Seven

“YES, I’VE GOT THE DETAILS, DADDY,” Melody was saying on the phone when I found her at home. Lissa and I had no more than walked in the door after practice when Kate grabbed Lissa’s hand and dragged her off to the bedroom. What’s that all about?

“Okay,” Melody continued. “You can’t invest in the partnership. That’s our domestic relationship and it just wouldn’t work. But Ice Queen Sportswear is a corporation.— No, not an S Corporation. We were advised against that.— Yeah, I think he’s a very good lawyer and he works well with our accountant.— So here’s what he says. The corporation will acquire 100 shares of common stock from the partnership. That’s one percent of what is outstanding. At that point, you can buy the hundred shares at the ask price of $3,000 per share. That’s what you wanted to invest, right? $300,000?” There was a long pause as Melody listened to her father. I took the opportunity to kiss her cheek and she held my hand. “Daddy, Tony is here. Let me put you on speaker.”

“Hi, Tony,” he said once Melody had touched the button.

“Hello, Mr. Anderson,” I answered automatically.

“Really, Tony. I’m over that. Please call me Harold.”

“Sure, Harold. Sorry I forgot.”

“Couldn’t common stock in the corporation be negotiated or sold?”

“Not technically. In any case in which a corporation is privately held, there are inherent restrictions or the corporation becomes public and is saddled with all kinds of SEC restrictions. That’s why we can’t just sell you stock of our own. The corporation has to issue it.”

“I see,” he paused. “I hate to bring this up, but what about the disposition of the stock when I ... when I’m gone?”

“Don’t talk like that, Dad,” Melody jumped in. “The treatment is going to work and you’ll be around for a long time. Maybe even see grandchildren someday.”

“I’d love that, sweetheart, but I need to be practical and keep my will updated. Can I just leave the stock to you?”

“Part of the reason you wanted to invest was so Melody would receive a share of your estate up front without the hassles of inheritance taxes and such. If you willed the stock back, it would likely look like you were giving her a gift instead of investing,” I said. “We should make the shares out to you and Lexi as joint tenants with right of survival. If she wanted to sell the stock back to the corporation, she’d take a capital loss that would offset estate taxes. If the stock is jointly owned with right of survival, there isn’t even a need to have it in the will.”

“You’re a smart man, Tony,” Harold said. “I’m afraid my mind just isn’t functioning as fast as it used to. This treatment takes it out of me.”

“Can you come out for Thanksgiving?” Melody asked.

“I don’t think so, sweetie. Your mom is coming and even though we’re talking and have stopped the divorce proceeding, she’s still pretty mad at me. I don’t blame her,” Harold sighed. “Just fax the papers to my attorney. I gave you the number. We’ll have the money deposited in your accounts by the end of the week.”

After Melody hung up, she sat there quietly and I could see a tear beginning to form in her eye. I reached down and picked her up in my arms and settled into the big chair. She cuddled up to me and cried quietly for a couple minutes.

“He just doesn’t sound good,” she whispered. “Do you think I should go out to see him again?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“If I thought my dad was dying, I wouldn’t hesitate to take another opportunity to be with him. Sweetheart, you don’t need permission to go, but if you want it, you’ve got it. Can you work out your schedule?” I asked. It seemed there was a long weekend coming up when PCAD classes would be out for a faculty conference.

“Midterms are Monday and Tuesday. I could take the rest of the week,” she said thoughtfully. “But wait! I’ll miss our Halloween party.”

“Think, lover,” I said. “What’s more important, a Halloween party or seeing your dad while you can?”

“You’re right. Thank you, darling; thank you.”

“He’s your father, Melody. Nothing is more important than family,” I said. “Speaking of which, where is the rest of our family?”

“Oh god! Molly will be home with the boys soon and Kate’s got Lissa in the bedroom. What did you do to Kate this morning?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“She grabbed me twice today and ... well ... we played with each other between classes. She actually dragged me into a janitor’s closet and fingered me until I screamed. Then when you got here, she dragged Lissa off to the bedroom. She’s acting wild.”

“Oh.”

“Come on. That’s not something you say ‘oh’ about and leave it. What did you do?”

“Well, it got started when she gave me a hand job last night and then we went to sleep. I woke up this morning with her riding me. I came but she didn’t. She said she wanted to stay on edge today. Did she come when you fingered her?”

“Well, if she did, it was a really small one. How did this get started?”

“You wouldn’t believe what she did to me last night,” I started.

I told her about the delayed response and how I came so hard after she’d stopped touching me. I left out the part about her roommate watching. At least Amber was gone when we made love this morning.

“So, she said she wanted to see how long she could stay on edge before she came today. I take it she’s rocking all her lovers on her way to a big one tonight. Who are you calling?”

“Molly. I think we’d better go meet her at Red Robin instead of bringing the boys right home. We’ll bring back food for Kate and Lissa if they ever come up for air,” Melody laughed. In two minutes, we were out the door.

Kate was moaning in the middle of the bed. Lissa had gone to sleep and Melody hid behind her, too exhausted to enjoy any more sex. I lay down on the opposite side of Kate. I wondered where her mind was just now. She stared glassy eyed at the ceiling and her body was wracked by little convulsions. As soon as I lay down beside her, she turned to look at me and reached for my cock.

I finally got it.

Damn! I can be so dense sometimes. I pulled her hand away and placed it firmly at her side. Her eyes never left mine as I moved above so I could look down at her. I lightly drew a figure eight around her breasts and repeated it several times until I was only circling her nipples. I planted my hands on the mattress on either side of her to lift myself up. Kate’s mouth was open slightly and her eyes never wavered from mine as I bent to kiss her softly. I pulled back and kept eye contact.

“It’s okay, love,” I said. “You’ve had a fun day. It’s time now. Come for me, darling.”

It took about thirty seconds. Her breathing got ragged and her eyes began to flutter. I used our old gesture and pointed two fingers to my eyes. She locked on them like they were her salvation and without moving her hands from the bed her back arched and she screamed.