Ch 68: Let the games begin

“Oh, look! The game’s started,” Wendy said. “Gosh, I haven’t been back here since...gees, since I was a cheerleader. Makes me wish I still had my pom-poms.” 

“Yeah,” Donny said, in total agreement, his imagination perfectly capable of imagining Wendy in a cheerleader outfit. His mind wandering to such forbidden places, he hadn’t noticed she was speaking to him. “I’m sorry. I was... I... what did you say?” 

“I said it doesn’t matter how many times I see it happen, I just don’t understand off-sides,” she said. “I think it’s the lack of testosterone.”

“Pardon me?” he said completely bewildered.

“I’m convinced only males understand off-sides. Makes sense if it is attached to testosterone because I don’t have any of that,” she said with a shrug.

Donny shook his head. “No, you don’t,” he said, unable to keep his eyes from checking out evidence of her lack of testosterone. He then cleared his throat and added, “Want me to explain it?” 

“Oh, no. Why bother? It’ll just go over my head again,” she said. She suddenly grabbed his arm and gasped.  “Did you see that? Wes just scored!” 

Wendy stood up, bouncing on the balls of her feet cheering and clapping like any proud mama and Donny just watched…Wendy he watched, not the game. He had no idea what was going on in the game.

“You’ve got some boy there. I just adore Wes, Donny...Oh, I hope you don’t mind my calling you Donny?” Wendy said, after sitting back on the cold bleachers.

He shook his head and stared at her.

“My heart went out to him when he first showed up at the pharmacy to help with the website for the store. He seems so sad and I didn’t understand why until he told me his mother had just died. I think he liked me because I reminded him of his mother. Boys don’t like to admit it, but they need their moms just as much as they need their fathers. I’m so sorry about your wife, Donny. It must have been so tough on you and the children,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “Wes has told me so much about her. I’m sure we would have been such good friends if we’d met. I was so impressed by his computer knowledge, but he was also so sweet and so bright. He’s such a wonderful boy. I’m sure you’re very proud of him,” she said, before turning back to the game.

“Yeah, I am indeed” Donny said, deliberately turning his own attention away from Wendy and onto the field where it belonged.

As he watched the boys on the field --or rather just pretended to-- his thoughts turned to Jeffery—the man this lovely and charming woman was still married to—and his conversation with him the night before. What had Jeffery said? That he had done something very stupid. Like what, he wondered?

Donny suspected Jeffery might have had a dalliance. What a fool! Jeffery also had been most adamant that they were getting back together. Well, Donny knew nothing about that, but  Jeffery--if he did cheat on her-- must be a colossal ass to risk losing this delightful woman.

“The biggest imbecile ever,” he said, unaware he’d spoken aloud.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Wendy said with a giggle. “It must be tough to get every call right. Referees are only human. I’m surprised they do as well as they do, if truth be told.”

Donny didn’t know what she was talking about, but one look at the player having words with the ref and then a yellow card coming out, told him all he needed to know. There must have been a bad call.

“At least it was good for the other team,” Donny said.

Wendy laughed. “No worries there. There’s plenty of time for him to even it up and call something wrong on them, too.”

“Yes, I suppose,” Donny replied, his mind still on other things. 

“Ooh,” Wendy cringed when she saw two boys collide. “I hate when they get hurt.”

“It’s not so bad. Looks worse than it is. Boys that age are tough.”

“Did you play in school?” Wendy asked.

“Basketball was my game. Never got into soccer,” he said, then added in what he hoped was a casual voice, “So… how long have you and Jeff been separated?” 

“About three…” She abruptly stopped and stared at him, astounded. “How do you know my husband’s name?” 

“I’ve known Jeffery a long time.”

“Have you really?”

“Yes, I used to buy jewelry for my wife from him.” 

“Oh,” she said, finally at a loss for words. 

“We talked last night, too, during dinner.”

“I…oh…at least you had someone else to talk to,” Wendy said, a bit flustered. “All those teens…you must have been ready to yank your hair out.”

“Surprisingly not,” Donny replied, smiling as he looked over at Janet who was still talking to the boy. “You have a great set of kids, especially Janet. She really is something.”

Wendy smiled as she too looked at Janet. “Yes, we kinda like her. We decided to keep her long ago.”

Donny laughed. “I think I know from where she gets her charming wit.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Besides your wonderful kids, the food was extraordinary. You are a fabulous chef, Wendy,” he said.

“You’re so sweet, Donny. Thank you,” she said, just before she jumped up and cheered another goal, this one put in by Troy with Wes assisting. “Goodness, I just realized something.”

“That you should go back to cheerleading?”

She laughed. “No! You are the Donny and Margarita Jeffery told me about. You were his favorite customer. He used to save the best stuff just for you. ‘Don will love this for his Margarita’ he’d say. He thought you had moved away or divorced or… something.”

“Or something,” Donny said, turning back to the neglected game. He noticed the scoreboard had added three goals for Wes’ team and he missed each one. “Wes is gonna kill me.”

“Why?”

“I’ve missed the whole game,” Donny said.

“You’ve not been watching?”

“No,” he confessed. “I’ve been enjoying talking to you.”

She smiled. “Maybe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

“I’ll be Bogart, you be…uh, whats-her-name, Lauren Becall?”

“No, you silly,” Wendy said. “You’re as bad as Jeffery. Ingrid Bergman was in Casablanca.”

“Right. Okay, play it again… Wendy,” he joked and he delighted in seeing her laugh.

Yes, a beautiful friendship, he thought…or more.