Covet

An anguished look appeared on Jeannie's face and she related the horror story of driving cross country in the truck. How she had countless irate drivers honk at her when she was forced to stop for gas, food, or potty breaks. Her unfamiliarity with driving a truck had caused a number of traffic jams at gas stations, fast food places, and motels. Usually she would suffer humiliations and profanities hurled at her until somehow she would solve her dilemma.

"And now I have to return the truck cross country!" she cried as she explained the U-haul store insisted she return the truck to their location.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and placated her. "Jeannie, I'll take care of taking the truck back to them."

She looked at me in shock, "Mark, I can't let you do that!"

"Jeannie, you can't subject your kids to another trip like that! I can take care of this. Don't worry about the truck; it's not like I'm going to steal it and you know where I live."

She continued to argue for another couple of hours until my logic finally won out and she gave me all the rental papers. She asked when I would start to leave on my trip. I told her it would be around nine a.m. She said if I was leaving that early maybe we ought to call it a night. As we stood up she gave me an impulsive hug and kissed me on the cheek goodnight. She was inside before I could even react. I had a warm glow as I walked home.

The next morning I knocked on Jeannie's door, as she opened it, I was beset with twin typhoons hugging my legs, calling me Mr. Mark. I laughed and picked them both up and carried them inside. Jeannie nervously handed me the keys and an envelope full of $20 dollar bills. She explained it was for gas money and a bus ticket to get back home.

"Mark, please be careful!" she told me as I fired up the truck and backed the trailer and truck down the drive. "When will you be back?" she asked.

I smiled, "Sooner than you think."

I drove toward the interstate and right before I got to the on ramp, I turned into the local U-haul store. I walked inside and saw the person I wanted to deal with. "Hi Mark, what's up?" as the store manager shook my hand.

"Hi Perry, I'm returning a truck for a friend."

I handed him the paperwork and he studied it. "Mark, this says this was supposed to be a roundtrip rental. The truck and trailer are due to be back there."

"Well Perry, things have changed and this needs to be a one-way rental and I'll pay whatever extra is due for changing the terms."

"Okay, let me clear this with the originating store."

While I waited, I noticed Perry engaged in an escalating conversation with the party on the other end, finally, he yelled he would damn well accept delivery of the trailer and truck and slammed the phone down.

As he walked to me he said, "Not a word from you, Mark!"

I just smiled and handed him the keys as he inspected the truck and then a credit card to cover the change from a roundtrip rental to a one way. He handed me a receipt and I violated his order and thanked him. Then I went outside and called a taxi.

Thirty minutes later found me getting out of the cab in front of my house. As luck would have it Kay and Billy were playing outside once they saw me, cries of "Mr. Mark!" filled the air. A grimy Jeannie came outside to investigate her eyes widened in surprise to see me.

"What happened? Please don't tell me you had an accident!"

I laughed and told her I was back from dropping off the truck and trailer at the local U-haul store.

She frowned, "But, back home they told me when I rented the truck, I had to contract it for a roundtrip; they weren't going to let me have it unless I returned it."

"Jeannie, when I talked to the local U-Haul manager, he called them and explained the change in circumstances and got them to agree to allow him to accept the delivery of the truck."

Okay, it was a lie, but, it didn't hurt anyone except the jackasses that rented the truck and it solved a problem. At any rate, Jeannie smiled as I gave her the receipt which signified the transaction was complete.

"Looks like you're having fun" as I indicated the dirty garb she had on. She told me that she was underestimating the complexities the house was presenting. I told her if it got too bad to come over and get me and I'd help her out. I then gave back to her the envelope of cash she had given me that morning and walked back to my house.

Despite losing half the morning, I soon had the entire second floor stain applied and started on the first floor. The therapeutic release that activity gave me was now being counterbalanced by thinking of the enticing blonde next door. I realized that I was humming as I applied the stain. It had been a long time since I ever felt like humming.

A knock on the door brought an end to my humming and I opened the door to an anxious Jeannie.

