Chapter 2

All Characters are 14 years or older and should be seen as such.

Well a few days later I went to Genine’s office and was amazed. She gave me a full three dimensional model of what I should do to the place. I could move around in the spaces and see what it would look like if I did what she had designed and it was fabulous. Not my taste in the least, but damn it looked good. When we went off the more technical details of what to do, it looked like about a month’s work was ahead of me.

That weekend I gave the CD of the project to Fran to take home with her. She told me that her mom had asked a couple of times, very off handed of course, about my hair brained investment idea. She had more than a few questions about the trip and seemed amazed that I had taken time away from my precious business to actually take a vacation at all. It seemed that after hearing about all the fun and adventure, edited of course, she seemed to resent Fran a little more than usual. Rene seemed miffed that I would do this for Fran and rarely had for her.

After that I got in touch with the Home owners association and filed permits with them to cause a disturbance in order to do the remodel. I was allowed to bring a crew on site but only after a background check, I had to keep the number of people below five, and I had a small window of time every day during the week to work on the place. I pulled a few guys from each of my work crews, with the foreman’s permission of course, and decided that with all things considered it was better to just get it done rather than make it my usual “live there and work when I could” kind of project.

Things were coming along great when the weekend came. Normally I would pick Fran up from school on Friday and drop her at school on Monday. This time however Rene had requested I pick her up at the house after school because she had a few things she wanted to talk about. This was new and unprecedented. Rene and I hadn’t talked about anything since the day I had moved out. Normally if there was something changing about the situation it was through Fran or Rene’s lawyer.

I arrived on time as usual and waited in the truck. Rene came walking out, waved at me and invited me in. This was unheard of. I hadn’t stepped one foot in the door since I left. I got out and headed to the door. “Come on in Sam, I wanted to talk to you about some things.” I closed the door and looked around. It was mostly the same as the last time I remembered. That meant to me that it could use a new coat of paint, and a few other improvements. We went into the kitchen and it looked rather neglected as I looked around.

“You know I would be glad to come in and give the place a new coat of paint if you wanted.” She looked at me oddly. “No I wouldn’t charge you for any of it. In fact I would be glad to even do a few upgrades in here.” She arched her eyebrow at me. “Is that how you act when you go to a person’s house? Just look at how to do things to it?” I nodded. “You ought to know that is how my mind works Rene. Plus I was making an offer of help not being critical.” She shrugged and tried to get nice again.

“Fran tells me the two of you really got along great on your little vacation. She even asked if she could go to you during more of her vacations this year.” I shrugged at her. “Well we did get along a lot better this year. She’s getting older, understands me better, and I’m getting to the point that since I can’t keep up with the young guys on the crew it would be smarter to back away from the details and just work on the big picture. That gave me a different perspective on what I should be doing.”

I could see her seethe a little. “Well if that is the case maybe she is getting old enough, and your slowing down enough, that the two of you can be together more often.” I gave her the impression this was a surprise. “That sounds like a great idea to me. Do you have any ideas on which vacations?” I kept my expectations low. “Well I was hoping to make a full switch with you. I would do the weekends and summer and you could have her full time.” I was stunned. This had happened much faster than I had planned.

“Well that would be great, but since I don’t have a real address at the moment her schooling and such would get complicated. I can’t just rip her out of her life, and her friends. That was why I didn’t fight about giving you the house and everything in the settlement. This isn’t just a house for her it’s her home. She has too many connections to uproot her for my desires.” A little twitch of a smile told me I was saying just what she hoped I would say.

She tried to give a concerned look. “How is it going with that condo?” she asked. “Well I had a professional interior design company come in and help me create a whole new look for the place. I think in about a month I will have it looking good enough I can flip it for a tidy profit. In fact from what I gather it will be more modernized than the other units in the area so it will ask for a much higher price than other units in the same complex.” She had a slight dreamy look on her face. “In fact the young woman who designed it told me that because of its location and the benefits of the Home owners association she was hoping to get a first go at picking it up when I was done.” Nothing like adding competition to wet Rene’s appetite.

