Mallie Mae continued. “Maybe the sister will blurt out something horrible about the lovely bride’s past. I just hope she does it before the wedding.”
4 - WANNABE LOVERS
“What did you get?” said Cynthia.
“Groundhog Day. It’s one of my favorite movies.”
Greg closed and locked Cynthia’s front door. Then he walked over and sat down on the couch next to Cynthia.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.”
“You’re gonna love it.”
“Who’s in it? What’s it about?”
“It’s about this egotistical weatherman, played by Bill Murray. He gets stuck in a time warp. Then he finally realizes he’s gonna keep reliving the same day over and over again until he gets it right. And it’s got Andie MacDowell. I love her. I can’t believe you’ve never seen it. It’s a classic.”
“Well, it sounds good.”
Greg loaded the DVD and started up the movie.
Cynthia had the popcorn ready to go.
They laughed as Phil did everything he could think of to win Rita’s heart. By the end of the film, they both had watery eyes.
“That’s a wonderful movie,” said Cynthia.
“I told you.”
“Hey, I’ll be your Rita and you can be my Phil.” She was ready for a kiss.
Greg started to kiss her, and then stopped. “But what if I’d rather be Ned Ryerson?”
“Shut up and kiss me, Stupid.”
“But first, Ned wants to sell you some insurance.”
“Ned can go step in a mud puddle. This is for Phil,” said Cynthia.
She grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him hard on the lips. “Still want to be Ned?” she said with a grin.
Greg pulled her close and started a kiss. After a few seconds, he was about to pull away when Cynthia took over for a while. Then Greg again. It went back and forth. He hoped Cynthia would keep him in check, because he was feeling more out of control by the second.
It would be different if Cynthia’s mother were living in the house, he thought. Could they still make out on the couch like this? Not likely. Beverly could walk in on them at any moment if she lived there. Greg was committed to having no sex outside of marriage, but Cynthia’s amazing body and passionate kissing were tempting him to the limit. He was in danger of going on autopilot. His body could explain it all to his brain later.
Oh, by the way, Brain, earlier tonight I took over for you, and made wild, crazy love to Cynthia. She was on autopilot too. It was great. Hope you didn’t mind. Signed, Your Body. P.S. I forgot to ask if you wanted to use protection.
Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing for Cynthia’s mother to move in with her sexy daughter. But what if he and Cynthia were making out at his house?
**********
Macy Golong peeked into Mallie Mae’s room and was not surprised to see her sleeping. Elmo’s mother rarely stayed up past 10:00 PM, and it was nearly 11:00. She closed the door and started to go back to her room across the hall. She was halfway through a romance novel. But Hadley’s delicious oatmeal raisin cookies were calling to her.
She walked down the stairs to the kitchen and put a few cookies on a plate. Then she poured a glass of milk. She wondered what Elmo was doing. Was he in the Media Room with Carsie? Their Media Room? Before Elmo and Carsie got together, Elmo and Macy used to spend hours almost every night in that room. Some nights he had almost kissed her.
She left her milk and cookies on the kitchen counter and went down another flight of stairs, which came out in the Recreation Room. Macy could hear the sound of the TV coming from Media Room. She tiptoed to the open doorway and peeked in. There she was—that conniving slut—sitting where Macy should have been. How could Elmo have replaced her like that? She thought he had been falling in love with her. How could she have been so wrong? But it could still happen—if that woman would just go away.
Elmo said, “Yeah. So, beginning Monday there will be two doctors in the office. That should take a little pressure off. If I need to be out for a day or two, Dr. Edwards can fill in for me.”
“Yeah, or if you need to take off a week for a trip to Hawaii with your beautiful new wife.” Carsie gave him a sexy smile.
“That’s right. Dr. Ernie will take care of everything while I’m gone.”
“Dr. Ernie?”
“Yeah. I asked if he would mind being called ‘Dr. Ernie’. His name is Ernest, but I thought ‘Dr. Ernie’ would fit in well with the Sesame Street theme of my office.”
“So the two of you are Drs. Elmo and Ernie?”
“Yep.”
“That’s cute, Honeypie.”
“The kids will like it.”
“The only thing better would have been Bert and Ernie.”
“Yeah. But unfortunately, Baby, my name is not Bert.”
“No problem. I don’t want Bert anyway. I want Elmo.”
Carsie threw her leg over Elmo’s lap and straddled him. She placed her hands on the sides of his head and snuggled it in between her breasts. Then she began to slide her body slowly toward and then away from his crotch. And again. And again.
“Oh, yeah. I want some Elmo. And I want it right now.”
Macy had seen more than enough. She would try to erase that last few seconds from her memory. She and Elmo would still get together. Somehow.
She had been so busy watching the doctor and his bride-to-be, that she had not even noticed Carnie, who was sitting across from her in the dark Pub Room, sipping her Vodka Tonic. The light from the TV shown through Macy’s flimsy gown. Carnie had been enjoying the silhouette of her firm, shapely body standing in the doorway.
