The Widow's Friend (26 page)

I peeked from the window and watched him drive away. I hoped
he wouldn’t notice. His granddaughter was darling, and he had looked so—good!
So now I was more perplexed than ever. I sat down and brooded. Life was so
confusing. I’d always thought that when I reached this stage of my life that
everything would be settled, and everything would be so easy! But of course my
life had never been like the examples of Doris Cleaver or Donna Reed. I had
always found some other kind of way to bump along, dodging the hazards and
finding the smooth spots, through previous experience and determined foresight.

Levi, Levi, the married man. What a trial he was. I wandered
in to the kitchen to fix something to drink. I needed to sit and I needed to
rest, and I also needed to think. Then I laid on the couch and closed my eyes.
Levi, and the very thought of him, was such a puzzle. Today’s project at home
would just have to wait.

From Levi Stone

March 4th

Hi Callii, it was nice to see you for a minute, today. Your
smile was sweet and your hand was soft. It’s been awhile since I heard from
you. I hope you’re still okay with things, between you and me—only you would
know.

When you said you were a friend to the end, I thought you
meant it. I know that I did. I would like to continue to talk to you. Are you
in, or are you a bit confused right now? You’re a great person and I want to be
a positive in your life, not a negative. So think about things. The last thing
I want to do is hang around when you don’t want me to. Just be straight with me
about things—okay? I do want you to work with me on this book thing, though.
Hopefully it will be done in about six months or so. After all, it’s already
mostly written.

I want you to know that writing this book has nothing to do
with how I feel about you. Everything I have said along the way and all of my
actions came right from my heart. Don’t ever doubt that.

So friend, it was great to see you. I hope it was nice for
you too, and I hope you don’t see me as a threat. I’m a pretty harmless kind of
a guy. You’re a good girl, Jo.

I’ll listen for your response, Levi

Then I immediately e-mailed Callii the first two chapters of
the book.

From Callii Wilson

March 6th

Good evening, I just opened my computer for the first time
in days, and much to my surprise, I had an e-mail from you. It was fun to see
you on Saturday, and very much unexpected. I don’t usually look that ugly. I
hadn’t planned on seeing anyone. I had planned on cleaning and doing a little
construction work and that didn’t require getting cleaned up for the day. I was
so embarrassed to be caught looking so bad. I guess you have now seen me at my
very worst. No, I guess that isn’t quite true, you haven’t seen me naked—that
would have been much worse.

I have enjoyed your book so far, but I am a little concerned
about my name being used. I am the only person that spells it like that in the
entire world, and anyone that knows me knows that I spell it that way. The last
name is too close, also. You may think you have changed the names to protect
the innocent, and if I were innocent that would be one thing, but I am not.
What will your wife think when she reads the book? I am unsure about all of
this, really. Anyway, I am headed for bed now because I can’t think anymore,
but I will keep in touch.

Good night to you

***

From Levi Stone

Mar 7th

Oh Callii, you are so funny. You made me laugh out loud
again. If that’s the worst you can look then I have nothing to worry about. You
looked great, like always. And don’t tease me, I will probably never see you
naked but I can hope, can’t I? And just as a reminder, a beautiful woman is God’s
crowning creation and there is nothing ugly about that, lovely lady. You are
beautiful. But a naked man is another thing altogether, and that’s why folks
make love in the dark. Now, having said that, even though you looked great on
Saturday, I didn’t think to give you a hug. I think it was because I was so
uncertain—you hadn’t e-mailed for awhile.

You’re probably right about your name, but I’ll write the
book using it anyway. It’s easier for me to focus that way and I won’t be so
confused, but I promise you I’ll change it before I’m done.

Thanks for listening, your new business partner and friend
to the end, Levi

***

From Callii Wilson

Mar 7th

Oh Levi, you are one funny fellow yourself. The chances of
you seeing me naked, even in the dark, are 0. I am looking forward to the next
chapter.

Yes, I’m your friend to the end, Callii

From Levi Stone

Mar 8th

Hi Callii, you had me scared there for a minute. I thought
you said that I had a zero chance of seeing you naked, but then I realized it
wasn’t a zero but it was really an o, which would probably stand for
occasionally, often, or maybe “Oops, I have just succumbed to temptation!”

We’ll talk more about things later. You are a funny girl,
Jo. I couldn’t ask for a better old flame, Levi

***

From Levi Stone

Mar 10th

Okay, I’m going to bed early tonight, but there’s one thing
I want to do first. Do me one little favor, will you. Just close your eyes and
push your face forward about four inches…boink! I just gave you an Eskimo kiss.
I owed you that from Valentine’s Day. I couldn’t send it then, but now it’s
delivered. Thanks. Your friend to the end, Levi

***

From Callii Wilson

Mar 11th

I promise I am not ignoring you. I will write when I get
some time. Thanks for the Eskimo.

Your friendly friend to the end, Jo

From Callii Wilson

Mar 14th

Hello Levi, it has been a long time since we spent a Monday
evening together. I’m sorry I’m so bad at writing you. It seems that by the
time things wind down for the day I am mentally and physically exhausted. I am
sure you have experienced that too. Anyway, I have enjoyed reading the chapters
so far. You do a good job of making me who I am. It seems you know me better
than I know myself. I can’t wait to get to the juicy parts.

Yesterday at church the couple that spoke had a Facebook
love story. They knew each other in high school but never dated. She always
thought he was cute but he had a girlfriend. He got married and so did she, but
then years later they found themselves in the same congregation, and both were
divorced. She found him on Facebook and asked to be friends. Before you know it
they began to date, and they are now married. It just goes to show you that
Facebook has gotten people together for happily-ever-afters. I bet there are a
lot of people that have reconnected like that on Facebook.

