Installment #21 And so it began.

     Tucker and Cynthia very quickly settled into a routine.  Since she lived in the country, and Tucker was a city boy, she would stop by his home and visit when she was in town.  Usually he was puttering in his garage with one motorcycle project or another.  He bought a kit car and started building it into a hot rod.  Usually his kitchen was a mess, so while Tucker talked, Cynthia would tidy the kitchen and run a load of dishes through the dish washer. 

     Tucker called every evening and usually several times through the day.  It soon became apparent that he was an ultra-conservative and she was a Liberal, so they avoided politics for the most part.  They laughed and took the dog, Cleo for walks on the river.  They became very comfortable in each other’s company, but something was nagging at the back of Cynthia’s mind.  For some reason, Tucker never touched her.  He did not avoid her, just never reached for her.  This was very strange.  Rick had always been very touchy feely and here was Tucker who walked alone, ate alone, lived alone and seemed to need no one.  But still they were very good friends and shared in each other’s lives. 

     Sometimes they went out to eat and sometimes she had him to her home.  Sometimes they cooked at his house, or grabbed a sandwich at the deli and ate by the river.  Just whatever they felt like doing at that time.  It was a very comfortable relationship.  And so spring turned to summer, and summer into fall. And in the fall Tucker told her about his surgery and about the chemo and that this was all it would be.  And she was good with that. 

     She and Tucker were close and that was all that mattered.