Jeb & Nancy

It was a cold and dreary day as Jeb exited from his car and walked toward his eastside home. He could well remember a day when he was happy to be coming home but not anymore. Not since Laura had died in that terrible accident last week, a week when everything seemed to just stop. In fact, Jeb had done almost nothing since his wife died. He had stopped attending Sunday and Wednesday church services, stopped his Friday night bowling with his friends; yes, Jeb had stopped doing almost everything he normally did except for showing up to his job everyday.

Jeb inserted the key to his front door and turned it hearing the familiar click of the deadbolt.

Once inside a soft sigh escaped from his lips as he closed the door and once again is faced with an empty home which once was filled with so much love and life.

Jeb plops down onto the couch in an almost lifeless mass and then blindly reaches for the remote and switches on the TV to drown out the seemingly deafening silence in his living room. As the TV flickers to life and begins to shed light into the dark and gloomy space Jeb's stomach reminds him that while many things which were once normal can be forgone nourishment was not one of those things.

Jeb stumbles into the kitchen and opens up the fridge hoping to sort through what was left of the seemingly endless supply of covered casserole dishes which his friends from church had dropped by after Laura's funeral but finds almost nothing left now except for a single dish which has a green fungus covering the top of it.

Moving now with at least a sense of purpose Jeb grabbed his coat and keys from the hook beside the door. The instant Jeb saw the coat rack his mind was flooded with memories of when he hung it beside the door. Suddenly Laura was there, dressed in that white dress with the bright red tropical flowers on it that she loved so much. He remembered how she nagged him about their needing a rack to hang stuff on beside the door and how he resisted saying it was silly because his own mother always insisted on coats being hung up in the hall closet not crowding up the entry way of a home. Now he was glad she won that argument. Glad and also a bit sad he thought to himself as he opened the door and stepped out into the crisp night air brushing a tear from his eye.

The car roared to life and Jeb pulled the gear shift into reverse and carefully backed out into the street and made his way to the corner grocery. Traffic was light partially due to the hour and partially due to the crappy weather which seemed to hang over the city of Sumner like an ill fitting dirty overcoat as it had for weeks now.

Jeb parked the car and made his way inside the supermarket and began trying to decide what he wanted to eat. As he stepped out of the weather into the market the smell of grease and chicken fat filled his nostrils, and instantly Jeb knew what he wanted. He stepped over to the deli counter and ordered the fried chicken and a half pound of JoJo potatoes to go.

Nancy pulled her overcoat tightly to her chest as she walked into the Supermarket, deciding in her mind what she needed to buy in order to get a dinner on the table by 7 pm. I just should have left the women's group early she told herself as the bright lights of the bustling supermarket forced her to squint her eyes to adjust to the change.

She grabbed a cart and begin her usual journey through the market. Nancy always liked to go down each and every isle in the store no matter what was going on in her life. You never know when your memory will be jogged to get something you need just by walking by everything she always told her husband whenever he complained at her habit. Secretly, Nancy just loved shopping but she wasn't going to admit that to Bob. No way no how!

As she rounded the first corner in the store and begin to pass the deli counter she saw him and while she wasn't sure what to say she knew she needed to stop and at least say hi. After all she was the Pastor's wife and her position in the church demanded certain things of her.

"Jeb" she said 'Is that you?"

Jeb turns around slowly and sees the Pastor's wife. "Oh, hi Nancy," Jeb says thinking to himself that the last thing he needed right now was another church member telling him how they miss him at church again.

"Jeb, I know this is a really terrible time for you and you don't need people telling you what you need to do, but I did want to let you know if you need anything, anything at all just give Bob or I a call and we will be more then glad to give you whatever we can to help you."

"Thanks Nancy, to be honest right now I don't even know what I need, but it is very nice of you to offer." Jeb says as he thinks to himself, God I'm so glad she didn't try to guilt me back into the church.

"Well Jeb, it is good to see you and again just let us know if we can help you in anyway," Nancy says as she turns and returns to her shopping moving steadily toward the fresh fruits and vegetable section of the store.

Jeb watches her walk away and instinctively his eyes lock on to her swaying hips and beautiful legs. I always did love a woman in a dress he thinks to himself as a sudden twinge of guilt flashes across his mind.

