It's a Place of Beauty - Theresa

I guess I just laughed. It was a family reunion for Thanksgiving and I was the last to know even if it was at my place.

Darrell and I enjoyed a nice meal together and decided to go out for the evening and ended up catching a Jimmy Buffett knockoff show at the Pour House. It was nearly 2AM when we got back and I dragged him into my bed rather than let him crash in the guest room. We were both naked and fast asleep before either of the two old foggies could figure out what to do next.

As usual, he was up long before me and was washing my car in the drive. When he finished, I fed him and off we went toward the Battery downtown. There is a wonderful walking tour and on a cool sunny morning it's a great way to spend an early Saturday.

"Theresa, do I look old now? Seriously" He asked me out of the blue.

I had to stop for a moment and look him over. I reached up and removed his baseball cap and tossed his hair with my fingers. He has that athletic salt and pepper look with rugged lines on his face that allows him to look several years younger. We both look considerably younger than our actual years and always have.

"Darrell, Jesus, you know you don't. Anybody who didn't know you would guess you to be late 40s, 50 tops. Why do you ask?

"Because I don't feel old and I don't want to sit around like I'm old and waiting for the old geezer squad to carry me away." He said in a soft voice.

"I don't think that is going to be a problem as far as you are concerned. Trust me on that!" I said to him with a bit of a smirk. "Speaking of old geezers and hags, did that Carol creature ever deliver her berries to you?"

"Actually, she did. She brought out 6 quarts of canned blueberries to the cottage AND her famous chocolate cake. I fed her beans and ham in gratitude and she went home earlier than planned, I'm sure." He grinned back at me.

"Good." I muttered under my breath but within his hearing. He just laughed and I along with him.

We finished up our walk back at the Battery and just hung out for a while watching the people and one of the container ships come into port. I thought it was time for me to break the introspection.

"Darrell, did you come all the way down here just for an old piece of ass?" I asked him only half seriously.

"Of course I did, Theresa, although I've never considered it old." He paused. "Actually, I've been doing a lot of thinking. A man can do that when he gets alone, you know. Like I told you that night in the cottage I don't like being alone. Don't take that wrong. I enjoy the solitude at times. Hell, you know what I mean. It's not the sex even though that's always been important. It's more just the company and the knowledge that somebody else is going through it with you."

"Darrell, I do know what you mean. Hell, I've been about the loneliest woman in Charleston for years but that's been my choice. I've gloated in my loneliness because it's my penance. I don't need to tell you about that. Both you and Sally encouraged me otherwise. So what are you trying to ask me, Darrell?"

That was it right there and he didn't disappoint.

"I guess what I'd like is to spend more time visiting with you, Theresa. I don't know what that means really other than I come down here for a while or you come up to Maine and I'm not talking about just being fuck buddies. Hell, I could fuck that Carol till I was blue in the face if that was all I wanted but she wants a ring on her finger and I can't give her that; don't want to."

I looked at him pensively for a moment and reached for the necklace hidden in my breasts. On its end were two rings from many years ago. One was a diamond engagement ring and the other, my old wedding ring, had been slipped onto my finger when we were both young innocent and carefree.

"She can't have it because I still have it next to my heart" I told him.

"It's all I have left of the woman I wish to God I could have always been, Darrell."

"Theresa, I hated what you did to me for a long time and if I'm honest with myself I hated you for it as well. I know Sally told me over and over that I never did but she didn't know what I went through that first year. She was right in a way. When I met her, I stopped caring about it one way or the other except for what happened with Kelsey. When the two of you showed up that fall, it set a match to everything I had been feeling but even through that, Sally was your benefactor. "

"Darrell, what do you mean, she was my benefactor?"

"She knew you still loved me. Hell, I knew it but she was the one who taught me to let it all go. She knew better than me that nobody can just throw away 20 years of family and a wife or husband that you loved. She saw it first hand with her parents and what they went through. Her mom had a devastating affair that just ripped the family apart. The worse thing about it was both her mom and dad loved each other. The affair wasn't about love. It was selfish lust and she paid a dear price for it. Both her parents died alone and miserable."

Darrell sat there for a while looking out into the bay as a docked cruise ship hit its horn announcing a pending departure. Reaching down, he picked up a small branch from the ground and toyed with it in his fingers.

"Theresa, I told you years ago to find somebody you could love and live your life. Sally told me years ago that you couldn't do it and why. I don't mean this to sound revengeful because it's not. It's the opposite actually. It meant to me that nobody else was taking what used to be mine and for whatever odd reason it made me feel good." He laughed when he said that.

"So, Darrell, what the fuck are you actually trying to say?" I grinned at him.

"Fuck it, Theresa, I don't want you paying that penance as you call it anymore. Let's get out of here." He said as he rose from the bench.

"You don't have anything else to say?" I asked him.

"God damn it, Theresa, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."

So we did and ended up back at my place and had afternoon sex. That was the pattern through the weekend. On Monday I had to go to work and tend to my business. A couple of my ladies worked through the weekend showing properties so I now had to cover for them through Wednesday when we would close for the Thanksgiving holidays.

That Wednesday afternoon, Darrell and I were at the Charleston airport to pick up Samantha when she arrived on her flight from Maine. Kelsey and family arrived later that afternoon and booked into their rooms downtown before coming out to the house. Most of the Thanksgiving preparations had been completed by then so we enjoyed the company. It was the first time I had been with both Kelsey and Darrell for over 14 years so there was a bit of melancholy but I did my best to hide it.

