Chapter 21

... Carla grabbed him by the ears and kissed him. "You are so funny. All right," she said unhooking her seat belt. "Let's get the picnic stuff out of the car and get everything put away. I'm going for a walk."

As soon as the women were out of the car, Carla grabbed Jessica's hand and headed inside.

Fred opened the hatch and stood looking at the RV. Did I not hear her say, "Let's get the picnic stuff out of the car?" As in let us all get the stuff. Then why am I standing here by myself?

Grumping, he put the big cooler on the ground and closed the hatch. Picking the cooler back up he went to the door of the RV, but no one opened it for him. Setting the cooler down again, he opened the door, carried the chest into the galley, then went back and closed the door.

He almost got an attitude, but decided that the women were up to something and he had best find out what before he said something that would come back to bite him in the butt. So instead, he put everything up, wiped the cooler down and returned it to its storage area in a compartment under the RV.

He had just slipped his shoes off, propped his feet up and turned on the TV to check the weather when the women came out of the bedroom. "Come on. Take me to the store. We need to pick up a few things," Jessica said.

"What? Oh, Jess, I'm bushed. Surely we have enough here for supper tonight. I'm sure there are three more steaks in the freezer..."

Jessica pushed his shoes close with her foot, then just stood smiling at him with her hands on her hips.

What the fuck are they up to? But he put on his shoes, picked up his wallet and was ready.

"We'll be back in a little while," Fred called out.

"Okay," Carla said from the bedroom, her voice sounding distracted.

Shortly, Carla came out of the bedroom wearing a fresh set of shorts and top, her makeup, what little there was of it, freshened.

Five minutes later, she walked into the lodge. A middle-aged man, about five feet ten inches tall with a rugged countenance, came out of a doorway behind the counter when she rang the bell.

"May I help you?"

"Uh, yes. I was expecting to find Audrey here."

"She's off. She and I swap out. I'm Rob. We co-own the place. I'll be glad to help you. You guys checked in yesterday, didn't you?"

"Uh, yes we did. But I just came by to see her. I really don't need anything concerning the camp. Uh, do you suppose I could call her at home?"

Rob chuckled as he picked up the phone. "Hang on a sec and I'll take care of that for you," he said as he dialed. "Your name is..."

"Just tell her Carla needs to see her."

After a second, "There's a lady named Carla here to see you. Are you decent ... Okay, I'll send her down." Rob chuckled and hung up the phone.

"Down that hallway," he said, pointing. "Take the last door at the end, then down the stairs. She has an apartment."

"Thanks," Carla replied as she turned away. Shortly, she knocked on Audrey's apartment door.

"Well, hi," Audrey said as she opened up. "Uh, come on in."

When Carla was seated on the couch, Audrey hesitated a second, then sat on a nearby chair. "Uh, look..." she nervously said.

Carla reached out to take Audrey's hand for a moment. "Wait. You read me wrong this morning. So let's start all over. First off, I'm not here to complain about anything. We're having a marvelous time." Carla paused, unsure of how to proceed. Finally, she sighed. "Look, I need to tell you some things, and they're probably going to sound weird."

"Would you like something to drink? Coffee, a coke, something stronger?" Audrey said nervously.

Carla sat back and relaxed. "Coffee if you have some already made, otherwise a soft drink would be fine."

"I've just made a pot," Audrey replied, getting up and starting to walk out of the room, then turning, "Look, come on into the kitchen with me. We can drink it in there and maybe..."

"Feel more at ease with each other," Carla said as she stood smiling.

"Yeah. Exactly. Come on, we'll get to know each other," she said as she let Carla into a very neat, but slightly small kitchen.

A few minutes later they sat at the table with a pack of Oreo Double Stuffed cookies between them. Carla dipped her Oreo in her coffee and took a bite. "These are sinfully good," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, and the calories are really sinful," Audrey laughed as she pulled the cookie apart and daintily licked the icing.

"That, too," Carla responded as she checked out the brunette: hair just off her shoulders, a pretty face with a bit of a button nose, pouting lips and dark brown eyes. "I think my man dropped a bunch of pheromones on you yesterday..." When Audrey started to say something, Carla raised her hand a little to still the comment.

"Please, just sit and listen for a few minutes. And remember what I said about not coming here to complain. Actually, I think he picked well. I've never seen him even look at a woman other than my daughter and me."

