String of Beads

Friday evening Andie called and said, "Lonnie I'm not sure I can get everything done in a decent time frame. I have several things to buy, wait for my car to be serviced blah, blah, blah."

"You don't sound like you're looking forward to it."

"I'm not you perceptive devil you."

"Okay if I'm not being too pushy here's a thought. I meet you at an appointed time and place. We leave your car for the repair crooks and I take you shopping."

"My God I would think your time is more valuable than that. You are willing to follow me around while I do some gift buying, some...undies shopping etc.?"

"Absolutely and I'll even help you pick out the undies."

"I can just see that."

"Hey I have some real thoughts about undies. Remember I've known you for fifteen or twenty years."

"I'll just bet you do have ideas about undies and we'll see if you've known me so long. Okay but remember it was your idea. God you must be desperate."

"To be with you only."

"There you go again. Okay, pick me up at Montclair Chevy at ten."

"Your small but reliable limo will be there and waiting."

Chapter Fourteen

When I woke up Saturday morning I jumped out of bed anxious to start the day. After the usual morning rituals I still had a couple of hours before I picked her up. With coffee and toast in hand, which are two more rituals, I headed to the office, and tried to work. My ability to concentrate was poor to nonexistent so I gave that up. I sat there and realized I had let her see this unbelievable mess so since it took little concentration to clean I started going through the piles on the desk. As I progressed the piles on the desk disappeared and the piles for the trash increased rapidly. When I came to the houseboat literature I stopped in my tracks and stared at it. The next thing I knew it was almost time to pick up Andie. I put the houseboat literature back on the desk, dumped the trash and left.

When I pulled in, there stood my auburn haired beauty patiently waiting. I pulled up and she jumped in giving me a kiss before buckling in. "How's my hopeless romantic this morning?"

"I'm not hopeless I just need a little fine tuning."

"If you're content to go shopping with me you're hopeless."

"Just give me directions and we'll reevaluate things at the end of the day."

I still get together with Gunter but I swear that woman almost killed me with her power shopping. She didn't buy so much but by God she was selective about what she bought. There were very few stores that we missed and some we hit more than once. We finally dropped a load at the car and went back for the last details and thankfully at a slower pace. When we finally hit the store for her undies I perked up and felt it my duty to contribute opinions and assistance in general. More than once I heard things like, you have to be kidding or, not in this lifetime. Once she even laughed out loud. I did my best to get her to go to Victoria's Secret but she declined and said, "If and when I go in that store I will be alone. I've read some of your other stories remember?"

"You never even said what you thought about them."

"I have to wait until I've had enough liquid courage."

We finally finished shopping and headed back to pick up her car. "So now what's on the agenda?"

"I have no agenda other than taking you to dinner at some point. Then maybe I'll buy you sexy underwear and ask you to marry me."

"No your book says I have to play hard to get."

"So that's why you wouldn't go to Victoria's Secret."

"You don't give up do you?"

"Maybe if I rewrite the story."

"No it's too late for that. You could do a sequel or a part two or something."

"Yeah that's it, Gabrielle will develop a passion for Victoria's Secret and insist I choose her garments."

"You poor thing. I worked you too hard today I can tell. As a reward I'll come up with something to help you past your crisis one of these days."

"I knew I could count on you."

After dropping her car off we headed to my place for some refreshments and then on to the steak house for dinner and back to my place for a night cap. Actually several night caps. I finally asked her as we mixed what we said would be our last for the evening, "Well have you had enough to drink to talk about my porn stories?"

"Maybe if we ease into it."

"I was just curious what you thought about the writing style."

"Oh is that all. I thought you'd want to talk about all the juicy details."

"Of course I do but I was easing into it like you said."

"You shit. Okay easy stuff first. You write well in the soft stuff. Believable, erotic and smooth. I like your different style. Not as much as Andre but I like it. The hard stuff is hard to...well hard to believe. I know it's mostly guys that read that and they have a different take on it. You do write well considering the narrow field of interest."