Now I have to tell you my furnace story. You already know
that I got a new furnace, but it was not big enough to do the job, so they came
last Monday and put in a new one. It only took a couple of hours for them to do
that, but after they left, the furnace turned off—never to come on again. I
called them and they returned and fixed it. Yeah! But the next morning my other
furnace, the one in the family room, stopped working too. How does that happen,
two furnaces and problems with both at the same time! Anyway, the same company
came back and fixed it to the tune of one hundred and fifty dollars. As soon as
they left, the furnace turns off again. I bring them back and another four
hundred smackers later they fix it again. I can’t believe my luck, if I didn’t
like to be warm so much I would have just given up.

How are things going for you? Have you done anything fun,
lately? My life right now consists of working on the house and that is about
it. I am a boring person. I look forward to getting out in the yard to work.
Well, enough from me for tonight. I will try to do better—I promise.

Amen, Callii

From Levi Stone

March 15th

Hi Callii, It was great hearing from you. I have been
worried about you lately though, ever since the great flood. Are you finished
with the restoration yet or are you still knee deep in alligators. You’re a
hard working woman and I fear you are over doing it. Are you getting close? I’m
not kidding when I say I’m worried—really.

Doesn’t money suck? Furnaces, furnaces, and more furnaces.
My furnace went down in January and it cost me six hundred and fifty bucks to
get it fixed. Now I need to focus on the roof again. I can ignore it for awhile
because it just dribbles into a bucket in the master bath, but eventually I
need to get it patched. Maybe the next guy will fix it right. (Sigh.)

Callii you amaze me, you’d probably be up on that roof yourself,
adding more shingles. What is it that you say, “What a woman!!!” I believe you
when you say that. I actually did get up on the roof last year and pounded a
couple of shingles over a hole on the peak—it seemed to work for awhile.
Anyway, you amaze me superwoman.

I’m kind of excited to write our story. Just like the couple
in church, Facebook has affected a lot of people out there. We’ve had our own
little romance, the past being fast-forwarded to the present, and it’s been a
lot of fun. I’m surprised that someone hasn’t written this kind of a book
already.

Now Callii, I have to confirm once more that you are not
boring! You’re just exhausted. I hope and pray that you’re about done with your
home recovery. You’re killing yourself. You have wit, class, humor, beauty, a
beautiful home, a great building lot, money in the bank, and great taste in
men! You are great! And not just to me.

Thanks for writing. I love to hear from you Callii Jo, you
little Schmoe.

You’re my good friend, Levi

***

From Levi Stone

March 15th

Oh, and one more thing. I have to remind you that I have
seen you naked. It was thirty-some years ago, and you were awesome!

Later, Levi

From Callii Wilson

March 18th

Oh, and you only think in that little mind of yours that you
have seen me naked. You, my friend, are dreaming. I know now why we
reconnected. It was so I could set you straight, so you could quit using that
active imagination of yours and get the facts straight, and so you could quit
feeling guilty for something that never happened!

I do believe that you had something out of the ordinary
happen to you that started us talking on Facebook, though. I also think it
happened because I needed someone like you to make me feel special. You are so
sweet and you have been good for me. It is hard to think that anyone would be
interested in an old woman like me.

And thank you for the birthday card you mailed me. You are
very thoughtful. You also give me too much credit, I don’t work nearly as hard
as you think I do, in fact I am a little on the lazy side, lately. I look at
all the stuff that needs to be done and I do it time and time again in my mind,
but for some reason I can’t get up off my couch to actually go do it.

The great flood is over and done with. Now I am just trying
to fix the rest of the house so I won’t be embarrassed to show it. I am
guessing another couple of weeks and I should be able to put it on the market.
I hope so, anyway. If it sells really fast I will be in shock. I would also be
homeless. That could be an interesting experience.

I never did get the next chapters you promised me. What’s
the hold up? Come on now, we can’t get rich if you don’t get it written!

I have another Facebook story for you. My son has a friend.
She was going to set him up with a girl that she thought was perfect for him. A
few days later he was chatting with a girl on the Internet, and the more he
talked to her the more she sounded like the girl his friend was supposed to set
him up with, and low and behold, it was the same girl. They have now been married
for six years. I guess it wasn’t a Facebook story, but I guess they were in a
chat room or whatever you call it. Anyway, all of this modern stuff gets people
together that would never have met the old fashioned way.

Well, I guess I will go and get something done now. You have
a great weekend and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

***

From Levi Stone (One hour later)

Love ya girlfriend. I’ll send you more of the story
tomorrow, and then more in another e-mail. I love hearing from you. Thanks, and
a man would be nuts not to be interested in a woman like you. Happy birthday!!!

I’ll write tomorrow, Levi

From Levi Stone

Mar 19th

First of all, I’m glad that I make you feel special, but I’ve
been wondering. Are you the lunch special? Delicious looking, sumptuous and
delectable, with a little garnish and trimming around the edges, satisfactory,
savory and something to look forward to daily? Or are you the Saturday night
special, sleek and lethal, a comfort to have as a companion, though cheap and
dangerous, and one who will spit fire at the pull of your trigger. Heh….

And yes I’ve seen you naked. You’ve already told me that
your memory is not that good and now you’re proving it to be true. It may be a
night you want to forget, but I don’t. I hold it as a hallowed memory from all
that time ago. It may have affected me adversely back then, but now I hold it
as a badge of honor. You were a beautiful young girl, Callii, and now you’re a
beautiful older woman. I have nothing to be ashamed of—got it? I was proud to
know you back then and I’m grateful to know you now. You’re a light in my life.
You’ve got a heart of gold, and that’s what really counts, not what you look
like in the shower. But it’s great fun to tease each other, and thanks for
trying to protect me.