Chapter 3

Matt took Gloria out three more times before he left Miami. Each time was better than the time before. Gloria was a proverbial hot-as-a-firecracker lady. In public she presented herself as a sophisticated lady. In bed she was one passionate sexual animal who enjoyed love making to the fullest. What was great about her was that she was equally into giving as she was into getting. The little blue pills that Matt had with him came in handy. He would take one pill before they left to go to Matt's condo as he was a believer in insurance. In the morning Matt would awake with an erection so he was able to satisfy Gloria although he sometimes wondered what her standards of satisfaction were.

Since Matt hadn't heard anything from Tina nor did he know where she was, he sent her an email inquiring as to her present status. It took four days before she responded to his email. In it she was very noncommittal. She said that she was booked for a photo shoot in Rome and things were hectic but that she was having a good time. She didn't have any idea when she would be getting back to the States or where in the States she would be. There was nothing in the note about wanting to get together with Matt when she returned. Matt surmised that his relationship with Tina was something that Victor arranged as a reward and that nothing further would happen between them in the future.

The condo rental time was up so it was time to move on. After a wild last night with Gloria, he promised that he would keep in touch with her and he would return to Miami. He looked at her and said, "What red-blooded male would not come back to Miami when he has a chance to be with you, a very beautiful and sexy woman. You are a woman that men dream about. I will be back and the next time we meet you will be walking funny for a week."

Gloria laughed and kissed him and with her eyes fluttering at him said, "I can hardly wait. Hurry back."

Jack was a little sad to see Matt leave. Their friendship and times together had relieved some of his loneliness. He extracted a promise from Matt to stay in touch. Matt said he would return to Miami when the snow started falling up north.

Matt was heading north on an interstate until he got to northern Florida and then he turned west on another interstate. He stopped in Biloxi Mississippi and visited two of the casinos. The noise and smoke-filled rooms were turn-offs. He played a round of golf there but overall wasn't impressed with the area.

Continuing on to New Orleans, he decided to act like a tourist. He signed up for a Gray Line Tour of the city. Bourbon Street was just like he had seen on television and in the movies. Matt looked up a friend, Craig Adams, who he had met when he was on active duty in the service but he hadn't seen in thirty years. Craig lived in New Orleans. They went to a late lunch and reminisced. After about two hours they were all talked out. The commonality of interests they had when they were in the Army was now gone. Matt stayed overnight and did the Bourbon Street scene but Mardi Gras was still a few weeks away so it wasn't that interesting.

On the road next morning, the destination was Austin, Texas. He was going to visit and stay awhile with his son and oldest child, Paul. Technically Paul was his oldest child because Paul was born ahead of his twin sister, Debra. The twins were born ten months after Matt's marriage to Lisa. Paul and his two sisters had been excellent students. Paul was also an excellent athlete and had earned a partial academic scholarship and a partial athletic scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin. He was the starting third baseman on a strong college team. The Dodgers had drafted him but Paul didn't see himself as having a future playing baseball. He continued in his studies and received his MBA in finance. He was offered a job in the investment department of the largest bank in Austin and he accepted the offer. He loved this large city with its small town atmosphere.

While in school Paul had met Peggy and became smitten with her. Peg had just given birth to twin boys when she received the word that her husband had been killed in the service in Afghanistan. He was doing his active duty obligation because of his Army ROTC scholarship. His unit was scheduled to be rotated home in three weeks when the tragedy occurred. He never saw his twin boys.

Peggy now had to become the breadwinner for the family. She moved back with the twins to live with her parents while she went back to school to complete her teaching degree. The university is where she met Paul and they were married just after she graduated. Paul loved her and joked about having a ready-made family. Her twin boys were all one could ask for and Paul adopted them. They called him dad and that was all he wanted to hear. Having a child of his own was a subject that Matt never raised with Paul.

Where to stay while in Austin was a subject of considerable discussion. Paul tried to insist Matt stay with them but if Matt did so, one of the twins would need to give up his bedroom. Matt was firm on this point and asked Paul to recommend a place to stay. Paul came back with an alternative plan. He said that a friend of his who worked at the bank had four time-share weeks that he couldn't use and wanted to sell off two yearly weeks of usage. Apparently Paul's friend's live-in girl friend never found a time share she didn't like. The friend could trade these two weeks of the time-share for a golf resort on Lake Travis here in Austin. This resort wasn't that far away from where Paul lived. The cost of the time-share was reasonable as it was what the yearly assessment for these time-shares. Matt told Paul to accept the offer.

