was pretty bad, but Josh clamed me down. I fell asleep in his arms. When I woke up, he was gone.”

             
“Gone!” she interrupted.

             
“Not, gone, gone, just not in the bed. He was outside. I went up stairs to shower and get dressed. When I came down, he was eating cereal. He told me I called out for John in my sleep. I think it upset him.”

             
“It would have me to, if I had just spent my energy on you.”

             
“I know,” I said. “I apologized for it and told him that I dreamt of John.”

             
“You did?”

             
“Yes.”

             
“How long has it been since that happened?”

             
“Quite some time, but it was odd. John gave me his approval in the dream. I am not sure if it was just my subconscious trying to convince me that what happened was okay or if it was actually a sign.”

             
“Let me ask you this,” Alison said. “Why would it not be okay to start your life again?”

             
“I don’t know the answer to that.”

             
“I think that you are just scared.”

             
“Maybe,” I said.

             
“To me, that is exactly what it sounds like. It sounds like you are scared of loving again, because you are afraid that the memories you had with John will fade away or the love you had with him will no longer matter. It may be that you are afraid of loving someone only to lose them.”

             
“I don’t know. It could be anyone of those things.”

             
“What are your feelings for Josh?”

             
“I like him. I really do. He is nice and seems to really care.”

             
“I know there is something more than that. I saw the way you two looked at each other. I definitely know that he has feelings for you. He can’t take his eyes off of you when you are in the room.”

             
“I don’t know what is there on his part or my part for that matter. Maybe it is just lust.”

             
“Let’s go with that. Say it is lust. I would not blame you in the least bit. He is incredibly hot.”

             
“Is that all you think about?”

             
“Pretty much,” she said, laughing.

             
“You are a dirty, dirty woman.”

             
“I bet he likes it down and dirty.”

             
“Oh my God, Alison,” I said, laughing until tears clouded my vision.

             
“Come on you have to tell me something, anything. Does he look good naked?”

             
“Okay, I will tell you this. All I could think was damn that is one good looking body.”

             
“Finally, a morsel I can hang on to.”

             
“Does your husband know this is all you think about?”

             
“He better, since I wear him out all the time,” she said with a raise of her eyebrows.

             
“Poor Bob,” said shaking my head. “Where do you want to stop before going home?”

             
“I need to finish shopping for tomorrow, but I also want to have lunch or an early dinner. I can bring Bob home something from the diner.”

             
“I told Josh that I was sure that we were going to be gone most of the day so I would bring him home dinner. I asked him what he wanted, but he never told me.”

             
“Is he that mad at you?”

             
“No, it had nothing to do with him being mad.”

             
“Oh, it had something to do with what you were doing this morning.”

             
“Maybe,” I said.

             
“You are never going to tell me are you?”

             
“There is nothing to really tell.”

             
“You know you have never been a good liar, right?”

             
“John used to say the same thing.”

             
“I know, he is the one that gave me your tell tale signs,” she said. “Was it not any good? Did it end too fast? It could have been first time jitters.”

             
“You are determined to know, aren’t you?”

             
“Yes, so answer my questions and get it over with or I am just going to keep asking.”

             
“It was fine and it did not end too fast.”

             
“You’re blushing,” she said. “I knew it. It was dirty.”

             
“It was not dirty,” I said, laughing. “Now, can we please stop this conversation? We are at the store.”

             
“Okay, but we will continue it later.”

             
“If you say so,” I said with a roll of my eyes. We got out of the truck and went shopping. We picked up the items she needed. We both had a cart full by the time we were done. I only picked up a few essentials, while Alison went all out. We checked out. Climbing back into the truck, we drove the four blocks to the diner. Sitting in our usual booth at the back, Vanessa, our usual waitress came over.

             
“Good afternoon, ladies,” she said. “How are you?”

             
“We are doing well,” I said. “How are you, today?”

             
“Not too bad,” she said. “I heard about your nasty bump on the head, Alison. Your husband came in for breakfast.”

             
“Why am I not surprised?” Alison said.

             
“You know that if you are not cooking for him he is going to come here,” she said.

             
“Yes, he will. I am doing great, by the way.”

             
“Good to hear,” she said. “What can I get you ladies to drink?”

             
“I will have a sweet tea,” I said.

             
“Make that two, please.