Chapter 14
It was almost dark when Joyce, afer a long, hot bath and another change of clothes, with her suitcase in her hand, walked from her car to Steve's front door. She timidly knocked, and it was Caryn who let her in.
She walked into the living room, where Steve was seated on the sofa facing the TV. Putting down her suitcase, she walked over to him and said, "Can I come back?"
He looked at her without comment for the moment, using the remote control device to turn off the TV set.
Sighing, he looked at Caryn as if waiting to hear from the heavier woman. By now, Caryn looked positively radiant, and though Joyce didn't realize it at the time, all the harshness had gone out of her face, and she looked far more lovely than when the two women had first arrived there.
"You can punish me any way you want," Joyce continued. "Honest, I'll take any kind of pain you want to dish out, and I swear, I swear by all that's holy, I'll never walk out on you again."
"Well," Steve said, looking at Caryn. "What do you say?"
"You know what I say," Caryn shrugged. "In a short period of time you've sort of made a family out of the three of us. I suppose I'd get mad as hell if I ever caught you looking at some other woman, but Joyce seems to belong here, just like I do.
"Is that how you feel?" he asked, turning to Joyce.
"Yes," Joyce nodded. "I guess a person has to lose what they have for a little while in order to better appreciate it."
"I have to admit, I did miss you for the few hours you were gone," he told her. "Caryn and I haven't even had supper."
"Well you'll have to let me do the cooking tonight," Joyce insisted. "What's more, you were right to give me the smaller bedroom. I don't deserve to have the larger one after the way I've behaved. Caryn, you can keep it from now on."
"Nope!" Caryn smiled, shaking her head. "I don't want it. You see, I want to spend the rest of my life sleeping in that big bed of Steve's, right next to him."
"Oh!" was all Joyce was able to say.
"What's more," Caryn continued, "we'd both like to have you in that bed with us."
"Really?" Joyce asked her eyes brightening.
"Really," Steve nodded. "I mean, think of all the electricity I'll save by us cuddling up in the winter."
"But think how much more you'll use on air-conditioning in the summer," Joyce pointed out.
"With my wind charger on the roof it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that we not only have a car pool, but a bed pool as well."
"I have to admit," Joyce smiled as she took off her coat and put on an apron, "I like the idea of the bed pool even better."