Arriving at Paul's house and exiting the car, Matt was pleasantly surprised when he saw two young boys running towards him shouting, "Grandpa, Grandpa." Matt bent down to his knees and opened his arms to embrace them as they ran to hug him. Paul and Peggy were also coming out to meet him. Hugs and kisses were given all around with the greetings. They went into the house to have some lunch and talk about what plans Matt had while he was there. Matt said he wanted to take the boys to Six Flags and play some golf but otherwise he was completely flexible. Paul and Peggy were happy that Matt had come to visit and they wanted to make sure Matt spent as much time as he wanted with his grandkids.

Checking in at the resort Matt was quite pleased by what he saw. The golf course was very hilly and looked to be in good shape judging by the greenness of the grass. His two-bedroom suite had been updated and gave him a view of Lake Travis. He could see a few sailboats out on the lake as well as some water skiers. The resort was a very nice place. He thought he could bring his grandkids over here so they could use the heated indoor-outdoor swimming pool.

The next day Matt asked at the desk for directions to the nearest shopping mall before heading over to visit with Peggy and the grandkids while Paul was at work. He wanted to pick up some gifts for the family. The mall the front desk recommended wasn't that far away from the resort. The mall's parking lot was already crowded so Matt had to park a good distance away from the mall entrance. Matt was walking down an aisle in the parking lot when an SUV passed by him. It was either exiting or trying to find a closer parking spot. When the SUV was about fifty yards past Matt he saw its brake lights come on and a large sedan, backing out of its parking space, collided with the left front of the SUV. Matt heard the impact of the collision.

In approaching the two vehicles he saw that the driver of the sedan was a short man, around the same age as Matt. This man was hollering at the driver of the SUV who was a woman. This short man, who probably had what Matt called the 'Hitler Syndrome, ' was accusing the woman of speeding down the aisle causing the accident. The woman seemed to be cowering from the other driver and was apparently confused.

Matt stepped into the fray and said to the man, "Wait a minute here. I saw what happened. You pulled out from your space right into her SUV. She wasn't speeding and there was nothing she could do to avoid the accident." To the lady Matt said, "If you have a cell phone, call 911 and request that a policeman come here to make a report of the accident."

She acknowledged Matt's request and pulled her cell phone out from her purse to make the call.

"While you two are waiting for the police I suggest you exchange information as to your identities as well as insurance information. Both of you are going to need to have that information when you report the accident to your insurance companies and to the state."

The two drivers were exchanging information when Matt saw the light on a police car approaching them. The officer observed the position of the cars and asked that they be moved. The sedan could pull back into the parking space but the SUV was not drivable as the impact had crushed the left front fender against the tire. The wheel also looked to be out of line. The police officer radioed for a tow truck and then talked to each driver while he filled out a report of the accident. The officer approached Matt and secured his version of what he had seen. After he completed his report the officer said, "This accident happened on private property so I am not going to give out any tickets." Turning to the short man he said, "If it wasn't private property, I would probably give you two tickets. My report is going to show that you are at fault and I suggest you report it to your insurance company that way. The witness to the accident confirms you to be at fault."

The tow truck arrived and was preparing to tow the SUV. The lady who Matt had a chance to observe still seemed a little confused. When Matt asked her if she had a way to get home she shook her head no. Matt said, "Take your purse and anything of value that's in the car. Give your car keys to the tow truck driver. Let's go into the mall and have cup of coffee. It looks like you could use one. If you want, you can call someone to pick you up or if you prefer I can give you a lift to where you want to go. I do however need some time here to buy a few gifts."

"Oh, I don't want to impose on you but you are a lifesaver. If you don't mind I would like that cup of coffee. I do want to thank you for getting involved and telling the officer what you saw. Most people would not have wanted to get involved. Let me get some things from my car that I was going to return and also find out if he will tow my car to the dealer where I purchased it."