"Thank you now let's talk about the details."

"You just want to talk dirty."

"No I want you to talk dirty and I want to listen." That cracked her up.

I set my drink down and took her in my arms for our first serious kiss. When I eased back she just looked at me and said in a soft voice.

"I wonder if Gabrielle felt what I just felt." I just hope you felt enough to want to kiss me again." She kissed me again, and again.

"This isn't good. I'm full of booze, my mind is full of your stories and my emotions are telling me to keep kissing you."

"Always go with your emotions. The booze will go away and the mind is too analytical and time wasting. The emotions should rule." Instead of saying anything she kissed me again. My emotions were going crazy but I let them rule and we found our way to the bedroom.

When we woke in the morning, slightly hung over but smiling I kissed her and said, "See the emotions can be trusted."

"My emotions just got me laid."

"And it was wonderful speaking for myself."

She kissed me and said, "Yes dammit it was wonderful. How can I get rich writing if I'm over here in bed with you?"

"Learn to write porn. It's fast and profitable. Plus we just spent the night doing research."

"Thanks but I'll pass on that."

"Besides being rich is overrated."

"You say that because you aren't."

"Well yes that's true enough." We finally found our way to the coffee pot and just sat around drinking coffee and talking as our alcohol withdrawal eased. I finally had to take her home so she could work and fulfill her promise to her publisher. It was very lonely at home after that.

I worked hard Sunday initially to keep my mind off our wonderful night. Then Leanne came into my mind again but I had finally accepted the reality of the situation. I worked hard on my novel about the houseboat and it had really taken shape. I felt very good about it and was working on the finish. With some hard work it would be ready to submit it in another week instead of months.

The next Thursday Andie called and said she was free. Her novel was in the hands of her publisher and she was without projects at the moment. I said, "I'm almost done with mine except the last chapter and I need to proof read it before calling it done."

"I'll be your proof reader if you'd like while you do the last chapter."

"You won't get paid except in sexual favors."

"Oh great now I have to come over." I copied what I had done to disc and put it with the laptop and continued working at my desk. When Andie arrived I poured coffee for her and we sat in the office together. She quietly started to read and I wrote. It was a good thing I had it all written in my mind because she was a beautiful distraction sitting there in her cutoffs, hair piled on her head and one of those shortie blouses or whatever the hell they call them now. I call it sexy on the right woman.

As Andie read I heard her chuckle but other than that it was like she wasn't there. I took a break and walked around the backyard and then returned hoping to finish it. I was anxious for it to be in print. I had promised Leanne it would be written and that had kept me going but now I was really involved in it and had a good feeling about it in the commercial sense. It would sell well I was sure. It was almost a let down when I wrote "The End" and sat back. Out of the corner of my eye Andie was sitting there reading and crying. God was it that good or that bad? I said nothing and went for more coffee adding a shot of booze to it before setting it down next to her.

As she read on I found myself looking toward her waiting for her to say something or walk away from it or something but she didn't move. I went out and made some dinner and put it in the fridge for later and sat down to make some notes on a couple of short stories I was thinking about. Then I went outside to stretch my legs again. I came in and put a plate of snacks next to her and every once in a while I'd see her hand take a cracker or some cheese but she kept reading and she wasn't making any notes of errors. Mostly I wanted to make sure it flowed. When I write I sometimes get so carried away with a fast moving part that I skip a word or two. I catch myself trying to write as fast as I see my characters reacting to a situation. It's weird but then I know I'm into my story.

I could tell Andie was a fast reader but when she finished it she just sat there for a minute not saying anything. She patted her eyes with a tissue again and blew her nose. When she looked at me she teared up again. She finally stood up and whispered, "Lonnie that is by far the best you've ever written. It's the best I've read of anybody's in a very long time." She put her arms around me and held me in silence. When she backed away she said, "That was you that lived that. You are the guy in the story."

