The Natural

*Author's note: After seriously looking at just how many gorgeous women there are who are over 60 a few months ago, I'd planned to write a trilogy of stories dedicated to what I'll call 'much-older women' but forgot to mention it. I meant to share my idea when I wrote House Swap but forgot. Then I forgot again when I wrote Ticketed. So I'm finally remembering to say what I should have said three stories ago. Better late than never, right?

This completes the trilogy I forgot to mention I was writing or planned to write or...something.

As a side note, I have no less than 25 stories in some stage of development. Other than this one, I'm really struggling to finish them as it's finally becoming difficult to write the same kind of story over and over regardless of who the characters are or how they met. I'll keep plugging away and who knows, maybe I'll publish a bunch of them all at once at some point.

In the meantime, if anyone has a proposed plot they're interested in, please email and if I can get interested in it, I'll give a whirl. I wrote Loving Jessie for a reader, and would be glad to do so again if the story line works for me.

*****

"Mom? Since Grandma's going to the gym with me, can't you at least just come along so I can show you who Josh is?"

"Honey, you know the gym isn't my thing. Why don't you just have your grandmother take a picture of you together and send it to me?"

Her daughter's 19-year old daughter, Heather, stuck out her tongue the way she often did then turned to her 65-year old grandmother and said, "Come on, Grandma. At least I have one person around here who'll support me."

Cecily Radliffe had just turned 65 after coming to live with her daughter, Carol Danner, who had been diagnosed with MS five years ago. Carol was only 41 but had been getting progressively worse and needed help. Carol's daughter, Heather, was home from college and more than willing to help, but Carol needed continuing care once Heather went back to school. She didn't continuous care, just someone who could help out on a regular basis. Carol's husband had long since abandoned her leaving her alone whenever Heather was in high school or for the last year, away at college.

Cecily had been alone for a little over three years since the death of her husband, Roy, the only man she'd ever loved or really even dated. They'd met in high school and married shortly after graduation. Carol came along a few years later and had been their only child.

Cecily grew up watching Jack Lalanne with her mother who was a woman ahead of her time. Lalanne often said, "Exercise is king. Diet is queen. Two hours or exercise a day is essential!"

Cecily not only followed Lalanne's exercise program, she fastidiously adhered to his diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, no red meat, no raw sugar of any kind, and had never smoked or drank more than a very occasional glass of white wine in her entire life.

Fitness and nutrition had been a huge part of her life ever since, and one of the many things she'd loved about Roy was the way he cared for his body. He was a very handsome young man who played three sports and also watched his diet very carefully. He wasn't as 'fanatical' as Cecily, but he shared her love of those two things.

Having that in common was a huge plus for Cecily and played a very large role in her decision to marry him. Together, they walked, ran, bicycled, kyaked, hiked, and prepared meals together all of their lives. It was perhaps their greatest joy other than the birth of their daughter.

Roy and Cecily had done their best to pass on their love for health and fitness to their daughter Carol, but in spite of their best efforts, she had chosen another path. Not a wild, reckless path, but one that was far different from that of her parents.

Soda, junk food, and pretty much anything that tasted good to her was fair game. She'd gotten her first taste of 'forbidden fruits' as a little girl at a friend's house where she was allowed to eat chips and ice cream and Oreo cookies, favorites of hers to this day.

Cecily never blamed her daughter's 'normal' eating behavior for the MS. She was far too intelligent to make such a baseless and erroneous connection. But what was an indisputable fact was that she and her daughter were now often mistaken for sisters rather then for mother-daughter with Cecily typically being taken for the younger sister.

At 65, Cecily still looked 40 while did her 44-year old daughter looked her age or even older. The difference was stark. Cecily had this beautiful 'glow' about her. Her skin was tight and smooth and she had only the faintest of creases around the corners of her eyes. There were no laugh lines to speak of and the only thing that hinted at her true age were her hands. But even there, they looked more like Carol's than other women her own age. Carol carried quite a bit of extra weight and on her best days look tired. On her worst she seemed haggard.

