Sat Aug 31 2019

Bobbie woke up first. Her eyes felt scratchy. She only got 5 hours of sleep, which would probably be fine, after some coffee. She looked beside her then squeezed her eyes shut. What have I done? What is wrong with me? This guy is supposed is a cool new friend and I don’t even want anything serious. Fossie was outside her room scratching at the door and meowing so she got up. She was naked except for the ruby pendant; she saw herself in the mirror and blushed; remembering the night before. She took off the necklace and went into the bathroom. She pulled herself together and found a tee-shirt and sweatpants and crept out, past the bed to feed Fossie. She also put coffee on and got some water. She sat at the island and rested her cheek against the cool marble counter. The coffee dinged and so did her phone, in the bedroom.

A tousled Townes, in boxer shorts, came out of the bedroom holding her phone. “You got a text; from Johnny I think.” He moved around and pulled her into an embrace and kissed her then stepped back a little and kissed her forehead. “So, how are we feeling about last night?”

She looked at him. “I’m not sure. I’m worried that this might have wrecked things for our friendship. Also, last night at the party, when everyone just thought I was sleeping with you I thought it was great and now that I have slept with you, I’m worried people will judge. They’ll think I’m some cougar who just preyed on a cub.”

“I am not a cub. I’m an apex predator and you didn’t seduce me. I had you on my mind since we met; that’s why I hit that reserve room button on your website. And I even knew Johnny was busy and couldn’t join us when I asked you to dinner.”

“So, I am your conquest?” Bobbie was becoming defensive.

Townes closed his eyes. “It’s not like that. We are two people who are attracted to each other and we’re getting to know each other and if we still feel an attraction, that’s good.”

Bobbie thought about it while she poured coffee. She already knew he liked his coffee black. “Embarrassment and regret aside, I still feel an attraction.”

Townes took his coffee. “I have no regret or embarrassment and I am still very attracted too. Maybe even more attracted.”

They sat sipping coffee for a few minutes. Bobbie put down her cup. “I’m going to jump in the shower, Johnny will be here for the market in a half an hour. Um, we could shower together.”

Townes looked at her. “We definitely don’t have time for that. I’ll take my leave and shower in my own room and meet back here in a half hour.”

They walked to her room together and as she brushed past him, he stopped her and kissed her. He held her and pulled her close; she could feel him through his boxers. “Have a good shower.” He whispered and let her go.

She felt her knees go a little weak but she recovered and made it through to the shower. She chided herself for feeling like a giddy teenager. She was ready, in her folk singer outfit in 25 minutes and went to the kitchen to warm up her coffee. There was a knock and Townes came in. He wore cargo shorts, hiking boots and a high-performance fiber, fitted, long sleeved shirt.

As he came toward her, she said.  “You look like a sports clothes model.”

He put his arms around her. “You have a sexy Stevie Knicks vibe.”

There was a knock at the door and Johnny and Jamie walked in. Townes dropped his arms and pushed her away a little. Bobbie steadied herself with the island.

Jamie looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Hi guys. Are we interrupting? Who’s your friend Bobbie?”

Johnny answered. “This is Townes Carson. They met last month through Trixie and he rented a room here earlier in the week. They’ve been playing cat and mouse the last couple of days.”

Jamie laughed. “So, which one is the cat?”

Bobbie sniffed indignantly. “We take turns. So, what music we playing this morning?”

“Why don’t you bring your 12 string? I want to play some of our Tate Cowell songs.”

Bobbie and Townes travelled in her car and Johnny and Jamie were in Johnny’s truck with all the gear. It was a beautiful day and people were already there setting up the market. Bobbie saw that the produce stalls were well stocked and there were a couple new booths, one was a wood carver and one was a metal worker with cast iron door knockers and corbels and things. Bobbie told Townes to look around because she had to help set the stage up for the show. She ran up and climbed on the stage and started plugging things in and setting up guitar stands. Johnny set up a drum that he played with his foot. They did a few tests and were almost ready to start. People were coming in and the tables in front of the stage were filling up. She saw that Townes was at one table and Eddie and Charlie and the kids were right beside him. Bobbie waved at the kids. Johnny came out to his mike and read all the announcements. He mentioned specials and welcomed the new vendors. When Johnny was finished, he picked up his guitar and said they were going to play some good old rock and roll and everyone clapped. Bobbie and Jamie came forward and Bobbie started playing the famous 12 string guitar introduction to a Tate Cowell song. It was so iconic she even got chills when she played it. They played 6 songs and wrapped it up.

