Chapter 9: Pennsylvania II

The voice of the female officer of the law sounded loudly and roughly in the bedroom. “Mother, are you all right?” The gun focused on Dave’s forehead as she moved even closer to the bed.”

Dave felt Mariah jerk in front of him. The gorgeous leg she’d tossed over his as they’d fucked snapped away, and her body yanked away from his, leaving his flaccid shaft in the cold air of the room. He was wilting rather rapidly in any case.

Mariah spoke loudly, “Skye, I’m fine. Put that goddamn gun away before you shoot somebody. You know I don’t like you to draw that in my presence. Why’d you barge in here like this?”

Skye, the apparent name of the police officer, said, “You didn’t call like you always do. I tried to call you, but got no answer. I got worried. I cruised by, and the place was dark and most of the lights were off. That’s not like you, so early in the night. I came back later, and nothing had changed. I came in, heard noises, and ... and ... I found you like this.” Her name tag on her raincoat read ‘Deputy St. Clair.

Mariah said, “Will you turn around, so we can dress in something and then I’ll sort this out with you. I probably left my phone in the kitchen, so I didn’t hear your call.”

Dave was left wrapping a sheet around himself, as Mariah reached in a drawer and slipped a large t-shirt over her head that probably got used as a nightgown.

Mariah pointed at Dave and then the bed, indicating that he should remain.

“Skye, you can turn around now. This is Dave Prentiss. He’s my one boarder for tonight and all the nights in the future that I can talk him into staying. I am hopelessly in love with him. He is the most divine lover any woman could imagine. He has given me a hundred orgasms tonight, and one of them was so strong I fainted from too much pleasure. I will remember that one event the rest of my life. It was better in every way than everything sexual that has ever happened to me – heck, everything nice that’s ever happened to me all added together!”

Dave gave a little wave with one hand as he held the sheet around his lower body.

Skye asked in a challenging tone, “Where are you from?”

“Sarasota, Florida, officer. In case you’re wondering, I really like you mother.”

“What are you doing in Hollidaysburg?”

“Passing through. I’m riding my motorcycle around the country; something I should have done right out of college, I suppose, but this was a good time in my life being between jobs and wanting to take a long ride. Did you ever see the movie Road Trip?”

Skye frowned, “Yes. Did you lose your wife or something?”

“No, no. I just wanted to take a sojourn the way he did. I have no particular place to be, but I just want to keep moving along through the forty-eight states. I figured I’d do the eastern part of the country this summer, and maybe the west next year.”

“So, you’re unemployed.” Skye turned to her mother, “Did he pay for the room?”

“Yes, on a credit card. Nothing got rejected. You’re too suspicious of everything.”

“That’s my job where my mother is concerned,” Skye insisted.

Mariah rolled her eyes. “I get along just fine without your intervention. You wanted me to start dating. Well, this man is the best start and end a girl could have.”

Skye said, “I didn’t think you’d sleep with the first hot guy that decided to stay at the B&B.”

Dave said, “I kind of seduced your mother, or perhaps my living circumstances seduced her. Where I live is significantly different than the way most of the country lives.”

“And how is that, Mr. Prentiss?” Skye challenged in an arrogant tone.

Mariah answered before Dave could speak. “For one, he has ten wives, He lives in the Circle, the subject of that TV show. He appears often. One of his wives is Scarlett Johansson, the movie star.”

Skye’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Dave. “You do look like that guy on that show.”

Dave pointed towards the living room where his pants and wallet were. “My wallet is in my pants pocket. I assure you, I’m that guy. I even have some close friends in the local sheriff’s office there who can vouch for me – one is a detective lieutenant, and the other works in the crime lab. They’re married – kind of.”

“Why are you unemployed then?”

Dave chuckled, “Because I worked my buns off for over five years taking a novel idea a friend had for a battery and commercializing it, manufacturing it, and selling it around the world. I was the CEO of EneRG for that time. We went public about two or three years ago, and I had a lot of stock that became worth a lot of money. I don’t need to work, but I probably will do something when I get home. Two of my friends have more money than God – Mark Worthington and Owen Bennett.”

Skye frowned, “You know them?”

Dave nodded, “I am loosely married to one of Mark’s wives – Cindy, and Owen is married to two of my wives – Julie and Alice. They’re sisters.”

“How can you be married to that many women?” Skye challenged.

“I made the same commitments to them that would take place in a government sanctioned wedding. I am legally married to Alice, but we don’t need pieces of paper and government approval to feel that way about other people. My lawyer has also drawn up trust papers that ensure everyone and our children are cared for were anything to happen to me – estate planning stuff.”

“Children?”

Dave nodded, “Yes, about fifteen. We’re not sure of the paternity of a few, but I take ownership when I’m wanted? I think there are two more on the way.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I’ll give you a for instance. Bobbie and Maddie, two women, married and wanted a child. I’d made love with both women many times before, and we loved each other. They asked whether I’d make Maddie pregnant, and I did. We produced a young man who’s seven-years-old now named Logan. They wanted to raise him without too much of the biological dad’s interference, so they do. They ask me to participate in specific activities with him, and I do that, too; places a male influence is wanted.”

