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It Just Happened Ch. 01

By: REGade



Chapter 1: When home is the only option

Ed met me at the bus station, shook my hand and talked incessantly. I pretended to listen.

He saw me looking at the side of his van as he tossed my luggage in the cargo area. "That was Jen's idea. She set up the web page and keeps track of how many hits it gets," he explained. The URL was printed below the telephone number, but that's not what had captured my attention. Above the telephone number was printed 'Ed Crumbly and Sons, Contractors'. 

"It's my tool bin. Everything I need is here, secure and orderly," Ed said, as if he needed to explain his reason for graduating to a van. That's not what I wanted to know; why had he chosen to keep the name our father had painted on his truck the day I was born? Why didn't the name read: 'Ed Crumbly Jr., Contractor'?

Riding through town stirred something I hadn't felt in years. It started deep in my chest and pumped upward, like an artesian well. Ed assumed I was looking at the changes. I wasn't.

"That's Stew Mercer's sub-division. He built forty homes on twenty-two acres. I did the siding and most of the roofs, but he had to give Johnny Evans some of the work because I didn't have...you can't get qualified help any more. The kids the technical high school turns out need a year on the job before they're productive. You remember Stew, don't you?"

I nodded, recalling that Stew Mercer was in my graduating class although he had attended the technical high school while I had taken the college course. I had excelled in high school; apparently, Stew had excelled after graduation.

At twenty-nine, Ed's hair was beginning to thin and his forehead was showing a distinct set of worry lines. Is that what I can expect in four years? He seemed more animated than I remembered. Was it to mask the awkwardness between us? 

"The old house looks the same, doesn't it?" he asked as we turned into the driveway. It didn't. In addition to the new, three-car garage at the end of the drive, the roof and siding looked like they had been replaced recently. Maybe he had forgotten how long I had been gone.

Inside, the house looked totally different than I remembered. I followed him upstairs to our old room. "Change into something comfortable and join me on the porch," he said as he set my two pieces of luggage down. The room looked the same as I remembered, small, bunk beds, a desk and a closet that was never large enough for our clothes. I quickly put on jeans, a sweater and sneakers before taking a final look at the room. It was the only place in the house that hadn't been updated. In the hallway I glanced at what had been Mom and Pop's room. Unable to resist, I opened the door and peeked in. That same ache hit the empty pit in my chest and rumbled around. They sleep here. The bed looks new. 

I can't do it, I thought. Sleeping across the hall from Jennifer Hawley and her husband was going to be impossible. But I would have to make the best of my plight: I didn't have any place else to go.

"I suppose you noticed the kitchen? We did a major renovation last year," my brother said when I joined him on the porch. I was too busy noticing that the 'porch' was no longer a porch to respond. It was now a room. 

"Oh this," Ed said when he saw me looking at the sky-lights, ceiling fan, carpeting and paneling below the windows. "I enclosed it a couple of year ago during a slack time. We use it three seasons. The windows open...say...I couldn't remember if you like to open your own beer...some guys are particular about things like that. I left the cap on yours."

What does he have to be nervous about? Why doesn't he shut the fuck up? 

"For future reference, I don't have a hang-up about who opens my beer," I said as I extracted the cap from a cold bottle of Heineken. After taking a long swig from the bottle I had an urge to say more. "I have plenty of other hang-ups. Who opens my beer seems too trivial to waste time worrying about," I said, perplexed with my self for talking so much. What I had said was true though. I did have other hang-ups, like finding out my older brother had fucked my girlfriend the minute I turned my back.

Ed saw me looking at the rolling lawn and beyond where new homes blocked out the view of the lake. "We built houses on the land, Ben. Dad needed the money to pay Mon's medical bills. The project was good for him, too. We worked together until he got sick. I finished them after he died."

I nodded to show that I understood, hoping he would stop talking. I didn't need more explanation. Who was I to mourn the loss of the majestic view? 

As I watched my brother take the empty beer bottles and leave the room, presumably to get two more beers, I realized that down deep, we loved each other. He was the consummate older brother, being a pain in the ass, always treating me like a dunce, while claiming he was doing it for my own good. 

"Go for it, kid," he advised when I told him we were on the verge of having sex. It was Ed's advice that instilled the confidence in me to take Jen's virginity. She was my first, too. 

Ed was always the giver; I was the taker, or so he led me to believe. He went to work for our dad after high school and financed my first three years at college. I don't believe he kept track of the amounts he shelled out; I know I didn't. I worked summers with Ed and my dad and used the money for incidentals, clothes and spending. Our parents sent money for my trips home, two holidays and summer vacation. 

Jen attended a local junior college for two years and then went to work in a bank. We had a strict rule; no fooling around with anyone else. I never broke the rule and believed her when she said that she didn't either. We were each other's first and promised never to stray. 

I still blame my college roommate for what happened, but down deep, I know it was a bad decision on my part. Oscar was a stocky kid with a gruff personality. We got along great because I was the only one at school who could put up with him and he was the only one who would listen to me expound about my love for Jen. Looking back, he was probably the only one at school who knew I wasn't gay because, for the first three and a half years, I never even looked at another girl.

As the summer before our senior year approached, Oscar began working on me with an invitation to join him harvesting grain. His uncle owned three combines and did custom work throughout the mid-west. He was looking for help. I told Oscar there was no way I could be away from Jen for the entire summer, not even at double the wages my Dad paid me. Oscar persisted and eventually I caved. It was the worst decision of my life. 

The only redeeming aspect of that summer was that I made good money and got to see parts of Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. The money and travel didn't come close to offsetting my absence from Jen. I wrote to her often, but only two of her letters caught up with me. They were filled with regret that so much distance separated us. A question near the end of the second letter caught my attention, 'Eddie says you won't be home until Thanksgiving. Is that true? Benny, my darling, I don't think I can live without seeing you before Thanksgiving'.

When did she start calling my brother Eddie? Why would he tell her such a thing? I wrote back saying I planned to swing by home on my way back to school, ending my letter, 'I can't wait to see you'. 

Oscar drove one of the combines and I drove a truck that delivered the grain to a silo on the farms where we worked. We tolled long hours under the hot sun, went to bed early and slept under the stars. 

It was in Iowa that I made the second worst decision of my life. After the silos on the farm were filled to capacity, the farmer sent his daughter to direct me to the nearest grain dealer, about fifteen miles from the farm. Amy was home for the summer, having completed her second year at the University of Iowa. Besides being cute, she was a flirt. We talked about school, our courses of study and our interests on the way to town. While we were waiting for the grain to be pumped out of the truck she changed the subject.

"How far do you think a girl should go on the first date?" she asked, crossing one leg over the other, exposing the bare skin of her thigh. Do all farm girls wear short skirts in the fields? 

Gulp! I looked in the rearview mirror for no particular reason, wondering if the guy behind us could see Amy's blond ponytail. "First dates are always awkward." 

"They can be. I think it depends," Amy said. I couldn't help but see that she was rocking her foot, making the skirt glide back with each movement of her leg. 

The operator pronounced the truck empty and told me to proceed to the scales to weigh out. I collected the trip ticket and we headed back to the farm.

I don't know why I felt obliged to ask, "What does it depend on?" 

Amy had changed her position to make sure I could see the color of her panties, blue. I found it difficult to keep my eyes on the road. 

"Girls want to protect their reputation and most guys like to talk. Everyone in the dorm knows when a girl goes all the way on the first date. Is it that way at your school?"

She was right. Guys liked to talk. We all knew when a couple hooked up for the first time in our dorm. "Word gets around," I agreed.

"That's why you hear stories about the farmer's daughter and the traveler that stays the night. She knows he'll be gone the next morning. Who's he going to tell?" she asked, teasingly poking her chest out.

I laughed and Amy seemed pleased with herself, having made her point. 

"Will you be able to find your way back to town or should I make another trip with you?" she asked when we got back to the farm. I assured her that I wouldn't get lost. She moved to the far side of the truck seat, pouting. 

"See that barn over there?" she asked as she got out of the truck. "That's where I brush my horse after supper," she said, grinning mischievously.

I was too stunned, or too naive to recognize her offer for a first date. I made another trip to town and when I got back Amy was riding through the field on her horse, dispensing cold water to the workers. She rode up to the truck and offered me a drink.

"We finish supper about seven, but I have to clean the kitchen before I brush my horse. Do you remember which barn I pointed to?" she asked. 

"I have a girlfriend back home," I said and saw Amy's smile turn dark, like a cloud before a thunderstorm.

"So?" she spat out. "I have a boyfriend at school, but that doesn't make we wear one of those habit things when I'm not with him."

"We promised each other that we wouldn't fool around," I said and watched Amy give her horse a mighty kick to the flanks. 

Later that day, I saw her chatting with Oscar. 

As we would be moving on to the next job at daybreak we worked late and I didn't leave for town with the last load of grain until dusk. When I got back the other hands had gone to bed, all except Oscar. His air mattress was empty. 

For years I've masturbated thinking of Amy and her blue panties. 

Oscar's uncle kept us captive by withholding our pay until he was ready to release us, which was the day before school was to start. I wrote to Jen, boasting about the amount of the check I had earned, assuring her that I would be home for Thanksgiving.

It Just Happened Ch. 02



Chapter 2: Veronica

"What brings you home, Ben?" my brother asked as he handed me the second beer. It had been opened.

This was the part I had been dreading most. Where to begin? Should I start with the sad news that I was out of work, warn him that I had four credit card companies on my tail or should I appeal to his sympathy and tell him I had broken up with my girlfriend? 

I took a long swig of beer, stalling. 

Seeing that I was still pondering his questions, Ed struck again. "Any marriage plans on the horizon? What's your girl's name?" 

"Veronica," I said.

"Oh yes, Veronica, sexy name. Sexy woman, too, from the looks of her in the picture you sent."

"Veronica left me. I'm out of work, too."

"Oh," he said, contemplatively. "Did losing your job have anything to do with her taking off or was her leaving inevitable?"

"Both, losing my job and it was inevitable," I said, looking at my brother, admiringly. He had a knack for getting right to the heart of the issue. Next, I predicted, he'd ask how bad it really was.

"How bad is it?"

Saved by the bell, a car horn interrupted his cross examination. "Aw, there's my sweetie now," Ed said, rushing to the side door without inviting me to go along to greet Jen.

He called her 'his sweetie', I thought, watching him open the car door for her. Jen got out, looking more stunning than I remembered. Her hair was shorter, controllable; not flying in all directions like it did when we were a couple. They kissed and she looked up at the porch as they hugged. Her face was next to his, but her green eyes were directed at me. She lifted her head from his shoulder and scrunched her lips, the lips I knew so well, into the familiar half-pucker, half-pout. I felt a tingle in the pit of my chest.

At that moment I loathed them both for the same reason; they had ruined my life. I loathed my brother for stealing my girl and I loathed Jen for not waiting. I loathed myself too, for making the two worst decisions of my life. 

