Esther and Me Ch. 02

"With a mother like that you must have been a wild child."

"Are you kidding? She was the strictest mother around. I had the earliest curfew of any of my friends, and she had to meet and flirt with every guy I went out with. If one of them even as so much as gave her the eye, he was history. You see my mother was hot by any gauge you want to measure her by. My mom's handprint was on more than a few faces of my father's friends and their sometimes-wandering hands. Like I said, she acted loose but never was. When dad sold his business and moved here, I was more than a little concerned, but after mom took charge I knew they'd be okay. Steve, my mother was and still is a strong and opinionated woman. If she likes you, she LIKES YOU! And if she doesn't, God help you."

The food was good, the conversation pleasant and the time slipped away. Two hours later we were back looking for her mom. She was still right where we left her with a beer in her hand.

"Well, did you two have a nice chat about me? I suppose you're now trying to figure out a way to put me in a nursing home for my own good, right?"

"Are you kidding me? We were looking for just the right guy so we can get you finally laid so you wouldn't be such a miserable asshole to everyone," I teased her with a big grin.

"See, I told you he was a cut above the rest; always looking out for everyone else instead of himself. So Steve, when are you moving in?"

"Esther, I don't want to impose, especially since you've got your daughter staying with you now."

"How many damn times do I have to say this, I've got the room and it's no imposition. And who am I going to drink with? These two are lightweights at best. Besides, you want to spend the night with that slut of yours? She's probably pounding some guy in your bed as we speak."

"Mother!"

"Hey girl, I'm just speaking the damn truth and he knows it. But if he wants to live with a fucking tramp, that's his business. Some guys get off on sharing their wives and letting them humiliate them. Me, I'd never put up with that, but to each their own."

"Steve, I'm sorry about that. Mom's probably had one or two too many beers and that's what is coming out of her mouth."

"No, it's okay. She's only saying what's been on my mind for the last week or so. Why don't I grab a few things and meet you at your house? I need a good night's sleep and I'm not going to get it in my house, that's for sure.

I told them I'd probably seen them in an hour and headed for home. I knew Sarah would want to talk again but right now I needed time away from her to figure out what I was going to do.

"Where have you been? I was worried about you," Sarah verbally pounced on me as soon as I walked in the door.

"Just up at the town square making a few arrangements," I told her.

"What arrangements?"

"Where I plan on spending the next few nights, if you must know."

"Why can't you just stay here? We can talk and work this out."

"You still don't get it do you? I'm not into sharing, never have, never will be. Do you think I can just overlook what you've done? And how in the hell can I look our supposed friends in the face knowing that you've probably slept with three quarters of their husbands not to mention how many other guys? I need time away from you to think about what I want to do."

"Doesn't it make any difference to you that I still love you?"

"Sarah, people who love one another, don't fuck other people behind their husband's backs. To me, you must have a really warped idea of what love is."

"Steve, I'll stop. I won't do it anymore."

"But for how long? Until I feel comfortable with you again or until a new guy comes along that you haven't tried out yet? You killed any trust I had in you." She just looked at me not knowing what to say.

You know the crazy thing about this? I was pissed at her and damn mad, but was angrier about losing what I'd accumulated over the last thirty plus years than losing my wife. What kind of sick uncaring fuck did that make me? I half expected that I'd want to kick all their asses and could have easily done it, or taken pleasure in kicking Sarah's ass to the curb, yet I think I looked at it like she just wasn't worth the trouble. However, losing the house and my savings was an entirely different matter. I guess I was just stalling for time in order to figure out my next move.

"I'm out of here for a couple of days. I just need to get away before I do something I might regret. Also, keep your fuck buddies out of my damn house if you don't want to see them pushing up daisies and for Christ's sakes, don't you or any of my supposed friends call me. You're the last people in the world I want to talk to right now. Hopefully the kids won't call so I don't have to explain to them what a round heeled slut their mother has become." I finished packing my suitcase.

"When will you be back?"

"I think the question should not be when but if, don't you?"

