I Knew the Bride

"No, Sandy. This is good night and goodbye. I wish you all the happiness you deserve."

I said it with a lightness which disguised my true intent on the meaning. Sandy looked at me with tears in her eyes, leaned over to kiss my cheek, and left my truck without saying another word. Like I said earlier, Sandy never promised me anything, so I can't really say she was wicked, she just never gave me all I hoped to receive.

And I don't think I wasted those three years. I had physical, if not emotional relationships with Lisa and Dana; I got my degree, I was able to concentrate on my career which was going gangbusters. All in all, not a bad start to life. The only thing lacking was that hole in my heart where the love of a good woman would fit in.

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Lisa and Trey hosted a big weekend picnic. I showed up Saturday early afternoon and was surprised that at least twenty couples were gathered in the Chase's backyard. Across the yard, I spotted Tom talking to Dana. I grabbed a beer and headed their way, but before I could reach them, Mr. Casey, Lisa's father, stopped me.

"Nick, can you do me a favor, son? Could you please take a look under the hood of my Jeep? On the way over here it was sputtering."

Now, if you know anything about how things happen in our town, you know not to blow off Mr. Casey.

"Sure Mr. Casey. Let's have a look."

It only took five minutes to find the problem, a loose connection on the negative pole of the battery. I grabbed a wrench out of my truck and had it fixed in another five minutes. Mr. Casey stood next to me the entire time, asking how I was recovering from the knife wound, how things were down at the refinery, etc.

Now, some of you may think he was being a pest, but I don't see it that way. I've known tradesmen who, while doing a job for some wealthy client, get treated as if they're not human by the client. As if working with your hands makes an individual less worthy of consideration - people like Sandy's parents, for example. But here was the mayor of our town sticking his head under the hood, asking how I was doing and if I'd share some knowledge about automobiles. When I shut the hood, he thanked me with a handshake. He didn't insult me by offering to pay me either, but instead complimented me by saying, "It's good to have friends who know this shit."

We washed our hands and headed back to the party. I grabbed another beer, looking to see where Dana was now. Lisa came up to me as I stood on the deck. "What happened to you? Dana said she saw you and then you disappeared. Are you avoiding her?"

I would have laughed if it wasn't so ridiculous. "No, your dad waylaid me to check his Jeep. It was giving him problems and probably would have quit on him on his way home."

Lisa looked shocked, I think from the idea of her mom and dad getting stuck on the road. "Are you certain it's OK?"

I gave Lisa a look and she realized her mistake. "Of course you fixed it. Thank you, Nick. How did you and Dad get along?"

"Great, he asked if he could join us next time Trey and I go out fishing."

The entire time Lisa and I were gabbing, I was trying to find Dana. Then I spotted her down by the pool, talking to a group of young mothers. Lisa tracked my eyes. "Let's go down and save her, Nick. With that group of women she won't get away for an hour. They'll bore her to tears bragging on their children."

We walked down to the ladies, said our 'hellos' and grabbed Dana.

"Thank you." she said with relief. "I was afraid they were about to ask me to mediate on the question as to whose child is this most precocious."

Lisa didn't hesitate, "Well, Kyle, of course." Then she walked away to allow me to spend some time with Dana alone.

Dana placed her hand on my arm, it felt intimate, warm and friendly. "How are you Nick?"

"I'm doing good - healing."

There was sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't come to see you in the hospital, I was in Seattle that week, then three weeks in LA. In fact I'm leaving from this party to fly out of George Bush to Chicago in three hours. I don't even know why I have an apartment in Dallas. I've only spent three nights there in the last month."

"Besides the travel, how's the job?"

"It sucks. There is no, 'besides the travel', that's what the job is. I know they're taking advantage of me. I am well paid, but I don't have a life. I mean, how shitty is it that I couldn't get time off to visit a friend in the hospital?"

Dana changed the subject. "Lisa said Sandy's back in the area, graduated from Vet school and working near Austin. Are you two back together?"

"No, we aren't. And we never will be."

Dana's hand squeezed my arm. "I'm sorry Nick."

"I'm not. It gives me a great opportunity to understand who I should be with."

Dana gave me a look, then glanced over to her cousin. "Is that why Lisa was adamant that I attend this picnic?"

"I hope so. I think your cousin thought we should become reacquainted."

Just as our conversation began to get heavy, one of the youngsters fell into the Chase's pool. All kinds of excitement followed. Of course, Trey and Lisa had hired one of the local teenagers as a lifeguard during the party. The young lady immediately jumped in, had the little boy in her arms within ten seconds, but it still created a scene. The young lady may have looked like a Baywatch actress in her one piece suit, but her actions spoke volumes about how professional she approached her position.

By the time things settled down, an old friend had grabbed Dana and they were catching up. I went over and spent the next hour with the men who were making plans for the fall hunts.

When the brisket was served, I sat next to Dana and offered to drive her to the airport. Dana accepted my offer and we stuck to less personal topics with so many people nearby.

On the way to the airport, we finally returned to a serious discussion about 'us'.

