* * *
"Hey, baby, you like your burgers well done, right?" He called out to
her from the screened-in porch, where he was busily getting their main
course together, while she tended to side dishes in his showroom perfect
kitchen. They'd taken the opportunity to "christen" Ken's new grill
together, since the balmy, clear evening had proven conducive to an
impromptu cookout. With the rainy season around the corner, it was wise
to take advantage of nice weather while they could.
"You remember, Mr. Lockheart! I'm very impressed!" she replied,
lining up condiments including ketchup, relish, mustard and dill pickles on
the granite countertop. She laughed when she heard him retort, "Still
doubting me after all these years! Ok, then Miss Rose, you'll be forced to
make it up to me later, when we discuss a proper punishment!" It felt so
incredibly good to joke around again; she'd sorely missed all of the fun
they'd shared together.
"How 'bout if I finally teach you how to ballroom dance properly?"
she offered, awaiting the sounds of his faraway voice to drift into the
room from his slightly distant location. Instead, she was treated to a mild
shock when a playful Ken snuck up behind her and boisterously lifted her
into the air.
"Kenny!" she scolded playfully. "I'm gonna kill you for scaring me
like that!" But her uncontrollable laughter gave away her levity as he spun
her around a few times amid the ultramodern, stainless steel appliances.
Placing her back on her feet, he whispered softly, "Not if I have
anything to say about it sweetheart," and then proceeded to smother her
neck in soft, wet kisses.
"God, you feel and smell so good," he declared rapturously. "Maybe
we should skip dinner and head right to dessert!" And though she laughed
again, he felt her tense up a bit in his arms.
"Hey," he said softly, turning her around to face him. "I'm just
teasing, baby. Well-not about how much you turn me on, but the part
about doing something about it immediately. You know, I would never
push you to do anything you're not ready for, right? I may be older now,
but I am still the same patient guy you remember. I mean it, Madeline.
Especially after everything you've been through, the last thing I would
ever do is put more pressure on you."
"It's ok, baby," she soothed him. "Believe me; I know what kind of
decent, honorable and dependable man you are-at least, I fully get that
now, even if I didn't appreciate it back then. And I want you to realize,
every problem I shared with you today has been solved. Once I found
Carla, the women's physical therapist, and then learned how to continue
my treatments at home with a dilator, the pain during intimacy went away;
it actually started to feel good. Well, at least until the relationship with Tag
went south.
"And don't worry; I don't consider what happened with Ray to be
nothing more than a mistake, a lesson that happened to come with an
expensive price tag. But even that problem's been solved with natural
remedies. I haven't had an issue with it in years. Look, don't get me
wrong, modern medicine is wonderful-but that doesn't mean the
doctors or the conventional wisdom are always right, especially when they
swear there's no cure for something. I found the cure because I kept
searching for one."
"You are a persistent girl," he stated. "It's one of the many reasons
why I am so crazy about you." With that, he pulled her into his arms for
another spellbinding kiss.