Chapter 47

Monday evening, Dec 4, 2028

The first match of the volleyball playoffs was Monday evening. Addie went to Ontario with Sheila to help her interview for her replacement as assistant, and I didn’t see her the rest of the day until the match.

They were playing the team that finished fourth during the season. The crowd was much larger than it had ever been before at the playoffs. I accredited it largely to Addie’s team uniforms; they were sexy as hell and everyone knew it by then. The kids and I were there, cheering every point. After losing the last game of the regular season, Addie’s team was as sharp as they’d been all season and won both sets by huge margins. They made it look easy, which it had been. One more match for the league championship.

After we got home, Addie told me she’d talked to Nicki about the wedding and Samuel’s plan. She seemed pleased, so I assumed it was good news, that, hopefully, she wasn’t losing Nicki.

First, she said that Nicki and Samuel had decided on a date of December 30th. They had wanted to get married before Christmas, but there just wasn’t time. Besides, I think Nicki was thinking about Addie’s stores. She knew that all the stores would close for her wedding and didn’t want Adriana to lose one of her most profitable days, right before Christmas.

Secondly, which thrilled Addie, Samuel is moving to Mountain Home. Nicki said that he knew how much she loved her job and couldn’t take her away. Besides, he and Lily didn’t have any family or any real reason to stay in Sacramento.

Addie was absolutely ecstatic about the news. So much so, in fact, that I hoped she’d relent on her no sex commitment. Didn’t happen. As a matter of fact, after we went to bed, she teased me about the redhead, Ginger; you know, innocuous things like ‘did her pussy feel good?’ ‘did she like to have her nipples sucked?’ ‘does she like to fuck or make love?’ Just the kinds of things to make me forget how fuckin’ horny I was!

I didn’t get a chance to call Joanie about babysitting over Addie’s grand opening weekend until Tuesday afternoon after school. She said she couldn’t watch them until Friday after school but could pick them up from school and watch them over the weekend if we needed. I told her that I’d let her know if our parents wouldn’t be able to watch them. She thought it was cool that Addie was opening another store, even if it was that far away.

I called my mom to see if they could watch them over the weekend, explaining that we were going to be at Addie’s new store opening over the weekend. She said they’d love to watch the kids; except they’d already made arrangements to go out to dinner on Saturday with Laura and Travis. Apparently, they’d worked out any problems they might have had. I’ll be looking forward to hearing about that dinner.

I called Joanie back and told her, yes, please, we’d like her to pick them up and keep them over the weekend. She sounded pleased. I know she doesn’t sit them just for the money, but she was probably thinking about what she’d earn for a whole weekend.

Tuesday, Addie told me she was disappointed with the interviews in Ontario; they didn’t find anyone they were comfortable with for the full-time job but did hire a young guy as a temp. He’s starting Thursday and is a possibility for the full-time.

Then we talked about a wedding gift for Nicki and Samuel. I suggested a trip to Hawaii, along with an extra vacation week. “Better idea, Disney World with the kids,” she said. Yeah, great idea, I thought. It would be perfect. I told her that I knew just the person to help with the trip – Ginger. She owns her own travel agency.

Addie hadn’t mentioned it the night before; she was having too much fun torturing me, I think, but she told me that Samuel’s going to be here off and on looking for a job. Too bad he’s going to be so far from Ontario. Maybe he’d make a good assistant to Sheila. Probably not, he’ll want something a bit more upscale than that. Maybe there’s an athletic club in town that needs someone. That’s probably where he’ll be looking.

The rest of the day and all day Wednesday were pretty ordinary. Until Wednesday night, that is. That was the final volleyball championship match. During the season, Addie’s team had beaten the team they were playing twice. The second match during the season was close, two sets to one and those last couple points that decided it could have gone either way. Adriana wasn’t taking anything for granted. After how well they played Monday, though, she was reasonably confident.

Both our sets of parents came to the game and we all sat together. I could tell that there was a definite sexual tension between our parents. Mom and Dad sat in the bleachers right in front of Travis and Laura and I noticed Dad’s hand reaching behind him and rubbing up and down Laura’s ankle almost as soon as we all sat down. Travis was right behind Mom and was gently scratching the back of her neck. Other than little things like that, they were fairly well-behaved.

