A Fool Stumbles Into Love Ch. 03

Maureen wasn't sure what to say or do. She was pissed that Cal had hit the smart aleck. She didn't like the bravado regarding the bigger guy, but she sure liked the idea her boyfriend was suddenly gleaning all this respect.

She grabbed his arm, "You've had enough big boy. It's time to go."

As Maureen walked Cal out of the tavern she heard a smattering of applause. She looked back. It was the older women who tended bar. They were all smiling and just generally cheering. It made her feel good.

They got back in the truck. Cal, of course, doing all his gentlemanly things.

Maureen looked up at him, "What am I going to do with you?"

He pulled her over and planted a generous kiss on her bright red lips, "You're going to make love to me." Gee, he thought, that was a pretty brave thing to say.

She laughed heartily, "I'm not working tomorrow. How about you?"

He pulled her as close as he could get her. He snuggled her head under his chin, "The Holiday Inn downtown?"

She squeezed her left arm back behind and around his waist. She pressed her head tightly against his chest. Then she got very serious. In a moment of true profundity she whispered, "Whither thou goest."

He choked up slightly. Ruth in the Bible had said that. Among all the women in the Old Testament he admired Ruth the most. He hit the accelerator and sped out of the parking lot.

Cal and Maureen sped down the road; hugging, kissing, and even dong a little furtive fondling. Cal was on his way to get his cherry busted. What could be better than to lose his virginity to the woman he loved?

As they turned the corner heading for the Interstate that would take them to Valhalla Cal heard a peculiar sound. He recognized it immediately; it was the sound of an old transmission about to breathe its last breath.

Cal was many things. He was good, honest, kind, and he was sensitive. He was the kind of man who cherished and cared for things long after their days of utility were truly past. As they trundled down the long stretch of back road his old friend, his old faithful truck of sixteen years was expiring under him.

Another few hundred yards and it ended; his truck passed on to that great car lot in the sky, and with it the great plan to get laid. They pulled over to the side of the road. Cal popped out his cell phone and called Triple A. They'd be there in about two hours; so ended the big trip to the Holiday Inn.

He sat there like the fool he was, "Well the truck died."

Maureen kissed his cheek, "There will be other nights."

They curled up and swaddled under a blanket waiting for Triple A. So tonight wasn't the big night, that was OK, they still had the truck cab, a nice blanket, and lots of time.

Maureen was disappointed but relieved too. Cal was a virgin, but she didn't know anything either. She thought later tonight she'd have a talk with her mom. She'd get some advice, maybe some pointers. Her mom was cool, it would be all right.

The two of them cuddled and kissed under the blanket, and for the first time Cal took a little initiative on something. He took his left hand and started softly rubbing Maureen's right breast over her blouse. Almost immediately he could sense a positive reaction, as she pressed her chest up and out toward his hand and fingers. Rubbing over the smooth silkiness of the blouse he could feel her nipples sticking up.

The top buttons were already undone. Cal tremulously went ahead and started undoing the other buttons. One at a time he worked his way down to her waist. Using his left hand he reached under her blouse and felt her breasts over her bra.

This was too real he thought. Carefully he reached around and found the clasp of her bra. Maureen helped him by leaning forward. Deftly he managed to unhook the clasp, and the bra fell away.

Gone was the hesitancy; he enthusiastically fondled and fingered her breasts. They were large, firm, and incredibly warm to the touch.

He had to do it. He spread her blouse as wide it would go and pressed his head in between those two luscious orbs. He tried to smother himself in the valley between her two scrumptious mountains. Failing to do that he first kissed then licked, and finally started to suck on each rosy nipple.

Maureen was totally absorbed in Cal's fantasy. She'd always liked touching her breasts while bathing or when dressing, but having someone else do it was rapturous. His hands were hot and dry, and his mouth and lips were delightful the way they both tickled and caressed her flesh.

Using her hands she pulled Cal's head in between her two pendulous boobs. She wrapped the blanket around his head and her chest to keep things as warm as possible. She used her fingers to comb through his now well combed hair. She kissed his ear with her lips. She took her hands and pulled his head in as tightly against her chest as she could. She imagined she was suffocating him between her boobies.

