Chapter 9: Reality is Much Better

The girls beat us to the restaurant and had chosen a booth with a high padded back. My first thought was that this would keep our conversation from being broadcast around the local area. Maybe that was optimistic based on the reception we got.

"Woo hoo, they're here," Candy loudly proclaimed as she spotted us.

I took a quick look at Kim and saw that she didn't seem as embarrassed as I felt. That was a relief of sorts.

"Feeling pretty smart this morning, huh?"

"Dad, you two were meant for each other. We were just helping you along."

"I don't know what we'd have done without your assistance." Yeah, I was being a smart aleck."

I glanced at Kim and she had a funny smile on her face and looked like she was trying to suppress a laugh.

"You too?"

She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the booth.

"Scoot over girls and make room for my man."

That produced more hoots and another remark from our daughters.

"We should be in the matchmaking business," Deb said.

"Did you hear that? 'My man, ' she said," Candy exclaimed. "It's all over but the ceremony, Deb."

I was shaking my head, partly in denial and partly in amazement at the two teenage girls who had our life all planned out for us. I wish I felt that confident about the future.

"Calm down you two," I admonished quietly. "Mrs. Penny and I are just getting to know each other. It's far too soon to be planning the rest of our lives."

"Mrs. Penny? Come on Dad. Even I'm allowed to call her Kim."

"No respect for your elders," I mumbled, shaking my head once more.

That provoked another round of giggles from the girls and a smile with a hand squeeze from Kim. Oh well, if she thought this was all in fun, who was I to throw cold water on it?

I really wanted to get Kim alone for a while so we could talk. I had no expectation that our first date would end up with my spending the night in her bed. Maybe I was out of step with the times or maybe I'd misjudged Kim but it all seemed to be happening too fast. What happened to the old courtship rules and getting to know one another? It's not like I didn't enjoy it. Far from it. The sex was amazing, but I wanted to have some sense of control and not be propelled along recklessly without any ability to set a course.

We ordered and ate our late breakfasts in relative silence. A bit of non-consequential chit chat was a relief from the not-so-subtle teasing of the girls. Deborah and Candice might as well have been sisters the way they acted. I had the feeling their friendship was likely to last a lifetime whether or not Kim and I were involved. They'd first met each other when they entered high school but you'd think they had known each other since they were five.

I wish I'd had a friend like that but circumstances prevented it. My father was a troubleshooter for his company and every year or two we moved from city to city as he put out fires or rescued one branch or another. He finally got a desk job when I was sixteen and we settled in the area where I lived now. My mother must have been relieved when that happened because you couldn't get her out of their home now with a stick of dynamite.

I have an older sister, Danielle, who is married and now living on the other side of the country. I see her once a year when she comes out to visit the folks. She's taking my divorce hard since she and Andrea had become good friends. I get the impression that she thinks it was my fault which leads me to believe that Andrea hasn't told her the whole story. I know I didn't reveal the real reason. My parents know because they figured it out when Andrea and Kurt got married the day after the divorce was final.

The past six months are pretty fresh in my mind. I can't quite come to grips with why she felt the need to find someone else. I'm still left to wonder why she didn't make a better effort to stay close to Brandon and Candice. It's true they're almost adults now, but just the same ... they are her children. I may never know the real reason, but it's left me with a bad taste about my marriage and I wonder if the spill-over effect from that is my concern about my relationship with Kim moving too fast. The ink was barely dry on the final decree when she appeared on the scene.

We drove back to the Penny house after our breakfast and I wondered if this was the time to talk to Kim. Perhaps not. I didn't want to put a premature end to what might be a wonderful relationship by putting the brakes on. By the time we'd reached her home I'd chickened out about having the talk. There were a number ways it might go and too many of them would be bad if I tried to just wing it.

"This is all going too fast for you, isn't it," she said as we walking into the house. "It's written all over your face, Norm. Don't worry. I understand. The divorce is still new and right away you get ambushed by the girls and me. I think we should take this at a pace you can be comfortable with."

"Am I that obvious? Last night was something special. I meant what I said then. You are a fantasy come true. I don't want to discourage you, so I'm uncertain how we should go from here."

"Last night was the perfect storm. You happened to catch me in just the right mood at just the right time. Everything you did made me feel welcome in your arms. I couldn't help myself. I hope you don't have any regrets."

"No ... none at all. I guess I was surprised at how quickly it happened. I didn't expect it and I wasn't prepared. But regrets? Not a one," I smiled.

