I knew I was working too much that summer, but a divorce and taking over a mortgage alone kept me busy. Memorial Day became the Fourth of July, and what social life I had was spent at a little restaurant in my town.
Tammy waited tables there, the proverbial cute girl between semesters. She was smart, a bit lanky, almost coltish in the skirts they made her wear that teased without revealing.
If I ate at a table, she would serve me. If I ate at the bar, we talked as she got drinks for her tables.
I liked her thin lipped smiles, the tight frame of her body, and the way she brushed wisps of hair over her earlobes.
I found myself waking in the middle of the night and seeing her. It was easy enough to think about her as I jerked off, but even as we flirted more, it was hard to imagine actually bringing her home.
Like everything else in our town, the restaurant closed early. One Saturday night in early August, I was headed for the door as she was untying her apron.
"Another exciting night done," I said.
"Oh no, the night is still young. It's just around here there ain't a damn thing to do with it," Tammy answered.
"Well, maybe we should do nothing together," I said. "Come up and have a drink when you are done here."
I expected her to say no. I expected to hear about a boyfriend, a party, anything but something at my house as what she wanted to do.
"You live right up the road, don't you?"
"Yeah, I got a nice bottle of pinot noir we could open."
"Sounds like a plan. I have to get cashed out here, though. Give me a few minutes."
"No problem. I'm young enough to stay up late," I said before almost sprinting tot the parking lot for my car.
It was not long after I got home that I heard her Saab pulling into my driveway. I'll admit I was a bit jittery, why someone at least 15 years younger than me had agreed to stop by still seemed a mystery.
I opened the wine as I heard her footsteps crunching the gravel in the driveway. She was still in her work uniform – the half-thigh black skirt, white blouse, her brown hair still pulled back in a scrunchy.
"You look like you need an after work drink," I said as I opened the door for her.
"Oh yeah, I could go for that," she said, looking around at my house.
"Well," I said, grabbing the bottle and two glasses, "let's not waste the night in here. Grab that blanket there."
Tammy picked up the quilt sitting on the couch and followed me outside. We walked down a small hill under a moon-splashed sky while a soft breeze teased us.
"Set that down there," I said as I put the wine and glasses on a flat spot on the lawn.
