Chapter 3

I didn't set the alarm and slept until almost nine, very late for me. I guess that tent sleeping wasn't that restful on the hot humid nights, even with the extra large air mattress. I washed my face and put on some shorts and a T-shirt and went downstairs. Brianna was in the family room watching TV and talking to one of her friends on the phone. Jennifer was reading the paper at the bar drinking coffee. Both were wearing their freshly washed jeans and shirts from yesterday, but looking considerably brighter.

"Good morning, Jordan. I see that you slept well, too. I've only been up about a half-hour or so." She smiled, "I made some coffee and can fix you an omelet if you trust me."

"Hey, do it." I sipped the coffee and watched her move around. I was so tired and distracted yesterday that I hadn't the time to pay enough attention. She wore the jeans like they were molded on her nicely shaped hips and butt. I guess she must have been about 5'8" and had a clearly distinguished waist with ample breasts. How did I miss all that detail yesterday? I didn't, but I was exhausted and it didn't register as deeply.

Within minutes, she served me a pretty cheese omelet, toast, and ham. She said, "I didn't see any fruit."

"This looks great. I took all the fruit with me to the coast. Put it on the list."

As she pondered the list, leaning into the counter, she turned and said, "Do you have a wife or girlfriend?"

"No wife and occasional girl friends."

"Any adult women nearby?"

"Yes, why?"

"I need a hair appointment and a manicure. I was going to ask someone unless you might know where I should go."

"Absolutely. In that drawer by the phone is an address book. It was my wife's, but it has all the service numbers on the front page."

"What about your wife?"

"Angela died about eighteen months ago from breast cancer."

Jennifer put her hands on my shoulders, "I'm sorry. I just didn't want her to come in from a trip and find she had strange guests."

I said, "It's OK. I have to get used to it. Would you hand me that bottle of hot sauce from the refrigerator?"

"It's about out. Shall I put it on the list?"

"By all means. I meant to buy a spare, but forgot." I sprinkled the Cholula on my omelet, "When I finish, we need to do our errands. When would you like to leave?"

"How about twenty minutes?"

We went first to Target, or "Tarzhay" as some of my friends call it. She bought cosmetics, feminine stuff, underwear, pants, shorts, skirts, blouses, jeans, pajamas, and other necessities for both of them.

We spent an hour getting groceries. I said to Brianna, "Did you get your cereal or whatever your favorite snacks are? Get what you want."

She looked at Jennifer, "May I?"

"You heard him. Go get it."

As we were checking out, Jennifer said to the clerk, "These were marked two for one." She impressed me with her awareness of the prices.

The cashier replied, "Sorry."

When she swiped her credit card. The clerk said, "Sorry, it isn't going through." Then, she looked at the card and said, "It's from one of those banks near the Gulf. They won't be up for another few days."

Jennifer gasped, "Oh, shit. Excuse me, but I don't have any checks."

I quickly swiped my card and we took our purchases to the car. She started, "I'm so sorry, Jordan. I didn't mean to put that on you."

"You'll pay me back when you get back on your feet. Don't worry."

As we drove toward the market, she saw a bank. "Can we stop? I need to rent a safe deposit box."

"Let's do it at my bank. Closer to home."

It took fifteen minutes to get the safe deposit box and for her to put her jewels in. When she came out of the vault, she said, "I feel so much better. They're worth a lot and the emotional value is way high."

As we drove toward home, I went through a small strip mall. "See that sign for 'Bedazzled?' That's your salon until you can find someone regular."

I realized that I had made a blunder. She was leaving on Saturday.

I guess she read my mind. "It's OK. I'll be happy there." She giggled, "If I get bored, I can go into the shop next door."

It was an adult entertainment and toy store. "Just don't spend so much time shopping that you miss your appointment."

When we put our groceries away, I sat for another cup of coffee. It had been in the pot too long. She apparently saw the grimace on my face and went immediately to make a fresh pot. While she was doing that, I asked, "Did you call the salon?"

"I will. Will you take me there?"

"No. There is a car in the garage. I will draw you a map. Are you OK with that?"

She paused, "I know I can drive there, but..."

"I'll call them and charge it. No problem?"