"Good. Then we can have a second date and decide how we want to proceed?"

"I'd like that. I'd like a lot more than just one more date, to tell the truth."

"One at a time, Norm. One at a time," she said gently.

And that's how we left it, other than to confirm I would be at the exercise center at six on Monday morning. I was wondering what my exercise buddies would make of her when she showed up in Spandex and destroyed their concentration.

She arrived five minutes after I did but she wasn't wearing Spandex. In fact she had a loose t-shirt, some baggy shorts and tennis shoes. No matter. The minute she walked into the room every eye was on her, including the three women in our group of regulars.

I'll give Kim credit for chutzpah. She walked over to me, kissed me good morning on the cheek and went to the Nautilus and began her workout. Her Cheshire Cat smile didn't leave for the rest of the hour. She had suddenly propelled me to superstar status in a single moment. I finished my twenty minutes on the recumbent bike and moved to the Nautilus for my weight work.

Kim had done three different exercises before heading to the incline treadmill. As she strode at a quick pace I could see in spite of the baggy shorts that she was very toned through her hips, thighs and calf muscles. Yet they were subtle enough that they didn't detract from her feminine appeal. As my mind took me back to Saturday night, I tried to visualize every inch of her body. I was one of the very few people on this planet who had seen Kim in all of her glory.

We finished our exercises and I headed for the change room and a shower before going home. It was my day off but I would be going to the office to conduct the last two interviews. I'd hardly got wet when I heard one of my workout group call me out.

"Alright, Tyler. What the hell was that and who is she?"

The voice belonged to Garnet Grant, a volunteer fireman and insurance underwriter.

"Garnet, I don't dare tell an old hound dog like you. I wouldn't stand a chance," I chuckled.

"Don't give me that, Norm. I saw that kiss and it wasn't just for your sake. She was staking her claim. How the hell did you ever find a woman as foxy as her?"

The "boys" were all aware of my divorce and a couple of them had tried to fix me up with a sister or friend of the wife's or whatever.

"Hey, wait a minute," Garnet said with a look that suggested he had suddenly realized something. "That was a set-up, wasn't it? You had that woman give you that kiss just to stick it to us for trying to fix you up with our single women. I should have figured that out sooner."

"Nope. Kim is a close personal friend and it wasn't a set-up."

"Kim? Wow, sexy name too. How come she wasn't wearing something tight and revealing?"

"Doesn't need to. Are you complaining?" I chuckled.

"Hell no. Is she coming back tomorrow?"

"Yep. She'll be here. Same time, same stations."

"And she's single?"

"That she is."

"Man, you really struck gold, didn't you."

"Yeah ... I'm kind of looking at it that way."

I wasn't going to waste a lot of effort on the interviews this morning. The two I conducted on Friday were a waste of time. At best I might have been able to choose one of them as a barely adequate candidate, but neither of them was a "keeper" in my opinion. I was very careful not to compare them to Kim but that proved impossible. She was head and shoulders above both of them ... in more ways than one.

The Monday morning interview turned out to be much more interesting. Jim Styles was a man in his mid-fifties who had just learned his company was closing its doors. He had been a marketing director in the specialty lumber business, calling on a variety of wood users in the furniture, flooring, molding and door business. He had a college degree in forestry, was married with three children, two of whom were grown and out of the house.

He was interesting because he admitted that he would be happy with part-time work. He had accumulated quite a nice nest egg during his career and wanted to enjoy a less stressful life than his previous corporate existence. He had a good understanding of retail sales and had a likeable personality. He also had the ability to learn.

If Kim was going to specialize in outside sales, then Jim would be a good companion inside the store when we really needed extra help. That was Friday through Sunday, holiday openings and vacation time during the summer. When I suggested that fit he was nodding agreement. He and his wife took a month off in February-March to travel to Arizona, staying in a time-share they owned.

I sent him to Len for his opinion and he came back with a positive response. I decided that, unless something really special came along that afternoon for my final interview, I would hire Jim. He would be a good addition to our operation. That afternoon I met with the final candidate and knew within five minutes that she wasn't suitable for our job. She was a nice middle-aged lady with a working husband and two late-teen sons. She was just hoping for a way to get out of the house for a few hours each day. I needed more than that.

I left it to Len to look after the paperwork for Kim and Jim. Since Barry had left I no longer had an assistant manager and wondered whether I should add another staff person to handle all these details. Len had an assistant who was a qualified accountant so I wasn't worried about financial issues. Really, Len was my assistant manager, not just the comptroller.