Come Home With Me Pt. 01

"You looking for that brunette who was with you?" I nodded. "She left with that young lawyer Steve what's his name, has an office off of Broadmore I think. He moved in the minute you left for the men's room. He's one of them coke heads you know, no telling what he promised her."

Sure enough, what few clothes I'd bought her were not in the car. And before you ask, no, most folks in the area don't Iock their cars any more than they do their home. I drove to the Enterprise place with a grin on my face, she had mentioned she liked the nose candy, I didn't want it in my life and damned sure not in my house. Oh well, those two should make an interesting couple. I laughed as I thought, "Not my circus, not my monkey", she was on her own as far as I was concerned. It felt so good to climb in my trusty old truck, the house was warm and the bed welcomed my tired body.

I hit the diner for breakfast considering the fridge was bare, following breakfast I intended to do a decent grocery shopping. My favorite waitress was on morning shift, I wondered why she'd have been working the night before as well. When she put the coffee down I touched her arm, causing her to look at me.

"What's up Deedee, why are you working this morning when you normally work nights?"

She looked around as she bent toward me, as if she were going to tell me something on the qt, "Sylvia called in sick this morning. Pisses me off, she was with that lawyer and your lady friend at the bar last night, I'm sure those idiots were wasted by nights end. I saw them when I stopped to get my brother Lou, he cooks there at night."

I put my hand up, "Whooooaaa, she's not my lady friend, I gave her a ride and that's all. No hanky panky, not messin around, not even a hug. Unh-uh, she aint nuthin to me, Steve what's his name can have her and all the trouble she brings his way. I've got Elmer the dog, he sleeps in the barn and he's all the company I need right now."

"In the barn? Isn't that kind of cold for him?"

"Hell, he's got lotsa hay to snuggle in. I tried to get him to come inside but he doesn't want to. I guess he's got a mind of his own. They were partyin hardy huh? I can only imagine where that mess is gonna end up, thank God she's outa my hair."

As I pulled into the yard old Elmer was making his way up from the creek, there was a spot where the creek ran fast enough it never froze, that seemed to be his favorite place to get a drink. He was a mangy old mutt that wandered in one day, I felt sorry for him and fed him, he never left, which was okay, he was no bother. I put food out every few days, he'd eat what he wanted and leave the rest for later. I put away the groceries, donned some warm clothes and hopped on the older used skidder I'd bought for a song.

I'd been cutting and skidding pulp wood most of the winter months, with several cord stacked it was time to get the last of it out of the woods before the swamp areas thawed. I'd contracted with a guy to haul for me when I returned, the paper mills were still buying, the price was reasonable, and, it was time to cash in before the spring thaw. There'd be no going into the wetter wooded areas after that and no hauling either with the road bans until the frost was out of the ground. Yep, I had money in the bank, and with the windfall from my old man I now had lots of money, but I'm not one to sit on my laurels, I needed to be busy. Besides, that timber needed to be harvested so new growth had a chance. By the second week of April all the timber had been shipped, the haulers paid in full and there was money in my pocket.

With the weather beginning to warm I had a hankering to ride, I had barely ridden the entire summer before with all the remodeling, but it was still too damned cold to ride where I lived. When the cold weather had begun to set in I didn't want my bike sitting in the cold even though it would be in the shed. I had purchased a 6x10 enclosed trailer and parked it in the shed, put the bike inside, installed a small electric heater set up to maintain a minimum of forty degrees and closed the door for the winter. You never know what early spring will bring regarding weather, I decided to pull the trailer with the bike inside until I got to a warmer climate to ride. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I wanted to be on the road by the end of April.

I knew the lady two miles down the road had a teenage son and wondered if he might be interested in feeding Elmer while I was gone. Stopping in one evening I talked it over with his mom, who immediately said he'd do it, he could go each day on his four-wheeler, he didn't look all that enthused. When I mentioned I would gladly pay him his demeanor changed instantly. I explained all he'd need to do was put out food, Elmer would take care of the rest. His mother was a good-looking woman, I was surprised it was only she and the boy. She'd lost her husband in the battle for Falluja and had never found another man, her son Eli was her main focus in life other than working as a nurse at an Urgent Care Clinic.

With things in place for Elmer I began contemplating where I should go. The answer came in a phone call early one evening, the caller was none other than a precious little sweetheart named Lili.

"Hi, is this mister Martin? This is Lili."

"Hi Lili, this is mister Martin, it's so good to hear your voice. What can I do for you sweetheart?

