Suspicions

"I was just massaging her legs, it's my job!" He said.

"Yea, sure." Jim growled.

Sandy had gotten up, then she again sat down on the couch. Jim stepped up to her, reached down and yanked the hem of her robe up.

She had on a small pair of white shorts.

"Walt wasn't doing anything!" She started crying.

"I should have you fucking arrested for this, asshole. If it wasn't for Sandy..." Walt started to say, coming to his feet.

Jim hit him again, he went down for the count that time.

"You keep your fucking hands off of her!" Jim yelled, standing over the man in a rage, his fists clenched.

"Jim. No, he didn't. God damn it! He is only my nurse." Sandy cried out. Jim just stood there as she struggled into the kitchen to get a damp towel, then came back and knelt down to bathe Walt's head.

"You've hurt him, you get out of here, damn you!" She said angrily.

Jim turned and walked out the door. He was sitting in his vehicle down at the park when the Sheriff pulled in behind him.

+++

It was a full day before they released Jim from the jail cell. His lawyer got him out with no bail since Walt had a couple of large lumps but nothing seemed serious.

He was transported by ambulance and spent one night in the hospital.

The house was locked up tightly when he arrived, there was no sign of Sandy and no note. With no idea of where to look for her, Jim sat down to wait.

He was still in the chair when he woke up the next morning.

Everything was rushing through his head, it was all a jumble. All of the signs were there, at least in his mind. Sandy had appeared to be enjoying Walt's hands on her, and he had thought she was naked underneath the robe.

It looked like the man had placed his hands right on her behind, although he hadn't actually seen that since Walt's back was mostly in the way.

Jim knew they had been intimate in the past, so how easy would it be for them to be that way again?

He just didn't know, but he did know he needed to find her and figure it out.

How damn long had this been going on? The way that man had been stroking her legs was just too much for him.

It was mid morning when the phone finally rang.

"Are you all right?" Were the first words out of her mouth.

"I'm fine. Where are you?"

"I am at a motel down by the river." She told him.

"Why? What's going on? And how did you get there?" He knew she couldn't drive yet, and there was no car.

"I took a taxi. You scared me, I never saw you like that before, so I thought it was best to let everything settle down."

"I'm fine. I will come and get you." He said.

"Why? Do you still want to be with me? I thought maybe we were over?"

"No. I don't want that, I want us to be together."

"Jim, you have to let me be me, I love you but I feel like I have to be careful all the time, I can't stand that. I love you and just you, I won't ever do anything except with you, you have to know that."

"Yes, I know that. Sandy, I am sorry. Please, let me come and bring you home."

+++

Sandy was sitting outside on a wooden bench when Jim arrived, she had her overnight case but that was it.

He got out and helped her into his vehicle, she could now stand and walk on her own but she still appeared weak. They drove home in silence.

Even with the promises, the dark cloud remained.

"I know what that must have looked like, honey. But all Walt was really doing was rubbing out my legs to help with the circulation." She told him as soon as they got to the house.

Jim got a sudden vision of what he had seen, he barely managed to control his manner.

"Sandy, have you been cheating on me? You said you were buying hose for work, but you didn't buy any? Then your old lover shows up? What am I supposed to think?"

"No! I would never do that! I belong to you, just you. Everything else is in the past, months before you came back I broke it off with Walt. He even asked me to marry him, but I wanted you!"

"Why no leggings, then? You said you were just going to buy some? Where were you really?" Jim demanded.

"They didn't have the ones I wanted, is all. God, if you thought that, why didn't you just ask me?" She sobbed.

Now Jim felt completely stupid.

"I guess I just blew up, it all looked like just too much to me."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't even thinking about it. After all, Walt is a nurse now, all of that was so long ago it doesn't matter. I have been getting poked and probed so much over the last couple of months, mostly by strangers, they even...wiped my behind for me."

"Well, until I got home anyway, I could do for myself by then." She added quickly, looking at Jim.

