The Comfort Shack Read Online Free PDF Page B

Egg will be
released in the spring of 2012
    A collection of my short stories, Try 2 Stop Me , will be released in September of 2012
    Other FREE short
stories coming soon:
    Cupid’s Maze
    Murphy’s Law
    Appliances Included
    The Diary of Horatio White
    Second Honeymoon

     
    Connect With Me Online:
    My Website: http://www.marksouza.com
    Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/souzawrites
     
     
    Second Honeymoon
Excerpt
    By Mark
Souza
     
    J ack Duncan grumbled
as he cinched his robe. The knocks at his door as people stopped to
offer condolences were becoming tedious. A stream of familiar faces
had filed into his home to deliver an awkward moment and a story
about how wonderful a woman Marianne had been, and to comment on
how she’d be missed. He’d had his fill of pity and Marianne stories
by the end of the first day. Privacy is what he wanted most – that
and the insurance payout.
    A stranger stood at the door smiling. The man
looked unremarkable: average height, middle aged with a slight
paunch, meaty face, curly salt and pepper hair. He wore a navy
suit, red tie, well shined black shoes, and carried a matching
briefcase. He looked like a salesman.
    After opening the door a crack, Jack asked,
“Do I know you?”
    The man’s dimples deepened. “Mr. Duncan, I’m
Tova Burke with Gemini Insurance. I’m visiting to discuss your
wife’s policy with us. May we speak?”
    Jack noticed the blue panel van at the curb
with GEMINI painted across the side in large gold letters. He
glanced inside his house then at Burke. “Can I get dressed
first?”
    “Of course.”
    Jack closed the door just as Burke started to
raise a finger. Perhaps it was a precursor to the question, “May I
wait inside?” Better to just shut the door in the man’s face than
have to answer no and appear even ruder. He rushed to the
master bedroom at the back of the house. While he pulled clothes
from the dresser, he admired the form in his bed. Half covered by a
sheet, Abby Meacham lay sprawled out spread-eagle taking up most of
the king-size mattress. Her hair sprayed a flaxen arc across the
pillow. Her proud buttocks pressed high against 700-thread-count,
Egyptian cotton. And what a magnificent backside it was. A tiny
grin played on Jack’s lips before he lightly smacked Abby’s rear.
She jerked and moaned.
    “Get up sleepy head,” Jack said, “The
insurance man is here.”
    “Wha’?”
    “No time for questions, darling. It’s payday.
It won’t look good if he finds you here. You need to
skidaddle.”
    Abby sat up and stretched. “What time is
it?”
    “Just get dressed. We can talk later.” Jack
pulled on a pair of jeans and buttoned them closed. He topped his
ensemble off with a polo shirt.
    “You’re getting your money – so soon?”
    “Maybe.” Jack found Abby’s clothes in a heap
on the far side of the bed and tossed them in her lap. “I need you
out of here before I let him in. Slip out the back and either hide
in the garage, or use the back alley to walk home.”
    “I don’t like all this sneaking around,” Abby
said as she slipped into her clothes.
    “Don’t worry. Once I cash the check and sell
this dump, we can go somewhere nice and start over. No more
sneaking around. I promise.”
    “Vegas?”
    “Yeah, why not?”
    Jack waited until he heard the soft click of
the back door before he ushered in the insurance agent. His time on
the front porch had wilted Burke’s dimples. Burke took a seat on
the couch and left enough room for Jack to join him. He set his
briefcase down on the coffee table and released the latches. From
it, he pulled a stack of documents and placed them down.
    “I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. What
happened, if I might be so bold?”
    “No, it’s okay,” Jack said. The story, his
subdued tone, stern expression, clenched teeth; all affectations
he’d rehearsed and mastered well before Marianne’s death. It all
had to be right each time he told it, whether to first responders,
the police,