In Love With An Older Man 17

In April, the Bradfords received some sad news. Stan, the husband of Alberta, who had been the Bradford's housekeeper for many years, died suddenly of a heart attack early one morning. Carla called Cindy with the news.

"Oh, poor Alberta," Cindy sympathized.

"I don't remember ever meeting Alberta," Gary remarked when she mentioned it to him later.

"I know you met her at least once," Cindy replied. "Do you remember the time I was considering taking a job at another radio station? You were so angry when I told you about it."

"I was afraid that I was about to lose you for good."

"I would have still stayed in touch with you even if I had accepted the position at the other radio station, Gary."

"Please, Cyn, let's not talk about it anymore," Gary said softly, taking her hands and looking pleadingly into her eyes. Cindy smiled warmly at him.

"Well, anyway, I remember Alberta was there when that happened. I think she helped me to realize my true feelings for you even before I was aware of them myself."

"Well, in that case, I owe Alberta, big time," Gary said with a smile.

All of the adult members of the Bradford family were at Stan's visitation. Alberta sat alone looking devastated.

"Oh, Alberta, I'm so sorry," Cindy said, embracing her.

"I just can't believe he's gone forever," Alberta said. "He left me once before, but he came back that time. This time, he never will. I know in my heart that's true, but it's just so hard to make myself accept it."

"I wish I knew the right words to say, but I don't," Cindy said helplessly.

She noticed that Wendy had come to the visitation with Peter and wanted to ask how things were going with Dylan, but she realized that it wasn't the appropriate time to ask.

Gary was quiet for the rest of the afternoon. He paced around the house picking up framed photos and setting them back down again. Cindy knew that when he did that, his mind was on Jackie and he needed some emotional space. Feeling both slightly hurt and guilty about feeling slightly hurt, Cindy took the twins to the park alone.

When Cindy returned, Gary had dinner ready, which surprised and delighted her. After dinner they cleaned up together and got the twins settled down. Then they sat together silently watching TV for a couple of hours.

"You do realize that you're not allowed to die before me," Gary said finally. "There's no way in the world I could ever go through that again."

"Oh, don't worry," Cindy laughed. "I'm gonna be around so long you'll get tired of me."

"You know I'd never get tired of you, Cindy."

He held her tightly all night long.

May 1994

When Carly came home for summer break, she brought her boyfriend, Ben Levin, with her. "His family lives only half a day's drive away from here, so we're splitting the summer between the two families," she explained.

"I hope you're still planning on helping out at the radio station again," Gary said. "We could sure use the help, especially with Cindy having to take so much time off for Jonathan's PT appointments."

"Perhaps in your spare time, you could even help potty train your brother and sister," Cindy suggested.

Carly laughed. "No, thanks. I'd much rather help out at the radio station."

She suddenly looked serious. "That was just horrible about Kurt Cobain, wasn't it? I was absolutely devastated! Nirvana is...was...one of my favorite groups." She looked almost as if she might cry.

"It brought back memories of how I felt when John Lennon died," Gary agreed. "You were just a little girl then, Carly. I played nothing but Beatles and John Lennon songs all day long that day."

"I remember it too. It was just before Christmas my senior year in high school," Cindy added.

"You know what a huge Beatles fan I've always been, Cindy," Gary said. "My favorite bar mitzvah present was a ticket to see them on the Ed Sullivan show. My Uncle Sid gave it to me." Gary's family had lived in New York when he had been a young teenager.

"Oh, I'm so jealous," Cindy moaned.

"You were all of what, about six months old?" Gary laughed, and everyone else joined in.

Ben stood politely listening to the family's happy banter. He was tall, with straight medium-brown hair and hazel eyes.

"What are you majoring in?" Cindy asked him.

"Political science. I'll be a senior next year."

"What do you parents do?" Gary asked.

"They own a pharmaceutical company."

"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" asked Jake.

"I have two younger sisters, one in high school and one in middle school."

Rebecca jumped around excitedly shouting "Carly! Carly!" Little Jonathan tried his best to keep up with her. Ben watched them with interest.

"Your little brother and sister sure are cute," he told Carly.

"Thank you."

Cindy went with Carly to her bedroom to help her unpack. Ben had volunteered to sleep on the sofa and keep his belongings in Carly's room.

"Actually, he'd much prefer to stay in here with me, but he's terrified of what Dad would say to that," Carly admitted to Cindy.

Cindy didn't quite know what to say. She knew that although Ben and Cindy were both adults, Gary was understandably very protective of his daughter.

"Let me tell you something, Cindy." Carly sat on the bed and looked into Cindy's eyes. "Do you remember that conversation we had about a year and a half ago about waiting until the right one comes along? You told me that it I did that, then when the right one did come along, I would be so glad I had waited for him."

"Well, I just wanted to say thanks for telling me that, Cindy, because you were absolutely right."

Cindy smiled and gave Carly a big hug. "I'm so happy you took my advice, Carly."

"So am I."

"Would you like for me to speak to your father about allowing Ben to stay in your bedroom with you?"

Carly's eyes opened wide in surprise. "You'd do that for me? Really?"

"You're an adult now, Carly, old enough to make your own decisions. Your father and I both respect that."

"Oh, thank you, Cindy!" Carly, looking immensely relieved, gave Cindy a big hug.

Cindy waited patiently for what she thought would be just the right time to bring up the subject with Gary. She wasn't sure how he would react, and she knew that he might become angry, which made her feel very hesitant. In the end she just blurted it out.

"Gary, Carly would like for Ben to stay in her room with her while she's visiting us."

Gary looked taken aback, but only for a minute or two. "Well, all right. Sure. Why not?" He grinned.

"Really, that would be okay with you?" Cindy felt relieved for both her own sake and Carly's.

"Well, of course. She's an adult." He laughed. "Did I ever tell you that my first time was when I was only fifteen?"

Cindy just stared at him in shock.

"Her name was Sarah Geller, and she was a couple of years older than me. My brother's age, actually. She sat right in front of him all the way through school. I was flunking math, and she volunteered to tutor me. Well, she didn't teach me much math, but she did teach me a lot of other things. You should have seen how upset my parents were when they found out." Gary chuckled at the memory.

"I don't blame them one bit. I don't think that's anything to brag about at all, Gary." Cindy's face felt hot, and she had a giant lump in her throat.

"I wasn't bragging. I was only telling you." Gary noticed the look on his wife's face. "Hey, you're not jealous, are you? Geez, Cyn, that was thirty years ago, and I haven't even seen her since then!"

Cindy shook her head but felt tears springing to her eyes.

"Oh, hey." Gary embraced her tenderly. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh, no, it's all right. Silly me." Cindy laughed shakily, struggling to get the image of Gary with Sarah Geller out of her head, wondering why it troubled her so much and whether she was going crazy.

Gary pulled a fake pout, and Cindy giggled in spite of herself. Then he gently lifted her chin and gazed tenderly into her eyes. "I love you, Cindy. I'll never want any other woman but you."

"I know that, Gary. I love you too." Suddenly she thought of something. "Hey, I've got an idea. How about if we pretend I'm Sarah Geller and you're fifteen again?"

Gary looked at her in surprise and then burst out laughing. "Are you trying to turn me on?"

"Maybe." She smiled mysteriously at him.

"Come here, you." He grinned and pulled her into his arms. "I'm ready for my first lesson..."