Meanwhile in the audience, Wally and Clay were looking at Townes and whispering to each other. “Isn’t that the guy that has his picture with Gramma on her hashtag?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

Wally slid over beside Townes. “Hi, I’m Wally, what’s your name? Are you here to see my Gramma?”

“I don’t know, who’s your Gramma? And I’m Townes.”

“She’s the lady singing on stage.”

“Yes, I am, then.”

“Are you her new boyfriend?”

“I’d like to be.”

“Cool, you’re better than the last one.”

“You mean Brose? What was wrong with him?”

“He was too old.”

Townes chuckled and Wally moved away, anxious to report to Clay. Townes saw that the show was finished and walked over where Bobbie was coming off the stage. “I think I met your grandson, Wally. He and his brother figured out who I am and wanted to know my intentions towards their grandmother.”

“They don’t miss much. You may as well come and meet my sons too and see if Wally and Clay gave you a favourable report.”

Eddie and Charlie were standing with their arms crossed by the table and 4 kids were sitting at the table. Suzy was standing between her dad’s legs. Bobbie ignored their body language. “Hi guys, I’d like to introduce you to someone. This is Townes Carson. I met him a couple months ago at a brunch Trixie was hosting and we hit it off.”

“Hi Townes, I’m Eddie, father of Wally and Clay and Laura.”

“And I’m Charlie, this is Niko and Suzy.”

Suzy walked over to Townes and tugged on a pocket of his cargo shorts. He glanced down and she raised her arms and smiled. He picked her up and hoisted her onto his hip. She laughed and pulled off his sunglasses.

“The women in the family certainly seem to like you.” Joked Charlie. “Mom, we brought all their swimsuits and June packed a bunch of hotdogs, maybe we can go back to the motel for lunch. We were thinking we’d tube down the river this afternoon.”

Bobbie looked at Townes. “Tubing down the river sounds fun. We can hold on to Suzy. I should go get the tickets. I’ll check in with our chili stall and get a serving of chili to make chili dogs and see if Johnny and Jamie want to come.”

They all agreed that they wanted to go tubing and Bobbie arranged it all at Chuck’s office. They drove back to the motel and the kids got a big bowl of chips to share and went into the theatre room. Charlie and Eddie and Townes each got a beer and headed out to the deck. They sat at the bar and chatted awhile, before they fired up the barbecue.

Charlie put down his beer. “So, Trixie introduced you and Mom but what made you come all the way out here to find her? You are known for being a player; what is so interesting about Mom?”

“I know I have a reputation and I don’t want to speak badly about anyone but I had a few relationships with high profile ladies that liked a lot of drama and liked to share it all on social media. I don’t think Bobbie is like that.”

Eddie shook his head. “But Mom is almost 56 How old are you?”

“I’m almost 52 now and we’re on the same wavelength.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“I have to tell you about the first time I met her. We were at a bunch that Trixie had for the old Fox board of directors. I was coming in, right behind Trixie and your mom and all the kids that worked at the restaurant wanted selfies with Bobbie. I thought that was weird and it put me off a bit because I’m pretty wary about social media. I found out later she was getting a lot of attention from her Planned Parenthood fundraiser. Anyway, we chatted, she seemed nice and more forthright than a social media darling. She’s pretty and I enjoyed talking to her. We left and I wasn’t thinking about her anymore and out of nowhere, a couple people pushed in front of her and pelted her with balloons full of red paint that broke all over her. She was standing there and all I could think about was that scene in the movie Carrie, where she was covered in pig’s blood. That’s a Stephen King horror movie I saw when I was a kid. I was young enough, that all I could think is that only if someone had managed to help Carrie get away from there she wouldn’t have freaked out. I was haunted by that a little. I had to get Bobbie out of there. So, I whisked her and Trixie away and drove them to Trixie’s motel. I came here because I had to see her again. So, that’s it. I’ll go get us more beers.” And he left.

Eddie turned on the barbecue to get the dogs started. “What do you think of him?”

Charlie shook his head. “I think I want to hug the little kid in him who was so shaken by a horror movie and thank him for saving Mom.”