"I really can pay you back."

"Forget it. I'm going up to boot up my wife's old computer. It will do email and web searches, but not much more. No big time graphics." I said, "I had ordered her a new one, but we didn't need it."

Brianna came in, "Jordan, you didn't tell me that you had a pool."

"You didn't ask."

She looked at her mother who just laughed. "You have to ask, Brianna."

I asked, "Brianna, do you know how to clean a pool?"

She looked at me like I was some kind of outer space cadet, put her hand on her tilted hip and asked, "Is there cows in Texas?"

Jennifer gulped, "Brianna!"

"If your mother says that you know how to swim, of course you may after you clean the pool."

Brianna looked at her mother, who said, "You heard Jordan. Clean first, swim later."

I watched her shake her head for a minute, "The supplies are in that shed. Can you test the water?"

She didn't answer and started out the door, then she looked back. "Yes, sir, I can test the water."

Jennifer said, "If you have work to do, I will make lunch."

I was shocked and thrilled. "You would? I have a ton of email."

She offered, "I can do a lot in the kitchen, but I don't do well when someone that I don't really know watches me"

"It's all yours."

I went upstairs and quickly saw that I had two tons of email and began working feverishly on responding to it. I was in the middle of doing it when Jennifer rapped on my door. I looked up and saw that she had brushed out her hair and put on some brilliant lipstick. Amazing.

She said, "I'm washing our new stuff. I don't want all those chemicals on us. Do you have any dirty clothes?"

I started to get up. She said, "Just tell me where they are. It will take more than one load."

"There's a black leaf bag in the back of my truck. It won't smell very good."

She laughed, "It will when I get through with it." She started away, and then turned, "Why do you live here in the middle of Georgia?"

"My wife had family nearby and she wanted to be closer to them than Atlanta. I didn't care, since I can live about anywhere near an airport. I don't have anywhere that I need to move right now."

I teased, "Why do you live on an island devastated by hurricanes?"

"If I had to explain it, you wouldn't understand. You're a little feisty, aren't you!"

I looked out at the pool to see a pretty young girl in jeans cleaning it. I watched for a while and decided that she was doing a good job. I went back downstairs and found Jennifer sorting laundry. "Did you buy swimsuits?"

"No, and I don't want to go back. I'll live."

"Brianna?"

"I'll get her black bra and black panties and she'll be OK. It isn't as if she'll be naked."

"Get her something nice tomorrow. You're right about today, though. I'd hate to tell her she couldn't go in the pool after she did such a nice job."

"Brianna is compulsive. She does most things right." She looked at me for a minute, and then said, "Lunch will be ready in fifteen minutes."

When I went in to lunch, Jennifer had made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, salad, and steamed broccoli. She said, "This isn't my normal healthy fare, but Brianna loves it, so I did it."

She went to the back patio and called Brianna to lunch. When Brianna came in, she said, "How long since you've done the pool?"

"Don't ask."

She looked at her mother quizzically. "It needed it."

Jennifer said, "Brianna and her father used to fight over the pool. She wanted to hire a service and he wanted her to do it. Then, we were away for three weeks and Brianna had to clean up the mess when we returned. She hasn't forgiven him."

I laughed. "We all have our problems." The sandwich was perfect, with a dill pickle inside. After lunch, she asked, "Tell me about the car to take to the salon?"

"I drew you a map. Take the sedan. Press the left button on the visor to open the garage door."

"Didn't I see a drugstore in that strip mall? We have those in Pensacola."

"Yep. My favorite. If you need prescriptions, you may order them online and pick them up there."

"I use that chain. I'm so amazed at the electronic age." She went upstairs and ordered her prescriptions to be picked up. When she came down, she said, "Isn't it amazing what a mouse can do?"

Fifteen minutes later, Jennifer was gone to the salon. I felt very comfortable with my guests. They were good people. Jennifer made me constantly aware of her appeal, yet she did nothing overt. She didn't have to. I was putting dishes in the dishwasher when Brianna came in. "Oh, no. You don't do that." She pushed me out of the way and loaded the dishes exactly right.

I was sitting on the stool watching her precise movements. She had obviously loaded lots of dishwashers. When she turned around, she said, "Why are you being so nice to us?"