"Mama, he called me sweetheart. Is that okay?" I heard Adrian tell her it was fine.

She continued, "My dance recital is in three weeks, I want you to come watch me. Mama says it's cold where you live, it's warm and sunny here. Then you can give me a ride on your motorcycle if mama says it's okay."

"You know what Lili, I just might do that. Can I talk with your mother?"

"Okay, love you Martin. G-night."

I found myself in a daze thinking of what that little girl had just said, "love you Martin", as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Adrian came on the line.

"Hi Martin, she's done nothing but talk about Martin her giant friend since you left last spring. I know this is all of a sudden and out of the blue, but she so wanted to invite you to her recital. If you can't do it, I'll tell her something and sooth the temporary wounds. I fully understand it's short notice and a long way to travel to watch a gaggle of seven-year-old girls try to stay in step. But if you could, your old room is available and I'm sure Lili will lend you Fred or Alice while you're here."

I laughed, "An invitation like that would be awfully hard to ignore, with Alice and Fred tossed in as incentive I'd be hard pressed to say no wouldn't I? It's interesting she called, I'm ready for a road trip somewhere warm, Eureka sounds like the perfect place. If I stay two weeks will that be too long?"

She sounded happy, "Heavens no, two weeks will be fine, I can't imagine you'll be here more than a few days between rides. That'll give everybody space. My mom had a saying, "visiting friends and fresh fish are a lot alike, after three or four days they begin to stink", so a break every few days will work out well. Any idea when you'll come?"

Now that I had somewhere to go it was easy to answer, "I'm planning to leave this coming Monday, if I find warm temps I'll stop and ride a day or two, if not I'll drive straight through. Anywhere from three days to a week I suppose."

"That sounds good. Stay in touch as you travel Martin, we'll see you soon. Lili will be so excited."

I spent the next two days getting the trailer and bike ready, Eli was coming down each day and rapidly making good friends with Elmer, it was like the dog belonged to him. On Saturday evening I went into town for supper, I had little left at home to fix and I sure didn't want to do a shopping two days before I left. When I pulled in at my favorite diner I noticed an SUV with Arizona plates in the handicapped section. Entering I knew why, across the room sat Ann and the daughter who had originally come to get her mother months ago. Ann stood gingerly and waved me to their table.

With a long tender hug, a soft kiss and her smooth hand on my cheek she gushed, "It's so good to see you Martin. You look healthy. Is all going well?"

I held her chair as she sat down then grabbed one for myself. The daughter didn't look all that pleased. I extended my hand.

"Hi, I'm Martin."

She shook my hand, "I'm Shelley, I'm well aware of who you are. Mother has done nothing but talk about you since we left the driveway headed north. If she didn't need to be here to sign some final papers I'd have never returned to this damned cold."

I gestured toward the parking lot, "I see you're in handicap parking. Are you okay Ann?"

"Oh that. Yes, I had a hip replaced right after I left and I still have my handicap placard. I get along good but after that long ride I didn't want to walk very far. Otherwise, I'm fit as a fiddle."

Shelley looked at her, "You are not fit as a fiddle mother, you're an old woman who needs to slow down."

We ate our meals around small talk and friendly banter, the topic of Ann and I knocking boots in the past slipped in the conversation from I'm not sure where, I think it was Ann. Shelley wanted to hear nothing about it, when Ann reached over to pat my hand Shelley stiffened.

"MOTHER." She wasn't loud but she was stern. "Don't be thinking there's going to be any of that while we're in town. Those foolish days are over."

Ann and I looked at one another and smirked, how did Shelley possibly know that was exactly what I had in mind, apparently that thought had been Ann's as well. With her left hand on mine and her right hand on Shelley's she looked Shelley dead on.

"Honey, I'm a big girl and I can do as I like. You go ahead back to the motel and get rested, Martin will bring me back in the morning."

With that she stood, took my hand pulling me to my feet and threw a fifty-dollar bill on the table as she led the way from the diner. Shelley hadn't said a word, her mouth was literally agape. I helped Ann into the truck and pulled onto the highway.

"Ann are you sure about this, I mean your hip and all?"

Sliding across the bench seat she put her hand on the inside of my thigh and inched it upward until her fingers touched my balls. Making a soft giggling noise she gave me a kiss.

"I'm more than sure Martin. I need to have you make love to me, there's no way around it. You just can't bend me certain ways, now, take me home and screw me."

Part two is done and being edited.