Carla and the Contractors

Some of the clothes Carla had been wearing were overly suggestive and could easily have led the guys to reach the conclusion that she wanted to have sex with them. However, they weren't nearly as sexy and revealing as I had imagined. Sure, she had shown inappropriate affection toward them and had actually enjoyed rolling around on the bed with Steve, but I can't blame her for that.

After all, I had actually told her that I wanted her to have sex with him. She constantly lavished hugs and kisses on them, almost all of them given in a friendly rather than a sexual way. Damn it, I should have realized that she craved that relationship with a man that I hadn't been giving her.

I had come to realize and understand everything that had happened only when I was able to accept what had really happened to Tommy. He had flown to Houston and rented an apartment the week before he was to show up for work, then flown back home. We rented a U-Haul trailer so we could help him move his things into his apartment.

We had taken three days to make the trip to Houston with him; we could easily have driven there in two days. We enjoyed the drive and the opportunity to spend the time together so much that we had driven the entire trip in the slow lane and stopped frequently to enjoy the sites. Tommy still had two days left before he was scheduled to show up for work the following Monday.

The morning of the third day, we slept late because we just had about three more hours to drive until we reached Houston. We got up too late to take advantage of the complimentary breakfast at the motel so we went to a nearby restaurant to eat.

We were talking and having a great time while we were eating when I made what turned out to be a fateful suggestion. I said that instead of driving all the way into Houston on Interstate 45, we could take a scenic route from Huntsville on into Houston. Carla and Tommy thought that was a great idea.

About an hour south of Huntsville, A car heading north passed a slow moving car in front of him and hit our car head on. The driver's side of our car took the brunt of the impact and Tommy died instantly. Neither Carla nor I suffered as much as a scratch, but the psychological impact on both of us was devastating.

After his death, Carla suggested we take the trip to Houston in the hope that somehow it would make me accept the fact that he was dead. I would go out site seeing with her during the day and dream that we were out on the town with Tommy at night.

I blamed myself for his death because I suggested that we take the scenic route; I am now able to accept the fact that he is gone and that it wasn't my fault...just a freak accident. I was so stunned that I couldn't even remember the funeral. I still feel extremely guilty that Carla had to go through that time of grief without having me to lean on.

*****

Here comes my beautiful wife to take me home right now. I love her with all my heart and I intend to spend the rest of my life showing her how much I love her, and doing my very best to make her happy.

She's here now and my friends John and Steve are with her. They're going to start on a kitchen renovation for Carla next week.