Finding Happiness After Love Dies

I tried to call my old office two times during the next few days but they refused to return my calls. Two weeks later I received a letter from the Personnel Office stating that they had no position for me and they had found my termination to be at my request and legal. The letter also said since I had voluntarily left their employ I had to reapply for a job with them if I desired to work for the company.

When I received the letter from the Personnel Office I contacted legal council and turned my reemployment problems over to them. I filed for my unemployment benefits and sat back to enjoy my summer. I continued in the reserves and even took several short tours of active duty for training. When I was not going to reserves I worked in my garden, sat on the riverbank, fished, swam some and watched the canoes float past my little slice of heaven. I began to recognize some of the people who floated past my home and we began to wave. There was one group of older people—mid thirties I would guess—that seemed to be pretty friendly. They would come by almost every weekend and sometimes during the week. They would always wave. Most of the time they would shout a greeting. The first three weeks or so there were two men and two women. They used two canoes and there were a male and female in each. The last several weeks there were usually the same two canoes but now one of them had two women in it and the other had the same man and woman.

One day I was sitting fishing and the two canoes came into view. They were paddling fairly rapidly instead of floating. It was obvious they were in a hurry. When they came close to my little gravel bar they turned toward it. The first canoe to ground was the one with the two women in it. They didn't even pull the canoe up onto the bank more securely before they got out and came up the bank toward me. The man and woman from the second canoe beached their canoe and followed as soon as they made sure both canoes were solidly beached. All four people had walked right past my no trespassing sign and I was trying to decide if I should say anything.

The woman that had always been in the canoe that now held two women was limping when she came over the bank. She looked into my face and gave a tentative smile. Before I could speak she said, "I'm sorry to bother you. I know you have a no trespassing sign and I know you run people off but this is sort of an emergency. Could you please help me?"

I looked over at her and started to ask what she needed when I noticed a bloody rag hanging out of her right shoe. There was a gash in the side of her shoe and she was limping worse now. I started to get up when she sat down rapidly on the bench attached to my picnic table. I saw her grimace as she gently settled her foot on the ground. She seemed very pale.

She saw me looking at her foot and I watched, as the blood seemed to still be flowing rather rapidly. She said, "Some asshole brought a glass container to the river and then broke it in the rocks. I was walking along and stepped down and jammed it through the side of my shoe and into my foot. I really need a first aid kit pretty badly. We can't seem to get the bleeding to stop completely."

I hurried to her and kneeled beside her leg. I gently took her shoe off then the bloody rag. I looked at the cut and could tell it was pretty deep. Blood was seeping from it fairly rapidly but it was a steady seep, not spurts. That, at least, was a good thing. I didn't say anything I just bent forward and picked her up. I rapidly walked toward my home. Over my shoulder I said, "One of you open my door. I'm going to take her into the bathroom and we'll work on this for a while."

I sat the woman on the edge of my tub and stoppered it. I ran several inches of warm water into it then carefully washed the cut. Next I disinfected it, patted it dry and said to one of the other women hovering around, "Under the sink is a first aid kit. Hand it to me please." I helped the injured woman onto my commode and sat on the edge of the tub. I put the towel over my legs and pulled her foot up resting it on the towel.

The woman that had been with my patient opened the cabinet and pulled my military medic's bag from it. She looked at it in surprise as I grabbed it and opened it. I found a pressure bandage and rapidly and tightly wound it around the wound. I told the woman to put pressure just over the cut as I tied it off. I stepped to the sink and washed my hands then turned to the assembled people. I said, "She needs to go to the hospital for stitches. That isn't a serious wound but it needs stitches to close it properly and so it will heal correctly. I can drive her in my truck if you would like." While I had been working on her foot I kept looking upward. I could see her camel toe and felt myself getting hard. When I looked up at her face I found myself staring more at her perfect breasts barely covered by her top. For the first time I noticed how beautiful this woman was. She was well muscled and well tanned. There was not an ounce of fat on her.

The group looked at each other for a short while. Finally the man said, "What do you think Sis?" He looked at the woman with the cut foot.

