The Widow's Friend (27 page)

I kind of think we are helping each other through all of
this. I needed an emotional boost in my life too. We’ll have to see what the
future holds. Maybe we’ll be friends to the end, writing back and forth for
many years. Maybe something will happen and we’ll begin to date. Maybe I’ll
slip over and see you naked sometime—just kidding. The truth is, we don’t know
what the future will bring.

Where will you go if you sell your house? Will you live with
one of your kids? You’re not tied to a job, so you could live anywhere, even in
Canada for awhile. I have plenty of rooms upstairs, but Mary wouldn’t like
that, and besides, I would probably see you naked. Oh, my heart.

Have you had your house appraised yet? If you want to talk
about all that I’ll be glad to, though I’m a little stale. I haven’t sold or
built for the last eighteen years.

I will send you our book as it’s written so far, probably
later tonight. My last book took me two years to write, but to be honest I went
months at a time without doing any writing at all. I’ll try to be more diligent
with this one, for your sake as well as mine. There is a lot of editing that
goes on when writing a book, both during, afterwards, and places in between.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you again. I hope
you’re having a good weekend as well, and I hope you’re not doing anything I
wouldn’t do, at least not without me. You have my permission when I’m there,
Levi

“What
to do. What to do.”

I am so confused and I’m so lonely. Dave just keeps coming
on, and I have to admit that I want him to. He adds to my life, that’s for
sure, but is this all a dead end. I need to think, but I’ve already done my
thinking, over hours and hours of quiet time, alone in the dark, and alone in
the daytime, and I’m still so confused.

“From
Out of the Blue”

When I got home from work, a surprise was there waiting for
me. The document rested on the kitchen table, right there in front of me. It
was in an official looking envelope and Mary had already opened it. I reached
out my hand but then retracted it. I hardly dared to touch it. I hadn’t
expected this for at least a few more weeks, or more probably for a few more
months, but here it was, staring back up at me. I let it rest. I turned away
and slipped out the door. I needed to walk and I needed to think. As much as I’d
expected this, and as long as we’d worked towards this, I still needed to clear
my mind. It was cold outside but I didn’t care. I walked briskly. The cool air
invigorated me.

I walked for quite some time—I needed to. I returned home
about an hour later. The garage was empty and Mary was gone.

I picked up the letter and pulled out the document. I read
it once and then read it again, but nothing had changed. The letter was cold
and the correspondence was businesslike. I shivered involuntarily, and I felt a
bit queasy. I turned on the television. I watched a ballgame but I didn’t
really see it. I listened to the commentator but I didn’t really hear him. I
looked out the window. There was nothing but darkness there.

The neighbor’s cat was rubbing up against the glass of the
door. She didn’t try to talk to me and she didn’t beg for food. She just seemed
calm and supportive. I was grateful for that.

And then I made my decision. Well, I didn’t really make it,
because you see, I already had, even before the letter arrived. I needed to
talk to Callii, and I needed to talk to her now. Not through an e-mail, that
would not be right, but face to face and person to person. That was the only
way that would be even close to being proper. I had to ask her a question and I
needed to see what her reaction would be. This would surely be all of a sudden,
and there was no getting around it, because this particular matter simply could
not wait.

From Levi Stone

Mar 21st (eight thirty five p.m.)

Hi Callii, I know it’s late but I’m coming to see you—right
now. There’s something I need to talk to you about and it can’t wait. Well, it
could, but I’m still coming. So be prepared.

See you in thirty minutes, Levi

“A
Sudden Visit”

Yikes! Levi was on the way. I had just opened his e-mail but
he’d sent it off at least twenty minutes ago. He could be here at any moment!

My son had been here helping me with my computer and he’d
just gone home. I had been working on the house all day long, and I was
unprepared to receive a guest. Not only was the house mussed up, but I was as
well. I hardly knew where to start: the house, my face, the family room, a
change of clothes? The confusion totally froze me, but then I acted—I had to. A
little makeup couldn’t hurt, and neither could a brush through my hair.
Everything else would have to come later, if there was even any time for later.

And what could be up with Levi? What on earth was going on?
It was unlike him to be so impulsive; he was usually such a gentleman. But
there wasn’t time to think about it. I hurried into the bathroom. The clock was
ticking.

“Nine
fifteen”

Callii’s porch-light was on. Hopefully she’d gotten my
message. I’d only sent it thirty minutes ago, but I didn’t even know if she was
home. I sat in the car for a few minutes, trying to screw up my courage. I had
been excited to come, but now that I was here I wasn’t so sure. Anxieties and
hobgoblins of every kind swirled through my head. I knew that she liked me, and
there was no question that I was in love with her, but still, our footing had
been a little uncertain of late. What if she wasn’t ready, or what if she told
me to take a hike? Should I rethink this whole thing? But I was kind of locked in—she
was expecting me to come, at least if she’d read my e-mail she was. I sat and
stewed.

I stared at her window, imagining her on the other side. I
hoped she wouldn’t be angry with me. This was all of a sudden, after all, but I
felt that it couldn’t wait. I opened the door and climbed from the car. I
approached her house slowly. A sudden gust of wind swirled around me, adding to
the mystique. I looked to heaven, searching for confirmation. The moon grinned
at me. I was uncertain why. But then a familiar yellow cat strolled across the
sidewalk. It stopped, turned, and gave me a contemptuous look, as if to say, “Get
on with it Buster, time’s a wastin’.” This gave me a little confidence and I
forged ahead.