"She's really your daughter? I know you said that yesterday, but you don't look old enough."

"Well, there's a reason for that, and I imagine that you've guessed Fred's age at being a lot younger than he is, too." Carla took a sip of coffee and sat back in her chair. Grinning, she asked, "Ever heard of an Alpha male?"

Audrey chuckled. "Well, there was a guy in my class in high school that called himself one. The rest of us just called him Alpha Asshole."

"And I'm sure he was, but Fred is a true Alpha Male. I think you felt that yesterday. I'm also willing to bet — to be crude — that you were wet when you got on that little truck of yours." At Audrey's frown, Carla hurried on. "I apologize for the crude remark, but I know he liked you. I could feel it."

"So you're saying that you and your daughter are ... well, uh..."

"His women? Yes, absolutely. Last night was the first time he has actually made love to us. His wife died before we met him, and he wouldn't touch us for awhile, but last night, he finally did. I hope my daughter didn't wake up the whole camp."

"Oh, it wasn't that loud. I was just walking down the path and..."

"Stopped to listen when my daughter started screaming," Carla finished for her. "And don't even think about my being upset. I'm not. Far from it, for I realized that Fred liked you, and I got to thinking about it. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that I needed to come and talk with you. And I wasn't kidding about the pheromones. I could feel them when he got back in the RV, so I knew he was interested in you."

Audrey sat looking at her. "I don't usually respond well to men — not since my divorce. But Fred is a nice looking guy. There is something about him. But you don't have anything to worry about. I'll stay away from your RV. If you need anything, I'll send Rob..."

"Would you stop? Once again, I'm not mad at you. Actually, on the contrary, I'm glad it happened."

Carla sat quietly for a moment. Oh, crap. I can't believe I'm doing this. But Jessica went with it, too. Diana said it might happen when the Queen Bitch syndrome took effect, but I didn't believe her. Now here I am shopping for another mate for our man. This is unreal. But he proved last night that he could handle us. Handle us? Ha. He fucked us unconscious, over and over. I remember it with every step I take today. If Fred knew how sore I am, he would have a stroke.

Carla reached out for Audrey's hand. "Do you have anyone? Boyfriend, fiancé?"

"Uh, no. My husband and I divorced four years ago. I walked in and caught him eating out a teenybopper who was barely legal. The son-of-a-bitch had always refused to touch my pussy with his mouth. I stood and watched them for ten minutes. When he started to mount her, I went into the living room and turned on the TV. It took another five minutes for the asshole to even notice the racket. Then he ... Ah fuck, you don't want to hear it ... He got the house and the bank account. I got the RV camp and the bills.

"Rod bought forty-nine percent of the camp when I couldn't handle the place by myself. We've expanded and fixed things up since then. My husband had inherited it when his father died, but Alex never did like running an RV camp, so I wound up with it in the divorce."

Carla smiled at her. "Better than what happened to me. Fred has turned our lives around, though. But we'll talk about that later. Come spend some time with us. We'll eat a steak and roast some marshmallows later, while we get to know each other better."

When Audrey started to protest, Carla spoke up, "Just come down and eat with us. We'll tell you about our farm in Colorado and the things that have happened to us. Come on. Don't say no. I like you and I know my daughter does. Let's go watch our man burn a steak or two. He's pretty good at it."

"Burning, or cooking?" Audrey laughed.

"He's actually a pretty good cook, but we seldom let him do it unless it's to grill something."

"Okay," Audrey said standing. "Let me just..."

"Bring something to sleep in, and whatever you'll need if you have to work in the morning. No use your having to walk back up here late tonight. We have a couch that folds out into a nice bed. Of course, if you don't like us..."

"I couldn't spend the night. I mean..." But why not? she thought. I have few friends, and no man friends. Well, other than Rob, but he's married and way older, anyway. I like this woman, and I would get to be around that hunk she's married to. Hmmm, maybe not married since she and her daughter are both sleeping with him. What do I think about that? Shit, I think it's hot. I've never been around anyone like that. I'm definitely not into that sort of thing. But it won't hurt to eat with them. They all seem nice. Oh, well, why not?

"Why not?" Carla asked, repeating Audrey's thoughts. "Tell me one reason why not? You're a grown woman, not attached. Come on and at least eat with us, we'll worry about where you sleep when it gets late."

"I'll go with you, but I'm coming back up here to sleep. Just let me wash my face."