The first set started out as a disaster. Nothing was going right, and Addie and team were behind 24-16. The set-point was probably the longest volley of the entire season, both teams playing probably the best volleyball of the whole season before Kayla slammed the ball straight down, through the other girl’s outstretched hands, absolutely impossible to return.

After that, they ran off nine straight points, winning the set 26-24. The second set, neither team had more than a point or two advantage the entire set and after the score was tied at twenty-five, Addie’s team had three match points and the other team two set points before we finally won the set, match, and City Championship 32-30! The final point was an incredible out-of-bounds save by Diane, the oldest player, then Crystal setting up a perfect slam by Jamie, a second-year player.

Everyone on the team and our share of the stands exploded in excitement when the ball hit the floor just barely in-bounds; their second consecutive championship win. I did feel bad for the other team; they just collapsed in exhaustion and disappointment. There was no doubt it had been the best and most exciting two-set match of the entire season. Maybe ever in this league, ever!

It was after eleven when Addie and Nicki finally got home. I’d put the kids to bed long before, Livvy with Katie. Adriana had taken the team to the Balcony Club, a nightclub we’d been to a couple times, for the celebration. As the coach and ‘owner’ of the team, Addie had the trophy, which she proudly set on the kitchen table. It’ll go to the store tomorrow, in the case with the rest of their trophies.

Addie and Nicki were still excited when they got home. You’d have thought this was their first-ever championship and was completely unexpected. Of course, I guess it was Nicki’s. “Nicki had a little too much to drink to drive. She’s going to spend the night,” Addie told me. She gathered some blankets from the hall closet and an extra pillow from Kev’s room. Our couch isn’t a fold-out, but it is comfortable to sleep on.

Then Addie and I went to our bedroom to give Nicki a little privacy to undress. After I closed the door behind us, Addie couldn’t contain herself, “Did you see that save?” she excitedly asked me, “it must have been at least ten feet out! And Nicki, how she managed to get underneath the slam ... and then nine straight!” Addie was beside herself. And with good reason, that was an incredible series. The whole match was.

When Addie climbed in bed with me, naked, naturally, she said, still excited, “I’m so fuckin’ horny!” Then, just as I was getting my hopes up, Addie nuzzling my neck, “Too bad ... we aren’t...”

Crap! But if I was going to suffer, so, damn, was she! I scooted down just a bit and took her right nipple in my mouth, sucking hard, Addie arching her back and groaning at my lips around her tit. Her hands went around my head, pulling me tighter to her, but I reached up, capturing one of her hands and pushed it down between her legs on the baby-soft skin of her pussy lips.

She didn’t resist the temptation to rub herself and, still devouring that tit with my mouth, I pushed her fingers between her lips into her cunt. God, I wanted it to be my cock instead of her fingers!

Addie spread her legs apart and pushed her fingers inside, moaning and thrusting out her pelvis, “Oh God, Oh God!” she was moaning out. That volleyball win had really turned her on-switch!

I encouraged her on, adding two of my own fingers to her pussy, pushing hers even deeper, right up to the point where her wailing was telling me she was on the verge of a powerful orgasm and I pulled her hand away, my mouth off her tit, blowing on her wet nipple and watched her writhing, trying to achieve the orgasm I’d just denied her.

When she came back down to earth, frustrated, her first words were, “I hate you!”

I laughed and told her, “Your rules, sweetheart. Now go to sleep.”

She spent the next hour tossing and turning and I enjoyed every second, except for the fact of being awake and so fuckin’ horny myself!

I hoped Nicki hadn’t heard. No, actually, I kind of hoped she had. I don’t know if she did or not. She was up and gone with Livvy early in the morning. Addie and I were up, but we hardly had any chance to talk to her, not that she’d have said anything anyway.

Thursday was one of those rare days that I met Addie for lunch. I don’t know why, but we seldom had lunch together. She mentioned it, too, why we didn’t make a habit out of it. She’d called me and told me she needed to talk to me, so we met at the Country Junction, a little place with a western atmosphere and really, really good hamburgers.

