“What do you mean you’re leaving the area?” Stan Wilson demanded. “My daughter’s flight will be landing soon and you’d damn well better be picking her up at the airport.

“That’s not going to happen,” Blake Reynolds replied. “I doubt that I’ll ever see her again. She’s your daughter, so she’s your problem again. I’ve got better things to do.”

“What happened, Blake?” Stan’s wife, Sandra, asked. “Angie’s been telling me how you two were going to start a family once she returned from her business trip. Did you have an argument?”

“Not in so many words,” Blake replied. “Starting a family is part of the problem, but not the way you might think.”

“You’re not making any sense. You both wanted to start having kids soon, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Blake answered vaguely and changed the subject. “I didn’t want to leave without thanking you for the many kindnesses you’ve shown me.

“As you know, living this close to DC and in such a densely populated area never appealed to me. I moved here because Angie wanted to be near her family as well as pursue her career in government.

“My truck is packed with everything I need, and it isn’t that much. Angie can have whatever’s left. I’ll be headed west before her jet touches down.”

“I spoke to Angie two days ago and she sounded very happy,” Carla, Angie’s sister, insisted. “She said you were a little upset about her staying in Reno Saturday and flying home today, but she certainly didn’t indicate that it would result in a divorce. She just wanted to catch up with Donna, her old college roommate.”

“She knew very well that her actions would be cause for divorce,” Blake countered.

“Is it possible you’re overreacting?” Sandra asked. “Angie’s deeply in love with you. She wants to have your children. Why would you consider divorcing her because she took an extra day to visit her friend? You need to sit down and talk it out with her.”

“Her jet should land around 4 PM,” Blake replied, obviously ignoring his mother-in-law’s suggestion. “If one of you doesn’t pick her up, she’ll have to call Uber or hire a taxi.”

“You’re really leaving?” Carla asked. “In the romance novels, the handsome stud always falls for the wife’s younger sister with the bigger boobs when he leaves his wife. That should be reason enough to stick around, don’t you think?”

“There are a few reasons why that wouldn’t work,” Blake responded with a small smile. “You’re her only sister, you’re older than Angie and you’re married.”

“At least you didn’t say that my boobs were smaller,” Carla replied. She had always liked Blake and realized how badly she would miss him if he was as serious as he appeared about leaving her sister.

“Seriously, Blake, why do you feel like this? What’s really wrong? You wouldn’t leave Angie for spending a day visiting Donna. What did Sis do to piss you off so badly?”

“If her flight’s on time, you’ll be able to ask her about it over dinner tonight. You’ve always treated me well and I’ll forever think of you in positive terms. Thanks and goodbye,” Blake declared as he turned and headed toward his three year old pickup truck.

Two hours later, Carla pulled over to the curb at the airport ‘arrivals’ area to pick up her sister. For her part, Angie wasted no time venting her feelings.

“Blake doesn’t answer his phone or respond to my texts. He made you drive out to pick me up because his little feelings were hurt when I took an extra day to spend time with my oldest and best friend. What an asshole.

“He’ll be sleeping in the guest room for at least a week. Men want to control every move a woman makes.” Angie continued her diatribe. “It’s high time he learned his little hissy fits won’t work with me.”

“Did anything unusual happen when you visited Donna?” Carla asked cautiously.”Why would Blake be so upset about you spending time with your old college roommate?”

“That’s easy. I made the decision to spend an extra day without consulting him! It’s just that simple,” Angie declared firmly. “Blake has to learn that he just because I married him, he doesn’t have the right to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

“I don’t know if that’s going to be an issue, Sis. He stopped in at Mom and Dad’s a couple of hours ago and told us he was leaving you.”

“Blake said that?” Angie demanded. “He told Mom and Dad he was leaving me? I don’t know what’s wrong with that idiot, but I’m going to straighten him out when I get home.”

“Did you not hear what I said?” Carla asked. “Blake left you. He hates living in northern Virginia. He was only doing it because you wanted to live close to family and work in DC. He’s on the road, probably headed back to Montana or some other western state.”