"I have a plumbing emergency! There's water leaking under my toilet. Can you help me?"

"Let me grab some tools and I'll be right over, Jeannie."

I quickly gathered up all the tools I suspected I would need and went next door. Kay and Billy were waiting for me at the door and shouted the arrival of Mr. Mark to the world. They led me upstairs to the master bedroom where I found Jeannie in the bathroom wiping up water furiously with a towel and handwringing it into the sink.

Setting my tools down, I knelt down and turned the water off at the valve. I then flushed the commode to empty the tank and bowl. That brought another flood of water to leak out of the toilet. I told Jeannie that I would handle it from here. She moved away and tried to remove the bra and panties hanging from the shower rod without me noticing. I pretended not to see her doing it as she walked behind me and stood in the doorway.

From practice, I quickly had the tank disconnected from the waterline and removed from the bowl. Then the bowl was off and as I suspected the wax ring had failed. I removed the remnants of the old wax ring and replaced it with a spare ring I had from my own renovations. All the while I was explaining what I was doing to Jeannie.

I caulked around the lip of the bottom of the bowl and carefully placed the bowl on top of the flange. I pressed down on the bowl and told Jeannie to come sit down on the toilet lid. She giggled as I told her that her weight would assure that the wax ring would seal properly. As I moved around her screwing the bolts to the flange screws, I got the crazy idea of just prying open her long shapely legs and burying my head in her blue jeans clad muff.

Even after I was sure the ring had sealed, I kept her sitting there despite the awkward positions I had to undergo. Finally, I had to tell her to get up so I could reattach the tank. Soon it was bolted on and I turned the water back on and did a test flush. There was no rush of water this time and Jeannie gave a yell of victory.

I then finished with another bead of caulking around the bottom of the bowl. After that it was just a matter of mopping and cleaning up. She moved to hug me but I indicated my sodden clothes.

"Well, let me wash them!" she cried.

I reminded her I would be running around naked and she blushed. She said she would like to treat me to a meal; but, without her car she hadn't had a chance to shop for groceries; she and the kids would be surviving on delivery establishments. I told her, if she liked, I would go home and shower and take them out for supper. She was concerned that they were imposing on me too much. I told her not to think any such thing and I would be there at six pm to take them out,

Come six pm, I pulled in their garage and they came out to the car. Jeannie expressed surprise that I had gone and bought two children booster seats for Kay and Billy. We got the kids situated and I took them to a nice Italian restaurant. I continued to get acquainted with my new neighbors as Kay and Billy took turns telling me things.

Jeannie just sat and smiled as her two darlings continued to ingrain themselves into my heart. A couple of times they divulged some personal information which caused Jeannie to blush and quickly steer the conversation into another direction. After the meal I took them for ice cream at a place that had a children's play area.

We watched as they romped with the other kids playing. The sheer look of love on Jeannie's face as she watched her children was the look that artists have tried to capture since the dawn of civilization. She noticed my staring at her and diverted her attention back to me.

"So, you like me, Jeannie Harris!" I teased her.

She immediately blushed, "My God, I wanted to sink in the earth when Kay blurted that out!"

From that point, our conversation segued into a number of topics, including why Jeannie didn't have her car. She explained, her brother, who was an engineer, would be returning from duty overseas and he would be driving her car to them. Until then they would be renting a car starting tomorrow.

"Nonsense, just borrow mine," I said, "I rarely drive it anyway since I'm usually in my truck." And again, we argued until I finally convinced her that by borrowing my car was the cheapest, expedient solution to her problem.

When we started home the kids drifted to sleep almost immediately worn out from their exertions. On the way I pointed out the various controls and features of the car to Jeannie as she quietly took it all in. I parked in her drive and gathered Kay in my arms as Jeannie unlocked the house. I put her on the bed and Jeannie went to tucking her in.

I went and got Billy and Jeannie was waiting as I put him to bed. Once again she fussed over him and I realized that I missed that part of raising a family. The sadness must have been showing because Jeannie had a worried look on her face as she looked at me. I tried to assure her that I was okay; but, I think she knew different. As I placed my car keys in her hand, she gently touched my cheek with her other hand and raising up on tiptoes gave me a soft goodnight kiss.

