Chapter 13

It took Gail and Howard less than two hours to load all but the Fletcher's overnight things. Betsy promised to clean the refrigerator and bathroom before they left. Gail said not to bother, and then started doing those two things for her because she knew the older woman would do them anyway.

When they were finally home, Gail fell on the bed, "Oh, don't even ask me to get up for at least an hour."

"Come on, Sweetheart, go take a shower, you'll feel better and sleep better, too."

"No," Gail shook her head. "I'm just going to stay right here."

Howard walked to the bed and picked her up. "You wash it, or I will."

"Okay," she said. "You can wash it."

Howard put her down in the middle of the tiny bathroom. "Gail, I was not teasing."

"I'm not either. I've thought about it and I don't know why we are waiting. I don't know what to do or I would ... So, if you can teach me..."

Howard looked at her for a long moment, "This is not for fun. This is forever."

"I know," Gail said. "I remember what you said about the church's requirements of conjugal love and the sacrament of matrimony. I may not understand them as you do, but I know what they mean."

"Alright, if it is what you want, please take a shower and then I will. I want our first time together to be very special. I'm not going to rush, I've waited too long."

After his shower Howard got into bed and moved as close to Gail as he could get, whispering in her ear, "Gail Fisher, I love you. I love you and want to live with you for the rest of my life."

He slid one arm under her and neatly turned her over to face him, kissed her and became very still, just holding her.

"Howard, I said marriage vows once, but I didn't really understand them then. I do understand them now. I could say every one of them by heart, because they would mean something to me now. For the rest of our lives, I'm going to think about them every time I say I love you."

For a few moments they were both quiet, enjoying holding each other. Haltingly, Gail asked. "Tell me ... tell me what to do."

"Don't do anything. Just relax for a minute."

Slowly, he began to touch her, and she touched him. She found his small male nipples and circled them with her fingers, then arched her back when he did the same to her. They found places to touch and rub, like the insides of her thighs, the inside of his, the smooth skin up the back of his thighs and all the way to his shoulder blades. He stroked the underside of her upper arms while she kissed the tender spot at his throat that caused shivers when he did the same to the soft skin under her breasts.

Howard found a soft spot under her jaw and used his tongue to slide back and forth while she raised her chin. He kept going from side to side as she moved her head for him, moaned, and mumbled about how good it felt.

"Yes, Sweetheart, that's what it feels like when a man worships a woman." He nuzzled her neck, intensifying the sensations, and gently kissed her, working his way back down to her breasts.

He reached up to brush her hair back from her face and leaned over to kiss each eye, then moved to her lips to kiss her deeper than before. She could feel the heat of his body as his muscles flexed when he rubbed his hands up and down her back, cupping his hands to pull her hips closer to him.

He placed a hand on each side of her face, pulling her head to him to kiss her. He whispered, "Open your mouth for me, Baby. I want to taste you. I want you to taste me."

He leaned back, taking her with him, and then rolled over until she was on her back and the intensity of his kisses increased. His hands were on her, moving from one breast to the other as he kissed her. He rubbed her belly, occasionally threading his fingers through the curls in the vee between her thighs and returned to massage her breasts, moving his head down to suckle for a moment on one and then the other before returning to her mouth.

"Raise you hips for me, Baby. Oh yes, and again, move with me, just like that." Then he couldn't speak, he could only feel—the tightness of her, her heat and her strength as she learned to match his rhythm. Enjoying the feel of the friction between them, they moved apart and then together as if they were dancing, her hands going up and down his back in the same rhythm their bodies were moving.

He looked down at her, her eyes closed, smiling with her mouth partly open, the dimple barely visible.

Then she took over, increasing the speed, then a little faster, pulling the energy from him, until he felt like he would explode. She threaded her hands through his hair and pulled his face down while she raised her head to kiss him, drawing his tongue into her mouth in the same rhythm she was moving her hips, sucking on his bottom lip, and running her tongue down his neck.

He felt her back arch and her hips rise off the bed as she groaned. Her muscles contracted around him, over and over as his arms quivered from holding himself rigid until he was exploding inside her, wishing he could have lasted longer and wanting to begin again. Her arms wrapped around him and held him in place. The sweat from her exertion mingled with his, their breathing panted heavily, their heads lay together on the pillow while she trembled, and the aftershocks of pleasure went through her body as if she were reacting to someone suddenly slapping their hands together.

He rolled off her and pulled her into his arms. He was trembling, just as she was. She put her hand up to brush the perspiration off his forehead, rubbed her cheek against his chest and whispered his name over and over.

He spoke softly near her ear "I have never particularly liked my name, but when you say it like that, it's the most beautiful sound in the world. Go to sleep, Baby. I may want to do that again in the morning, just to hear you say my name."

