Chapter 45

Evie, Kathy and Linda took the packages out of the vehicle and went in the back. Evie smiled at Linda as they walked side by side down the hallway, Kathy following a step behind. "Don't worry about your dad. I'll talk to him," Evie said. "You bought the first outfit; Dave and I just bought the other two and the boots. He might grump a little," she laughed, "he's a man. But when he sees how pretty you look in those cowgirl outfits, he'll quit. Just show him what you bought and give him his change back, then I'll hit him with the rest of it."

"I hope you're right. I don't want to make Daddy mad at me," she fretted.

Evie glanced at Kathy for a second and thought. She wouldn't be this worried about her father being mad at her about something like this if it were not for what her mother has done. She's worried that her father will leave her, too. It makes my heart break. She can't get over thinking that she had something to do with it.

As they continued on, Evie put her arm around Linda's shoulder for a moment and said, "Here's what we'll do."

Fifteen minutes later, the three, with Kathy dressed in one of her new outfits, walked into the living room. Jeff, Dave, Bill and Frank were sitting in a circle discussing the farms when the women walked in.

Since Dave was facing the door, he saw Linda in her new outfit first. Evie was watching her husband. When she saw his face soften as he saw Linda, Evie felt pride course through her. She has just about got you, my wonderful husband. I can see it in your face. Maybe one day soon you will have more than one woman so that you can show Jeff that he's not the only one with a harem. Evie almost gasped out loud when she realized what she had just thought. Momentarily confused, wondering if she were doing the right thing by pushing them together, she almost missed what Linda told her father.

"Like my outfit?" Linda said, hugging her dad, stepping back for him to see, then slowly pirouetting. She was wearing a beige, felt cowgirl hat, a predominantly red plaid shirt, consisting of faint red and green stripes on a beige background, with red roses showing green leaves around them interspersed about the shirt. Tight Wrangler jeans and tan, high gloss western boots completed the ensemble. The shirt fit her like the proverbial glove, accentuating her high breasts and small waistline.

"Wow!" Bill exclaimed. "You look great in that, Kitten." As Bill's eyes took in her boots and hat, his brain did some fast arithmetic. Those two hundred dollars he gave her probably wouldn't buy the hat. He hadn't even thought of a hat and boots when he gave her the money. Oh, well, she had her card. I would buy her ten of those outfits just to see that smile on her face after all she has been through lately.

When the compliments from everyone died down, Evie leaned over and whispered in Linda's ear. "Go put on another of your outfits. I'll take care of your dad."

Linda smiled at her and took off.

Evie grasped Bill's hand and said, "Come here," towing him into the hallway as Dave grinned after them.

When they were alone, and before Bill could say anything, Evie said. "First off. Don't get mad at your daughter. I wouldn't let her charge anything. She spent a little over a hundred dollars of your money. Please stop," she said, placing a finger on Bill's lips, startling him. "We really like Linda, and we wanted to do this. She loves our music, and she's going to love tonight at the festival as well, especially in her outfit — you can see what a knockout she is in it. She'll really make an impression. I can't tell you how important that is at her age. We bought her two other outfits. But please don't spoil it for her. She was so worried that you were going to be mad at her for letting us buy her the things."

Bill took a deep breath. "You hardly know us. Why would you do this?"

Evie sighed. "I could give you all the stock answers: we feel sorry for her for what she's going through; we don't have anyone to spend our money on; well, any number of things. Truth is, it just feels right. Both my husband and I care for her and it made us happy to do it. Please don't be mad. We know that you can afford anything for your daughter, but please let us do this."

"Well, I..."

Evie grabbed Bill and hugged him. "Make over her, Bill. You're her world right now, and logic or not, she's afraid that she'll lose you just like she did her mother. You're all she talks about."

Bill smiled down at Evie. "Okay. I'll take it like a man," he kidded. "But this isn't over yet. You two are spending too much money on her. Somehow we're going to have to even this up."

Evie grinned at him and grabbed his hand. "Let's get back inside before she comes back with another outfit on and catches us out here. She'll figure it out in a heartbeat."

