Chapter 3

It was over a week after Thanksgiving dinner before Gary called me. He did talk to the kids but I figured he wanted me to know that for now we would just be a bit closer. I promised myself I would just take it a day at a time and do my best not to fuck it up.

At work the girls asked me if I wanted to go to a party at the crazy western club. It was going to be the following Saturday. These girls were my friends but I have to say they were a bit on the wild side. By wild I mean they were tough girls and not take shit from anyone. There divorces hardened them.

I laughed and told them that I didn't like the clientele at the bar and besides I was working on getting Gary back. We would be attending his Christmas party that Saturday.

"You must really love this guy," said Barb. "I'll admit he did fight to protect you; that gives him a few brownie points. Someday if you two work it out, we want you to formally introduce him to us."

"I will. You'll see he is genuine. For the record, I screwed up our marriage, not him."

Cheri said to me, "Have fun at his party, make sure you have a good time. Go early, stay late, talk with a lot of people. Don't forget our company Christmas party is the following week. Is he coming to it? Will he be your date?"

"Yes, he said he would. So I guess you'll meet him then."

"We saw him from a distance at the bar. He's a good looking guy but don't forget he was with a date," said Cheri. You're our friend and we have to look after you. We don't want to see you get hurt."

They really were good friends. I know they weren't sure about me dating my ex but someday I might tell them the whole story. They could hardly hold it against Gary.

I got dressed for the party. I even went out and bought a new dress to wear. I wanted to look classy for Gary not necessarily overly sexy. My red dress was form fitting and had a v-neck and came a few inches above my knees. I wore a necklace that Gary had bought me a few years ago.

My daughters told me I looked beautiful; my son said I was pretty. I thanked them and they got in the car, I dropped them off at Mom's and headed back room. Gary came by a few minutes later and knocked on the door. I told him before that he didn't have to knock but he always did.

He wore a sport jacket and a blue dress shirt. He wasn't big on wearing ties. When he looked at me he said, "Wow! You look great; I forgot just how pretty you are."

I smiled and thanked him. He opened the car door for me like we were on a first date. We arrived at the hall and a number of his friends were surprised that we were together. "Damn Gary, she looks sexy as all get out." I heard his friend say to him.

We sat at a table with his mom and dad. His dad worked at the same company. They greeted me with a smile and his mom said I looked nice. His dad made me laugh when he said, "Nice? Hell, she's gorgeous." I thanked them both as we sat down.

"Would you like something to drink?" asked Gary.

"Sure whatever you get will be fine." Gary knew my drinking habits and tonight I didn't want to drink too much.

A lot of his friends and I guess some were still mine, stopped by our table and said hi to us. Most of them I hadn't talked to since Gary applied for the divorce. It was a bit strange but I was happy to be there. When the music started Gary asked me to dance, it was a slow number.

He held me close and I got goose bumps. "Shannon," he said. "I know this is difficult for both of us but I want you to have a good time. Just treat this as a date and let's both enjoy ourselves." With that said we danced three songs in a row before taking a break. The second and third songs were fast ones.

We sat down and Gary got me a rum and coke and a beer for himself. We were falling into the flow of the party. It was just like old times. I got up and brought more snacks to the table. We got up and danced another fast number. When we sat back down one of his friends asked me to dance.

I wasn't sure how to respond. In old times I would have danced and thought nothing of it. I looked at Gary and then his friend and said, "No I don't think so. Thank you for asking but I just sat back down and want to rest a little."

He responded with, "Maybe later then," and walked away.

Gary's dad asked me to dance on the next slow song. Gary had asked his mother to dance. As we were dancing his father said it was nice seeing me with Gary again. He waltzed over to Gary and said, "Switch partners." and began dancing with his wife. Gary smiled as he took me in his arms.

"Shannon," he said. "You can dance with other guys if you want too. I won't stop you."

"I don't care if I dance with other people or not but I do want to be with you. If you dance with one of the other wives, I'll consider dancing with the husband. There is no way I'm going to dance with other men and you just sitting there watching me." He didn't say anything else about it and pulled me closer as we danced."

