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Click hereAbout six months after I got back Heidi met a man through a sale of her paintings who really fit whatever she was looking for in a husband, Maynard Follansbee from Clarks Harbor, Nova Scotia. We sat down one evening, had the eventual discussion and a while afterwards she introduced me to him.
He's a great guy and over the last year or so we have become close friends, so much so he asked me to be a member of the groom's party. It was unfortunate for him because Heidi had already asked me to give her away which I readily agreed to. He was aware of our relationship and quite understanding.
About a year ago, life did one of its weird things again. I was in my den pounding out a draft for syndication and Gail came bounding into the house. As I noted I had been coaching her on swimming techniques and she had started using my barn gym to harden up.
"Bartholomew, we're going to the tavern. Come on, let's get ready. I'm hungry."
She had taken after her mother to calling me by my middle name and in her case, I again didn't mind. For that matter she could have called me anything she wanted and I would have just drooled happily. So naturally I was off to the tavern. We had a grand time and over the next several weeks we repeated the soirees. One evening, things changed.
It became almost a déjà vu with Gail trying to best me with pints. After a few of them and approaching midnight she used her mother's old line.
"Bartholomew, when I have you all drunk and useless, I'm going to dump you into a barrow thing and pull you back to my house."
"It's called a wheelbarrow, Gail, and you push it, not pull it." I said and burst out laughing. She did the same.
"You know what I mean!" She laughed.
I did and didn't know if I could go there. She saw the look of hesitation on my face and took over.
"You know I had to ask Mother's permission to use that line tonight? She told me to go for it but be gentle. The first Meissner broke you in hard; her words."
I smiled at the innuendo because it was true. Heidi was nearly insatiable when we were together.
"So, you need to know something and Mother already knows this. I've wanted to make a move on you forever, even when the two of you were together. Now, Mother says you are fair game and the best catch in town. So call me a trawler ... If you do, I'll kill you! Besides, you've been eyeing me for months and afraid to make the first move."
"Gail, I wouldn't call you anything but a lady and I guess I'm busted. Then again, you have to remember how we first met!"
She did and the twinkle in her eye along with the sly grin spoke volumes about her intentions. We wrapped up our festivities and as with her mother, there wasn't a wheelbarrow. There also wasn't a surprised couple on the floor when we entered her home but the night that followed was just as memorable.
Gail and I became a couple from that point on and eventually she moved in with me on the farm.
So, as I stood there waiting to give away the woman who was once my lover and now a best friend, her daughter and now my lover stood to the other side of her as her mother's 'maid of honor'. It should have been awkward but it wasn't. What happened next was but in a pleasant manner.
When the vows were completed with the task of kissing the bride, Heidi and her new husband, Maynard, stepped back while changing sides and the minister stood before another couple to repeat the same vows to the future Mr. and Ms. D. Bartholomew and Gail Meissner Higgins of Winter Harbor, Maine.
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Epilog
After I returned from my trip to Charleston, Kari tried to apologize in a letter to me for not being truthful the evening I stood outside her balcony but there was really no need to. In her mind she didn't think it was right to break her date for the evening; not fair to him. I was OK with that but I also explained to her during a later call that if she was intent on being Mrs. Kari Higgins, she would have put an end to the date on the spot and been ready for the return of her husband. I know it sounds almost chivalrous but like I said, I wasn't in it to be anywhere but first place in my wife's life. She mailed a copy of the final decree.
A couple years later Kari married a man in Charleston and around that same time, the population of the village of Winter Harbor increased by one. Gail and I welcomed our first son. Two more would follow later.
Heidi is still a best friend although she doesn't paint nude on the farm anymore, at least when I'm around. Her daughter has taken up that hobby.
MFH
- COMMENTS
LT56linebacker8 days agoGood, but not great. 4.7 stars, because the end was too abrupt, and convoluted. But the Bear liked it. A lot. I'm glad he got a happy ending. He deserved it. More please. I like your style. Thank you. This story has been in my inbox for a while, and I just got around to reading it. Glad I did.
The BEAR
Oatmeal1969about 1 month agoThere you go... Kari was not trustworthy, still unable to tell the truth. His decision not to try was correct.
Hopefully she realizes the truth she projects to others and becomes a better person for it.
Great story.
Anonymousabout 1 month agoMakes zero sense. She was all about getting back together but couldn’t break a date. Something doesn’t add up.
xMule4 months ago5*
Got his mother/daughter thing, just not at the same time, happily.
Thanks for sharing.
Anonymous5 months agoAmongst the well-written tropes and cliches, a good story
Best line, for me... " I also explained to her during a later call that if she was intent on being Mrs. Kari Higgins, she would have put an end to the date on the spot and been ready for the return of her husband. "
Reveals that Kari was not finished concealing things, especially from herself.