“I talked to Susan this morning,” she told me, “she’s feeling pretty overwhelmed, with the store filling up with deliveries. She said she had to fire the guy she hired to help and was wondering if you could come over earlier ... like maybe tomorrow?” looking at me expectantly.

I was surprised, I was already planning to spend all the next week helping her, “Sure, guess I can. It’s a long time to be away from home, though. The kids won’t be happy about it.”

Addie frowned, “I know, neither am I. But Susan sounded almost desperate. She doesn’t know what else to do in order to be ready for opening next Saturday. Hopefully, she can find another guy to help. I guess the kid she hired, well, not a kid exactly, but he acted like one, wouldn’t do anything but check his phone all day.”

Okay, I’ll admit it, the thought of the possibility of nine nights with Ginger fleetingly passed through my pea-sized-brain.

“Okay, I’ll take the kids to school in the morning, then head over there, I guess,” I told her. They definitely wouldn’t be very happy. The longest I’d ever been away from them was the five days of Adriana’s reunion.

I couldn’t help but grin to myself, what I’d just done. I almost always thought of my wife as ‘Addie’ now, but thinking back to then, she was ‘Adriana’ again.

Addie looked relieved, “Thanks, sweet, I know it’s going to be a long week for me and the kids.”

We finished our hamburgers, then before leaving, she asked, “One more thing. Could you check with Daryl, see if he has anything you could take over. Susan hasn’t been able to find a good leather-works shop she’s satisfied with.”

Even after all this time, since Addie told him she couldn’t see him again, she was still having me do all the business with him. I had to hand it to him, even with as fast as he’s had to expand to supply our four stores, he’s kept his quality just as high. It’s been lucrative for both of us.

“I’ll give him a call this afternoon. See if he can have something ready for me to pick up tomorrow.”

When I called him later, he told me that he’d just sent a big shipment to Mountain Home but promised to send it by the middle of next week. He laughed and said, “Think I’m going to need a bigger building.”

“Yeah,” I told him, “I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the end of Adriana’s expansion.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end and I realized what I’d done. I’d vowed to not talk about Adriana with Daryl, not even mention her name. He obviously still had a pretty big thing for her. And the scary thing was that I was pretty sure she did for him, too. I wished to hell that he’d find a woman other than my wife.

“Think I’ll start looking,” was all he said. I hoped he meant something other than just a bigger building.

I was relieved to get off the phone with him. It’s a little awkward doing business with a guy who’s in love with my wife. I try to keep it just business, but still ... I had to chuckle at myself a little, some of our ‘business’ relationships had seemed to go a tiny bit beyond.

That evening after dinner, we told the kids that Daddy was going out of town to the new store tomorrow morning and would be gone a little over a week. They both pouted but perked up a bit when we got out the Candyland and Chutes and Ladders games. I’ll be so glad when we can advance to something a little more adult, like Monotony, oops, Monopoly.

Even Zuse and Rascal, our two doggies, seemed to know that something different was going on. They lay on their bed in front of the TV, pouting, like they always do when they know we’re going someplace, and they don’t get to go. How they knew I wasleaving, I have no idea.

Anyway, the four of us played games until well after the kids’ bedtime, then Addie and I took turns reading stories to each of them in bed. Fortunately, they’ve moved on from Winnie the Pooh and Brer Rabbit to several books we bought them at the school book fair. They still liked to read those two to themselves, but when Mom and Dad read, they liked different stories that they couldn’t read themselves. Katie had really begun to like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Kevin, Hansel and Gretel and The Pied Piper.

It was late and they were both asleep before their stories were finished. Then it was time for Addie and me to go to bed.

It had been five long nights since Addie and I had made love and when she climbed in bed wearing another silk nightie, my hopes were up that she’d maybe changed her mind about waiting. Especially when she pressed her body against mine and kissed me, hard. Lots of tongue.

When she pulled her lips away from mine, she asked, “You going to call your girlfriend about those extra nights?”

I nodded, “Yeah, probably, I’ll let her know I can stay in a hotel if she’s busy, though.”

She was quiet a minute or two, then softly said, “I don’t want you to tell me.”

I pulled back, confused, “What? You don’t want me to tell you what?” I asked her.

“About Ginger, what you and her do, even whether or not you’re with her the next two nights.”

I was even more confused. We’d always been open with each other, then it hit me, “Why, you jealous?”

