Carrie and Keith 4

Keith sat on the porch swing and waited for Carrie. He hung his cane over the arm of the swing. It was another ninety plus degree afternoon. A hot breeze blew across the porch and he felt the sweat trickle down his neck.

Several minutes later, Carrie walked up the stairs, swaddled away from the sun. She carried a stack of papers.

"Hi, Keith," she said and came and sat down beside him on the swing. "Here's the copy. I'm going to apologize in advance for my messy handwriting." Keith felt his pulse speed up as she handed the pages to him and put her hand gently on his arm. He looked down at her hand and then up into her eyes. They were green.

"Do you want it back?" Keith asked.

"No. You can keep it. It's not done yet." she said.

"Not done? I wanted to read the whole thing."

"I can bring you copies of chapters as I finish them if you want," She touched his shoulder. He felt a tingle run through his body. Keith gritted his teeth and reminded himself that he didn't deserve for any woman to be kind to him.

"I don't know. I'll see how I like it."

"Oh, OK." Carrie pulled her hand back and lowered her eyes. "Well, I've been trying to walk three or four days each week. Just let me know if you're interested." She squeezed his arm, stood up and left. Keith gritted his teeth and turned to page one.

***

A couple of weeks passed. Keith stood at his mailbox sorting through his mail when he felt a hand run down his back. He turned to see Carrie walking away from him with a wave over her shoulder. Keith sighed and clenched his teeth against the little glow of happiness that welled up in his chest. Forget it, Connell. You had your chance and you let her die.

Still, he felt compelled to see Carrie. Everyday, he lingered at his mailbox after work. Some days, Carrie walked by and patted his shoulder or gave his back a rub. Other days, he didn't get to see her at all. Everyday, he berated himself for wanting to see her and feel her touch. Every night, he read a little more of her story, savoring each page because he was afraid to ask for more.