The Widow's Friend

by Dave Stone; Callii Wilson

  ***

  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.

  I kind of think we are helping each other through all of this. I needed an emotional boost in my life too. We’l
l 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

  Chapter 34

  “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.

  Chapter 35

  “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

  Chapter 36

  “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.

  Chapter 37

  “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.

  Chapter 38

  “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.