With my suitcase loaded in the car I headed out. Thankfully I had a GPS in the car because this complex had so many sub communities and little alcoves that I probably never would have found Esther's house without it. Even with the GPS it still took me over half an hour. Most of the nicer communities were gated with a guard out front and Esther's was no exception. I gave the guard my name and even before I had a chance to say whom I was here to see he opened the gate. She must have let him know I was coming.

Three left turns, one right, and all the way at the end of the cul-de-sac is where I found her house. It was well over twice the size of mine and looked a lot fancier. I grabbed my bag and rang the bell. Lucy smiled and let me in. Catherine and Esther met me two seconds later. Once inside, I was given the tour of the house.

It was shaped something like a horseshoe with a hook on one end. The living areas, kitchen and dining room were all in the front of the house once you walked in through the foyer. Esther and Lucy's bedrooms were in the wing off to the left and the wing to the right side almost completely wrapped around a crystal clear pool. A strange layout to be sure, it almost looked like the wing on the right had been an afterthought or an addition put on later. Esther showed me my room on the right side of the horseshoe. I especially liked that that location would give me privacy and access to the pool. Esther explained that Catherine had the room next to the pool on the other side of the house. Mine was directly across the pool from hers at the end of the right side of the house.

"Steve, don't expect me to wait on you hand and foot. Now, you know where the kitchen is and since you'll probably be gone before I get up in the morning Lucy will set the coffee pot so can have a cup before you leave if you like. There are always bagels and shit like that to eat in the refrigerator. If you want anything special give Lucy a list. We eat at six every night but if you are eating out make sure you let Lucy know so she doesn't fix something for you. That's it for the rules. Make all the damn noise you want, because by ten o'clock I'll be dead to the world, anyway. If I die at night, just make sure that that bitch Lucy doesn't steal me fucking blind before they put me in the ground." This was said in full earshot of Lucy who rolled her eyes at what she heard. Knowing Esther, Lucy was probably use to it.

We talked for a few minutes. Esther wanted to know every detail of what was happening between Sarah and me. She sure was a nosey old broad. Catherine just sat back sipping on her glass of wine. I guess she was use to all of this from her mother.

"Time for bed," Lucy said to Esther coming up behind her wheelchair.

"How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me, woman? It's not like your fat ass can't make some noise to warn me that you're back there. Shit, you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?"

"No ma'am, just trying to get you to bed, that's all."

"Remember what I said Steve, if I'm dead in the morning, the maid did it." Lucy steered her back to her room.

"Welcome to the madness," Catherine said with half a laugh. "Can you just imagine what I've had to endure all my life? Now it's like water rolling off a duck's back. Ninety percent of what she says or does is for effect or to get a rise out of people who don't know her as well as Lucy or me. Right now you're the center of her universe, so you're going to get the brunt of it."

"I don't mind, over the years I've grown skin thick enough that nothing is going to get through to hurt me."

"Even your wife?" I gave her a look. "I'm sorry, that was a little callus of me. I must have been around my mother too long."

"Don't worry, I'm all but over it. I guess she thought our life was too dull and needed to spice it up a bit. I think the one thing that still bothers me the most is that she's not even sorry. She seems to be sorry she got caught but not for doing what she did."

"Sounds like my ex. Maybe the two of them should get together. He basically blamed me for all his affairs. I guess I wasn't a big enough slut for him and wouldn't do all the crazy things he suggested. Do you know that some people get off by others peeing on them? Go figure. To me that was just plain gross."

"My one regret was that I let her plan most of our vacations. I'd always wanted to go on a cruise and we never did. She hated the thought of being stuck on a ship no matter how big it was. So we flew here and there and although it was fun, I would have loved to have just kicked back and done nothing for seven days. Let someone else cook and serve me for a change," I told her letting my mind wander.

