Empty Nest

When I get back to Heather’s I find that all of the parking along the front was taken thanks to some soccer thing happening in the park so pull around back and manage to fit my hatchback in beside Heather’s SUV. After squeezing through the space between my car and the neighbor’s fence I pause to look at her vehicle. It was kind of surreal for me seeing this same car from back when I was a kid saw her as just another mom. It really drove home just who she was from my past and emphasized our age difference that much more. If I wanted this thing happening between us to turn into something real and lasting those damned 20 years that separated us was an extra hurdle that I wasn’t sure we could clear. It bothered me on another level too. While it was a fine vehicle in its day and in a hell of a lot better shape than mine but it was beginning to show its age. For some reason I did not like that. I didn’t mind puttering around in an old beater but it didn’t seem right for her. She deserved nicer things. She deserved the very finest things. And she deserved someone who could give them to her.

I shake the dark thoughts that had begun to coalesce in the corners of my mind away and let myself through the back gate. As I wearily make my way around the side of the house to get to the front door I hear through the open kitchen window Heather talking to someone.

“He did not do that!” Heather exclaims, then pauses before saying. “Oh my God, that kid of mine. He’s going to get himself arrested. Well if they do I hope they deport him this time. Maybe back here he’ll get his head on straight again.”

She was on the phone, obviously talking about her son Liam. Pausing a moment just beneath the window I cock a curious ear.

“Listen, I should get going as I’m expecting a call.” She says. “Just, next time you talk to him…tell him that I love him? Okay? And tell him to call once in a while.” She then sighs. “And tell him…tell him I can’t afford to send him anymore money. I just can’t. I’m barely making it here, Lily.” Another pause. “No, no. I’ll be okay.”

A sharp pang of guilt stabs me at hearing of Heather’s financial troubles. She bought me supper last night, she was taking me out for pizza tonight, and she had planned to buy me some work boots and gloves! She had told me that she needed to be frugal as she was still paying off the debts accrued during her life with Mr. Hutton, but she hadn’t given me the sense that she was ‘barely making it’. Here she was struggling in her own life and she went and took on a hard luck case like me. The last thing I wanted was to make her life more difficult.

I let out a sigh and go to move on before I heard anything else that I wasn’t meant to hear. The next topic of conversation though freezes me in my tracks.

“Whose call am I expecting? Oh, um…” She lets out a laugh. “I’d rather not say. … Because you’ll get angry. … Because I know you. … Ha ha ha! Okay, okay.” Heather says. “Yes, it’s a man. I might have, sort of, accidentally, gotten myself a honey boy.” Lily’s reply was so loud I could hear her raised tone from out here, though not enough to make it out. “I know, I know! I didn’t think I would either. It’s been so long I wasn’t sure I even could anymore. It wasn’t on purpose. It just sorta happened. And, ohhh, he’s just lovely. … Who? Well, oh boy, that’s where it gets a bit crazy. Do you remember Elliot? … What do you mean Elliot who?” She laughs. “Elliot Everly. … Black hair, blue eyes, handsome like his dad. … The one Liam couldn’t stand. … From your graduating class!” Damn. Lily didn’t even remember me. Here I always though she and I got along well. “Yes, that Elliot.” Before Lily could protest Heather launches into a very abbreviated version of how it was we met. After that she waits quietly as her daughter verbally reams her out for at least two solid minutes.

During that time I urge myself to get moving and quit eavesdropping. Because it was about me though I couldn’t resist the temptation to hear more.

“No! He’s not living here. He’s just…staying a little while. Just until he gets on his feet again. … Lily, he has nowhere else to go. … What!? Don’t be absurd. … Stop it. He’s far too young for me. He’s just a honey boy. You’re making too big of a deal of this.”

‘Just’ a honey boy?

