Chapter 16

Thanksgiving morning found Jake awake at his usual six o’clock. He loved waking up in the morning with his women. These days he never knew what precise position he would find them all in. Trish and Melissa had jointly decided that he could not sleep in the middle any more because he always got up first and had to crawl over somebody. Melissa worked it so that she was usually in the middle and in puppy heaven every night, with a warm body on either side of her.

Jake quietly got out of bed. He made sure Muffy was covered and put his still-warm pillow against her back. He usually woke the girls after working out; but, since it was a holiday, he figured they could sleep in. He and Leslie, though, had somewhere to be at seven-thirty. So he went to get her up. Leslie woke up right away. She was immediately chipper, as always. Like Jake, she was a morning person. Jake yakked with her while she brushed her teeth. Jake politely turned around while she dressed.

“I love this body. I’m going to take much better care of it than my last one. I wonder what I’ll look like when I grow up. I don’t have a single picture of my biological mother, so I don’t have a clue,” she said.

“We need to get personal things for you from the Solomons. Mr. Solomon promised me that he would have them for you whenever you wanted them,” Jake said.

Leslie nodded, “Well, I took her body, so I want to know her history,” Leslie replied.

“What about your real family? Do you want to keep tabs on them or get involved in their lives like Nina did?” asked Jake.

Leslie shook her head, “My life before was good. I can’t think of anything that I would change. The Good Lord sure has done well for me. I am going to take every opportunity I find to repay him. I’m ready, let’s blow this Popsicle stand,” she said.

Jake turned around and gave her a grin. She was wearing a nice print dress with her hair spread out on her shoulders. She had a white cardigan tied around her shoulders. Jake told her how cute she looked, and grinned even bigger when she had the grace to blush.

By seven-fifteen, he and Leslie were at the Salvation Army homeless shelter. Jake had donated everything they needed to make dinner for at least five hundred people. Leslie had baked one of the turkeys for the meal last night, as had all the other volunteers. Six additional turkeys were also cooking in the big commercial ovens the shelter used. Jake and Leslie picked up aprons and got to work. Leslie was working with the food prep crew while Jake drew duty at the back sink washing pots and pans. By eleven-thirty, they were ready to start serving.

Jake and Leslie were serving mashed potatoes, halfway down the serving line. Jake watched the people coming through the line closely. They were a mixed lot: down on their luck families, emotionally spent Vietnam Veterans, and men and women who chose street life over honest work. Jake left the spuds to Leslie and went out to talk to some of the diners. All of them had a sad story, the trouble was, not all of the stories were true. Jake’s heart especially went out to the families.

Jake ended up at a table with a couple in their late twenties with three young children. The man was a carpenter from Tennessee, displaced by the downturn in the economy that had ground new home construction to a halt. When his unemployment benefits ran out, Quincy Nobles had packed up his family in their ten-year-old station wagon and headed to Florida. Quincy had heard there was work in South Florida so he was heading for it. They made it as far as Palmdale before the old wagon gave up the ghost. For the last five days, he and his family had been camping in a city park. Quincy was taking any day labor he could find to provide for his family. The Nobles were good, decent people, victims of a fortune that was the opposite of Jake’s.

Jake talked with them for a little longer. Not once did Quincy or his wife bemoan their luck. They were determined to find work and keep their family together. Jake excused himself, went to the office, and asked to use the phone. He made three calls, then went back to the dining room. Jake caught up with the Nobles just as they were standing up to leave. He asked Mrs. Nobles and the kids to sit back down while he talked to Quincy. By two o’clock Jake had the family in a three bedroom rental trailer near the campground where they were staying. Jake hired Quincy to be the maintenance man at the ranch. Quincy would take the load of keeping the physical plant running off of Ramon Diaz’s shoulders.

Hiring Quincy turned out to be one of Jake’s best instinctual decisions ever. Quincy was a skilled craftsman who could fix almost anything, and the hardest working man Jake had ever met. Nothing stayed broken for long at TnT Ranch once Nobles was on board. Melissa was so pleased she had a caretaker’s house build on the property for Quincy and his family. She also had a woodworking shop constructed for him. When Mrs. Martinez had to move because of family problems, Quincy’s wife Tanya took her place. Tanya was a marvelous cook and was as hard working as her husband. The Noble’s youngest child and only daughter Sally and Anita Diaz were the same age and became inseparable best friends.

Quincy was an excellent hunter and woodsman. Jake would sneak off with him and his two sons to go hunting or fishing every chance he had. Quincy was a taciturn man, when he spoke, it was for a reason, and to the point. Quincy lined up behind Ramon in his worship of Melissa. If Ms. Thornton wanted something, she got it. A hint from Melissa to Tanya was all it took to make it happen. At first, Tanya was also shy and quiet. She was embarrassed about her thick country accent and lack of education. Jake, however, soon got her out of that. He teased her unmercifully until she started giving it right back to him.

