Born Out of Tragedy

"Look, if he was the sort of guy that you and those people talked about in church," I said, "he's no doubt happy that you're where you are, being comforted in your grief and having a good time to boot."

She nodded. "You're right. Mr. Jake was the kind of guy that put other people's needs before his own." She chuckled. "He sometimes asked me about my love life. 'You'll make some guy very happy someday,' he'd say."

"There you go," I said, sliding a wet finger down her adorable nose, then kissing her. "You're making me very happy right now."

I got even happier when she suggested we make love in the Jacuzzi. I laughed inside thinking how wrong I had been about a lack of derring-do on her part. It didn't take long for me to get replenished, not with the skillful way she used her mouth and hands. That Jacuzzi was big enough to accommodate us, at least the way we did it, with me sitting down and her bouncing on my cock, facing away. For comfort, nothing beats a big bed. But doing it in there added a unique erotic flavor all its own.

The sex was great, yet the best part was what followed--holding each other in bed and talking into the early morning hours about life, how it can change on a dime, how we can be here one minute and then gone the next because of an accident or some virus like Covid, and how we sometimes take people for granted. Hayley repeated what she had said in church, about regretting not telling Jake she loved him, about thinking he'd always be around. "I guess that's one reason I'm here with you," she said, "doing something I never came close to doing with another guy so soon after I met him. I could have waited, waited to get to know you better, waited while going through the dating ritual and all that stuff. But Jake's death shook me out of my usual social conservatism. More important, I sensed that you were the right guy at the right time to do this with. If that makes any sense."

"Perfect sense," I said. "Of course, had you wanted to get to know me better, I'd have waited along with you. I sensed something also, sensed that you were special as soon as you got up to speak. I'm excited about us, about doing different things, like hiking along trails in the fall when the leaves change and the air gets crisp. I'd love to do that with you. Is it a date?"

She rolled on top of me, pressing her firm boobs against my chest. "Is it a date? You better believe it's a date! I feel like getting out my cross-trainers right now. I could use the exercise. Plus, it sounds like, sooo romantic."

****

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Cross Keys Diner in New Oxford. Then I drove her back to her car. It wasn't easy saying goodbye, even though we knew it wouldn't be for long. We exchanged cell numbers and talked about a future, a near future that included those fall hikes, more sleepovers and other good things that we wouldn't be doing together if not for the tragedy that befell Jake and his family. "Life seems so screwed up at times," she said in exasperation. "Jake leaves my world and then a wonderful man who I adore not only comes into it but does so because of it. What's up with that?"

I tucked my hands inside the pockets of my blue Docker pants and shrugged. "Beats me. Just one of life's many paradoxes, I guess. All I can say is that I'm glad we found each other. Yes, it would have been much nicer had we done so under better circumstances. As they say, it is what it is. All I can say for certain is that I'm very fond of you, Miss Eagan." I hugged her as she nestled against me beside her Jetta.

"And I'm very fond of you, Mr. Graham. And also, by the way, stuffed peppers in tomato sauce. Now let me go before I try to drag you back to the Altland House."

She'd hardly have to drag me, I thought, as I watched her pull away, thinking about Jacuzzies, stuffed peppers and colorful leaves, swirling in the crisp autumn air, and sharing it all with a special someone named Hayley Eagan.