“Do you think it would be as valuable as this house?” I wanted to jump for joy that she was taking the bait so well. Instead I pulled back. I gave her a guarded look. “What are you getting at Rene? You haven’t asked me into this house in years, you’re willing to give me custody of Fran, and now you’re hinting about real estate. After all the years we have known each other you know I can smell a con, and always deal from the top of the deck. Just get to the point and tell me the deal and we will see where we go from there.”

She dropped the act and broke it down to basics. I get the house and Fran. In exchange she gets the condo and I pay the yearly HOA payments. “Call it ex-wife support payments. You get the house and the kids and I get a life.” Well one of us was having a mid-life crisis after all. I just nodded and thought. I shook my head and I could swear the more I shook my head the farther her eyes bulged. “No deal Rene. I know you too well. When this doesn’t pan out you’re going to go to the courts and want a do over. You’ll plead the grieving mother routine again and try and get the house and Fran back again. It will go to court again, this time I will fight it, and no doubt I will loose and you’ll take it all back.” I tried to make it so I was being defiant. “Right now I have legal leverage because you have the top deal. You can’t take what little I have left and I would rather have that then risk it all on a maybe.”

Her eyes narrowed and she looked daggers at me. “I can make it miserable for you you know. I can make Francesca’s life miserable as well.” I nodded. “And she can go to the courts, for which I will gladly pay, and petition to live with me.” She took a long breath and glared at me. “Fine. We break this whole thing off completely. I give you the house and “Fran”, full custody, for the condo. I walk away with a new place and a new life and you can take over the old life. It’s all you ever wanted anyway, and it robbed me of a life years ago.” She said with real venom.

I tried to look like it wasn’t something I wanted. “We have to ask Fran first. If she will go with it, so will I. Of course you know she might never forgive you.” Rene rolled her eyes. “I gave birth to her but she has always been yours. She has resented me since the divorce. She even ruined my relationship with Roger just to spite me. So don’t expect me to shed any tears.” I nodded and just then Fran came through the door looking confused. “Why didn’t you pick me up dad?” she asked. I looked at Rene and she just shrugged. “I wanted to talk to your father, so I told him to pick you up here. I guess the school didn’t tell you.” We all knew that was a lie but let it go.

“Fran, I have a question for you. Your mom and I were having a talk about our custody arrangement. She was thinking that since I was going to have more free time from work that maybe you would want to live with me full time.” She looked at her mom, and then back at me. “You mean I visit with her on the weekends and live with you?” Rene rolled her eyes again. “No Francesca, it means you would live with your father, here, full time. I’m going to be moving to the city and I probably wouldn’t have a lot of free time so I would most likely just see you sometime during the holidays.”

Fran took me completely by surprise. “You never have forgiven me for what Roger did have you. I was fourteen and you are still jealous of that. Well you know what? I’ll go along with this gladly but I don’t ever want to see you again. Not on vacations, not ever.” The pure vitriol pouring out of her shocked even me. She looked at me and tried to be calm. “Dad, can I just go with you till this is over? I can’t be here anymore.” I nodded dumbly as she walked away. I looked at Rene and she was pure stone cold. I kept my mouth shut and sat there knowing I was in the middle of a duel and if I said anything it would just cause me to be in a cross fire.

A few minutes later Fran came storming out dragging two suitcases. She went outside and slammed the door. I got up and started to leave. “I’ll call my lawyer tomorrow. It shouldn’t take long, so I would get those workers of yours humping it.” I nodded and left. As I pulled away from the house Fran gave a huge shiver and then turned to me with a huge smile on her face. “Wow that felt good. I’ve been keeping all that bottled up for years and it felt so good to finally tell her off.”

When she saw the look on my face though she knew I wasn’t feeling as happy as I should be. “Dad, what’s wrong? I thought that was what we were hoping for?” I nodded “It was. It looks like things are working better than we hoped.” She kept looking at me. “Then what is wrong?” she said with pauses between her words. “Your mom mentioned how you kept her from dating like she wanted. That just rolled off me. Then she said that you ruined her chances with Roger and it seemed very personal.” I could see Fran shrink back in her seat. “Then in your confrontation you were the one to bring him up again.” She seemed even more uncomfortable. “And this wasn’t the first time. You’ve mentioned him a few times since he left but never really said what happened.”

