Chapter 18: Searching for Answers

Pouring two cups of coffee, June asked, “So how was your vacation?”

“I’m afraid that it wasn’t all that great.”

June examined Cindy shocked by the unhappy expression on the woman’s face. She wondered what had happened. Frowning, she said, “I thought George wanted to give you a nice treat.”

“He did. He wasn’t the problem,” Cindy said while shaking her head. In fact, he had been great. If George hadn’t been with her, then things would have been much worse.

“It couldn’t have been all bad,” June said taking a seat across the table from her neighbor.

“Saturday and Sunday were great, but Thursday, Friday, and Monday were torture,” Cindy said. Elbows on the table, she cradled her head between her hands and, in a sad voice, she said, “I had no idea what he has to suffer on those trips of his.”

“What happened?” June asked. She was curious about what could have been so bad.

“For one thing, I found out what flying is like.”

June had only been on an airplane once and that had been when she had gone on her honeymoon. She had enjoyed the flight, but that had been eighteen years ago. Looking confused, she asked, “What is it like?”

“It is a real hassle, flying, now. I remembered it as exciting, but this was anything but exciting. The planes were packed with people and most of them were bored, tired, and irritable. The seats were too small. We were packed in there like sardines. I know that I’m a little overweight, but I could just barely fit in the seat. There wasn’t enough leg room. The seats are very uncomfortable.

“I probably could have handled that for a little while, but the air just felt horrible. There was this smell that I couldn’t take. I had difficulties breathing. It seemed like my lungs dried up on me. I have no idea how he puts up with it,” Cindy said. The headache and dry eyes had lasted until they reached home. George recommended that she take a hot shower and that had helped her feel better.

“So what else was so bad?”

“The hotel was in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t anything to do. Friday, I thought I was going to go crazy from boredom. I was stuck in a very small room with both of the boys. The hotel staff didn’t even know of a playground where the boys could play,” she answered while shaking her head.

“Sounds like you didn’t have a good time,” June said. She took a sip of her coffee before asking, “Did George and the boys have a good time?”

“Traveling was rough on the boys, but George had a great time. He kept talking about how nice it was to have company. I never realized how lonely he was when he was away,” she answered remembering the tired looks on the men seated in the hotel restaurant. She felt that the image of the men scattered around a dining room woodenly eating their food was burnt forever in her memory. She sighed and said, “He really does have a miserable job.”

“You know, I never really realized just how hard it is being a man. We do take them for granted,” June said. The afternoon when she had thought she had lost Jack, had made her consider what life was like for him. She sighed and said, “As women, we worry about security and having a nice safe home. The men work so hard to provide it for us and then we complain that they aren’t there for us when they are doing everything we ask. No wonder we confuse them.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” Cindy said. As much as she hated him traveling all the time, she’d freak if he came home and told her that he’d lost his job. She wondered if it was time for him to consider changing careers. She said, “I’d like to help make his life a little better.”

“So what are you going to do for him?”

“I don’t know,” she answered. Everything she thought about doing that was good for him didn’t do anything for her. She was still stuck at home and never leaving the house. She thought about George out in the garage helping Jack work on his boat. She sighed and said, “He was overjoyed at being able to work on the boat with Jack.”

“That boat! I’ve never seen Jack so happy as when he’s working on that boat. He really enjoys it when other men come over and help him with it. They spend most of the time talking and just a little time working on the boat, but he’s as happy as he can be.”

“I’m glad that Lisa was willing to baby sit this evening. I really needed to get around adults for a while. I swear that if I watch some of those cartoons for much longer, I’ll end up talking like a cartoon character.”

June laughed at the mental image of Cindy talking like Daisy Duck and said, “It is a win-win situation for everyone. Lisa is happy to be earning a little spending money. George is happy working on the boat and you’re getting a chance to engage in a little girl talk without interruption.”

Fifteen years of age separated the two neighbors. For a long time that had kept Cindy from approaching her neighbor. She now realized that she had someone who could give her advice about how to save her marriage. There were things that she couldn’t discuss with her mother. June was just much more approachable. She asked, “How is the change in lifestyle going?”

