Hit and Run

She opened the door a tiny bit and saw the boy of maybe 17 standing there with bags of all around his feet.

"There must be some mistake," she said as Todd squeezed in to see what was going on.

"Hey, champ! You wanna help me bring these in?" the boy asked.

"Can I, Mom?"

"I...I still don't know what's going on.

"If you're Suzanne Rivers, then these are yours."

"I am, but I still don't know what's going on."

"Sorry, ma'am. I just deliver. Do you want me to bring them in or not?"

Now very curious, Suzanne stepped over the threshold and looked into the bags. There was fresh milk, granola cereal, bread, and even the brand of coffee she drank.

"So what'll it be?" the boy asked a little more impatiently.

"These are really mine?"

"Yes."

"And I won't have to pay you for them?"

"Nope. They're paid for. And so is my tip."

The boy smiled then said, "A hundred-dollar tip if I may say so--the biggest I've ever had."

The tip comment went right over her head as she tried to understand what was happening.

"Okay," she finally said.

Before she could say another word Todd was grabbing two light bags and carrying them in as the older boy grabbed one filled with chicken and shrimp, foods she hadn't eaten in...too long.

"Thank you. So much," she told the boy as he got ready to leave.

"My pleasure, and if you know who left me the tip, please tell him thank you."

"I...I will," Suzanne said as the light came on.

She grabbed her phone and when Jeff picked up she asked him if he'd gone to a store.

"What? What kind of store?" he asked, again holding back the whole truth without lying.

"A...a grocery store."

"Tonight? No. I definitely did not go to any grocery store tonight."

"Oh. Uh, sorry. It's just that the most wonderful thing just happened, and I thought maybe it was you."

"If it makes you happy, I'd love to claim the credit, but I didn't go to any store of any kind on my way home."

"Okay. I'm sorry to bother you."

"You're not bothering me. I love hearing your voice," Jeff told her, causing her to momentarily forget about the treasure trove of food.

"Yeah, I kinda like hearing yours, too," she told him rather sweetly.

"Whatever's going on, I'm happy for you."

"It's just so...uncanny. I mentioned we were a little short on food, and then...all this just shows up."

Jeff laughed quietly then said, "Well, you know what they say, right? God moves in mysterious ways."

"Yes. Yes, they do say that," she agreed, even more dumbfounded now that Jeff wasn't the reason why.

"Heather!" she said out loud, causing Jeff to repeat her name.

"Sorry. I just think I figured out what's going on here, and I need to give her a call to thank her."

"Okay. Sure. G'night, Suzanne."

"Good night, Jeff," she said before hanging up and dialing another number as Todd found the things he liked and set them out to be put away.

Heather had no idea what she was talking about and suggested Jeff until Suzanne told her about the call she'd just made to him.

"Maybe just accept that your fortunes are changing," her friend suggested. "You met Jeff and now this? What else could it be?"

Suzanne was still perplexed, but Heather was right. She needed to stop trying to play detective and start being grateful. She thanked her friend, hung up the phone, then started putting things away; many of those things being very expensive items she couldn't afford to buy even with a steady paycheck.

When Todd got up the next morning, he smelled something that made him go straight to the kitchen.

"Is that bacon?" he asked.

"It is. And I made scrambled eggs and toast, too. Oh, and there's orange juice."

"Wow! Best breakfast ever!" her son said as he sat down to eat as his mom did the same.

That day at work she asked Heather about the food again and received another, "It wasn't me," reply.

She was still thinking about it around noon when her phone rang.

"Jeff? Hi!"

"I promised I'd call. Is this is a bad time?"

"No, I'm just getting ready for lunch, although I'm still full from breakfast."

"Right. The mystery delivery," he said with a chuckle.

"It was so good! I just wish I knew who it was so I could thank them. We haven't had a meal like that in ages."

"In that case, rather than ask you to have dinner with me, how would you two like to spend Saturday afternoon at an arcade with me?"

Before she could answer Jeff told her, "They have Skee Ball, so I don't see how you can turn that down."

Suzanne laughed and told him that sounded wonderful before adding, "Todd will love it, too."

"I'll stop by around 11 and take you guys to lunch first, if that sounds okay."

"It sounds very okay. And if you'd like, I could actually make dinner for you one night before then."

"You had me at 'dinner'," Jeff told her, causing her to laugh.

"Is tomorrow okay? Say...7o'clock?"

"I'll be there. With a bottle of wine."

"You don't have to that," she told him.

"It's the least I can do."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

"Bye, Suzanne."

The food mystery wasn't mentioned at dinner or during their time at the arcade. Suzanne and her son were too busy enjoying their time with Jeff to think about anything else. They really did play Skee Ball as well as laser tag, something neither Todd nor Suzanne had never done before. The best part of the game was when Jeff snuck up on them, shot them both, then kissed her as he apologized for 'killing' her.

"You can turn on my lights anytime, sailor," she teased after the kiss.

"I'd like that," he told her in a way that chills through her body, and later that night after Todd was asleep, Suzanne asked him if he'd like to 'light her up'.

Jeff laughed quietly but kissed her so passionately it made her knees weak. He felt her buckle before he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom where he lit up every light she had a couple she didn't know existed.

As they lay in one another's arms Jeff squeezed tight then said, "I don't want to scare you, but I'm...I'm really falling for you."

