Chapter 10

We were up early and did our usual morning business, and Ashley took another shower, as she said that she definitely needed it. I had breakfast done when she came down. She was dressed to go out, but I still needed to change.

“Bill, I need to stop at the place where I worked to let them know that I’m quitting. They must wonder what happened to me while I’ve been here. We can stop there on the way to the apartment,” Ashley told me.

“Sure, Sweetie. Not a problem,” I told her.

We arrived at the business where Ashley had worked around 9:30, and I parked in a visitors spot. When we entered the building, the people there were amazed to see Ashley. All of the women there had questions, but Ashley didn’t answer any of them. We went directly to her boss’s office instead.

“Ashley!” an older man said in wonder as we entered the office. He was about 5’-10” tall, maybe 55 years old and going gray.

“Good morning, Mr. Jenkins,” Ashley said, “I’m sorry that I have been unable to call you, but I have had a serious problem. I was abducted when I left here the last time. Several men used me and hurt me. This gentleman, Bill my fiancé, rescued me and has been taking care of of me since then. I just came in to let you know that I’m quitting to get married.”

“What do you mean, they hurt you? Have you been to the police?” he asked.

“No, no police. The matter is settled. Those men will NEVER bother anyone ever again,” Ashley said near tears, her voice all chocked up. She then removed her blouse and showed Mr. Jenkins her back. He was seriously shocked on seeing it.

“My God, Ashley! Are you going to be all right?” he asked, concerned.

“Yes, Mr. Jenkins. Bill has taken very good care of me. We’ll be married in a couple of days, as soon as my mother arrives,” she told him. She didn’t say anything more.

“I wish you all the happiness in the world, Ashley. We’ll certainly miss you here, and I’ll have your final pay deposited to your account in a few days. If you should ever decide to return to the work force in the future, please do consider us. I’ve always been very satisfied with your work. I’m sorry that this happened to you, but I’m glad that you have found someone that you like so well,” Mr. Jenkins told her.

Ashley put her blouse back on and gave Mr. Jenkins a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re a very lucky man, Bill,” he said as he held out his for me to shake.

“Yes, sir. I’m very aware of that,” I told him. We left very quietly after that.

It was only a short ride from Ashley’s workplace to the apartment that she shared with Maureen. I parked in the lot out front and we went up to her apartment. Ashley had to ring the bell, as she had no keys or even ID. They had all disappeared when she was abducted.

The door was answered in a few minutes by a tall, thin woman with blond hair and watery blue eyes.

“Ashley!!” she exclaimed in shock. “Where have you been? What happened to you? The people from your work called several times, but I had no idea what to tell them, and who is this man?” she demanded, as we all moved into the apartment.

“This is Bill, my fiancé, Maureen. We’ll be married as soon as my mother arrives. I’ve come to collect my things. I’m living at Bill’s house now,” Ashley told her.

“Isn’t this a little sudden, Ashley?” Maureen asked. “And you never answered my other questions.”

“I was abducted, raped repeatedly and abused, Maureen,” Ashley told her, near tears. “Bill has taken care of me since he found me. He has also dealt with those responsible.”

“What do you mean by ‘dealt with those responsible’,” she wanted to know. “Have you been to the police? What did he do?”

“Those people won’t bother anyone again, Maureen,” Ashley told her.

“The police don’t act that quickly - nor do the courts,” Maureen said, disgustedly.

“No, they don’t,” Ashley answered. “There are others that do.”

“But you said that you were raped and abused. Did he take care of you?” Maureen wanted to know.

“Yes, Bill took care of me, also a medic that he knows. I’m still recovering,” Ashley said as she teared up, again but didn’t cry. She removed her blouse and skirt to show Maureen her body.

“My God,” Maureen whispered. “Are you going to be all right?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. Bill takes very good care of me,” Ashley told her again with a sniffle.

Maureen was now looking closely at me, and she had a strange expression on her face. She looked very thoughtful for several minutes while Ashley redressed.

“Haven’t I seen you before?” Maureen asked. “Oh, I’m sure that I... ! Weren’t you Sara’s husband? Sara who died eight years ago, just a couple of weeks before my mother died!!”

“Yes, Sara was my first wife’s name. She died a year before I retired. Who was your mother?” I asked.

“My mother was Lucie. She was president of the environmental movement then. She and Sara were on to something, but she never told me what it was. She died suddenly several weeks after Sara did. I saw you a couple of times when I was home from college,” Maureen said.

“Yes, I remember Lucie. I didn’t know that she was your mother, or that she had died. I was away on business a lot then, especially after Sara died,” I told her.

