Time Wounds All Heels

"I can't, not like this."

She pointed to the chair she sat in.

"It hasn't kept you from doing anything else you wanted. You can do this. Besides, people are waiting on you to get out onto the dance floor."

Eyes were focused on her. The waitress she'd talked into keeping her son stared at her with tears in her eyes and gestured to her to go to the dance floor.

She was rolling onto the dance floor and Kenny/Robert Kincade held her lightly with his hands on her shoulders and it seemed as if they swayed across the floor with no chair between them. It was so light that it seemed only the dream of a machine.

They danced to "I just Died In Your Arms Tonight," and "Can You Tell Me What Love Is," and a half dozen other ancient songs that young and old couples found sufficient reason to hold each other on the floor.

Finally the music stopped and White Lightning said, "Thank you, Miss Jessie. A lot of people you don't know appreciate everything you've done for so many years. I'm glad your friend brought you here tonight."

Robert Kincade leaned over and captured her lips. Out of the corner of her eye, Jessie saw the waitress, Deanna, crying.

"I thought-"

'What did you think, Jessie?"

They were sitting in her driveway, the garage door still down.

"You know what I thought, you bastard. You could have told me."

"It was petty of me. I know. But I'm only human. I wanted to hurt you, just a little bit. And I can't help it if you've got a dirty mind."

"Have I told you that you're a bastard, yet?"

"Several times today in fact."

"You could kiss me again, you know."

"I know."

"Then why?"

"You owed me that dance, It seemed like it was what we both needed. If anything else happens, I don't want it to be between Jessica Longmire and Kenny Bishop. I want it to be between Miss Jessie, the Wheelchair Lady, and Robert Kincade. I'm going to give you some time to think about what you want, not move in on you when you've been knocked off your feet emotionally and are still in shock."

"So in the end, you and Kenny aren't that different. Neither one of you would reach out to grab something you really want."

He looked at her unsmilingly, but his words were soft.

"I haven't decided if I want it, Jessie. It's been a long time and we've both changed a lot. Sometimes there are things that you should leave alone. I...just let me think about things. A lot of stuff has happened to me tonight, too. You're not the only one whose world got shaken."

She just stared at him.

"You're right, Kincade. Maybe we both need some time. You can leave now. I'll be okay to get inside by myself."

"I'll go in with you."

She locked the garage down behind her and he followed her to the kitchen where he put a new six-pack of Bud Lights in that he'd bought at a 7-11 after explaining why he had to do it. It seemed to Jessie like something Robert Kincade would do. Then he followed her to the den and stood there while she punched a button on her keychain and the front door clicked and swung open.

"Thank you, Kincade. This was a day I'll never forget."

He bent down and kissed her. She found herself kissing him back. It was not a friend's kiss.

"I'm going to call you next Friday or Saturday. I don't know my schedule. But I hope you'll save some time for me in your schedule. I want to take you on a real date. Dinner – at someplace where they serve more than hamburgers, and dancing at a nice place. This will be between Robert Kincade and Jessie Miller. The Times-Union isn't involved. I hope you'll agree to go out with me."

"I thought you needed time to decide if you wanted to do this."

"I took all the time I needed. I'm not walking away from you a second time."

"Call me and we'll see."

"Playing hard to get?"

"I'm starting to feel 17 again."

As the lights of his Suburu disappeared down the drive, she watched them for a moment.

She took a deep breath. What a day. You go years and things go on and on and then one day your world flips. She wheeled around and looked at the scene in front of her.

Had it always been this shabby? This old? This...lonely? Probably. She had just stopped noticing it, because it didn't matter. This had just been the place she slept and made meals in sometimes.

She looked back out at the driveway. It was empty now. Robert Kincade/Kenny Bishop. After 20 years. She had dreamed about it happening someday, but now that it was real, it was different than she'd ever imagined. Reality was...different.

She keyed the door closing, locked it and then turned on the alarm system. She turned and moved the chair toward her bedroom.

Would he call her? Probably not. People weren't that saintly. No matter what he'd said, she'd seen the hurt in his eyes that day. Could anyone rise above the desire to hurt back, to raise the spirits of a lonely middle-aged woman and then simply ignore her. Let her feel the kind of rejection he had felt. As she'd said, Time Wounds All Heels.

Passing through the doorway and seeing the bathroom where he had held her, and the bed where she had lain nearly naked before him, she thought he probably would simply blow her off.

And she would deserve it. If he chose to raise her hopes and then dash them, it was only what she had coming. And maybe, maybe, it would go a long way to balance the books. And maybe she could forgive herself and forget Robert Kincade.

She spun the chair around and slid out onto the bed with practiced ease. Lying there in the darkness after she clapped the lights off, she thought, what if he wasn't lying? What if he had forgiven her? What if he really did want to see her again? What if he was on the other end when the phone rang?

She couldn't quite make herself believe it. But, what if? She smiled into the darkness. The next week was going to be - interesting.