"Why do you say that?" "I can feel it Lonnie. I can feel you in that. It was you that had such joy for a week and such heartache at the end. That's a true story."

"I'll admit to you and only you that it was me. The other people's names and details are fiction. The circumstances are very real but written so nobody will ever connect the dots. I must protect their identity at all costs forever. I made a promise and I never break a promise."

"God how my heart was breaking for you and the woman. I mean here I am still swooning over making love to you how many days ago and I wanted you two to be together. That's powerful."

"I'm glad you think it's good."

"No it's great Lonnie. You did one hell of a job with it however you massaged the details. God I need something a lot stronger than coffee.

Chapter Fifteen

We spent the evening sitting around talking about writing and Andie was helping me pick things up and put away the laptop. She said, "This is the laptop that you wrote a lot of that on. I..." then her eyes saw the houseboat literature and picked it up. She was quiet again as she looked through it and saw what I had circled and underlined as I made those plans so long ago. She studied the pictures and read the flowery descriptions of the houseboating experience. She put it down and quietly put the laptop in its case.

At dinner we ate quietly until she said, "Are you really okay now Lonnie? Are you really ready to say it's over?"

"You know Andie I wasn't a hundred percent sure until I was writing the last chapter and toughest of all, finding the houseboat brochure. I have sweet memories Andie and I wouldn't give them up for anything, but yes I'm okay. I have to move on. As you read in the book I promised her I would one day go back and throw a kiss to the winds for her and then move on. I'll do that one day soon now. Remember though some of that was fiction too."

"Not very much of it."

"You know me far too well for our short time together."

"Didn't you know we were together in a previous life?"

"I could almost believe that."

Andie spent the night with me again and we made love, tender long lasting love. In the morning we loafed around like married people. The story seemed to bring Andie closer to me for some reason. I didn't care why it did I was just thankful to have her close to me. Life had been good to loan Leanne to me and give me all those memories. Now life was even better in a way because Andie could one day be mine if the Gods could see fit to smile on me again.

Over the next several weeks Andie and I spent more and more time together. She even took me when she went shopping at Victoria's Secret. I showed her I knew a thing or two about ladies unmentionables. She showed me she knew a thing or two about men too, especially me. We spent several days in the mountains a couple of times and even went hiking. I was turning her into a real outdoor girl and we were having a ball.

My novel went to press and it was on the best seller list almost immediately. My pen name had suddenly become well known which caused a significant increase in sales of my previously written novels. I was getting a lot of good press and some obscenely large checks. The one thing I didn't get and wanted so badly was word from Leanne.

One Saturday when Andie was at the house she said, "Lonnie honey, isn't it time for you to rent a houseboat and fulfill your promise? It's on your mind a lot and until you do that there is a chapter in your life that isn't finished. Let's rent a houseboat so you can do that. Honey I don't mind that you throw a kiss to another woman and I know how much emotion will be behind that kiss. That's okay. That just proves to me you are a man of your word and that you have a heart and that you have the capacity to love another."

"I never said I loved her."

"Oh Lonnie honey you were so in love with her you didn't know up from down." I didn't say anything. What could I say she was right of course.

"Do you really want to go on a houseboat with me knowing I will still have some baggage to deal with?"

"Of course I do. Remember she told you to do that and then get on with your life. She knew you so well Lon, she knew how you'd be and she didn't want that to spoil the rest of your life. God what a strong woman she is. I wish I could meet her some day." "

"When would you like to go on this adventure with me?"

"That's up to you honey but I think it should be soon."

"I want to wait until July."

"Make the reservations Lon. Make the commitment to go through with it. I want all of you honey not just most of you. I won't have all of you until this happens."

"When I met this woman I thanked the God's for the time I had with her. Then I met you and I thanked them for letting me meet you. Now I thank them for letting me love you."

She threw her arms around me and said, "Oh Lon do you really love me?"

