Hand-Me-Down Love by Jennifer Ransom

and forth.
    Everyone was
laughing. It was a day that none of them expected and they welcomed
it with open arms. When the dinner crowd started to come in, they
left Steamboat Joe’s and walked arm in arm back to the shop. They
were all a little drunk.
    “ Y’all come up,”
Marla said to Jada and Derrick. “We’ve got some beer.”
    Everyone went up the
stairs into Marla’s apartment. Sean went immediately to the iPod
player and hit the button to start it. No one wanted the day to end.
When “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed came on, Derrick and Jada
danced close together. Sean looked at Marla on the couch. “I think
something’s going on between them,” he whispered. Then he grabbed
her hand and pulled her up to dance the slow dance. He leaned down
and kissed her as they swayed.
    “ They can see us,”
she whispered.
    “ I don’t care,”
he whispered back. But he stopped, and they held each other as they
danced. Many songs and dances later, the evening did finally end.
    “ I guess we’ve
got to work tomorrow,” Jada said.
    “ I guess so,”
Marla said. “Don’t worry if you’re late.”
    “ I’ll be on
time,” she said, as she and Derrick opened the door in the kitchen
and walked down the stairs. Marla shut the door.
    “ I think they’re
a couple,” Sean said. “Didn’t it seem like that to you?”
    “ Definitely. I
think it may have been going on for a while and I wasn’t paying
attention. They seem good together.”
    “ I’ll get the
lights,” Sean said. “Be there in a minute.”
    Marla visited the
bathroom. As she was walking back down the hall toward the bedroom,
Sean came into the hallway. His tall frame was illuminated by the
lamp in the living room. He pulled her to him and pressed her up
against the wall.
    “ I’ve been
wanting you all day,” he said. He kissed her. With one hand on the
wall behind her, he used his other hand to unbutton her jeans and
slid them to the floor. She stepped out of them. He unzipped his own
jeans and pushed against her. She was moaning with desire as he
picked her up. She straddled him and he slipped into her. She held
him tight with her legs as he thrust deeper and deeper until they
both cried out.
    “ Oh my God,” he
said as he set her on the floor.
    Back in the bedroom,
they pulled the covers back and got into bed. Sean held her hand but
they didn’t talk. Lucy jumped up and nestled herself between them.
    The next morning,
Sean got up with Marla. “I’ve got to start doing something. I
can’t stay here all day. Can I come help out in the shop?”
    “ Of course,”
Marla said walking over to kiss him.
    Sean and Derrick
worked together on several pieces from estate sales, sanding the
furniture and applying paint. Marla and Jada worked on the books. It
wouldn’t be long before taxes were due. It was a slow day. Later in
the afternoon, Sean was sitting on the other side of Marla’s desk
when the front door opened. It was Ceecee Answorth.
    Marla walked to the
front of the shop to greet her. She had been a good customer over the
years, but she was a busybody.
    “ Hey, Mrs.
Answorth,” Marla said.
    “ Hey yourself,”
the old woman answered. She looked beyond Marla to the desk area.
Sean was walking out the back door.
    “ Was that Sean
O’Connell?” she asked.
    Marla was flustered.
“Yes, he came by for a visit today.”
    “ That poor boy,”
Mrs. Answorth said. “How’s he doing?”
    “ He’s getting
by,” Marla said. “Is there something you’re looking for today?”
    Mrs. Answorth took
her eyes off the back door and looked at Marla for the first time. “I
was hoping to get one of those dough bowls you sell here. My
daughter-in-law is in love with them and I thought I’d get her one
for her birthday.”
    “ I’m sorry that
we’re sold out at the moment,” Marla said, wanting the old lady
to leave. She didn’t feel comfortable with her old, peering eyes,
looking into her business.
    “ But I can put you
on the waiting list.