I grew up in a small town in rural Connecticut. It was a fairly simple life long before technology permitted everything. There were endless days enjoying simple pleasures and having fun. My partner in 'crime' those days was the neighbor girl Karen. She was a year younger than I, so we grew up together, we were inseparable through school and for a brief time afterwards we dated. We were both inexperienced then, so dating involved a lot of kissing and her top being off more than it was on, but no sex, nothing below the waste.
More than twenty years on, and the town we grew up in was still a small town. Nothing had changed, there was still only a couple of stop signs and a couple of blinking lights. The gas station was now a chain store owned by the one person who hadn't been in town all his life, but that was about it. With the average graduating class being about 30 kids each year, the town held an annual "All of school reunion" that served as a spring fair, and fund raiser for local community programs.
I had spent most of the time since college in Europe, gotten married and had kids. We had only just moved back the previous winter so when I saw the event pop up on Facebook I figured I would take the drive back home. It would be a good excuse to get back and see who was still around. I had aged, now had glasses, salt and pepper hair and had added a few pounds from my high school days, so I wasn't sure how many people would recognize me.
I was had just bought a bag of popcorn from the local boy scout troop and turned around when I saw Karen walking my way. Karen had one true love growing up, horse riding. After high school she had moved to up state New York, gotten married and bought a horse farm. These days she spent her days boarding houses and giving riding lessons, so I was not expecting to see her. There she was however, walking towards me as if straight from a memory wearing her riding outfit. Those high boots, the skin tight tan pants, the snug black vest, hair tied up to fit under the helmet that she held in her hand. I did a double take, it was like looking back through time, twenty years ago when I would go watch her compete at horse shows. She stopped and talked to someone briefly before starting my way again. We were about ten feet from each other when she saw me and stopped.
Our eyes met for a few stunned seconds. Slowly a smile spread across both our lips. "Oh my god..." she mouthed silently before rushing up to me, dropping her helmet on the ground and hugging me tightly. My popcorn flew all over the place. The hug lasted a bit longer than was appropriate, suddenly feeling a bit awkward we gave each other a quick kiss on the cheek and then stood back and composed ourselves.
I picked up her helmet and handed it back to her with a warm smile. "Uhh... Thanks..." she said almost sheepishly looking around a bit. "H... how are you?" She settled down a bit as she spoke and the smile returned to her face. "How are you?" she repeated again. "Are Liz and the kids here?" she asked looking around again and mistaking my wife's name.
"No... Lisa and the kids have gone back to Europe for the summer to spend it with her family." I said. Is Craig here?" I asking politely politely about her husband.
"No he's back in New York looking after the farm. Besides, he's never very interested in coming back to town... Where as I..."
"Love it here" we both said at the same time, and laughed.
She explained that she had come back to help out with the event, giving pony rides to kids for a dollar with the money supporting a local rehabilitation place for animals in needs. Because she had been giving rides all day, she had dressed the part.
"Are you in town long?" she asked.
"Not sure. I only live about an hour and a half away these days so I'll probably head home this evening."
"Oh... you should stay. There is a small party at Town Pizza, where a bunch of us are catching up."
"That would be cool." I said absently, "But I really don't have any place to stay these days with mom and dad gone South. I suppose I could check with my cousin to see if..."
"I'm staying at my parents house." she interrupted my train of thought. "They are on vacation. You can stay at the house, there is plenty of room."
"I uuhhhh"
She looked at me and laughed. "Come on it's fine. There are two more bed rooms in the place. I resisted you for all those years... I am sure I can manage one night under the same roof."
"We'll see..." I said. Then I laughed as she looked at me with a sour look. It was my turn to laugh then. "I meant I'll stay for the party, and we'll see about where I am going to stay for the night... not about you being able to resist me."
"We'll see..." she giggled.
We walked around the the area for a bit more laughing and pointing things out until the early afternoon. "Well... I am carrying about 10 extra pounds of dust and sand in this riding uniform. I have GOT to go home and take a shower before the party. How about you stop by the package store and grab us some wine and then meet me back home?"
