14. Christopher - Second Time Around
Chapter fourteen
Christopher - Second Time Around
A fter her fun fling with Rick, Edie got back to business fishing to earn the last few thousand dollars to reach her lofty goal. It took almost eighteen months more to hang up her nets. Her life was hard; as I write this today on Edie’s behalf, I wonder how she did the things she did to overcome such obstacles. I missed my friend and I wondered if she would ever come back home. Her girls learned about work ethics, determination, and goals.
When she hit her goal, they made plans to go back to civilization. She let her girls understand the dedication it takes to be a successful woman. She wanted them to be tough as nails, soft as rose petals, never give up, never give in, not wear callouses on their hands, or smell like fish. She hoped they would use their brains, fall madly in love, and keep a separate bank account. With excitement and anticipation, she traded in her old rusty beater and drove her new Cadillac back to Illinois with expectations for a new life for the three of them. My friend Edie was coming home.
She found a new country home for sale on three acres right near town, paid cash for it and they settled in. Not sure what she’d do for work, she weighed her options. Though she had a degree in interior design there wasn’t much demand for her services in this tiny country town. She began looking for a position in a larger city thirty miles from their town.
She stopped at a bistro for coffee and a newspaper. It was a humid gray day threatening spring showers and somehow the weather matched her mood. As she sipped her coffee, her hand touched the locket she still wore around her neck, which reminded her of the incredible love she had shared with Christopher. I don’t know why she opened that can of worms again and she probably doesn’t either but after a few dimes into the pay phone, she was able to get an address for Christopher. She convinced herself she wouldn’t stop; she only wanted to see where he lived. As she drove by a light mist began to fall and the fragrance of the rain took her back to the last time she had lain in his arms five years earlier.
That memory was indelible and the one she went back to each time she thought of him. She had made the heartbreaking decision to stay with Sean and they were packed and ready to move to Chicago. She kept reminding herself this was a new start, a new beginning but her heart was dead. Her only pleasures in life were the memories she had made with Christopher and loving her beautiful daughters. Sean had secured a good job so maybe things would be different now. She had to see Chris one final time before she left so she called the number. “Can I see you today? Now? I need to say goodbye.”
He welcomed her with a tear-filled crack in his voice. The curtains were blowing from the warm spring breeze as sunshine filled the room. She borrowed her friend’s car and when she pulled up he raised the garage door and she drove in. They barely got inside when they fell into each other’s arms. She wanted to melt into him, become a permanent part of him, and never leave him. She had never loved so deeply or completely. They loved each other more desperately than ever before, knowing their world would end today; it was their last chance forever to feel the love that went far beyond their understanding.
Suddenly there were screeching tires outside and a fierce banging on the door as Sean screamed, “I know you’re in there, whore. Come out now or I’ll kill both of you right here and now.” They dressed in a panic, she hid beside her friend’s car in the garage, and Chris took a deep calming breath and answered the door, yawning and rubbing his eyes for effect.
“Sean, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?”
“Don’t give me your bullshit, I know she’s in there and I know what you’ve been doing.” Chris stood aside as Sean pushed him against the wall. He stomped from room to room and just as he was about to give up he spun on his heel, pointing his finger at Chris. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you? I know where she is.” He yanked the door open to the garage smashing it against the wall but when he saw a car he didn’t recognize, a look of defeat filled with anger, colored his red face. He slammed the door and left with tires screeching as when he arrived. It was way too close for comfort. They said their final goodbye that day or so she thought.
So this day, five years later, there was a truck in his driveway. It had been so long since she’d seen him. So much had happened, Sean’s death, her short marriage to Cory, the years spent torturing herself fishing in the Everglades. Personally, as her best friend, somehow I feel Edie did that to punish herself to pay for her sins. Now here she was, almost back where it all began with Christopher. What the hell was she thinking? She could have resisted but she didn’t. The windows were open and a soft breeze lifted the white curtains. As she stood on the porch a soft rain began bringing the fragrance of spring and life to her senses. She peeked into the tidy living room and tapped lightly on the door. She knocked again and then tried the door and quietly walked in.
The bedroom door was ajar and as she peeked in she saw him asleep in his bed. His black hair was mussed against the white pillow and the room smelled of his unmistakable woodsy fragrance. Partially covered with a crisp white sheet, she became dizzy as that familiar desire rushed through her body and her breathing became shallow. She needed him so badly; she needed to know if he still loved her. It had been years since she felt this sort of passion pulsing through her body. She had broken him when she left him to the point he couldn’t function. This beautiful strong man had been reduced to emotional frailty. It was her fault; she carried guilt that had broken her, too. She wanted his touch, his kiss, that physical bonding that only love can fulfill. She needed him to know she never stopped loving him or wanting him. She was here to prove it to him.
She stood, frozen in time, her mind racing like fast-forwarding a movie of all the times she had nuzzled against his strong body. A forgotten feeling stirred in her belly. Desire as raw as fresh-cut meat yet sweet as lilacs in spring rushed through her burning veins. She didn’t fight the instinct; She did what any woman in that moment of passion would do. She slipped her clothes off, let them fall to the floor, and silently slid into his bed and body.
She touched his chest and felt the structure of his handsome face; she breathed in his scent and wanted to fill herself with him. His arm went around her and she wondered who he imagined was lying next to him in his sleepy state. Slowly turning his head, he partially opened his aqua-blue, sleep-filled eyes. A look of shock and tears filled them. “Is it really you, Edie? I must be dreaming.”
She couldn’t hold back her emotions. “I couldn’t let another summer or another day of my life go by without you. I had to see you, touch you, feel you. Don’t be angry,” she whispered.
“I never stopped needing you; I had lost hope this day would come,” he said breathlessly. His touch was as gentle as she remembered and she sensed that same hunger that ate away at her. The joining of their bodies was like filling a mold with melted gold. A slow deep release came to them completing the dreams they hadn’t dared to dream for years. A few minutes later he sat up; she wasn’t sure what was coming next. “Edie, what I’m going to say has no bearing on you and I. It doesn’t change a thing. Please understand”. She gasped; this couldn’t be good. He held her hands to his chest.
“I got married a year ago but…” She jumped up from the bed realizing what a horrible thing she had done. She caused him to cheat on his wife. “Please, it’s a marriage of convenience and I’ll do anything to have you in my life.”
She could barely speak. “Forgive me, Christopher. I’m so very sorry. You should have told me but I will accept the blame. It wasn’t your fault.” Tears flooded her face. There was nothing else to be said. She quickly dressed but before she left him, she unhooked the gold locket from her neck and placed it in his hand. All hope for a future together was gone. And just like that… she was gone from Christopher’s life.