Rushing back inside the living room, Bill resumed his seat, and Evie sat in her husband's lap, slow winking at him as she sat down. "She'll be back in a minute," Evie whispered to Dave.

Linda was a little more tentative when she walked through the doorway this time, but when she saw the smile on her father's face, her spirits rose. Although not as sexy, this outfit was more feminine and frilly. Wearing a round, black felt hat, with a pink and white shirt that had long black cuffs with pink fringe, a black vest, black skirt with the same pick fringe continuing on it, and black boots with the fringe around their tops, she didn't look like a working cowgirl, but she surely did look like a pretty one.

Bill knew that the hat and boots of the first outfit probably cost a couple hundred dollars each. The ones with this outfit may not have cost as much, but there was a good chance that the shirt and skirt would make up for them. "Beautiful, Baby. The outfit is beautiful, and you're beautiful in it," he said, bringing a radiant smile to his daughter's lips.

"I have one more," Linda said, coming over and sitting in her father's lap. "But I'll save it for later. Are you mad at me?"

Bill tightly hugged her. "Not at all," he answered, suddenly realizing that he was, indeed, pleased that Evie had gone ahead and bought Linda all the clothes. Just to see her happy, really happy, for the first time in so long made him realize how much contrast it was from her usual appearance lately.

"I know that you've told Evie thank you, but Dave wasn't there, so don't forget him," Bill quietly said to Linda.

Linda got up and went over to Evie and Dave. Putting her arms around both of them as Evie sat in Dave's lap, she hugged them. "Thank you, Dave. I love my outfits — and my wonderful guitar. You have made me so happy. I'm so glad I came up here this weekend."

Linda kissed first Evie then Dave on the cheek as they both hugged her. As Linda left to go change, Evie realized that she was sitting on a growing piece of Dave's anatomy. Turning her head and whispering directly into his ear, she said, "Liked the feeling of those titties against your shoulder there didn't you?" Before he could think of an answer, Evie got up, calling for Linda to wait up as she hurried out of the living room.

Lunch was hamburgers around the pool, with everyone having a good time. Bill, wearing trunks and a loose, button-up shirt to hide the scars on his back, sat near the pool and watched, chatting with Kathy occasionally when she got out of the water to rest. Jeff's younger wives were showing off what Helen had taught them about swimming until Linda got into the pool. When they realized that she couldn't swim as well as they could, they toned it down, gathering around her to talk and have fun.

When Jeff got tired of being dunked by the women, he accepted defeat, crawled out and sat down by Bill.

Bill looked over and grinned at him. "I guess that's one drawback to having seven wives. You didn't stand a chance in there."

"Yeah," Jeff laughed, "and they put new meaning to teamwork. I think I drank half the pool."

"Couldn't have," Bill laughed, "I drank half of it this morning when Helen was torturing me. It has still got water in it, so I guess one of us was a little shy on what went down our throats."

They watched the women for a moment, then Jeff asked, "Seriously, what did you think about Helen's swimming?"

"Well, like I told her, I've never seen anyone move through the water like that. Kathy says that one of the girls told her that Helen is a genius. She sure is as far as moving through the water is concerned. I'm surprised that she isn't swimming professionally, or swimming in the Olympics. But she told me that she just did it for fun and exercise. She said she taught girls' swimming at school."

Gazing at the women that had now gathered in the shallow end to talk, Jeff said, "Watching them compete against each other when they don't have company and can pull out all the stops is just short of amazing. None of them can keep up with Helen, but they're using the techniques that she has taught them. With her coaching, they're closing the gap."

"And what about you?" Bill asked.

"Well, I can get from point A to point B in the water if I have to, but I'm a distance runner and would rather get my exercise on the road. Helen and several of my wives can literally lie in the water on their backs and read a book. I'm told that everyone can float, but that doesn't seem to apply to me. I sink like a rock. If I lie on my back and relax, shortly I'm on the bottom of the pool," he said, laughing. As usual, Jeff had minimized anything that he could do, and was well aware that muscle mass was the reason he didn't float.

There was quiet for a moment, then Bill asked, "Are you going to be back tonight?"