It was quiet in the truck the rest of the way to the office where the RV was parked. We got out in silence and I grabbed Fran’s bags and took them into our new home for now. That night was a quiet one as I made dinner in the small kitchen and she sat on the couch thinking. We ate and I started a movie to distract us from our thoughts. I didn’t really care about that time period, even though it had hurt, because that was then and this was now. Things were fine between us and I wanted to keep it that way, but it was also something that was a weight on her mind and I didn’t want that to just fester.

When Fran came out of the shower she was dressed already and I could tell she was even wearing some shorts underneath her shirt. I took my shower and when I got out I found her curled up on the couch with her back to the room. I headed to bed and stretched out alone. I wasn’t sure of what to say or think, but I figured it would all come out soon enough.

Sometime in the night Fran came to a decision and I woke just long enough to feel her slide into bed with me. She curled around me and I went back to sleep. In the morning she was sprawled out and looked like she hadn’t slept well at all. I got up, got ready for the day, and set out some cereal for her to have as breakfast. I headed into the office and began making sure things were going smoothly. It was a Saturday so there wasn’t going to be anything going on. I thought that maybe Fran and I could head over to the condo and I could show her what we were doing.

When I got back she was still in bed. I put the food up and figured we could head to someplace close and grab a bite to eat. I made a pot of coffee and pulled out my tablet to read up on the world. When Fran did get up she looked miserable. “Moring dad.” She said with less feeling than ever. She dropped into her seat and just looked at the table. “Fran, whatever is bothering you just forget about it. If it’s in the past then it’s not worth losing sleep over. It hasn’t made a difference to my feelings towards you then or now. I’m more concerned about the woman in front of me than the girl you were.”

She shook her head. “No dad it does. It changed me inside and it’s who I am now. It’s the reason I was able to tell mom off like that, it’s why I’m not afraid to be naked around you, and it’s also why I feel the way I do about you.” This was new and so I let it go. “Well would you like to go get some food? I know a great food truck nearby that has the best chorizo burritos in town.” She shook her head. “Maybe later.” She took a deep breath and her arms went around her middle. Not a good sign.

“Mom blames me for ruining her relationship with Roger because she learned he was having a second relationship. She thinks he was cheating on her because she was having to spend so much time on me that she didn’t pay enough attention to him.” She looked at me and I tried my best to look supportive. “She was right, he was cheating on her.” She looked at me and locked eyes. “He was sleeping with me.” I felt ice flowing through my veins. I tried to keep calm but when you find out a man almost my age had been sleeping with my fourteen year old daughter it isn’t possible.

I knew better that to say a damn word because if I did it would only make things worse. “Go on. I’ll keep my cool.” I heard a small whimper from her and that alarmed me. “I still don’t understand why I did it. It’s just being around him made me feel different, good. He treated me like an adult and I liked that.” She looked at me in worry. “He would pay attention to me. He was also not afraid to touch me, to hug me, to kiss me.” Oh fuck. My inattention had opened the door. “Then one time I was sitting with him and I kissed him. I looked at him and when he looked at me I leaned in and kissed him. When he tried to pull away I held on and licked his lips. Next thing I knew it grew into something more physical.”

I just nodded. “Ok.” Was all I could say at this point. “He stopped paying as much attention to mom, though he was careful not to pay more attention to me. Then she tossed him out and blamed me. She just didn’t have any idea how right she was. I never heard from him again and it was then I understood that it was over for me as much as it was for mom. I never really forgave mom for ending it.” I was looking at the fight going on inside her and wondered what else was coming.

“During our trip I felt so much going on inside of me. You were close to me again and I felt the same kind of freedom inside that I felt with Roger. I knew it was love, and not the kind of love I should be having. Last night I started to really look hard at what I was feeling, now and then, and I knew I had to talk to you about it.” She and I were now looking into each other’s eyes. “I gave Roger the love I wanted to give you. I wanted that love back but I know I wasn’t really getting it. I gave him everything I really wanted to give you and all I wanted was a little back.” She said with tears streaking her cheeks. Then she looked away, staring at the table top. “I know this will change everything, but I just can’t hide it now that the whole thing was ready to come out anyway. I just couldn’t keep it back from you because we are about to start living around each other every day. I can’t start that kind of thing with this lurking around.”