I couldn't be sure, but, I think I levitated all the way back to my home.

Monday, found me back at my job but I couldn't concentrate because of thinking of Jeannie. I turned off my computer and began doing any number of oddjobs around the house including finishing the staining of the first floor.

So in that way it was a good day as the number of house projects continued to dwindle. It wasn't that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but, I was quickly approaching the tunnel, nonetheless. I heard voices calling for Mr. Mark before the knock on the door. I grinned as I opened the door.

"Mr. Mark, come eat with us!" the two kids chimed as Jeannie invited me to partake of their first home cooked meal. I asked for 15 minutes for a quick shower and she said they would be waiting.

When I arrived, the dining room table was filled with fried chicken, southern fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy, corn, and black-eyed peas. The scent of a warm apple pie also announced its presence. Both kids argued they wanted to sit by me and Jeannie said the only way to solve that was for me to sit at the head of the table. The kids sat on either side of me and Jeannie sat opposite me.

The kids said grace and then we all buried ourselves in the meal. I stuffed myself with the fabulous food and groaned as a slice of apple pie a la mode appeared before me, Somehow, I finished off every delicious morsel and then I was drafted to play a number of children games for the rest of the evening.

Nine p.m. came and the children trudged off to bed with Jeannie following them. Halfway up, she stopped and invited me upstairs. I went up and read a bedtime story to Billy; while Jeannie did the same for Kay. As they slept, we sneaked downstairs and Jeannie put on a pot of coffee. As it brewed, we both began to clean up from the meal and soon had everything in order.

She poured a large ceramic mug full for me and asked how I took it. When I told her black; she wrinkled her nose as she poured cream into hers. She handed me the mug and we walked outside to the porch swing. It was an unseasonably agreeable November night as we sipped the steaming coffee.

We started talking about Kay and Billy and before I knew it I was telling her about Susan and Brian. Then the floodgates spilled open as I told her about the flaming wreck my family and my life was. When I finished, Jeannie's eyes pooled with tears of sympathy for me and she placed her head on my torso and began consoling me. It was pleasant to have someone that had empathy for what I had been going through.

Then in a quiet soft voice she told me what brought her and the children cross country. She had lived the ideal childhood; was the homecoming queen and married her childhood boyfriend. They went off to college and got their degrees and then began to raise their family.

Somewhere along the line the train had run off the tracks. They began to argue mostly about his flirtations with other women. The flirtations escalated to full-blown affairs and the arguments became physical. Luckily, the children were too young to understand the drama that was unfolding.

The "D" word figured more and more into Jeannie and her husband's conversations when they were talking to one another. Then came the fateful call one night from the police. A young woman driver had been killed in a one car accident. Thrown out of the wreckage was her deceased husband. From all indications, they were involved in a sexual act at the time of the accident.

From that point was the hellish existence of dealing with the situation. Her in-laws blamed Jeannie; the dead girl's family blamed Jeannie and to a certain point; Jeannie blamed Jeannie. The estate slowly moved through probate as the in-laws legal maneuvers continued to eat into her late husband's assets.

Then, the family of the dead girl filed a lawsuit and Jeannie was forced to counter sue. Somehow she waded through the gauntlet and when all the dust was settled she decided for a clean break. She had researched all regions of the country to relocate and karma had led her to my neighborhood.

She had used all her money to purchase her house and now all she had left was the promise of a job in the school district and an underperforming hedge fund account that she would be forced to dip into to cover her expenditures until she started her job. One thing she hadn't counted on were the house repairs that needed to be done, that was also eating away at her savings. Through it all, she still had no regrets for moving here.

We sat there silently contemplating as the swing slowly swept back and forth. Then I told her I wanted to look at her hedge fund account. I told her I was sure that I could get her stock portfolio back onto a successful track. She got up and went inside the house, a few minutes later, she returned carrying a file. I took the papers and told her I would look at them overnight. She told me to keep them and bring them back over tomorrow night when we sat down for supper. Then she gave me another goodnight kiss.

