Things quieted down considerably once Eric was gone. Jeff had his work at the oil company most days, but from what he told Eunice it never was very hard. Painting a wall, for instance, wasn’t something he enjoyed doing, but he said that at least there was a feeling of satisfaction to see it done and to know he’d been the one to do it. That somehow made it seem worthwhile.

On the Wednesday evening after the race he drove over to Amherst to see Eunice. She’d been working at the Tastee-Freeze for a couple days by then, and she reported that the job wasn’t very hard and she mostly enjoyed it. It was that evening they agreed to get together for a day each weekend and one night a week, job schedules permitting, just to hold the driving down.

It was clear by now to both of them that they’d gone a long way toward falling for each other. They each liked the other and found little to complain about; unless something happened, they both could see a perfectly satisfying future lying in front of them, but neither really wanted to admit it to the other – at least not yet.

The idea of getting together for a serious “go-somewhere” date each weekend took hold quickly. They were missing the movie nights they’d enjoyed back in school, so decided to go to a movie at least some of the time. There was a large drive-in movie theater in a town not far away, and they decided to give that a try for the first of their Saturday night dates.

The first one was less than a success. The “A” feature was the funny and somewhat romantic Marilyn Monroe film, The Prince and the Showgirl. They enjoyed it a lot, especially with the reclining seats in the Nash set back a notch or two so they could see the screen better – and cuddle a little better, too. At times there was some serious kissing going on, and somewhere in there was the first time he toyed with one of her breasts – which she encouraged and seemed to like. The prospects were good for more to come, but the “B” feature proved to be Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley. They didn’t find it very interesting, and rather stupid at that, so left before the movie was half over with. There was a quiet spot out north of Amherst where Jeff could park the Nash, and they could go a little farther with what they’d started during the movie. It was considerably more interesting than having to sit through Jailhouse Rock.

Afterwards, they agreed that they’d better be a little more careful about selecting movies, and to pay more attention to what the “B” feature was.

Of course, every time they got together Eunice would ask Jeff if he’d heard anything from Eric. Usually the answer was “no,” but occasionally there would be something. About two weeks after Eric left Jeff got a post card that read, Wound up seventh at Lime Rock. Neat course. Met a guy from Rhode Island, we’re going to go mess around on his boat a bit.

“That doesn’t exactly say a lot,” Eunice said after reading the card, which had a picture of some building she didn’t understand on the back side.

“I guess this Lime Rock must be a race course or something,” Jeff said. “But he sure doesn’t say anything about what this boat business is all about.”

“I suppose we’ll find out sooner or later,” she sighed. “It might be that he’s not saying anything much because he doesn’t want it to get back to Donna.”

“Could be. But then, it could be he doesn’t think about writing us very much. Like you said, we’ll probably find out next fall.”

As the summer got warmer, sometimes their weekend dates would involve going swimming at one of the lakes in the area; sometimes they managed to break free to get together for an afternoon in the week, as well. One hot day in early June she came out of the house wearing one of her more casual one-piece playsuits – she had several, and had made more on her sewing machine once she realized how much Jeff liked looking at her while she was wearing them. “Are we still on for swimming?” she asked.

“Unless you want to do something else.”

“Oh, I’m ready,” she smiled. “But I’d just as soon we didn’t go anyplace right around here.”

“How about Pokagon State Park in Indiana?” he replied as he wondered what she had in mind. “It’s not real close, and it would be a nice drive to get there.”

“It sounds just fine to me,” she smiled.

It was over an hour’s drive to get there, but that was fine with both of them, for just getting out and driving was one of the things they liked to do. The place was all but deserted on the warm afternoon, but they carried their towels and a small cooler with some drinks in it down a hill to the beach. “I guess I’m ready for a swim,” she said with a grin; she had a surprise for him and she’d been looking forward to the reaction.

“Yeah, it’d be nice to cool off,” he agreed. He was paying attention as she unbuttoned her playsuit and peeled it off; she figured he was expecting to see her normal yellow swimsuit underneath. His jaw almost dropped to the sand when he discovered that she was wearing a real, honest-to-god bikini like they’d seen in the movies a couple times. “Wow!” he said when he could finally manage to speak again. “That looks great! Did you make that?”

“Oh, yes,” she smiled. “I sort of had to sneak it around Mom, so I did it a bit at a time. You can see why I didn’t want to wear it anywhere anyone I know could see me, besides you, that is. But I wanted to do it for you.”

“Well, wow!” he told her, as he looked for words. “It looks like . . . it makes you look pretty sexy! I mean, almost as sexy as you actually are.”

