Connecting Rod Ch. 09

The next day was the big football day. When I saw Rod sitting in front of the TV about to watch the Cotton Bowl, I went right over there and sat beside him. For one thing, I love football. For another, I didn't want to lose that good feeling I had last night. I had some nice dreams about my cowboy last night. Real nice dreams.

I guess I was tired from being up so late, because I fell asleep sometime during the half-time show. I didn't really care who was playing, I just wanted to be close to Rod again. I woke up just as the game ended. The next thing I know, Rod was kissing me and I was kissing back. That went on for a while, then I asked him if he thought that maybe something was happening between us. I was hoping he's say yes, but he kind of dodged the question and said he wouldn't rush it.

Just the same, I was pretty sure I was in love with him and I thought that he had feelings for me too, so I was happy. The only trouble was I was having these dreams of me and him together. I'd wake up in the middle of the night, all squishy from thinking about him. I was going crazy trying to decide what to do about it. Should I just come out and tell him?

A few days after the New Year's party, I woke up in the middle of the night. It was pitch black and I couldn't see much, but I could hear something. I got up and went out into the hall. I could just make out some sounds coming from Jurgen's room, but I couldn't tell what they were. I snuck down the hall and got closer and I could hear voices. It was Jurgen and Eleanor talking. They were laughing a bit too. There wasn't any light coming under the door, so right away I knew they were fooling around. I darn near laughed out loud.

That did it. If Eleanor and Jurgen could get together, then Rod and I could too. I tip-toed down the hall to Rod's room, and as quietly as I could I opened his door and went in, closing it behind me. I just stood there for a while, trying to work up my courage. I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn't sure I had the nerve to do it. When Rod snorted and rolled over in his bed, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I got myself under control again and waited until I was sure he was sound asleep. I could just make out his shape in the bed from the little bit of light coming under the blind. I tip-toed over to the bed, lifted the sheet and blanket, and easy as I could I slid in beside him.

I was holding my breath, but I don't know why. I was there and he was right beside me and I could touch him. So I did. He didn't wake up right away. I heard him groan a bit and it sounded like one of those satisfied sounds guys make. I think he might have been dreaming. Maybe about me, I hoped. Finally he woke up, reaching for me like he wanted to make sure it was real.

He was surprised, but when I told him I was lonely and wanted him to hold me, he pulled me to him and it felt so good I almost cried. I was scared I might have done the wrong thing and messed it all up between us, but I was wrong. He felt the same way about me that I felt about him and he said he wanted to make love to me. I wanted that more than anything.

He went and got a French safe from his dresser and we both got naked and the next I know, he was kissing and playing with my titties and I was feeling so good I could hardly stand it. I couldn't wait. I told him I wanted him now and I climbed up on him and took his thing and aimed right where I wanted it. God that felt good as I pushed down on it. I had a feeling that this was going to be something special. The best ever. I was right, too.

Rod was so gentle, and yet so strong. I had never felt anything as good as this before. He was talking to me, asking me if I was OK and if I was getting what I wanted. All I could do was keep saying yes! It was everything and more than I ever wanted.

We made love three times that night. In between, I think I surprised him when I helped him get hard again using my mouth. I don't think he'd ever had a blow job before. He didn't complain, mind you. It was my pleasure and I told him so. I hope he didn't think less of me, but he said he didn't.

We fell asleep in each other's arms that night, but woke up early. I was a bit worried about how he would feel in the morning after I snuck up on him like that, but he was happy and telling me how much he liked my being there. He didn't know what happy was compared to how I was feeling. I had just made love to the man of my dreams. Really, my dreams were about Rod. My cowboy lover.

I never did tell Rod about his mother and Jurgen. He really didn't notice that they were so close, I guess. I mentioned it to him a couple of times, but I don't think he put two and two together.

For the next few nights, I didn't go to Rod's room, wondering if I'd be welcome again. I shouldn't have worried. Later that week, he sat beside me at lunch and asked where I'd been and when I was coming back to his bed. I fibbed a bit and told him I was having my period, but that night, I was back to his room after making sure Eleanor had already gone to Jurgen's room.

We went along like that for four months. I was sleeping with Rod three or four times a week unless it was my time of the month. I don't know where he bought all the French safes, but someone was doing a land-office business. I should have realized Eleanor knew what was going on. Near the end of April, she sat down with me in the kitchen when no one else was around.