That part was true, he had carried her and bathed her himself on weekends but mostly she could manage on her own.

"But you let him bathe you, shave your legs?"

"I wanted to be nice for you, I was in the mood to be with you is all, that's the truth. But then you got all mad about it. Besides, he put a towel over me even though it got all wet. I wanted a real bath, until I got the braces I couldn't."

Jim sighed.

"What was I supposed to think? It looked to me like he was taking...liberties?"

"I know what you thought but he wasn't. He is a nurse and a nice guy, and I just got so used to some things as normal in the hospital that I never even thought about him seeing me."

"I didn't like that one bit, him having his hands on you like that...especially since...?"

"I know. But he is just a friend now, and my nurse. I should have thought about that, maybe asked for someone else but I didn't."

"OK. Let's just go back to the way things were before and forget it."

"OK, honey." She said.

+++

"I talked Walt into dropping any charges." She said a few days later.

"Oh? Just when did you do that?" That part Jim was surprised to hear, he felt another flush.

"I saw him at the hospital today when I saw my Doctor."

Jim gritted his teeth, said nothing. He shifted their conversation to what the Doctor had told her. Then he went in and prepared a meal.

Sandy came to bed that night, she had on a pair of sheer panties and a thin negligee, her legs still appeared slimmer but other than that she looked normal.

"We need to be a little bit careful, honey." She whispered, reaching down to fondle him. Jim found himself responding normally, it was a sweet easy session. He was as gentle as he knew how to be, worried about hurting her.

"You need to work on being jealous, honey. I belong to you, just you now. I will never do anything to hurt you." She told him.

"I will. I'm sorry." Jim promised.

+++

Life settled down and everything returned to normal, Sandy quickly recovered and other than a mild limp she showed no outward signs of her injuries.

About a month later he was crossing the parking lot at his office when he saw a white van pull in. At first he paid no attention, then it came closer and stopped.

Jim was surprised when Walt got out.

He stood there and waited as the man got out, walked up to him.

"What?" Jim asked him.

"I was thinking of suing your ass for hitting me, I still have a fucking ringing in my ear from that." Walt said.

"Hey, I am sorry about that, it just looked like...." Jim started to say.

"I was only working out Sandy's legs, and yea, I rubbed her butt, so what? I didn't touch anything else!"

"Hey, if that's all it was, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you. But just what is a nurse doing rubbing someone's behind?" Jim felt a small flash of anger at the flippant tone Walt was using.

"She asked me to, she spent the last few weeks sitting on her fanny with her leg in the air, so she hurts."

"I never heard of any nurse getting that intimate."

"Sometimes it does, it's just part of the damned job!" Walt raised his voice.

Jim thought about that for a moment, he still didn't like the idea. Hell, Sandy was a nurse, she didn't...?

"If it wasn't for Sandy, I would clean your clock. I always did love that woman. I don't know what the fuck you got, but she loves you instead." Walt still appeared to be angry.

Jim braced himself because the man actually was fairly physical appearing. Maybe he could take him, maybe not.

"Relax. I'm not going to do anything to you." Walt said, spotting Jim's tension.

"I just brought you a little present." Walt handed Jim a manila envelope.

Then he turned and walked back to his van, part way there, he turned back.

"That's just something to remember me by, asshole. I wouldn't have done anything with Sandy, not with her being married now. Not even if she had wanted to, no way in hell would I do that. No god damn way in hell will that woman ever cheat on you either, for some crazy reason she loves you! Even if you are a stupid dick!"

Jim had come to realize that already. Rather than feeling the usual flash of anger, instead Jim just felt guilt.

Then Walt grinned at him.

"I sure as hell would like to again though, so if you ever slip up with her, I will be there in a New York minute!" He laughed and got into the van and left.

Jim stood there for a moment, then he opened the envelope. Inside were three large photos, he knew them very well. One was a closeup of Sandy from the waist down, two fingers partially inside herself, the other was of her standing sideways, naked, her bare breasts jutting outwards.