“And you’re going to marry Ashley!?” she asked, unbelievingly.

“Yes, Ashley and I are going to be married.”

“Isn’t he a little old for you, Ashley?” Maureen demanded in a shrill voice.

“No, Maureen, he isn’t. My father was quite a bit older than my mother, and I’m quite used to the situation,” Ashley told her, just a little cross.

“It’s just as well that you’re moving out,” Maureen told her. “Now that Diversified has been stopped, I need to find a new cause. I’ve been thinking of global warming. It’s a nice big cause and I’m sure I can find a spot for me, but it’ll require moving. I’ll be leaving here shortly, so your leaving isn’t a problem.” Maureen was definitely in a snit.

Ashley just ignored Maureen and started gathering her things, while I went back to the truck to retrieve the collapsed boxes and tape to move her things with. I reassembled the boxes and taped the bottoms securely. Ashley started packing them, as she had already filled her suitcase with her clothes. I started carrying things down stairs as soon as Ashley wrote the contents on the boxes with a large magic marker. We were ready to go in less than an hour. Maureen seemed to be sulking in the living room.

“Good bye, Maureen,” Ashley said, as I carried out the last box. “If nothing else, its been ... different.” Maureen didn’t answer. We were home soon enough.

“Where do you want me to put these?” I asked Ashley, as I started to carry the boxes in.

“Put everything in the spare bedroom. I’ll get it all sorted out and put everything away. We may need to move some furniture around though, Bill.”

“Yes, Sara used to have a bureau and other furniture in the bedroom. I moved it out after I retired. It won’t be a problem to move it back in,” I told her.

“All right, we can take care of that tomorrow or the next day,” she told me.

We had lunch after everything was moved in. Ed arrived shortly after we started, and he joined us for lunch. We had a long leisurely lunch with a couple of beers. Ed was surprised when Ashley told him that we were engaged.

“Well, I know where I’ll be able to get a good meal from now on,” Ed told her.

“Do you think that’s the only reason Bill is marrying me?” Ashley asked, teasingly.

“Him, no. I’m sure he has other reasons for marrying you, like those long showers you mentioned before,” he told her. Ashley blushed big time.

About 2 PM, the alarm went off. A check showed a nursery truck, a tractor with a low-bed trailer, with a real good sized tree on it. It was the walnut tree that I had ordered.

“Bill, while you’re taking care of that, I’m going to call my mother. Is that all right?” Ashley asked.

“Sure, Sweetie,” I told her. “We’ll be busy for a while.” Ed and I met the truck when it pulled up in the front yard.

“Where does it go?” the driver asked.

“It goes in the meadow at the bottom of the hill,” I told him.

“OK, hop in and guide me down there,” the driver said. Ed and I got in the cab and guided him down to the meadow where we had dug the grave the day before.

“You have three others!!” the driver said in surprise as we neared the site.

“Yes, I got them all from your nursery,” I said, and then indicated where the ground was dug up. The three of us wrestled the tree to the ground from the low-bed trailer after we used his shovels to dig a hole in the loose dirt large enough to hold the root ball. We finally got it in the hole after cutting the burlap off, and we filled in around it with the loose dirt. It was a little smaller than the other trees, but they all sure looked good together. I would water and fertilize it later. I wrote the driver a check for the invoice he handed me. I had had some doubts about him getting that big truck back out, but he managed the hill very well.

When we returned to the house and washed up, Ashley told us what was discussed on the phone, part of it anyway.

“My mom will be here in two days, Bill. She was really excited about me getting married. She’ll be staying for a few days. I hope that’s all right?” Ashley said, somewhat worried.

“Sure, Sweetie. That’s fine. Is she driving or what?” I asked.

“Yes, she’s driving,” Ashley said.

The next two days were somewhat busy. We moved the bureau and vanity back into the Master bedroom, and Ashley put her things away in them. We cleaned the guest room and got it ready for her mom’s stay. I also took her to buy an engagement ring and wedding band set.

By the second night, Ashley couldn’t wait any longer. She put a big towel on the bed and pulled me down on top of her. We cuddled and kissed and I licked her as far south as her navel, but she wouldn’t let me go any further for now, so I retraced my way to her mouth. Then she grabbed my cock and guided me to her entrance, and I slipped into her. She was very wet and horny as hell - like I wasn’t? It didn’t take us long the first time before we were both coming. God, this girl could wear me out!

The second time, later, was slower and took longer. We enjoyed each other for a long time, but finally Ashley screamed out her second orgasm since we restarted, and I came in her. It felt like I came forever, but she was still out when I fell over to her side. It took me some time to revive. Ashley was back by the time I was ready to go get a shower. We both needed it, and we showered together, but it was a reasonably short one.

