Chapter 2: Returning home

After saying my goodbyes to Sally and her family I headed back home. Of course I got the job thanks to Ben and of course the union for having it in their contract. Only about twenty employees decided to move to Ohio. A lot of the other workers put in for other plants and some just wanted to stay in the area they lived. It was a no brainer for me. It was only ten miles from where my folks lived.

I stayed with my folks for about a month till I could get situated. I worked the second shift so I had a lot of free time in the mornings. I found a nice apartment about midway between the plant and mom and dad's. It was just right for me with one bedroom. I slept on the couch half the time anyway.

I started going over to dad's some mornings and helped him feed his animals. We would sit on the front porch and have coffee and talk. Later mom would always make us breakfast. There was something I noticed about my dad. The older I got, the smarter he got. We hardly ever argued anymore.

Mom would come out and sit with us and I couldn't believe I could still see the love between them. It wasn't huggy, kissy or anything like that. It was watching the two of them smile; simple things like that.

One morning as we sat on the porch drinking our coffee a car drove by and honked the horn. Dad raised his hand, waved and smiled. It was a young girl who looked to be about eighteen or so. Cute from the glance I got of her with kind of a short pixy type haircut.

"Who was that, Dad?" I asked.

"Kimmy Morrison from up the road. She graduated from State College last year. Her name is Kimberly but everyone that knows her calls her Kimmy."

"State College? She looks like a teenager," I replied.

"She's twenty-three or twenty-four, I can't remember," said dad. "I'll ask her tonight for you."

"Tonight? How are you going to see her tonight?"

"We see her almost every night. She walks in the evening and stops by and sits with Mom and me all the time. She's the cutest and nicest girl I can remember. She's like a daughter to mom and me. Boy, I sure wish you could hook-up with someone as nice as her. She's just someone special."

"When did she move in? While I was in the service?

Dad laughed. "Move in? You know Joe and Ireen Morrison down in the hollow? It's their daughter. She was born and raised right down the road."

Seemed odd that I wouldn't remember someone that cute until dad reminded me that she was about five years younger than me. She was barely in elementary school when I entered junior high. By the time she was in junior high, I had graduated.

Dad mentioned that she received a degree in child development and was looking for work in that field. Right now she was working at the local department store. I remember dad saying that Kim remembered me but he wouldn't say much about it.

Later that day I went down to see my buddy Clay. He seemed awfully happy for a guy that was recently divorced. He took a break and we went to the restaurant and had lunch and brought each other up to snuff on our lives.

"Sorry about your divorce from Dee. Maybe it was for the best," I said.

"Listen, Jim, I made a big mistake and I paid for it. I always wanted to go out with Dee, but she was your girl and I wasn't going to mess with our relationship. We got into a relationship and I don't have to tell you she was a sexual vixen. I got all tied up in the sex and Dee thought she was pregnant. No one knew so we got married quickly. It was about a month later that she had a miscarriage.

"We both loved the sex and I thought I loved her. She said she really cared for me but didn't know if she could remain faithful. We talked it out and decide to try swinging. We both had our sex but only with our spouse's approval. We promised never to cheat. It was a way of controlling falling for someone else. When you came to see me I thought about our past together. I didn't know why at the time but it didn't bother me to watch you having sex with her. I now know why. I never really loved her. I know that now since I'm in love with someone else."