Cecily had her own large, private room in Carol's home, and did yoga there three days a week. In addition, she either walked for an hour or rode her Trek 7.3 bicycle for 25 miles four days a week, and also worked out with light weights another three days per week. She'd dropped off from the 'two hours a day, seven days a week' recommendations of Mr. Lalanne, but did one or two things every single day still coming close to the two-hour mark most of the time. And that was in addition to maintaining a diet devoid of sugar, red meat, or white flour with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. She also made sure to drink some sort of 'vegetable shake' in which she dropped various raw vegetables into a juicer and drank whatever came out.

She'd been planning on a joining the local gym since her arrival at Carol's, and this visit with Heather was the perfect opportunity to do so.

In terms of a social life, Cecily had only gone on three dates since her husband had died very suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack, something no one saw coming. Heart disease had claimed both of his parents and two younger brothers leading his doctor to speculate it was his diet and exercise routine that had allowed him to live as long as he had. Had he lived a normal life, it was quite likely she'd have lost him many years earlier.

Cecily had been devastated when Roy died so unexpectedly but had forced herself to continue her daily routine. It had been her personal salvation in getting through the worst of the grieving process. Within six months of his passing, Cecily began getting numerous invitations from men to have dinner with them or 'maybe just coffee' somewhere. She would smile, thank them sincerely, then politely decline. She didn't 'do dinner' in restaurants and didn't touch caffeine, ready-made excuses to turn down the majority of the offers.

Finally, after two years, she said 'yes' to someone she'd met at a gym in her hometown of Spokane, Washington. He was what she called a 'much younger man' even though he was 51 years old. The age difference was more than a decade and had seemed cavernous to the very attractive and much-older woman. After just one date she told him she didn't think it was a good idea to continue seeing him and that was that.

Six months later she agreed to have dinner with a man she and Roy had known for years. He was their age give or take a year or two, but when he ordered a steak cooked rare she found it hard to watch. When he slathered butter and sour cream on his baked potato, she felt ill. She didn't say a word about it as she never pushed her lifestyle on anyone else, she just realized that she could never get involved with a man who didn't share that critically important part of her life.

Just before moving to Western Washington where Carol lived alone during the school year, she'd agreed to a third date with someone she met through a trusted friend. He was even younger than the first 'younger man' but he had so much in common with her that Cecily was willing to overlook the age issue—or at least try to do so.

He was only 38 years old and although no one gave them a second look (mostly because she looked very close to his age) she felt self-conscious in the extreme being seen with him in public. Even so, she'd allowed him to kiss her goodnight, a kiss that seemed to flip some kind of switch inside her. It was a short kiss that certainly didn't involve any tongues, but it made her realize how lonely and all alone she often felt. She'd been too busy grieving to open her mind to the possibility she might still enjoy the company of a man were she able to find one who understood her and what she valued.

She told him she'd had a wonderful time which was true. She simply omitted the part about feeling like everyone was staring at her for being out with someone younger than her daughter. What she didn't know was that those who did glance at them saw them as roughly the same age. No one would have ever suspected Cecily was over 45 let alone nearly 20 years senior to that.

She used moving to the Seattle area as her excuse for refusing a second date, and although that was also true, she found herself longing for something more; something like she'd had with Roy all those many years together. She fully understood no one would ever be able to take his place, but she was also finally aware she didn't want to spend the rest of her life alone. And based on her lifestyle, it was very likely she would live well into her 90s and very possibly be very healthy to the end. Spending 15-30 years alone began to seem like a fate worse than death itself.

Yes, it was nice being near her daughter and granddaughter again, but that just wasn't the same thing as having someone with whom she could share her life—all of her life. Truth be told, Cecily not only wanted companionship and friendship, she was now quite sure she'd also like to have a best friend who would also be a devoted and caring lover. Sex had never been the be-all, end-all for her, but she very missed the intimacy that came with it.

The proof of the strength of those desires was in her having done something recently she hadn't done since before Roy's passing. She'd quietly masturbated in bed one night as she allowed herself to dream of that first and only kiss with the very handsome, much-younger man. In fact, it was the thought of a second kiss and then...something more...that pushed her over the edge not once but twice.