Addie’s face turned red. “You are, aren’t you? You’re jealous of me and Ginger together next week.” I was actually quite incredulous. I never thought about the possibility of Addie being jealous of me sleeping with someone else.

“I ... just think ... you’d be freer with her...” I was watching Addie’s face and saw a tear fall from her eyes, “Yes, dammit, I am! You’re going to be with her for what, eight or nine nights? She’s pretty, she’s single ... and you’ve already told me how much you like her. What if... ?”

She left the question unasked. “Honey, I...” I started to tell her, reassure her, but then thought about how badly she’d scared me so many times. And how hot it had been. With Daryl, with Jonah, with Samuel, with Nick, Nick ... still. I knew, but thought it might be good for her to wonder, even to worry.

What I did do was pull her tight and my hips started moving against her. Addie moaned and began to respond, throwing her leg over me and pressing her panty-clad pussy against my hardness. Her moaning intensified when I scooted down and engulfed one of her silk-covered breasts in my mouth. For just a moment. Then she pulled away and breathlessly said, “No, we made a commitment and we’re keeping it. You’re saving yourself for your lady-friend.”

I rolled over on my back and groaned. God, I was horny!

“I got a call from Tawns today,” Addie announced out of nowhere, a few minutes later, she’s going back to the Playboy Mansion tonight. Says they’re announcing the Playmate of the Year tomorrow.”

Great, that image of Tanya on that three-page foldout flashed through my already lust-addled brain. “I guess she’ll call you tomorrow after the announcement?”

“Said I’d be her second phone call, right after Tanner. She’s so nervous about it.”

“Well, I think she should be a shoo-in.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I haven’t ever seen a woman who compares with her. Even considering the fact that I might be a bit prejudiced after sleeping with her several times.

“Found an agent, too. She’s going to contact Victoria’s Secret next week.”

“Who, the agent? The agent’s a woman?” I don’t know why that surprised me; it just did. My sexism poking up its ugly head, I guess.

“Yeah, she is. Tawns said her name’s Michelle, Michelle Romanowski. She’s a one-woman agency but handles several big-name models. Says Michelle told her to wait until after the announcement to contact VS cuz her value would go up ... WAY up if she’s selected. She has some other suggestions to talk to Tanya about, too, but she didn’t get into them.”

Wow, I couldn’t help but wonder, “What do you suppose... ?”

“Pretty incredible, huh. Sounds like their life is going to be a lot different.”

I closed my eyes, those pictures of Tanya scrolling through my mind before I dozed off.

Friday morning, I was up early, packing a suitcase and watching my gorgeous wife sleeping, her coal-black hair spread across her pillow, picturing a different face and long, red hair, wondering what it was going to be like waking up next to a different woman the next nine mornings.

Addie finally got up and we got the kids ready for school. I took them and hugged each tightly before they got out of the Jeep. I told them I’d be sure and call on video every night.

I couldn’t stop crying a little on my way home. I have never been away from my kids for that long.

Addie was home waiting for me. I loaded my suitcase and garment bag with her watching my every move. When the Jeep was loaded and I was ready to go, she stood by the door, tears running down her cheeks. “I’ll call you every night,” I told her.

“No,” she said, wiping her eyes and cheeks, “I don’t want to know. I told you last night, I meant it.”

I know she said it, but I thought that today she’d see things a bit differently. Guess not. “Okay,” I told her, “but I’ll call the kids.”

She softened on it, “We can talk, I just don’t want you to tell me anything about Ginger.”

I nodded. I could do that. Then it was time for me to leave. Susan needed the help. We gave each other a short kiss and I climbed in the Jeep.

Addie stood in the front door watching me as I left. I hadn’t expected her to be quite so emotional. She really was jealous.

I waited until I was well out of Boise before calling Ginger. She was thrilled that I’d be there a couple days earlier than I planned. Said that I most definitely was NOT staying in a hotel.

It was mid-afternoon when I got to Richland. I wanted to find Ginger, except that I’d come to help Susan, not flirt with a woman. Plus, the little fact that I had no idea where her travel agency might be. I guess I could have looked on the internet, but I really did have to help Susan.