“Blake’s leaving?” Angie barely managed to repeat. “He told you he’s definitely leaving me? That doesn’t make any sense. We were going to start a family when I got back.”

“Blake made some kind of cryptic remark about starting a family. He said it was one of the reasons he was leaving.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” Angie raged. “We can’t have a family if he’s not here and I know for a fact that he wanted kids. Even a western redneck rube should understand that biological fact.”

“Maybe that’s part of the problem,” Carla suggested. “You often talk like Blake doesn’t have the ability to appreciate or understand your views on a lot of important issues.”

Angie tried hard to stifle her tears. She was certain Blake didn’t know about Rick. It had only been one afternoon on Lake Tahoe and a night with him at Donna’s apartment. Surely Blake hadn’t had her followed, and even if he had, she had avoided any public signs of affection with Rick.

All of that said, something certainly had Blake royally pissed off. If he didn’t know about Rick, what could have happened to upset him so drastically? He hadn’t been happy about her spending Saturday with Donna and flying home Sunday, but this reaction was far beyond being annoyed or upset with her.

“Did he seem serious?” Angie asked softly.

“That he did,” Carla confirmed. “He cut everyone off when they tried to get him to stay and talk it out with you, or even explain his thinking. Depending on what road he’s taking, he’s probably out of Virginia by now.”

Angie was no longer able to contain her tears. They flowed freely down her cheeks as she considered how losing Blake would affect her life. Everything had seemed perfect. Now everything was ruined.

“I’m taking you to Mom’s place so she can help you get through this,” Carla told her gently. “You need to communicate with Blake and find out what’s bothering him if you hope to ever get him back. Do you want him back, Angie?”

“How can you even ask?” a distraught Angie demanded. “He’s my husband and I love the guy. We’ve only been married two years. The honeymoon is barely over.”

“I was just wondering if you still felt the same about him. You insisted he move to Virginia. He wound up with an office job he hated. I’ve heard you make references about his lack of refinement and social graces more than a few times. Maybe you determined that he wasn’t the right fit for an up and coming Washington lobbyist.

“I may not know much about western men, but I do know that my husband never would have put up with that level of disrespect and he’s from Maryland. I doubt western men would like it any better.”

Angie faced the third degree when she reached her parents’ home.

“Why is Blake so upset?” demanded her mother. “There’s got to be more to it than you spending an extra day with your girlfriend. Blake isn’t a scatterbrain, fly off the handle sort of person. What aren’t you telling us?”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence, Mom. Maybe you should consider the possibility that Blake isn’t the standup man you think he is. Why would he leave me in the lurch like this? There’s no sane reason for his actions.

“Some guys get cold feet when faced with raising a family. He hated living in Virginia and may have decided to get the hell out of Dodge while I was away,” Angie suggested. “Living some place he doesn’t like and raising kids he really didn’t want could have set him off. We won’t truly know until he tells us. He doesn’t answer my calls, texts or emails, so I have no idea what he’s thinking, if he’s thinking at all.”

After a contentious dinner, Carla finally gave Angie a ride to her apartment. She was determined not to let her marital situation affect her job, which she thoroughly enjoyed. The next morning at work, she received an email from a local lawyer.

She was stunned when she read that Blake had hired him to pursue a divorce. He asked her where she wanted him to send the paperwork. Angrily, Angie wrote back demanding to know why Blake wanted a divorce.

The work day was nearly over when Angie received a response from Blake’s lawyer. The email had no text, but did contain two attachments. Angie was stunned speechless when she opened the first attachment to see a high resolution video of her with Rick, her old boyfriend.

She was bent over a Coors beer cooler completely nude while an equally naked Rick slid his cock in and out of her traitorous pussy. Afraid to look at the second video, yet unable to resist the need, Angie was sickened to see herself smiling as Rick’s hard cock pumped cum across her face before he directed a long rope into her mouth. The quality of the videos was far too good to doubt the identity of the two fornicators.

Angie rushed to the bathroom and vomited. It took her ten minutes to calm down enough to move away from the toilet. She cleaned her face as well as she could and quietly prepared to leave for the day.

