Chapter 20: The Winds of Change

July, 1982, Milford, Ohio

I woke up early on Friday morning to make breakfast for Kara and her mom before she went to work. Mrs. Blanchard was surprised, but very pleased. After her mom left for work, Kara gave me a fierce kiss.

“Thanks for staying in and cooking breakfast for us,” Kara said. “I hope that doesn’t cause you trouble with Stephanie, with you breaking your normal routine.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, kissing her back. “We got in a bit later than I expected, and she’ll understand I wanted to do this for you, too.”

We relaxed for the rest of the day at Kara’s house, taking time to clean and pick up around the house. I cooked a light dinner, and we called Jennifer to tell her that we’d arrived safely in Milford the previous night after having taken care of some errands in Chicago.

Kara and I had discussed our plans on the drive back from Chicago and agreed that we’d spend Friday night apart. She wanted to spend the evening with her mom given we’d been gone several days and although I wasn’t happy about it, I knew that Kara needed that. She’d been fairly stable emotionally while we were away, but I could tell she missed and needed her mom. I kissed Kara goodnight, told her I’d see her after breakfast, and headed to the Spencers’. I let myself in with my key and found Melanie and her mom sitting in the living room.

“Hi, Steve,” Melanie said. “Where’s Kara?”

“With her mom. She wanted to spend some time with her. Where’s Pete?”

“He and dad are out with a bunch of guys. Once a month or so, they hang out at a bar now that Pete’s twenty-one. It’s two of his dad’s friends and two of Pete’s buddies from OSU who live in the area.”

“So it’s girls’ night here? Maybe I’ll just go take a sauna and hang out in my room.”

“I’ll join you, Steve,” Trudy said, winking at me. “I really enjoyed that sauna with you earlier this Summer.”

Melanie, who couldn’t see her mom’s wink, whipped her head around to look at her mom.

“That was an amazing day, Trudy. I’ll never forget it,” I said, smiling and playing along.

Melanie’s head whipped to look at me, her mouth hanging open.

“I’ll say this, Steve; you didn’t disappoint me at all!” Trudy said, smirking.

Melanie’s head whipped back to look at her mom, her eyes like saucers.

“And neither did you. You’re pretty good looking for being the mom of a twenty-year-old,” I grinned.

Melanie’s head whipped back to me, mouth agape, eyes wide, and a look of total disbelief on her face.

“I’m up for exactly the same thing tonight, if you are!” Trudy said.

“Sure. Do we invite Melanie, or is that too much?” I asked.

“Sure, why not? Mother and daughter has to be one of every boy’s fantasies,” Trudy said.

“Absolutely! What do you say, Melanie?” I asked with a grin.

She didn’t answer. She just stared at me, then at her mom, then at me again. I couldn’t fake it anymore and neither could Trudy. We both burst out laughing.

“We had you going there, Melanie!” I said. “Not disappointing her meant behaving when we were in the sauna a few mornings.”

“You bastard!” Melanie growled. “And Mom; YOU! I’ll get even with both of you for that! You really did have me going. Well, at least until the mother-daughter thing. That made me wonder. And it seems that’s what had you both crack-up. I was about to freak out!”

“Good!” her mom said with a big smile. “Serves you right with all the teasing you do, Melanie Marie!”

“I’m going to the sauna,” I said. “I’ll see you there if you’re interested,” I added with a chuckle.

I went upstairs and turned on the sauna, then went back to my room and took off my clothes. I grabbed my robe and walked to the sauna without putting it on, and hung it on the peg outside the door. I grabbed a towel and spread it on the lower bench, then ladled water onto the rocks for steam. About two minutes later, Melanie and Trudy joined me.

“I was right,” I said with a smirk. “Your mom’s breasts are a bit bigger.”

Melanie smacked me hard on the arm and put her towel down on the upper bench. Her mom did the same. If I looked behind me, I’d have perfect views of their most private spots. So, of course I looked! Trudy laughed and Melanie leaned down to smack me again.

“You are bad, Mr. Adams! Ogling women like that!”

“If you’re going to show it off, I’m going to look!” I grinned.

“Men!” Melanie huffed.

“Honey, he does have a point. You’re sitting there naked, with your legs spread!” Trudy joked.

“And so are you, mom! You’re teasing him!” Melanie said, exasperated.

“No, she’s not, Melanie. You know my rule. Do you think your mom would do that to your dad? No! She’s just comfortable being naked in here. Just as I am. Just as you are! Or are you jealous because I said her breasts are bigger?”