A couple of his friends wives asked Gary to dance and I did dance with their husbands but wouldn't let them hold me close like I dance with Gary. All in all I had a wonderful time. I saw a few old friends, talked with my ex in-laws, but most of all my relationship with Gary got a step closer.

It was after midnight when we left the party. I drank but was far from drunk. Gary pulled up in the driveway, came around and opened my door to let me out. "Are you coming in?" I asked. "The kids aren't home." I smiled at him.

"No, I don't think so, not this time. Thank you for coming with me. I had a wonderful time and you looked so beautiful." He leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss. It was our first kiss since I don't know how long.

I wanted to tell him that I really wanted him and to take me and make love to me but I knew better. We were taking baby steps but at least we were moving forward.

I went in the house and watched him drive away. I was both happy and sad. I went to bed and slept like a baby.

I woke up suddenly around nine in the morning. The doorbell was ringing. I glance out the window and saw a police car. I put on a robe and answered the door.

"Mrs. Jennings, we would like to ask you a few questions." It was the same officer who questioned me after Gary was hurt.

"What do you want?" I was getting nervous. I looked over at the squad car and Gary was in it. "What's going on. Why is my husband doing in the squad car?" Why I said husband, I don't know but I was very scared.

"Mrs. Jennings, please calm down. He isn't under arrest, at least not yet. We asked him to voluntarily come over here with us. We didn't want him talking to you till we had. May we come in?" He and a female officer came in.

"Mrs. Jennings, I need to know where you were last night between eight o'clock and midnight."

"I was at a Christmas party with Gary. We got there around six and left sometime after midnight. Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Just bare with me. Was there anyone who could verify that you and your ex were there other than your ex? So you know we asked Mr. Jennings these same questions."

"Yes, we sat with his parents, Bill and Mary Jennings. Also there were hundreds of people there. I can give you some of the names of people we talked with." I started giving him names of couples we sat or danced with.

"At any time did your ex husband leave the party?"

"No, you see it's was our first time back together and we stuck together like glue. Neither of us left the others side other than a quick trip to the rest room."

I went on to explain that Gary brought me home near one o'clock and I went to bed. "Can you tell me why you want to know where we were last night?"

"Ben Crow, the man your husband fought with a few months ago was severely beaten last night. He said he was attacked by three hooded men but he has a tendency to exaggerate. We did the follow up on you and Mr. Jennings because of your past dealings with Mr. Crow.

"We'll follow up on a few of your witnesses. If they prove to be correct we won't be bothering you or Mr. Jennings. Sorry to have bothered you."

The officers walked out the door and released Gary and he came in. "Would you like some coffee and breakfast?" I asked.

He smiled and said some bacon and eggs would be nice. He sat down and we had coffee while I made him breakfast. We talked about this Ben Crow getting his ass kicked. I told Gary that it must be fate as we both laughed.

I called my mom and told her I would be over to get the kids after Gary left and I got dressed. Mom took it wrong and I had to say, "No Mother, he didn't spend the night. I'll explain it later. I'm making him breakfast in my pajamas and robe. No Mother! Look, I'll talk to you later. Bye!"

I looked over at Gary and he was laughing. Inside it made me feel good. As he ate I went and got dressed. We talked a little about going to my Christmas party the next week and then he left. "Kiss the kids for me," he said.

I told my mom what happened at the party and the nice time we had. I then explained what had happened this morning and why Gary was there. She said she just hoped everything between us was good.

At work on Monday the girls cornered me. "Did you read in the paper where Ben Crow was beat up at the western club? The damn liar said he got beat up by three big men. Afraid to admit it was three women who manhandled him. He made the mistake of grabbing Audrey by the ass."

"Don't tell me you three did it?" I asked.

"He had it coming. First he tries to molest you and then beats up your ex. This time we kept our eye on him. When he grabbed Audrey by the ass, she slapped him and the bouncers saw him and threw his ass out. We went out to the parking lot and took care of the son of a bitch. He won't be hurting any of our friends anymore," replied Cheri.

"We put on hoods but he knew it was women, the asshole. According to the paper they didn't find the three male assailants. We all know they never will. The paper also said they did question a few suspects but all were cleared. He said he was robbed but that was a lie too," said Barb.