Chapter 13

(This chapter, as well as the next one, is dedicated to a reader who has become a big fan of this story. I've chatted with him several times and in one of those conversations he mentioned something that stuck in my mind. He knows who I'm talking about and I do hope he enjoys these next two chapters. I will also give credit to those who inspire me with ideas to use in my stories, whether intentional or inadvertant. Thank you very much, T.)

That afternoon I was out doing my daily walk around the neighborhood I met a very interesting woman for the first time. Her name is Barbara ('Please call me Barb') Carnes. I'd put her age between 7 and 75, with a nice body! Her clothing did nothing to hide the fact that she took great pride in her body. Her chest reminded me of LuAnn Lister, that is flat! Her nipples were also like LuAnn's in that they appeared to stick out at least an inch when hard and they were doing a good job of putting dimples in the blouse she was wearing. She wore her hair about a medium length and it was silvery white. The way she had it arranged really hi-lited her face and she appeared to not be wearing any makeup.

She joined me in my walk and we traversed into parts of the RRC that I'd not previously been in. I saw some nice homes, some bigger than mine and quite a few that were smaller. Some had huge lots while others appeared to be almost trespassing onto the property on either side. I'd guess that the biggest house had only three bedrooms and there were no two-story houses at all. In a way that made a lot of sense, too. Since all the residents are senior citizens it made sense for them not to have stairs they'd have to climb.

"How long have you been here, Mike," Barb asked me.

"Only been here a few weeks," I replies.

"What do you think of the place so far?"

"The people are the nicest I've met and the layout is well planned, too. I like what I've seen and the travel arrangements are so well thought out that I don't even miss my old car."

"I've heard a few things about you, Mike, and I was wondering if they're true," she said.

"What have you heard?"

"Well, for one thing, I heard that you do cross stitch. Is that true?" There was a look of amusement on her face.

"Yes, it is."

"Really?"

"Yes. My grandmother taught me and it's really quite relaxing as well."

"I've also heard that you survived a brain aneurysm."

I pulled off my cap and leaned over, showing her the scar that ran from the top of my right ear over the top of my head to the top of my left ear. "Yes, I did. Guess you could say that I'm blessed."

"Don't you mean 'lucky to be alive?" she asked.

"No, I don't. I've been blessed," I stated. "I've a firm believer in a Gracious and Loving God and I honestly don't believe that I'd still be here without His intervention."

"I didn't mean to be rude," she told me.

"I don't think it was rude," I assured her. "Not too many people these days believe in God, but I do."

"Well, for our information, I do, as well. I was baptized when I was 15 and have been a church goer ever since then."

"Good for you. Perhaps we can go to church together one Sunday."

"I think I'd like that, Mike."

We got to my house and I reached out to shake her hand but instead was greeted with one of the warmest hugs I'd had in some time. My body got to tingling while in that embrace and I knew I was going to have to get to know this woman a lot better.

"Barb," I asked, "are you doing anything this evening?"

"No."

"Would you like to come over tonight and enjoy some left-over home-made chili?"

"I'd love to," she answered.

"Around 7?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you then." With that she gave me a small peck on the cheek and turned around and started walking towards her house.

"Very Interesting..." I said in my very best Sgt. Schultz impersonation. Hogan's Heroes was one of my favorite old shows. I looked at my watch and realized I only had a couple of hours to get things all set up for my 'date' tonight, so I hurried into the house, locking the door behind me, and headed straight to the bedroom where I stripped off my sweaty clothing and went to the shower, where I stood under the hottest water I could stand before washing my body. I shampooed my hair and shaved again, even though I didn't need to. I was starting to feel like a teenager getting ready for his first date. I hadn't felt like this in ages. Far too long to even remember just exactly when that had been.

Once I dried off I opened my closet and searched for my best pair of slacks and a flower-print shirt, almost but not quite an Hawaiian style. I decided to wear sandals with no socks. After I finished dressing I went into, put on an apron and opened the freezer. I removed the frozen chili I'd put in there and, opening the zip-loc bag just a little bit so the pressure wouldn't build up, I placed it into my microwave oven and hit the defrost button and set the timer for 25 minutes. Plenty of time to thaw it out enough to make it not quite runny. I'd then put it in a pan on the stove and warm it up the rest of the way, adding a few more spices to give it a livelier taste. I figured it should warm up slowly and allow the new seasons to set in properly.

While all that was happening I got our my Swiffer and ran it over the floors and did a little lite dusting. The place already looked neat and clean, but for some reason I really wanted to make a good impression on Barb.

I was sitting on the couch, working on my Serenity Prayer, when I heard the knock on the door. I quickly put my stitching on the end table, got up, and went over and opened the door.

There stood Barb, looking even more beautiful then she had earlier in the day. This time she was wearing makeup and her choice of colors only accented her facial features even more. She wore a dark lavendar lipstick and the outfit she had choosen only accented her small breasts even more. Once again her nipples were making themselves known to me. I unconsciously licked my lips then chastised myself for doing it.

I invited her in and asked if she'd like something to drink.

"Just water, please."

"You sure? I've got sweet tea and Cherry Dr. Pepper, too."

"I don't drink anything other than water, I' afraid. I'm trying my best to keep my phisical strength up and the sugar is something I don't really need at this time."

"Ok. Water it is then." I went to the refrigerator, pulled out the pitcher I kept there and poured her a glass, stopping to stir the chili one last time."

"That smells great," she told me, walking up behind me and sniffing the aroma of the chili. "Did you make it yourself?"

"My own recipe," I told her.

"I can hardly wait to try it then."

We returned to the living room and chatted for a few minutes and I learned that she'd been exercising for over 10 years now, after losing a lot of body fat.

I found it hard to believe that she'd ever been fat at all, but I didn't say it out loud. I didn't want to embarrass her, or me for that matter. Definitely not the way I wanted to start this evening.

"Would you believe me if I told you I'd once weighed ove 250 pounds?"

I guess my expression gave me away. "I can't tell," I managed to get our.

"It's true. As a child I was always chubby and after my divorce it only got worse."

"You were married?"

"Yes, for over 20 years. I thought we were happy but one evening my husband came in and announced he'd found someone else and he wanted a divorce. He told me I could keep everything, too. After all that time, to just come in and tell me it's over! I couldn't believe it. I thought we'd stay together forever. Guess I was wrong." I could see tears welling up in her eyes but she quickly wiped them away. I did reach over to the coffee table and pulled a tissue out of the box and handed it to her. She wiped her eyes with it and crumpled it up in her hands.

Before I could say anything thing she said, "But I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about tonight. Being here with you, and enjoying that wonderfull smelling chili."

"Are you hungry?"

"I'm starved!"

I got up and reached out to help her get up as well and we went into the kitchen. I pulled out her chair and, once she was comfortable, I went to the pot and dipped out two bowls of the chili. Before I sat down I got out the box of crackers and set them on the table as well.