Ashley’s mom, Esther, arrived the next afternoon. She looked more like Ashley’s older sister than her mother, of course she was a little heavier. When the alarm went off, I called to Ashley.

“Does your mother drive a blue car?” I asked.

“Yes, her car is blue. Is she here?” Ashley answered, all excited.

“Well, a blue car is coming down the road.” I told her. We went out to meet the car, and it was her mom. They hugged and kissed, laughed and cried together for five minutes or so. Finally, Ashley brought her mom over to meet me.

“Mom, this is Bill. We’re going to be married as soon as we can get a license,” Ashley said.

“Hello, Bill,” Esther said. “Ashley has told me a lot about you over the phone. Is this your place?”

“Yes ma’am. I’ve lived here for the last seven years. I bought it a number of years before that, but I was on the road a lot in my work,”I told her.

“Yes, Ashley told me that you’re retired. She said you do some kind of metal work now!”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m a blacksmith. I make a lot of reproduction house iron, like hinges, shutter keeps, boot scrapers, door and drawer handles, door and window grills, those sorts of things.

“She also said you that have a wood shop.”

“Yes, ma’am. I do a little woodwork, too.”

“My late husband was a woodworker. He made a lot of nice things for us.”

“Oh Mama, wait till you meet Ed. He’s a cabinetmaker, and he does things that daddy never did,” Ashley told her mom with a big smile.

That night Ashley made dinner, while her mother got settled in the guest room. After dinner, the two women talked for a while. Then Ashley went upstairs and Ester came into the den to talk to me.

“I need to talk to you, Bill,” she said, very seriously.

“OK,” I said, “go ahead.” I was expecting the worst. What I got was something unexpected.

“Ashley has told me about your protective bubble,” she stated. I was startled. I hadn’t told Ashley not to mention it, but had assumed it was something private between us. Then Esther dropped the real bomb.

“My late husband also had that ability,” she said, nonchalantly. You could have knocked me over with a feather at that news!

“I had forbidden Ashley to speak about it to anyone, as I felt that no one would ever believe such a story, and we had no way to prove it since he’s dead,” she continued.

“How did he die?” I asked, concerned. “I thought the bubbles were impenetrable.”

“Asphyxiation,” she replied. “He was trying to rescue some people trapped in a cave-in and he got trapped also. The bubble kept him from being crushed, but he couldn’t open the ends to get more air in there and died of asphyxiation. They dug him out a few hours later, but it was too late for him.

“Bill, in the future always carry oxygen with you when you get into something requiring the bubble!” she implored me, nearly in tears.

“Yes, on the last job here, I experienced something similar. The place was full of chlorine gas. I blew open an outside wall and got out in time,” I told her.

“Then you know how dangerous it is. Can you control the bubble any?” she wanted to know.

“Yes, I can change the shape and size. I have never tried to open the ends however. I’ll keep that in mind,” I told her.

“How about showing an old woman around your house?” Esther asked changing the subject. I gave her a guided tour from the basement to the second floor. I also explained about the alarm system.

“Yes, Ashley said that you were very careful. Do you really have matching shotguns in the bedroom?” she asked. She had already seen the racks in all the rooms, and how I moved the shotgun.

“Yes, we do, and it’s a good thing,” I told her, taking her in to our bedroom. Then I related the story of the blond guy to her. Afterward, Ashley showed her mom her back and thighs. Esther was shocked. Ashley then told her about our trip to the Diversified plant, and her mother just gasped.

“All of that is behind us now, Mama. None of those men will be bothering anyone again,” Ashley said at the conclusion.

We all went to bed after that. Well, Esther went to bed in the guest room, and Ashley and I went to bed in the master bedroom. Everyone took a shower first. Ours lasted a lot longer than Esther’s did though, but showering was all that we did. After we were in bed, I mentioned to Ashley that her mother had told me about her father.

“Yes, Mama forbade me from telling anyone about it. Now that she has told you about him, we can talk about it later, when we’re more settled,” Ashley told me.

The next morning I gave Esther a guided tour of the shops, the vault and the barn after breakfast. I also showed her the four walnut trees and related their story.

“Lord, Bill. I hope all of that IS behind you now,” she said.

“Oh, yes,” I assured her, “I haven’t had any trouble with the Agency in a long time, and Diversified is out of the drug business and a lot of their people are in jail now. I don’t expect any trouble.”

“But you still have the alarm system and all of those guns,” she pointed out.

“One is never assured of anything staying the same,” I told her.