Jake and Leslie went home at three-thirty. Leslie was happy with their day together, and pleased at Jake’s generosity. Her new friend was a kind and compassionate man, but what if... ?

“Jacob, what if there are other travelers like us, but ones that are greedy and evil?” she asked.

Leave it to someone else to point out the obvious. Jake was appalled that he had never even considered that possibility. It was entirely conceivable that a proportionate number of bad people had been or would be reborn. This was just great! One more thing for him to worry about.

“It’s possible, Leslie, and something I should have thought of before now. I’ll talk to Trish about it. She’s the brains of this outfit, and maybe she knows something we don’t. Nothing we can do about it today, in any event. Besides, all I can think about is filling myself up with turkey. Smelling and serving all that food has me starved.”

“Amen to that, my brother from another mother,” Leslie said enthusiastically.

The Turner and Thornton clans sat down to feast at five that evening. Jake was a happy camper surrounded as he was by people he cherished. Even Chip Thornton, Melissa’s playboy brother, was there. Chip had passed up jet-setting during the holiday at Melissa’s request. Chip looked good and seemed more settled now. He was a junior at the University of Florida, and amazingly, he was keeping his grades up while burning his candle from both ends. Chip’s motto was: live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse. Old Chipper tried out a little of his playboy game on Trish the Dish after supper. Trish smilingly took him into the kitchen and had a little chat with him. Chip came back into the living room and sat back down. He barely looked at Trish the rest of the evening. She had most definitely shot him down in flames.

The other bad boy, Maria Thornton’s son Tyler, was also there. Tyler had transferred from Princeton to the University of Florida when his father was killed. Tyler had taken a page out of Chip’s playbook and had been breaking hearts all over campus. Had been, but no longer was. Maria had nipped his new lifestyle in the bud when she got wind of his doings at her New Year’s Eve party. Maria told Tyler that he could live anyway he wanted, as long as he paid for it with his own money. While she was footing the bill, however, he would do things her way. Since Tyler did not have the boatload of money Chip did, he cooled his jets. Tyler was an excellent student and pretty much had a lock on a seat in the University of Miami’s Law School.

Everyone made a big fuss over Helen’s twins. Joey and Julie were almost two months old now and aware of what was going on around them. Helen let it slide that Jake called Joseph and Julia shortened versions of their names even though it set her teeth on edge. Jake remembered what his grandfather had told him about ‘being with’ Helen’s baby. He looked at them both closely but could not discern any noticeable sign that they were anything other than typical happy babies. Jake did see trouble clouds in his future when Muffy held Julia all evening. Melissa smiled blissfully as she and Jake sat on the couch, each holding a happily gurgling baby. She clearly figured that, in two years, they would be sitting there holding at least one of their own.

During the evening the women started talking about Melissa’s plans for her and Jake’s wedding. Jake was shooting the shit with Charles, Chip, and Tyler while the women gabbed. It was then that Jake decided he had better tell Melissa about himself. She needed to know before she committed herself to spending the rest of her life with him. Besides, she was bound to find out eventually, better he tell her now and clear the air.

Jake tucked Leslie into bed at ten that night and then headed for his bedroom. Tonight was not going to work for telling Melissa the truth about himself. Turkey-stuffed Jake was too tryptophan drowsy, while happy molecules of serotonin and melatonin strolled through his blood. Jake slept like a rock and woke up as hard as one. His morning erection was nestled pleasantly between Muffy’s lovely butt cheeks. Trish was on the other side of Melissa, awake looking at the two of them. Jake motioned with his head to the bathroom. Trish nodded and rolled out of bed. Jake slowly disentangled himself and followed her.

Trish was at the sink brushing her teeth. Her large, well shaped ass jutted out enticingly. Trish grinned at his reflection in the mirror.

“See something you like, big boy?” she asked.

“I like everything I see,” Jake replied as he rested his hand on the swell of her ass.

Trish favored him with another smile, spit out a mouth full of tooth paste, and rinsed off her tooth brush. She put her hands on the vanity top and leaned forward in invitation for further attention from his caressing hands. Jake slid one hand between her legs and cupped one of her breasts with the other. Trish rapidly moistened as he played with her puffy nether lips. She was soon lubricated enough to receive accept him.

“I’m ready, my love,” she said. “Give me Mr. Turner.”

Jake stepped back and Trish spread her legs more. He put his hand between her shoulder blades and pushed her upper body forward. Trish quickly saw his intent and leaned completely across the vanity, her head resting on her crossed arms. She was at the perfect height for him as he held his erection in his hand and ran it up and down her slit. Trish gasped as Jake pushed the head of his hardness into her tight sheath. It was a perfect fit, they were a perfect fit. Jake held onto her hips and drove his shaft home. Trish spurred him on with words of encouragement. She moved one hand from under her head and rubbed her clit as he sawed in and out of her quivering quim. Trish was just reaching her peak when Jake exploded in her with a grunt. His cum splashing against her womb set her off also.