As she was walking to the truck Matt looked at her backside that was encased in dark blue designer jeans. Her butt looked nice and the jeans were a good fit. She was somewhere around ten years younger than Matt, had just-above-the-shoulder blond hair that was up in a pony tail and an attractive face. To her credit she seemed to be wearing a minimal amount of make-up not that she needed more. The white blouse she had on was big and loose on her so her breast size was a guess but they appeared to fit her figure. Probably about five foot seven and a hundred and thirty pounds, thought Matt. He noticed that there was no wedding ring on her finger.

Sitting at a table having a cup of coffee, she introduced herself to Matt as Helen Witnar. She said she was an elementary school principal who was off today because of a school holiday. Her plans were to do some shopping but this accident ― her first car accident ― had her confused and she wasn't sure what she should do.

Matt told her to call and report the accident to her insurance agent. If her policy had rental reimbursement coverage she could rent a car and her company would pay her for the rental. If she didn't have that coverage she could present her rental bill to the other's party insurance company. If she wasn't injured in the accident she could deal directly with the other insurance company as to her car damage and car rental which would avoid her having to pay her deductible.

Helen thanked Matt for the advice and asked him what he was doing in Austin. When he told her he was visiting his son and his family she asked him how his wife enjoyed being a grandma. Matt told her his wife had passed away.

"Oh, I am so sorry. I saw your wedding ring and assumed she was with you."

"She is with me but not physically." He told her of what had happened and how he was traveling around the country seeing the sights and visiting his three children and the grandchildren."

"How about you? I see where you aren't wearing a wedding ring but that doesn't mean you aren't married."

"I am not married and have been divorced for the last nine years. My ex had a roving eye and instead of putting up with his cheating I told him he could take a walk. It worked out for the best. I miss not having any children and with that exception, things have worked out. I was able to get my Ed.D. and my career has been very rewarding. My sister has four kids so I spend some time there enjoying their youth."

Matt said, "I hope you don't think I am being forward but if you are free tomorrow I would like to take you out to dinner. Please don't feel that you are under any obligation to do so. You can turn me down and it will be fine. You will, however, break my heart."

"Well that's the nicest thing that happened to me today. Yes, I would like to go to dinner with you. You seem to be an interesting man."

"There's one condition however: You will need to pick the restaurant and make the reservation. I'm new to the area."

"You have a deal and I know just the place. I hope you like steak or ribs. It's a causal atmosphere so no suit or tie.

"Okay. Now, I need about 45 minutes to do some shopping for gifts. If you want you can use the same amount of time to do the same. We could meet back here and I can drive you home."

"You have another deal!"

They left with her going to the right and Matt to the left. He watched her walk away noticing the nice jiggle to her bottom. Since he was in Texas he thought that she was a prime heifer if he ever saw one.

Shopping was quick for Matt. Two baseball gloves, two Texas Ranger hats, some major-league balls and he was done. Walking back to meet Ellen he went past a jewelry store. A necklace in the shape of a heart with small diamonds around it caught his attention. He purchased it for Peggy. Helen was back on time to meet him.

Traffic was light as he drove to her condo. She lived on the tenth floor of an eighteen story building that was right across the street from the state capital. Helen said she loved the location as it was where a lot of the things happened in Austin. She could walk to the university from here. She mentioned that a large number of state representatives resided in the building when they were in session. When the session is over the building and some of the facilities such as the pool on the roof are literally abandoned.

At Paul's home the kids were ecstatic with their baseball gloves and hats. Peggy was surprised by her gift and thanked Matt. She called him 'Dad.' Paul took some ribbing about Matt buying the necklace instead of him but he knew that if Peg was happy he was happy.

The next day Matt played golf at the resort. He was paired up with another single. They both shot in the mid-eighties. The course was something else. On some holes you needed to be part mountain goat to walk up the fairway to the green.

Back in his room Matt returned a phone call from the insurance company adjustor for the man driving the sedan. Matt gave the adjustor a recorded statement about what he saw. When the recording was complete the adjustor said it looked that their insured was liable for the accident. Matt agreed with him and told the adjustor that he spoke with the woman after the accident. If the adjustor would contact the woman and offer to pay 100% on the car repairs and put her in a rental car he was sure she would accept this and not try and claim any injury from the accident. The adjustor said that sounded good and would do so.