Chapter 46

..."That is one good-looking woman," Dave said, laughter in his voice. "She looks familiar somehow, though..."

"Oh shit!" Diana cried out, standing. "That's my MOTHER!"

"Oh, shiiit," Jeff dragged out with a sigh.

"So what's the big deal?" Frank said. "You darn sure have plenty of room for a guest."

Diana turned to glare at him. "Her title should be, 'My Mother, The Bitch, '" she hissed out at him. "I don't know how in the heck my dad ever got her pregnant. One would assume that they had to make love at least once, though."

"Oh, she can't be that bad," Frank laughed, but grunted as Margaret elbowed him in the ribs.

Diana spun to her husband, who was also standing by then, "Jeff, what are we going to do?"

"I'll tell you what we're going to do," Arlene broke in, "we're going to meet my Meemi as soon as she gets out back. I haven't seen her since she moved to Florida, and that's been ages ago."

"A year. Not near damn long enough," Jeff mumbled under his breath.

Diana glared at her daughter. "You're the only one on the face of this earth who likes that woman."

"Oh, come on, Mom. She's kept me ever since I can remember. She's taken me to skateboard parks, roller skating, to the movies and game rooms. And lots of time she's taken Ann, Melissa and Jennie with us, too. She's taken us to tons of places and we all think she's super. She's our buddy."

"Buddy, hell. Wait until she figures out you are married to your dad. You might not be as pleased with her when she calls DHR."

"Oh, Mom, she's not going to do that. Her bark is worse than her bite."

"Moot point anyway," Dave said. "She'll never make it up the drive with a two-wheel drive and no snow tires. I might as well..."

"No," Jeff broke in. "Let's watch this. That woman has darn sure made Diana and me sweat many a time, let's watch her sweat for a while. Heck, the worst that can happen is she'll slide into a snowbank backed by the guardrails. She's always driven like a bat out of Hell, and I can't remember her ever having a wreck. Let's see what she can do."

Dave frowned at Jeff, but Diana grinned from ear to ear.

Apparently, it only took one of the switchbacks for Susan to figure out that she needed to push it on the turns if she expected to have enough momentum to make the steep grade afterward.

By now, everyone had moved closer to the big screen, arranging chairs to watch the show. "Crap, she made the second grade," Jeff said.

"They get steeper," Diana interjected, hope in her voice.

The third grade got her, and the car came to a standstill just before the top, wheels spinning. "I might as well go get her..." Dave started, but hesitated as the car reversed and started back down the drive.

Past the turn and on a reasonably level place, Susan gunned the engine and tried again. She was obviously staying in the tracks she had already made in the snow as she barreled around the switchback, the back of the car a little out of line as she slid around the turn on the fresh snow with the hard snow pack under it. But she stayed in her previous tracks as she straightened out after the curve. Wheels spinning, the car neared the top of the grade.

"Yea, she's going to make it," Arlene cheered as she, Ann, Jennie and Melissa jumped up and down clapping.

"Going to make that one," Jeff said. "There is a bunch left."

Susan eased over the grade and picked up speed. The next several inclines and switchbacks weren't as steep, and she swung around each turn barely in control, but always managing to keep from sliding into the wall of snow on the outer edge.

"She has two more steep ones to go, Daddy."

Begrudgingly, Jeff gave the bitch credit. She could darn sure drive.

"She's lived where there was snow," Frank guessed.

"Other than the few inches we get in Georgia each year, I don't think so. At least she never mentioned living anywhere else," Jeff said.

The car stalled out about halfway up the next incline. Without hesitation, it reversed and went back down.

"I will give her this," Dave said, "she hasn't bobbled a bit when she backs up. I have guys who work for me who can't back worth a crap, let alone that far and that fast."

Having backed past the switchback to a level spot, the vehicle stopped for a moment. The camera zoomed in to give a perfect view of Diana's mother. Even with the large sunglasses covering a portion of her face, it was still evident that she was a beautiful woman. Her jaw tensed as she stared at the driveway. Hesitating a moment, she dropped the vehicle into gear, then started forward again. It was obvious she realized how steep this grade was because she held her speed up until she spun out on the switchback and slid into the deep snow on the side of the drive.

"I'll go..."

"No," Diana snapped. "When she gives up, we'll go get her. Let her try for a while."

Dave sighed, looked at Evie who shrugged, but kept her counsel.

Susan had gotten her car out of the deep snow on the hill and backed back down at speed. This time, she didn't pause, but immediately tried again, just as fast as the last time. She made the curve though, and tires spinning wildly, barely made it over the crest of the incline as Arlene cried, "Go, Meemi!" After two more inclines that weren't as steep, she stopped as she saw the next one. It was just as steep as the other steep one, but unknown to her, if she made this one, the others weren't as steep.

"She's damn going to make it," Dave said, respect in his voice.

"Yeah," Jeff agreed. "And if she does, there is going to be hell to pay when she realizes that we have a snowplow and have been watching her struggle."

"I don't like this," Arlene said. "We could have gotten to my Meemi by now."

"Yeah, and she could have called and let us know she was coming," Diana groused. "I talked to her two days ago and she didn't even mention it. She could have let us put a fan in our bedroom to make some white noise when your dad and I were first married, too. But, nooo, she wouldn't let us do it. We couldn't make a sound when we made love, or she would berate us the next day. And ... the damn bed squeaked. Let her struggle. She's gonna raise hell when she gets here whether we help her or not."