She looked up at me and then down at her foot. I noticed her gaze rest for a moment on my obvious erection. The blood was beginning to seep through the bandage. She said, "I think he is right. I need to go now and he seems like an ok guy. I've not heard anything bad about him in the café."

The woman who was with her said, "I'll go with. Can I leave the canoe here?" I nodded and she ran from the room toward the canoe. By the time I had the truck pulled up as close to the door as I could she was back. She had pulled the canoe up into my yard. I tossed a chain and pad lock to the man and said lock it to the tree there and it should be OK."

We made a fast trip to town. While we were driving the woman introduced herself to me. She was Laura Childs and she was divorced. She was living with her parents about four miles downstream from where I lived. She and her brother and friends loved to float the river. She had a boyfriend who I had seen with her earlier but they had broken up when she found out he wasn't divorced, as he had told her he was. Her lady friend muttered "asshole" as she said that. I found out she and her family was friends with my friends Jeff, Abby, Charlie and Amanda Fielding. We told each other Jeff and Charlie stories while we drove.

We arrived at the hospital emergency room and checked in. I am sure many of you know the drill. Sit and wait for an available person, give them your information then wait on the doctor. Then wait on the doctor some more...I don't know if it was good or bad but in this case since she was bleeding so much the wait was somewhat shorter than usual. I thought about going home and leaving her there. She and her friend tried to get me to leave but I just couldn't. I said, "What if you need a ride home. I am here and can take you but if I go home and no one shows up someone will have to come back for you."

We had been there about 45 minutes when Laura's brother and an older version of her came bustling into the emergency waiting area. Aaron, her brother came bustling up to me and asked, "How is Laura? Where is she?"

I leaned back and looked up at him. I could see he was very worried about his sister. His face was pale. I said, "She and her friend are in one of the exam rooms. I don't know which one. I suppose you should ask the admittance clerk over there."

Aaron turned and bustled off to check on Laura. The older version of Laura stood beside my chair and gave me a little smile. She held her hand out toward me and said, "Since my son didn't introduce me let me do it. I am Constance Childs, Laura's mother. You can call me Connie. I want to thank you for your kindness and for your care of my daughter's injury. I apologize for my son's rudeness. He is worried about Laura. He has always protected her since they were little and I don't think he knows what to do when he can't prevent her from being hurt. I understand we are almost neighbors so I expect to see you soon. Now if you will excuse me I do want to check on my daughter."

I smiled and said, "I understand. Since you are here I will just go on home—that is if you have room to get everyone back ok?"

Connie smiled once more and said, "That's fine. We have plenty of room to get everyone back to our place."

I decided it was late enough I would stay in town for supper. I did some shopping then drove off to my favorite restaurant. While I was waiting for my meal to be delivered I looked across the room and saw my ex-wife sitting at a table with three of her friends and two effeminate looking men. I felt my stomach knot up. One of the women with Beulah was Belinda Scoggins! They were talking animatedly, smiling a lot and gesturing with their hands as they enjoyed their salads and cocktails. They were fairly close to the doorway into the rest room area so I decided to walk to the restroom and see what I could hear.

Luckily Beulah was sitting with her back to me and most of her friends did not know me so I could walk past without being identified. I walked slowly and paused just out of their sight. I was sickened by the conversation. They were discussing in detail the latest scandal about one of Beulah's favorite actresses. She was gushing as she agreed with one of the men. I watched as she said, "Oh, Bruce it is so refreshing to find a male that understands how sad these things are."

Bruce smiled and patted her on the hand. He said, "Oh, that's nothing to be surprised about. Why most of Johnnie's and my friends understand exactly how tragic these things are. Why I was telling him just last night before we went to bed how sad it was that that man was being wasted on such a little slut." He turned to the man beside him and laid his hand on his thigh then said, "Isn't that right honey?"

I had heard all I could take of this and went back to my table. It takes all kinds I suppose. Well at least I knew I still had not been replaced.