As soon as I got home I started studying her hedge fund account and became aware of all the unethical ways the manager used to enrich himself. Not only was he a crook; but, he was an incompetent one based on his selection of stocks to invest in. I had no doubt that I could effect a 30% positive change in her account in the first year alone. I began to redline things to point out to Jeannie tomorrow and went to bed still thinking about her kiss.

Suppertime found me at Jeannie's for another tasty meal, followed by more children games and bedtime readings. This time I read Kay to sleep and tucked her in and told her goodnight.

The night was colder and precluded being outside and I would need the use of the table anyway to spread out my analysis, spreadsheets and projections for Jeannie. I had it all laid out as she came downstairs and made another pot of coffee.

She asked me what I found out. I told her that she was being cheated and that I could help her. As I began to explain in detail, she started walking into the den. I asked her what was wrong. She replied nothing was wrong. That she trusted me and therefore there was no reason for me to explain things. Now she wanted me to come into the den and relax. I followed her in and we sat and talked into the night as the fire died out in the fireplace.

I realized despite the age difference that in the short time I knew Jeannie I was so much more comfortable with her than I had been with Denise as we kissed goodnight. I left with her signature to authorize me taking over her stock account and a standing invitation to supper.

As soon as I woke up I began to get Jeannie's financial situation stabilized. I called her former broker and told him that he was fired and I was now handling the account. He started getting disagreeable until I mentioned that perhaps I needed to make a call to the SEC. Those magic words brought an entire change in attitude and I got him to agree to reimburse Jeannie every fee he had charged on her account to the tune of $5,000. Within minutes, I had an electronic confirmation of the change in her account. Not bad, for ten minutes of work.

I then began to restructure her portfolio; dumping some real loser stocks and reinvesting into some blue chips stocks. The remainder I put into aggressive, volatile stocks which would require constant monitoring, but handled properly would give her a great return. Even better, I would not be charging her a broker fee on any of the transactions. By the end of the day's trading I was pleased by what I performed.

I went next door for supper with a happy heart. When I began to broach the subject to Jeannie, she stopped me and told me she trusted me and I needn't worry about giving a daily account. So I continued trading on her account and getting to see her every night.

Weekends were now spent showing her and the kids around the city instead of home projects. Well, that wasn't entirely correct, I was helping Jeannie at her house. Her house was in the same state of disrepair as mine had been in once I started. So my expertise came in handy as we would discuss a problem; I would offer a number of solutions; and Jeannie would decide.

Jeannie also decided at what pace our relationship progressed. Our good night kiss soon became make out sessions once the kids were asleep. She only allowed me to get to second base, because she felt uncomfortable doing anything while the kids were asleep upstairs. But just to hold that wonderful body next to mine was enough for me even if I went home every night with blue balls.

Then, Jeannie's brother, Ray and his family arrived with her car. We grilled steaks as he and I got acquainted. I could tell Jeannie would be asking him what he thought of me and I wanted it to be an honest opinion, so I didn't try any pretense with him.

"Ray, I'm just going to put this out there for you. I'm in love with Jeannie, and I intend to marry her whenever she is ready. She is the best thing that ever happened to me and I treasure every moment I'm with her. I know she values your opinion and I realize we just met and you don't know me that well yet. But, give me time and I'll prove to you how much I care for her."

"Mark, I know from the first day you met that you have been there for Jeannie and the kids. She cares very much for you and I think the two of you belong together. But, understand if you ever hurt her like that son of a bitch did, then you and I will be having a very unpleasant meeting."

With that we clicked beer bottles and brought the steaks inside. After the meal, Billy and Kay took their cousins upstairs as Jeannie and I talked with Ray and his wife. Our talk got to the point where Ray and Jeannie began talking about embarrassing moments from their childhood. Jeannie would scream in jovial protest as Ray continued all night.