She smacked me for a third time, but she was laughing when she did so, and Trudy just shook her head.

“I thought you liked smaller ones!” Melanie protested.

“I do. Did I ever complain about yours when I was licking and sucking them?” I teased.

“No! And stop it before I forget I’m an engaged woman and attack you!”

“Hitting me isn’t attacking me?” I asked. “Who knew?”

“Careful, Buster. I’ll tell my fiancé!”

“And you know who he’ll blame? YOU! We both know it. I’m pure as the driven snow, according to Pete.”

“That’s just sick, too, Steve Adams!” Melanie whined. “He always blames me!”

“Of course he does, dear,” Trudy said with a soft laugh, “because you usually start it!”

“Arggh!” Melanie groaned.

Trudy and I relented, and the three of us relaxed quietly for the next twenty minutes or so. When we finished, we showered individually, dried off, then dressed and went downstairs for tea. Melanie showered last, so Trudy and I had a couple of minutes before she joined us downstairs.

“That was pretty funny,” I said. “You really had Melanie going!”

“Thanks for being a good sport Steve, and for not saying anything about the ‘incident’.”

“I promised I wouldn’t and that it’s forgotten. Well, except for that dream every once in a while!” I chuckled.

“Me too. It’s filed safely away in my fantasy life, but oh what a fantasy!” she whispered, hearing Melanie come down the stairs.

I nodded and thought about it. If I was going to break my usual age limit, Trudy Spencer would be at the top of my list. Well, if she wasn’t married, anyway. Frank Spencer was a lucky man to have a woman who looked like Trudy after twenty years together. I hoped Kara looked that good! Based on how Nancy Blanchard looked at 37, I was sure she would. After a cool drink, I decided to head to my room and read. I went to sleep around 10:30pm.

On Saturday morning, I went to my parents’ house to swim and eat breakfast with Stephanie. After breakfast, she grilled me about my trip to Seattle and how things were with Jennifer.

“I’m surprised you didn’t call her,” I chuckled.

“I did! She wouldn’t tell me anything other than the fact that you talked.”

“We did, and nothing has changed. She did agree with Elyse about my being in a group relationship forever.”

“That she did tell me about. She’s right, Big Brother. I never even thought of that concept until she told me yesterday, but it fits. I know you think Kara is right for you, and you know I think she’s good for you, but you’ve always lived your life the way Jennifer explained that idea. Maybe you should just consider that.”

I sighed, “I’m with Kara. I want to be with Kara. Can we just drop this?”

“Sorry,” she said softly. “So you and Jennifer didn’t really make any progress?”

“As friends, we certainly did. It was good to see her. She and Kara got along pretty well. But even Jennifer acknowledges that I’m going to end up with Kara.”

Stephanie nodded, “Yeah. I think so, too. Oh, I meant to tell you, Sandy’s friend Ruth called for you. She left her number. Are you going to give her the same treatment?”

“Maybe,” I replied. “We’ll see. Do you think it’s too early to call her?”

“She said any time after 8:00am was OK because her parents both work on weekdays and on Saturday mornings they go to Bible study at church.”

“I’m actually surprised her mom is allowed to work!” I said.

“She teaches at some Christian school in Cincinnati. I guess they have Summer school.”

I picked up the phone and dialed the number Stephanie had left me. Ruth answered on the second ring.

“Hi, Ruth, it’s Steve Adams.”

“Hi! Thanks for calling me back. I talked to Sandy. She’s walking on air! She told me how amazing it was. And she gave me the book to read. She read it cover to cover the night you gave it to her with a flashlight under her blanket! I read it on Monday when my parents were at work. There’s so much I never knew! I just wanted to say thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Ruth. I’m glad the book helped.”

“I know there was some issue with Kara, but I guess that was solved. Would you be willing to do the same thing for me?”

I remembered our kiss and how I thought she’d be quite the handful. I’d have to find some time during the week, but I figured that I could do it by suggesting that Kara get together with Joyce or Susie.

“Sure. I might be able to this week before I head to Chicago, otherwise it would be next week,” I offered.

“My mom and dad both work. You can come here any time after 8:00am as long as you leave by 5:00pm. They both work in Cincinnati.”

“I’ll figure it out and call you later today, if that’s OK?”

“Yes. I passed the book on to my friend, Hannah. Sandy said that’s OK. I hope it is.”

“Yep. Just make sure it gets back to me or my sister.”

“I will! Thanks!”

I hung up the phone and looked over at Stephanie, who was smirking.

“What?” I asked with a grin.

“Are you going to pop every cherry in his church?” she asked with a smirk.