Their letters arrived in mid-November, nearly four years ago. They wrote, almost word-for-word, 'it just happened.' Hell, they could have used one envelope and saved a stamp. I stayed in my dorm room for a week, brooding. 

I didn't come home that Thanksgiving and completely ignored their wedding announcement the following spring. Ed continued to send checks for my tuition until he discovered I wasn't cashing them. I took out student loans and used the harvest money to pay for incidentals. When it was gone I got my first credit card. I needed money because I had met a girl. 

Looking at Ed and Jen walk hand-in-hand toward the house, with the six new homes in the background, I stood up and, feeling my heart beat rapidly, tired to make myself presentable. 

Jen handed the bag of groceries to her husband and came to me. We embraced, both talking nonsense about how long it had been. She pulled away, smiled nervously and excused herself, disappearing into the kitchen, leaving me reeling. 

I can't do this, I thought. She feels the same, smells the same and looks the same as four years ago. But where could I go? I had no prospects and a reputation to mend. 

Ed must have warned Jen not to pry about my life. The conversation at dinner was guarded. I praised Jen on the meal, avoiding remarks of a personal nature. Ed informed me that Jen kept the company books. "We've converted the guest room into a home office. That's why we had to give you our old room," he explained. I politely told them the old room would serve my needs, avoiding the mention that I wouldn't be here long. 

I didn't offer to help with the dishes because I knew being near her would be torturous. I watched television with Ed until Jen joined us and then excused myself, saying I needed to unpack my bags. But after finding a place to store the casual stuff from the small bag, I left the other bag containing my work clothes, suits, shoes and ties, packed.

I got into the upper bunk that I had occupied so long ago and found I couldn't sleep. 

Seeing them at dinner had been excruciatingly painful. The little winks and nods looked put-on. Were they really that happy? I lay awake listening, first to the printer spitting out financial statements in the next room, followed by my brother and sister taking turns using the only bathroom on the second floor. Even after they went to bed I listened for sounds coming from their room. Were they making love, or just talking? Making love was what Jen called it. Did she ask my brother to make love to her or did she say, "Fuck me?"

Amy, the farm girl, was no help on this night. Not daring to think of Jen, I let Veronica invade my mind. 

We met at a New Year's party. She was unlike any girl I had known before, not that there had been that many. Veronica knew I was on the rebound. We took long walks and told each other everything about ourselves, or so I believed at the time. She was very sympathetic and as I eventually discovered, she was also cunning. 

One of the things that attracted me to Veronica was that, besides her beauty, we had something in common; she had severed all relations with her family too, but I soon discovered we were estranged from our families for different reasons. I refused to go home because my brother had stolen my girlfriend. Veronica had been kicked out of her home for what amounted to stealing from her family. She said she only wanted what she had coming; her parents called it fraud. 

I couldn't believe my good fortune; the petite, dark haired sophomore returned my kisses with the same abandon I used my credit card to take her to fancy restaurants. I had no way of paying the statements, but I didn't care. Veronica was worth going in debt. Being with her made me feel special and I began to notice others, both men and women, looked at me differently than ever before. We were so close to having sex it was driving me crazy. She was agreeable. Finding a place was the problem. Her roommate was like Oscar, always in their room.

I was becoming desperate. Veronica said she was too. Finally, knowing that Oscar had an eleven o'clock, we cut our classes and went to my room. She wore a short skirt for the occasion. 

I started by pulling her down on my bed and kissing her until we were lying down. We had been in this position before, dry humping until we were interrupted by Oscar or by a noise in the hall. This time was different; he was in class and the door was locked. I began unbuttoning her shirt. 

"Don't do that," she said.

"Why not?" I asked, deflated because I'd never seen her breasts, only felt them outside her clothing. 

"Oscar might come in."

"He won't, he's in class," I reminded her.

"He might cut, we did."

I didn't argue because we were both nervous and I didn't want to spook her. I settled for dry humping, pushing her skirt higher with each thrust. Time was wasting; we only had an hour. I pushed my tongue past her lips and heard her moan. Taking this as a good sign, I moved my hand down to her thigh and up to her panty covered pussy. She moaned again when I pushed the gusset to the side and stuck my middle finger into her pussy. She was wet; another good sign.

Veronica's legs were spread wide and my finger was inserted to the second knuckle. Everything was progressing nicely until she heard my zipper being lowered. 

"What are you doing?" she asked with alarm.

What the hell did she think I was doing? "I have a rubber," I said, thinking that would console her. It didn't.

"I'm not ready yet," she said, suddenly moving her ass back to dislodge my finger and clamping her legs together. 

"I'm sorry. I thought you were," I said, wondering what to do. Based on my limited experience, she was ready ten minutes ago. 

"I need more stimulation."

"Okay," I said, moving my finger inside her panties. She grabbed my hand.

"Not that kind."

"What...what kind do you...what are you saying?"

"Use your mouth."

"Cunnilingus?" I knew the word, but not how to perform the act. 

She nodded, timidly curling her lips into a smile.

"Let's get these off," I suggested, rising to my knees while reaching for the elastic band that held her panties in place.

"NO!" she practically shouted, slamming her legs closed. Then, seeing that I was confused, she relaxed. "Leave them on. They're...old. I wore them special."

This I understood. I was to move the gusset to the side again, something I was happy to do. The panties were indeed, old and loose. She opened her legs and I got my first look at her pussy. It was covered with curly, dark hair, wet and matted. I looked at Veronica's face. Her upper teeth were covering her lower lip, cautiously waiting. Her dark eyes were open wide, watching me.

I bent down and had to lift my head immediately because the aroma was overpowering.

"What's wrong?" she asked. 

"Not...nothing,' I stammered. Maybe you had to become accustomed to the smell. 

Trying again, I leaned down and made contact, my tongue to her pussy lips. She squirmed, like an electric shock had gone through her. I had a new toy. Having no idea what I was doing, I was surprised when everything I tried, worked. I pushed my tongue deeper and Veronica shoved her pelvis upward, begging me to 'do it like that...more...just like that.' 

I don't know why I didn't pull my pants down and shove my cock into her. She was certainly ready. I guess I was having too much fun. I had never experienced anything like it. 

Twice, she stopped me by holding my head immobile while she recovered. "Okay," she said, releasing her grip as if she were moving a gearshift from neutral to drive. I complied, resuming my effort to pleasure her, lapping the constant flow of juices and pushing my tongue deeper. Her response was a guttural growl that I found encouraging. I lost track of time, but Veronica didn't. 

"We have to stop, it's five before twelve," she said, holding her watch in front of my eyes. 

"That's plenty of time," I said, reaching in my pocket for a condom. 

Seeing that I wasn't to be denied, Veronica shook her head. "That's...not necessary."

Frantic to dip my wick, I hurriedly pulled my pants down and stabbed blindly, just as she pulled the gusset of her panties to the side to accommodate me. My cock plunged into her slick tunnel, surprising us both when our pelvic bones collided. The entry had been so smooth that it took me a few seconds to realize we were joined. Her inner walls surrounded my cock like a silk glove. Because of Jen's obsession with protection, this was a new feeling to me. 

Grinning, Veronica wrapped her legs around my ass and pulled me down for a kiss. Her tongue invaded my mouth and I felt her pelvis grind into me. I instinctively began to move, slowly at first, taking short strokes. She removed her tongue from my mouth and lay back, still grinning. We picked up speed and lengthened the strokes until the bed was skidding with each thrust. 

Veronica sensed I was about to cum before I did. She tightened her leg-hold on my ass. "Stop fucking," she said, grinning up at me as she massaged my cock. I held it as long as I could, enjoying the way she was squeezing me. 

"Shit!" she exclaimed as we heard the key in the lock. Oscar opened the door before we made it half way to the bathroom, Veronica scurrying ahead and me waddling behind her with my pants around my knees. I turned to scowl at him. Oscar, unfazed by my irritation with him, gave me a thumbs-up. 

Veronica was attempting to put herself into somewhat presentable order. Her face was flushed and her hair was in total disarray, otherwise she looked fucked and beautiful. 

"What are you doing?" she hissed as I picked her up and sat her ass on the counter.

"I didn't cum. Pull your panties to the side," I said. 

"The door isn't locked," she objected, her voice just above a whisper.

"He wouldn't dare come in here now," I said.

She grinned and obeyed me, pulling the gusset to the side and opening her legs. I entered her and we were soon fucking again. It only took six or seven thrusts for me to empty my balls into her womb. 

"God, that was good!" I said, knowing I had selfishly gotten my rocks off with no regard for her. 

"You say the nicest things," she said. . We made ourselves as presentable as possible and left the room, ignoring Oscar's lewd whistles. 

"That's too dangerous," Veronica said as we walked to the cafeteria. "Keeping one eye on my watch is distracting. Not knowing when Oscar is going to come back is scary."

"We'll get a motel room next time," I suggested and watched her eyes brighten. 

"It has to be a nice room," she cautioned. 

After that, we spent every Friday night in the same motel room and Veronica was always ready. It was a nice room, but expensive. The credit card company was very understanding. Each time I approached the limit, they increased it. When I became concerned about the debt I was accumulating Veronica interjected her own brand of logic. "You can always get another card."

I followed her advice and when I graduated the amount I owed on the two cards was more than I would earn in my first year at my new job. 

Veronica offered to leave school and come with me. How could I turn her down? Having her near kept my mind off of losing Jen to my brother.



It Just Happened Ch. 03



Chapter 3: Calling it Quits

On Saturday Ed took me to see our parents' burial spot. It was as I had pictured, quiet and serene. That's when he broached the subject. "Want to work for me while you get your feet on the ground?"

I thanked him, but declined his offer. How could I live in the same house with them, watch them send each other eye-contact messages, listen to the pet names they used, sleep across the hall from their room, wonder if they were making love and worst of all, share the bathroom with her? Didn't he know I loathed them?

Ed tried again on Sunday. "Ben, I'm not asking you to make it a career, but you have more experience in the trade than the kids I have working for me." He made it sound more like a plea than an offer. 

What was I going to do, lounge around the house while they went to work? "As long as you know it's only until something comes up."

"Did you hear that, Honey? Ben's going to work for me. It'll be like old times."

Jen smiled and reached for my hand. "Come to my office. We need to add you to the payroll," she said. Her hand felt the same as I remembered, small and soft. I tried to hide my sigh when she let go. 

The guest room had been transformed into an office/workroom. On one side were the computer, printer and a file cabinet. On the other side were a drafting table, rolled up blueprints and more file cabinets. 

"I only need your social security number. I remember everything else," Jen said as she booted the computer. "First, you'll need to sign an employment agreement. I'll print that out..." she stopped talking when she saw me looking at the space where the bed had been.

