Chapter 11: Five Weeks

"Hello?"

"Did you have a good time last night?" Hearing Miss Spencer's voice so early in the morning didn't surprise me, but her question did.

"How did you know I went out?"

"I called your cell and when I didn't get an answer I called your home number. That lady told me you were on a dinner date with her sister."

"That's Jen, my brother's wife. I didn't know you called."

"Well, did you have a good time?"

"Yes, thank you for asking. I believe I'm in love." What made me tell a stranger something that personal? It just hit me and I guess I wanted to tell someone. Funny thing, I wanted to tell her more, how beautiful Millie was floating down the stairs, how it made me feel to be with her while we were waiting for a table, how she squeezed my hand and how she looked at me.

"That's ... wonderful, Ben."

"Enough about me, what did you want to tell me when you called last night?"

"I was on my way to meet Max and had a case of the nerves. That lady ... Jen ... was very nice. You're lucky to have such an understanding sister-in-law. She gave me the same advice as you, to follow my heart."

"Did you ... follow your heart?"

"Max is very nice. We had a lovely dinner and then he wanted me to go to his hotel room with him. I said maybe next time and he said he understood. He even escorted me home. I'm sorry, Ben, but we didn't talk about settling with you. Maybe if I had gone to his room things would be different."

"It's all right, Nadine. You did the right thing."

"Really? Thank you, Ben. I'm so relieved that you're not angry with me."

"I'm glad your meeting with Max went well. That took a lot of courage on your part."

"Thank you, Ben. I'm pleased that you're in love. She must be very special."

Nadine promised to keep me updated as to the progress in regard to my settlement with the credit card companies, but I believe that hearing me say I was in love with Millie diminished the thrill of talking so candidly to a stranger about her fears and fantasies.

Down stairs, Jen was in a jovial mood that rivaled mine. Ed was unusually chipper, too. They both acted like they had just had the best sex of their lives.

"You came home early last night. I hope that's not an indication the date went badly," Jen said, showing concern.

"It couldn't have gone better. We got home early and I thought she wanted to get out of that dress so I said goodnight and left."

Ed looked like he was going to make a remark. "Don't even think of saying what you're thinking," Jen warned. "Benny was right. She was wearing a new dress and..." She was interrupted by the telephone. "That's probably her now. I'll find out everything. Sit down and have breakfast," she said to me as she answered the phone.

Breakfast consisted of bacon, eggs and pancakes. I poured myself a cup of coffee, sat down and loaded my plate.

Ed began talking about the job we were starting the next day. I was only half listening, trying to concentrate on Jen's conversation with Millie. It was one sided and I was only able to pick up a few words, commingled with short laughs and sighs. "Really! ... He did? ... What did you say? ... Which twin?... "No, Nan married Steve McCoy. If she said her name was Cary it had to be the other one, Mandy ... Oh!..."

I gave up listening to Jen because Ed had changed the subject. "I'll apply for your permit for the Worthington job tomorrow, but I want you to talk to the subs. Give them an overview of the job and tell them it's a fast-track schedule, otherwise they won't be available when you need them."

Jen hung up the phone and I was anxious to hear what Millie had to say about our first date, but Ed had more to say. "I checked your schedule and it looks doable, but there's no room for anything to go wrong."

"I know," I said, wanting to turn my attention to Jen.

"It always does, you know," Ed continued. "Just when you think you're ahead of schedule, something invariably goes wrong."

"I know," I repeated.

"You know what they say about a paper schedule, don't you?" Ed asked.

"You can't judge a book by its cover?" I responded and heard Jen explode in laughter.

"No," Ed said, either ignoring my sarcastic remark or it had gone over his head. "A paper schedule doesn't allow for fuck-ups. If the scheduler doesn't foresee possible fuck-ups he's fucked up before the work starts."

Jen and I looked at each other. "Listen to your brother's pearls of wisdom, Benny," Jen said, ruffling his hair. He looked up at her, adoringly and seeing that she was teasing him, went back to reading his newspaper. "Finish your breakfast, Benny. We're going for a walk and I'll tell you everything Millie said."

I scooped the remaining pancake into my mouth and followed it with a swallow of coffee. We were out the door before Ed finished the paragraph he was reading so intently.

Jen was wearing the same suede jacket as the afternoon before when she landed on my lap. "You had sex with him last night, didn't you?" I asked when I saw that she was heading to the right when we left the driveway.

Her expression was serious and for a second I thought she was going to scold me for being personal. But she surprised me by smiling that same contented smile I had seen the day before when she was bouncing up and down on my cock. "You wouldn't give me any more so I used my husband."

The way she said it, like she had used her husband as a second choice, made me wonder it she preferred having sex with me over him. "Don't you think I would have given you more if I could have justified my actions? I had already taken more than I deserved. I was just carrying out my promise to stop."

"I know, Benny. Let's drop that subject. Let's try to forget it happened."

I grinned and saw that she was grinning too. I didn't state the obvious and she didn't either. We both knew it would be impossible to forget what we had done on my new bed.

"What did Millie say?" I asked, changing the subject.

She turned right again and I could see that we were headed toward the new houses that Ed and my dad had built. I reached for her hand.