The counter girl in the deli snaps him back to reality with her voice.

"Sir, will there be anything else for you, perhaps some potato salad?"

"No thanks, this will be just fine."

Jeb turns and heads for the check out counter and pays for his food and once again braves the dark and gloomy night. The trip home is thankfully quick and painless and once food is again in his stomach Jeb is quickly asleep on the couch. The couch which has become his bed since his wife died.

Nancy reaches into the meat counter and selects a precooked pot roast and then moves down to the refrigerated section where the prepared oven baked cut up potatoes are. Just need to get the frozen corn on the cob and some dinner rolls and I'm all set she thinks to herself.

Nancy pays for her purchases and heads home knowing time is of the essence as her husband and two boys will be expecting dinner on the table by 7pm just as it always has been for the past 15 years.

Once home Nancy places the potatoes and dinner rolls in the oven and the corn and pot roast in water. Thank God for boil in bag meals, Nancy thinks to herself as she busies herself with setting the table.

Once dinner is on the table and Bob and the boys are all quietly eating Nancy breaks the usual silence.

"I saw Jeb Jackson today at the supermarket."

"Really, how is he doing" Bob asks?

"Well he looks a bit sullen to me but I suppose its to be expected seeing how only a week has passed since Laura has died."

"Did you tell him we miss seeing him at Church?"

"No I did not, that is the last thing he needs right now is someone else telling him what to do or how to feel!"

Bob drops his head slightly, "Yeah, you're probably right; 3 different people have told me they have encouraged him to come back to church and be around people again. I am sure he has had his fill of that. I just wish there was something we could do."

"Me too!," Nancy says as she takes another bite of pot roast.

"Say, maybe you could get a few of the women to volunteer to go over and see if his place needs some cleaning or something like that. I am sure he has just let things go seeing how hard he has taken Laura's death." Bob says perking up slightly from the mild rebuke his wife had just given him.

"Yeah! Nancy says, "That is a great idea, Bob. I'll call Nicole and Cindy and see who they can come up with as well. This will be a good way to help Jeb and also get him around people again."

Nancy cleaned up the dinner dishes and started the dishwasher then got on the phone and set her plan into action. She called Nicole first and then Cindy and asked each of them to get a list of women who would be willing to volunteer time and get back to her. Then she picked up the church directory and looked up Jeb's number and placed her last call of the night.

The ringing of the phone woke Jeb from his couch-bed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes then reached for the phone.

"Hello"

"Hello, Jeb? This is Nancy Walker."

"Oh, Hello again Nancy." Jeb says as he thinks to himself, what in the world does this woman want now?

"Listen Jeb, Bob and I were talking over dinner and we were wondering if maybe I and some of the women from church could come by and maybe give you a hand with the housework to kind of help you out for a while. What do you think?"

"Nancy, that is a really great offer but are you sure you and the other women want to do this? I mean I have kind of let things go here for the past week."

"Yes, Jeb I am sure, we would love to do that."

"Well, if your sure and it's not too much trouble then I think it would be alright for a while."

"Great Jeb, I will set it all up and let you know tomorrow who will be coming by and when."

"Nancy, I work pretty late and don't usually get home to after 6 pm so why don't I just put a key to the door under the front mat and whoever comes can just let themselves in if that's alright."

"Yes sure Jeb that will be fine with us. I will be starting off tomorrow while Nicole Doherty and Cindy Von Holt get the list set up if that's not too soon for us to start out?"

"Sure Nancy, that will be great."

"Ok Jeb, then I will probably see you tomorrow at your place when you get home from work then."

"Ok Nancy. Oh Hey and Nancy thanks for doing this, I mean its really…"

"Jeb don't worry," Nancy interrupts, "We all really want to do this. OK?"

"OK, then Nancy, and again this is really very nice of you women to do for me."

"Sure thing Jeb, and I will see you tomorrow."

