Goin' Fishin'

"So, new girlfriend, huh?" she said.

"I had one date," I protested. "The hot line's already buzzing, though, huh?"

"That's right," she laughed. "Annie really likes her, too. So I just wanted to let you know I'll be here until seven tonight."

"That's nice," I said, puzzled. "But –"

She'd already hung up. I tried both her and Annamaria, but neither would come to the phone. Unable to divine what the two women were planning, I finally gave up. A little after five, I called Jenny.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hi, Jenny," I said. "It's Bill. So what are our chances of getting together tonight?"

"Excellent," she laughed. "Come on over in about half an hour."

I arrived when instructed, and found that the three women had pretty much assembled an entire household.

"So," Marcia said, her eyes twinkling, "I understand there's a new Italian restaurant."

"Oh, God, mother," Heather said. "As if we didn't hear about this ad nauseam from Jenny all day."

Marcia looked over at me.

"By the way, Bill, we all got last-minute invitations to a dinner dance on Saturday night at the country club," she said innocently. "Would you like to go with us?"

Jenny had brought us out glasses of iced tea, and I began choking on mine as soon as Marcia finished. This time it was Jenny who was pounding on my back.

"I told you, Mom," she said, "I don't have anything to wear. I can't go to the club in jeans."

"But honey, you have to," she said. "I forgot to mention, the dinner is in honor of Willie Smith, that nice young man who used to be our neighbor."

"That dweeb?" Heather sneered. "Well then, the hell with that."

I suppose that was fair. A little harsh, maybe, but fair. I hadn't been the most attractive guy in high school. Once I'd gotten to college, and gotten some fashion advice from one of the girls who lived in my dorm, I finally started to get some interest from the fairer sex. In high school, though, with the thick glasses and the long hair and the cheap, poorly fitted shirts, I suppose dweeb wouldn't have been inaccurate.

"He was not a dweeb!" Jenny jumped to my defense with more passion than I would have expected. "You just didn't like him because he was a soccer player instead of one of your precious football groupies."

"Oh, I forgot your little crush," Heather said, slipping the needle into her sister.

Both Marcia and I looked at Heather with surprise as Jenny looked down and blushed. She quickly excused herself and went in to refill my tea.

"She used to write 'Mrs. William Smith' and 'Jennifer Smith' all over her notebooks in eighth grade," Heather crowed, watching my reaction as, behind her, her mother's eyebrows went even higher. Apparently, Mrs. C hadn't known that either. When I refused to become jealous, Heather turned back to Marcia.

"Anyway, what's little Willie done to deserve a dinner?"

"Apparently donated money for a hospital wing and given out a whole bunch of scholarships," Marcia said, watching me out of the corner of her eye.

"Willie Smith," Heather said slowly as she appeared to be reassessing her attendance, "is rich? Is he married? I wonder what I should wear."

"Speaking of wardrobe," I said quickly as I suddenly divined the meaning of my cryptic phone conversation with Beth, "I think I could help Jenny find a dress."

"You know a seamstress, too?" Jenny asked, coming back into the room.

"Sort of," I said.

"Wonderful," Marcia said, putting an end to the discussion.

Marcia grinned broadly, and Heather snidely, as we left the house.

"Where are we really going?" Jenny asked. "Sears?"

"Very funny," I answered. "Look, if you're not happy with the dress, you won't have to go. And I'll stay home with you."

"All right, smarty," she said, crossing her arms. "Let's see what kind of dress you can get me."

We parked right in front of Beth's dress shop.

"Oh, my God," Jenny said as she saw the midnight blue dress in the window. "That's gorgeous. Bill, I'm not going to be able to afford one of the dresses in there. I'm a school teacher."

"Well, she's a pal, maybe she'll rent us one," I said. "C'mon."

I dragged her into the store.

"Hey, Beth," I said.

She ignored me, and gave Jenny a long appraisal.

"So you're a size six, right?" she said.

"Well, an eight," Jenny blushed.

"Uh-huh," Beth said, as if Jenny really had no idea what size she wore. "And what, a 36-B?"

"34," Jenny whispered.

"Uh-huh," Beth said again.

After one more look, she walked back toward the front of the store.

"This'll be perfect," she said, dragging the mannequin out of the window.

"No, I can't," Jenny said. "This is silly. I'm sorry, Beth, right? I really just can't afford anything like that."

"I'm sorry," I said. "Beth, this is Jenny. Jenny, Beth."

