Sassafras, Part 51

Rick


I followed her in my car and pulled in the driveway behind her.

“Do you want to come inside?”

“I ought to just go home.”

“Well, at least let me thank you for getting my car started.” She pressed me against my car and thanked me for a long time, teasing me with her lips, her hands, the way she moved her body against mine. “Are you sure you don’t want to come inside?”

No, as a matter of fact, I wasn’t sure any more. “What would Bill think?”

“Shit.” She leaned her forehead against me. “I forgot all about Billy. I’m never going to get used to this. Does being a parent ever get any easier?”

“I don’t know. I never was much of a parent. Just ask my ex-wife. Besides, a 5 year old isn’t the same as a 15 year old.”

“I know, I’ll go inside and tell him I’m tired and just want to go to sleep, then you can sneak in the window.”

”You have got to be kidding me.”

“You don’t think it would work?”

“First of all, I don’t want the neighbors calling the police when they see me climbing in your window. Second of all, you’re noisy. I think Bill would hear us. Besides, I’m too old to be climbing in bedroom windows. That’s the kind of thing Bill should be doing, not me.”

“I’m noisy! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Does this sound familiar? ‘Rick! Oh, God! Rick! You’re a stallion! Oh my God! Take me, you amazing sex machine!’?”

She laughed so hard she snorted. “You’re a stallion? Take me, you amazing sex machine?”

“Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little, but you’re a talker," I teased her. "Don’t get me wrong, I like hearing you talk. Especially when you say my name. My God, that drives me crazy every time.” Just thinking about it was enough to make me want to make love to her right there.

“Okay, so maybe climbing in the window isn’t such a good idea. I don’t see you coming up with any bright ideas.”

“How about this idea? I go home and get some sleep, and you go inside and spend some time with your nephew. I’ll see you tomorrow night, and then I’m off Monday and Tuesday.”

“I don’t want you to leave.”

“I know. I’d like to stay, but I don’t want to cause any problems between you and Bill. He needs you, too. Go in and talk to him. I’ll call you tomorrow when I get off work.”

She looked at me. “I think you’re a better parent than you realize.” I liked hearing her say that. We walked toward the front porch. “I had a really good time tonight Rick. Except for that embarrassing escape attempt. I don’t know what I was thinking. Or where I’d have gone if you hadn’t stopped me. I feel so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid. You just needed some air.”

“Yeah, right. I needed some air. Some air in Pennsylvania. I just, I don’t know. It just feels like ever since I met you everything’s turned upside down. I don’t know what I want anymore. All I know is I like being with you, but I don’t want to stay here.”

“We could compromise. I can’t move to New York, but I don’t have to stay here. We could move anywhere in Missouri. I bet you could find a good job in St. Louis, or Columbia, or Kansas City. It might not be New York, but it wouldn’t be Sassafras.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. Bill is determined to stay in Sassafras. I don’t think it would be any easier to convince him to move to St. Louis than it would be to convince him to move to New York. I’m just stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Part of me was glad she didn’t want to take me up on that idea, but the rest of me was still worried about her going back to New York and forgetting all about me, no matter what she said. Out of sight, out of mind. I’d never heard of a long distance relationship that ended happily ever after.