"Shelly, I know you are in love with Roddy. I also know you two have been together at night. I'm not going to give you a lecture or tell you not to be with him, but I wanted to talk to you about your feelings for my son."

"I am in love with Rod. I have been almost from the start, last September. He's so perfect and so good to me. You and he gave me a new life. I never expected that. I would die if I had to leave. Do you want me to stop seeing Rod?" I was praying she wouldn't ask me to.

"Heavens no! I want Rod to make up his mind that you are the best thing that ever happened to him too," she smiled. "You are a fine young lady and I meant it when I told you that I think of you as the daughter I never had. We just have to get Rod to realize it and do something about it."

I was shocked. I didn't know she felt that way about us. It made me feel very good, of course.

"I'll talk to him, Shelly. He just needs a little push. I'll talk to him tonight."

She did, of course, but I didn't know about it 'till much later. After the accident.

I remember taking the oil pan and walking down the steps into the pit. After that, I don't remember a thing until I woke up in the hospital and Rod was there, sleeping in a chair. He looked so worn out and older. I didn't have any idea I'd been out for four days. My head felt like my eyes and my brain were loose and rolling around inside. I could hardly focus and I couldn't reach Rod to touch him.

I called to him. It hurt even to call his name. It took three or four times before I saw his eyes flicker and he started to wake up. As soon as he did, he jumped up and came to me. He kissed me and I could see tears in his eyes as he looked at me. I wondered what was wrong with me and why was I in the hospital, but I figured it was because of the way my head hurt. Rod told me what had happened when I fell in the pit.

As quick as that, a young doctor came into my room and gave me a big smile, happy to see that I was awake. He asked me a bunch of questions about me and my family and when he decided my memory was OK, Rod said something to him about not being my boyfriend for long.

I was scared for a moment, and then Rod took my hand and asked me if I remembered what we were going to do that Saturday night. Of course I remembered. We were going out to dinner, just the two of us, and we were going dancing. I was going to wear that nice dress again.

That's when he told me what he was going to do that night. He took a little blue box out of his pocket, opened it, and showed me a beautiful ring. A diamond ring. He told me he was going to ask me to marry him. I don't really remember much after that except probably saying yes. When I finally came down from the ceiling, the ring was on my finger and tears were in my eyes. My dream had come true, just as Eleanor had said it would.

I had to stay in the hospital for a few more days. I had a lot of visitors, people that I knew from the station as well as Matti and Duke. Even Stumpy and Ted Reynolds. I didn't think they knew who I was. Some of the people from the New Year's dance even came by, including that nice Pastor Ford. It seems Eleanor and Rod had been going to church, and a whole lot of people had been praying for me.

A week later I was pretty much OK. I wasn't back to work yet, but I was close to it. Rod and Duke are working on getting another building to use just as a shop and Rod told me he's going to let Duke run it. He'll get some help from Eleanor in keeping the books, but it'll be his to operate. He'll do the hiring and firing, if there's to be any. I expect Rod will have some say in it, though.

While I was getting better, Eleanor and I were walking around the neighborhood and doing the shopping as well. The walks were good exercise for me, and it gave us time to talk. We'd already started the planning for the wedding in September. I can't wait. I can feel the tingling in me every time I think about becoming Mrs. Rod Williams.

"I can tell you're getting excited, girl," Eleanor said one afternoon as we walked back from the grocery store.

"Yeah. I am. It's still three months away, but sometimes it feels like three years ... and other times ... like three minutes. It's only been a year since you came to town. I still can't believe how my life has changed."

"Mine too, Shelly. When I lost Frank, I wasn't sure about anything any more. Rod saved me from that by bringing me with him. He needed me ... and I needed him. Now, I'm going to have a family once more ... maybe even some grandchildren," she smiled, looking at me.

"I'm plannin' on it," I said, nodding my head in agreement. "Roddy will make a great dad."

"Yes. I'm sure of that."

"He keeps surprising me, Eleanor. He's still so young to be running his own business, and yet he doesn't act young. It's like he's thirty going on forty or more."

"I think the Army had a lot to do with that. He told me that when they made him Sergeant, he was given a group of men to operate a section of the motor pool. He said he had seen what some of the officers and NCOs acted like when they had command, and knew what he liked and didn't like. He wasn't going to just sit around and give orders. He wanted his guys to be a team.