Cal kept kissing and teasing her breasts with his tongue and lips, but he shifted his hands outside the blanket to her head where he used his fingers to match her massaging with his own. He heard her sigh.

The two young people were so deeply engrossed with each other they never heard the big repair truck pull up. Suddenly there was an insistent wrap on the passenger's side window, "Triple A!"

Cal pulled back. Keeping Maureen fully wrapped under the blanket he climbed out and walked around, "My transmission died. Could you give us a tow to my grandfather's station?"

The Triple A man asked, "Where's that?"

Cal responded, "Jared Auto Shop."

The man grinned, "Sure. I know where that is. He went to work hitching the dead pick up to the hoist that would pull it atop the flatbed.

Cal opened the door, "You OK Maureen?"

She grinned, "Yeah, I'm good."

He helped her out.

The Triple A man got the pick up on the repair truck, called in to his station, and offered Cal and Maureen a ride in the front of his vehicle.

Together, squeezed in the front of the big repair truck; driver behind the wheel, Cal riding shot gun, and Maureen in the middle they all rode to Cal's grandfather's garage.

At the garage Cal signed off on the Triple A form, and temporarily leaving Maureen to stand on the front lawn, he went and knocked on the front door of his grandfather's house.

It wasn't late, only a little past 11:00, but his grandfather was seventy-five and accustomed to an early start on each day. Cal had to get him out of bed.

Jared came down, saw who it was, and let the two of them in. Looking the girl over he immediately recognized who she was. He glanced at Cal and realized his grandson didn't have a clue as to the girl's real identity, "Who's this, he asked his grandson?

Cal answered, "This is Maureen, my girlfriend."

Jared kept his thoughts to himself, "Glad to meet you. Come on in. Anybody want some coffee?"

Maureen answered, "You don't have to do that."

Jared replied, "I want to."

They all sat around in the smallish kitchen and quietly waited while the coffee brewed. Once it was ready grandfather poured them all a cup.

He sat down and looked at Maureen, "You're Andrea's girl aren't you?"

Maureen was surprised, "Yes, do you know my mother?"

He answered, "Yes, we used to be good friends, but to tell the truth I haven't seen her in years. You were a little girl the last time I saw her. You'd gone away."

Maureen listened intently but offered no information herself.

The older man asked, "You remember when you went away?"

She could answer that, "Not really. I was only four years old."

The older man glanced at Cal. He could tell his grandson still was out of it. He decided to leave it that way. He smiled at his grandson, "You better get this girl home."

Cal asked, "Could I borrow your car grandpa?"

Jared tossed the key across the table, "Try to get it back by the morning."

Cal thanked his grandfather, took the keys, finished his coffee, and helped Maureen down the narrow steps to the backyard and his grandfather's car.

As he got her in the car he heard his grandfather yell out something about being careful with that girl, she's kind of delicate. Cal thought Maureen was sweet and sensitive, but delicate wasn't exactly the kind of word he expected from his grandfather. It didn't mean anything to him.

After Cal pulled away Jared Burkheim made a phone call the Maureen's mother, "Hello is this Andrea?"

Andrea responded, "Yes it is, who is this?"

He answered, "This is Jared Burkheim. You remember me?"

On the other end of the line Maureen's mother gave out a tiny gasp, "Yes I remember you."

Jared heard the inhalation. He'd felt the same way a few moments earlier, "I was wondering, if you didn't mind, I might drive down and see you tomorrow."

Andrea hadn't seen Jared Burkheim in over twenty years, "Why sure. You remember where we live?"

He answered her question with a question, "You still live at the same place?"

She answered, "Yes."

"See you tomorrow."

Before he could hang up she interjected, "I think the children will both be here tomorrow too."

He replied, "That won't matter." He hung up the phone.

Walking back upstairs to bed Jared thought about the young man and the young woman who'd just left. He thought about his long dead daughter, he thought about the woman he'd just talked to, and he thought about her husband. It had been a long time, yes it had certainly been a long time. He never expected to see any of them ever again.

Cal got Maureen home. They sat outside in his grandfather's car and kissed a little more. The time for heavy petting had passed, by then it was more about staying awake. He walked her to the door, and at the portal he kissed her goodnight.

