For Want of a Snow Blower Pt. 03

The last few days had been perfect. Not just the sex, but the time spent in public as the threesome we'd become. Sightseeing, shopping, restaurants, who cared who saw us together or what they thought? It had been a fantasy. Now, though, the fantasy was ending. Reality was sinking in. This wasn't a sweet good-bye to our girlfriend until she came back from college. It was just good-bye.

I looked across at Jackie, and I could see that the truth was sinking in for her as well. For a long time we all just lay there in the dark, holding each other, deep in our own thoughts.

*

When we got up in the morning we didn't talk much as we packed our things, loaded the car, checked out of the hotel, and got to Parc's for our reservation. We wanted to treat ourselves to an indulgent breakfast before heading home. We ate mostly in silence while we people watched on Rittenhouse Square. When the meal was done, we paid our bill, slowly walked to the car, and started back.

We drove north, through the Lehigh Tunnel, over the Poconos, and down into New York. As we got closer to Cortland, a small city about a half hour south of Syracuse, I thought about how happy we had been when we picked Delaney up there three days before.

She had told her parents that she was going on a short shopping trip to Philadelphia with some crew friends. One of the girls on her team actually was going to row for Drexel University, so it wasn't far-fetched. Instead, she had met us in the Walmart parking lot in Cortland.

When we pulled into the lot, Jackie had spotted her immediately. She was parked in the outer row, just as she said she'd be, near a tree that would give her car shade for the afternoon. When she got out and grabbed her duffle from the back seat, she was grinning ear to ear. So was I. Jackie actually squealed a bit in excitement, pointing her out to me.

There had been no kissing or hugging or public displays of affection, despite how elated we all felt. We were still too close to home, and there was still a possibility, no matter how remote, that somebody who knew us might see us. Delaney had simply thrown her duffle into our trunk and quickly hopped into the back seat. Still, it had felt like the beginning of an amazing adventure for all of us!

This time, we were under the same constraints. No kissing and no hugging, though we couldn't quite manage no crying. We pulled into that Walmart parking lot and spotted her car, exactly where she had left it. We pulled up next to it, and before we knew it Delaney was out of the car. There was no time for anything other than a quick good-bye. She grabbed her duffle from our trunk, slammed it shut, and scooted over to her car. We didn't see her get in, because we were moving as soon as she closed the trunk.

I gave her a quick look in the rear-view mirror, just to make sure that she wasn't having any trouble, but once I saw her car start I didn't look back again. I couldn't. Jackie and I sat in silence for the rest of the trip home. The car seemed larger and emptier than it ever had before. Our adventure was over. Maybe for good.