"I watched you get out of that pickup. Most of the other widows and orphans had departed. You were my last chance to do a good deed."

She yelled, "I'm not a damned orphan."

"Give me some credit. You were the best-looking women that I could offer my hospitality to. OK?"

She blushed. "What are you going to do with Mom?"

"As I understand it, you will go to your grandparents on Saturday. Do you know something I don't?"

Tears ran down her cheeks. "My Grandfather is angry with my Mom because... Well because. We don't want to go up there. It will be awful."

"It's not my place to interfere with family squabbles. I don't see any reason why you can't stay here until you get your house back."

She came close to the stool where I was sitting, "Do you think we could stay here instead of going to my grandfather's? I hate listening to them argue all the time."

I pulled her shoulders around and looked into her brilliant blue eyes, "Brianna, you and your mother can stay here until you get your lives together. I have plenty of room."

"Did you tell Mom that?"

"No, but I will. I know that she's terribly upset. I don't want to add to her agony." I went upstairs to work on my email and project. About an hour later, I reached a stopping place and decided to go downstairs.

Brianna was watching some mindless hot sex MTV show, but I didn't comment on it. When she saw me come in, she turned it off.

She looked at me for several seconds and then asked, "Would you talk to me?"

"What would you like?"

"My daddy used to hold me when I was upset or cried. I hated it when Mom made him leave."

"Would you like me to hold you?"

"Would you? I'm scared. I don't know what we're going to do."

I put my arms around her and held her to my chest. She put her arms around me. I could feel her breasts against me and how nicely her shoulders had developed. When she put her head on my shoulder I could feel her breath and then her tears running down my neck.

"Would you just hold me tighter."

I wrapped both arms around her and pulled her to my chest and just held her as she cried softly. She finally looked up, "You want to quit?"

"Nope. Cry all you like. I'll hold you."

She cried for several minutes, sometimes with body sobs. I kept her to me with my arms around her, almost so tight that she couldn't breathe. She held on, too. I massaged her scalp until she seemed better. I knew I couldn't maintain neutrality for very long and that would embarrass me.

She let go and pulled away. Although her eyes were red, her face was still appealing. She looked at me sincerely and said, "Thank you for letting us stay."

Nothing works every time, but the odds are good that going shopping can cheer a sad woman. I said, "Go wash your face. We are going to find you a swimsuit."

She almost screamed, "Can we? Mom said I could wear my underwear but I didn't want to."

We went to the mall and found, surprise of all shocks, that they were having sales. We went into one of the shops for teens. I said, "Go find something nice to swim in. I'll sit over there."

"No. There's a chair by the dressing room. I want you to approve."

"No. You pick. I'm not here to approve."

She looked surprised. Then she went to the racks and came back with the five items the store allowed in the dressing room. Two minutes later, she came out in the first one. She certainly inherited nice features from her mother. She turned around and showed her shape. I thought the suit was OK, but not great on her.

She said, "Well?"

"Try another."

She came out in a second that was much nicer, if you like to see shapely young girls showing lots of bare skin. She handed me the first suit.

Keeping her panties on to try the suit on took away from the charm, but I could imagine how it would look on her without them. The top held her breasts nicely. If I said "bare-ly" it might be more accurate.

I said, "OK, go for number three." I ended up with five suits on my lap when she came out wearing her jeans.

She was giggling. "OK, which one?"

"You pick the one that you want and then I'll tell you what I think."

She went for the daring second one, which was my favorite. I said, "Would you be safe in someone else's pool wearing that?"

She turned red, "Well, maybe it is a little too brief."

"Pick one that you like and that you can wear away from our house."

She picked another suit that was still brief, but modest enough to wear among other young girls and boys. She held it up. "Brianna, that's pretty. It was my second choice, too." I suppose pretty young girls were still in a continuing contest to see who could show the most skin and still be legal.

"Thank you, Jordan."

We went to the register and I put both of them on the counter. She said, "I need to take that one back."

"No, you have one to wear at home and one to wear away." I was looking forward to seeing more of the one at home.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you. I hope Mom approves."

"We can only ask. I'm sure they'll exchange them with your receipt."