"I do honey. I do love you. You talk about her being a strong woman. You are every bit as strong in my eyes. I love you more than anything in the world."

"You don't know what this means to me. I've been in love with you for so long but until you were ready to move on and show that we might have a future I couldn't tell you so. I love you, God it feels so good to be able to say that now."

I made the reservations that same afternoon. I didn't get the eighty two footer but by God we would be going in comfort and we would have the runabout for cruising under the moon and the stars. When I had finished making the reservations I told her, "Now you realize you have to leave all your underwear at home because we have to stay naked for the week. Not because that's what we did then but that's what I always do down there."

"Is that so. What if somebody sees me?"

"They'll just have to eat their heart out because you are taken."

"Lon honey I am looking forward to it and going naked too. I'll be petrified at first you know that don't you?"

"Not when you see how it is. You will not want to come home. Take your laptop because you just may write the next great American novel while we're there."

"The hell I will. I'm going naked and I'm going to screw your brains out, get a sunburn and flash the neighbors. Then the next day...."

"I'm going to have my hands full with you I can tell."

"You better believe it."

That day will stand out as another turning point in my life. I still had to fulfill my promise but I was already getting on with my life. I was shedding my baggage. Our lives settled down and time passed until it was only six weeks until our first houseboat experience together. As I sat there working on a short story the phone rang and it was Rex. I was sure he was going to get me to buy again but he said, "Lon I hate to do this over the phone but Jerry's dead."

"How, what happened?"

"He killed himself Lon. I don't have all the details yet but I didn't want you to hear it on the news. I'll let you know more as soon as I can find out."

"Have you talked to Leanne?"

"No not yet and I probably won't for a while."

"Please, please tell her how I hurt for her. She knows how much I respected and liked him. Tell her I'll write her soon. Rex, don't tell her about Andie okay? I have my reasons."

"I'll honor your wishes Lon no explanations needed."

I loved Andie completely but that news opened something up in me and I desperately wanted to be there for her. It wasn't about love, sex or anything else. I wanted to be there to hold her and protect her from hurt. I always wanted to protect her from hurt. When Andie called later she could hear the sadness in my voice so I had to tell her at least some of it. I told her a very dear friend had died suddenly. A friend whose wife I couldn't go to, to console. She knew immediately what the connection was. Had I said he'd committed suicide the dots would have been connected and my promise would have been broken. Andie was at my door quickly and stayed with me for hours. My God here she was consoling me because I couldn't go to another woman and hold her. My Andie was such an amazing woman and I was such a lucky man. "Lon do you want to cancel the houseboat?"

"No I don't think so honey. If anything it's more important to me now than ever. It will be okay honey I promise. We'll have a good time and my friend will handle her crisis. I will be writing her of course but that's all I can or should do. I have you and will never do anything to jeopardize that or hurt you in any way."

"I'm not worried honey. I love you and trust you." Andie went home much later and after a lot of thought I drafted a letter to Leanne. There wasn't much I could say or do but I did my best to console her and offer any help I might be able to render knowing full well that she wouldn't respond to it.

Little by little I learned that Jerry had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. There was no doubt that he either knew it on the houseboat or was at least aware something serious was wrong. I guessed he was writing his will, maybe letters to different people saying most anything that a person like him might want to say to somebody. He needed that week to prepare uninterrupted. An illness would explain them not making love. He wanted Leanne to have a great week knowing full well that she had some very rough times ahead and he had to know how much she cared for me. He also knew he had no intention of suffering to the bitter end. He had it all planned out well in advance and Leanne knew at least some of it. Though it was doubtful that she of his final plans or knew the full scope of his condition until after the houseboat. There she was falling in love with me, having a good time and we made passionate love while her husband was terminally ill. Then she had to watch me walk out of her life forever. The day will come when I can tell Leanne face to face how in awe I am of the two of them but especially her. I make that promise now. I will tell her face to face and I always keep a promise.

Chapter Sixteen