“Oh, come on,” she giggled. “I’m not that good looking, and you know it.”

“Hey, I think you are,” he said, checking her out thoroughly, which was exactly what she wanted him to do. “At least to me.”

“I think we’d better go swimming,” she smiled. “I think you need to cool off a little, and I’m not talking about the heat.”

“Yeah, no fooling.”

They were cooled off, at least somewhat, after swimming for a while. They settled down on an old Army blanket they spread on the beach. “Jeff,” she said quietly. “Do you think this swimsuit is overdoing it a bit?”

“Not to me, honey,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I can see why you might not want to wear it where people knew you, but at the same time, I’m very happy that you wanted to wear it for me. It tells me a lot about just what you think about me.”

“You’re right,” she smiled. “I did want to wear it for you, and it’s because I like you a lot. Jeff, I don’t know how to say this without it sounding too forward, but I’m going to say it anyway: I’m starting to hope there’ll be a time when we can be together and not have swimsuits on, or anything else. I’m falling in love with you Jeff. In fact, I think I can say I’m in love with you.” As friendly as they had gotten, it was the first time she’d used those words with him.

“I’m very pleased that you’d even think of doing something like that for me,” he smiled. “You’re a very special girl to me, Eunice, and I have to say I love you, too.”

“Maybe we’d better not do too much out here in public,” she said. “But I think a little kiss wouldn’t get people too upset.”

“I think I can manage that,” he grinned. “But just a little one would be hard to do. I guess I’ll have to do it anyway.”

It really wasn’t a long kiss – they were out in public, after all, and they were still both shy enough to not want to be too blatant about it – but it was one of the more meaningful ones they’d exchanged. A great watershed had just been crossed, and they both knew it. Though neither one wanted to bring up exactly what it meant about where they were going, both of them figured it was going to the same place. At the same time, both of them knew without talking that the time to go there hadn’t come quite yet – but it seemed likely to come, if nothing serious went wrong.

Eventually it was time to go; Jeff was a little sorry to see her pull the playsuit on over the half-dry bikini, and he hoped that he’d be seeing her in it again – and sometime soon.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Eric finished rinsing the dirty dishes from supper. It hadn’t been anything special, just leftovers, but made enjoyable by the memories of those days. He was curious about one thing: “By any chance was that the bikini I saw you wearing when we had Jeff sitting outside by the lake one day last summer?”

“Yes, it was,” she giggled. “I thought it would give him some happy memories. I find it amazing that I could still wear that same swimsuit after over fifty years.”

“You didn’t look bad in it last summer, and you sure made him happy. You could see his mind going back to some good old days. I have to say that I’m a little surprised that you would have worn a swimsuit like that back in that day and age.”

“I did feel pretty daring about it back then,” she admitted. “I never would have worn it anyplace where someone might know me, but I guess I wanted to prove to Jeff that I was no wallflower. I guess I made that point. Twenty years or so later that bikini would have seemed pretty conservative, but he told me it was without a doubt the scantiest swimsuit he’d ever seen on a woman in the flesh – and the flesh it exposed sure looked good to him.”

“I’m sorry I missed that,” Eric grinned. “I mean, seeing that swimsuit, and knowing how you looked back then, you must have looked pretty hot to him. Even by today’s standards you would have looked pretty exciting.”

“Oh, I’d have never let you see it, not back in those days. It was something I did just for Jeff, and I only wore it around places where we wouldn’t be recognized. I almost wore it in front of Donna once that summer, but at the last minute I chickened out.”

“Why? Were you afraid you’d show her up?”

“No,” Eunice sighed. “It was the other way around. I told you that Jeff and I went over to see her that time. It was really to see her, but our excuse was that there was a beach with a little amusement park and a dance hall not far from where she lived. I told you she was pretty down right then, and she was pretty bored, too, so we decided to all go over to check it out. She went up to her room to change, and came down wearing, uh, I guess I can’t call it a bikini, not even by the standards of those days – a two-piece swimsuit, but one that only showed about three inches of flesh between the top and the bottom.”

She shook her head, let out a sigh, and continued, “I guess part of me wanted to show off that I wasn’t the shy, staid, conservative little roommate she’d known anymore. I think in those days she saw me as the dowdy little plain girl she could show up. That may have been part of the reason she was so cranky at the race, since I was showing her up, I had a pretty serious boyfriend and she knew she was in trouble with you. At the same time I knew I was going to have to be her roommate for another year, so I didn’t want her mad at me, either. So at the last minute I chickened out and wore my normal one-piece, and I wore that the two or three times over the summer that Jeff and I got together to go swimming with her. She never saw me wearing a bikini until after we’d lived here for a while. By then it was years later and didn’t mean anything, since I’d done better than her in other ways, too.”