"Hi," Jenny said. "I'm sorry to take up your time. But I can't buy that dress."

"Well, I can't sell it to you, either," Beth said. "So it works out for both of us. But this dress is going to fit you like a glove. When we let out the top a little, anyway."

"Beth, I –" Jenny began.

"Trust me," Beth interrupted. "And stop being sorry. If I want sorry, I'll call Bill. Bill's much sorrier than you could ever be. And besides, people are going to see you and say, 'what a lovely dress, who made that?' and you're going to say, 'why, Beth Moorhead, she has a shop down on Fifth Street.'"

Jenny looked at me helplessly.

"I'd really like you to go to the dinner with me," I said softly.

"Oh, all right," Jenny capitulated.

"Great," Beth said. "Here, you can put it on in there."

Jenny took the dress into the changing room.

"Thanks," I said quietly to Beth.

"Oh, you know I'd do it for you even if she wasn't going to look great in it," Beth smiled back. "And give my shop some awesome pub."

"Sorry?"

"Publicity. So Annie said she might be moving here?"

"That's my hope," I said. "Before she comes back, though, I should tell you two things. First, she's Heather Colley's sister. Second, Heather will be at the dinner, too."

Beth's eyes narrowed as I finished. Beth had been dating Dave, the quarterback of the football team, as far back as junior high school. In eleventh grade, though, Heather had engineered their breakup in time to get Dave to take her to the junior prom. Fortunately, Dave came crawling back that summer, and after they'd figured out together what Heather had done, Beth took him back. It was still pretty clear, though, that the name of Heather Colley didn't hold good memories for Beth.

"It would be kind of nice if Jenny really stands out tomorrow," I grinned.

Beth looked at me for a few seconds and then broke into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Jenny asked as she returned wearing the dress.

Both Beth and I were stunned.

"What's – so – funny?" she said slowly to me, as if she only now realized that she was dating a moron.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "We were just talking about Annamaria. She and Beth are good friends. And then you came out, looking like that."

"Aren't you sweet?" Jenny said to me before turning to Beth. "It was so good to see her again. How do you know her?"

"I was a few years older in high school," Beth said as she whipped out a pincushion and started working on the dress. "We didn't become friends until a couple of years ago."

Jenny apparently didn't want to bring up Heather, so the conversation veered off in another direction. After about an hour, Beth asked Jenny to come by at eleven the next morning.

"I really like all your friends," Jenny said as we got back in the car.

"Well, I only introduce you to the nice ones," I said. "Maybe tomorrow we'll find some of the others. Now, for dinner, how about we get something from Jackson's grocery store, and you let me cook you dinner at my place."

"That sounds wonderful," she said. Half an hour later, we were on our way back to my house with the makings of a feast. I was dreading the upcoming revelation, but, as serious as I was quickly becoming about this woman, I knew it was time to end my little charade. I pulled into my garage with Jenny apparently still clueless that we were less than 200 feet from her mom's house. She looked over at my Lexus and then back at me.

"Nice car, Bill," she said slowly.

"Thanks," I answered. "Come on in."

I led her into the kitchen and watched as her eyes widened at the size of the kitchen and the living room beyond it. I offered her a tour, and it wasn't until we were upstairs in one of the guest bedrooms that she finally spoke to me again.

"Nice house, Bill," she said, just as slowly.

"Thanks," I said. "'A fucking mansion,' as your sister said."

"A fucking mansion?" Jenny said stiffly.

I'd started out the door to head back downstairs, but something about the way she emphasized the word 'fucking' made me turn back.

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"You've already been fucking my sister here?" Jenny demanded. "So now what, you want second prize, too? All you men are such fucking assholes!"

I stared at her, realizing that I hadn't fully grasped the extent to which she'd felt that she'd been living in her sister's shadow all these years. She in turn, after a two-second delay, headed for the door. I grabbed her arm and without thinking, yanked her backward on the bed, where I unceremoniously fell on top of her.

"I'll give you two seconds to let me up, asshole," she said savagely.

"Not until I say three things," I said as she continued glaring at me. "One, your sister has never been here. And I've certainly never, um, fucked her."

So far, no luck.

"This house is right next door to your mom's," I explained. "She was talking about it when I was helping your mom move in."

Her eyes softened a little, but it was clear I was going to have to go to number two.

"Number two, I love you."

Whoops. Wrong tack.

I sat up, and she sat up with me, still full of fury.