As Angie drove home, she played the video over in her mind. Donna and her boyfriend had been engaged in their own gymnastics when Rick and Angie were having sex. There had been no one else on the boat and no boats within sight of their location. How could Blake have gotten the videos? More importantly, what was she going to do now that Blake knew her righteous indignation was an act? Blake obviously held the high ground.

The next morning before work and after a sleepless night, Angie wrote to Blake’s lawyer asking him to send the paperwork to her father’s attorney. Now that she was faced with the undeniable truth that Blake knew she had cheated on him, she realized what a stupid thing she had done.

Blake was finished with her. He’d never accept the level of disrespect, lies and betrayal she had shown him. Her dreams of having his children and enjoying a long and full life with him were shattered. Only then did she begin to consider what she had foolishly tossed away for an unremarkable romp with an old lover: a shallow, narcissistic playboy.

She had never lied to Blake about her sexual history and her numerous lovers. He truly didn’t seem interested in who they were or how many lovers she had before he met her. He knew that she had lived the life of a modern college student, partaking in sex with whoever interested her. She had admitted to Blake that she had around eight lovers in college, although the truth was closer to fifteen.

For his part, Blake had engaged in two long term relationships which included sex. He had explained to Angie that sex for him meant more than a biological function. He needed to feel loved and appreciated, not simply available.

While Blake and Angie had traveled far different paths, they had fallen in love and gotten married. Angie had assured Blake that she would be a one man woman the rest of her life. She had no doubt he would always remain faithful.

Donna had called her to insist she spend a day with her on Lake Tahoe after her seminar. She told Angie she had a friend with a big boat who would take them around the lake. Angie, in a moment of honest introspection, admitted to herself that she suspected Donna was going to try to hook her up with some random guy. For her part, Angie had been certain she’d remain faithful to her vows.

That lasted until she met the owner of the boat, who turned out to be one of her college lovers. By mid afternoon, the steady flow of drinks and a couple of joints had reduced Angie’s resolve to zero. She thoroughly enjoyed Rick’s attention as well as the outdoor sex they had shared on the boat. To compound her mistake, she had spent that night in bed with Rick at Donna’s condo.

Angie tried in vain to think of an explanation that might appease Blake. The simple truth was that she had fucked up royally and they both knew it. She had destroyed something she too late realized, had been quite special. She had married an honest, hard working man. He was even willing to live in an area he disliked to support Angie’s career choices. She had no doubt he would have made an excellent father for their children. Now that dream was dead.

Blake had made it as far as West Virginia when he decided to find a motel for the night. He had only traveled five hours, but his mental state made driving hazardous to him and other drivers. He had stayed up most of the previous night trying to decide what he should do about his failed marriage. Once he reached a decision, he packed his truck with all his worldly possessions. He never slept a wink that night.

He had never experienced such despair in his entire life. Angie had been the center of his universe. She gave him purpose and direction. He was perfectly willing to spend his entire married life in Virginia, a place he was not especially fond of, if it made Angie happy. Everything he did was with the intention of showing her his love and increasing her feelings for him. It was apparent that he had been a miserable failure in that pursuit.

Blake had met Angie in his senior year when his college roommate, Peter, had invited him to go home with him for Thanksgiving. Blake’s parents were traveling in Europe and he had no siblings, so he readily agreed to enjoy the holiday in Virginia with Peter’s family. Peter had, in a strange way, introduced him to Angie when they went to do some last minute grocery shopping for Peter’s mother.

Blake had noticed the lovely blonde girl as soon as he walked through the door of the supermarket. He immediately wandered off in her direction while Peter grabbed a cart and headed for the produce section. Blake tried to not be obvious as he watched the blonde move up and down the aisles. Whenever she glanced in his direction, Blake pretended to be interested in a product placed on a nearby shelf.

It all fell apart when the blonde woman pushed her cart around a corner toward the wine section.

“Angie?” Blake could clearly heard Peter. “How are you doing? I haven’t seen you since Carla and I stopped dating. You look great!”

