Sue and I were awakened the next morning shortly after 8 with a call from mom. As I started to answer, mom cut in. "Joe. First, your grandmother is slipping in and out of consciousness and they're going to have to operate again. They say she'll be all right, but Sarah and I will be here awhile. Next, you'll have to call Jane; she has some papers for you to pick up. I don't know why she doesn't just mail them, but she has my paycheck too. You'll need to put that in the bank, and just mail the papers."
"Yes mom." I replied.
Mom asked, "Did you and Sue have fun last night?"
As Sue came into the kitchen and put her arm around me, I replied. "We did." I told her about the dinner Sue made and how we dressed up. Then we chatted for a bit about my plans for the next two days.
Then mom said, "Well, you have three lawns to mow today, so I'll let you go." We said our good-byes and hung up.
Sue embraced me and asked, "Do we have to mow all the lawns today?"
"Yes, unfortunately. It looks like rain tomorrow, but if I mow and you trim it won't take us that long once the dew burns off."
Sue made a pout and said, "OK, what's the plan?"
I answered, "We'll have some breakfast, get dressed and go to your place first. That way you can get what you need there. We'll hit your yard and then we'll head to Cindy's place and cut her lawn—it won't take that long at all. We'll take her mail and papers to Jenny's and head back here and finish up." After I pause, I went on. "Oh, I've got to call mom's boss and set up a time to meet her to get some papers and mom's paycheck. Then I'll deposit the check and mail the papers to mom. If I can get all that done today, we'll be free tomorrow."
She smiled and replied, "OK, that sounds like a plan." Then she pulled out the cereal and a couple of bowls as I called mom's office and asked for Jane.
After holding for a few minutes, Jane answered. "Good morning Joe. How are you today?"
"I'm fine, Mrs. Jones. How are you?"
She replied, "It's not Mrs. Its Ms. And you can just call me Jane. I'm pretty tied up today, but I will bring the papers home with me and you can pick them up this evening. I'll plan on being home by 6 if that's alright with you."
I answered, "That's OK with me Jane, 6 it is." She gave me her address and some quick directions—it wasn't that far. After that, we hung up. Then I told Sue as I sat down to eat. After we finished eating and chatting, we cleaned our dishes, took a shower together and enjoyed a quickie, then got dressed, loaded my lawnmower, and went to her place.
When we got there, I gave Sue her house key back; we got the mail and papers, and went inside. Sue immediately went to the answering machine, which was full. The first 2-3 messages were for Kathy, and the rest were from her father. First he was apologetic, then his tone changed and he was just mean and hurtful. I held Sue as she listened and wouldn't let her erase them. I pointed out, "It's going to be OK. At least he's having your stuff shipped instead of delivering it himself." She looked at me and smiled and nodded in agreement as she wiped her tears away and tightly held me. She went to her bedroom and got a box out and handed it to me as we went to her garage. I loaded the box in my backseat and turned to see her carrying another box out. I loaded it and we got started on the lawn.
It went a lot faster with her help. We were finished with both yards in about an hour where it normally took me almost two hours. When we finished, Sue went back inside and got a couple of sodas as I loaded my lawnmower and her Weedeater. We locked everything back up and went on to Cindy's. We got the mail and papers, threw them in my car and I opened her door and we went inside. Sue joked, "Well Joe, you have all these keys to these women's places...hmmmm?" We laughed a bit and then she said, "Hey let's get some of Cindy's private tapes. They'll be hot to watch tonight." I nodded in agreement and we went back to her closet. Sue dug around and quickly found 3-4 tapes in back. We went out and quickly mowed and trimmed her lawn. We finished in about 30 minutes, loaded everything up and headed for Jenny's place.
We got to Jenny's and I grabbed Cindy's mail and papers and we went up. Jenny answered the door and said, "Joe and Sue. I trust you two had a great time last night." We grabbed each other's hands and nodded as we went in. Jenny said, "I was just getting ready to take my mother shopping. Our family is hosting a large dinner party tomorrow night, so we have to get some thing today and cook again tonight." Then she asked, "Joe, since you're here, could you help get something down for me in the other room? Just make yourself at home Sue. This will just take a minute." I followed her back to her guestroom while Sue sat down in the living room. When we were alone, Jenny whispered. "You must have been a big hit with Beth. Yesterday, she told her fiancé's mother that she was having second thoughts and went on about how he sleeps around. Anyway, the whole thing is a huge mess and Beth told me to tell you that she wants to get back together with you as soon as she can 'escape' as she put it. Her parents are staying with her and keeping a close watch on her." She made some noise in a cabinet and went on, "Please call me if she ever shows up. I think she might do something stupid and I'm really worried about her. Just wanted you to know the latest."