"You'd like a cruise. My only problem with them was that my ex went there to score with anyone who would fall for his stupid lines. Why I stayed with him so long I'll never know. Mom must have told me to dump him twenty times. When she hired a private detective and got evidence of three ongoing affairs I finally cut him loose. And like I said, the reason he said he cheated was because I was a cold fish in the sack. How can you warm up to someone who has just left his latest girlfriend and wants to knock off another piece before he went to sleep? Please, I may have been horny, but I sure as hell didn't want to catch what he was most likely carrying."

I was hot and tired and needed to unpack. I excused myself and said that Friday morning was going to come too early and I'd better call it a night. I hung up all my clothes, flossed and brushed my skuzzy teeth. I was about to take a shower when I thought about the pool outside my door, what the hell. With all the lights out, dressed only in the skin on my back, I snuck outside and slipped into it the pool. It was cool and oh so refreshing. I floated on my back swam a lap or two and was just hanging on to the sides when I looked over towards Catherine's room.

Best I could figure she was somewhere around fifty-five, even though she looked younger. Her dark brown hair was cropped short and styled so it was probably easy to maintain. I think she had a pretty good body but was a little thick in the thighs. I wasn't sure, but she seemed to have more meat on her bones than Sarah. They both had similar blue-gray eyes but Catherine had much fuller lips, you know the puffy kind that was custom made for kissing. I wondered if she had done botox injections. I did one more lap and eased my unclad body out of the pool. That had been refreshing. I was going to sleep good after that, and I did.

Everyone except Lucy was asleep when I left around six thirty the following morning. There was a note on the counter with a house key and gate clicker. I picked up the note and read it, 'Figure you might need these.' I waved to the guard on my way out and spent the next eight and a half hours doing as little as possible to get through the day. I thought about taking Sarah off my medical and removing her as beneficiary of my 401K and company life insurance policy. Maybe next week, I thought to myself as I headed for my new digs. Even though I told her not to, Sarah still left me a voice message that she missed me and still loved me. I deleted it.

I clicked the gate open, drove to Esther's house, parked, and opened the front door. Upon entering I could smell something delicious cooking. Unlike the nights where there was a note on the microwave telling me where my dinner was, this was going to be a real home cooked meal. Roasted chicken breasts, baked potatoes, whole green beans, and a tossed green salad rounded out dinner. Cold watermelon with Cool Whip was the dessert of the night along with strong rich coffee. About six thirty Esther announced that we were all going to the town square.

"You two take the other golf cart," Esther told Catherine and me. Lucy moved Esther and her wheelchair outside to the garage and loaded them both into the other cart. I was impressed that Lucy would do this all by herself most every night. After five minutes of Esther whining and cursing the two of them were off with Catherine and me in close pursuit.

"Do you dance, Steve?" she asked me on the way there.

"I do, but I'm not great at it. I love to have a beautiful woman in my arms, and I can do a few of the slower dances, but I draw the line at country." She laughed. "You mean you can't even grapevine? When I gave her that don't even ask look, she said, "Okay, I'll drop the subject."

Esther was half finished with her first beer by the time we found a place to park. She had saved two chairs next to her for us.

"Can you believe it? Some old duffer wanted to steal these chairs even after I told him I was saving them for you. He told me that I wasn't allowed to save chairs. I told him that I'd kick his fucking ass if he laid one hand on them. He left but wasn't happy. I see your wife is here with all her friends," she said pointing across the square. "If I didn't know any better I'd swear she was trying to rub your nose in what she's doing." I didn't think she was right but nothing would surprise me at this point.

When a slow song started I reached over and asked a surprised Catherine to dance. She looked at me, then at Esther, and then stood up. We stayed on our side of the square and I did my best not to step on her toes. I didn't have to worry about her, because from her first step I could tell she was no novice. For a few minutes I thought she was even leading as we moved flawlessly across the square. Did I ask Catherine to dance because Sarah was here? Yes and no. Yes, because she was there, and no, because I wanted to know how Catherine would feel in my arms. It had been forever since I'd held or danced with another woman other than Sarah. When the song ended we made our way back to our chairs.

"You guys looked good out there together." Esther proclaimed when we got back to where she was sitting.