I put my hands flat on the table and tried to breathe. “Well that is an awful lot to take in Franny.” She looked at me and blinked. “I am pissed that some bastard played my little girl and then left her hanging like that. I would have killed him if I had known, and right now I am not all that far from those feelings. He hurt my little girl and that is unforgivable.” I took another deep breath. “Maybe he would never had a chance to manipulate you like that if I had been more focused on you. I always held back a little because I was taught not to be too demonstrative with your daughters for just that reason. It’s easy for a young girl to take those kinds of things, hugs, kisses, and physical contact, towards a sexual end because it’s how girls are wired.”

She gave me a questioning look. “Boys are all erections. They have emotions and they turn into erections. Girls are more complicated. Love and sex are easy to confuse as the same thing. When you’re just starting to feel that blending it’s easy for a bastard to manipulate that into sex. Boys get wood and laugh about it. It’s a joke and that is how they deal with it. For girls sex and love are indistinguishable because you don’t have that blatant result.” I got the eyebrow of disbelief. “Think about it. When you see a man and a woman kiss passionately in a movie it hits your heart and then later it goes south.” She nodded. “When a boy sees the same thing he might feel it in his heart but then it stops. He sees a sexual situation and then he gets an erection. Later in life girls grow out of that, but when puberty and the emotions that come with it kick in there is nothing but confusion.”

The light of understanding grew behind her eyes. “I was taught that is when a father has to take a step back. He needs to keep the love she feels for him at a lower level so it doesn’t become a physical thing. Roger stepped into that gap and took advantage of it.” The shock in her eyes as to what had really happened just two years ago dawned on her. “But there is another reason a father has to step back as well.” She looked at me fearfully. “The temptation to return that love is just as great. When a man loves his daughter, if he really loves her, then those boundaries are thin at best. The desire to cross them is intense. If she is the first to cross the line it’s almost impossible not to.”

Her face lost its hard edge instantly. “You mean?” I nodded. “Society considers incest one of the greatest crimes, but being biologically driven, it is one of the most common ones committed.” I couldn’t stop this train once it had pulled out of the station. My voice grew soft and full of my emotions. “When you look at her growing beauty, feel that deep emotional connection grow as well, it overrides everything logical. If a man doesn’t step back from that edge he will fall ever deeper in love with her. The reason society has built these conditioned responses is because the draw between a father and daughter can forge something that can hurt them in the long run. It can forge a love that can’t be turned off and that will lead the girl into a relationship that would separate her from friends and family. She would never leave her father and that would mean she wouldn’t be able to find a different man, a husband her own age. There are risks by having children in a relationship like that as well.”

Fran nodded her head in understanding. “So a father has to deny all that so the both of them, for their own sakes.” I nodded as I felt a tearing inside of me. She gave a huge sigh. “Well that is about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.” She said with a stern gaze. “I mean I can see where it could do real damage if the dad and mom are in love. It could destroy a family that is going good. But, In some situations it leaves the door open for men like Roger to take it and ruin a girl for life. Or that rejection could lead them to making really bad decisions in who and what they date later on.”

She rolled her eyes. “I mean how many girls feel that rejection and put it on all men? That men just reject them and who they are so they decide that men are the bad guys. It’s like that saying ... um ... hell hath no furry...” “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” She pointed at me and nodded. “Well turning a girl’s first love into something filthy would do that don’t you think?” Odd how I had never thought of it that way.

Fran put her hands on her hips and glared at me. “Well I’m going to say it. Dad I love you. I love you with all of my heart and lying next to you makes me feel like a real human being for the first time in my life. I have had dreams of making love to you and they make me feel good inside. Not just soaking my panties good, but it makes my heart sing in happiness. I lay in bed and just bury my face in your pillow after you leave so I can smell you.” My own heart was beginning to race. “I’ve been flaunting my naked ass and tits at you because I love the way you look at me when I do. It’s a kind of loving sufferance that turns my crank and flutters my heart.”