The one that grabbed him was the one of her standing in the doorway, the light behind her outlining her body.

Now he knew who had taken them. Walt was getting some sweet revenge, this was something that Jim knew he would never forget.

That should have upset him, made him angry.

Instead, he thought about it for a moment. His wife and that man had been lovers at one time, briefly but that was before.

Sandy had chosen him rather than Walt.

Through jealously, silliness, he came very close to fucking things up. He stood there for a long time, taking deep breaths.

No more. There was going to be no more worry, no more jealousy. Jim resigned himself to changing that, no matter how hard it was going to be to do.

Jim stopped at a store on the way home, it took about a half hour to find what he wanted.

At home, Jim found Sandy in the kitchen, cooking. He walked up to her and gave her a hug.

"I love you, babe." He told her.

"I love you too, honey. What's up with you?" She asked, mildly surprised.

"I just want you to know that, and I am going to tell you that every day for the rest of our lives!" He said, leaning down for a kiss. She sighed when he ran his hands up her sides, fondling her breasts.

Sandy beamed at him happily.

"Let's eat first, see what I made?" She showed him the casserole, it looked delicious.

"You are going to need all of your strength later, honey!" She grinned.

"I saw Walt today." Jim told her as they sat down at the table.

"Oh, really? What did he want?" She asked, giving Jim a puzzled look. He spotted the nearly instant tension in her body.

"He just wanted me to apologize, so I did." Jim said, taking a bite of the food. That wasn't exactly true, the man had just been getting his licks in.

Sandy looked up at Jim, studying his face. Then she smiled.

"That's good." She said.

"This is what is really good!" He told her, taking another bite.

Sandy smiled more broadly, taking a bite herself.

"Maybe not quite enough salt?" She asked.

"No. Everything is perfect." Jim answered.

Then he slid the packet across the table, Sandy looked at it with a puzzled look, opened it.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, her face flaming.

"Walt decided to take a shot or two at me." Jim said.

"Damn him. I didn't know he had copies. I had him give them to me when we broke up. Then I sent them to you."

"I guess he just wanted some revenge for me hitting him."

"Well, you shouldn't have hit him."

"Yea, I know. But now, after he handed me these? I have to say I am not real sorry." Jim said stubbornly.

"Well, what are we going to do about these?" Sandy asked him.

"Not a thing. He can blow them up to billboard size and put them up by the freeway if he wants to. I am proud of you." Jim told her.

"In fact, I think I will make a whole bunch of copies for all of our friends! Get a life size one framed for here in the living room." He grinned.

"Don't you dare!" Sandy protested, giggling.

"Well, how about you model this and see if it fits you?" He asked her, handing her a small bag he had kept out of sight.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Go put it on and see." Jim laughed.

+++

Sandy stepped out of the bedroom minutes later. The all black bikini he had bought her did cover up the important parts, but that was all.

"Jim! I am nearly naked in this thing!" She laughed.

"Yea, I can hardly wait to see you in it on the beach!" He teased her, getting up.

Sandy took one look at him and ran for the bedroom, laughing. Jim was right behind her.

Later she asked him if she really could wear that outfit on the beach.

"Yep, you can wear anything you want from now on!"

"Really? You won't get all jealous?" Sandy asked.

"I will but I can just carry a big stick and not let you out of my sight." Jim teased.

"I probably won't ever wear it, this is kind of tiny. Maybe I will save it just for you around the house?" Sandy giggled.

"That will be fine with me, too." Jim grinned.

Could he really stand it if she went out in public looking like that? Jim thought about that to himself.

The truth? Even the thought of that irritated the hell out of him and he had bought the damn thing. So, probably not. He knew that, deep down inside he knew himself.

It was silly and he was just trying to show Sandy..what? That he could be..not jealous?

Jim rolled over and grabbed Sandy again.

To hell with Walt, he was gone and Sandy was here. That made it obvious, he was the better man.

At least in Sandy's eyes and that was what mattered.

No more jealousy, he told himself.

Yea, sure.