So, instead of doing what I wanted, I drove down George Washington Way and watched for something that looked like a new store. Addie had forgotten to give me one little detail – the address. All I knew was that it was on GW Way. Then I saw it; her trademark wooden sign in the window saying ‘Hidden Gems’, and the white paper with ‘Grand Opening December 16’ written several places in big letters.

I found a parking place, conveniently in a public lot just across the street, got out of the Jeep, crossed the street and knocked on the locked door. A few seconds later, it opened and Susan’s face peeked out, “Oh, hi,” she said, “glad you’re here.”

She let me in and I could immediately see why she’d panicked; the ‘Grand Opening’ signs in the window and a store filled with nearly empty shelving and stacks and stacks of unopened boxes filling the aisles. I remembered Addie telling me that the old furniture store was bigger than she really wanted, but it looked like it was going to be filled with her merchandise ... eventually, after a LOT of work. I could see why Susan was desperate. It looked like an endless job. “There’s still more stuff coming in,” she groaned.

“Guess I better get to work then,” I told her.

She pointed out generally where, in the store, she wanted things, so I started helping with unboxing. The project was complicated even more by the fact that everything was in the way of everything else. Every box we unpacked needed to go somewhere where we could hardly get to for other boxes in the aisles. “Wish there was a little bigger back room, it’s full, too,” Susan explained.

While we were working, I noticed Susan. As a woman. She’d always been just ‘Susan’, Addie’s first store manager; professional, efficient, pleasant, but never even remotely in any kind of sexual way. After Addie’s revelation to me that Susan and her husband belonged to that spouse swap club, I’d thought about her. Now, seeing her in that light, I realized how attractive a woman she was. She’s fifty-six, a little older than Addie’s and my parents ... and Ginger, for that matter. I was really learning to appreciate the beauty and sexiness of mature, older women.

Her pretty, golden-blond hair has always been in a bun. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it down. Now, I wondered what it was like. After all those years working for us, I don’t even know how long it is. She has an attractive, not beautiful face, never any makeup. I’ve never thought about it before, but now I wonder what she’d look like with a little makeup and her hair curling around and framing her face? Much prettier, I’d bet. And I’ve never seen her in anything figure-fitting, either, always loose. Even when she and John, her husband, have been out to dinner with us.

Our work was going well. Two of us working on it made a huge difference. Once, while we were working side-by-side, I blurted out, without really thinking, “Susan, why do you always wear your hair in a bun? It’s such a pretty color. I bet it’d be beautiful down.”

She laughed, “Adriana told you, didn’t she?”

Now it was my turn to laugh, “How could she not?”

“So, do I get to meet your girlfriend? Adriana says I’ll meet her boyfriend. Fair’s fair.”

“You going to let your hair down for us?”

She hesitated a minute, “Tomorrow.”

I smiled, “Ginger shouldn’t be working. I’ll see if she’ll come with me.”

Now it was Susan’s turn to be tickled. She looked around the store at all the boxes and what we’d already accomplished, “We get enough done tomorrow, maybe we can take Sunday off ... oh, by the way, I’m interviewing some more Monday morning. Hopefully, find someone that’ll fit in with what we need.”

“Cool, male or female?”

“Couple of both. I narrowed it down to four. Ended up being two men and two women. You want to sit in?”

“Nah, you got it. I’ll work on unpacking.” Interviewing is not my thing.

She never did tell me why she always wears her hair in a bun all the time.

At six, I took some time off, hid in Susan’s little office, and called home. Addie answered and I told her I’d made it and understood why Susan said she needed the help. We talked about the store a bit, then we both put our phones on video and she called the kids in the room. We talked for the next twenty minutes until Susan poked her head in the door and said that she was going home. Since she had the key to lock the door, I told the kids that Daddy had to go, but I’d call again Saturday.

On the way out, Susan said she was going to get a couple more keys made.

Then it was time for what I’d been looking forward to all day, seeing Ginger again. I was nervous walking up the step to her door, my heart beating a hole in my chest, but nothing like the time before, just a little over a month earlier. I remembered that time; no idea of the woman on the other side of the door, scared to death all day, within about half-a-second of fleeing when she answered the door. Then a beautiful red-head with a smile on her face pulled me in the house and into her life.