Not a 5, but it rounds up to one, so...
Flamethrow5 months agoGreat decision making by the MC, not once wavering even after being ready to do what was needed to get closure. Loved the mother/daughter interaction.
jmmj55 months agoOne of this author's very best.
MFH, if you read these comments, we could use another one or more of your stories right about now.
Thanks for sharing
Fluidswallower6 months agoThanks for a quite enjoyable read!. Very well-written with good character development.
Anonymousabout 1 year agoI gave it four stars. Well written, but I really didn't like any of the characters. Had the husband convinced me that he was anything deeper than a pampered, over-educated, muscular hippie with an inflated ego and a pair of barn swallows nesting in the rafters, I would have given it another star. That said, thanks for the read.
BC100000over 1 year agoInteresting and well-written. I was pulled in enough to want to learn what happened -- thanks for posting!
nixroxover 1 year ago4 stars - it was an OK story but I have issues with the husband running away - NOT a great idea.
BuzzCzarover 1 year agoVery well done. Added spice is the connection with my Charleston home and my family connection to Maine. Seemed a bit more personal that way.
Anonymousover 1 year agoI don't think he was upset that Kari had a date with her out on thr balcony. She never said she was celibate only that she didn't have an ongoing relationship with any man. However, she fucked up by lying to him. She should have shewed her date away and made herself available to her husband especially after all her heinous bullshit. She failed. He moved on. Why he ended up with Gail and not Heidi is surreal.
Anonymousalmost 2 years agoHe wasn't going down to Charleston for a romantic reconciliation. At least that's not the way I read it.
He was going down with an open mind. Looking for some kind of logical conclusion. Closure maybe. A resumption of friendship at least.
What she did was the ultimate of disrespect. Long term affair. Shedding feelings of guilt. Taking him for granted. And last. Fucking her lover right before coming home to him and acting like it had been a normal day. Having unprotected sex and flippantly leaving obvious evidence sitting right in front of the husband on the floor. She didn't care.
That is what drove him to just go. There are two reactions when a man's life burns down. When his reality completely dissolves. To confront/fight. Or to just simply walk away. Some men are just built that way. "You don't want me the way I want you? OK. Done. I'm out." That's it. Over. Gone. His reaction was perfectly legitimate. Once he found out she was confused and not planning on cutting off the cheating relationship? Off he went. Good.
He made a different life. Was happy. Had someone. Was living with her. Had fucked her the night before. He was a bit unsure what was going to happen when he arrived in Charleston. After so long he couldn't be thinking "we'll have a heart felt reunion. Cry. Beg forgiveness and repledge our undying loyalty and love and immediately take up where we left off." No way.
But he's curious. She's proven to be a liar of major proportions before. Doesn't give her a heads up. What's her life like now? Is she lying about not having other relationships while pining for me? Miserable? Unable to move on with life? That's what her letter says. Right? And he suspected that the woman emailing him might be his ex as well? That's what her emails indicated in a more subtle way. She was living with huge regret.
So...time to see if she is really OK? If they can get closure. Resume some kind of friendship. Resolve the relationship to some degree. Move on with life.
She proved to him that:
1. She was lying about not being able to have any other relationships.
2. She was not celibate. Their obvious observed intimacy belied a more advanced level of relationship.
3. She was not in fact pining over him.
4. She was more than able to move on with her life. It was not as bleak as she had let on.
5. He (or her supposed need for closure) was not a priority to her. If he had been she would have told him "shoot I have some plans tonight, but let me cancel them and I'll meet you in an hour at a restaurant close by."
If he was her priority...once she found he was in town? It's easy to tell a boyfriend "change of plans. I need to go meet someone. See you later."
Did she? Nope. She actually walked back out onto the balcony and slipped back into.the arms of her lover while she lied to him on the phone. She had little respect for him and even less for whoever that lover was. Not caring that he heard her lie to someone on the phone talking about being with her parents.
He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it. Because it was absurd. She didn't need to come to a conclusion with him. Didn't need closure. Didn't need to have him back in her life. To reconcile in any way.
The author mentions a tinge of jealousy. I think that natural. But the MC immediately recognizes that he had fucked his live in gf the night before...so again. I's not that he expected some big RAAC moment. He was expecting to find her in actual need of closure. Of having the conversation necessary. Of what she had asked him for in the letter. She was just short of begging him for the chance to talk. On his terms.
Instead he finds her comfortable with someone and having an intimate relationship. Lying to him about multiple things. Lying to him again on the phone. And most definitely not in need at all costs of closure from him.
He had his awakening at that time. He found the answer he needed to move on with life. And that was it. He laughed. Waved at her and left. Again done. Decision made. File the papers.
Great story. One of my favorites from this author.
parenthesisalmost 2 years agoThanks I really enjoyed this.
No btb, just closure and subsequent happiness.