We were busy throughout the evening getting ready for the Thanksgiving Day feast the next day and by the time we all called it a night I had taken a quick shower and slipped into pajamas. Samantha had gone to bed and Darrell and I were just sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Darrell, you should sleep in the guest room this evening." I said to him quietly. He had been in my bed since he arrived.

"It's probably too early for Samantha at this point to see her Dad with another woman." I whispered to him.

"Theresa, there is something you don't know about Sam. She is probably the most perceptive young lady in the world and she and her Mom were about as tight as two people can be. Sally shared a lot of her intimate thoughts with her before she passed away. So don't worry about offending her perceptions of who she thinks her Dad is. However, tonight, I'll grab the guest room."

With that he kissed me goodnight and went to bed. The Thanksgiving gathering the next day was beautiful and Darrell and I anchored each end of the table. When we were finished, the two men retired to the living room to watch football and I grabbed the girls and we headed out to walk the Ravenel Bridge and burn the calories.

"Mom, it was Dad's idea to surprise you with the family visit and I wanted to call you first in case you had other plans but he wouldn't let me." Kelsey said as we took a break.

"I know, baby. He told me the other day. But, you know, no matter what I might have planned and I had nothing planned at all, I would have dropped every minute of it as soon as any of you showed up. You know how I live. I have work, a couple good friends here, the gym and my little house. That's my life."

We all sat at the top of the bridge for a while watching the sailboats in the harbor before make the trek back to the car and returning to the house. The men were still engrossed in the games so we just broke out the board games and taught Miriam how to play Parcheesi.

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I didn't think I had enough winter clothes for the trip or enough layers of fat on my petite frame to endure what I convinced myself of doing. The ladies were covering me at work again and I had a large suitcase in the cargo hold and a heavy carryon bag along with a pair of Bean boots. Anything that was missing could be purchased after I arrived.

Of all the people, it was Charlie who convinced me to do it.

"Theresa, you are a foxy lady who looks ten years younger than you should and if there is somebody out there who is going to make you happy to be with, then, hell, you better grab that ring and go for it. Besides, the Darling Group is making you a fine offer for the business and if you close as planned next month, you could retire." He told me.

He was right. They gave me a great offer on the firm and would keep my ladies on to run it. I wouldn't get rich but with my other two pensions and 401K I could be comfortable. It would be an easy decision but I needed this trip first. I needed to know if there was really something on the other end of the line.

Darrell met me in Bangor with light snow falling with a temperature of 20 degrees three days after Christmas. It was 60 degrees in Charleston when I left. I hadn't told him of my plans to sell and I couldn't until I knew but for now we did a Campbell's Bakery stop and headed toward his house.

Late December and early January is dead winter in Maine, at least for most seasons and this year was no exception. I froze my ass off but I have to admit I had a grand time doing it. I was able to rub Carol's face in it at Early's a couple of times and Darrell taught me everything I never wanted to learn about snowmobiling and snowshoeing. We heated up the cottage a few times and enjoyed the solitude of the lake in winter.

We talked late into the night several times and when it was time for me to return I told him what I was thinking of doing. He didn't object.

It was a long flight back to the low country. When I arrived home, I was greeted by Kitty and a stack of mail. The ladies at work knew what was up and they knew what I was going to do before I did. They could read it on my face when I walked back in the office.

The deal with Darling went through as we discussed and after a final dinner with my ladies and their significant others, I hit the electronic lock for the front door on my phone and turned toward my brand new Honda CRV 4WD. I was almost 60 years old and my retirement calculations were going to give me more than enough to live on, especially when the house sold. The market was great and I bought the property rock bottom in 2009.

I made a decision and when I came up on the I-95 interchange with I-26, I turned toward my destination. It was a 20 hour ride to the West Grand but only 10 hours to Pensacola. I would be there by nightfall.

Epilog

The house sold in 37 days and with the equity gain I bought a small cottage on the island. It wasn't beach front but that was just across the street. I had a horny elderly gentleman living on one side of me who seemed like he lived to do my yard work even though all I had was sand and palm trees. On the other side of me was another retired woman who wished the horny fellow would tend to her yard as vigorously as he did mine.

"She will be out of school in three years. Do you think that will work for us?" I asked him.

"My guess is she might want to move if she knew where to but I don't know if I could do it myself." He replied.

I couldn't handle the cold and he knew it so turning the Honda towards New England in the middle of winter was a non-starter for me. So, I compromised and moved further away but there were tradeoffs. The white sand beaches in Pensacola are much nicer than the grey sand beaches of South Carolina and I've always loved this small city on the Gulf. When Kelsey was a little girl we vacationed here a few times and always loved it.

The compromise earned my favor with Darrell. He didn't want to move to Charleston or Mt Pleasant and I couldn't live in Maine year round. Both of us could enjoy Pensacola and I could love Maine in the summer. It worked to our favor while Samantha was in school. On winter break and spring break, they would visit the beach and when summer and fall rolled around, I rented my cottage by the week through a management company interestingly run by my old employee Alyson and her husband who she reconciled with after I let her go. The weekly rentals were a substantial boost to my retirement income and the renters were well screened by Alyson, sans fuck fests.

When Samantha graduated from High School, Darrell moved down here before winter set in after we both spent the summer and fall together in Maine. For the past three years we have alternated the seasons together. While he has not yet asked me to remarry him, I do wear my old rings and the horny old fellow next door has learned to stop chasing what he will never get. His name is Charlie, too.