"According to a couple of his men, he was the best boss they ever had. He respected them and they respected him. One day, two of his guys showed up at the ranch to say hello when they were passing through. Roddy was out somewhere, and I got to talking to them. They couldn't say enough good things about him. They told me he had received two commendations from his Captain for running the best shop on the base. The first thing he did was to turn around and give them to his men, telling them they had earned it."

"Yeah. That's Rod all right," I said. "He's the first guy to tell someone when they've done a good job. Mind you, I bet he didn't slap them on the butt when he was tellin' them like he does me."

Eleanor laughed out loud. "No, I don't suppose he did."

"You must have been the best mom and dad a boy could have. I just wish I could have had that too."

"Well, I think we did OK, but all we really did was teach him right from wrong. I think it was how we lived ... I mean Frank and me. I loved him and he loved me and I don't think a day when by when we didn't tell each other that. Roddy couldn't help but notice. I think that has a lot to do with who he is today. That ... and the Army."

"Well, I can tell you that he's never going to go a day without me tellin' him I love him and he's everything to me. I feel the same way about you too, Eleanor."

"I'm glad, Shelly. I think I'm pretty lucky, all things considered."

"Now that Rod and I are settled, what about you?"

"What about me?" she asked in surprise.

"You and Jurgen, I mean."

She stopped walking, turned and looked at me carefully.

"What about me and Jurgen?"

I thought for a moment before I said something I would regret.

"That first time I snuck into Rod's room ... way back in January. I was having dreams about him. Real ... intimate dreams. You know what I mean?"

She nodded, but said nothing.

"One night, I was awake, thinking about him and I could hear voices. So I snuck out into the hall and then followed the sound down to Jurgen's room. I could hear you and Jurgen talking, but I couldn't hear what you were saying. There wasn't any light on in the room, so I just guessed what was happenin'. I guess that gave me the courage to sneak into Rod's room. That's how it all started."

Eleanor had turned bright pink. Right away, I felt bad. I had embarrassed her and it was the last thing I wanted to do. I was about to apologize when she put her hand on my shoulder.

"I should have guessed I couldn't keep it a secret, any more than you could." She appeared to have recovered and didn't look upset or angry.

"I could tell at the New Year's dance that you were gettin' close. You just seemed to be so easy with each other," I said.

"Yes ... that's a good way to call it. We were ... easy ... comfortable ... natural together."

"When was the first time you went to his room?" I asked, immediately wanting to take back my nosey question.

"Christmas. I could tell he was a little down ... maybe thinking of his family or something in the past. I didn't know. I didn't want him hurting at that time of year. I took a chance and went to his room after you and Rod had gone to bed. We had stayed up a little longer. The light was on in his room, so I knocked on the door.

"He opened it and I went in, closing the door behind me. I took his hand and we sat on the edge of the bed. I told him I could feel his sadness and he didn't say anything, but he smiled at me. I took another chance and kissed him. Then I told him how important he had become to me. Someone I could talk to. Someone who understood about losing loved ones. Someone I had a special feeling for."

"How did he respond?"

"Like a gentleman, of course. He was very formal. He told me he had feelings for me too and he asked my permission to kiss me. Of course, I said yes. We did that for a while, then I said goodnight and went back to my room. I didn't want to rush him or make him feel I wanted more, even though I did.

"We started meeting that way and by the end of the week, I took another chance. I told him I wanted him to make love to me. I think I startled him. Maybe even frightened him. He said he had not been with a woman for many years and he wasn't sure he would be very good. I told him that I had more confidence in him than that and I would help him any way I could. That night, we made love for the first time."

"Was it good ... I mean ... oh ... sorry ... I shouldn't have asked," I said.

"That's all right. He was very excited to begin with and also very nervous. But I expected that and I guess I said the right things and helped him calm down. The second time was much better and the third time was wonderful. I had never made love three times in one night. I guess we were both so excited that we were able to, even at our age."

"I'm glad for you ... and for Jurgen. He's such a nice man. I think you'll both be happy together."

Eleanor smiled and kissed me on the cheek. I don't think we could have become any closer friends. We were sharing our secrets about ourselves and our men. If I ever had a real mother, I would have wished her to be like Eleanor.

*

Again, my thanks to Erik Thread for his helpful and insightful editing. As always, any errors are mine.