Gail awakened when Howard was nibbling on the soft spot under her ear. She had been dreaming and realized it wasn't a dream. It was barely light in the room and the air conditioner had finally cycled off, but she was still cold.

"Howard, did we really do that last night."

"Yes, Sweetheart, every time. I've been thinking we need two beds, one to play in and one to sleep in."

"That was playing?"

"Well, I was having fun and I know you enjoyed it, so I guess calling it fun is alright. But I felt like I was making love to you."

"Yes, I guess so. I've always wondered what it was like. You know, you hear things like that, at a movie or on television, "I love you," "I want to love you," "Let me make love to you," and they don't sound real, they sound false. I just wondered what making love really meant."

"But you don't wonder anymore?"

"No, I think I know now. But I want you to tell me what feels good to you." She rubbed her hips against him, to get his attention.

"You keep doing that for much longer and you won't need to be shown anything."

Both of them were surprised when Gail's cell phone rang so early. She received a further surprise when she answered. "Atwood, it's Saturday, what are you doing at the office."

"Who-e-e-e," Atwood used his favorite word of celebration. "Boy, have I got news for you."

Tempted to take the telephone away from her ear to look at it, just to make sure she was really talking to the Atwood she knew, she asked, "Okay, tell me."

Atwood chuckled, "I think that young bank officer is going to prison and he may take a few friends with him."

"Atwood, what are you talking about?"

"Well-l-l," he drawled, enjoying the suspense he was creating. "I think I'm talking about fraud. That young man forgot to remove the copies of some of the other papers he had attached to his copy of the abstract. I am looking at copies of some paid receipts for those taxes on Howard's land that the county said were never paid. The receipts have dates on them much earlier than the bank loan, which I suppose means they were paid when they were due. That means someone gave him these copies, or he has the originals somewhere in the bank vault."

Gail could barely control her excitement, "You have what?"

"Yep, that's what I'm looking at. But that's not all I found. Oh well, we shall save the rest for another time," Atwood said, as if he was having a pleasant conversation. "By the way, ask Howard how much of that bank he wants to own."

Surprised at Atwood's question, Gail stumbled over her words, "What ... How ... I can't believe..."

Atwood laughed as he tried to calm her down, "Take it easy, Gail. I'm joshing, sort of. You two have a nice weekend."

Howard worked Saturday, which gave Gail a chance to make most of the arrangements to meet a second-hand furniture dealer at her storage room. The manager of the facility gave her the name of someone at the Women's Shelter who would take anything Gail did not want to keep. Her donations would go to an abused or homeless woman who was trying to reestablish herself.

They left town before daylight, already groaning about the long day ahead of them. Three blocks from the storage buildings, Gail's cell phone rang. She looked at the small window on the front of the phone and muttered, "Oh shit!"

Instead of putting the phone to her ear, she pushed the button to operate the telephone in hands free mode. Howard would enjoy this conversation.

"Hello, Mother, ah ... Melissa."

"Gail, where have you been and why won't you answer your phone? Are you trying to avoid taking my calls? I've been leaving messages for a god damn week."

"No, my telephone was stolen and I just received the replacement. They let me keep my old number."

"Humph," the wordless sound could be heard by both Gail and Howard, causing them to look at each other. Howard's jaw tightened and Gail turned back to the windshield as if she didn't want to speak, but could not bring herself to remain silent.

"Why were you calling?"

"I finally called that asshole, Collins. He said you moved out of your apartment. Did you move in with Gary, or is there another man I don't know about?"

"The answer to both of your questions is, 'No.' Why were you calling?"

"Gail, did you quit or did you get fired. I pulled a lot of strings to get that job for you."

"Melissa, you did not get that job for me. I asked for it on my own and was working there for over a month before they knew I was your daughter."

"Well, all that snot nose Tommy Abrams said was that you didn't work there any more. I had to call Carlson to find you."

"But you didn't call me at work, you called my cell phone. Now please, tell me why you called."

"I thought I did call you. Are you sure they didn't just forget to give you the message?"

Gail clenched her jaw, "I always return my calls. No one has mentioned that I've failed to receive a message."

"That doesn't matter now. Your father called to ask me about you. He said a sheriff in some county on the border called him asking questions about you."

"Yes, that would be Sheriff Ramsey. I've spoken to him and answered his questions. Did Dad say he thought I was in trouble?"

"No, he just said this sheriff was doing his job and asking questions. If you want to tell me what this is about I'll let your father know."

"No, that's okay. He was just asking questions."

Following Gail's hand motions, Howard drove into the driveway of the storage facility and parked the car then reached his hand out to Gail.

"What did you do and what are you doing down there almost across the street from Mexico? Good God, you'll get killed over there."