Chapter 2: A Cold-Hearted Bastard

June 19, 1992, Iron Mountain, Michigan

“I’ll go to the grocery store,” I said after we unpacked.

“I’ll come along,” Kara offered. “If it’s OK with Jessica and Elyse.”

“Go!” Jessica said. “I just had some time with him on the drive up.”

“Sure,” Elyse said. “We’ll get the kids outside to play. They’ve been cooped up in the cars all morning.”

I kissed and hugged both Jessica and Elyse, and Kara and I got into my BMW for the drive to the small grocery store.

“How are you?” Kara asked as we pulled out of the driveway.

“OK. I had a good talk with Jess and I also talked to Alec Glass. The deal for the new building is still on. I also spoke to Lisa. John called off the engagement. She didn’t tell her dad about that yet, and insisted I call John back and tell him I lied. I obviously won’t do that. I didn’t hear from Samantha, but she’ll be traveling to Monaco for the rest of the day. I do expect Lisa to call back and offer me the sun, moon, and stars to recant.”

“But you won’t?”

“No chance. She’s made her bed, so to speak. I will, though, hold out the possibility of talking to John if Samantha and I reconcile, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. Lisa made some outrageous claims about Samantha.”

“Oh?”

“That Samantha is not what she seems to be. That she’s had four or five lovers before me, and that she took her first lover when she was twelve.”

“What?! And you believe it?”

“I don’t know what to believe. I know Lisa is a scheming liar. Until I talk to Samantha, I won’t know. And even then, I’m not sure I’ll know with any real certainty.”

“But she was a virgin!”

“She said she was a virgin, and I took her word for it. Allowing for your wifely privileges, there was no blood proof. But given she’s been riding horses since she was little, that really wasn’t a surprise. You know hymens can break for other reasons besides sex, and horseback riding is certainly in that category. And as for hiding it, it’s certainly possible. I’ve had girls hide it both ways. Jennifer lied about it, and Crystal and Melody’s friend Jenna both hid it. Jenna hid it until the moment of truth because she had a hymen, and Crystal hid it until after I was in her, which she could do because she didn’t have a hymen.”

“But can’t you tell?”

“How? I’ve had some very adventurous, very, very good virgins, who, if they hadn’t had a hymen, I’d never would’ve been able to tell. I’ve had experienced girls who weren’t that great and girls with very little experience who were fantastic. Think about it, Kara. How difficult would it be to pretend you didn’t know anything?”

“Now that you say that, I don’t think it would be too difficult. So, what do you think?”

“I think only Samantha can answer that question. And on THAT I give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“What leads you to believe that Lisa might be telling the truth?”

“How quickly and easily Samantha agreed to anal sex, including wiggling her butt at me at just the right time. THAT isn’t normal for an inexperienced teenage girl, at least in my experience. How quickly and easily her dad let me spend the night with her. And something that’s been nagging me since I talked to Lisa when we went to sign the papers a couple of weeks ago. She called Samantha, ‘Sammy’, and I’ve never heard anyone call Samantha that.”

“Why does that bother you?”

“I don’t know. As I said, it’s been nagging at me since then. The thing is, I can’t quite figure out how to reconcile all of the information. The ‘Ice Princess’ reputation seemed to be legitimate. But if it’s not, then I don’t want to think about the ultimate consequences of this entire thing.”

“Why?”

“Because that would mean Jeri lied to me. If Samantha is who Lisa says she is, Jeri has been lying to me and playing me the whole way. And there are hints of THAT, too. Like suggesting I could have Samantha if I wanted her despite the ‘Ice Princess’ reputation. Jeri claimed to be truly shocked. But what if this was all part of some game? And I got caught in it.”

“You do remember I asked what you had gotten us into, don’t you?”

“I do. And I already told Jess that I’m not going to any Foundation social events or fundraisers over the summer. I’ll serve on the board, and have my business dealings with Alec, but that’s it. That gives the three of us time to figure out what to do in the future.”

“So what about Samantha?”

I sighed, “I don’t know. I honestly think there’s no good way forward here. Look at the position I’m in! This is not what I wanted and not what you and Jessica wanted. And it upset Michelle.”

“Michelle is OK,” Kara said with a smile. “I talked to her. Given your reputation, it took a bit of time, but I convinced her that you would never cheat like that. She seemed to know you cheated on me in the past, so I explained how you had learned your lesson and that because our trio was renewed after Jessica’s breakdown that you’d never even consider something like that.”

“You know, of all the fallout in the last two days, that’s the thing that bothers me the most. I can deal with all the other stuff. Yes, there might be a bit of business fallout, but honestly, the worst-case scenario is that Alec reneges on the deal for the property, but I don’t think he can. According to Bruce Grady, it would make that REIT non-conforming and that would have tremendous tax and legal implications for Alec.