“Now there’s an idea!” I chuckled. “But no, eventually somebody would tell him and it could make life pretty difficult for all the girls. Anyway, I need to get over to Kara’s. See you tomorrow for breakfast!”

We hugged, and she walked me out to my car. We waved as I pulled out onto Overlook and headed to Kara’s house. I rang the bell and Kara let me in. We kissed and then I followed her to the kitchen to have coffee with her mom.

“Thanks for giving Kara and me some time together, Steve. I really appreciate it,” Mrs. Blanchard said.

“You’re welcome. I know it’s kind of tough for you two and I’ll do whatever I can to help. Our plan is to head back to Chicago on Wednesday and we’ll be back on Sunday. Then I’ll be here until I leave for Georgia on the following Thursday. I’ll stop back here for a couple days before I have to be back in Chicago on August 6th.”

“I called Joyce last night, and she wanted us to get together again,” Kara said. “Do you mind if I have lunch with her on Tuesday? You can spend the night tomorrow night, and we can have dinner here both nights, if that’s OK. I’ll probably spend the afternoon with Joyce if you’re OK with that.”

“Sure, Honey. I’ll find something to do on Tuesday afternoon. Do you want me to come back after I eat breakfast with my sister?”

“You can hang out with her if you want. I’m leaving at 10:30am to head to Loveland. Also, do you mind if I go to church with mom tomorrow morning?”

“Not at all. I can find something to do. Bethany doesn’t go to church, so I’ll call her if that’s OK with you.”

“Yes!” she smiled.

The rest of Saturday was spent relaxing at Kara’s house, though we did go grocery shopping, so I had the ingredients I needed to cook that evening, and on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I was happy that I had Tuesday free and would need to find a time to call Ruth.

After cooking dinner on Saturday evening, Kara and I went out for ice cream with Pete and Melanie. We drove to Graeter’s in Mariemont and then headed back to their house for a sauna. When we finished, I excused myself to call Bethany. She was free in the morning and I said I’d come by her house around 9:00am. When I hung up, I called Ruth and asked her if Tuesday at 11:00am was OK. She said yes, and gave me her address, which was just a block from Milford Main, the middle school where I’d attended 7th grade. I offered to bring lunch, and she agreed.

After spending some more time with Pete and Melanie, Kara and I went back to her house and went to bed. Kara’s period had started earlier in the day and although I offered to make love with her if she wanted to, she was content to cuddle. We fell asleep spooned together, and I slept quite well.

On Sunday morning, I kissed Kara goodbye and went to swim and have breakfast with my sister, called Karin, Tina, Suzanne, Sofia, and Pia, then drove the short distance to Bethany’s house. She invited me in and we went to the basement.

“I’m a bit worried about how Kara’s dealing with her dad’s death,” I said. “I’m wondering if she might need some grief counseling or something.”

“She might. Remember, I’m not an expert, but what’s bugging you?”

“Well, I think she was trying to drown her pain in sex. If you recall, I have a bit of history in that area.”

Bethany laughed, “Yes, indeed. And it sure as hell didn’t work for you and it’s not going to work for her. Did you say anything to her about it?”

“I did. We talked about it later, also, and I finally got her to just really cry. I don’t think she’s doing that enough. And because I got her to cry, she’s wanted to spend a lot of time with her mom and has changed our plans without consulting me.”

“That’s not good, but you have to realize just how emotional she is. She’s not thinking straight, Steve. Even though she looks fine on the outside, she’s torn up. I’m sure her mom is, too, but you’re not close enough to her to see that. It’s probably a good thing that she’s in church this morning because that could be a base of stability for her.”

“Rather than me?” I asked.

“Two different needs, Steve. You provide her everything except for spiritual fulfillment. You can’t do that. You may be a sex god, that’s not the kind of god she needs!” Bethany giggled. “But seriously, she has a strong spiritual need. She was already on an emotional roller-coaster before her dad died; imagine what it’s like now! I know she’s changed, but if she feels something spiritual missing, it would make sense for her to find it in church. That might help her make sense of things.”

“You’re just full of good news, Bethany,” I sighed. “I don’t like the answers they give. At all.”

“I know. But all you can do is be there for her. You rocked her core beliefs, and now she’s searching. You’re part of the answer, but so is her mom. And so are the things her mom believes. They left the crazy church for one that’s a bit more, well, down to earth, I guess. It wouldn’t kill you to go to that church with her to show her that you support and love her. Even you can handle ninety minutes on a Sunday morning to support your girlfriend.”