Little Drops of Water

BRIAN'S TEMPTATION

Excerpted from Amor in Appalachia by author.

At the end of his first day in the mine in Appalachia, Brian's co-worker took him to the company store.

“It carries most of the things a family needs,” he said. “Flour, bread, corn meal, canned goods, groceries, work clothes, coal oil (kerosene) for lamps, patent medicines, and other necessities. An account book contains a record of your hours worked, money earned, and money owed to the store. You can buy on credit, and the company will send a doctor if you or a member of your family gets sick. They'll charge the doctor's bill against your wages.”

Brian was happy to learn the 20-foot by 40-foot, white-frame building had electricity and a refrigerated section from which they sold meats and dairy products. The store also carried all the groceries an ordinary farm family would need. After they were married, Brian shopped at the company store on his days off. After Rita was pregnant and her delivery date approached she didn't like to go herself.

* * *

“Hi, I'm Carol,” a sultry young voice said to Brian one day. “I'll be here until I go to college in September. If you need anything you can't find, just let me know.”

She looked into his eyes and kept looking. He blushed and turned away.

Wow, what a hunk, she thought.

Her father was vice president of the mining company, and he had persuaded her to work in the store during the summer. She watched Brian finish his shopping, sign for his purchases, and leave. Then she consulted the company records and learned Brian was married.

Just my rotten luck. Why couldn't we have met when he was single? My father would kill me if he knew I was having romantic thoughts about one of the miners.

Brian noticed that she was never far away when he was in the store. Several times he caught her looking at him, and he always turned away. She was pretty, shapely, and sexy --that made him nervous, especially when she gave him a long look and took a deep breath. That pushed her twin peaks out against her thin blouse . Apparently she didn't need a bra for support, and he sometimes wondered if she went without for his benefit.

“I went to confession last week,” she told him one day when they were alone in the store. “I asked forgiveness for wishing I could sleep with you. The priest said I was letting my libido ruin my life. I told him it's not libido, that I love you and can't help it.”

“I'm flattered,” Brian told her, “but I'm married and I love my wife.”

Suddenly she put her arms around him and kissed him, a passionate, I-want-you-in-my-bed kiss. He found himself participating before he forced himself to end it. This hot-to-trot young girl was messing with his mind, and he couldn't help wondering what it would be like to take her into a back room.

“I hope that meant as much to you as it did to me,” she said as he pulled away.

“I wish you hadn't done that. It makes things worse.”

The last thing I wanted was something like this. I enjoyed it, and now I feel guilty.

* * *

The following Saturday she handed him a letter she had written the night before.

“It's raining tonight, and I can't get you out of my mind,” the letter said. “I want to make love with you when it's raining. Just you and me, joined together in love while the wind sighs outside and the rain pours down. It would be a beautiful memory I could have as long as I live. Please think about it. I love you and I need you. Carol.”

The twins had just been born, and he had been celibate for a few weeks. His desire was strong and the temptation was great. Carol was beautiful and sexy. He pushed these thoughts out of his mind, but they kept coming back.

It's nothing but animal lust, and I can't be that stupid. I have a wife that I love and two baby boys. I can't risk losing that for sex with a girl who wants me because I'm forbidden fruit. I could never tell Rita, but it would always be between us in my mind.

“This is madness,” he finally told her. “If this goes any further we'll both regret it later. So please don't talk to me again except for business. I'll keep your letter, and I'll show it to your father if necessary.”

He hid the letter in a place Rita would never look. Carol didn't mention it again, and she no longer looked him in the eye or smiled at him. He didn't relax until she left for college.

Several months later the company newsletter reported her marriage to the captain of the college football team. He retrieved the letter from its hiding place and burned it.

“I hope someday you'll realize how much I love you,” he said to Rita that night in bed.

She snuggled up against him, put her lips close to his ear and whispered, “Show me now."