"That was a long time ago, Benny," she said, using the name she called me back when we were seniors in high school and came to this room for the first time, nervous as hell, wanting to take advantage of having the house to ourselves.

"Yes, it was," I agreed, noticing the printer running. 

I read the employment agreement hurriedly, signed it, wrote down my social security number and backed toward the hallway, ready to leave the room. Jen looked up from the screen. Our eyes locked.

"'It just happened,' Benny. We're very happy together," she said, moving her eyes back to the computer screen.

"Yeah, I can see that," I said, practically leaping into the hallway and darting into my room, clutching my chest to try to stem the artesian pump within. 

*

I was glad when Monday morning came. Ed introduced me to his crew, two graduates of the tech school, as Ben. They looked me over, saw that I was wearing jeans, one of Ed's work shirts and a pair of high-top work boots that he had insisted I purchase. It was a fall day but I wouldn't need a jacket, yet. 

The job was re-roofing a large home. Ed got us started, removing the old shingles from one of the back sections of the roof, and then left to quote on another job he hoped to get. 

The younger member of the crew, Josh was his name, appointed himself my supervisor, calling me the new guy. "New Guy, pick up those shingles around the dumpster. Ed's a neat freak."

I had seen him toss the removed shingles and knew he had intentionally missed the dumpster. I climbed down the ladder and followed his instructions, cleaning up around the dumpster.

"New Guy," Josh said, "Don't let your shingles hit the shrubbery. The owner won't like it if you damage his shrubs."

When Ed returned he could see that I was livid, but he just smiled. That made me remember how he was when we were kids, never interfering, letting me fight my own battles. "Work through it," he would say. This was my initiation back into the workman's fraternity. I tuned Josh out and concentrated on the job. It was Rob, the other member of the crew, who recognized that I knew what I was doing. Everything that I had learned while working summers for my father was coming back to me. 

Jen and I gave each other a wide berth. Ed and I left the house early, before she got up and I stayed in my room as much as possible. I didn't trust myself to be near her. Did she harbor the same fears as me? 

By the end of the second week my body was becoming accustomed to the hard work and the cold outside air agreed with me. I was feeling better than I had felt in years. We had completed another job and were packing up to leave when Jen dropped by.

"Mrs. Crumbly, do you know Ben?" Josh asked. He had dropped the 'New Guy' moniker.

"Yes, we're acquainted," she answered; glancing at me, realizing that Ed still hadn't told the guys that I was his brother. She had a camera and was snapping pictures of the house and the new windows we had just finished installing. "Huddle up, let me get a picture," she said and Ed, as if it were planned, wrapped his arm around Rob and I did the same with Josh. Jen told us to smile and we complied. I forgot about the pictures she'd taken until a week later.

It was Saturday afternoon, November the fourteenth, four years to the day since their 'it just happened' letters arrived in my mail. Jen and I found ourselves alone in the house for the first time since I had arrived. We surprised each other as neither of us was supposed to be there. I had worked that morning, finishing a job earlier than expected. She had been shopping.

"Where's Ed?" she asked, holding an armful of packages.

I looked at her, waiting to see if she would remember that he had told us the night before about his golf date. 

"Oh, golf," she said, embarrassed that she had forgotten.

"Is there anything else in the car?" I asked, hoping to put some space between us. Being near her was just too uncomfortable, never knowing what to say. 

"No, this is everything," she said, heading toward the stairs with her packages. She turned suddenly, looking back at me. "You need a haircut. Take my car," she said, opening her purse, searching for the keys. 

I caught the keys and thanked her, not for the use of the car, but for her quick thinking. I did need a haircut, but I knew she was uncomfortable being alone with me. I was happy to have an excuse to get out of the house.

"Benny," she said, making me turn back to her. She was in the same place on the stairs. Did she need help with her packages after all?

Jen had called my name for a reason, but I felt comfortable looking at her, taking her in, filing a photograph of her in my mind. Her lips were parted, as were her feet, one on the third step and the other on the second. Although she was fully clothed in slacks, sweater and a jacket, my x-ray eyes examined her body from memory. The mind-photo I was taking was for future reference. 

"I'm sorry...," the pause spanned several seconds and thinking that she was about to apologize for the 'it just happened' letters, I was forming a response. "I'm sorry you were treated so badly by that girl. She must be a despicable person to hurt you."

Shocked by what she was saying, I could only laugh. "You know nothing about what happened, Jen," I said with more annoyance in my voice than I intended to show. I had meant to sound indifferent, like it was none of her business.

"I know you and I saw her picture. She used her beauty to take advantage of you."

"It wasn't..." I paused, not wanting to argue with her. "You have it figured out," I said, backing out of the room, leaving her standing on the stairs.

The car was a new Mustang, red paint with matching interior. I drove around town for an hour, not caring that I was breaking the speed limit. 

What right did Jen have to blame Veronica? Her assumption that Veronica had used her beauty to take advantage of me was incorrect. Veronica didn't use me, except for sex. She gave of herself freely; she made me feel important. So what if we lived beyond our means? It was my way of paying her back for keeping my mind off being jilted by Jen. Veronica never cheated on me, something I couldn't say about Jen.

After graduation, I got a job and Veronica accompanied me to the new city. We got an apartment and found sleeping together every night a big improvement over Friday nights in the motel room. That was the Christmas I sent the photograph of us to my parents. I wanted them to see how well I had done. I guess I knew they would show it to Ed and Jen.

When my mother died we were on an Alaskan cruise. I telephoned my dad to apologize because I couldn't possibly make it to the funeral. Surmising that I wanted to avoid seeing Jen with Ed, he said he understood. I didn't tell him I was broke. 

The following year I was promoted, which required a job transfer. We, actually Veronica, found a luxurious apartment and she promised to curtail her spending if I would sign the lease. She could be very convincing in bed and when she vowed things would get better, I believed her. I was making the minimum payments to three credit card companies. 

When Dad passed away a year later it took two days for Ed to track us down. He spoke to Veronica.

"I don't want to talk to him," I said. "You call back and say I can't come to the funeral."

"What reason should I give for us not going?" she asked. 

"Make up something. Just don't tell him our credit cards are maxed out."

Though she had been turned out of her own home, Veronica yearned for a family connection, even if she didn't know the family. "Will you take me with you if I can borrow the money?"

"No one is going to loan you more money and anyway, I'm not going so forget it," I said, angry at myself for being stubborn. 

Veronica knew all about my family troubles. She wasn't ready to give up.

"There may be inheritance involved. Aren't you interested in finding out?"

"Is money all you think about?" I asked, accusingly. "I'm not taking anything else from my brother."

Veronica looked hurt, near tears. I wasn't sure what set her off, my accusation that she only thought about money or my declaration that I wouldn't take anything else from my brother. Either way, it worked perfectly. She made the call to my brother and was very convincing. 

My refusal to accept my share of the inheritance was what drove the wedge between us. I returned the attorney's letters unopened and Veronica resumed her spending habits, charging my credit cards for her extravagant purchases. Finally, I signed an affidavit, relinquishing my share of our parents' estate to my brother. 

I had our telephone disconnected to avoid annoying calls from collectors, but they caught up with me at the office. My financial matters were causing problems at home and my work became sub-standard. The final straw came when they took my car and garnished my wages. Frustrated, I quit my job. My boss said he understood. He didn't try to dissuade me from leaving, nor offer me a letter of recommendation. . 

Breaking up with Veronica was hard. She said she understood my reasons and we did our best to make our parting amicable. I gave her as much cash as I could spare and she left, taking all the expensive items she could carry. I hocked my watch, a gift from Veronica, and bought a bus ticket home.



It Just Happened Ch. 04



Chapter 4: Beverly

Being Saturday afternoon, Dean's barber shop was crowded. Dean was no longer the proprietor, but his son had kept the same name. Looking around the shop as I waited for my turn in one of the chairs, I wondered if anyone recognized me. Did they remember that my brother had stolen my girl? Did they talk behind my back, whispering that Jen couldn't wait for me? A sinister thought crossed my mind; had Ed paid my college tuition to keep me away from home for long periods of time? 

I left the shop relieved that I didn't have to explain to anyone where I had been or what brought me home now, but as soon as I opened the door to the Mustang I heard my name being called.

"Ben Crumbly, I thought that was Jen's car. How are you?"

I turned to see Beverly Worthington heading toward me. She was just as I remembered from high school, short dark hair, combed back to show her round face and dainty ears, stout figure and robust chest. She looked like a horse-woman in heavy twill trousers, knitted sweater and a scarf draped loosely over her shoulders.

"I'm fine, how have you been, Beverly?" I asked, extending my hand as she came near.

"I'm so glad to have run into you," she said, disregarding my hand, leaning in for a hug. I felt her breath against my neck as she whispered, "I was going to call you."

"You were? How did you know I was back?"

She pulled away and I noticed that her nose was not as pronounced as I remembered. Had she had plastic surgery? 

"I saw your picture on the web site. I was going to call you about remodeling my house, but now that we've run into one another, will you come over and give me an estimate?"

I was taken aback, first to learn that my picture was on a web site and second that Beverly Worthington would perceive me qualified to give her an estimate. "You saw my picture on a web site? Was it, by any chance, a picture of me and my brother with two kids between us?"

"Isn't that just like Jen? You didn't know your picture was on your brother's web site? I hope I'm not being too personal when I say this, Ben, but we all knew why you didn't come to our five year reunion. Believe me when I say you were missed."

Beverly watched me digest what she had told me, my picture was on the construction company web site, my classmates had discussed the reason I didn't make it to the five year reunion and it was implied that Jen was to blame. "Did Jen go?" I asked, immediately hating myself. 

She nodded, smirking and leaning in to share a secret. "She was there, flaunting her marriage, like your brother was the perfect catch. I'm sorry to be so catty, Ben, but that's what we old maids do, whisper behind the pretty girls' backs," she said, smiling. I smiled with her.

"You didn't find anyone at school that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?" I asked.

She shook her head, forlornly, but recovering quickly. "Will you do it?"

"Will I...?"

"I bought my grandmother's house and I've already moved in, but it's not as comfortable as I would like. Will you look at the plans and give me an estimate to do the work?"

"I'm not...it's my brother's company. I'll have him call you to make an appointment. I'm sure he..."

She interrupted me, "Will you come with him, Ben?" she asked, and I noticed her eyes were like Jen's, greenish, only Beverly's eyes were pleading. 

"Give me your phone number, Beverly. I'll need the address, too."

She produced a pen and notebook, had me turn around and used my back to support the notebook "I prefer that you call, Ben," she said as she handed me the paper. I assured her that I would. 

I didn't say anything about meeting Beverly until after dinner. Ed and I were alone in the living room. He said he knew where the house was, but had never been inside. He asked what the job entailed and I said I didn't know. "She has plans and is already moved in," I said, just as Jen entered the room. Naturally, she wanted to be brought up to date on the conversation and they were soon talking as if I were not in the room. 

