~ A Precious Jewel ~

by

Sherry Derr-Wille

"Happy New Year, Mom," Jill’s cheery voice came over the receiver. "Where have you been? I’ve been calling for over an hour."

"I went to Meg and Jim’s party."

"Did you have a good time?"

"I have to admit, I did. How about you? Did you and Karl go out?"

"We’re at the party now, but I want to hear about your party. Did they have a man for you?"

"Jill! What a thing to ask. If you must know, they arranged for a dinner companion for me."

"Was he a hunk? Did you let him kiss you?"

Julie wondered why everyone was so concerned about Devan being a hunk. To her, he was just Devan, an old friend from high school, someone comfortable to be with and nothing else. "To everyone’s surprise, including mine, he turned out to be an old friend from high school. He just brought me home and I’m making coffee."

Jill laughed out loud. "Then I won’t keep you. I’m just glad you met someone nice."

Jill’s words, ‘someone nice,’ rang in Julie’s ears while she wiped out her crystal mugs. Devan certainly could be called nice, nice and comfortable, unlike the other ‘dates’ she’d endured.

"Do you take your coffee black or with cream and sugar?" she called to Devan.

"Black," he said, joining her in the kitchen. "You shouldn’t fuss."

"Please, Devan, let me fuss, I enjoy it. I hope you like flavored coffee. I only drink hazelnut when I’m at home."

Before she could pour the coffee, the phone again rang. "That has to be Lance," she said, before picking up the receiver. On the other end of the line sounds of a party full of young blood and life blared.

"Happy New Year, Mom," Lance shouted above the din. "I’m sorry to be calling so late, but we just got in from a midnight ski run."

"It’s okay, honey. I just got home myself. I went to the party next door. It sounds like everyone is having a good time there."

"We sure are, Mom. I just wanted to talk to you. Are you all right?"

"I’m fine. You get back to your party. Love you lots."

"Your kids?" Devan asked, once she hung up the phone.

"Yes, they do worry about me. I guess I’ve given them cause this past year."

She finished pouring the coffee and handed Devan the first cup, adding cream to hers before leading the way to the living room.

"You’re lucky," he said. "My boys won’t call me, they’ll just wait for the old man to call on his dime."

Julie sat down on the couch and Devan seated himself next to her. "I almost didn’t go to that party tonight," he commented.

"It’s strange to hear you say such a thing. I felt the same way myself. I knew Meg would be setting me up. I’m glad I didn’t go with my first instinct. I had a good time tonight."

"I did, too. I’d forgotten how nice it was to be with you. I’ve always been comfortable around you."

Comfortable. Julie contemplated the word she’d thought of earlier when she was talking to Jill. Devan made her feel comfortable as well. Talking to him reminded her of old tennis shoes, a comfortable change from the tight pinch of her daily routine. At the same time, she felt a sense of excitement, of adventure, just sitting next to him and remembering their friendship.

"What about you?" he asked, holding her hand a little tighter. "Has it been terribly hard?"

Julie pondered her answer. Of course, it had been hard. Steve was her husband, her companion, for almost thirty years. In the blink of an eye he disappeared from her life, leaving her alone.

She eased her hand from Devan’s, put her mug on the coffee table, and went to the patio door. In one movement, she drew open the heavy drapes and switched on the patio light. For a moment, she stood watching the snow accumulating in the back yard. To her surprise, she no longer saw a replay of last New Year’s Eve, only the heavy snowfall.

"Hard, very hard," she finally said, "but I’m learning to live with it. Steve’s gone and he’s not coming back. I’ve accepted it. Now it’s only me."

"And you’ll make it alone?"

"I have so far. It gets easier every day."

"I suppose it does."

His voice sounded close behind her. When she felt his hands on her shoulders, she shuddered involuntarily. For one moment, she thought about life, about the man behind her.

Devan wasn’t Steve. She didn’t want him to be Steve. The reflection in the window only acted to confirm her thoughts. She turned to him, her eyes filled, not with tears for Steve, but for herself.

"You must think me terrible, but you don’t know how good it feels to have you in this house tonight, to have you touch me, to think you might care. I know we’re just buddies, good friends..."

Before she could say more, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. With the kiss, her floodgates of emotions opened. She needed this. She wanted it. Did it make her evil? She hoped not, it felt too good to be wrong.

He kissed her long and hard before he began to tease her lips with his tongue, begging for entrance to her mouth. To her amazement, she felt herself part her lips ever so slightly, to allow him the opening he sought. His tongue probed and played games with hers and she tentatively copied his actions.

It was Devan that broke the embrace and pulled away. "I’m sorry, Julie. You’re very vulnerable. I’ve taken advantage of you. Like I said, I almost didn’t come tonight. When I saw you and realized who you were, I knew I wanted you. It’s wrong. I know it is. We’re friends, but--"

"Are you telling me the truth or just what you think I want to hear?"

"It’s the truth."

"Maybe I want a one-night stand. Maybe I just need to be special to someone for a little while. Whatever it is, I wouldn’t blame you if you left right now. I really don’t know what’s come over me, but I want you to stay with me tonight."

"Do you mean it?"

"Yes. Just for tonight, I need to be loved. Please stay. I’ll give you the garage door opener so you can get your car off the street. There’s room for two cars in there."

"Look Julie, if you want to call this off--"

She put her finger to his lips to silence him. "I don’t think so."

When Devan went out to the car, she wondered if she did know what she was doing. He’d become a stranger. The boy she knew thirty years ago was all grown up. Maybe this would be best, just good healthy sex between old friends. Could it be so wrong? Wasn’t that what the kids did, what their society had come to? Who would ever know, other than herself and Devan? They were no longer in high school. She certainly wouldn’t be the topic of tomorrow’s locker room discussion. They were grown people, consenting adults. Certainly Devan must have strayed more than once.

"I guess it’s a good thing I got the car off the street when I did," he said, interrupting her thoughts. "It’s really coming down. I don’t think I would have made it home."

She glanced again at the patio doors. The snow didn’t look menacing in the backyard.

"There’s a good six inches out there," he continued. "The roads are getting treacherous." With the words, he studied her face, as though trying to read her expression. "You don’t have to go through with this, you know."

"I know, but I want to. It’s probably the best medicine I could get. Maybe I’m lucky you were at the party tonight."

He put his finger under her chin and lifted it to look into her eyes. "I know I’m lucky to have met you. The gods must be smiling on me."

"You always were a smooth talker, always knew the right words to say, but I don’t care. For tonight, nothing matters but you and me."

Again he took her in his arms and kissed her, before she pulled away. "Let me close down the house. I’d rather not get carried away on the living room floor."

Julie turned off the lights and heard him laugh. She too saw the humor in her statement. She’d become so set in her ways spontaneity seemed to come with great difficulty. Yet she had been the one who asked him to stay.