“It’s been wonderful,” June answered. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed having an intimate relationship with her husband. It wasn’t intimate in the manner of more sex, although that was a part of it. It was nice being able to talk to him about her feelings and knowing that he was listening to her.

“So what have you been doing so different?”

“I guess that Friday nights represent the biggest change. They are date nights. While Lisa is on her dates, I tease him all evening wearing revealing outfits. It drives him crazy, but a good kind of crazy. I don’t know why, but he sees me like a Playboy Playmate. I’m far too old to be that,” she answered with a grin. The shocked look on the younger woman’s face was priceless.

She continued, “Saturdays are actually a day when we fix up the house. In the afternoon, Jack takes Lisa out driving. That’s their time together and, God knows, they really need it. Jack barbecues steaks on the grill. It’s a nice quiet day.

“Sundays, we go to church and then have a Sunday dinner. Jack just loves Sunday. It is the one day of the week that really fits his view of how the world should be.”

“I never thought about it like that,” Cindy said. She wondered what George’s expectations were about how the world should be. It bothered her that she didn’t know.

“Weeknights are spent pursuing different activities. Each of us takes turns doing what we enjoy. Mondays, we rent a DVD and watch a movie together. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jack works on his boat while Lisa and I normally have a girl’s evening. Wednesdays, Lisa usually has Harry over.”

“So what’s it like having a teenage girl that’s dating?”

“Oh, it’s been a little rough. At first, Jack was really worried because Harry’s father is a lot richer than we are, but he’s gotten around to where he likes the boy. It is hard on Jack having them spending time in her bedroom, but he was the one who suggested it so he deals with it.”

Shocked, Cindy said, “He suggested that they spend time in her bedroom?”

“Well, after the experience with the serial killer, he felt that it was better to be safe and unhappy, than sorry.”

“What experience with a serial killer?” Cindy asked sitting up and staring at June. The only serial killer that she knew about was the one that had been caught six weeks earlier.

“Oh, I guess you didn’t know. Her boyfriend was the one who caught the serial killer last month. They had snuck off into the woods behind school for a little make-out session and ran into the guy.”

“I guess I can see why Jack would rather have them making out in her bedroom,” Cindy said amazed to learn the news.

“Yes. It hasn’t been easy for Jack. He spends most of his time out in the garage rather than in the house when Harry is visiting. I think he likes to pretend that nothing is happening. He wants to keep Lisa as his little girl. The idea that she is turning into a young woman is a little hard for him to accept,” June said. She sighed and thought, ‘I can’t believe how much I misjudged his feelings for Lisa.’

“We’re not going to have that problem with the boys,” Cindy said.

“Oh, you’ll still worry about them,” June said, “You’re a mother and that comes with the territory.”

Jack and George were standing around the boat talking. They had just finished putting the bottom of the boat in place. It had been a remarkably complex job. Jack asked, “How was the trip?”

“It was pretty nice. I had the wife and kids fly up for the weekend. We went to a ballgame and the aquarium,” George answered with a smile. He had really enjoyed having the family there with him. Even when the boys were bored and tired, he had liked being able to play with them. It was a shame that Cindy hadn’t enjoyed the trip as much as she had anticipated.

“That was a nice thing to do for them,” Jack said knowing how much Cindy wanted to get away from the house. He said, “Cindy must have been happy as a clam.”

“Well, Cindy found traveling to be a little uncomfortable. The flight was unpleasant and the room a little more confining than she thought.”

“Oh. That is a shame,” Jack said.

“I tried,” George said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Jack looked at the house and said, “I’m kind of surprised that she hired Lisa to baby sit so that she could come over and gossip with my wife.”

“I’m not. I think we both realized on this trip that she is lonely. She spends all of her time with the kids. She doesn’t get a chance to just talk to someone without a hundred interruptions from the kids.”

“Your situation isn’t much better.”