"Don't play with me, you bastard," she said. "We just met."

"I love the way you eat pasta," I pressed on, already in for a dollar. "I love the way you shop for dresses. And I love the way you play cards."

Now she was really puzzled, but she stared intently into my eyes. I took a deep breath.

"Number three. Got any jacks?"

I smiled, watching the light go on.

"Willie?" she whispered.

"Like I told your mom," I said, "I'm trying to get beyond the Willie now."

"Oh my God," she said. "Oh my God, Willie."

"I've loved you for thirteen years," I said quietly.

She threw her hands around me and began sobbing softly on my shoulder. After a few minutes, she looked up at me and smiled.

"You're not a mover," she said factually.

"No," I said. "I'm a business consultant. Who's done really well with some startup companies. I happened to be out walking yesterday and I looked in the van. I really am a neighbor who was ordered by your sister to bring a lamp upstairs. And actually, the real movers were a little short-handed, and I know the guy who runs the company – it's Beth's husband – so I stuck around to give them a hand. I'm sorry – well, sort of sorry – to have misled you."

"Does Mom know?"

"Your mom knew it long before I did," I said. "When I first saw her, I was shocked to find we were neighbors again. She didn't seem surprised at all, just pleased to see me. I'd bet she knew who her neighbors were before she bought the place.

"That sounds like Mom," Jenny smiled and wiped away a fresh tear.

"And after that I just followed her lead."

"Why?"

"Cause she's your mom," I said. "I always paid more attention to her advice than to my own mother's advice."

"So why didn't she tell me?"

"Maybe for the same reason I'm not really sorry I didn't tell you," I said. "She knew which daughter I'd want to date."

She sniffled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if Heather knew I lived in this house, she'd have been all over me, right?"

"That's true," she nodded, looking down again. "Every time I'd say something about you yesterday, she'd remind me that you were a mover. If she knew you weren't . . ."

"I would have had to get around her to get to you, wouldn't I?" I said.

She looked up again.

"And even if I wouldn't date the little gold-digger if she paid me, that still wouldn't have been the best way to date you, would it?" I asked her, seeing a shy smile start to form. "So neither your mom nor I ever got around to mentioning to your sister that I wasn't actually a mover."

"Why me?"

"You know, your mom tried to tell me back in the eleventh grade about waiting for the right girl to come along," I said. "I was falling in love with you that summer before you left. And now that you're back, I've remembered why."

"Will you excuse me a minute?" she said, wiping another tear off of her cheek. "I need to freshen up."

"Sure," I said, pointing to the bathroom, "right in there. Do you want me to start dinner?"

"No," she said. "I want you to stay right there."

She came out a few minutes later. Without the jeans. Without the plaid shirt. Without the sneakers and socks. Wearing a very simple white bra and a pair of white panties with yellow flowers on them. She leaned against the doorway as I started to breathe again.

"You know, this is not the outfit I would have picked to seduce you in," she said.

"First of all, you don't need an outfit," I grinned. "And second, I don't need any seducing. As I remember, little Jenny Colley was always pretty bold."

She walked toward me, and that simple act alone sent my pulse racing. I stood up to meet her, and she reached for my belt.

"In that case, mister," she asked as she pulled it free and reached for the button on my jeans, "got any Jacks?"

"Nope," I was completely unable to stop grinning at her like an idiot. "Not a one. Go fish."

"I think I will," she popped open the button and dropped to her knees, unzipping me on the way and dragging my pants and boxer shorts down to the floor.

"Ooh, looks like I picked a king," she said before he disappeared inside her mouth.

"Oh, shit, Jenny," I cried, caressing her head. Without taking her mouth off of me, she undid my shoes, pulled off my socks, and had me step out of my pants. The slightest push from a hand on my stomach sent me sitting back down on the bed. I pulled my shirt over my head. I desperately wanted to pull her up, and sit her back down beside me, and let me make her happy. But she wasn't about to stop.

She didn't stop until she felt me exploding. She did her best to swallow it all, but it had actually been a rather long time since I'd done any exploding. She looked down to where some of my cum had dripped down off her chin and landed on her upper breast.

"You never were very neat with your toys, Willie Smith," she laughed.

"I'll show you toys," I laughed back. I scooped her up and threw her on the bed, where I spent the next twenty minutes making her as happy with my mouth, I hoped, as she'd made me with hers. Finally, when we were both ready, I crawled up beside her on the bed.

