Chapter 42

Once again, I apologize for the long delay between chapters. Life and a long bit of writer’s block seemed to get in the way. Fortunately, the next couple chapters are already nearly finished. This chapter was intended to be much longer but it made sense to publish it into two sections.

Late evening, July 11, 2020 at the Calgary Stampede Saturday evening dance.

“Folks,” the band’s lead singer began, “what we just saw was all a part of a scene from an upcoming movie. I don’t know the name, but it’s intended to be released Thanksgiving weekend. I’m sure it’ll be publicized enough so we’ll all know, and I don’t know about you but I intend to be among the first to see it.”

Jenny and I hurried back to our group, gathered them, and headed out the back door, hoping to find Dani before ... Before what? I had no idea what I had been thinking, my brain was still on hiatus. All I knew was that I had to find my wife.

Hell yeah, I knew ‘before what’. Before she’d gone with Josh fucking Brolin to his hotel room!

She hadn’t, she was standing outside the studio’s trailer, watching for us. I rushed to her, wrapping our arms around each other, kissing her. I hadn’t even noticed Tony, her director, standing alongside, but I’ll never forget his words, “That’s a wrap.”

I looked over at him, standing there with a huge grin on his face, giving me a big thumbs-up, and then his next words shot straight through me, “Take her home.”

That four-mile drive from the rodeo grounds to our hotel seemed the longest we’d ever been on. At least we’d left before the dance was over so we could get out of the parking lot with no delay. Jon drove, Jodi, Dani, and I in the back seat. What I wanted to do, and what I was pretty sure Dani wanted was just a bit uncomfortable with our children in the car. The silence between us didn’t seem even a little awkward as Dani and I simply held each other.

But the shaking I felt, coming from Dani’s body ... anticipation?

No one recognized Dani as we walked through the lobby to the elevator. I wondered what it would be like in a few months after her movie was released. I was betting it’d be a hell of a lot different, not that I particularly cared at that moment.

I closed the room door behind us, and for the first time since May third, over two months earlier, Dani and I were together, alone. We stood, looking at each other, Dani’s arms around my neck, mine around her waist. “I...”

She interrupted my little speech with her lips on mine. It started out slowly, calmly, and quickly accelerated into something completely different. I pulled away from her for just an instant, needing to finish my speech, “Missed you,” I said.

And then our kiss resumed, becoming an out-of-control inferno. I’d try to describe it, but words fail me.

She breathlessly told me, “I haven’t ... since... “ I silenced her with another kiss, and then we fell backward on the bed, frantically pulling at clothes.

I don’t think I’d ever experienced anything quite so satisfying as when my cock pushed inside my wife, hearing her loud groan and feeling her legs wrap around me, pulling herself deeper onto me. So. Fucking. Tight!

I’d love to be able to say that Dani and I made love for the next thirty minutes, but in truth, it was the third hard thrust into her that I felt her tensing, letting out a loud wail, and her pussy clamped down on me as our bodies shuddered together, and I let out a huge groan as my dick erupted deep inside her.

It may not have been the most long-lasting sex between us, but it sure as hell was one of the most satisfying. That and our first time after my coma recovery had to be just about the top two.

Dani was exhausted after the day she’d had, asleep in minutes afterward, the two of us spooning, me with an arm around her, cupping her breast. I had so many questions, but that contented purr as Dani drifted off to sleep in my arms was the only answer I needed right then.

I woke up the next morning with a HUGE morning wood. Dani was already up, and I heard the shower running in the bathroom. I guess living the ‘ranching’ life had acclimated her to early mornings.

No way in hell was I going to let that big shower go to waste, especially when last night had been our first time in so long, and it was only once ... after two very long months.

I stood outside the open door admiring my wife washing her hair through the shower’s sheer curtain. She’d been letting it grow since she’d been selected for the part. I love her long hair, so soft and silky, down her back like I’d been trying to get her to let it grow practically since we’d married.

God, she looked sexy, the water flowing over her body, her breasts, down her flat tummy. I stood there, dumbfounded how a forty-eight-year-old woman could look like she did. As far as I could remember, Dani and I had never ... I remembered the time with Elle, not long ago, wondering how Dani and I had skipped out on one of life’s greatest pleasures for so long.

I stepped in, then pushed the curtain aside, stepping inside the shower with her, and immediately pressed my hands to her breasts, feeling her nipples harden almost instantly under my fingers.

Dani’s smile, the way it grew, “Mmm, I was hoping you’d wake up,” Dani told me right before she pressed her lips to mine...

We consummated our union once again that morning in that shower stall, the most thrilling, and probably the longest shower of our lives.