“I believe our trio is strong enough to survive this, and I think we’ve all learned a valuable lesson. If we’re going to do something like we did with Samantha, we have to get to know them BEFORE I have sex with them. That was the real mistake here. Granted, Lisa could still have played the same game, so maybe even that’s not a reasonable solution.”

“Maybe the idea of one, long-term girl wasn’t so smart. I don’t know that we truly considered the implications.”

“Perhaps not,” I said. “But IF Samantha is telling the truth, then it isn’t a problem, is it?”

“No, I suppose not. I really like her. And so does Jessica. And that would mean Jeri was telling the truth as well, so that’s not an issue. It would only be Lisa.”

“Exactly. BUT, if Samantha is lying, then Jeri is lying, and THAT has all kinds of implications I don’t want to deal with on this vacation. I’ll worry about it when I get home.”

“Good,” Kara said. “Back to Michelle. I’m reasonably certain she’ll be fine. I have to say, I like her a lot. I see her as me in a slightly alternate universe. You know I don’t have trouble with ‘What if?’ and I think Michelle is what I might have become.”

“I’m not sure she’s a ‘free spirit’,” I said.

“Are you sure about that? Think about the things she talks to you about. And how she speaks up at the Rap Sessions. And the fact that she got naked in front of everyone. Don’t you see? That could have been me if things had been just slightly different.”

“I suppose so.”

“I know I put the topic off limits, but I’m sure you remember WHY I wanted to give you my virginity. If THAT hadn’t happened, I might well have stayed a virgin until I married.”

I nodded, “OK, I see where you’re coming from. Though, changing even that one event would have so altered your life that you have no idea where it would have ended up.”

“That’s true,” Kara said. “But it doesn’t bother me to speculate like it does you.”

We arrived at the store and after I parked, we went inside. We got a cart and began selecting the perishable goods that we’d need - milk, butter, eggs, and so on.

“I thought you’d call the farm and we’d get the eggs there. They cost about half of what they do here.”

“You’re talking maybe two dollars’ worth of difference,” I said.

“Are you trying to avoid seeing Jodie?” Kara teased.

“Jess told me in the car,” I said.

“I’m not surprised. She was very worried that you were going off into one of your bouts of depression. And she thought the cure was, how did you put it, a smoking hot, red-haired, green-eyed, athletic farmer’s daughter with small breasts?”

I chuckled, “I did say that, yes.”

“The three of us, Jessica, Elyse, and I, think she’d be a nice diversion to take your mind off Samantha and everything in Chicago.”

“And my promise to you about one long-term girl? And my promise to Samantha?”

“I’d say that latter one is shot no matter what. Can you ever REALLY trust her to be that close after everything that’s happened?”

“If she’s telling the truth, I can chalk her behavior up to being immature. I was older than she was when I ran away and refused to talk to anyone until there was an intervention by Jackie and Cindi.”

“Yes, that’s true. But will you ever really know for sure? Will I? Will Jess?”

“I see your point, Honey.”

“Put the eggs back,” Kara said with an impish smile.

I nodded and put them back in the cooler. We finished our shopping and headed back to the cabin.

“Kimmy called,” Elyse said. “Lisa Glass would like a call.”

I sighed, “I bet she would. I suppose someone should sound the bell for Round 3.”

I went to the kitchen and lifted the handset from the wall-mounted phone. I dialed the number Kimmy had left. Lisa answered DURING the first ring.

“I haven’t heard from Samantha,” I said.

“She’s on a damned plane! You need to call John NOW!”

“No.”

“You prick,” Lisa spat. “You CANNOT fuck with me this way! You can’t do this!”

“Actually, it appears I can. I’m not going to lift a finger until I hear from Samantha. And your dad isn’t going to cancel the deal. He can’t do that for tax and legal reasons. I have the upper hand. You shot your last bolt.”

“I’ll tell him you attacked me!”

“You could try that. And when he asks for the police report? And the evidence? You know what will come out from that. A bit of bad press for me in the short term, your reputation ruined, and, worst of all for you, it won’t get John back! Your dad saw you hugging me and talking intimately with me at the hockey game. And I haven’t been anyplace alone with you since, and I can account for my whereabouts at ALL times.”

“Fuck you!”

“Not in this lifetime. I told you I had to hear from Samantha. When I do, THEN we can discuss everything else.”

The sound of the phone being slammed down was muted, but obvious. I hung up and walked back across the open area to the great room.

“What’s her next move?” Jessica asked.