“And why shouldn’t I? I’m not that old yet. I’m allowed to have fun once in a while too. … I don’t think that I like your tone, Lillian. … You didn’t see him. You didn’t smell him. Oh, he’s grown up to be sooo handsome and… … No, we’re not bonding! I told you, he’s just a honey boy. We’re just having a bit of fun. He’s single and I’m… … Don’t you DARE bring your father into this!” Heather’s voice cracks with emotion. “That’s low, Lily. … What’s Liam got to do with anything!?” Heather listens for few seconds before cutting off her daughter’s latest tirade. “I’m not talking to you if this is how you’re going to be. … What? Well, yeah. He knows. … Lily, calm down. … Yes, I think we can trust him. … You know me. I’m not going to lie. He was curious and so I told him.” She chuckles, her voice warming. “You should have seen his face when I did. He was so cute and… Stop it. He’s a good man. I don’t think things have been easy for him since his parents passed. But he’s smart. He’s brave. And he’s trying really hard. Right now he’s out there working overtime like a little champion. Speaking of which he said that he’d call if he was going to be late so… … What do you mean? … Say something bad about him? Why would I do that? … Of course I can, if I wanted to. … I don’t need to prove anything to you. Lily, I am NOT bonding with the boy. We’re just friends. … I am being careful. I’ve got it all under control.” Her voice softens. “I know. … I know you love me. I know you worry. … I know. I don’t want that either, Lily. He’s too good of a man to…well, anyway. … Okay. I promise. … I promise! … Listen, I’ve got to go. … I won’t!” She laughs. “Okay, bye!” There’s a clatter as Heather hangs up.

My head swirling with thoughts I quietly continue forward then wait at the corner of the house for a few minutes so that Heather wouldn’t suspect that I had heard anything. ‘Too young’, ‘the boy’, ‘just friends’, ‘just a honey boy’, ‘little’, and other concerning phrases echo in my mind. Would I ever be anything but a child in her eyes? I hadn’t done myself any favors on that front last night. Before I got too down other words buoy my spirits. ‘Cute’, ‘brave’, ‘handsome’, ‘champion’, and if I understood correctly Lily had tried to get Heather to say something bad about and she wouldn’t. It really lifted me to hear that she spoke about me in the same way to others as when we spoke in private.

The one bit that still stood out from the rest though was, ‘I’m barely making it here, Lily’.

I take a breath then kick back into motion. With heavy legs I clomp loudly up the front steps. Before I had to decide whether just to walk in or knock Heather calls out I a bright, welcoming voice. “It’s unlocked, Elliot.”

Entering the house I find Heather at the table reading a women’s magazine and sipping on some tea. Looking up she takes my breath away with a smile before saying. “Hello, handsome.”

“Hey, Heather.” I smile back. I couldn’t help it if I wanted to. She just made me smile.

I groan as I bend over to put my shoes away. “Ohhhh, God.”

“Oh no!” She says in sympathy. “Rough day?”

“The roughest. Oh my God.” I shuffle forward, only exaggerating my weariness slightly. “I am soooo tired! Even my sore muscles have sore muscles.”

“Ohhh, my poor boy.” She closes her magazine and hurries to meet me. Despite my filthy work clothes and her impeccable dress she pulls me into a hug. Pushing my head down so that it laid on her shoulder she wraps me up tight in her arms. Now that I was aware of her special anatomy her embrace was closer and tighter than ever. So close I could feel the bulge that filled her panties. Her body, her whole body, felt so fucking good pressed against me. “Was it really that bad?”

“I’m just not used to it yet.” As I stand motionless, savoring every second of the hug, I notice one of the coverlines. ‘Turning Back The Years: 10 tips on recapturing your youth’.

“It’ll take time is all. You’ll get stronger every day.”

“Yeah. Um, I know you wanted to celebrate, and so do I, but…” I let my weight slump into her. She bears it with ease. “…can we just stay in tonight?”

“Of course.” She pets my hair. “I’ll get the pizza delivered.”

“Honestly, I’m not that hungry. That lunch you gave me…”

She laughs. “I may have overdid it a little bit.”

“Just a little.” I chuckle. “Something simple would be perfect. Sandwiches or something. I can make them for us.”

“The heck you will.” Pulling away she runs a hand across my cheek. “How about I draw you a nice hot bath to soothe those sore muscles? How’s that sound?”

“That sounds amazing.”

Crinkling her nose she quips. “Smelly man.”

“Ha! Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I like it. It’s a good stink. A working man’s stink.” She turns and sways in that wonderful way she had toward the washroom. “I’ll add a bit of bubble bath. My own special formulation.”

“Oh?” I grin. “You sure it’s safe?”

“The honey’s so faded and diluted it won’t effect you like that.” She assures me as she disappears through the door. “It’ll feel great on your body though.”

“I can’t wait.”