Chapter 2

It had been over a year since John Taylor's death.

During that time Barbara came to understand what John was talking about, when he had told his son he was sorry as he lay dying. At first, like Bobby, she had no idea what he might have had to be sorry for, other than leaving them so early in life. But coupled with the directions to where some cash was in their house, and her crash course in their personal finances since then, she now understood.

Unbeknownst to Barbara, John had been flying without a financial safety net. He'd been working at the brokerage, performing as if he were a salaried employee. In fact he'd been renting office space there while operating as an independent, self-employed financial consultant. This arrangement had enabled him to capture a higher percentage of the transaction fees paid by his customers. In exchange the brokerage saved labor costs by not providing a pension plan, life insurance, etc.

That was all well and good while John was performing well for his clients in a rising stock market. With John dead, it wasn't so good for Barbara and Bobby. His monthly income went to zero, with no benefits other than survivor's social security to take its place.

Fortunately, Barbara had gone to work at a local bank 6 years earlier, after Bobby started 1^st grade. She'd used her business degree to start the career she had deferred when she married John and became pregnant with Bobby. While John had said she didn't need to work, he'd supported her wanting to develop herself and have a career of her own 100%. She was glad of that now.

The bank employed her as a housing loan officer, having worked her way up from entry-level teller. The bank was very pleased with Barbara's quick mind and customer relationship skills. She could tell people "no," and make them think it was in their best interest. She could also do the research to identify people deserving of loans that other banks might turn away. Her default record was lower than any other loan officer in the bank's branches city wide, and senior management had begun to notice.

Unfortunately, her job's current salary could not support the life style they had enjoyed when John was alive. The mortgage payments alone on their big house in the exclusive neighborhood consumed two thirds of her income. She reluctantly concluded that they needed to downsize their housing and scale back their other living expenses.

Barbara sat at her desk, drumming her fingers on a thigh. It was her job to know the local housing market. Matching that to what she could afford, with the equity in the existing house, while leaving money to set aside for Bobby's college education meant she could afford... Not much. She'd begun to focus in on the neighborhood around Raul Ramirez's auto repair shop.

Raul had been a godsend as they adjusted to life without John. He was there for her to talk to, and helped with transportation for Bobby to and from school, doctor's appointments, karate lessons, etc, when she couldn't get away from work.

It was remarkable how supportive he'd been, while their wealthy neighbors had come to act like she'd caught some sort of communicable disease. It was either the "poor neighbor that might ask for money" bug to the men, or the "attractive widow that might steal my husband" bug to the women.

Barbara could understand some of that. She knew men viewed her heart shaped butt, on top of her long, subtly muscled legs, as pretty near perfect. And she really liked sex, which some of her former neighborhood friends / confidants knew from giggling girl chats during wine and cheese parties.

But she was too focused on getting her feet on the ground to worry about getting a new man into her bed just yet. And she had other ways to a least partially take care of those needs.

She was waiting for Raul to pick her up for lunch. She'd called and asked him to meet with her to discuss his opinions of the middle school in the neighborhood she was considering. It had the reputation as being "tough." The statistics she'd been able to research indicated they had as many college bound students as most other schools in the city, but they also had more drop-outs as well. She couldn't tell what that meant to daily student life. Since Sammy went there, Barbara figured Raul would have some insights to share.

As she stared out the window of the bank lost in these thoughts, Raul walked in. Her tapping fingers on her thigh caused her skirt to slide higher on her legs than he was typically used to seeing. For perhaps the thousandth time in the last year, he attempted to fight down the urges that sprang forth in his mind and flowed to his boxers.

Raul thought Barbara was the perfect woman. She was a devoted mother, smart as a whip, an engaging conversationalist, apparently color blind to races unlike other people he routinely encountered in her class standing - and absolutely gorgeous. He rejected the stereotype that Hispanic men preferred "Rubenesque" women. Being into physical fitness from his Marine Corps days, through today with his martial arts activities, Raul preferred the athletic type. Barbara fit his preferences to a tee.

Because he'd lost his wife unexpectedly four years before, he understood all too well the grieving process that Barbara was going through. He was waiting patiently for the right time to explore whether the friendship they had could become something more. He was deathly afraid of offending her during her time of emotional recovery. And so, as covertly as he could, he adjusted his pants and did his best to cleanse his thoughts as he approached her.

Raul didn't notice that the windows Barbara was looking out of were somewhat reflective. She caught the movement as he came around the corner, saw him pause and stare at her, his eyes traveling slowly up and down. Then he reached into his pants pocket as if checking for change before resuming his approach.

Raul's Marine training had been good. He hadn't broken camouflage cover for over a year. But he had unknowingly just stepped out in the open for Barbara.

"Hmmm," was all she had time to think before he arrived at her desk.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself! Thanks for coming down."

"No problem, you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Um, I hope you don't mind, but I just made us a couple sandwiches to eat in the park. Kind of goes with the whole penny pinching situation I'm in right now."

Raul grinned. "That sounds like the best lunch plan I've ever heard."

"Allrightee then, let's go."

They went out to Raul's van, with the logo of his repair shop "Honest Auto Repair — Honest!" on the side.

"That motto is so damn hokey Raul," Barbara kidded him as she buckled in.

"Hey, I tell it like it is, you know that. That's what Marines do - even ex-Marines."

"Maybe if you weren't so honest you could buy a newer van," she teased.

"Yeah, but then I couldn't sleep at night, or look my baby girl in the eye over the dinner table she sets for me. Life is full of trade offs."

She frowned at that. He even thought her frown was perfect. Barbara's now alerted guy radar (guy-dar?) saw him staring at her mouth. Some forgotten instinct made her slowly lick her lips before continuing. Double hmmm.

"Well, trade offs is what I wanted to talk to you about. You know I've been looking for a smaller place - one that I can afford longer than through the end of next week?" she said with a rueful laugh. Raul nodded. "I've been looking into a couple houses in your neighborhood, and wanted to get your opinion about the middle school there. It's going to be tough on Bobby to change schools mid-year regardless where we go. I was hoping to get some reassurance about the school there — the stats from the district indicate a fairly high drop out rate."

Raul paused to choose his words carefully. "I'd say the school and the staff are excellent. It's the kids that are kind of bi-polar. More specifically, it's the families the kids are from that are that way. The majority of the kids have good supportive families, even if many are single parent homes."

At this Barbara reached out and patted his arm, giving him a jolt at her touch. "I can certainly see that with you and Sammy," she said with a warm smile.

Raul struggled to keep his train of thought. He continued, "But there's a minority of the kids that don't have that, and those are the ones that cut classes and drop out. At the same time, the Advanced Placement prep courses are all full of kids planning for college, and they test out as high as kids at any school in the city."

Chapter 3 »