Chapter 3

A few days had passed and I wasn't any farther ahead in drawing any conclusions. I got a listing of all real estate that was for sale within a twenty mile radius of the accident. My God, so many places for sale. I remember Connie had said that Derek had mentioned possibly buying a cottage, so I started there. It narrowed the list considerably. I jumped in my pickup and started driving by these cottages. I had a picture of Lydia with me to see if she was trying to sell any of the properties. The funny thing I learned about selling real estate was that an agent could sell any listing of properties. Not just the ones with their agency, but from all agencies. The commission was just split between the two agencies.

I must have looked at about twelve properties. I headed for the next one which was a cottage called Valley View, where an older gentleman said he remember Lydia asking to show the property to a client. He said he thought it was a couple of months before. He mentioned to me that he told the young lady that he wouldn't be there and he gave her the key to the property. He showed me around. It was a small three room cottage, and was fully furnished. I couldn't help staring at the bed in the bedroom. The gentleman saw me looking and said he had clean linen in the drawer for the people who stayed. He still rented it out at a daily rate if anyone was interested. He did mention she had seen him again the week before and asked to show it again. He put the key in the mailbox for her but didn't think she showed up. I told him it was my wife and it was her that was killed that weekend. She was probably going to show the property again. He gave me his condolences and I was on my way.

Finally, I figured that Lydia was going to show the property to Derek. At least I knew that part was hopefully for business. On Thursday, I received a call from Connie.

"Jerry, I'm so sorry that I didn't get back to you sooner. I've had a lot on my mind lately and a lot of company still coming around, paying their respects."

I thought for a moment. No one has come to see me since the two funerals. I received a few phone calls but no one stopped by. My mom and step-father lived in another state and went back home. I talked to them a few times over the phone. No one from Lydia's family has been by since I gave them the clothes.

"I understand, Connie. I don't expect you to drop everything just for me. I did find out some more stuff today. Is there any chance we can get together tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tonight would be great, Jerry. I'll drop my kids off at my mom's place and come over to your place if you don't mind."

"Okay, I'll see you around six. I'll order in some Chinese if you like."

"Yes, I love Chinese food, Jerry; I'll see you at six."

After hanging up the phone I started cleaning up the place. I was running around doing dishes and even moping the floor. You would have thought I had a special friend coming over and needed to impress her. What was I thinking? I was doing exactly that. I guess I wanted Connie's approval.

Connie showed up right on time. She was dressed in a nice blouse and black skirt. She really looked nice. She saw me staring at her when I greeted her.

"Oh, sorry, I just came from another appointment. That's why I dressed like this."

"Shoot, I thought you might have dressed like that for me," I smiled.

She looked into my eyes. She could see through me, not even Lydia was able to do that. I was hurting, and I was alone. A very vulnerable situation.

"Jerry, before we talk about what we have found, I need to confide in you and tell you something personal."

"I'm here for you, Connie. You can confide in me. I promise it will never go any further."

"Derek and I were having big time marital problems. I know I told you that he had affairs. I thought he might be having one now but I don't know who with. We were headed for divorce and he knew it. He might have been looking for a place to buy that would still be in the area. I don't know. Mainly, what I want to tell you is that I fell out of love with Derek almost two years ago when I caught him in the affair with his secretary. I could never trust him after that. You need to know that I have never cheated on him, even though I had the opportunities. Hell, every woman has those opportunities."

"Why are you telling me this, Connie? I'm nearly a stranger to you. Why me, Connie?"

"I'm vulnerable, just like you. I lost my mate and am now widowed, just like you. I hurt inside and want to be wanted, to be loved, just like I see in your eyes. I know it's too soon since the death of our spouses. I know that, but I also want you to know that I will be available whenever you are ready. It might be the loneliness talking, but I trust you, Jerry. I know you heard the talk at the funeral home. I don't want men like them. I want a man that can be true to me, the way you were with Lydia. I can tell by the kind of person you are that you were always faithful to her, just like I was to Derek."

"I don't know what to say. Right now I feel like you're my only friend. I would like to see you often. We can just take it one day at a time."

Wow, she was something, and she spoke her mind. Thank God, the doorbell rang as our dinner arrived. We sat at the kitchen table and opened the boxes of food. Connie grabbed the chop sticks and started eating. I went to the drawer and got a fork. She laughed and asked for one also. We seemed to just click.