“You may have been too kind for your own good.”

“It might be, but I still had to look at being her roommate for another eight months, too.”

“I can see why you would have wanted to hold down things a little.”

“True,” she smiled. “But things were changing for me that first time Jeff and I drove over to see Donna, and there was more change to come. I look back and I’m still a little amazed at how quickly things were moving.”

Saturday, June 28, 1958

The three of them wound up playing on the beach and visiting the tiny amusement park for perhaps three hours before taking Donna back to her parents’ house, where her parents asked them to stay for dinner. As they were eating their desserts, Donna said, “So are you two going to go back to the amusement park for the dance?”

“It would be fun,” Eunice said. “But I don’t think we’d want you to feel left out, if you haven’t got anyone to take you.”

“Yeah, that would take the fun out,” she replied. “But I don’t want to ruin it for you. Go ahead, and have a good time.”

“You wouldn’t have to be left out,” Donna’s mother said. “I know you don’t like Jerry Peters very much, but I’ll bet he would be happy to go with you.”

“Jerry? Ugh!” Donna frowned. “But I suppose I could do worse. I’d feel a little awkward just asking him, though.”

“Would you like me to set it up?” her mother asked. “I could call his mother.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Donna sighed. “I could stand to spend a night out, even if it’s with a jerk like him.”

The four of them wound up going to the dance hall, with Donna and Jerry riding in the back of the Nash. It didn’t take Jeff or Eunice long to realize why Donna wasn’t very happy with Jerry; he was loud and outspoken, and rather crude, but at least Donna was getting out for an evening. The group playing the dance was no one they’d ever heard of before, and it was partly active rock music and partly romantic dance music. Neither Jeff nor Eunice were very good dancers, but they did the best they could, and they enjoyed themselves. Donna danced with Jerry a few times, and with some other guys she apparently knew slightly from high school.

Finally about eleven Donna told them she’d had enough for one evening, and both Jeff and Eunice agreed they had to be heading for home anyway. Jerry would have been willing to hang around for a while but he knew he had to go with them, so soon they were heading back to Meridian, with Jerry sulking in the back seat. They dropped him off at home first and were not sorry to do it.

“I’m glad that’s over with,” Donna said as they drove back across town to her house. “I guess Jerry could be all right for something casual like this, but it still lasted longer than I wanted. I hope I didn’t mess things up for you.”

“No, we’re fine,” Jeff told her. “It’s a long drive to get Eunice home, and then I still have to get back to Wychbold. At least I can sleep in tomorrow.”

“Well, thanks for coming over,” she replied. “It’s been good to see some friends. Let me know if you hear anything much about Eric, would you?”

Once Jeff and Eunice were back out on the highway, she snuggled up to him a lot closer than she’d been before, and he put his arm around her. “You know,” she said, “I guess we needed to do that, and it was fun at times. But she’s still hung up on Eric, isn’t she?”

“Sounds like it to me,” he agreed.

“I think she’s a little jealous of us. I mean, she sees us with what she’d like to have.”

“It probably has to be hard on her. I get the impression she had a lot of hope pinned on Eric, and now she’s disappointed.”

“She sure is. I guess we showed her up today, whether we wanted to or not. Don’t get me wrong, Donna is my friend and she’s going to be my roommate again in a couple of months, so I’ll have to live with it. But Jeff, I don’t want this to sound like something it shouldn’t, but more than once I’ve found myself wishing you were going to be my roommate next fall.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” he said, letting his hand slide down to touch her breast. “And don’t think I wouldn’t like it, too. I mean, Eric is all right, but I’d rather be with you.”

“I know,” she sighed. “Jeff, this may be premature and maybe we shouldn’t talk about it right now, but I’ve thought about it a lot. Do you see us getting married?”

“I could see it happening real easily, and I don’t think I’d mind it if we did. I don’t think we’re quite ready yet, and I don’t see it happening in time for us to be roommates at college this year, but I don’t think it’s going to be that far off, either.”

“Do you really mean it? I mean, in a way I’m surprised it’s happening to us.”

“Yeah, I think I do. I love you, Eunice. Not only does that mean that I like you a lot, it means that I think we could be good for each other. I mean, even better than we are now. I can dream about getting married to a girl like Donna. She may be pretty, but she can also be a pain in the neck. I think Eric realizes that, which is part of the reason he’s stayed gone. But I compare that dream of how comfortable I am with you already, and how comfortable I think I can be with you. You’re just as pretty as Donna in your own way, and I like you a whole lot more. Does that say what you wanted to hear?”