"Tell me, if you thought we had a chance to be more than friends with benefits, why did you take this job and move to Dallas?"

Dana looked at me, deciding to answer my question directly. "I wanted you to tell me not to go."

"Games are a lousy way to start a serious relationship."

There was a bit of anger in her response. "I was a twenty-two year old girl in love with the greatest guy I know. And it was breaking my heart to be your 'friend'. I took the job in Dallas because I wasn't going to hang around mooning over a guy who was in love with a ghost. You wouldn't ever be all mine as long as you hoped Sandy would come back home to reclaim you."

Bad timing, we just then pulled up to the terminal. I would have preferred to finish our conversation, but one of the airport cops came by and rapped on my hood, yelling I had to drop off my passenger and go. There wasn't enough time to take another loop around the terminal, park, and tell Dana all the things that needed to be said. Dana stepped out of my truck, grabbed her bag from the back and leaned in.

"I love you, Nick Bottom!" She shut the door and turned away.

I put my truck in gear, drove ten feet, shoved it back into 'Park' and almost got rear-ended by the guy behind me - who promptly blasted his horn, cursed me out while flipping the bird, and squealed his tires to maneuver around me - all at the same time. I think I shocked him by smiling in return as I stepped out of the truck.

"DANA!" I shouted over all the noise, catching her attention just before she reached the terminal doors.

Dana turned around and met me halfway.

"What if I asked you to stay now?"

"That's not fair, Nick. My company is counting on me to be in Chicago in the morning." She paused, putting her hand on my cheek and looking at me with concern. "Who's playing games now?"

She was right, of course. I was asking a woman who waited over a year for me to get my head out of my ass to chuck her job at the spur of the moment with the hope we had a future. And, of course, this was the moment the cop came back and gave me shit about my truck sitting in the lane.

"In thirty seconds, I'm calling the tow truck." He said it in a way which told me he understood how important our conversation was to two young lovers, he was giving me a chance to wrap it up.

"I'll pick you up when you return to Dallas Friday. Text me with your flight." I kissed Dana and jumped back into my truck as Dana stood on the curve with a smile filled with wonder on her face. I thanked the cop and drove off, knowing I finally understood what I was supposed to do with my life.

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I took Friday off from work, got cleaned up and drove up to Dallas to meet Dana's flight from O'Hare when it got in at eight-thirty. This time I parked in short term parking and met her with a bouquet of roses as she exited the terminal security gate. Dana gave me a hungry kiss before taking the flowers from my hand. I picked up her travel case, wrapped my arm around her waist and led her to my truck.

"Are you hungry? Would you like to get a bite to eat?"

"A little, what about you? Have you had dinner?"

"Not yet, I just drove up from home, didn't have time to stop if I was going to meet your flight."

"Then let's get you something. I can nibble and have a drink."

How did I miss this before? Here I am asking if she needs to eat and she immediately turns it around and asks what I need. Maybe it's a little thing, but it just goes to show how some women care more about others than themselves.

We stopped at a little café Dana likes a few blocks from her apartment. I ate my first quiche while Dana split a green salad with me. We both limited ourselves to one drink because it had been a long day.

We drove to her apartment afterwards. It wasn't presumptuous on my part to assume I'd be staying at her place instead of getting a hotel room, we worked it out earlier in the week when I suggested I could get a room. She practically tore my head off with, "Don't you dare!".

We didn't make love Friday night, both of us were too exhausted from our respective long days and we needed time to reconnect. Dana fell asleep in my arms and stayed there until I tossed sometime in the middle of the night. But when I woke, she was nearby and I pulled her back into my arms. She wore a thin long t-shirt and I had my boxers on. I slipped the t-shirt over her head and pulled my shorts off; it felt wonderful to have our naked bodies against each other.

I told her, "From now on, this is how we sleep together." Dana grinned from ear to ear.

"I'd like that." she said as she wrapped her soft hand around my morning wood. "Do you need to pee?"

"Give me a minute." I stood up and ran to the bathroom, relieved myself and jumped back in bed.

"My turn." Damn, she looked fantastic, her cute tight ass moving through the doorway. When she finished and came back, I noticed the full bush.

"You used to shave."

Dana looked down as she straddled my torso. "I used to do that for you. Lisa said you liked it." Her hand ruffled the hair. "I can start again if you like."

"Let's worry about that later." My cock was starting to grow as she wiggled back and forth, the lips of her sex had a dual effect, my cock was hardening and her pussy was getting wet in anticipation. I tweaked her nipples between my finger and thumb, something I remembered she craved. Dana leaned over to kiss me. We each moaned in response to all the stimuli.

"I want you," she said. Dana's hand lifted my cock, lined it up, wet the cockhead with our combined juices, then slipped the bulb between her lips and sank down until our pubic bones met. "I love this," she whispered.

Dana seemed to take pleasure in holding still for a half minute, feeling the fullness, I assume, before gliding back and forth. I continued to play with her perfect B cup breasts until Dana had her first orgasm. As she settled down from that, I twisted her around until she was on her back, my cock never left her tight vagina. I put her legs up over my shoulders and began to pump in and out, letting the full length of my cock travel until the tip was almost outside the labia, then plunging in until my pubic bone hit her clit. Each stroke brought a sexual grunt from her lips.