"Steve, I thought you said that you had two left feet. You don't dance half bad for an old man." Catherine tittered, but I really couldn't get mad since that is pretty what I told her. Catherine and I must have dance a half dozed times more. I even made it a point to dance nearer and nearer to Sarah's group. Sarah, on the other hand, danced almost every dance.

"Steve, I don't like to be used. It makes me feel cheap and dirty. So, unless you really want to dance with me instead of making your wife jealous I'd prefer you not asking me again."

"I guess I was trying to show her that I wasn't totally devastated, but I do enjoy dancing with you, believe it or not. You're not as boney as my wife." I regretted saying that as soon as it was out of my mouth.

"Not as boney? You're saying I'm fat?"

"Not at all, only that I don't have to worry about holding you tight. With Sarah I was always afraid I'd break a rib or two if I gave her a big squeeze."

"You need a lot of work on how to give a girl a compliment. The reasoning behind it is honest, it's just that your delivery really sucks." She was right. "Now let's try this again." As she repeated, "Why do you want to dance with me?"

"Because you're such a marvelous dancer and so light on your feet."

"Good recovery. You just might make it yet," she said laughing. Looking over we saw Esther waving at Lucy for another round. At just before nine we all called it a night. More than once Sarah watched me dancing with Catherine and at one point I thought she was going to walk over and talk to me. God, I'm glad she didn't.

At the house Esther said her good nights just before Lucy got her ready for bed. Lucy had asked me if I could look at a few things around the house that were in need of repair. I told her that Saturday I'd have the whole day and would gladly fix whatever needed fixing.

Catherine and I talked until almost midnight. She told me about her early days living with her mom and dad, which a must have been both comical and crazy all at the same time. We parted company and I went back to my room. For the second night in a row I stripped down and eased myself into the cool dark waters. There is nothing like being in the water on a hot night to bring your body temperature down. When Catherine's light went out I thought nothing about it until I noticed the curtains were still open. Thankfully it was dark or she probably would have seen me in my all together in the pool. I swam a few laps but mostly floated on my back. Twenty minutes later I was climbing out and making my way back to my room. My wife used to say I had no shame, but in my back yard no one could see, and here it was dark. Besides, the only rooms facing the pool were Catherine's and mine.

I did a million jobs Saturday. From fixing stuck doors, to realigning cabinets, to pulling a ton of hair out of the sink and tub drains. A few sprinkler heads needed replacing, and the leak under the kitchen sink also needed repairing. By three o'clock I was done with what I could do and was sitting by the pool, a Corona in hand.

"I knew I kept you around for a reason," Esther said rolling up on me. "I figured if you owned your own home you'd know how to fix a few of the things around here, and like always, I was right."

"Hasn't anyone done anything around here in the last ten years?"

"I had a maintenance guy for a while but he was screwing me over every month saying that he repaired this or that but was doing jack shit. After I let him go, I only brought out someone when something broke."

"Well, tomorrow I'm going to Home Depot to pick up a few things and fix the rest of the items." She smiled for a second and then got a serious look on her face. "Steve, I have access to a good lawyer and he's at your disposal. I told him about your situation and he will do all the paperwork at no charge to you. However, he made one suggestion but you may or may not like it. He told me if you're concerned about losing half of what you own, to just do nothing."

"Nothing?" I replied.

"That's right, nothing. She can live her life and you can live yours. Take her off everything you can, take half of the money in your checking and savings account, and live separate lives. If there is no divorce you still own half of the house and can say what goes on there even if you don't live there. And if down the road something happens, oh well you've got time to hide what you're making now. It's not perfect and she doesn't get what she wants. That is, unless you want to go back to her. You don't, do you?"

"Not a chance in hell but I'll need to get out the few items I want to save."

"Steve, it's still your house. The lawyer told me that you could come and go as you please." I liked the idea. "You're more than welcome to stay here, and instead of rent all you have to do is maintain this place. What do you think?"

"You know Sarah is going to start pushing me to come home or at least make a decision about us. I can't stall her forever."