Dani was like a wild woman, scratching her fingernails down my back as I sucked her breasts in my mouth, one, then the other, then when I thrust my cock into her, the hot water streaming down our bodies, her wails of pleasure ... and my own.

I will never, ever think of a shower the same way again!

The following week was the beginning of a return to normal. If you can say that a Monday morning deposit in your checking account of $659,874, after taxes, after Dani’s ten-percent agent fee, is ‘normal’. And Amanda, her agent, had told Dani that that would only be a tiny part of her compensation once the movie is released.

Her real earnings would come from the four percent payment from the gross receipts, which, she said would include Blu-ray sales, streaming, and any other receipts. That, she said, would no doubt be in the millions - PLURAL.

It was a bit much to take in, just how much our lives were about to change. Except, we weren’t so sure how much we wanted a lot of change.

One thing Dani knew was going to have to change, although it was the one thing she loved more than any, was her teaching. She called the school’s superintendent Monday morning to make an appointment. She was scared to death to talk to him, knowing what the result most likely would be.

Another call was to the Alvarez’s to make an appointment with an escrow company for the farm’s closing. I made that call from the Pasco store which seemed busier than ever that morning. I didn’t think I’d ever get a few free minutes for one short phone call. It was after eleven when I finally had a few minutes to myself. Later, Mr. Alvarez called back and said we had an appointment with Escrow at one pm, on Tuesday. He said he’d already talked to them and all the papers were ready, only awaiting a date, money, and signatures.

I followed that call with another to Wade, our contractor, telling him that he could begin work at the farm as soon as possible. He told me he’d worked up an estimate, probably around $200,000, maybe another fifty to restore the barn. I wasn’t surprised at the cost with the extent of work it needed; the inside completely stripped, new plumbing, wiring, pretty much everything except the shell. Even the old stone foundation needed replacing. He assured me it was going to be beautiful when finished, though, and still maintain its original atmosphere.

Dani hadn’t called or texted me after meeting with the superintendent but that evening she was upset and shaking. “I talked to Troy, he said ... he didn’t think it would work. I told him there’s nudity. He said he’d never regretted anything more but... “ and she broke down, crying.

I got up and found a box of napkins, handing it to her. “I know he’s right,” she finally said after she got at least in a little bit of control. “Maybe eventually...”

I didn’t know what to say, I knew how much Dani had always loved teaching and just hoped that it wouldn’t be gone from her life forever.

Then a thought popped into my mind, “Maybe you should think about college level ... or do you think there might be another movie in your future?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know, nothing was said, but ... maybe... “ she sat, thinking, “college ... maybe...”

“Not to change the subject,” I said, “but here are the plans for the house,” I told her, rolling them out on the coffee table.

It seemed to take Dani’s mind from her disappointment, studying the floor plan. The cabinets were all detailed, drawings of the proposed wall material, barn-type wood, and wallpaper. “We can pick out the wallpaper ... or something else if you want.”

“No, I love that, Grandma and Grandpa had wallpaper, except it was so faded, I think it would be perfect. But...” she pointed to the kitchen wall, “a window, there needs to be a window there. I always used to wish there was, it’s such a nice view out to the tree in the yard and corral.” She studied it a bit longer, “The bedroom and living room windows, they need to be bigger, too.”

I smiled, thinking that this was perfect to keep her mind off what she was losing, “Why don’t I make an appointment with Ashley, she’s the architect, you can go over these with her.” I remembered my news of the day, too, “Oh yeah, one more little thing, tomorrow afternoon at one, we’re meeting with the Alvarezes,” a big smile crossed my face, “tomorrow by this time, we’re going to own your grandparents’ farm!”

Dani looked at me, tears starting anew. She threw her arms around my neck and held on, softly crying, this time happy tears, “I love you, you know that!” she said.

Tuesday morning at ten, we were at the bank (after a VERY nice ‘shower’ that morning), leaving with a certified check in hand for $325,000. It was disappointing that Elle hadn’t been there, I’d asked about her, but she was at another branch that day.

A little over six hours later, we were on our way home, very big smiles on our faces, an ancient set of keys in Dani’s purse, proud owners of the newly named Shore Acres Farm.

We drove by it, this time unlocking the padlocked gate, pulling into the driveway, and for the first time in umpteen years, Dani was back inside her grandparents’ house. She walked from room to room, not saying a word. Finally, back in the kitchen, pointing to a wall, “That’s where I want a window.” She led me out the back door, “See that Elm tree,” pointing out a giant tree just outside the yard, “that’ll be the view outside that window.” She was right, it was going to be a beautiful view once the yard was renewed, and the fence and corral rebuilt. There was going to be a LOT of work coming up.