We continued this way until Dana's second orgasm hit, then I let myself go. As my cock grew just prior to my orgasm, I could feel the tip tickle her cervix, Dana grabbed my upper arms and squeezed.

I let Dana's legs down and we kissed, our bodies in a full body hug. We stared into each other's eyes.

"I love you." It was the first time I ever said those words to Dana. Her tears and the way her arms squeezed my torso gave me all the answer I needed.

We could have stayed in bed all day and made love, but sexual compatibility was never a question during our FWB months together. What we needed was to spend time outside a bed. Would we be compatible in our likes and dislikes, politics, goals - all the things that haunt a marriage after the red-hot passion cools off?

So, we got dressed, grabbed coffee and rolls before taking a walk around the city park, beginning the long task of learning about each other. There was one critical issue which needed immediate airing out. We never discussed our sexual histories or whether fidelity was important in a relationship. Let's face it, our previous relationship was centered around satisfying each other's sexual needs; neither of us knew how the other felt about commitment and fidelity.

Imagine my relief when Dana told me it was a non-starter, any relationship meant a commitment to being faithful, infidelity was unacceptable.

And Dana was especially relieved to learn that although I had more than a few 'friends with benefit' relationships since I turned eighteen, they were long term relationships and I was never the kind of guy to score one-night stands or carve notches on my bedpost. Dana's sexual history pretty much mirrored my own, neither of us could be considered promiscuous.

That took care of the big elephant, but there were others in the room that required hours of discussion during the next day and a half. We got through many of them and still had time to laugh and make love. I drove home late Sunday night feeling on top of the world and slept like a baby as I laid in bed Sunday night.

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It was Monday evening and I just finished showering the work sweat and grease off when there was a knock on the door. I slipped on shorts and a t-shirt before opening the screen to let her in.

"Evening, Lisa."

She stepped inside and looked around, it had been over two years since the last time she was inside my trailer, but not much had changed in those two years and the smile on Lisa's face - the same smile she gave me as she walked down the aisle in her wedding dress, the same she used to give me when she was my FWB - told me she recognized the consistency of my home 'decor'.

"Hello Nick." She gave me a cheek kiss. "Dana called me."

"Good news or bad news?"

"Would I be jumping the gun if I guessed you and I will someday be related? Even if it's by marriage?"

I didn't contradict her, so she added. "I've never heard her so happy. Tell me what you're thinking."

If it was anyone but Lisa, I may have told them to mind their own business. That's not completely true, my sister could have gotten away with it - but that's it.

OK, maybe Mom, too.

"I'm thinking that I was a fool not to recognize it sooner, how much I love your cousin and how happy I am she's still available."

"I'm glad Nick. I know she's the one for you, you two were made for each other." Lisa didn't have to say it, she was saying Dana and I were compatible in ways that Lisa and I would never be, or Sandy and I for that manner.

"That's true, Lisa. Now, I need to pick the right moment to ask her if she'll marry me."

"That's good Nick, but not too long. Kyle needs more cousins." Lisa gave me another smile, patted my cheek and left.

The next Saturday morning found me back on the road, heading north to Dallas, looking forward to two more half days and one night together. And her answer. As I walked in the door of her apartment, I held her tight.

"Lisa came to see me, said I didn't have much time before I'm supposed to ask you to marry me."

Dana looked shocked, "She did that on her own, I didn't say a thing except we were dating again. I'll call her and tell her to butt out!"

"Why, when she's right?" I dropped to one knee and took the small box out of my pocket. "Dana, will you marry me?"

I didn't know her eyes could get that big, and I've never known her to be tongue-tied. It took her the longest time to get the words out. "Yes Nick!" and proceed to give me the best damn kiss I've ever received.

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And that's how it started, when our relationship changed from 'just friends' to 'friends and lovers'. That was five years, one wedding, one child (with another on the way), a million kisses and twice as many smiles ago. Two months after that night Dana moved back home and two months after that, we were wed in her church. It took her those first two months to line up a new job in Houston, one that didn't require more than a couple days a month traveling.

The woman still amazes me. Not once has she ever made me feel anything but her pride in being a maintenance man's wife. She did convince me to go back to school, but that was only after I confessed my desire to write mysteries and maybe Westerns - as a hobby. She encouraged me to sign up for writing courses at the school and she became my editor. Some of my stories are surprisingly good, at least I think I'm improving.

Trey and Lisa have three children now and Dana laughed when she told me Lisa is asking Trey if he'd like one more. Tom married Betty Hudson, the girl we saved from getting raped that night and she's expecting their first. Bill did marry Tory Sue and I think they'll be okay. One thing I learned, surrounding yourself with good people, people who care about their friends and put their family first, well - that just creates the right environment where love grows and fidelity rules. At least that's this simple man's take on life and love.

But right now you'll have to excuse me, the baby needs changing and it's my turn since Dana is busy editing my latest story.

The End