That had been almost two weeks ago and now those same old familiar pressures were building up inside her again as she grabbed her purse and got ready to go to the gym with her granddaughter.

"So what kinds of classes do they offer there, Heather?" Cecily asked as they drove along on that cold, grey winter day.

"Classes?" she asked.

"Yes. Do they have Zumba? Yoga? Spinning. Pilates?"

"Oh. Um...gee, I don't know, Grandma. Why?" Heather asked.

"Just curious. I'm planning on signing up for an annual membership and I fully intend to get my money's worth," she replied with a bright smile.

"You're a freak of nature, Grandma!" her granddaughter told her. She smiled then added, "In the best possible way, of course."

"I really wish you'd give healthy living a try, sweetheart," Cecily said without sounding pushy.

"I know, but it just sounds so...boring!"

Cecily laughed and said, "You sound like your mother when she was living at home. No, I get it. It's not for everyone. But your grandfather and I couldn't imagine living any other way. Not to be overly cliche, but nothing tastes as good as fit and healthy feels."

Heather sighed then smiled at her grandmother.

"I don't know, Grandma. If Josh asks me out, I may be able to prove you wrong on that," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh! Okay. I may be old, but I'm not too old to understand what you mean. You must really like this boy."

"O.M.G! I have such a huge crush on him! But he isn't a boy. He's like...25 or 26."

"Oh, I see," Cecily said trying not to laugh.

"I guess he's either finishing grad school or maybe he just finished. He always works at the gym when he's home on breaks and Amanda, you remember her, right, Grandma?"

"Honey, you just introduced me to her three days ago. Of course I remember her."

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like you couldn't remember her. I was just asking, that's all."

"It's okay, sweetie. Go ahead. What about Amanda?"

"Well, anyway, Amanda goes to the gym a lot and yesterday she called me and told me Josh was back so..."

"Ahhh! Now I get it. We're going to the gym because Josh is back in town. Got it!" she said with a smile.

"Well, yeah. I mean, why else would I go?" Heather said before realizing what she'd just said. "Sorry. I...didn't mean that like that, either."

Cecily laughed and told her granddaughter, "You don't have to apologize, Heather. We like what we like. I like fitness and you like..."

Both of them said, "Josh" at the same time which evoked a loud, "Jinx!" from Heather.

When they pulled into what appeared to be a very large, very modern facility, Heather said, "Okay, this is perfect. Josh doesn't work up front anymore. He does memberships now. So when you talk to Josh about your yours, can you maybe call me over and introduce me?"

"Of course!" Cecily said. "Is there anything you want me to say about you? You know, like, 'This is my stunningly gorgeous granddaughter, Heather, who thinks you're smokin' hot?"

"Grandma!" Heather said in a pouty tone. "Don't you even think about it!"

"Well, you are a very pretty girl," Cecily said as they got out of the car.

"Thank you," she said politely. "And while we're complimenting each other, Amanda said, 'Your grandmother is beautiful.'"

"Ahhh! How nice is that?" Cecily said just before they walked inside.

"That wasn't all she said. Right after saying that, she added, 'My brother saw her, too, and said she was hot.'"

Cecily laughed hard enough that she covered her mouth as Heather opened the door for her.

"Hot. Now that's funny!" Cecily said.

"Well, it's true, Grandma. All my friends' grandmas look like grandmas. You look like..."

Heather stopped speaking and grabbed her grandmother's arm.

"Oh...my...God! Grandma. Look!" she said pointing as unobtrusively as she could toward the desk near the window.

Cecily saw a young man sitting behind a computer screen and knew that had to be the 'hunky Josh.'

"He's very handsome," Cecily said. "I see what all the fuss is about now.

"Well, why don't we start at the front desk and see what we can find out?" Cecily suggested.

A girl about Heather's age welcomed them to Cascade Fitness and asked if they had their membership cards with them.

"Oh, no. We're not members," Heather answered for them.

"Okay, would you like to buy a one-day pass?" she asked getting out the forms.

"Actually, I'm interested in joining the gym," Cecily told her.

"That's wonderful! Gimme just a sec and I'll let Josh know you're here. He's our new assistant manager and he takes care of our memberships."