"It would be a good job for you, Dear. The Worthington's have loads of money," Jen said.

"We couldn't possibly do it until spring. She's already moved in," Ed commented.

Jen bristled. "She can easily move out while you're working there. Her parents have plenty of room."

I listened to their discussion, learning the Beverly had lived with a guy while she was working on her master's degree, but something went wrong and she came home to teach English at the high school. 

"I think you should call her, Honey," Jen said.

"She has plans. That probably means she'll be getting other quotes," Ed speculated.

"Other quotes won't be a problem for you," Jen said, speaking confidentially in an intimate voice. 

I interrupted. "She wants me to call to make the appointment." Jen shot a look at me, questioning, like she had forgotten I was there. 

"In that case, you'll have to make the call, little brother," Ed laughed. Nothing more was said about Beverly Worthington's house until the next day. Ed waited until we were alone and reiterated that I should call Beverly. "It sounds like she would prefer to talk to you," he said, serious now.

I called her and made arrangements for us to stop by the following day. We left the jobsite a little early and discovered that Beverly not only had architectural plans, she admitted that two other contractors had bid the job. Ed studied the plans, took measurements of the existing configuration and told her it would take us a few days to prepare a quotation.

"When will you be able to start?" she asked, as if the other two bidders were already out of the running.

"These plans call for alteration of the structure. That means lots of noise and dust. You may want to wait until spring," Ed suggested.

"I don't mind noise and dust. You'll be working here while I'm at school. If it gets too bad I can always move home for a while. I want a warm, friendly place to live and I want it as soon as you can build it for me," she said, looking at me fondly as we went out the door. 

"Let's not say anything about this to Jennifer until we get the job," he said on the way home. I didn't know why he was keeping secrets from his wife, but agreed not to talk. 

After dinner we retired to the work room and were progressing nicely on the quotation for the alterations to Beverly's house when Jen interrupted us to tell me I had a phone call. I made the mistake of taking the call right there in the room, where Ed and Jen could overhear me try to deny that I was Benjamin E. Crumbly. The caller started talking tough, telling me I could run but I couldn't hide. He said he would track me down and put me in prison. Taking him at his word, I promised to put 'a check in the mail.'

"Damn it, I wonder how they found out I'm here," I said, not attempting to hide my irritation that I had been tracked down by one of my creditors. 

"How bad is it?" Jen asked, showing real concern.

I looked at Ed before answering. His expression was one of concern, too. 

"How much do you owe?" Jen persisted.

"The one that called says there's a balance of ten thousand and it's going up fast," I said, beginning to see her as my sister, no longer as my ex-girlfriend and lover.

"How many are there?"

"There are four, all about the same amount."

Jen was looking at her hands, tapping on the table. I noticed the wide wedding band for the first time since I had been there. It reminded me that she was my brother's wife and for the first time in three weeks I was able to look her in the eye without feeling the ache in my chest. She was now the impassionate banker.

"I see this all the time. First, you need to write the same letter to all four card companies, stating your terms of settlement. Offer them forty cents on the dollar, but only if they all agree to those terms. They know bankruptcy is an option so you don't need to threaten to use it. Tell them exactly how much you can afford to pay each week. They'll respect you for being up front with them."

"Forty cents on the dollar will take me forever to pay," I complained.

"It's better than the alternative, bankruptcy," she said and I knew she was right. 

I used her computer to write the letters and Jen made corrections. She set me up with an email address, which I included along with the telephone number. We got the four letters ready to mail and I rejoined Ed, who was finished preparing the quote. By that time Jen had caught on to what we were doing. She looked over the numbers, nodding her head, frowning, nodding her head in agreement.

"Now the fun begins," Ed said, handing me a stack of architectural design magazines. 

Jen saw the puzzled look on my face. "You'll need to explain the next step to him, Honey," she said to her husband. 

"Your friend said she had two other contractors bidding on the job. The quote I've prepared may not be competitive. She also said she wants us to build a warm and friendly place to live. That opens the door for us to be creative and offer alternatives to the plan, at additional cost, of course."

I was skeptical. "That sounds sneaky to me." In all the jobs we had worked on with our father I had never seen him sell the homeowner something he didn't ask for.

Jen spoke up. "It's called getting an edge, Benny. Everyone in the business does it. Ed just happens to be better at selling upgrades to plans than his competitors."

My brother shyly denied that he was the star salesman Jen portrayed him to be. "In this case, it may be better for Ben to make the presentation. Beverly clearly likes him. That's the reason we got the chance to bid. She was looking at him when she said she wanted a warm and friendly place. She was pretty specific about wanting Ben to call her." 

Hearing this, Jen stiffened. "I don't think it's fair to put your brother in that position. Making presentations to homeowners is new to him."

"You wouldn't talk that way if you had seen how Beverly looked at him. Ben will surprise..."

We watched as Jen bolted from the room, declaring that she was going to bed. This was the first time I had witnessed cross words between them since I had been back.

"Ready to get started, Tiger? I'll show you the ropes," Ed said. 

We worked until midnight, thumbing through magazines, pointing out what we thought would appeal to Beverly and discussing the best way to present the alternative design. Putting our creative juices to work was fun and for a time, I put my distain for my brother aside. I actually looked forward to making the presentation to Beverly.

Ed split us into two crews the next day. Rob and I were to build a gazebo while Ed and Josh built a deck on a house at the other side of town. The homeowner had purchased the materials pre-cut and had started the structure, only to discover he didn't have time to finish it before a Thanksgiving gathering at the house. We soon decided it was not a lack of time that discouraged the homeowner; it was a lack of skill. The deck for the gazebo he had built was not level.

Once we got the deck leveled the rest went up like child's play. The instructions were clear and Rob and I worked well together. As we were installing the cupola on the roof the lady of the house came outside and told us her husband would do the painting. 

I called Ed to tell him we were finished. "I guess the guy wants to claim he finished the job," I joked. "Do you need any help with the deck?"

"No, you guys take off early. Knock off a hundred dollars for the painting and see if you can get a check. It will save me a trip."

The lady was pleased with the discount. "Thank you," she said as she handed me the check. And then she whispered, "I won't tell Dan you had to correct his sloppy work if you promise not to either."

"I know better than to damage an accountant's ego. I used to be one," I assured her.

It was four-thirty when Rob dropped me off at home. I was surprised to see Jen's car on the drive. There was no way to avoid her; we found ourselves alone in the house for the second time. She was seated on the porch, staring intently at the new homes that blocked the lake from view, still wearing her work clothes. 

"Do you hate me?" she asked in a faint voice. 

"No, I did for a long time, but not anymore," I said, jumping to the conclusion that she was about to apologize for cheating.

"Not that. You have no right to blame me for falling in love with your brother. You're the one that abandoned me," she said, turning her chair to face me, not the least bit apologetic.

"Well, what the hell are you talking about?" I spouted, unable to hide my anger. "I didn't abandon you and I'm not the one that cheated."

She turned crimson and I knew I had struck a sore spot. I mentally undressed her, knowing it would unnerve her. My mind's eyes pierced the skirt and settled on the diamond shaped birthmark next to her pussy. She was so self-conscious of the little red spot that she guarded it with her life. It had taken me three years, long after we began having sex, to get her to let me see it. I wondered how long she had hidden it from my brother. Now, seeing where my eyes were directed, she opened her legs as if to give me a better view. We were interrupted by the sound of Ed's van on the drive. I darted upstairs and didn't come down until I was called to dinner.

Later that night I took stock of my feelings. Did I still loathe my brother and his wife? Yes, I did. But they had taken me in when I had no other place to go. Ed had given me a job and Jen had shown me how to settle with my creditors. I was stuck with them and they were stuck with me. I had to make the best of things. I had to learn how to look them in the eye without showing my disdain. 

The next day Ed delivered a message to me from his wife. "She feels badly about broadcasting your picture on the web site."

"You mean?"

"Jen thinks that's how the collector caught up with you. He must have been monitoring the site."

"I made a terrible mistake," I said, realizing why Jen had asked me if I hated her. "I owe her an apology."

"I wouldn't be too quick to apologize," he said, like he was aware that I had accused Jen of cheating. "It may be premature. What if her idea to settle with your creditors fails? You'll be right back where you started and it will be because she broadcast your whereabouts on the internet. Besides, this isn't a good time to approach her. She's not comfortable with you meeting with Beverly. Jen thinks I'm taking advantage of you."

I may have been reading between the lines, but what he said about her made me think that Jen was jealous. She didn't want me to be alone with Beverly. I saw this as an opportunity to make her regret the way she had treated me four years ago. I still yearned for the opportunity to tell her that I passed up an opportunity to make it with Amy, the farm girl, something I had regretted ever since. 

"You're not taking advantage of me, big brother. We're taking advantage of Beverly. Isn't that what business is about these days?"

He grinned from ear to ear, the same way he looked when he got the best of me in the games we played so long ago. "We'll go over the presentation tonight and if we're satisfied that you have it down you can call Beverly and make an appointment. Okay?"

That's what we did. Ed coached me on exactly what I was to say and we went over my speech twice, emphasizing the key words that depicted Beverly's stipulations; warm and friendly. Ed proclaimed me ready and I called to make the appointment.

Beverly said she was free on Saturday and offered to pick me up. "Is ten A.M. alright with you?"

"Ten o'clock is fine with me."

"It's a date then. I'll make something for lunch," she offered in a cheery tone. 

We didn't tell Jen about my appointment with Beverly until the following evening at dinner. 

"My car won't be available; you'll have to take the van," she said, coldly. 

Ed and I looked at each other. He shrugged, unable to explain his wife's irritation with our plan. I wondered what Beverly had done to earn Jen's ire. 

We quickly changed the subject, laughing about something that happened that day, leaving Jen to believe that I would use Ed's van on Saturday. That was Thursday.



It Just Happened Ch. 05



Chapter 5: Millie

"That's Millie's car," Ed said as we pulled into the drive on Friday afternoon.

"Shit!" I exclaimed. Mildred Hawley was Jen's older sister. We had never gotten along. All the time Jen and I were dating, Millie tried to break us up. It was obvious that she didn't think I was good enough for her sister. And when she found out we were having sex she threatened to tell their parents that Jen had given her virginity to the low-life. Jen's brother, Tony, despised me too, but it was Millie that I feared the most. Fortunately, I got along okay with their parents and that, plus our determination that nothing would come between us was what gave us the strength to persevere. 

Ed opened the back door and motioned for me to follow him on tiptoes. The sisters were in the kitchen, unaware that we had entered the house.

"How many times do I have to tell you? We're not going and that's final," Jen's voice carrying to where we stood on the porch.

"Jennifer Hawley, our brother is driving over two hundred miles on Wednesday night to spend Thanksgiving with us. Why are you being so obstinate? Can't you at least show up for coffee and dessert?" Millie's voice was even, more controlled than her sister's.