Carnie admired a well-toned body—male or female. She loved the feel of the smooth, tight skin. Sometimes it made her want to rip off her clothes and have sex. Other times she just wanted to slash that beautiful skin with a razor blade. Once she got a taste, her lust for the flesh was ravenous, whether making love to it…or mutilating it.
She strained her eyes to watch, as Macy moved out of the light, and became a dark ghost moving across the room to the stairs. It would be so easy to follow her to her bedroom…
**********
Macy brushed the cookie crumbs off the edge of her bed and into her hand. A couple of tiny bits of cookie fell between her fingers and onto the floor. She got down on hands and knees and studied the carpet at very close range, retrieving every morsel. The maid service vacuumed twice a week, but that was no excuse for sloppiness.
She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth for a full three minutes. Then she flossed. Then she flossed again. She brushed her perfect thick, shoulder-length brown hair until all of the tangles were gone. Then she brushed it another thirty times.
Macy eyed the paperback adoringly as she approached her bed. She had read fifty more pages while enjoying her cookies. The characters in her romance novels were her closest friends. She wasn’t simply reading a book. She was visiting another world—the world where she felt most at home.
Macy switched off her lamp and rolled in between the sheets. Then she turned over onto her left side, closed her eyes and began to relax. Within moments, she heard something. Someone sneaking into her room. Through her peripheral vision, she could see a figure standing behind her. Standing over her. She pretended to be asleep. Maybe they would go away. But what if they planned to kill her? Her back was completely vulnerable to a vicious thrust of a knife. Her head was sitting perfectly still on the lacy pillowcase—just inviting the blow of a heavy blunt instrument.
She felt the bed move as the person got under the covers with her. She cringed when she felt a hand on her shoulder, the warm breath on the back of her exposed neck. Then the soft, smooth hand caressed her right arm and moved down toward her hip. What was about to happen to her? She began to tremble.
Then she felt the fingers work their way under her nightgown…over her stomach…under her right breast. The intruder’s body inched ever closer to hers, until they were s
pooned.
Then a voice whispered, “I want you, Macy.”
The warm tongue just behind her ear gave her goose bumps. She moved away slightly. Then she rolled over onto her back.
Macy said, “I was afraid you weren’t coming.”
Then the warm body was on top of her. There was a long, deep kiss. Her feelings were so powerful she thought she would faint at any moment. But the feeling went on and on, building to a mind-bending crescendo.
Then it was over. She lay spent. The hot passion that had worked her body into a sweat was almost as good as the real thing. Now she was ready for a warm, peaceful night’s sleep.
But cold reality would be waiting for her again in the morning.
5 - SERMON
The bright Sunday morning sun illuminated the stained glass windows, diffusing multi-colored hues across the congregation. Attendance is up today, thought Greg. As the organist was nearing the end of the Prelude, he stepped up to the podium.
“Please take your hymnals and turn to page 23, and let’s stand and sing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy.’”
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning, our song shall rise to Thee…
As Greg sang and conducted the 4/4 pattern, which he could do in his sleep, his mind began to wander. Shouldn’t he feel guilty about what he was thinking last night while kissing Cynthia on the couch? His actions had been within the bounds of acceptable behavior. He had nothing to be ashamed of in that regard.
But what about his thoughts? It wasn’t what he did with Cynthia—it was what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to dishonor her or his commitment to God. But his feelings had been only natural. God created humans and gave them sexual desire. Wasn’t it okay to want to have sex, as long as you didn’t actually do it? Then he remembered the passage from Matthew 5:28.
But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.
At the end of the hymn, Greg stepped back and Dr. Huff went to the podium and said a prayer. Then there were announcements, two more hymns, and a chorus.
After the offering, it was time for the choir to sing their anthem. When Greg motioned to the choir to stand, Cynthia smiled at him from the Alto section. She was so incredibly beautiful. Standing there in her choir robe, she looked like a redheaded angel. If they could just get married, Greg could stop feeling guilty about his desire for her.
**********
Elmo was not thrilled that Carsie had invited her sister to stay at the house. But it would only be for a few more days. He had made it clear to his fiancé that as soon as the wedding was over, Carnie must move out.
“More orange juice, Sir?” Hadley had prepared a brunch consisting of Eggs Benedict, bacon, sausage, blueberry pancakes, bran muffins, and hash browns.
“No, thanks. I’ve had enough. It was delicious, as usual.”
Hadley nodded. It was his admiration of Dr. Mobley that kept him from retiring. He had worked for the family since Elmo was a young boy.
It was a very pleasant day, so Hadley had put them on the back porch near the kitchen.
“It’s such a nice day,” said Carsie. “We should do something special.”
“Like what?” Elmo was reading the business section of the Dallas Morning News.
“We could drive over to the Dallas Zoo.”
Carnie joined in, “I love animals. They’re so primitive.”
Elmo wasn’t sure what to make of Carnie’s statement or the odd grin on her face.
Macy walked out of the house, leaned over and whispered into Elmo’s ear.