“Two options, I think. One, she waits until Samantha arrives in Monaco and gets in touch with her and Samantha calls me. Or two, she tries to have Jeri intervene. And if she does THAT, I think we’ll have a better idea of what’s really going on.”

“What was that about a police report?”

“An empty threat that she’d tell her dad I attacked her. But if anyone on the planet can account for their whereabouts all the time, it’s me. Not to mention how she behaved at the hockey games in front of her dad, and how she acted when we signed the contract. She won’t be believed.”

“OK. Let’s put the groceries away.”

We did and Jessica noted that we didn’t buy eggs.

“Ask Kara about that,” I said with a wry smile.

“Call the farm and let them know we’re here and that you’ll be over to get eggs,” Kara smirked.

I went back to the phone and dialed the number. Bill Junior, answered and after I told him who I was, and what I wanted, he said to come over, and that I should talk to his mom about having everyone over for dinner. I told him I’d be there in fifteen minutes.

“I’ll ride with you,” Elyse said.

Of course she would. The girls had obviously planned for each of them to talk to me.

“Animals!” Stephie exclaimed gleefully. “Bunnies!”

“We’ll go see them soon, little Bunny Rabbit. I need to get eggs and you’re just playing today. Plus you need a nap soon!”

“Want to go!” she insisted.

“Come to Mommy,” Kara said sweetly and picked her up. “It’s nap time like Daddy said.”

“No!” she screeched.

“I got this, Steve,” Kara said. “Go get the eggs. I think somebody was cooped up in the car too long this morning.”

Elyse and I headed out to my car, and I set out for the Billings’ farm.

“Trifecta,” I said with a small smile.

“What?”

“First Jess, then Kara, now you. What’s YOUR spiel?”

Elyse laughed, “You looked like you were setting up for a major bout of depression. ALL of us were worried.”

“Especially Bethany, right?” I asked.

“Yes. She and Jessica talked this morning before we left.”

“I saw. I figured it was about Michelle.”

“It was. But also about you. Jessica told me about your talk in the car. I know you’ve had some experience with some very serious people and have stood up to them successfully. If you hadn’t, you probably wouldn’t be here.”

“No details, Elyse. You know that.”

“I know, but it’s true, isn’t it? You somehow got Ed off a murder charge!”

“No comment,” I said.

“A tacit admission.”

“Stop delving, Elyse. For your own good. I mean it! You do NOT want to know! Knowing puts YOU at risk and you don’t have what I have.”

“I think everyone who has tried to fuck with you has run into the cold-hearted, scheming bastard that you would be if it weren’t tempered by everything else. That’s what I think. You faced down Margaret Lundgren like you were holding four aces to her pair of threes. You apparently just smoothly and coolly handled Alec Glass. And you totally fucked over Lisa without even a thought. And all that other stuff I don’t know about.”

“And I don’t like it one bit. I’ve told you that. I may be good at it, but I don’t WANT to be Margaret Lundgren. Or Lisa. Or Dante. Or any of the other schemers out there.”

“I think you’ll run into more of them in the future, even if you avoid the ‘High Society’ bullshit you’ve been sucked into by Jeri. Don’t lose the skill. Just don’t make it your usual way of acting.”

“I suppose that’s a valid point. There WILL be people who try to fuck us over.”

“Yes. And you’ll face them down and destroy them. You did such a good job with Margaret Lundgren that she decided you were a better ally than enemy and put you on her Board!”

“True.”

“So what are you doing in this situation?”

“Well, the building deal is still on because I have the upper hand. Alec needs this more than we do. And because I knew that and didn’t take advantage of him, I have a friend and potential business partner in the future. Lisa is screwed and has no way out. She tried to fuck with me and now she’s the one who’s fucked. And not in a way that generates orgasms.”

“I don’t know, you seem to be enjoying fucking her!” Elyse teased. “Over, that is.”

“It’s not much consolation for what I think I’ve lost. Though who knows?”

“So what are you going to do?”

“A lot depends on what I find out about Samantha. If she is what Lisa says, then Jeri has been lying to me all along and, to be blunt, we’ll have to consider firing her. And I’ll probably end up off the Board, either by being asked to resign or being kicked off. And that would make Samantha just another con artist, if you will, no different from Lisa. Sadly, it makes Jeri one as well.”

“Damn. I hadn’t put all of that together that way, but you’re right. Shit. She’s our best Windows programmer. But if she’s that conniving and devious, we can’t have her around.”

“Exactly my thought. Another possibility is that Samantha was telling the truth, but that Lisa’s lies have spoiled the relationship in such a way that we can’t put it back together. That gets Jeri off the hook, gets Samantha off the hook, and makes Lisa Glass a mortal enemy akin to Brandon Littleton.”