Suzanne's heart had just slowed down after her second orgasm and sped up again when she heard those words.

"I still don't understand this, but knowing you feel that way makes me happier than I can ever remember being."

She rolled over on top of him then told him, "And the truth is I'm falling for you, too."

"Yeah?" a smiling Jeff asked.

"Uh-huh. Very much so."

He flipped her over causing her to yelp then laugh before he entered her again and kissing her like she'd never been kissed before.

*****

Six months later

"What do you think?" Jeff asked when he opened the door to their new house for her.

After having met Suzanne, Jeff stayed at his father's place until this new home was finished. He would have a room of his own here for as long as he lived, but he was too ill to make the trip until they were ready to move in.

"Oh...my...gosh!" she said as she looked around. "It's amazing!"

Todd had already run off to find his room as Jeff took his mom's hand.

"So you like it?"

"I LOVE it!" she told him.

"And I love you," she told her handsome boyfriend.

When Todd came tearing back to find them, Jeff asked him to slow down for a moment. He did so then waited for whatever Jeff had to say.

"You know I love your mom, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you know I love you, too, right?"

The boy smiled, nodded, then said, "I love you, too, Jeff!"

"So I was thinking maybe we could, you know...."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, white box and got down on one knee before looking at Todd then up at the beautiful, older woman he loved.

"Be a family."

Todd was bursting at the seams as Jeff asked his mom to marry him. When she started shaking and crying he knew that meant 'yes'. She couldn't talk, but she was nodding her head.

Jeff asked Todd to take the ring out for him and help him put it on his mom's left hand. As they slid the ring on her finger, Jeff put his arm around the boy, stood up with Todd in one arm and put his other arm around Suzanne.

"I love you both so much," he said.

"And we love you," Suzanne told him through her tears of joy.

"That's right! We both love you!" Todd told him before hugging the older man he loved like a father.

"Then maybe we should think about moving our stuff in here."

"Yeah! Into our new home!" Todd said as the three of them held one another close for a good long time.

Not long after they first made love, and Jeff was sure she loved him, too, he told her why he hadn't been working.

"Wait. Your grandfather was...a millionaire?" she asked in disbelief.

"He was. But more like a multi-millionaire. I had no idea. He lived so frugally other than the house. But he'd saved and invested for years. He had stock in Apple and Coca Cola from way back and a ton of other tech stocks. All in all he was worth about $5.7 million. Plus the house."

Too stunned to speak, Suzanne just listened.

"When my grandfather passed away, I had no idea why his attorney wanted to see me. And you can imagine my surprise when he informed my grandpa left everything to me."

Suzanne had never cared about money and didn't love him any more or less because of the amount in his bank account. All she cared about was the way he made her feel and the way he loved her and her son.

It would be nice to never have to worry about money again, but were Jeff Randle anyone else, no amount of money could have made her love him. But because of who she was, she'd fallen deeply in love with and told him so again.

Now they had a home of their own beyond her wildest dreams. A home where Todd could grow up, feel same, and have a mother and a dad who loved him like his own; a dad he'd been calling 'dad' for the last month or so. Little did they know he'd have a baby sister just 18 months later, but when Tiffany Anne Randall arrived, her big brother doted on her until he was old enough to start liking girls his own age.

Adding to their good fortune, Jeff started teaching high school and coaching football. All the money he made from the new job went to charity starting will all new uniforms for every sports team, the school's marching band and the cheerleaders followed by new computers. All of it was done anonymously, and the community also benefited in many ways.

The braces Todd had needed came and went, and the glasses had been removed thanks to Lasik eye surgery. By the time Todd Randall, whose biological father had lost all interest in his son's life and let him be adopted--for a hefty fee--was a senior in high school, he was the most attractive and athletic boy in school.

And with his father's service history and his 3.98 GPA and having lettered in football and wrestling (as well as volunteering at a homeless shelter and a hospice) it was no surprise when Todd was accepted to attend the US Naval Academy just like the dad who'd adopted and raised him.

When he graduated four years later, his mom, dad, and not-so-little sister were there. Sadly, Jeff's father wasn't with them. He'd been at their wedding but was getting worse by the day, and just three months later they said goodbye to him.

Those thoughts and more ran through Jeff's mind just before saying something to Suzanne.

"We did good, Mom," Jeff told his still-beautiful wife.

"Yes. Yes, we did, didn't we?" Suzanne agreed.

He leaned her way, took her hand, then said, "I am SO glad you ran me over."

She gave him a playful elbow then laughed.

"Yeah. Thank goodness for that whole 'hit and run' thing, huh?"

Jeff chuckled then told his wife he loved her as they watched the graduating class throw their hats (or for the future Marine second lieutenants, their 'covers') into the air.

When they did, Tiffany cheered for her brother then asked her father, "Dad? Can girls be Navy SEALs?"

She was too old to pick up now, but he gave her a hug and told her she could be anything she wanted as long as she was willing to work hard enough to earn it.

That was all she wanted to hear as she ran to find her brother and tell him how proud she was of him, and that she wanted to be just like him.

Only Suzanne Randall saw the tears in her handsome, younger husband's eyes as he watched their daughter run off. She squeezed his hand, rested her head on his shoulder then blinked away a few of her own.