As he turned to leave he looked back and said, "You know Maureen, I feel like I've been here before."

She laughed, "Well sure silly you've been here several times." She leaned against the screen door and watched him leave.

Getting in his grandfather's car said to himself, "I didn't mean it exactly that way." Oh well, he was just tired. He drove on home. He'd find a way to get his grandfather's car back to him tomorrow afternoon, after he'd worked on the gazebo. His grandfather had a jeep and a pick up of his own; it wasn't like he was leaving him high and dry.

Once Cal was out of sight Maureen went inside and found her mother. She was in the living room watching some old talk show, "Mom you got a minute?"

Andrea looked up, "Sure."

Maureen went over and sat on the sofa, "I was wondering if we could have a girl talk."

Andrea loved that kind of thing, "Sure, what's on your mind?"

"You've got to promise to keep this a secret."

"Of course," was her mother's reply.

Maureen started by talking about herself, "Mom I'm twenty-four and I've only fooled around twice in my life, and neither one of those times were what I'd call particularly fulfilling."

Her mom asked, "You want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but I guess a little background wouldn't hurt. First, there was a time in high school; I was a sophomore and the boy, you remember Freddie, he was a junior. I was sort of confused, and he was smooth. Well he got me. I didn't like it, and refused to do it again. He got even by spreading it all around that I was some kind of promiscuous whore. It sort of ruined high school I guess."

Andrea interjected, "Your dad and I remember."

Maureen went on, "No big deal. I got over it. The second time I was in college, a freshman. Somebody put something in my drink, and I ended up on my back in one of the bedrooms at a fraternity house."

Her mom commented "You father and I knew something had happened."

Maureen added, "Yeah, that's why I changed schools. Decided men were toxic, and couldn't be trusted."

Her mom asked, "How do you feel now?"

Maureen said, "Well until a few days ago I still believed that. Then I met Cal. I don't know something clicked. He's so helpless, and he's so forthright. Noble I guess, and I felt like I have this special connection. I can't explain it."

"You want me to help?"

Maureen laid it on the table, "Cal's never been with a woman. He's a virgin, at least he said he was, and I believe him."

Andrea interrupted, "That's a pretty old line honey."

Maureen quipped back, "Yeah that's what I thought for maybe two seconds, but it's true. He really is a virgin. Not only that he's about as backward as they come. He's amazing. There's no one like him."

"You want to make love," that wasn't a question, just a comment from her mother.

"I do, and he does too, but mom, we're both pretty new at this. I was wondering..."

Her mother interrupted, "Your father and I were awfully young. I think your father had a little experience, but not much. You want to know, not what to do, but how to proceed."

Maureen answered, "Yes, I guess so."

Her mother suggested, "Do it here, in your bedroom. I'll go out one night, and that will leave the house empty. You bring him home, and just do it here."

Maureen had started to say something, but her mother held up her hand and stopped her, "its safe here, no threats, no special scenery, there won't be any expectations. He'll feel more comfortable, and so will you. The only advice other than that I can give is to ask him to go slow and be gentle, though from what I've seen I don't think there will be a problem in that area."

Maureen gave her mother a hug, "How about tomorrow night?"

Her mom answered, "Sounds good." Then she added, "Is there anything else about Cal?"

Maureen was surprised by the question, "Like what?"

Her mom answered, "Oh nothing."

Maureen asked, "You know something I don't?"

Andrea changed the subject, "You two are starting the gazebo for your father tomorrow?"

Maureen answered, "Yeah."

Her mom added, "Cal's grandfather's stopping over tomorrow."

Maureen's curiosity, maybe some suspicions, were piqued, "Why's he coming over."

Her mom answered, "We're old friends. He just wants to talk, get reacquainted that's all."

Maureen kissed her mom goodnight and ambled on back to her bedroom, got undressed and slid under the covers. Though she was tired she didn't go right to sleep. There were some things on her mind, new things. Why would Cal's grandfather be coming over? Did they know something? What if Cal's grandfather had done something with her mom? Was Cal her brother or something? No that was crazy.