This time I knew the person on the other side of the door; a beautiful, intelligent, warm woman who was eagerly awaiting my arrival. And not just for a single date, but to be her lover for the next week-plus.

She opened the door, the same smile on her face, beautiful as she was the first time, even more so as I knew a little about her, not just her appearance. She kissed me and pulled me in. Her perfume was so feminine, but there was another smell in the house. When she realized what I was thinking, she said, “Lasagna, your wife texted me with your favorite food. Be done in about a half-hour.”

If you’ve read many of these, you know how much I love lasagna. But it was the last thing I was thinking about that night. Ginger’s beautiful red hair down below her waist, sparkling green eyes, and she was wearing a pair of tight pants with a white, silky blouse. Nothing overtly sexy, just ... God, I was horny!

I followed her in the kitchen, not taking my eyes off that sexy butt with the red hair falling over it, and watched her mixing up a salad. I think she was a little nervous, too. “I’ve been looking forward to this ever since...” she said.

“So have I. I wasn’t sure it’d happen, though, especially like this.”

She turned and gave me a smile, “I’m glad it did.” She turned back to her salad and commented, “Lasagna was one of Eric’s favorites, too. I haven’t made it since he died ... it brings back happy memories.”

I had no idea what to say to that. I couldn’t imagine, what if it had been me, and it was Adriana I was remembering. “I’m sorry,” was all I said. So lame!

She smiled, “No, don’t be, it just brought back a happy memory is all. I’m fine. Time to start making new memories ... and last time was a very happy memory.”

She puttered around the next few minutes, putting the salad, plates, and silverware on the table. It wasn’t particularly erotic, yet it was. My hard-on had diminished a little, but was still there, reminding me of its presence with every move I made.

I wasn’t sure exactly how old Ginger was, but knew she had to be in her early fifties, and I had no idea how a woman could keep a figure like she had. I smiled to myself, knowing that my wife would, judging from her mother. It was no wonder that my dad was so enamored with Laura.

We sat down to eat and I told Ginger about the store, thanking her for the tip about the vacant building. She told me a little more about her travel agency business and her lasagna was outstanding.

“Susan asked if you’d like to come to the store tomorrow. She’d like to meet you.”

“And put me to work, probably,” she laughed.

I chuckled at that, “Yeah, that might be on her mind. She said if we get enough done tomorrow that maybe Sunday would be an off-day.”

“Well then, I’m your girl. I’d love to have you all to myself for a whole day.” Another grin, “But first, I’ve got you tonight,” with a sexy, sly grin on her face. My primary brain made another little leap in my pants.

We finished dinner, then cleaned up the dishes. After dinner, Ginger turned her satellite system on to a soft rock music channel and we sat on her couch in the living room. She leaned over and kissed me; it started out a gentle kiss on the lips, then gradually developed into something more – a lot more. By the time Ginger broke away, we were both breathing deeply and my little brain had grown to something also a lot more.

“I want you to make love with me tonight,” Ginger whispered, her lips about half an inch from mine, as she started to unbutton her blouse.

It had been a grand total of six nights ago that Addie and I had made love, an eternity. While I sat watching her, stunned, Ginger continued unbuttoning her blouse and slowly slipped it off her shoulders, then down her arms, leaving her satin, green push-up bra and lots of sexy cleavage.

This time I kissed her. Our mouths interlocked, lips open and searching. My arms went around her, over her long hair, my shaking hands trying to move hair out of the way and probing for the clasp of her bra. I finally found it and managed to get it undone, letting her bra fall on the floor beside her top. Any previous thoughts about Adriana, our parents or anything else except making love with this woman were long gone. My whole body was trembling with the lust I was feeling.

She led me to her bedroom, her back bare; with long, red hair caressing it, almost impossible to take my eyes away from. No, not ‘almost’. Inside her room, she turned, pulled my hands to her hips and said in her sultry voice, “Take them off.” God!

My fingers were shaking and barely working, trying to unbutton the two rows of buttons on the sides of Ginger’s hips. I’d never seen pants like those before, but damn, I wasn’t complaining! While I was working unsuccessfully with the buttons, she pulled me in close again, pressing her bare breasts against my shirt and her lips against mine.