“Peter, it’s nice to see you, too. Maybe you could help me out,” the attractive blonde Blake had been following replied. “There’s a guy stalking me here. He keeps staring at me like he’s never seen a woman before.”

“Uh oh,” Peter responded. “Is he a big guy wearing a blue sweater and cowboy boots?”

“Yes! You’ve noticed him, too?”

“Noticed him? Hell, I brought him here to civilization from Montana. He’s isn’t really very dangerous. You just need to understand he’s from the mountains and probably hasn’t been exposed to many women as lovely as you. What makes you think that he’s following you?”

“He was always in the same aisle as me. When I looked to see what he was doing, he picked up some feminine hygiene product and pretended to intently study the label.”

“That’s probably another thing they don’t have in the mountains of Montana,” Peter retorted with a chuckle. “Let’s go find this stalker and introduce him to you properly.”

Blake had heard enough. He made a beeline for the nearest exit. He had made a fool of himself and obviously made the young woman uncomfortable. He wasn’t going to hang around and allow Peter and the pretty blonde the opportunity to embarrass him any more than he already was. Blake quickly crossed the parking lot and climbed into the back seat of Peter’s SUV. The windows were tinted, so he felt somewhat certain passers-by would not notice him.

He had only been in the vehicle a few minutes when the back passenger door on the other side of the car was suddenly whipped open.

“Blake, this is Angie Wilson. I offered her a ride home. Angie, this tongue-tied, red-faced cowboy is Blake Reynolds. You two get to know each other while I put our groceries in the back.”

Blake’s mouth hung open as he stared at the attractive blonde woman climbing into the car. He knew he was blushing fiercely, but lacked the ability to control it.

The woman smiled warmly at him and extended her hand.

A year later they were married and living in Virginia. Blake used his accounting credits to get a decent entry level job in a prosperous tax firm. Angie was pursuing her dream of becoming a well-known and successful Washington lobbyist.

Blake’s major in college had been forestry, and he had fully expected to be spending most of his time after graduation in the rugged outdoors of Montana or a neighboring state. He had placed that dream on hold so Angie could live close to her family and pursue her career. Now, with his marriage in ruins, he was headed west to pursue the career in which he had always intended to work.

Angie had been quite honest about her sexual activities in college. Blake never felt any jealousy over what she did, or who she knew before they became exclusive. He had even seen photos of a couple of Angie’s old lovers. For some reason, Angie’s best friend, Donna, made it her mission to make certain Blake knew as much as possible about Angie’s life before they met. That had included a few photos of ex-boyfriends and lovers.

Blake took his time driving west. He stopped in several smaller towns and took jobs that paid him in cash. He had grown up on a small ranch and had learned many useful skills while helping his father.

Blake had been on the road for a week when his lawyer emailed him. He had met with Angie’s lawyer and a settlement had quickly been reached. Barring any new obstacles or objections, the marriage should be terminated within a few months.

Blake was extremely saddened and bitter by the turn of events. He had invested everything he was able to give to make his marriage work. He now saw himself as a failure. He had been married just two years when his wife decided to try a different cock, or more accurately, a familiar cock from days gone by.

Two months after leaving his wife, Blake received a disconcerting email from his divorce lawyer in Virginia. The first paragraph stated that Angie was two months pregnant and wanted him to pay child support when the baby was born.

Blake found himself smiling at the prospect of being a father. He badly wanted a family. He decided he would be the best divorced dad a kid ever had. The pain of interacting with Angie would be offset by the joy of raising a child. Then his lawyer threw cold water on his daydreaming with some cold hard facts and sobering advice in the next paragraph.

Since Angie was an unfaithful wife, a fact which was indisputable, there was more than a small chance the child she was carrying was not Blake’s. His lawyer made sound suggestions that Blake knew he should follow.

After discussing his options with his lawyer over the phone, Blake stopped at a reputable independent lab. He showed them his identification and then had them to conduct a DNA test. He instructed the lab to send copies of the results to both his lawyer and Angie’s. Along with the DNA, Blake sent a letter informing Angie that if he was determined to be the father of the child, he would gladly pay child support. He never stated what he would do if the baby was not his, but he felt that by only mentioning his intentions if he was the father, he had made his position quite clear.

