My name is Steven Vincent wife and I had been married for eight years and lived in a newer middle-class housing development outside of Dallas when this story began. We were one of the original units in the development that now had over 150 houses with plans to double that in the next eight to ten years.
We had lived next door to an older couple that retired and moved to Galveston. Although the Jacksons were nice and friendly, we heard they sold the house to a younger couple and were excited by the thought of having new neighbors closer to our own age. Shelley had just turned 35 and I was her cougar toy at only 29. We met at Parkland Memorial where we both work as nurses.
When they were due to be moved in next door, the moving company delivered two large storage pods and placed them in the driveway next door. We met John a couple days later when he was struggling to unload some of his belongings from the pods by himself.
It was Saturday morning and we had planned to work in the yard. But when we saw him struggling, Shelley and a I went over and introduced ourselves and asked if he needed any help.
"That's very nice of you to ask, but I could not impose. The moving company has had trouble finding workers. The economy booming, I guess there are better options for strong young guys that are less taxing on the body. They're not committing to when they can get a team to unload me and I start my new deployment in two days."
I looked and Shelley and she gave a knowing smile, so I replied. "Look John, we had nothing special planned today. We've had the moving woes before, and we are happy to help you for as long as it takes.
I'm about 5'10" tall 180 pounds and work out 4 days a week minimum. John was similar height and a little bulkier. He had a military style buzz cut with a form fitting white tank T-shirt, with dog tags underneath. So, I figured the two of us could handle just about everything. Shelley was 5'8" 140 lbs. sexy frim and stronger than most women and could lift with most men.
I helped him with the end table he was trying to carry solo. When we finished, I saw Matt and Ally Christianson out in their jogging gear. They lived two houses down on the other side of us. I waved them over and introduced them to John. After they heard the situation they agreed to help too.
Matt was 5'8" and 170 lbs. and Ally was 5'2" tall, 100lbs tiny but a spitfire. Her body was tight and cute with perky little breasts and her nipples were fully at attention.
I recalled a time two summers ago, when she tried to seduce me. Matt was out of town and Shelley was working. I went over to take a dip in their pool and she was outside in her tight little bikini taunting me with her tiny round ass.
Just as my mind went to thinking about how tight her tiny little pussy must be, she asked me to rub lotion on her back. She hit on me blatantly and I was seriously tempted but could not do that to Shelley. Matt's voice snapped me out of my daydream.
"If you don't mind the smell. We just finished a run." Said Matt as he flapped his arms airing out his pits. "We would love to help. Right hun?"
"Absolutely." She agreed.
"Thank you so much, you are lifesavers. It was going to take several days for the moving company to get someone here. If you can help with some of the big stuff, I can handle the rest..."
"Don't mention it. I think we can get all of this inside today." I said making a body build pose. "This could work out great, we just had a big family get together for Shelley's 35th and we have a bunch of sandwiches left over, so, we've got lunch covered." I was thankful Shelley didn't seem to notice I just announced her age to a stranger.
Matt, chimed in, "Ally just put a huge crock pot of her beef stew on before we left. it feeds about 20 so we have dinner coved."
John started to protest and paused. "You know what? I'm just going to say thank you. I'm usually uncomfortable asking for help or taking charity."
"Matt cut in. "It's not charity..."
"I know, I know." Said John shaking his head. "You're just being nice and I am going to be man enough to accept your offer and be thankful. Hopefully I'll get the chance to pay you back in the future."
He looked at us all sincerely. "This is great. What great neighbors. I obviously picked the right neighborhood to move!"
"You do have great taste in neighbors that's for sure." I grinned and pointed at the pods. "What first?"
He pointed at the second pod. "I would suggest the dining room furniture first. It's the heaviest, while we're fresh."
We had easily unloaded half his belongings when we broke for lunch. We found out he was born and raised in southern California and had moved here to finish off his career in the Marines. He moved from Camp Pendleton to NAS Fort Worth, a joint reserve base. He was going to be the Marine training coordinator at the base.
He had served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan but did not seem interested in sharing any details beyond that, so we did not push. In an effort to change the subject, I put my foot deep in the shit before shoving it firmly in my mouth when we all sat down for lunch.
Seeing his wedding ring, I asked. "The Jackson's said they sold to a young couple, is your wife coming later?"
He looked down at the bench of our backyard table. "I lost Mary about a year ago..."
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." I said as Shelley gave me a knock with her knee and an eye roll.
"It's ok, you couldn't have known...Thanks for the lunch you really didn't have to..."
Shelley interrupted and diverted the uncomfortable conversation masterfully. "It was nothing John. You are all doing us a favor helping us eat this food while it's still fresh. We would never eat this much and would have had to throw it out. Let me get you some Texas sweet tea John. I don't think they serve this in California..."
She poured and he took a sip. "That is mighty good Ms. Vincent. That is right neighborly of ya" Said John in pretty good Texas drawl.
That lightened the mood and got things back on track. I smiled at her and mouthed "Thank you Darlin'." She smiled an I got your back, smile.
"He's gonna fit right in." Said Ally with a grin.
John was 30 with no kids. He was the youngest of three siblings and his mother lived in Riverside California. His father passed when he was in basic training at age 18.
We had him unloaded by 2:30 and helped get several rooms set up. He was thankful for the ladies help setting things in place in the living room, dining room and kitchen. The bedrooms had the furniture in place by the time we had dinner at 8:00.
He arrived at Matt and Ally's with two twelve packs. "I can at least supply the beer." It was Lone Star. We all laughed. "I hear everything's better in Texas, so I thought this made sense."
Sunday the ladies helped him get the bedrooms arranged while the men unloaded and disposed of the old boxes. We finished in time for the Cowboys pre-season game against New Orleans. We hosted the game viewing and finished off the rest of our leftovers.
It was a good first weekend and we were all excited about our new neighbor. He went home to finish up before reporting to the assignment on Monday. Matt and Ally stayed a while and we all started talking about ladies we might hook him up with.
"He's so nice, but there's a sadness about him." Said Ally.
"Yeah, he's had a tough time. Lost his father young and then his wife. His mother, sounds like a strong lady." Said Shelley.
"We should introduce him to Betsy some time." I said. Betsy is a Nurse friend of ours, bright, beautiful and single. She has focused on her career and is at the point in life at 29 where she is ready to think about settling down.
"You read my mind Sweetie." Shelley planted a kiss on me.
"Our cashier at the shop is available and around his age." Matt pondered.
"Meagan at the office would be good too." Added Ally.