"That's not a good idea. All the neighbors know who we are," she said without reclaiming her hand.

"What will they do, tell Ed they saw us holding hands?"

She smiled, knowingly squeezing my hand. Holding hands on a public street was child's play compared to what we had done the day before. I released her hand and drew a sad smile. Why tempt ourselves?

"Millie said she had a good time, but that you were both nervous. She's concerned she may have said the wrong thing. I told her what you said about leaving so early and she seemed to understand, I think you should call her, Benny. You do plan to ask her out again, don't you?"

"She's concerned that she said something wrong? No way, she says what she means and means what she says. Your sister is the most confident person I've ever known. We said some self-deprecating things but that was all in jest. Yes, I plan to ask her out again, but she knows I don't have much to offer right now."

"Then you should call her as soon as we get home," Jen said, pushing her hands into her pockets, I believe, to show that she was definitely off limits and that I should concentrate on wooing her sister.

"I think I'm in love with her, Jen."

We were walking in front of the six houses. They were in a semi-circle, all facing the lake. Jen's eyes enlarged and she covered her mouth with her hand, aghast. "Wow! Yesterday you told me you loved me and I told you I love you. Are you sure this isn't a case of transferred affection? Millie fears that you're bestowing the feelings you have for me to my next of kin."

"I'll always love you, Jen and I've been concerned that I was looking for your likeness in Millie. In fact, I told her that kissing her reminded me of you. But last night I saw her differently. I even told her she was unique. When I kissed her goodnight it was Millie that I was kissing, not you."

"Take it slow, Honey. Make sure your feelings for her are real. I don't want either of you hurt. I told her why you left early last night and she understands."

"I'll try to take it slow. I guess I'm forced to considering my financial status. What else did she say about last night?"

"She told me about some of the people that were there. She said Mandy Cary stopped at your table and wants you to bid on an addition to her home. Did you know who she was?"

"She gave me her number and asked me to call, but I didn't remember her."

"She and her twin sister are a few years older than us. Amanda married Willard Cary, the District Attorney. Millie said she gushed when she was talking to you."

"I didn't notice any gushing," I said.

"Isn't that just like you?" she said, playfully bumping into me.

We walked past the new houses and Jen told me how quickly they sold. "Ed believes there's a demand for houses in this price range. That's why he and Stew Mercer are planning to build more on the land they're buying."

We turned and were on our way home. "I'm happy for him," I said, not trying to hide my sarcasm.

"Ed feels badly about taking advantage of you. We should have been forthcoming regarding the value of the estate."

"No regrets, I had my reasons for turning my share down."

"Let's not kid ourselves. We both know why you didn't want to accept what was rightfully yours," she said, taking my hand again.

I doubted that she knew the real reasons, but I didn't tell her what they were; I felt I owned Ed for three years of college tuition and anyway, taking the money would have escalated Veronica's spending habits. At least Ed was putting it to good use by buying the land. I hoped he was successful with the new homes. In some respects I felt I had contributed to make the project possible.

"Thanks for the bed. I know it was your idea." The squeeze to my hand told me my assumption was correct.

"The truck was his idea. He wants to share the wealth with you."

"That was quite a surprise. I was so overcome with emotion that I almost confessed that I seduced you."

She pulled away from me, obviously upset. "You must never, ever say anything about what we did. Do you understand? It would ruin us, all of us. Anyway, you didn't seduce me."

"I didn't?" I asked and watched her blush. I put my arm around her waist and we started to walk again.

"Be very careful when you're with my sister. Don't even think of me, promise?"

"You mean when we're making love?"

She nodded, blushing.

"Did you think of me last night when you were fucking Ed?"

"Don't be vulgar," she said, still blushing. "Anyway, it was this morning."

"Did you think of me right across the hall this morning?"

She turned her head toward the lake, refusing to look at me. "Maybe."

I knew I was pushing it, but I enjoyed watching her blush. The girl I had loved since we were sixteen was admitting that she still cared for me, still thought of me, still craved having sex with me. I no longer wanted to punish her for cheating. She would have to live with that. Now, she would also have to live with the knowledge that she had cheated on her husband. I cared for her too much. I still loved her, but I couldn't let it go.

"Want to do it again?"

She looked at me and bit her lower lip. "No."

"That was quite a chance we took."

"Yes, it was. We can't let it happen again."

"It'll be different next time."

Jen became quiet. We walked a long distance without saying anything. "How would it be different, I mean, if we... ?"

"We'll use a condom, condoms if we have time."

She broke away from me and sped up, almost running. I followed at a safe distance, knowing I had embarrassed her by tricking her into admitting that she would sleep with me again if the opportunity presented itself.

"Why don't you make yourself scarce? Take my car if you like. I'm going to fuck my husband," she said when we entered the house.

Now who's being vulgar? I thought, knowing that things would never be the same between us. She had admitted that she had seduced me yesterday. She had also confessed that she still desired me. Paying for her mistakes was inevitable. Now, if I had impregnated her, Ed would pay, too.

I called Millie.

"Want to do something?" I asked.

"Yes ... I mean what? How should I dress?"

"I like talking to you. You're so ... direct. Let's do that ... Talk, I mean. Dress casually."