“I think so,” she said softly. “I guess I wanted to be sure that you felt the same way about me as I feel about you. You’re not Eric, and I don’t think that’s bad. Like you said, I’m comfortable with you, and I think we can have a good life together.”

“I do, too. Look, this is going to sound awkward and I’m not actually asking you just yet, but maybe we’d better think in terms of getting married, maybe after we graduate next spring.”

“That was sort of what I’ve been thinking.”

They rode along silently for a while, with her head on his shoulder as he steered the Nash down the road. “Jeff,” she said finally, “do you want to have children?”

“I think so,” he said. “Maybe not right away. I wouldn’t mind having a little time for ourselves, first.”

“Me, either. What would you want? Boys or girls?”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I guess the way it works is that we take what we get and like it. Not too many, though. Two, maybe three. Being an only child, well, I feel like I missed something by not having brothers or sisters.”

“I’ve wondered about that myself. I mean, I have my brother and my sister, but they’re so much older it’s almost like I’m an only child, too. I agree, we need to have more than one, but not real soon, either.”

Again there was a long silence as they rode along, just happy to be close to each other. “You know,” she said finally, “this is causing me a real problem.”

“What’s that?”

“Jeff, you’ve taken me the farthest I’ve ever been with a boy, and by a long ways. I’m not satisfied with it and I want to go farther. I’m trying to make up my mind if we want to go all the way before we get married.”

“If you’re asking my opinion, I’m half tempted to find a dark spot where we could go ahead and do it,” he grinned. “Believe me, I’m ready. But as ready as I am, I don’t think this is quite the right time, if for no more reason than I’d rather your first time be sometime when we’re really alone and have a bed, rather than having to do it with the seats back in this car.”

“When you put it that way, I think I agree. But I don’t know if I want to wait until next spring, either.”

“I don’t know that I can wait that long myself, but I guess I will if I have to.”

“I’ll tell you what,” she laughed. “Let’s just think about it for now, OK? In a couple months you and Eric will be in your apartment, and maybe we can tell Eric to go get lost for a few hours sometime.”

“I’m pretty sure he’d do it without any problems,” Jeff replied softly. “I mean, I’m sure he’d understand. That way we could do it right.”

“If we do it that way, I’ll do my best to make sure it’s good for you.”

“We could pull off the road right now and do it, and it would be good for me. I want to be sure it’s good for you.”

“All right,” she said. “We still have to make up our minds about it but at least this way we both get some time to think about it, whichever way we decide. And that doesn’t keep us from doing some other fun things this side of going all the way. But right now, Jeff, I’m just glad Donna bullied me into going on that movie date this spring.”

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

“So that evening was the first time Jeff and I had really talked about getting married,” Eunice sighed. They’d been sitting in the living room for a while now, and Eric had fixed them each another rum and Coke, which had helped them relax into their memories. “We didn’t finally make up our minds for a while and it was a long time before we announced it, but we never looked back. I’ve not been sorry for a minute, Eric. Even if I’d known this last two years was coming, what Jeff and I have had was so worth it that I have no complaints.”

“You got lucky,” he replied. “You don’t have any idea how much I’ve envied what you have over the years. It would have been nice to have something like it, but I never got close. Donna, well, that time years later, I thought there was a chance, but it didn’t work out. That was about as close as I got and it wasn’t even a warm-up to the lives that you and Jeff built.”

“Yes, but I’ve pointed out before that you did a good many things that Jeff and I would never have dreamed of doing. It was fun to hear you talk about them afterwards, and even help you get going on one or another of your adventures, but that was fine with us. We’re different people, Eric, and we always have been. I suppose it’s a little surprising that we should have been friends, especially as good and loyal friends as we’ve been over the years.”

“I could never have done some of the things I did without the support I had from you and Jeff.”

“That may be true, but there are times we couldn’t have done things without your support, too. That’s been especially true these last two years.” She put down her knitting and finished her drink – there hadn’t been much left anyway. “Eric, it’s been wonderful to sit here and think about those days when the world lay before us, rather than mostly behind us. We all had our good times and I think we have no room to complain. I’d like to keep talking about them, but I think I’d better call it a night, even though it’s still early. We were up very early this morning and it’s been a trying day.”

“Probably not a bad idea,” he agreed. “I think I’ll sit here and try to read for a bit, then call it a night myself.”

“I can’t blame you. See you in the morning, Eric.”

“Sleep tight, and all that,” he said. “Going over the old days some more can wait for another time.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for them,” she replied as she got up. “Tomorrow is another day.”

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