“So, you don’t care about paternity?”

“In our community we want good, well-educated, and loved children. We have that. Whose egg and sperm seem less important than some of the other attributes we want for the children. I should add that we home school them – not just mine, and most of them are about three years ahead of the public-school system.”

“So, your son Logan?”

“He’s reading at near the sixth-grade level, doing basic algebra, and learning plane geometry, among other subjects. Normally, if you will, he’d would have just finished first grade. My other children are similarly advanced, but it’s not me, it’s how we treat and educate them. The Circle set up their own school system. Of course, we coordinate with the local system, but ... what can I say, they’re kind of backward.”

“You sound too good to be true.”

“We are, and that’s why Spring Garden Productions decided to do a TV series about us. It became more popular than anybody, including them, expected. We even have a fan club based in Chicago. One of my wives, Cricket, wrote a book about the Circle, too.”

Mariah interrupted, “Skye, when does your shift end?”

“Midnight – a half-hour. I don’t have to report to work tomorrow. It’s a day off.”

“Then leave us, and come back tomorrow for breakfast – say nine a.m. You can interview Dave then. In the meanwhile, he is a great cuddler and had me swooning over his romantic tendencies before you so rudely interrupted us.”

Skye merely turned and walked out of the bedroom, waving over her shoulder to us.

Mariah started to apologize, but Dave stopped her. “She loves you, and was concerned about your safety. Don’t get too peeved at her.”

“Did you like her?” Mariah asked.

“She’s sure to the point. We’ll have fun discussing things tomorrow.” Dave turned around and started to kiss Mariah again. She swooned in his arms. “Would you like me to make love to you again?”

“Oh, yes, please; and then cuddle us to sleep in my bed.”

A very different Skye appears the next morning, exactly at nine a.m. Dave sat at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee as Mariah fluttered around the kitchen with a grin from ear-to-ear preparing a breakfast.

The pair had awoken early, before seven, and made love again in a sweet and very romantic manner in Mariah’s big bed. Dave was intentionally very tender. As she had the evening before, she proved to be exceptionally orgasmic. Despite the pouring rain outside, Dave had taken a six-mile run and then exercised in the carriage house where his motorcycle had been stored overnight. He’d decided not to travel that day.

Sitting at the table, Dave was barefoot, and wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Mariah wore only the nightshirt she’d briefly worn the night before when Skye had interrupted their lovemaking. Her nipples remained aroused and evident in the garment. Dave had provoked that situation by paying more loving attention to the woman after his own shower and dressing.

Skye flitted into the main house through the front door, shedding her raincoat and umbrella. She was in flats, shorts, a white blouse, yet looked very professional.

Dave greeted her, “Ah, Officer St. Clair, we’re glad you’re here.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting you last night. It’s just...”

Dave interrupted, “If you see the world through a lens of intruders, sex fiends, rapists, and thieves, that’s what you find. I know. The paradigm you live in creates the world you see. One philosopher said, ‘Change your thinking, change your life’. My world is kinder, more loving, more inclusive, and friendlier, than most others. I find that’s what I find most of the time. I don’t have to recalibrate too often. That said, I own a fire arm and study martial arts.”

Skye studied him. “You’re a philosopher, too.”

Mariah swept by her daughter, “Dave made love to me this morning. I’m on top of the world. I’ve never felt so loved or so in touch with the rest of the world, especially sexually.”

“Mommmmm! Too much information. T.M.I.” Skye rolled her eyes.

Mariah stated, “You should have stayed with us last night. Dave made such sweet love to me right after you left, and then in the middle of the night, all before we woke up this morning. You should go and be with him. He’s the best lover you’ll ever find.”

Skye rolled her eyes again and looked at Dave as though he had put her mother up to such mischief. Dave shook his head slightly. Mariah was a little over the top.

Skye said, “Well, while you two were tearing up the sheets, I went online to see who you are Mr. Prentiss and what the Circle you’re from is about. Last night’s rain making it a slow crime night and the computer in the car gave me time to research you. I have to say that I am impressed to a fault.”

Dave said, “One day at a time.”

“You have a friggin’ fan club that has two-thousand members. You’re going to talk at the first gathering in Chicago in October with one of your wives named Cricket. I confess to ordering the book she wrote about the Circle. I scanned a few pages on Amazon, and it was very readable.”

Dave said, “She wrote Road Trip and Crystal Clear, among her more famous books.”

“The ones they made the movies from?” Skye sounded amazed.

“Exactly. Scarlett read the books and got Hollywood interested, particularly since she wanted to play the role of Crystal Lee in the movies. Cricket also has another husband on the west coast named Don Abrams. He helps her convert her books to screenplays.”