After we ate I told her about the man at the cottage. She handed me Derek's appointment book and on that fatal Friday, he had lvv 7:00 PM. I quickly turned back in his book and looked for the Friday the man spoke of. There it was, big bold letters, LVV, 6:00PM.

"What's LVV, Jerry?"

"Lydia, Valley View. They were going there."

"So, Derek was looking to buy a cottage?"

"Maybe, maybe not, they were going to this furnished cottage. Hopefully to check it out. Why didn't Lydia tell me? She, always tells me about possible sales. Why didn't Derek tell you? You're his wife. Wouldn't a man tell his wife if he was going to buy property?"

"At least we know where they were headed and that they were there once before," Connie said.

"Yeah, almost two months ago and no one seemed to know about it. Weird huh?" I replied.

We kept comparing notes. There weren't any connections in the past that popped up. Connie showed me some strange phone numbers. She told me she thought some of them were one night stands. She couldn't get the phone records from his office since it was a business, so all she had was his cell phone record. I went through Lydia's cell phone but I hadn't received the last month's bill yet. Connie said it was the same with Derek's. We would have to double check in a couple of weeks when their final cell bills came in.

I walked Connie to the door. We stared at each other for a minute. She was so pretty. She was about three years older than me but that meant nothing. I wanted to hold her, hug her and kiss her. Would it be so wrong to want someone?

She was about to open the door when I said, "Connie."

"Yes, Jerry?"

"Can I kiss you one time? If you say 'No' I'll understand."

She came to me and we kissed. Lightly wet, slightly opened mouth and very sensual. As we were kissing I pulled her to me and held her close. The kiss seem like it went on for minutes but was only a few seconds. As we parted slowly, she had a tear in her eye as did I.

"Thank you, Jerry. I really needed that."

"So did I Connie; so did I." She opened the door and left.

The following week I started back to work. It was actually a good thing. I was able to do something besides thinking about Lydia and now Connie. I talked to Connie at least every couple of days. We didn't see each other because we both knew we would move too fast. We became close phone friends. She would tell me about her kids and about her parents. She didn't hear much from Derek's parents. She did take the kids over periodically so they could see each other. She told me that a lot of Derek's parents' warmth toward her kids had cooled down. Apparently Derek had told them about a possible upcoming divorce.

When I got home from work one evening I was going through the bills and came across an unpaid hospital bill. It was for the removal of a fetus. What? A fetus, was Lydia pregnant? I couldn't sleep that night. The first thing in the morning I headed to the hospital to have this bill checked out. A doctor came up to me and said it was for a removal of a fetus when my wife was brought in. They told me she probably didn't even know she was pregnant. She was comatose when she was brought in. The fetus died in the crash and had to be removed to try and save Lydia's life. It was about a month or two old.

The billing department told me that the bill would be paid by my insurance. It was just that after one month they send us a copy. They did tell me that I received a copy of the bill when Lydia's body was released. I told them that was a trying time and I probably didn't see it.

That reminded me to go back to the DNA clinic to see about my tests. I headed over to pick them up. On the way to the clinic I thought about the unborn baby. Again the time frame sucked. That would have been around the same time she showed Derek's the cottage. Dammit, that one I would never know about.

When I got to the clinic I had to wait. It seemed like hours but was only about a half hour. The doctor called me into his office.

"Here are your DNA results, Mr. Johnson, and here is your son's."

I didn't pick up on the word son's.

"He was your son, Mr. Johnson."

I started to cry. I couldn't help it. It was now official - little Mikey was my son. The doctor came around and patted me on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson, but at least it gives you closure."

I thanked the doctor and left his office with my tests. I called Connie on my cell phone.

"Hello."

"Connie, I need to see you."

"What is it, Jerry? You really sound stressed out."

"I got my DNA test results."

"And?" asked Connie."

"Mikey was my son - my son, Connie. The little boy that died was my Mikey." I was crying again.

"I'm so happy for you, Jerry. I know you needed that closure and you wanted Mikey to be your son," said Connie.

"I want to know if you would feel comfortable having dinner with me tonight. I kind of want to celebrate the news. Maybe celebrate isn't the right word but I wanted to share it with someone, and that someone is you."

"Okay, Jerry, let me call mom and let her know I'm having dinner out. I finally told her about you. She was a bit surprised but I think she's alright with it. Would you mind meeting her when we drop off the kids?"

"You mean I get to meet the kids too?"

"They know I talk to you all the time and want to know what you look like."