"Hurry," Carla said as she tried to stifle a grin. "Fred's not there right now. I had Jessica take him out for awhile so I could come talk with you. But I wish you would bring something to sleep in. I just know we're going to have a ball. You'll see. Now hurry. Jess can't keep him out forever. I'm supposed to call her when we get back to the RV."

Audrey stood looking down at the woman sitting at her kitchen table. "I think I'd love to come eat with you, I'll just..."

"Great. Hurry."

Audrey went to clean up a little while Carla thought. If you bring something to sleep in, that's fine; otherwise, I'll give you one of Fred's tee-shirts. That will send a message, too. Yeah, that'll work. Hmmm. Maybe I can get him to put it on for a few minutes, then I'll fold it so it looks fresh. It will be, but I'll bet his smell, and maybe a few pheromones will be left in it. Yeah, that'll do it.

Earlier in the day:

Bill had left Jill and Kathy in the living room with Diana. After a few minutes he had located his boss and told him basically that he was at loose ends. Wainwright was agreeable for a game of pool, and a few minutes later, they tossed for the break. Frank won the toss and broke. Bill leaned on his cue and watched Frank gleefully run the table.

"He's gotten better," Margaret said as she walked into the room, "and he plays pool pretty well, also," she said straight-faced. Margaret hugged him as they laughed. "You did well with Jill. She couldn't take her eyes off you at breakfast, and Frank needs some time away from the company, so this will work out fine for us, too."

"I'm feeling guilty about my problems keeping you two from going back to Saint Louis..."

"Oh, hush," Margaret said, all smiles. "There is no point in him working himself to death. He has all the money in the world, anyway. This gives him an excuse to get his mind off things for a few days."

"Jeff told me how to call a mate," Bill said, changing the subject.

"Well, it looks like you did just fine with Kathy, despite not knowing how at the time," Margaret teased as she winked at him. "A little love and a dose of pheromones will do it..."

" ... every time," Bill concluded for her. "Yeah, I've been hearing that lately," he laughed. Turning serious, he asked, "What about you two? I know you're in love — have been for a long while. He asked and you've accepted. So when is it going to happen?"

Frank was in the midst of racking the balls for their second game, but he stopped and walked over. "It's going to be soon. I've waited long enough," he said as he put his arm around Margaret.

Margaret kissed Frank on the cheek before turning back to Bill. "Heck, I've been in love with him for years; been his mistress for a couple, but with Jeff doing whatever he did, Frank added his pheromones to the picture and I couldn't say no anymore," she finished, looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes.

"So when's it going to be?"

Margaret sighed. "It's not that simple. Frank and I know a lot of people. Some are true friends; some are business acquaintances; some are supervisors and managers of our plants and other plants we do business with. There will be a lot of people that will expect to be at our wedding. This is our home now. We want the wedding to be here, but..."

"But what? I know that Diana and Jeff would love for you to have it here."

"Yeah," Frank broke in, "but if we have it here, we'll have to bring in people to clean and cook — what have you. Most of our guests will be coming from quite a distance, and with the logistics of this place, we can't just have them show up for the wedding. Most of the people we invite will have to come a day early, and stay through the wedding night. So the cooking and cleaning crews will have to be here and intimately involved with the Matthews' family for two or three days. How long do you think it will be before someone notices the relationship of all those women and Jeff? He doesn't need rumors getting out. Well, not any more than they probably are already," he chuckled.

Margaret spoke up, "Diana has volunteered for her and her sister-wives to do all the cooking and cleaning, instead of hiring local people to do it, but ... that just doesn't seem right to put them through all that. We're at an impasse. So we've just avoided it by doing nothing," she said, her face showing her concern.

Bill grinned at her. "If Diana hears that you're holding up your wedding worrying about a little work for her and her sister-wives, you're going to be in trouble."

"Yeah, there's that, too. But I disagree with the 'little' work. There's bound to be thirty or forty people that we absolutely have to invite - maybe more when we actually get started on making out a list. Think about it. The rooms will have to be prepared, then cleaned each day, beds made, meals will have to be served three times a day ... We can't do that to the Matthews. We might just have to have it in Saint Louis whether we want to or not. That way, we could have everyone stay at a nice hotel, hire a limo service to transport them around, and leave the rest to a wedding planner. All the Matthews will have to do is show up. Crap," she sighed, "I wish we could have it here with just our family," she finished, referring to everyone at the retreat as their family...