After my meal I returned to my home. I took a quick shower then went outside nude to air dry. As I passed through the office I got my bottle of Glenmorangie and went back to my chair outside. I sat on my patio and watched the stars come out. I was happy here. No people to bother me, I could do everything I wanted when I wanted. I think in the summer though I am going to build a privacy fence so I can indulge in my propensity to sunbathe nude instead of having to wait until the river activity dies down in the evening like I did that night. I did miss feminine companionship but there was certainly no one around here I cared to see that I knew of.

All the females I knew from the larger town were either Beulah's friends who would never consent to be with someone like me or were the bitches I had worked with. Oh, I had a few local acquaintances like the Fieldings but we didn't visit. I felt cut off and alone but even then I felt like I was better off than I had been living with Beulah. Jeff did keep trying to get me to drive into Steelville for the dances at the Senior Center more often. Every time I saw or talked to him he pushed me to have coffee in the mornings with the gang that gathered at the café more often than I did. I did some of each from time to time but I really did enjoy my solitude.

I especially liked early morning along the river. I would have my coffee and watch the sun come up and shine through the trees and mist rising from the river. Evenings after the canoes quit passing by were special also. It was quiet and peaceful. Cool air rose from the river and caressed me if I sat down beside it. How could sitting in a café beat that?

I was rapidly finding out what a lot of the women I have known over the years were talking about when they complained about being treated like a piece of meat. My GOD! I literally had to push some of the women away at the dances. I only went when I was so horny I had to put up with them to get laid.

One morning before the sun was fully up I was out beside the river fishing. I loved this time of day. The mist was rising from the river and the sun was shining through it as it rose over the trees. I could hear cattle lowing in the background and see an occasional fish splash as it jumped. I had my coffee in a thermos and could just relax as the world came alive. Normally I didn't start seeing canoes until about ten thirty or eleven so I had all the time in the world to enjoy the morning.

I heard a hum, then a louder roar as I was casting my line toward a hole I knew the fish liked. I looked up in disgust and turned my head toward the noise. There was a flat bottom Jon Boat coming around the bend downstream from my place. It was about a mile away and coming toward me rapidly. Great. Not only was my morning to be disturbed with the noise but the fishing would be ruined for a while also. I watched in anger as the boat came rushing my way.

When the boat was almost in front of me I could see it was Aaron, Cindy and an older man. Aaron waved as they rushed past where I was sitting. They turned into my cove and beached the boat. All three people once again walked past my No Trespassing sign and toward me. With a sigh I reeled in my line and walked toward them.

Aaron smiled when we got closer and reached out to shake my hand. He said, "Mr. Stevens I want to thank you again for helping us last week. This is my father Roger. We came up to get our other canoe then we will be out of your hair."

Roger smiled and stepped toward me to shake my hand. As we shook he said, "Mr. Stevens I want to add my thanks for what you did. I also want to replace the fuel you used to take my daughter to the hospital. If you want to drop by my house with your truck we can fill the tank from our fuel tanks."

"NO, that's not necessary Mr. Childs. I needed to go to town anyway. I stopped and bought some groceries and other things. Heck I even had a nice meal at my favorite restaurant before I came home. I had been planning to go to town today or tomorrow anyway so it wasn't even a special trip. Don't worry about the fuel."

I suppose I had made a face or something because when I mentioned the restaurant meal all three of my guests looked at me funny. Mr. Childs looked at me and said, "What's wrong? I didn't mean to make you upset about the fuel."

I shook myself and said, "No, nothing like that. I'm sorry for worrying you. I just...well, my ex was in the restaurant with a bunch of her friends and it sort of spoiled the meal a little. I guess I'm not as over the divorce as I should be. I..." I felt myself becoming angry about the divorce and seeing Belinda with Beulah. I had clenched my jaw until me teeth hurt. I waved my hand at the three and said, "I'll get the key for the canoe."

I turned and walked off before they could see the anger in my eyes. I kept the key for the lock I had given Aaron hanging just inside the door. I opened the door slightly, reached in and took the key down. When I turned I saw them just starting to follow me. They were watching me with sorrowful looks on their faces.