"We're having a quiet dinner here. If Tony wants to bring his family over I'll be glad to see them." 

Millie pleaded with her sister. "Mom and Dad are going to be heartbroken if you don't come. They always liked Benny. He'll be welcome. If you don't invite him I swear I will." 

Jen's voice, weak and barely audible, sounded distant. "I can't. I just can't sit at that table and pretend..."

Unable to listen to any more, I slammed the back door behind me. The kitchen became quiet. Ed shot a look at me and then barged into the kitchen. I followed.

Millie hadn't changed. She was still unmistakably Jen's sister, the noticeable differences being that Millie was two inches taller and she wore her hair long, full-bodied and slightly uncontrollable. She was taking me in, too.

"Benny, you haven't changed one bit. I could pick you out of a well-endowed line up."

"That pretty risqué talk for a librarian," I said, guardedly. Where had I heard she worked at the library? 

"Mildred was just leaving, weren't you?" Jen asked her sister.

For a second I thought Millie was going on the attack. She drew herself up to her full height of five feet, eight inches and came toward me, arms extended. "It's nice to see you, Benny," she said, hugging me like a long-lost friend. I felt her breasts against my chest and her face next to mine. "Is that garlic bread I smell? I never could pass up garlic bread, could you, Benny?"

Bewildered by my former enemy's actions, I put my hands on her back and shook my head. "I never could pass up garlic bread either."

"Okay, you can stay for dinner, but no more talk about Thanksgiving, understand?" There was exasperation in Jen's voice as she delivered the invitation.

I felt Millie's lips on my cheek as she pulled away. "Did you hear that, Benny? I believe we're staying for dinner."

Though her appearance was the same as I remembered, I couldn't get over the change in Millie. I didn't know if I should distrust her or join forces with her.

We sat down to dinner in the kitchen. Jen served spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread. Ed opened a bottle of wine.

"Can you believe this, Benny? With all his money Ed's serving wine in a screw-cap bottle."

"I notice you're not refusing to drink wine from a screw-cap bottle," I quipped, becoming comfortable with her banter.

For the first time in four weeks I actually enjoyed a meal in my brother's home. Millie kept the conversation lively, asking me question after question. I didn't hold back, providing answers I thought she wanted to hear. I wasn't on trial; I hadn't taken an oath. I peppered her with questions too, knowing she was being less than truthful. 

Jen was unusually quiet. I caught her eyes upon me a couple of times. She shifted her stare from me to Millie and then to Ed. He wasn't saying much either. The pet names I had been hearing them use were dispensed with for the evening. When he opened another bottle of burgundy Millie offered her glass to be refilled without commenting that she was being served wine from a screw-cap bottle. 

Millie helped Jen clear the table and when the sisters returned to the table with Coffee, I complemented Jen on the meal, causing her to blush. I believe everyone knew it wasn't just the food. It was the jovial company. I hadn't felt this relaxed in months.

Millie tapped me on the arm. "What do you say we give the old folks a break and do the dishes?" 

Jen protested, but soon relented, telling us to load the dishwasher and let it run. 

Ed said he had work to do upstairs and Jen went with him. Left alone with me, Millie became subdued, less boisterous than when her sister was in the room. We worked together, loading the dishwasher and making the kitchen orderly.

"Will you ever forgive me, Benny?"

I knew exactly what she was talking about, but I wanted her to spell it out. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"For the way I treated you when we were younger. Seeing you with Jen was more than I could take. You guys were so happy and carefree. I was...I don't know... envious, I guess."

"I had no idea," I said. 

She was standing next to the sink, one hand on the counter as if for support. It was like I was seeing her for the first time, candid, venerable. 

"Do you remember how you guys tried to fix Ed and me up?"

She was putting her coat on, looking in the pockets for her car keys.

"Yeah, we thought that if we could get you two together you would leave us alone."

"It didn't work, did it?"

"No, it didn't."

"It was nice seeing you, Benny, Goodnight," she said, heading for the back door.

"Are you sure you're alright to drive?"

She turned, grinning and nodding. I locked the back door, turned out the kitchen lights and went upstairs to my room. I couldn't get over the changes in Millie. I remembered her as an up-tight, protectorate of her sister. When Jen lost her virginity to me, Millie took it personally, like it was her cherry that popped. Now, she was fun and sincere. I found myself liking her.

I don't know what woke me, a barking dog or a train whistle. Whatever it was had me wide awake. I decided to go downstairs to get a glass of orange juice. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I became aware of eyes watching me. Millie was sitting on the couch in the living room, draped in a blanket. I went over to where she was sitting.

"Millie, I thought you went home."

"Jen caught up with me before I got my car started. You'll have her to answer to in the morning. She's bullshit at you for letting me drive."

"Shit! I should have stopped you," I said, knowing Jen had good reason to be angry at me.

"Don't you love to piss her off? She gets all...say, you don't have shoes on. Aren't you cold? Here, get under this blanket. I won't bite."

It was chilly in the room. She held the blanket open for me to crawl under. I pulled my feet up on the couch and leaned back, next to her. "Thanks...for not biting," I said. She giggled.

"I love to tease her. She went ballistic when I suggested I could sleep on one of the bunk beds in your room. She gave me a T-shirt and told me to stay down here."

It was my turn to laugh. "You should see her reaction when I stare at her crotch."

Millie shifted her body, slightly, and I felt her breast, warm and soft against my arm. "You make her feel uncomfortable because you're only one of two men in the world that know about the little red birthmark. I wish you wouldn't. She's very frustrated right now."

"I've only done it once or twice," I said, defensively. "What's she got to be frustrated about?"

She moved her leg, rubbing mine, and turned her head to look me in the eyes. "Don't you know? We could give them a three month head start and still win in a baby contest."

"Don't know what?" I asked before thinking, they've been married over three years. Why hadn't I questioned why they hadn't had a child?

"Your brother shoots blanks," Millie whispered. 

"Really? So that's the reason she's frustrated."

"Yes, that's the reason. Now that you've learned something I think it's time you go back to your room Remember, we're giving them a three month head start."

I could feel her body tremble with laughter. Reluctantly, I pulled the blanket back and got up. "You could grow on me," I whispered.

I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly. "You've already grown..."

I slept until nine A.M. and realizing I only had an hour to get ready, I showered and shaved before going downstairs. Ed had gone to look at a building site with Stew Mercer and Millie wasn't there either. As she had predicted, Jen let me have it for letting her sister drive the night before. 

"You knew how much she had to drink. Were you too drunk to stop her?"

"You're right. I shouldn't have let her drive. What's going on between Ed and Stew?"

"Don't try to change the subject. My sister was in no condition to drive. She could have killed someone."

She was overreacting. Millie wasn't sober, but we had worked in the kitchen for thirty minutes and I knew she wasn't too drunk to drive. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not or you're out of here."

I didn't like Jen's combative stance. Feeling backed into a corner, I used the only weapon available to me; I stared at her pelvic region. 

"Don't look at me like that," she said, unable to keep her legs closed.

Seeing that she wasn't going to offer me anything to eat, I left the room. "I'm sorry," I said, hoping she understood the reason I was apologizing. I was sorry that she was frustrated. My brother was unable to give her a child. 

I gathered the 'show and tell' boards we had prepared for the presentation and was waiting at the back door when Beverly arrived to pick me up. She was early. 

"Good luck," I heard Jen say from someplace in the house.

"Thanks," I shouted in the direction of her voice.



It Just Happened Ch. 06



Chapter 6: Miss Nadine Spencer

"I hope you like New England style clam chowder," Beverly said, "It was delivered this morning, from Boston." She wore what I considered an excessive amount of eye makeup. 

After two hours of showing her our plan to make her home warm and friendly, I was ready to give up. While she had listened to my pitch, her level of interest was detached, like she had something else on her mind. I found the way she looked at me distracting and her constant bumping into me as I moved around the house, kept me on edge. Was she serious about having the work done or not? 

"Yes," I lied, not sure if I liked New England style clam chowder. Now I was going to have to eat lunch with her.

"That makes me very happy," she smiled. 

We were half way through the main course, wild Alaskan salmon, when the telephone rang. It was Jen, wanting to speak to me.

"Answer with one word, yes or no," Jen said. "Is she listening to us on an extension?"

"No" Beverly was right there, watching.

"Is the contract signed?"

"No."

"You didn't get the deposit then, did you?"

"No."

"Has she shown you her bedroom?"

"Not yet."

"I told you to answer with one word, yes or no," Jen said, sternly, with a hint of a snicker.

"Ah, no."

"There's an emergency. Dan's not going to be able to paint the gazebo after all. I'll pick you up in ten minutes."

"Emergency? Can't it wait until next week?" I asked, more for Beverley's benefit than Jen's. Her timing couldn't have been better. It offered the perfect excuse for me to escape.

"Benny...the weather...you know you can't depend on another nice day like this," Jen said, sounding convincing.

"The weather, right, I'll need..."

"I have everything," she said, cutting me off in mid sentence. 

I explained to Beverly about the emergency; making it sound like a turn in the weather could delay NASA launching an international trip to outer space. 

"I'll leave the displays here so you can show your friends how your kitchen is going to look," I offered.

"When will you pick them up? Soon, I hope."

"Yes, soon," I assured her as I stepped through the door. 

Jen was driving the van and had everything I would need. Well, almost. I hopped in the back, looking for the paint overalls and my work boots, thinking I would change clothes in route. 

"Thanks for coming to my rescue," I said, sitting on the floor in the back of the van and watching her scowl. "Where are the paint overalls?"

"False alarm, Dan called, wanting to know if he should prime the surface before painting. I gave him Ed's cell phone number and then I thought of you being held hostage."

"Ingenious!" I exclaimed, approving of her quick thinking. Her smile made me forget my hatred for her, for a few seconds.

When we got home Ed was there. I told him I had struck out with Miss Beverly Worthington.

"I'm not surprised. Women that age have a hard time deciding what they want."

"I heard that," Jen said. "I'm that age."

"Especially single women can't decide what they want," he amended his comment.

She hugged him and they kissed with no regard for my presence. I went upstairs to my room without finding out why Ed had gone with Stew to look at building sites.

Over the next few days I took two of Beverly's telephone calls and Jen helped me dodge the other two by saying I was out, lying really. Heavy rains forced us to take Tuesday off and since Jen was at work, I was forced to take Beverly's call. 

"I'm off for the holiday and have some questions. When can you be here?" she asked.

Ed let me take the van.

"You're soaked," she said as soon as I came through the door. "Give me your clothes. We'll put everything in the dryer."

I had to remove my boots to get my pants off. "Your socks look wet, too," she said, actually falling to her knees and touching my socks. "They are. Give them to me," she said, looking up at me. Her face was inches from my cock and for a second I thought she was going to touch my shorts to see if they were damp.