Jeb hangs up the phone and sits there on the couch somewhat dazed by the conversation. On one hand what Nancy offered is really, really nice but also Jeb didn't want those women thinking he was a total slob who couldn't take care of himself either. Jeb stood up and began picking up the empty soda cans and sacks of fast food from around the room and placed them in a garbage sack which he placed in the can inside the garage. Once back inside he surveyed the room to see what else he could do before going back to sleep but he just didn't have the energy to do any more.

He laid back down on the couch and pulled a pillow under his head and nodded off to sleep again; thinking of that sight of Nancy Walker pushing the shopping cart down the isle at the store.

The morning sun shining through the windows awakens Jeb to the start of a new day. He rises and performs his ritual, catlike stretches to shake the last vestiges of sleep from his body and then heads for the shower.

As the warm water begins to pour from the shower head and steam starts to rise Jeb remembers the phone call from Nancy Walker last evening. Got to remember to leave the extra key under the mat, he reminds himself as he steps under the downpour of water and allows it to flood over his face and down his body.

The warm water deluging over his body gives him the energy necessary to get moving, so Jeb soaps up and rinses off quickly and steps out of the shower clean and renewed, ready to face whatever comes his way today. A quick shave and clean work clothes, then off to the kitchen for a morning cup of coffee and a bagel.

Sitting at the kitchen table slurping down the coffee and chewing on the toasted bagel Jeb mulls over the idea of Nancy Walker coming into his house again. Why am I so preoccupied with her Jeb thinks to himself? Shaking his head he stands and then placing his dish and cup into the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes from the week and then grabs his paper on the way out to the car.

In the car heading to work Jeb finds his mind once again turning back to Nancy and the sight of her in the supermarket last evening.

Nancy wakes up earlier then usual this morning and goes about her morning chores. Breakfast for Bob and the kids, then some cleaning in the family room from the boys night of watching sports on the TV, which always seems to include an overabundance of chips and soda.

I'll have to vacuum in here again after the kids are up and Bob is headed out to the Church, Nancy thinks to herself as she smoothes out the cushions on the couch and straightens up the various knick-knacks which the boys always seem to want to goof around with during the commercial breaks of their nightly TV watching ritual.

Bob, comes down stairs and kisses Nancy on the cheek. "Morning sweetheart," he says.

"Good morning darling," Nancy says smooching back at his light peck on her cheek.

15 years of marriage had allowed them both to settle into quite a rut physically and emotionally. Sex every Saturday night, morning kisses and a hug at the door as Bob leaves for the office are about as romantic as Nancy and Bob get anymore. That accompanied with the fact that Bob sees sex as something strictly to be performed for procreation and then just often enough so neither of them wander or are tempted to do so, at least he thinks so anyway.

With the kids up and off to school and Bob off to the church, Nancy quickly finishes her morning routine and sits down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and makes a call to Nicole.

Nicole picks up her ringing phone "Hello."

"Hello, Nicole, this is Nancy. Did you and Cindy come up with some people who we can count on to help with the work at Jeb Jackson's place?"

"Oh, Hi Nancy, yes we have 3 other women from the church who have volunteered already and Cindy and I have several more calls to place today."

"Great to hear Nicole, I spoke with Jeb last night after talking with you and he told me he will leave a key under his front mat so we can get in when ever we need too due to his late work schedule so be sure and let all the other girls know that as well will you."

"Sure will do. Say when are we going to start on this project, next week?"

"Oh no, I told Jeb we could start today, is that a problem?"

"Well…" Nicole's voice kind of trails off "Cindy and I figured we wouldn't start until we had a decent list of women and so we told everyone to plan on next week as a potential start time."

"Oh, don't worry about that then I can take the extra work through the weekend myself, Bob and the boys aren't that much trouble." Nancy says laughing. "I already have 90% of what I need to do today already done."

Nicole laughs back and says, "Yes you're lucky you have them all pretty well trained."

Nancy smiles at Nicole's comment and then says "Well, I better run then if I am going to get everything done I need to do for two households. Do let me know when you and Cindy get a schedule together and I'll pass it along to Jeb so he knows who is in his house and when. Bye."

