William Worthy was a forty-one year old divorced man who lived in a comfortable house with his daughter Maggie. He had always thought of him self as a thinking man. He thought about things a while before he did them. When he graduated from college and his father offered him an opportunity to learn the hardware business, he thoughtfully considered it for weeks before accepting.
He did not enter the business an "owner's son" but as a bright young man who was willing to work and to learn. When other workers explained something to him, he absorbed it and used it. He was accepted as one of them because he was. When a dirty job was done, it was just as likely to be William as any one of the other guys. While keeping up on the work in the store, he also was his father's student in the office. He learned the business and his father was sure that William loved the hardware business as much as he did. When his father suddenly died from a massive heart attack, he took over the business
William had met the only woman he was ever serious about while he was in college. Jennifer Jannings was beautiful in the classical sense. She was five feet five and had a smile that would light up a room. Her shoulder-length golden hair framed her face perfectly. Her breasts were not overly large but were plentiful enough to draw the attention of every man she met. She had a tight round butt that fit perfectly with the rest of her body. One of the many things Jennifer liked about William was his willingness to take it slow. They dated for over two years before he asked her to marry him. She said yes without a second thought. She was the only person to call him Bill and he was the only one to call her Jenny.
Things were going so well for William until he received that fateful call when their daughter was six months old. "Bill, I need you to come home. Can you come now please?" she said pleadingly.
It was about one in the afternoon and the store was fairly busy but the supplication in her voice was urgent. "Sure, I'll be right there," he said.
He drove home wondering what was wrong and was shocked to find Jenny standing just inside the front door with her packed bags on the floor around her.
"I have thought this over and I have come to a decision and I have to tell you up front that the decision is final. I can no longer be your wife and Maggie's mother. I thought I could do it but I can't. I just can't do it. You have been a perfect husband and father. My leaving is not because of you. You have been nothing but great but I'm leaving because of me.
"I'll be at my mother's house. If and when you have papers to sign, mail them to me and I will sign them and send them back. I will not refuse to talk with you but I ask you not to call. When you dissolve the marriage, I am not asking for nor do I want anything."
"Jenny..." he said as painfully as if she had reached into his chest and ripped out his heart.
Jenny interrupted him. "There is nothing you could say that I haven't already said to myself," she stated. "Bill, it isn't you. I'm just not capable of continuing as mother and wife."
Just then they heard a car horn outside. "There's my taxi," she said. "Could you help me with my bags?"
"You don't need a taxi," he said. "You have a car."
"I'm not taking anything but my clothes and luggage," she replied. "Will you help me with the bags?"
"I won't help you leave Maggie and I," he said. It was the first time that he had refused her anything.
He went into the nursery and picked up the smiling baby from her crib. He held her close to him and with tears in his eyes he said, "Well Maggie honey, it looks like it is just you and I but we'll make it."
He hired a woman to watch Maggie during the day and he was the devoted father at night. Mrs. Henry kept that position until she retired two years ago when Maggie was sixteen. William decided that Maggie was old enough and had the personal responsibility to be on her own after school. He also noticed that she was developing into every bit as beautiful woman as her mother. In fact, Maggie looked like her mother did when he met Jenny eighteen years ago.
Even though Maggie was modest, there are times when two people living in the same house will see each other with little or no clothes on if even for a brief amount of time. There was the time a little over a year ago that William was in his bedroom and saw Maggie scurrying to the shower without any clothes. Another time, he had heard noises coming from her bedroom and had gone to investigate. She was in the midst of a bad dream and had worked her pajama top up so that her breasts were bare.
That was the first time that William was aware of any other than fatherly feelings for his daughter. He entered Maggie's room and lowered her shirt before awaking her. He took her by the shoulders and shook her awake. At first she was fighting him but as she became aware of the familiar surroundings of her bedroom, she hugged him.