Blake’s lawyer got back to him several days later with the news that Angie would have the baby tested after it was born. She had been dismayed at Blake’s seemingly indifferent response to being a father, but she would have the DNA proof sent to Blake’s lawyer shortly after the child was born.

Blake surprised himself by hoping he was going to be the father of the child. He was leading a miserable existence, traveling from town to town with no goal or purpose. Perhaps becoming a father would give him the kick in the ass he needed. A child should have a father to be proud of and he was determined to become exactly that.

Blake was on Interstate 90 not far from Billings when a chain reaction accident took place in front of him. He was barely able to slow his truck down enough to safely drive it off the highway and avoid being involved in the carnage.

Once his truck was safely parked off the side, Blake quickly rushed to see if he could help any injured motorists. The people in the first three cars he approached assured him that they were okay. The occupants of the fourth vehicle were not as fortunate. The front of the Ford Explorer was crushed in on the driver’s side so he rushed around to the passenger side. He felt his heart skip when he saw the condition of the driver. He also noticed a young girl strapped into a car seat in the back. She appeared to be scared but showed no signs of injury.

“Hi, I’m Blake. I’m going to try to help your mom until the doctors get here,” Blake spoke soothingly as he leaned over the passenger side of the car to feel for a carotid pulse on the woman driver. He found it, but it seemed quite faint. This concerned Blake. The woman was suffering a medical emergency. His eyes wandered over the inert form as he looked for any obvious life threatening injury.

That was when he detected a pool of blood on the driver’s seat of the car. He checked closer and discovered blood running from her inside left thigh a few inches below her crotch. He had taken an emergency medical course in college. Blake thought back to what he had been told repeatedly. He had to always consider ABC, or airway, breathing and circulation. He could hear the woman’s ragged breathing, so he determined her airway and breathing were not compromised.

He had been taught not to move a person involved in an accident for fear of exacerbating any spinal injuries, unless their current situation demanded action. Blake had no doubt the woman would soon die from loss of blood if he didn’t act immediately. With that fear in his mind, he released her seat belt and gently pulled the woman from the car. As soon as he had her placed on the grassy berm, he pulled out his jackknife and sliced the woman’s pant leg from her ankle to her hip.

The wound was obvious and it was bleeding profusely. Blake pulled his cotton shirt over his head, folded into a neat square and placed it directly over the wound. He then pulled his belt off with his free hand and wrapped it around the woman’s leg, thus holding the makeshift bandage over the jagged cut. He was gratified to see the bleeding slow noticeably as he tightened the belt.

“What are you doing to my mother?” the little girl asked. She was still in her car seat.

“I’m helping her to get better,” Blake responded gently. “Your mom’s leg was cut and she was bleeding. I’m trying to stop it.”

“Is she okay?” asked the child.

“Sweetheart, I’m doing everything I can to make sure she will be,” Blake promised. “Can you sit quietly and wait for the doctor people to come? I think I hear them now.”

Blake heard numerous sirens wailing as he knelt by the woman and maintained pressure on her wound. It seemed like it took forever before he was approached by emergency personnel.

“Sir, are you hurt? If not, tell me what you can about the extent of the injuries to this woman,” a calm female voice spoke from directly behind him.

“I wasn’t involved in the accident. This woman has lost a lot of blood from a deep cut to her thigh. I used my shirt and belt to try to lessen the flow. Her little girl seems to be okay. She’s been talking to me right along.”

“It looks like you’ve accomplished your goal,” the paramedic observed as she nudged Blake aside and assumed care of the woman. Soon she was directing other rescue personnel to bring a backboard, bandages, oxygen and a gurney as she quickly and professionally assessed the unconscious woman’s injuries

In a surprisingly short period of time, the patient was loaded on the gurney and carried to a waiting ambulance. As all of this was taking place, a second paramedic had given the small girl a quick assessment and determined she was unharmed.

