Chapter 7

Lois woke up early the next morning, went to the bathroom, and then got dressed. She knew her mother would be at the kitchen praying and reading her Bible so she quietly walked to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Lois!” Helen jumped. “I didn’t hear you. You startled me.”

“Sorry Mommy,” she replied with a giggle.

“What are you doing up so early anyway?” Helen asked the teenager, taking a moment to settle her nerves.

Lois sat in the chair next to her mother and took a moment to gather her thoughts. “I wanted to talk to you some more about the Willets.”

“Oh? I thought we said all that needed saying last night,” Helen said. “I don’t want you being around that girl.”

Lois gave a small shrug of her shoulders and looked her mother in the eye. She took another breath before speaking. “After you and Daddy went to bed last night Brian came to my room.”

“Why?” Helen wanted to know.

“This is harder to say than I thought it would be,” Lois said in a quiet voice, looking away from her mother.

Helen reached over and placed her hand on top of her daughter’s hand.

“What is it?” she coaxed.

“I don’t know when I never saw her do it but Heather took some pictures of me in my bra and panties. Apparently, she texted them to Brian.”

A stern, angry look came the mother’s face and she had to calm herself down before she could speak. “That is why it is never a good idea to be doing what you’ve been doing.”

“He had another picture that shocked me even more,” Lois said, looking in her mother’s eye.

“What, what was it,” Helen had to ask even though she already knew what it had to be.

“It was a naked one of you. Brian said that Mr. Willet sent it to him after he made love to you.”

Helen took a long slow breath and let it out just as slowly. “He may have had sex with me but we most certainly did not make love.”

“So Brian wasn’t lying?”

Helen shook her head no, admitting to her indiscretions. She didn’t know how much Lois knew about what was really going on but she desperately needed to know. “What all did Brian say?”

“Just that he thought you and Dad were being two-faced about us spending time with Heather and Jimmy.”

Helen nodded her head in agreement. “What your father and I have done with the Willets has to stop. We didn’t start it, nor do we want it to continue. They more or less forced us into this situation.”

“What do you mean by the Willets? I thought it was just Mr. Willet and you?”

Just then, Gary walked into the kitchen and saw them sitting at the table. They were quiet while he poured himself a cup of coffee before joining them at the table. “What are my two beautiful ladies talking about so early in the morning?”

“About Brian and I spending time with Heather and Jimmy,” Lois said before her mother could speak.

“Honey,” Helen said looking at her husband. “She knows about the picture.”

Gary’s head dropped to his chest for a moment before he raised it and looked at his daughter. “How much do you know?”

“I know that Mom had sex with Mr. Willet.”

“Two weeks ago, Shirley and Heather came to my office at church. They pressured me into having sex with them. I tried to stop them but they would not take no for answer. At the same time, Jeff was here at the house trying to seduce your mother,” Gary explained to the girl.

“He came to the house after you left. I didn’t let him touch me then,” Helen said. “He came to the house again Sunday morning and I’m ashamed to say I let him in knowing exactly would happen. He came to visit me again yesterday. That was the picture that Brian showed you.”

“You are okay with letting another man do that with Mom?” Lois asked her father. She was surprised to see the blush rising on his cheeks.

“And you’re okay doing it?” she asked her mother and saw her cheeks reddening as well.

Lois shook her head when neither adult answered her question. “You two are disgusting. I will be at Heather’s house after school today. Don’t text me; I’ll come home when I’m ready.”

“Well,” Helen said dryly, as she watched Lois leaving the kitchen. “That went well.”

Helen waited for her children to leave for school and for Gary to leave for his office before she went to her bathroom and started to shower in preparation for seeing Jeff that morning. It was when the hot water was flowing through her hair and down her back that she realized how foolish she was being. “If I don’t go to see him then nothing will happen,” she told herself. “That’s what you want, right? To end this sordid affair?”

A determined resolve came over her as she finished her shower and dried off. She dressed in a comfortable pair of panties and bra, slipped an old housedress over her head, and started cleaning the house. She would not be seeing Jeff Willet that morning or any other morning. The more she cleaned her house, the better she felt about her decision.

She was watching the clock as she started to prepare dinner. She knew what Lois said about not being home but was hopeful that she would reconsider and join them for the evening meal. Brian was home and playing on his Xbox in his bedroom and Gary was watching the evening news on TV. Just as she was putting the spaghetti and meatballs on the table, Lois walked in the back door.

“Thank you for coming home,” Helen said to her daughter.

Lois smiled at her mother. “I’m sorry for what I said this morning. I guess this is just pretty overwhelming.”

Helen called the men to the table and soon they were gathered around holding hands as they bowed their heads to say grace. Helen had just filled her plate when there was a knock at the backdoor. She looked at her husband as he rose to his feet and answered it.

“Someone is here to see you,” he said to his wife, as he took his seat.

Helen’s face lost its color when she turned and saw Jeff standing just inside the doorway. “Mrs. Hanson, I really need to talk to you please.” He said.

Helen got to her feet and faced the man but made no attempt to get any closer to him. “We have just started eating. Whatever it is can wait until we finished,” she said in a firm voice.

“No, I really insist on speaking to you now. Privately.”

Helen turned her head to look at Gary and saw him staring straight at her not saying anything. She looked at her daughter and saw the displeasure in her eyes before looking at Brian and seeing his wicked sneer. She turned back to Jeff and took a deep breath. “Okay, uh, follow me.”

She felt the guilt and the shame flood her mind as her resolved determination from that morning evaporated into thin air. She led Jeff to her bedroom, closed the door behind her, and then locked it. “The door stays closed this time.”