I rapped on the door lightly. I could hear no one on the
other side. I waited. Maybe I should leave—after all, I’d given her little
warning. But then I heard footsteps. They were the light footfalls of a woman.

The door cracked open and there she stood. She managed a
smile and invited me in.

“Good evening, Brother Stone,” she said softly. She’d called
me Brother Stone, and that made me a little nervous.

“Come in and sit down,” she said evenly. I could tell that
she was anxious, too, and I could certainly understand that.

I sat on the end of the couch. She settled down in a chair.
We sat for a moment in silence.

“So, how is my married friend?” She asked. There was a hint
of ice in her voice.

“Look, if you don’t….”

She wouldn’t let me finish. She raised her hand to cut me
off, and then wandered over to the kitchen. She poured two glasses of milk and
ambled back with some cookies, as well. They were still warm.

“They’re good,” I said, as I took a small bite.

“My boy likes them,” she said. “He was just here.” I nodded.
We sat a little longer in silence.

I tried to begin, but the words wouldn’t come. Callii was a
wonderful person, but like most women she could be a little intimidating at
times.

“Your boy has good taste,” I mumbled.

“Yes he does,” was her reply.

A clock chimed in another room.

Moonlight filtered in through the blinds.

I glanced out the window, searching desperately for a cat,
or any other kind of a friend. I could use a little support right about now.

“Late
Night Caller”

I’d made myself presentable somehow, and it was just in the
nick of time. I’d even found time to slip into some decent clothes. But I
wondered what the big deal could be.

I answered the knock at the door, and there he stood. He
looked good, like he always did, but he seemed a little nervous and his skin
was flushed.

We sat in separate chairs. There was little talk between the
two of us. We both seemed to be waiting for something, but what that was I didn’t
really know. I assumed that he did.

I went to the kitchen and came back with cookies and milk.

“It’s late,” I said. I flashed him a smile.

“I’m sorry,” he answered, “but I have something to tell you.”

So tell me, I answered with a flick of my eyes and a tilt of
my head.

“The divorce is…final,” he said flatly.

His words seemed to enter my ears, bang around inside of my
head, and then fly back out again.

“Divorce,” I muttered. “Who got divorced?” I didn’t dare to
even hope.

“It’s been going on for quite some time,” he said. “My wife
wouldn’t let me tell anyone, just in case it never went all the way through.
Mary’s quite a private person you know. She’s extremely private, and I was
sworn to secrecy. I wanted to tell you, and it was killing me that I couldn’t.
I wanted so much to tell you all along, because it wasn’t fair to you, but I’d
promised her, and I…couldn’t. Even my kids don’t know. And besides that, we
were trying to save it right up until the end, but now it’s final and I’ll move
out soon.”

It was slowly beginning to sink in. Levi was no longer a
married man, but I wasn’t sure how I should feel about this. I had just
recently been wondering if I should cut him off, because what we were doing
wasn’t really right—and now this. I was confused. This was all so sudden. I
needed to gather myself, collect my thoughts, and try to regroup.

I looked at him and he looked at me. I didn’t know if up was
down or down was up. And then suddenly the room seemed very quiet.

A yellow cat walked back and forth on the window sill. It
was like a guardian of my home. For some reason it made me smile, and that was
the only thing that seemed about right.

I looked back at Levi, and I wondered what might happen
next.

“One
More Thing”

Callii seemed stunned, and I could understand why, but what
I’d told her was true. I’d wanted to tell her earlier, much earlier, and many,
many times. Oh, how much I’d wanted to tell her. But I’d promised Mary that I
would tell no one, and it was important that I kept that vow. Thirty five years
was a long time to be married, and no matter what the circumstances, I owed her
at least that much.

“Now Callii, I know you never want to get married again,” I
said, “because if you do you’ll lose half your fortune. At least that’s part of
the reason.” Callii looked at me directly, but she didn’t say a word.

“Now it’s not like I’m asking you to marry me, Callii Jo,
and I know this is all kind of sudden, but I have just one simple question for
you. It’s not too much of a question, but it’s a very important one to me.”

I moved towards her chair and got down on one knee. I
grabbed her hand and pulled it close to my chest. I looked up into her eyes—she
seemed to have softened, even if just a bit.

“Callii,” I said, “will you go out with me?” She blinked,
and then she blinked again.

“Is that—it? Is that all it is?” she said with a tentative
smile.

“That’s it. That’s all it is,” I said. I was still a little
anxious.

She came down to the floor and knelt in front of me. We were
face to face. Our noses touched and we both smiled. We knew what it meant.

“Tonight?” she asked. “Are you available?”

“Well, yes,” I answered, “but will you have me home by
breakfast?”

She wrapped both arms around me and whispered in my ear, “Not
a chance.”

I could feel the warmth of her breath in my ear and the
beating of her heart against my chest. She smelled like a woman, and it almost
made me swoon. I lowered my face and kissed her on the neck.

“Levi….” She whispered in my ear.

“Callii….” I said softly, and we both knew that we meant it.

From somewhere came the meow of a cat. We ignored it,
completely.

***