When I walked up to my three visitors I handed them the key. "I'm sorry," I said. "I guess I'm just not over things yet and it's been almost seven months. I just..." By then Aaron had unlocked the canoe and handed me the key and chain. I turned and walked back into my house. My visitors watched me a moment then turned and took their canoe back to the river. Aaron and Cindy got into it and began paddling homeward while Roger took the Jon Boat back.

The next couple of days went by slowly. I had been thinking about my failed marriage once again and felt the anger building. Of course I also thought about my job situation and felt some anger about that. I know it's stupid to be pissed off that you can't have a job you hate but I was. I wasn't angry over the job, I was angry because they lied about me quitting and had illegally refused to reinstate me. I had decided no matter whether I won my case or not I was not returning to the job. Now my sole interest was to make the bastards pay.

About a week later I was once again sitting beside the river enjoying the day. This time it was almost sunset, one of my favorite times on the river, when I heard the motor coming upstream. I looked toward the sound and thought it was Roger's Jon Boat again. As the boat came closer I saw it was indeed his boat but this time it only held one person. Laura was steering the boat upstream. When she was even with me she smiled and waved. I listened and watched as she slowed down and turned toward my landing.

I rose from my chair and walked toward her as she came over the bank toward me. Laura was smiling as she came toward me, and when she smiled it lit up the whole area. She was carrying a Tupperware case as she almost glided across my lawn. I watched her breasts bounce with her every step. Even from the front her ass was gorgeous as she swayed and wiggled toward me. She had on a button front blouse tied under her breasts and showing off her midriff. She had on tight Daisy Dukes that left little to the imagination. When she stood in front of me I could see her camel toe. Normally when a woman her age dressed like that she looked skanky. For some reason Laura managed to look incredibly sexy. I felt my cock stir as I watched her.

Laura smiled and blushed a little as she watched me watching her. She held the Tupperware container out toward me and said, "Daddy told me you refused to let him replace the fuel you used to take me to the hospital. Since you wouldn't let him do that I decided I would bring you a cake. I hope you like it. It's carrot cake with cream cheese icing. It's my favorite and I worked for years until I could make it like I used to buy in Max's."

I felt my mouth water. I smiled at Laura and said, "Oh, my. If it's as good as Max's we have to eat some of it right now. Not only is that my favorite restaurant but also that is my favorite dessert when I eat there. I have some nice port to drink with it or I can make some coffee if you'll join me?"

Laura smiled and said, "Oh, I couldn't. It'll be dark soon and I brought the boat. There's no lights on it so I have to get right back home."

"Oh, come on. We'll eat fast," I said as I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the house.

Laura grudgingly followed me inside and sat where I directed her at the breakfast bar. I hurriedly put on some coffee then cut the cake and poured two glasses of Port. I placed cake and a glass of Port in front of Laura then sat one at my place also. I bustled back to the kitchen for napkins and silverware. As I was returning to the table I asked, "Do you need sugar or cream for the coffee?"

Laura looked up at me and smiled, as she shook her head no. As I was sitting I glanced down and saw the smooth, tanned swell of her breasts. I could see the hint of a hard nipple before the motion of our two bodies hid it. I felt my cock twitch once more. I was once more in serious need of some pussy and knew I would have to venture into town to see if I could find some.

We were almost half done with our cake and port when the coffee finished. I rose and brought us each a cup. We visited as we ate. Laura bit her lip and looked me in the eyes. She said, "Ron, Daddy and Aaron said...well, I'm divorced too and I know how it feels. If you need to talk..."

I felt my temper start to rise and I once again felt the despair, the sense of failure as I thought about my dead marriage. I felt my face tighten and saw the apprehensive look in Laura's eyes. I fought to hold my temper as I said, "Laura I really don't want to talk about that...I loved her with all my heart and soul and...she just slipped away from me. I just can't. I..." I clenched my jaw and shook my head as I stood and walked away. Laura sat and watched me as I went outside.