"Is that a bulge?" she asked, taking her eyes off my jockey shorts to look into my eyes.

"No."

"I'm twenty-five, not twelve. I know a bulge when I see it. Do I arouse you, Ben?"

"No," I answered without thinking. 

Beverly rose to her feet, a sullen look on her face. I considered apologizing for the way I had answered, but since it was the truth, almost, I felt compelled to let it stand.

She started the dryer and for the next fifteen minutes I walked around the house in my shorts answering her questions. She was well prepared, asking things I didn't know. "Who are your sub-contractors? Are these the only colors this tile comes in? Is it premium grade?"

"I'll have to get back to you," I admitted.

"When?"

"I can call you later today."

"I prefer to see you in person."

"Okay, I can come back tomorrow if it rains. Otherwise, are you free tomorrow night?"

She batted her eyes, nervously and I willed her not to cry. "I'm an old maid school teacher. I'm free most every night, except tomorrow night I have a family engagement I must attend."

We heard the dryer stop running. Beverly felt my pants, testing for dampness before handing them to me. She was watching me put them on when she got the idea to invite me to her family's gathering. "It's only the immediate family. You know most everyone." 

"Thanks you, Beverly, but we have something like that planned," I said, as if I were suddenly remembering a family commitment.

She watched as I zipped up my pants. "Ben, my father is a very influential man in this town."

What the hell was that suppose to mean? I left without asking, getting wet twice more on the way home.

Beverley's questions pissed Ed off. "I always use the same electrician and plumber, but who knows which tile setter is going to be free. We may have to do some of the specialty jobs ourselves. Tell her you can plaster as well as any skilled professional. If she needs a demonstration plaster her ass."

Thinking my brother needed to calm down, I told him about the dryer incident. 

"Did you have a bulge?" he laughed.

"Maybe, a little one," I sheepishly admitted. I didn't know he was going to tell Jen about it at dinner.

"Beverly took Ben's pants off and accused him of getting a boner," Ed said, embellishing what I had told him. Who would believe such a wild story? Jen did. 

"What happened?" she asked, looking shockingly remorseful.

"Nothing happened. Beverly asked if I was getting a budge in my shorts and I said no. Nothing happened," I repeated, unconvincingly.

"This has gone too far. Let's forget about getting that job, if there really is one," she said, suspiciously. 

"We're not going to forget about the job. Ben's gaining her confidence. She's testing him, that's all. He took his pants off for her," Ed said, breaking up in laughter. I laughed with him until I saw the serious look on Jen's face. 

She became unusually quiet, saying very little until the telephone rang and she came to tell me it was a conference call. Representatives from all four credit card companies were on the line, wanting to talk with me. "Stall them. Don't commit to anything. Remind them of the approaching national holiday. I'll listen on the extension," Jen said, handing me the receiver.

Three men and a female were on the line. They began by saying sixty cents on the dollar was their best offer. I tried appealing to the female. "Nadine, are you having Thanksgiving with your family?"

"Cut the bullshit, Mr. Crumbly. Don't try to make this a personal phone call. Miss Spencer isn't here to chat," said one of the male members, obviously the leader of the group.

"Can I interject one point to this negotiation?" Jen asked.

"Who are you?" the same male voices asked.

"I'm Mrs. Jennifer Crumbly, Mr. Benjamin Crumbly's sister."

"There's nothing to negotiate. We're united with regard to our final offer for settlement, sixty cents on the dollar."

"We understand you're position. What we're asking is that you suspend charging interest while we consider our options."

"What options would that be, Mrs. Crumbly?"

I heard Jen clear her throat. "I believe you know those options."

All four voices tried to talk at once until the leader of the group said they would call us back in fifteen minutes. We hung up and nervously waited for the phone to ring. Ten minutes later, the leader told us they would give us thirty days to consider our options. Jen gave them our fax number, asking that all four companies send a signed document stating that interest charges would be suspended for thirty days. They agreed.

"Mrs. Crumbly," the leader began, "I've been authorized to speak for the group. We will settle for fifty cents on the dollar."

"Thank you, Sir. That's a step in the right direction. My brother is prepared to pay you virtually everything he earns until he has repaid forty cents on the dollar. May I remind you that you have our final offer?"

Several seconds of silence followed. "I hope you have a pleasant holiday, Mr. Crumbly," the female voice sounded frail.

"Thank you, Miss Spencer. I wish you a pleasant holiday, too," I said, hearing the conference call end abruptly.

I was ecstatic, thanking Jen, giving her credit for the way the negotiation had gone. She was ambivalent, saying we had accomplished nothing except to buy some time. 

"Now he's getting chummy with one of his adversaries," she quipped to Ed when the fax from Miss Spencer's company arrived. At the bottom of the page was a hand-written note. "Mr. Crumbly, I hope you didn't think me too forward when I wished you a pleasant holiday? Nadine Spencer."

Ed thought it was hilarious that I would cozy-up to someone I had never met. "Work on her. You have her fax number. Tell her you picture her as sexy."

"She does have a sexy voice," I observed.

"He will do nothing of the sort. Fax messages are not private; everyone in the company reads them," she said, going upstairs in a huff. 

"I didn't mean anything," Ed said as he watched her go.

"I know you didn't," I sympathized with him. 

Secretly, I was enjoying the discord between the lovebirds. In the privacy of my room that night I resolved to:

1. Watch from a distance, not take sides in future disputes. 

2. Become Millie's buddy; get her to tell me when my brother made his move on my girl friend. Or, find out exactly when Jen made her move on my brother. 

3. Take Ed's advice; answer Miss Spencer's fax.

I saw myself as a one man army, intent on making Ed and Jen pay for their transgressions against me. Would watching them suffer the way I had suffered even the score? I knew the answer; nothing would reverse the way they had treated me. I also knew that living under the same roof with them, seeing them together, was not good for me. I decided to stay long enough to pay my debts and move on. 

God, I was horny. Where was the Iowa farm girl when I needed her? I went to sleep with a new resolve: the next time it rained I would let Beverly dry my shorts along with my pants. 



It Just Happened Ch. 07



Chapter 7: Having the talk

The next day I got up early and sent a fax. "Miss Spencer, I hope you enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving, Ben."

The words we overheard when Jen was talking to her sister, "I can't. I just can't sit at that table and pretend...," haunted me. Was she saying she couldn't sit at her parents' Thanksgiving table and pretend that the man she had given her virginity wasn't there? Was she saying she couldn't pretend that she didn't love me? Millie, I decided, was the only person who could tell me what her sister was saying. 

It was the day before Thanksgiving, not a good day to start a new job. We inventoried the leftover building supplies stored in the garage and organized the tools we carried in the van. At mid-morning we took a coffee break in the kitchen and I made excuses to go upstairs. A fax, not thirty minutes old, had arrived from Miss. Spencer.

Dear Ben, 

This is so naughty as it is contrary to company policy. My hands are trembling because I've never done anything like this before. I know you are twenty-five and I've seen your picture. To be fair, I'm including a picture of me at the bottom of this page. Can you guess how old I am? 

Please...call me, Nadine

The picture was nothing like I had imagined from hearing her voice. Instead of a petite blond with a timid smile, Miss Spencer was a knock-out. Was this really her? Wanting to hear her voice again, I dialed her office number. 

"Mr. Crumbly, this is highly irregular," she said in a hushed voice.

"Is that really you or did you send me a picture of a model?"

"That's really me. Some people think I'm big boned," she ended the sentence with a girlish giggle.

"You're beautiful. I can tell that the facsimile doesn't do you justice."

"Mr. Crumbly, please look at the bottom of the page. Is my cell phone number showing?"

It was, along with a note that her lunch hour was from twelve-thirty until one-thirty.

"Yes it is, but I couldn't wait to talk to you."

Another giggle, "You don't want me to be fired, do you?"

"I'll call at five past one," I said, knowing that she was in the Eastern Time zone, one hour ahead of us in the central. 

Now, what to do with the fax and Nadine's picture? Should I show it to Ed? Should I hide it? I decided to leave it, face up, on the desk in my room. I made my own bed and kept the floor clean. There was no reason for Jen to go in there. She could only discover the fax my snooping. Secretly, I hoped she would.

At five past one, her time, we began our telephone romance. We were on a first name basis from the beginning. I told her I couldn't guess her age; she said she was thirty-one. She wanted me to guess her measurements; I said I couldn't. "I'm five-nine, thirty-six, twenty-six, thirty-five and my weight is one hundred and forty-four pounds."

"Send me another picture, in color. I want to see you in a swimsuit."

"I can't do that," she said, giggling. 

"I love hearing you giggle," I said and heard her sigh.

We talked for ten minutes, careful to avoid any mention of the money I owed her company. I gave her my cell phone number and my email address. She said she rode the subway to work and lived with her mother. She agreed to send me another picture, in color, but said she didn't have pictures of her in a swim suit. Although it wasn't mentioned, I hung up thinking that I had an alley in my quest to lower the amount the credit card companies would accept in settlement. 

We, just the three of us, were having a quiet Thanksgiving dinner when we heard a car door slam closed on the drive. Jen jumped up from the table to welcome her brother and his family. They removed their coats on the porch and entered the kitchen. Millie was with them. 

Ed and I stood to shake hands with Tony. Millie made the introductions, reminding the two children that Ed was their uncle and Hannah, Tony's wife, that he was her brother. "And this is Ben," she said to Hannah and the two towheads. 

"Do we have to call him uncle, too?" asked the little girl, making everyone laugh and breaking the tension in the room at the same time. I could tell by Tony's stoical expression that he still felt animosity toward me for the atrocity I had committed years ago, taking his little sister's virginity. 

Jen was busy clearing the table, making coffee and offering everyone dessert when I had the idea to have some fun. "Millie, let's get out of here so they can talk about me. Are you driving or do I need to borrow Jen's car?"

My offer shocked everyone, except Millie. "I'm not driving. May we have your keys, sis?"

Jen glared at me and declared they weren't going to talk about me. Ed, seeing the distress on his wife's face, told me to sit down. "Sit down, you're not going anywhere," he said in the same demanding tone I remembered from when we were kids. 

For one of the rare moments in my life, I stared my brother down. Ed, reading my mind, 'You may have stolen my girl, but you can't tell me what to do anymore,' nodded to Jen, who reluctantly gave me the keys to the Mustang. 

"Where are you going, Uncle Ben?" the little girl asked.

"I'm taking your aunt for a ride," I said, smiling at Hannah. 

"That was so cool! Did you see my brother's face?" Millie asked when we got outside the house. I know exactly what he was thinking, 'The bastard fucked one of my sisters. Now he's going to fuck the other one.'"

I laughed, already enjoying her company. The streets were deserted. I looked over at her and asked, "Is that what you think?"

She squirmed in her seat, like she was giving it thought. "I don't know, but it was fun watching Tony think so, wasn't it?"

"You have a devious way of looking at things."