“Sir, as you can see, we’re swamped at the moment. We need to attend to other injuries. Could you stay with this child until we can sort everything out? We have more help on the way, but we’re stretched pretty thin at the moment.”

“Sure,” Blake replied immediately, although he was surprised by the request. He understood the seriousness of the situation the paramedics and firemen were facing.

“What’s your name, Sweetheart?” asked Blake as he lifted the girl from her car seat. “We have to wait for the firemen, police and medics to take care of the hurt people. Let’s sit in my truck. I think I have some juice and cookies.”

“I’m Brianna, and I’m almost four. I like cookies if they aren’t peanut butter.”

Blake gave the little girl several chocolate chip cookies and some juice as he waited for the turmoil on the highway to lessen. It took almost another hour before the last ambulance pulled out. Blake began to wonder if anyone was going to take Brianna off his hands.

Wreckers began clearing the roadside of crashed vehicles and Blake’s parked truck was hindering their progress. Blake decided to use his phone to find the nearest hospital.

It seemed likely that Brianna’s family would be in a total panic with her mom involved in a very serious accident and Brianna’s whereabouts unknown. Blake decided to drive to the hospital. Hopefully, he would find her family.

Blake had replaced his shirt while Brianna was eating her cookies, but he still had blood-stained pants and more than a few flecks of blood on his arms and face. He was aware of several concerned looks when he walked into the hospital in search of the hospital waiting room.

As Blake carried the little girl into the waiting room, a woman in her fifties rushed toward them, crying “Brianna!”. Blake had no trouble identifying the woman, since Brianna greeted her with a “Grandma” and held her little arms out to the woman.

“We were very worried about Brianna, but the paramedic who treated Lauren at the scene insisted that she was very safe and was certain you’d bring her in,” the frenzied woman stated.

“She told us that your efforts at the scene probably saved Lauren’s life,” the woman continued. “I don’t know how to thank you. Lauren should be out of surgery soon. I’m pleased she’ll be able to see that Brianna is okay when she wakes up.”

“I’m just glad I was able to help,” Blake offered. “Your granddaughter is a delight. She had four cookies and some juice while we waited for the situation to be cleared up.”

“Now that you’re reunited with Brianna, I’ll head out. I wish your daughter a full recovery. I’m sure she’ll get the best care here.”

“Please tell me your name and phone number,” Brianna’s grandmother asked, “I know Lauren’s going to want to speak with you when she feels better. Do you live in the area?”

“I don’t. I’m kind of drifting around the country, but getting back into Montana feels pretty good. I think I’ll probably wind up living someplace nearby. I love the wide open spaces here.

“I still have some of my old business cards, so I’ll give you one,” Blake continued as he pulled out his wallet. “The address on the card isn’t valid anymore, but the cell number and name still apply.”

Blake was hungry and tired after the events of the day, so he decided to stop at a diner a short drive from the hospital. He had noticed it when he had driven into Larson, which appeared to be a rather typical medium sized western town. How could an eatery named “Mom’s Place” be anything but good?

Blake had just placed his order when several firemen entered and took seats at a table not far from where he sat at the counter. Blake had been concentrating on his coffee and failed to notice that one of the “firemen” was the female paramedic who had taken over the care of Lauren.

“Guys, this is the man I was telling you about,” she declared as she nodded in Blake’s direction. “He probably saved the woman’s life by applying a bandage and pressure to her severed artery.

“Sir, would you care to join us?” she asked Blake. “I heard you delivered that precious little girl back to her family, which made me look like a good judge of character. Let me buy your coffee.”

Blake had experienced very little human interaction the previous few weeks. Since the group was composed of people about his age, he was delighted to accept the invitation. He left the stool and took the offered seat with the group.

Once Blake introduced himself, Sarah, the attractive female paramedic began questioning him.

“Have you had training in emergency medicine? Are you interested in the field? Do you live in the area?”

“Sarah, let the poor guy answer one question before you ask another one,” a man Blake now knew as David advised. “You need to forgive her intense questioning, but she has the best of reasons. We’ve been married two years, but I still haven’t been able to convince her to slow down when she’s excited.”