Carsie did not appreciate the fact that she was being left out of the loop. Why did Elmo need to hide anything from his bride-to-be? As soon as they came back from their honeymoon, she would fire Macy Golong. She didn’t trust her with Elmo.
“Ladies, you’ll have to excuse me,” he said to Carsie and her sister. He got up from the table and walked into the house with Macy.
“I don’t like her,” said Carsie.
“She’s harmless,” said Carnie.
**********
“What makes you think she’s acting weird?” said Elmo.
“You’ll have to see for yourself,” said Macy.
Elmo rarely spent any time with his mother. He only saw her once or twice a week.
“Come on in. I think she’s still in the bathroom. Don’t let her see you.”
“Okay.”
Macy led him through Mallie Mae’s bedroom, to the bathroom door. Macy walked in, leaving the door open so Elmo could see.
“Are you okay?” said Macy.
“No. I can’t remember how to make this thing start,” said Mallie Mae.
Elmo was shocked by what he saw: his mother holding a hairbrush in one hand and a tube of toothpaste in the other. She had applied a line of Crest across the bristles of the hairbrush.
“I know how to make it work. I just need a little help.”
“That’s okay. I’ll help you,” said Macy.
“I just need to wash my things.” She pointed to her teeth. “These things.” She looked in the mirror. “These little white things in my mouth. I just don’t remember how to do it. I think my breakfast made me a little sick. Tell Had…whatever that man’s name is—he cooks our food. You know. Tell him he made me sick and now I can’t think right.”
“Mother?” said Elmo.
Mallie Mae turned and was surprised to see him standing there.
“What are you doing in here? Get out of my room and just leave me alone.”
“But, Mother, you seem to be having a problem. I just want to help.”
“Get out! Now!”
Elmo walked out of the bedroom and shut the door. He stood in the hallway, stunned. He was about to go back downstairs when Macy came out.
“See what I mean?”
“Yeah. She’s in bad shape. I had no idea. Has she ever acted like this before?”
“Well…”
“You mean she’s been like this for a while and you didn’t tell me?”
“I’m sorry. But she swore me to secrecy.”
“When did it start?”
“She started having some memory problems a couple of years ago. But I thought it was just old age.”
“You should have told me, Macy.”
“I know. But it wasn’t that bad at first. It’s gotten a lot worse in the past few months.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“I’m sorry. Do you think it’s Alzheimer’s? She’s only 75.”
“It could be. Most people don’t get until their mid-eighties. But sometimes it happens a lot sooner.”
“I hope that’s not what it is.”
“It could be something else. Like a reaction to medication. What is she taking?”
“Just her blood pressure medicine. And sometimes a pain pill.”
“Or it could be a nutritional deficiency. How’s her appetite?”
“Pretty good.”
“And sometimes people have these symptoms after a stroke.”
“Oh, I think I would know if she had a stroke. Wouldn’t I?”
“Probably—considering how much time you spend with her.”
“So, what do we do?”
“I’ll send her to the hospital for testing.”
“Oh, I don’t think she’d like that. She’s embarrassed. She’d rather die than have everybody in town hear about this.”
“Okay. I’ll send her to a good friend of mine in Dallas. He specializes in geriatrics.”
“So, he’ll be able to find out what’s wrong with her?”
“Yes. He’s an excellent diagnostician. I’ll give him a call and set it up for tomorrow.”
“Do you want me to drive her over there?”
“No. I’ll call the limo service. You just go along and take care of her.”
“Good. I will.”
Elmo went downstairs to his study. Macy went back into Mallie Mae’s room.
“He’s going to send you to a geriatric doctor for tests.”
“I don’t want to go to Coreyville or Longview. People know me there.”
“No. This doctor is in Dallas.”
“Good. And you’re going with me, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
**********
Elmo called his old friend, Dr. John Fransein in Dallas.
“Hey, Johnny. This is Elmo Mobley.”
“Well, you didn’t have to give your last name.” Johnny laughed. “How many Elmo’s do you think I know?”
“Not that many, I guess. But it’s been a long time.”
“It sure has. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. But I’m afraid my mother has a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“She may have Alzheimer’s.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“But it could be something else. I hate to ask such a big favor, but could you run some tests on her?”
“Of course. I’d be happy to.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Uh…yeah, sure. I can work her in. How about 2:00 PM?”
“That would be great, Johnny. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. She’ll be coming with her personal aide. Her name is Macy.”
“Okay. But you know that all I can do is rule out other things, right? There’s still no definitive test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. But we get it right about ninety percent of the time. Unfortunately, there is no cure.”
“But there are medicines that can help.”
“Yes. There are things we can do to try to slow down the process. We just can’t stop it. What are her symptoms?”
“All I can tell you is that this morning she was trying to figure out how to brush her teeth with a hairbrush. She knew she was doing something wrong, but she didn’t know what.”
“Yeah, that’s typical for someone with Alzheimer’s.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“But we’ll see. I’ll do my best to find out what’s going on with her, Elmo.”
“I know you will.”
Greg Tenorly Suspense Series Boxed Set Page 20