"Unless you tell me not to be. Uh, if you and Kathy..."

Bill remained quiet for a moment, then sighed.

"Look, if I've overstepped..."

"No, no, Jeff. It's nothing like that. I guess it's just this divorce thing. I'm dreading Tuesday like you wouldn't believe. I know that logically I should be going after Jill tooth and nail, wanting to get this thing over with. And I do want it to be over, but I just..."

Jeff looked over at Madison. "There's nothing wrong with continuing to love someone that you have vowed to love for the rest of your life. I can't even imagine what this is doing to you. All I can do is say that I'm sorry."

Bill blew out his breath, realizing that his emotions were about as raw as his daughter's. "It just seems like a nightmare. A nightmare that won't quit, and that I can't wake up from. When I look at Jill, and she looks away, or worse, looks back without any emotion at all, I just can't believe it's her."

Glancing over at Kathy as she laughed and cut up with the women in the water, Bill continued, "Kathy has told me that she'll be there for me when this is over. Oddly enough, I realize now that I've come to love her. I don't know when it happened, but when she talked to me at the park, it hit me that she was a part of my life. She seems almost driven to accomplish whatever she sets out to do. She proved that to me in spades when she gave up everything to get her commercial license. She never asked for a thing. No telling what she did without to be able to pay for things. I didn't charge her for my part of the training, of course. Still, she spent a lot of money and worked her ass off. Somewhere in there, I fell in love with her."

Bill frowned and picked up his drink from the table by his lounge chair. "Trouble is, I'm still in love with my soon-to-be ex-wife."

"So?" Jeff very deliberately said, "Love isn't something that God gives you a certain amount and when it runs out you can't love anyone else, as Diana has reminded me a while back. I love each of my wives, and I mean that I'm in love with them, and I still love my first wife just as much as always. No, as I've said before, I love her more now than when we were first married. I think our capacity for love increases as we love more people. Maybe it's a little like exercising a set of muscles; the more you do it, the more you can."

Bill nodded toward Kathy in the pool. "I'm scared to tell her. She's already made it clear that she has feelings for me. But I'm afraid that she'll think it's just rebound from my marriage. I'm too damn much older than she is. I can just see us out somewhere when one of her acquaintances thinks that I'm her father..."

"That might not be too much of a concern in a few weeks," Jeff said, waving at Jennie as she made a face at him.

Madison sighed, "It's hard to think that's going to happen to me. But whatever you're doing for me, I appreciate it. Other than your wife working me to death this morning, I feel like a million dollars. To add insult to injury, while I'm floundering along putting everything I have into it, she just seems to glide beside me in the water without any effort at all."

Jeff chuckled. "Now you're not by yourself, there. She doesn't cut me any slack, either. The only consolation I have is that she won't go for a distance run with me. Oh, we've jogged up the road a mile or so, mostly to help Fred, but other than that, she just looks as me and grins when I try to get her to go with me."

The men sat relaxed, watching the women swim.

Jeremy was an hour early, but the women had already been working for a while when he knocked on the door. Denise looked at Connie. "You let him in this time, but save some for me."

"Hah," Connie said, "He's not going to be interested in me the way I look. He sees me in work clothes like these every day."

"Yeah, well. Who's already brushed her teeth twice since she got up?" Denise laughed. "Like I said," she repeated to Connie's retreating back, "save some for me."

Connie opened the door, but as soon as she had eye contact with Jeremy, she blushed, remembering all the kissing they had done last night. She opened her mouth to say "Hi," but instead, "Jeremy, I guess I acted like a teenager on her first date last night. I was afraid that you wouldn't even show..."

Jeremy stepped closer, lifted her chin with his finger and gently kissed her for a half minute. The room seemed to move and she leaned against his hard chest for support. "How do you do that?" she quietly asked, almost forgetting to close the door. "I'm not a shy little virgin, but I'm acting like..."

He kissed her again, opening his mouth slightly, pushing against her lips with the tip of his tongue. Her mouth opened of its own accord. He teased the tip of her tongue for a moment, then pulled back. "Good morning, Pretty Lady."