"So do you."

"You'll never know how devious until it's too late," I said, thinking of the information I planned to glean from her.

"Where are you taking me?"

I looked in her direction, took in the short coat over tan corduroy slacks, dark sweater, pearl necklace, a scattering of freckles under her eyes and a dark ribbon holding her hair in place. "We're going to your house."

She burst into laughter, displaying even teeth and sparkling eyes. Was I falling for her because of the resemblance to her sister or was it because I was discovering her fun personality. "I don't have my own place, Benny. I'm twenty-eight and live with my parents. By the way, they're at home."

"I know. I haven't seen them since I've been back."

Millie leaned back in her seat, facing me, smiling. I smiled back, thinking how good it was to be in her company. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hawley had raised their family in an older home, which was similar to mine; only theirs had not been updated. Their greeting was genuine. "Benny, Mildred told us you were back. How long has it been?" Mrs. Hawley asked. 

We had been there thirty or forty minutes, me fielding questions, but revealing very little, when Millie spoke up. "We're going up to my room for a private talk."

"A private talk?" Mrs. Hawley asked, repeating her daughter.

"That's what I said, a private talk, Mom. I promise you won't hear the bedsprings squeak."

This struck Mr. Hawley as funny. "She's twenty-seven, she deserves some privacy, Ethel," he said.

"I turned twenty-eight in October, Dad," Millie corrected her father. 

I had been on the second floor of the Hawley house a few times and remembered where the sisters' bedroom was. Only now, the posters were changed and there was only one bed in the room. Millie removed the ribbon from her hair and took a seat in the center of the bed, sitting with the legs folded. I sat in the only chair, in front of the desk.

"How do you think we should go about this thing?" she asked.

"This thing?" I asked, wondering if she was being as direct as I thought.

"Yes, this thing. You know, getting to know each other, you getting into my panties, making the protection decision before we make, excuse the pun, the final plunge."

I watched her, wondering if she was trying to shock me. Was she serious or was she about to laugh and say, "Got you!" 

"Millie, I'm not ready..."

"Why? We obviously like each other. Don't tell me you're rejecting me."

"Millie, I like everything about you. At first I thought it was because you remind me of your sister, but please believe me, you're unique. But I'm not what you think. The reason I came back here is because I had no other place to go. I'm in debt. I don't even have a car."

"I have a car."

I looked her in the eye, knowing those four words said so much. She was saying, "I know all that. All we have to decide is the protection question."

I got up and approached the bed. She watched, patient and somber. "Don't make the bed squeak," she said, as she extended her legs and lay back on the bed. I hovered above her, looking into her eyes. 

"I don't know if I can do this."

"Why?" she asked, showing alarm.

"You remind me too much of her."

"I'm not her," she said, looking up at me, still solemn.

"There's one way to find out."

"To find out if you're going to be able to do this?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Maybe I'd know if I kissed you."

"It's worth a try."

"I'm going to kiss you."

"Okay," she said, closing her eyes.

I leaned down and touched my lips to hers, lightly at first, pressing down before lifting my head. 

"Well?" she asked, opening her eyes.

"I don't know," I said, lowering my lips again. 

This time I flicked her upper lip with my tongue and felt her respond, opening her lips and placing her hands on my back. My tongue invaded her mouth. She moaned as I pulled away.

"Well?" she asked again.

"It's going to work," I said, trying to sound serious. 

She smiled, but only for a second before a cloud came to her face. "Are you doing this to get back at her?"

"I hope not. I don't think so, but I can't be certain. Are you?" I asked.

"Kiss me again," she ordered, closing her eyes.

My kisses were short and tender, some longer than others. She returned them, responsively, opening her lips on demand until I pulled away and looked down at her. 

"Me either," she said, answering my question about her motive.

"We'll meet twice a week until Christmas. At that point we'll exchange gifts and tell your sister and my brother that we're dating."

"Which nights of the week will we meet?"

"We'll meet on different nights so as not to cause suspicion."

"What will we do when we meet?"

"Hold hands, kiss, talk, you know...get to know one another." "When will we...you know?"

"Be seen in public together?"

"I guess...yes, be seen in public?"

"In January, I'll ask you to be my girlfriend and you'll say yes. At that time..."

"Wait, how do you know I'll say yes?"

"I know from the way you kiss me," I said, leaning down to kiss her.

This one wasn't tender at all. Millie plunged her lips against mine, holding me in place with one hand in my hair. "Like that?" she asked when she released me.

"Like that," I agreed with her.

She pushed me off the bed, saying we had talked enough. I didn't argue with her. She combed her hair and we went downstairs, finding that Tony and his family had just returned from visiting Ed and Jen. He gave me a cold shoulder, but Hannah and the kids acted as though I was a member of the family. I said goodbye to her parents and Millie saw me to the door. "I'm going to like being your girlfriend," she said as we kissed. 

"I'm going to like being your boyfriend, too," I said, already hating myself for deceiving her. 



It Just Happened Ch. 08



Chapter 8: Four women -- different motives

I got home to find Jen very cool toward me and she didn't offer any clues as to why. I wondered if it was because I had taken off with her sister. Did she go in my room and discover the fax from Miss Sterling? Had Beverly called? Shit! I had given Nadine my email address. Jen wouldn't open my email, would she? Ed wasn't any help either.

I went upstairs and checked my email. There were no messages, but I changed my password anyway. I was checking the desk in my room for fingerprints when Ed knocked on the door. 

"What's that?" he asked.

"Miss Sterling sent me her picture. She's one of the credit card representatives we're negotiating with," I explained, still not sure if the fax had been disturbed or not.

He disregarded the fax, obviously having something more important on his mind. "Ben, I hate to put pressure on you, but we really need Miss Worthington's job. I just received a call canceling the flooring job we were going to start on Monday so I moved up the basement playroom project to next week. After that, I have nothing. I hate like hell to lay the kids off and I know your situation, but I'm not going to have an alternative unless you're able to close on the Worthington deal."

What was he saying? That I was going to be out of work unless Beverly signed the contract for us to remodel her home? "Talk about pressure! How am I going to sell her when she's stalling?"

"I think you know," my brother said, watching to see if I got his drift. Was he asking me to do what I thought?

"I'll meet with her tomorrow," I said.

"Tell her how nice it will be to celebrate Christmas in her new kitchen."

"Are you saying we can finish before Christmas?" I asked, thinking there was no way we could get it done that quickly.

"I'm just giving you selling points," he said, picking up the fax and looking at Nadine's picture.

"She says it doesn't do her justice. She's thirty-six, twenty-five, thirty-five," I said.

"I'm going to show this to Jen. She's frustrated. Maybe it will cheer her up," he said, leaving my room with the fax before I could object. 

Suddenly, it hit me. Frustrated was same label Millie had used for her sister. "She frustrated because she can't get pregnant. Your brother shoots blanks." Tony had been here today with his wife and their two beautiful children, making Jen see what she was missing. Perhaps that was the reason she was cool toward me, thinking what could have been if she hadn't jilted me.

That's what I preferred to believe, Jen was feeling sorry for herself because she had made a bad choice. Still, there was the possibility that Beverly had called and Jen had refused to tell me. Also, she may have come into my room and discovered Nadine's picture. Anyway, Ed was going to show her the fax. Would he tell her that he was pressuring me to persuade Beverly to sign the contract to remodel her house? Would he tell her he was going to lay his crew off at the end of next week, including me, if I didn't produce a signed contract?

Now I was the one feeling sorry for myself. It was true that I had accepted three years of college tuition from my brother, but now I was beginning to question his motives for sending me far from home, opening possibilities for him to horn in on my girlfriend. What's more, it had worked. 

I had relinquished my share of my parents' estate to my brother. How much had he made from the six houses he and my father constructed on our land? Judging by the improvements to the old house, the three-car garage and the new vehicles he and Jen drove, he could easily afford to square my credit card debt. He owed me that much, didn't he? And now he was threatening to lay me off during a slack time, just when I needed to prove to my creditors that I had a steady income and honorable intentions. I vowed to make my brother wish I had never been born.

My cell vibrated in my pocket.

"Hi, did you have a nice Thanksgiving?"

"Miss Sterling, I mean Nadine. Yes, I had an enjoyable day, how about you?"

"It was lovely, thank you. Ben, I told you a white lie before. I do have a picture of me in a swim suit."

"Great! Are you going to send it to me?"

"Do you want me to?" she asked, giggling.

"YES!"

"I'm hitting send," she said, cooing into the receiver.

"Thank you, Nadine. I can't wait to open your message," I said, already headed to the office to boot the computer.

"Tell me what you think. Be kind, please."

I assured her that I would be kind and we said goodnight.

The photograph was sent as an attachment to a message that simply urged me to 'be kind.' 

As soon as the photo was finished printing I deleted the message, even before I looked at the finished product. The picture, being in color, made it much easier for me to determine skin tones than the black and white fax had shown. The picture on the fax flattered her; this one did not. Actually, the color photo showed every stretch mark, wrinkle, flab and imperfection on her body. She was lying under a beach umbrella, smiling at the camera. What could I possibly say that would be believable?

Dear Nadine,

The picture makes me want to reach out and say hello to your big toe. Can you feel me shake it? Can you feel my forefinger, tracing the outline of your left ankle, around and around it goes, up the back of your leg to that soft spot behind your knee. Can you feel it? Am I tickling you? Can you feel my hand on your left thigh, squeezing? Being a gentleman, I'll move my hand to your stomach. Do you feel it there, lying flat on your tummy? Next, being a gentleman, I'll move my hand to your left shoulder and on to your neck. Do you feel my hand tracing your jaw? Do you feel my thumb on your chin? 

Tomorrow, we'll do your right side and then I'll have you turn over. 

Your admirer, Ben . I sent the email, hating myself. 

Not wanting Ed or Jen to see the picture, I hid it in my room.

The next morning I checked my email before going downstairs.

Dear Ben,

That was so erotic. Please do my right side, less gentlemanly.

Nadine.

I sent another message, giving a step-by-step description of the voyage of my hand traveling up her right leg, being as ungentlemanly as I dared. When my hand reached the V where her legs met I wrote that I found a wet spot. Unable to visualize more, I signed the message and hit send.

Two minutes later, while I was getting dressed, my cell phone rang.

"We're having a conference call regarding your settlement today. I'm going to push the others on your behalf."

"Thank you, Nadine. May I ask you a personal question?"

"Yes, you may."

"Are you wet?"

"Ben, you're so ungentlemanly," she said as she ended the call.

Ten minutes later she called back. "Yes!"

We weren't working that day so Ed and I were having a leisurely breakfast when Jen joined us. She was dressed for work.

"Have you done something to your hair?" I asked, wanting her to know that I found her unusually attractive without putting it into words in front of her husband. 

Some things never changed. Her blush was familiar, exactly like I remembered from four years before. "Not really, I washed it last night. Oh, I'm letting it grow out."