"I want to make love to you, Jennifer Colley," I said.

"You always did talk too much, Willie Smith," she smiled back. "Just shut up and do it."

I didn't say another word until we were done.

"So, do you, uh, want me to take you back home tonight?" I asked after we'd cleaned ourselves up.

"You'd do that for me, drive me all the way home?" she teased. I watched her naked body cross the room to where she'd left the pants with her cell phone.

"Mom?" she said, looking back at me with a big smile. "I'll be at Willie's tonight.

"Yeah, right, Bill's," she agreed. "And Mom? Thanks."

The next morning, we were having a late breakfast in the kitchen when we saw Heather's car tear down the street. Jenny hadn't wanted to go back home to change clothes while Heather was still there, so this solved the problem nicely. Marcia opened the door as we were coming up the steps.

"Guess I'm a little predictable, huh?" Jenny said.

"Just a little, dear," Marcia smiled. "She went out to have her hair done with Monsieur Ali. For the dance, of course."

"He's supposed to be very good," I offered.

"Well, it's more like one of his assistants," Marcia said. "And she had to offer them a ton of money to open up early. I understand the place is booked all day."

"Gee, maybe I ought to find a barber shop," Jenny joked, pulling her hair out.

"I think you look perfect," I said sappily.

Jenny smiled at me.

"Seriously, though," I said, "we have to be going. Beth's expecting us at 11:00."

"You won't believe this dress," Jenny told her mother.

"I think I will," Marcia smiled back.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled up outside Beth's. She quickly dismissed me, noting that after the fitting Jenny had a hair appointment, with Ali himself, and then one final fitting. I should come back around three o'clock.

"Hairdresser, huh?" I said. "That Annamaria won't leave me alone, will she?"

Beth just smiled and hustled Jenny into the back.

I spent the next four hours having lunch and doing some shopping and running some errands of my own. At three, I returned to Beth's.

"Hello?" I called into the nearly empty store.

"Hello, Bill," said Jenny, as she flowed out from the dressing room.

I was actually speechless. Her hair was pulled back and up, and she filled out the dress perfectly. Even without makeup, she was gorgeous.

"Well?" Beth said as she came out behind her.

"I'm sorry," I said to her. "I didn't see you."

"No kidding," Beth laughed, joining Jenny. "All right, you two, out you go. I still have to get my dress finished for tonight."

I loaded Jenny into the Lexus – thank God I hadn't brought the sports car – and we made our way back home. I showered and shaved, and, with Jenny's help, selected a tuxedo. Ali had given her a set of cosmetics, and she busied herself in the guest bathroom while I dressed.

We arrived at the club shortly after six, and the first person I spotted in the foyer was Joe Towson, our state's junior senator.

"Bill," he said, his eyes lighting up. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Joe," I said. "This is Jennifer Colley. Senator Towson. He doesn't really like me that much, he's just hoping for another campaign contribution."

Jennifer's eyes opened wide, as if she couldn't believe I was talking this way to a senator. Joe just laughed, though, as he held out his hand to Jennifer.

"Don't you believe him, miss," he said. "I think he contributed the same amount to my opponent in the last election."

"It was close, Joe," I smiled. "You could've lost."

"Nice to meet you, Jennifer," he said. "When you get tired of all this wealth, give me a call."

"It's taken me thirteen years to track him down, senator," she said. "I don't think I'll get tired that quickly."

I smiled at Jenny and we entered the main ballroom.

"Wow," Jenny said, looking at all the decorations and the 20-piece band. "I kind of forgot that this is all for you. You must be somebody special, huh, mister?"

"That's right, kid," I said. "Stick with me and you'll go places."

Jenny had noticed some people staring at us.

"You really don't date much, do you?" Jenny laughed.

"Think again, sweetheart," I said. "All those eyes are on that dress."

Sure enough, one of the town's matrons worked up her courage a few minutes later and came over.

"Mr. Smith," she said expectantly.

"Mrs. Alford," I said. "I'd like to present Jenny Colley. This is Sylvia Alford, she's on the board of directors at the hospital."

"Forgive me for being so forward," she said to Jenny, "but I have to know whether you got that dress locally."

"Beth Moorhead's dress shop on Fifth Street," Jenny smiled broadly. "Here's a card."

"Did Beth give you a supply of cards for your purse?" I asked incredulously. "She's shameless."

"No," Jenny insisted. "I stole 'em when I was leaving."