Chapter 11

Being off on Christmas Eve, it gave me a chance to get the entire house cleaned and all the laundry done. I went to the market, bought groceries and returned home. I was putting away the groceries when the phone rang. It was Beth. I just didn’t have the heart to answer it. I let voice mail pick it up and finished putting away the groceries. When I was done, I sat in my chair and listened to the message.

“Hey Jeff, it’s me, I ... I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas. I know it’s not what you ... I mean ... I was hoping ... Oh hell, take care, talk to you later.” was the message.

Funny, I thought. We went from being so close, to an unsigned letter and a strained voice mail in a few months. Life changes so fast sometimes, you can’t keep up. That night I did a lot of thinking about Beth. As hard as it was to accept, it would be extremely difficult to be with Beth. I had no clue how the family would react, then I know Lance would be as difficult as he could be. Perhaps, this is for the best. I decided to call it a night about eleven and go to bed. As I climbed into bed, I realized that a year had passed since my first encounter with Beth. Somehow, it had not seemed that long ago.

The phone woke me up the following morning about nine-thirty. I looked at the clock, surprised at the time. I answered the phone, it was my mother-in-law.

“Merry Christmas, Jeff.” She said, “Dad and I love you.”

“Merry Christmas Mom, I love you too.” I replied.

It was always hard for us during the holidays. Even after all this time, you never really get over it. She then asked me if I had spoken to Beth. I told her no, but that she had called. She went on to tell me that Beth and Lance had reconciled and he had moved back in. I had really figured as much, so I wasn’t overwhelmed by the news. I could tell by the tone in my mother-in-law’s voice she wasn’t elated by the news. ‘If you only knew, Mom.’ I thought.

The day passed slowly and I had a lot of thinking to do. Early that evening, I had come to two conclusions. One, any thought of a relationship with Beth was over and two, I had no clue as to how to explain to Jennifer that I was just not interested in another relationship. She, of course, had no way of knowing about Beth, and I had no intention of telling her. I just felt that I was better alone, it worked for me. And deep down in my heart, did I really think anyone could replace Susan?

Jennifer called around six, she was on her way over. I had everything done, so I just watched TV until the doorbell rang. I went to the door, opened it and invited her in. She was dressed in blue jeans, a red sweater and white blouse. She looked really nice. I closed the door behind her and led her to the great room.

“Wow, your house is gorgeous.” she said, “Not what I pictured for a single man.”

“I can’t take credit for it Jen, I didn’t decorate it.” I replied.

She had a card board tray with two plates of food, covered in plastic wrap. She offered them to me and asked me to sit down and eat. She had brought enough for both of us, so I asked her to join me. We sat at the table and had a very nice dinner, the food was excellent. We cleaned up and she asked if she could see the rest of the house. I obliged giving her the grand tour. Finally I took her out to the rear of the home where the sun room was. I had this room built about two years before Susan died and it was one of her favorites. The room had a complete glass wall across the back that looked out into the garden. In one corner, I had a very large Jacuzzi, the rest of the room was decorated with wicker furniture with floral cushions. The floor was slate tile, and there was a flat screen TV mounted to the adjacent wall, so you could sit in the Jacuzzi and watch TV. I could tell by her excitement, Jennifer liked the room.