The Touch Ch. 18

"But.....?" I prompted.

"But..... he went back to University and has only been home once since then, he doesn't write or 'phone. I know now that it was a mistake and I think that he feels that way too, but I can't break it off without seeing him face to face ... that would not be fair, would it?"

"No," I agreed, "You are probably right."

"That isn't why I wouldn't screw with you, though," she added cheerfully, "I just don't put it out on the first date, ever. Not even for guys that I really fancy and have lusted after for years!" She leaned in close and gave me a brief kiss on the lips. "I might have made an exception in your case .... But it just wasn't going to happen this week-end, you know... monthly problems."

"You didn't need to.... You know..." I mumbled guiltily. She had given me a fantastic hand job and all I had given her was dinner.

"Oh, yes I did, I wanted to," she giggled, "besides; I need to keep you coming back for more, now that I've found you again .... You will come back, won't you, Jamie?"

"Absolutely!" I said with a laugh, "Only next time, how about I give you some fun and you provide dinner?"

It was ten-thirty and the landlord of the pub was calling 'time' so we left and I drove her back to the stables. We sat in the car for ten minutes by the main gate just quietly and comfortably snogging and then I watched her walk up to the coach house, turn and wave and then go in.

It was after eleven by the time that I got home. I could see the light on in Emma's bedroom window as I pulled up the drive, so I guessed that she had gone to bed. Mum was in the sitting room on the settee in her dressing gown, her feet curled up under her with a glass in her hand and an almost empty bottle of wine on the coffee table.

"Hello darling!" She greeted me, "Get a glass and help me finish this bottle."

I poured what remained of the wine into a glass and sat down beside her. I could see that something was wrong and that she wanted to talk to me. I mentally crossed my fingers and hoped that it wasn't a problem with Emma again.

"There is something that I need to talk to you about," she said. I didn't say anything but she looked worried and so I just look hold of her hand and squeezed it gently to encourage her to continue.

"Maggie and I went into Salisbury to see Marsha Olsen, her divorce lawyer, on Friday," she said then continued in a rush, "I've decided to start divorce proceedings against your father as we have now been separated for over three years!"

I really wasn't upset or concerned by the news, if anything I was relieved; it had to happen sooner or later and Mum needed to make a clean break and get on with her life. "I'm glad, Mum," I told her, "I didn't want to be the one to suggest it but it's the best thing for you, and me and everybody."

She leaned against me, her head on my shoulder, and I realised that she was sobbing quietly. I put my arm around her shoulder and just held her close my face buried in her soft hair and planted tiny comfort kisses on the top of her head.

"Have you told Emma yet?" I asked, if there was going to be a problem then it would be with my sister, she had taken it really badly when Dad left, and had only just got over it. Mum's news might well open old wounds.

"Not yet, that is what has been worrying me!" she replied, "I was hoping that you would be there with me when I told her. Will you?" I nodded affirmation, "Also," she went on, "Marsha Olsen wants to see me at her London office on Wednesday, to sign papers, will you come up to town with me for support?"

"Of course I will," I said, "Afterwards we can get tea somewhere nice and then I'll buy you an outfit to go out in. I promised you a night out somewhere soon and it will give you an excuse to wear it." At that moment in time I would have promised her anything, and delivered everything just to see her happy again.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Jamie," she whispered and twisted so that she was half facing me and could reach her face up to kiss me on the cheek. I leaned back so that I was lying on the couch with my head on the arm and drew her down beside me lying half across me in the crook of my arm with her head on my shoulder.

We lay like that unmoving, for a long time until both of us were starting to doze lightly, and I suddenly realised that the fantasies in my head were not a dream but real. Mum was lying against me, more than half asleep, and our lips were pressed together in a very light and gentle kiss, the tips of our tongues just touching. The warm weight of her body had given me an erection which was pressed against her leg and my hand was gently caressing her breast through the thick fabric of her towelling robe. I'm not sure that she was really aware of how our bodies were responding to each other any more than I had been, but it felt so good and I did not want it to stop.

Then I realized what had woken me up, it was Emma moving about upstairs, probably going to the bathroom, and I knew that if she saw the sitting room light still on she would likely come down to investigate. I eased myself up and gently moved Mum into a sitting position and realised that she had not really been asleep at all.

"Time to go to our beds," I stated simply.

"Mmmmm, yes ....a pity ...that was really nice...." She murmured sleepily, but got up and then put her arms around me and kissed me softly on the mouth, keeping our lips together just a second or two too long. "Goodnight, sweetheart," she whispered and then went upstairs. I waited until I heard her door close and then put the lights out and went to my own room.

I was really grateful that Janice had drained me dry in the shower earlier, if she hadn't I was sure that I would not have been able to control my feelings or my urges on that couch with Mum and I was not at all sure that she would have stopped me!