In Love With An Older Man 19

It was the night of the drunk driving awareness seminar. Gary and Cindy were getting ready to leave the house. Gary was looking in the bathroom mirror and counting his gray hairs.

"Let's see, this one has Jake's name on it...this one has Carly's name on it..."

Cindy grinned at him.

"This one has Cindy's name on it...and so does this one..."

"Come on, old man. We're going to be late." Cindy giggled.

"Old man? Well, let's just see how many you have in twelve years, little girl." Gary grinned and patted Cindy's backside playfully.

They arrived early because Gary was going to be one of the speakers. Cindy chose a seat in one of the front rows of the nearly-vacant auditorium, while Gary took his place beside the others speakers on the stage, which included Liz Hoffman.

As guests arrived, the former silence was replaced with a lively chatter. Cindy waited patiently for the seminar to begin. Finally Liz, the first speaker, rose to address the audience, and silence once again prevailed.

Cindy listened solemnly as Gary told the story of the death of his first wife. The stories of the other speakers were equally poignant, and by the time they had finished, Cindy was feeling very sad.

After the seminar ended, Gary remained on the stage to talk to some of the other speakers. Cindy wanted to talk to him but wasn't able to reach him because of the crowd. Suddenly she felt a light touch on her arm.

"There you are, dear," Liz said. "I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you tonight. I felt badly that you weren't able to join us for lunch that day. Is your little boy okay now?"

"Oh, he's fine now, thanks." Cindy was startled and felt a bit awkward. "He just fell and bumped his chin. Nothing serious."

"That's good." Liz glanced toward Gary. "Your husband is so proud of you, you know. He was so busy going on and on about you that day that he almost made me late getting back from my lunch break. He said that when he first met you, it was like the sun coming out again after a bad storm. He told me that you brought back feelings in him that he thought he would never feel again after he lost Jackie. You were always so good with Jake and Carly, he said, and a fantastic mother to the twins. He said that you were truly an answer to prayer and that he didn't know what he would do without you. He kept saying things like that over and over again. I had to remind him of the time."

Cindy couldn't wait until she saw Gary again.

"I love you, Gary Greenberg!" she said, hugging him tightly.

Gary, startled and amused, chuckled slightly. "Whoa! What'd you do, Cindy? Whatever it was, I promise I won't get mad. Just please hurry up and tell me!"

"Why do you just automatically assume it's something bad?" Cindy laughed. "Liz just told me all those things you said about me that day you had lunch with her in the park."

Gary blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Well, I do have to brag about you sometimes, don't I?"

"Amazingly good turn-out we had tonight," Gary commented on the way home. "That's encouraging. It's very satisfying to know that you're making a difference, that people are paying attention to you and what you have to say."

"Those stories really make you afraid to get in a car to go anywhere," Cindy said with a shudder.

"Oh, Cindy, you can't let it affect you that way." Gary patted her knee comfortingly. "Sure, life is scary and unpredictable sometimes, but you can't really enjoy life if you constantly live in fear of what might happen. All you can do is to drive as carefully and safely as possible and trust God with the rest. You certainly can't control other people. All you can do is warn them and hope that they will make the right choice."

They rode in silence for a while.

"After what happened to Jackie, I went through a very difficult period where I just couldn't stand to watch the kids get on the school bus in the morning. Every time I saw it drive away with them on board, I used to get this awful feeling that I would never see them again. I had to take anti-anxiety meds for a while because of that."

Cindy didn't know what to say. She wanted to comfort him but just couldn't think of the right words.

That night in bed, Gary clung tightly to Cindy.

"Please don't ever leave me, Cindy," he begged.

Cindy was startled. "Of course I won't! Why would I do that? I love you, silly!"

"I need you so much." Gary was still dead serious.

"We need each other, Gary. It's all right. Everything's going to be all right."

"Thanks, Cyn. I really needed to hear that."