"Oh, Mom, she is not."

They watched as her car spun to a stop for the second time a few feet from the top of the steep incline. Without hesitation, Susan turned to look over her shoulder as she sped back down the hill.

"I'm beginning to admire this woman," Frank said. "Not only is she a damn good driver, but she certainly doesn't give up easily. And ... that might very well be the understatement of the day."

The car came roaring back around the switchback, barely keeping from spinning out sideways. This time, Susan made it over the top, albeit with a lot of spinning just at the crest, but make it, she did.

"Won't be long now," Jeff sighed. "And it was a perfect Sunday morning."

Diana turned to her husband. "What are we going to tell her, Baby?"

Jeff frowned. "The truth. What else?"

"Tell my mother that you have nine wives? She'll go ballistic. And when she finds out that Arlene is one of them..."

"Yeah, there is that little detail."

The car slowed when Susan got to the big circular drive in front of the retreat, but since it hadn't been plowed out in days, it was obvious that the family didn't use that entrance. She continued on, but having slowed to check out the front, the rise as the drive circled to the back of the retreat, got her. Backing up, she gunned it and tried again.

"Time to go," Arlene laughed. "Let's go meet Meemi."

"Yeah, you guys go ahead," Jeff said to his young wives. "I'll wait right here for my execution."

"Oh, Daddiieee," Arlene laughed as she grabbed Ann's hand and the four young wives ran out of the living room.

"Oh, well. I suspect I'm going to have to put two new tires on the back of that rental car before she turns it in; she's bound to have burned a lot of tread off, but watching her fight that driveway was worth it."

"I knew I was coming to a mountain," Susan was saying to Jeff's young wives as she walked into the living room, "but the rental place was all out of four-wheel drives. Some kind of convention or something. That was the only vehicle they had left."

"Well, hello, Daughter," Susan said, coming to a stop as she saw Diana. Suddenly, Susan looked confused. As she took the few steps to be near Diana, she stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Well, it looks like you have certainly put some of that money to use. How much did the plastic surgeons charge you to redo your face? You look like you should still be in high school."

"Well, Mother. It's nice to see you, too," Diana sarcastically said.

"Yeah, I'll bet," Susan replied through a grin. Then turning to Jeff, "Well, hello, my favorite son-in-law. Of course, you're my only son-in-law."

"Hey, Mom," Jeff said brightly. "Great to see you." Nobody believed him.

Despite their verbal jabs, Diana and her mother hugged. "So who are all these people?" Susan said, turning to the others.

Diana couldn't help it, she just had to do it, "Well, this is our project manager, Dave Henson, and his assistant and first wife, Evie."

Dave stuck out his hand, fighting a grin. Susan shook it, and Dave was pleased to note it was not one of those handshakes that some women give that are so limp as to make a man feel uncomfortable.

Evie and Susan exchanged greetings.

Now for the bombshell, Diana thought. "Beside Evie is another of Dave's wives. Meet Linda. My mother, Susan," Diana said, her face absolutely without expression. "Next to her is Dave's third wife, Kim."

Diana could see the hesitation, but Susan covered it well as she acknowledged each of Dave's wives. After introducing her to Frank and Margaret, Diana did the same for Bill and his two wives. Color began to creep up Susan's face, but she acknowledged each person. Diana nodded to her sister-wives who had all gathered around a standing Jeff, waiting. Jennie and Melissa stood on either side of him with their arms around him. Susan stared at them for a moment, then looked back at Diana.

"Are you saying..."

"Yes, Momma, they're his wives. We all are."

Arlene took the few steps to her dad, turning to back into his arms. "We are all his wives, Meemi. All of us."

Susan noticed the glint of the gold rings for the first time. "You are ... screwing my granddaughter?" she hissed out to Jeff.

"No," he calmly replied. "I make love to my wives — all of them." There was dead quiet in the room.

"Well," Dave said, clearing his throat and coming to his feet. "Time to go."

He was late. Frank and Margaret were already headed for the door, followed shortly by Bill and his women. Jeff was thankful that Kayla and the new girls were in their suite.

"Thanks, Mom. That was very polite of you," Diana snapped as she sat in a chair. Jeff sat on a couch with Jennie and Melissa beside him, the others sitting on the couch or in nearby chairs.

Arlene walked over and hugged Susan. "It's a long story, Meemi."

Susan seemed to collapse back into a chair. Arlene knelt on the carpet in front of her, holding her hand. "It's not what you think..."

"What I think is he is committing incest with a minor. Statutory rape and incest with my granddaughter."

"No, Meemi. I'm above the age of consent. So there's no statutory rape. Not for me nor any of us," she said, indicating Jeff's younger wives. "Momma and I messed up bigtime before we left Georgia. Dad had every right to divorce Mom, and throw me out too. We dishonored him while he was away trying to make us rich. You need to relax and let us tell you what happened before you say some things that you might later wish you hadn't.

"And why didn't you call and say you were coming?" Arlene went on, trying to distract Susan. "We would have picked you up at the airport. We might even have had the helicopter service fly you out here."

"My Baby," Susan sniffed, her voice breaking. "What has he done to you? What is this place, a commune or something? He's brainwashed you..."

Diana, who had just settled back into her seat, jumped to her feet, quickly walking to her mother. "Mom, shut the fu..." Diana clamped down on her temper. After a second, "Just shut up. This is no commune. This is a home full of people who love each other."

"That's what I figured," Susan snapped. "Do you all get in a pile and go at it?"