She picked up the phone, punched in three numbers and looked Josh's way.

"Hey there! I have a woman and her daughter here interested in a membership. Can I send them over?"

They saw Josh smile and wave at them. Before the girl could tell them to go ahead, Heather was already on her way.

Cecily thanked her then leaned over and said quietly, "It's not a big deal, but I'm not her mother."

"Oh. I'm so sorry!" she told her. "You guys look a lot like each other so I guess I just assumed. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Heavens no!" Cecily said. "We look alike because she's my granddaughter."

"Get outta here!" the girl said looking closely at Cecily's face. "No way."

Cecily had heard people respond to that before so used their reply and said, "Yes. Way."

The girl laughed then told her, "You're either the youngest grandmother on earth or you take incredibly good care of yourself."

"Well, thank you!" Cecily said very genuinely. "I do try."

She stepped away from the desk and noticed Heather was already sitting in the chair closest to Josh as she walked up.

"Oh, here she is now," Heather said. "She's the one who's really interested in a membership. I was just hoping to um...well...I mean..."

Josh stood up, smiled, and extended a hand.

"I'm Josh Holland. It's a pleasure to meet you. And your daughter was right. You are a very beautiful woman."

Heather shot her a look that said, "Don't spill the beans!" so Cecily decided to play along.

"Oh, well thank you. And that was very sweet of my...daughter...to say," Cecily replied looking right at Heather when she said 'daughter'.

"Yeah, my...mom and I love to work out together. She's just really cool like that, you know?" Heather said nervously.

"I can tell," Josh said smiling at both of them. "Could I give you ladies a tour of the facilities before we talk business?"

"Definitely!" Heather blurted out before Cecily could even begin to respond.

"Great! Shall we?" he asked as he stood up and waiting to show them around.

Heather had no interest in the various rooms he showed them which included areas for all the things Cecily was interested in. Her granddaughter was, however, very interested in checking out this 'older man's' butt every time he wasn't looking. Cecily didn't say anything, but she did smile once after a particularly long stare.

"What? I'm just enjoying the view," she said causing Josh to turn around and speak.

"It really is a great facility, isn't it?" not knowing what Heather was referring to as far as the great view.

"We have everything you could want from free weights and machines to a sauna and from racquetball courts to spinning and aerobics of all kinds. Oh, I teach racquetball classes if you're interested. I used to work as a fitness trainer during the summers but now that I'm finally done with school, I'm tied to my desk most of the time. But they do let me at least do that twice a week."

"I've always wanted to learn how to play," Cecily said. "You wanna sign up with me, Heather?"

"Um...would it be one-on-one?" she asked never taking her eyes off of Josh.

"That's up to you. I could do that or work with both of you. In fact, I'll teach you both for the same price if that helps," he offered looking at both of them.

"Come on, honey. Let's give it a try. Nothing ventured, right?" her grandmother said.

"Well...I guess I could do that," she said still staring at Josh and smiling.

Cecily had to admit he really was a very nice-looking young man. In addition to an incredibly handsome face, he had a lean-but-very-hard body. She guessed he probably wasn't a big weightlifter, but someone who took exceptionally good care of himself nonetheless.

"Great! Sign us up and I'd like an annual membership on top of that, please," Cecily said smiling happily.

Both of the 'girls' saw the wide-eyed look on Josh's face when he used Cecily's driver's license to enter her information into the contract. He glanced up at her once, looked back down, then looked up again.

"Is everything okay?" Cecily asked when she saw his raised eyebrows and wide-open eyes.

"Oh, sure," he said looking away quickly. "Everything is just fine."

Half an hour later, Cecily had her temporary pass with an assurance she could pick up the real thing on her first visit, and she and Heather knew when they'd be coming back for their first lesson.

Heather had fawned all over Josh the entire time who never gave any indication of being annoyed. He took every comment and flirtation in stride smiling back and remaining pleasant at all times. He was definitely an easy-going young man, something else Cecily found very appealing in any man—or 'boy' in Josh's case.

"He's really nice, honey," Cecily told Heather as they walked outside in response to her question.