Maureen tossed and turned. She just kept asking her self stupid questions and trying to put things together. She'd been hurt really bad when she was a baby. They'd sent her away someplace. She remembered the doctors and the nurses. She was gone for a long time; didn't come home till she was in the third grade. She had to use crutches all the time. She didn't remember much before that. It was like a lot of her life had been erased, and she couldn't get it back.

Finally she drifted off to sleep, but she kept dreaming. She woke up a couple times crying. She kept dreaming about a little girl being bent and twisted around, and how much things hurt. She'd had those dreams before, and her mother had always consoled her that it had been the therapy.

There were other dreams that night. She didn't believe in reincarnation or anything like that, but it was about a princess, and dragons, and this prince. She just couldn't figure it out. It was a troubled sleep she had that night.

Cal went home and jumped in the sack. He couldn't get to sleep either. He remembered things about that house, Maureen's house. He'd been there before. That fucking sofa. He'd been there before. The damned old rotted porch. This week wasn't the first time he'd been on it. He finally drifted off to sleep, but he dreamed a lot that night too. He woke up a couple times. That was unusual. What was wrong with him?

The next morning Cal got to Maureen's early. She was already up. Andrea was up too, and thought both the kids looked tired. She wondered how much work would get done.

The young people went outside and started measuring off the area. Cal got a shovel and started prodding the ground. The soil was rocky, and he didn't see any reason why he should to try to break through a ton of rock just to pour a few bags of concrete.

Cal talked it over with Maureen and explained what he planned to do. He'd dig out the footers with a post hole digger, and fill the holes in all the way to the surface with concrete. He'd use a special metal cleat on the bottom of each four by four. That way, he explained, no wood would be underground, and the bottom of each vertical four by four would also be off the ground.

Cal measured off where he wanted to put the footers. He had the holes figured out pretty good. It was a great location. If they got the holes dug and concrete poured today, they could come back in two days and start framing the thing up. With luck it would be done in seven or eight days, barring rain.

He wanted to pour a sidewalk from the porch to the gazebo, and saw there were already fragments of an old sidewalk emanating from the porch. He used the old sidewalk as his first reference. He measured out and locked in on where he thought the first footer should go. He took a long crow bar, a six footer, and started plunging it into the soil.

Right away he had a problem. He'd hit rock. He took a shovel and dug around a little to see how bad it was. To his surprise he didn't find a rock. He'd found an old footer. There had been something out here before; maybe a shed or something. He dug the old footer out and showed it to Maureen; their first labor saving break!

He measured off for the next footer, plunged down with the crow bar and to his surprise, he found yet another footer. This was unusual, since it was not in a place he'd expect if there had been an old shed there. Still two footers were better than none.

He measured off the next distance, started digging, and to his surprise he found a third concrete footer. This was amazing! He stopped digging, and re-measured where he expected all the footers to be. He should have done that after the second footer discovery anyway. Everywhere he measured he dug, every where he dug he found another concrete footer.

Maureen and he looked at what they'd found. All the footers he needed were all already there. Not only had there been another building there, but it looked like the other building had been a gazebo, just what they were building, and to the same proportions!

It was an amazing coincidence.

Cal told Maureen, "Honey I'm not trying to back out of anything, but I'm dead dog tired. I just couldn't get to sleep last night. Now we have these old footers, that will make us two days ahead. What do you say we knock it off till tomorrow morning?"

Maureen was tired too, "I didn't sleep last night either. Let's just veg out the rest of the day."

Cal smiled. She was a life saver.

Maureen added, "What do you say if you spent the night here. My mom's going out, and she'll be gone all night. You can sleep over here; then you won't have to drive all the way home and back. I'll fix breakfast for us tomorrow."

Cal looked at Maureen. He started thinking. Her mother won't be home, how nice, "You're smart. I'll get some things later. We can watch an old movie, and get a good night's sleep for a busy day tomorrow."

They hugged. Both knew more was going to happen that night than a good sleep and an old movie.

Around 11:00 Cal's grandfather, Jared, got to Maureen's. He saw his grandson and the young woman walking around. It looked like they'd found the footers to the old gazebo. He wondered if they knew what they were doing.

He walked over, "How's the new skyscraper coming along?"