Nancy hangs up the phone and swallows the last of her morning coffee gets up to get back to work on her daily routine. The vacuuming and dusting goes surprisingly quickly and by 11 am Nancy is done with her housework and ready to put a roast with potatoes and carrots in the oven for Bob and the boys with instructions on when it needs to be taken out plainly spelled out for them. Setting the oven on 250 degrees so it will slow cook all day and make a nice and tender dinner she leaves the kitchen and grabs the phone off the table and phones Bob.

The ringing of his private number pulls Bob from the depths of his sermon preparation. He reaches over and answers the ringing phone "Hello."

"Bob, I am going to head over to Jeb Jackson's place to get started on what we talked about last night and I have no idea how long it will take me given that he has been without a wife for a week, so I set the oven on low with a roast. Can you take it out when you get home tonight, and make sure the boys do the dishes for me?"

"Yeah, sure honey. I will take care of it don't you worry about a thing. By the way, I sure am proud of the way you are stepping up and leading the way for the women on how the body of Christ is to take care of one another."

"Thanks babe, that means a lot to me. Well I better get running, like I said I have no idea what lays ahead for me today."

Nancy hangs up the phone, grabs her purse and stops by the back door to think for just one last time before she leaves to make sure she hasn't forgotten a thing before she has left. Nope, I am ready to hit the road, Nancy thinks to herself as she steps out the door and make her way across town to Jeb Jackson's place.

Arriving at Jeb's place Nancy feels a bit out of place. The last time she was over here Bob was at her side and they were coming to comfort Jeb when the news of the terrible crash which killed Laura was less then an hour old. She could still remember how nervous she was that day and somehow it made her nervous again as she stepped onto the front porch and bent down to search for the key Jeb told her would be under his front mat.

Sure enough the key was right where Jeb had promised it would be and in seconds Nancy was inside Jeb and Laura's home.

"Hello." Nancy called out as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

No answer.

Nancy hangs her coat and purse on the coat rack beside the front door and surveys the front room looking for a launching point for her attack on the work ahead of her. In minutes Nancy is in her element as she begins picking up various and sundry articles lying about the room. Carrying the dirty clothes into the laundry room, the dirty dishes into the kitchen and placing the trash into the large black plastic trash bag she found in what was obviously Laura's cleaning supply cupboard under the kitchen sink.

With the laundry going and the dishwasher doing its best against what seemed like 4 or 5 day old dried caked on food debris on plates and utensils, Nancy turned her attention to the floors, first vacuuming the carpet, then mopping the vinyl floors and finally dusting what appeared to be at least a weeks worth of dust.

Nancy stopped for a moment to survey the work performed and smiled to herself, pleased with what she had accomplished. Glancing at her watch, it was 2 pm.

"Buzzzzzzzzzz" The sound startled Nancy. Oh that must be the dryer she thought to herself. Moving into the laundry room and removing the load from the dryer and replacing it with a load from the washer she grabbed the laundry basket and headed into the master bedroom to fold the load in there.

Opening up the door to the Master bedroom Nancy could tell by its nearly immaculate state that Jeb had not been in her since his wife died. It almost seemed like she was intruding into a sacred shrine as she walked into the room. Noting the order of things in the room Nancy was sure she was right, everything was put away and placed properly not slightly askew as a man would do. She sat on the end of the bed and began folding underwear, tee shirts, and pairing up socks first, then went over to the closet to look for hangers for the hanging clothes.

Quickly finding the hangers she needed Nancy makes short work of the hanging clothes and places them into the closet then begins opening dresser drawers to put Jeb's undergarments away. As she opens the first drawer she finds Laura's underwear drawer, but as she begins to close it back in as a strange object catches her eye.

Nancy stops dead in her tracks, never in her entire life has she seen anything like this before. Hesitantly she reaches out to touch the object and recoils backward as her fingertips touch the soft, almost skin-like phallus lying in Laura's drawer. A thought runs through her mind to close the drawer but something inside her won't let her shut the drawer.

There she stood transfixed by what was the largest dildo Nancy had ever seen. The thing looked so huge! And it had…it had BALLS!!! Again Nancy reached out and gently stroked the fleshy feeling surface of the dildo but this time she didn't recoil backwards. She allowed the pads of her fingers to run over its length feeling what appeared to be life-like veins running just underneath what could only be called its skin.