Chapter 1

Sam Bridgeton gazed at his hidden reflection in the steamy motel bathroom mirror as he vigorously rubbed his wet hair with the last remaining bath towel. After the long day working on his new house, the hot shower had felt good on his tired muscles. He rotated his broad shoulders to relieve some of the tightness. Damn, if I feel like this at thirty-four, what am I going to feel like at forty-four? he thought as he reached for the ceiling to stretch out the soreness.

With an ear-to-ear grin, Sam used his finger to draw a large smiley face on the foggy mirror. Life was good. He had a wonderful wife, a great daughter, and now the house of his dreams.

Sam tossed the wet towel onto the floor in the corner of the bathroom where the others were piled. It was the only good thing about staying in a motel, although his wife probably appreciated the daily maid service more than he did. Not that Ashley hadn’t worked hard that day and the days before. She had spent the day cleaning the large house they were getting ready to move into, a house that had accumulated so much dust it had to have been unoccupied for a long time. A house Sam fretted over being too big for the three of them.

Sam and Ashley had never talked about the number of children they wanted. Kimberly had been a surprise and was already nine years old. If they were going to have another child, now would be the time. The house was surely big enough. They could even have two more. And now, moving from a high cost of living city to a small town, along with the deal Sam had made to be the town’s doctor, they could afford more children. The thought of a son brought another smile to Sam’s face.

After running a brush through his damp hair, Sam slipped on a pair of fresh boxers and the pajama bottoms he had bought when realizing there would be little privacy in a two-bed motel room. He closed the bathroom light before opening the door. The cool air felt refreshing after the humid bathroom as he stepped into the room, dark except for the lone lit lamp on his side of the second bed. He tiptoed to the first bed, stopping to smile at the form of his daughter curled up under the blanket with her blonde hair spilled over the pillow. He was glad Kimberly was blessed with her mother’s beautiful hair rather than his boring brown. Then he padded barefoot to the far end of the other bed, turned off the light, and climbed under the covers to join his wife.

Ashley was lying on her side facing Kimberly’s bed. Sam snuggled up behind her with his crotch against her butt and his arm draped over her warm body.

“We’re moving into our new house tomorrow,” Sam whispered next to her ear.

“Are you excited?”

“Sure, aren’t you?”

“A little scared,” Ashley whispered.

“Why, it’s everything we ever dreamed of.”

“It’s much bigger than we were planning. And we used up all our savings.”

“It was a great deal. I can’t believe how little we paid.”

“It’s because it was a wreck.”

“It wasn’t that bad. Just wasn’t lived in. I bet the land alone is worth what we paid. And we already made a lot of progress fixing it up. When our furniture comes tomorrow, and it’s in the house, it will feel more like ours.”

“Are you kidding? Most of the rooms will be empty.”

“We can fill them.”

“With what?”

“More children.”

Ashley stiffened. The silence seemed to last an eternity, but it was only momentary. When Ashley wiggled her butt against his groin, Sam released the air held in his lungs.