Chapter 15

To my knowledge, nobody has ever done a book about the conversations women in polygamous marriages have when the husband isn't around. It's probably fair to say there is a seniority system amongst the wives, whether it's formal or not. And the social structure under which polygamy exists probably doesn't matter all that much. By that I mean it probably doesn't matter whether the family is from one of the tribes of deepest Africa, a Muslim tradition, a Mormon sect, or whatever. I suspect it doesn't even matter whether the polygamy is formal or not, for that matter. The women undoubtedly work things out between themselves, and I don't know of any study or book that's been published about how that works. Such a study could be out there, but I haven't heard of it and, until I got involved with Lynne and Jill ... it just didn't matter.

I suspect there's a good dose of self interest involved in such "negotiations" between wives. Self interest seems to drive most decisions. But if the women involved already love each other, with the kind of bond that Jill and her mother had, then self interest might not be the primary driving force.

We don't know the answer to that in this case either, because when I was finally allowed to learn about the results of the negotiations, I wasn't given any information about the nuts and bolts of the conversation.

But I'm telling you, it must have been VERY interesting.

What happened was that I puttered around outside and then went back into the house.

"We're not finished yet," said Lynne, so I went back out and did more chores.

That happened three more times, consuming an hour and a half before Lynne came out of the house with the car keys in her hand. She also had a sports bag hanging off one shoulder.

"I'm going to town," she said, as if nothing odd had happened in the last five years. "I'd like some company. Want to go?"

Now I know I haven't exactly described my actions in this story such that any of you will be led down the garden path about me being a genius, or anything, but on the other hand I'm not completely stupid. I knew enough, for example to answer her question "Yes," and then keep my mouth shut as we got in the car and drove away.

The first five miles were very quiet, though she looked over at me a few times. I really had no idea what to do and keeping silent just seemed like as good a plan as any at that point. As she turned off the blacktop onto a dirt track I wasn't familiar with, she spoke.

"What surprises me about this the most is that the only thing I'm actually really upset about is her not wanting to go to college."

I didn't know if I was supposed to already know about that part or not. I decided that I was just going to be me and hope for the best.

"I can understand that," I said.

"I told her I wanted her to have a better life than I did, and she pointed out that there was nothing wrong with my life at all."

"That might be oversimplifying things a bit," I suggested.

"Oh her part, yes," said Lynne. We came to a gate that crossed the road and she stopped. "Would you get the gate and close it again after I've gone through?"

"Sure."

I got out. The gate looked locked, but as soon as I got close enough I could see the padlock on the chain wasn't actually fastening the chain together. I swung the gate back, she drove through, and I pulled the gate closed again. I got back in the car.

"This property belongs to Ken Wilkerson," she said, moving forward."

The road leads to a small hot spring he decided not to develop, like most of the other ones in town have been."

"Oh," I said, wondering what was going on.

"You know the hot springs in these parts are rumored to have very positive health effects."

"I'd heard that, but I've never visited any of them," I said.

"I did," she said, her voice sounding full of emotion. "This one, in fact."

"Really." I still had no earthly clue as to what they had talked about, or why we were where we were, instead of "going to town" like she had said we were going to do.

"I know you're wondering what we talked about," she said.

"That's fair to assume," I said. I didn't mean it to come out as dryly as it did. She shot me a look.

"We're going to test your theory," she said.

"My theory?"

"The one that says you can love two women at the same time."

That suggested several things, but I didn't want to assume any of them. My penis, bless his nasty little heart, wasn't of the same carefulness and started to stiffen.

"I don't know quite what to say," I said.

"You could say thank you," she said, which took me by surprise.

"Thank you," I said immediately.

She smiled, and so help me it looked like a grim smile.

"Not many men get to have two women like this," she said.

"I'm very aware of that," I said. "Are you sure this is going to work out?"

"Not in the slightest," she said.

"The last thing I want to do is make trouble between you and Jill."

She looked over at me and then down at my lap, where what my penis was doing was quite visible.

"How noble of you," she said. I think she DID mean for it to come out in as dry a tone as it did.

"I mean it," I said. "I love you both, and if that means giving both of you up to keep the peace, I'll do it."

"We talked about that," she said. "We decided that is a last resort kind of thing. We're going to try some other things first."

"Am I permitted to know what these things are?" I asked.

She snorted. "Of course you are. You're part of them, silly."