"Oh, like Millie's?" 

The mention of Millie brought a grimace to her lips. "Not that long. Where did you take her yesterday?"

Ed was reading a newspaper. I wondered if he was listening to what we were saying. We weren't paying any attention to him. 

"We went to your parents' house and...talked."

Jen dropped the slice of toast she had been buttering. "Where did you...talk?" she asked, picking up the toast.

"Don't you mean, what did we talk about?"

She dropped the toast again and glanced in the direction of the newspaper Ed was holding in front of him. "No, I don't give a damn what you talked about. Where did you have this talk?"

"Oh, where in the house did we talk? I understand now. We lay on the bed in your old room."

Jen stared at me, like she was trying to collect her thoughts. "Is my sister...is she trying to...are you going to...did you...?"

"Yes, she is, yes, we're going to and no, we didn't, not yet."

"Ed, do you hear the way he's talking to me in riddles? Aren't you going to do something?"

Ed looked over his paper. "Did you say something, dear? Did Ben tell you he's going to meet with Beverly?"

Jen looked at me, showing concern in her eyes. "You don't have to do that, Benny."

"I don't mind."

"Well, I DO!" she said, getting up from the table and leaving the room, heading upstairs.

After she left the room, Ed reiterated his threat from the night before. "We've got to have that job, Ben. Otherwise, I'm going to be forced to do something I would prefer not to."

"I understand," I said, begrudgingly. I went upstairs to my room, wanting to be alone. Nadine called, saying she was on her way to work.

"Are you ready to turn me over?" she asked.

"Not yet, we haven't finished with your front. Are you wearing a bra?"

"Yes," her voice was barely audible.

"Unhook it."

"Ben, I'm riding the subway."

"Do you want me to finish your the front or not?"

"Yes, I want you to. I'll unhook it."

"Is it unhooked?"

"Yes."

"Did anybody see you?"

"I don't think so. Maybe, I don't know."

"Don't hook it until you get to work. We'll turn you over tomorrow."

"I can't do that, Ben. Please don't make me. Oh, I think I'm losing you."

"It may be at my end. I expect the credit card company to stop accepting my cell phone bill at any time."

Silence followed and I thought I really had lost the connection. "I'll issue a new card as soon as I get to the office. Check your email for the new number and give it to your cell phone company."

I was speechless. "Ben, did you hear what I said?"

"Nadine, you're very kind."

"Thank you, Ben."

"Nadine?"

"Yes, Ben."

"Are you wet?"

"Oh, Ben, people are watching," she said, giggling as we ended the call.

I heard Jen calling me and went to the head of the stairs. "You have a phone call. It's Beverly."

"Thanks, I'll take it up here," I said. I spoke to Beverly and made arrangements to meet with her. She said she would pick me up at ten A.M.

"You can drop me off at the bank and use my car," Jen said as if she had been eavesdropping on my conversation with Beverly and knew my plans. 

"That's not necessary. Ed will pick me up," I said.

"No, he'll forget and you'll be stuck with her. Take the car. That way you can leave when she makes the first suggestive remark."

Ed looked up from his newspaper. "Honey, suggestive remarks are part of the plan. Let Ben decide how long he wants to stay."

Jen disagreed with her husband. "He's going to use my car and that's final. Pick me up at the usual time. We'll go shopping and you can take me to dinner," she said, bending down for a goodbye kiss. 

"Yes, dear," Ed said, shrugging. 

I was really enjoying this, Jen overruling her husband and ordering me to drive her to work. 

"Just like old times," I said as soon as we were in the car.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember when we were together? I used to drive you to work back then. Now I'm doing it again."

"We're not together anymore," she said, dismissively.

"Aren't you concerned that people we know will see us together and get the wrong idea?" I teased.

"Stop talking like that. They won't get the wrong idea."

"I'm just teasing," I said, smiling at her and receiving a smile in return. It was becoming easier to look at her without feeling the artesian action in my chest. 

"I know," she said.

I didn't say anything else until we stopped in front of the bank. She unbuckled the seatbelt and started to get out of the car.

"Don't I get a goodbye kiss?"

She turned and looked at me, shocked. "People are watching."

"Does that mean you would kiss me if nobody was watching?"

"I didn't mean it that way," she said, beginning to blush. I was surprised that she didn't open the door and get out.

"You used to kiss me, back in the old days when I dropped you off at work."

"This isn't the old days, Benny. I'm not your girlfriend now."

"I know you're not my girlfriend. You're my sister and I'm dropping you off at work, just like old times."

Jen looked in the direction of the bank, glanced up and down the street and leaned across the seat, placing her hand on my chest for support, hovering there. Her lips were inches from mine. "We're not going to make a habit of this," she warned before pushing her lips into mine.

I wanted to savor the kiss, to remember how it felt, but I couldn't think. It ended just as my arm went around her to draw her to me. She pulled back, smiled and touched her lips to mine again before pushing herself away. She was out of the car before I realized what happened. 

Consumed with emotional shock, I watched her walk to the front door of the bank and go inside, without looking back. I drove home, trying to remember the slight movement of her lips as they touched mine. I wanted to believe that I had felt her breasts against my chest. One thing I knew for certain; Jen's kiss was an exact duplicate of her sister's. How was I going to be able to kiss Millie without thinking of Jen? What if I became confused and called her by the wrong name?

Ed wasn't there when I got home. I opened my email and discovered Nadine's message containing a new credit card number. I couldn't believe the words I was reading: "May I fasten my bra now?" I wrote a message, giving her permission to fasten the bra. I also suggested that she suspend using her work computer to communicate with me: "I do enjoy receiving mail from you, but some companies monitor computer use."

I gave the new credit card number to my cell phone company and then called Beverly to tell her she didn't need to pick me up. "You don't have to wait until ten. Come anytime. Is it raining today?"

I laughed and told her it was a dry day outside. Fifteen minutes later she was welcoming me into her home. "I haven't had time to get dressed yet. I hope you don't mind," she said, shamelessly blinking her eyes.

"I don't mind," I said, taking in the short robe, open at the neck to reveal the top of a lacy nightgown, while noting that she had had time to apply eye shadow, lip gloss and to brush her hair. 

She insisted that we have coffee. Sitting across from her, trying to avert my eyes from the generous cleavage that became more exposed each time she leaned forward to offer marmalade, I kept wondering when she was going to get dressed. She didn't, not while I was there.

I tried to steer the conversation to finalizing the contract, pointing out where the kitchen counter would replace an interior wall. "You'll be able to sit here and watch the flowers grow in your garden," I said.

"The timing is bad, Ben. I don't think I could endure living in my parent's home over the holidays."

"Ha! Is that all that's bothering you? My brother says we can finish before Christmas if we know today."

She brightened. "That sounds terrific, but I don't think I can tell you today. A girl needs time to make up her mind, you know."

"Tomorrow will give us enough time to get everything lined up. We can't start the job until the first of December anyway."

Beverly looked thoughtful. "I'm considering moving the half bath."

"That won't be a problem," I said, eager to please, thinking that we were getting close to having a signed contract. "Show me what you have in mind."

I soon found out that relocating the half bath would involve two other changes. Beverly led me from room to room, explaining why each change was necessary. I let her body collided with mine each time she abruptly changed directions. It became a game, her rubbing her body against mine and me standing perfectly still while she had her fun. 

"Aren't you going to take notes?" she asked.

"No," I said, deciding to take a stand.

"Why not?"

"Because you've changed your mind three times since you began showing me where you want the half bath. I don't think you know what you want. Call me when you decide," I said, heading for the door.

"There are plenty of other contractors who will be happy to do my renovation," she said, sounding like she was having difficulty controlling her voice. 

I stopped at the door and turned. "I know, but we all have our limits."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We're all limited to how much time we can waste."

As I closed the door behind me I heard Beverly call to me. "Ben, don't be that way."

Driving home, I knew I would have to face the music. I would have to tell Ed that I had struck out again. But I had to admit that it had felt good telling the rich girl she could push me only so far. It was better than the other idea that briefly crossed my mind, telling her that I was going to soon be out of work if she didn't hire us. No, I decided that Beverly was way beyond associating working for a paycheck with putting food on the table.

I was banking on her calling to say she was ready to sign the contract. Some women liked tough talk. It had worked with Millie the day before. She let me dictate how often we would see each other, what we would do and when we would go public with our relationship. Of course, the date, middle of January, had been chosen for a reason; I couldn't very well let it get out that Millie and I were a couple until we were finished with Beverly's renovation. Some women liked to be told how things were going to work. Was Beverly one of those women?

And this morning I had been successful telling a woman I had never met to unhook her bra while riding the subway. It had worked with Jen too. The suggestion that she kiss me had caused her to move across the seat, put her hand on my chest for support and kiss me, albeit briefly, twice. 

This was not like me. I had never been the type of man who could snap his finger and make a girl do what he wanted. For over three years I let Veronica spend money I didn't have. God, how I missed her; I would give up my newfound powers over women if I could have her back.

Did I feel any remorse for the way I was treating the four women? Seeking justification for my actions, I decided I had good reasons. Sweet talking Beverly and letting her rub her body against mine was necessary, I thought, to persuade her to give us the remodel job. Talking dirty to Nadine and giving her a thrill was necessary, I thought, to earn her support in obtaining a favorable settlement of my debts. Befriending Millie, gaining her trust, was necessary, I thought, to learn how and when my brother had captured my girlfriend's heart. Coaxing Jen to kiss me goodbye was...well...it was good for my ego.

What was happening to me? I had noticed changes in the way people looked at me while Veronica and I were together. Women especially sought my attention. Was it because I had garnered Veronica's devotion or did being with her raise my confidence level? 

Ed wasn't surprised that I had failed to persuade Beverly to sign the contract. I told him I would try again the next day and that satisfied him. His mellow demeanor surprised me until I recalled the times when we were kids. Just when I thought he would jump me for something I had done, he would become penitent and tell me to forget it. 

"Let's go for a ride," he said, making my heart skip a beat. Wasn't that the line you heard in gangster movies, "Let's go for a ride?" Had someone seen Jen kiss me when I dropped her off at the bank? Secretly, I hoped so.

We took the van and drove to the outskirts of town where Stew Mercer was waiting for us. "This is the building site," Ed said to me.

Stew had been a tall skinny kid when we were in school, happy-go-lucky, always joking. Now, as we shook hands I saw a different person. Stew had gained weight, muscle and a serious nature. I guess that's what goes with success. I had gone away to college and yet, standing next to Stew, I saw myself as a failure, insecure and in debte.




It Just Happened Ch. 08



We walked the land and they talked about density, selling prices and building regulations. This was all new to me. From their conversation, I gleaned that they intended to buy the land jointly and split it in two, but how to divide it was the question. My brother pointed out signs of ledge and Stew found a natural valley he didn't like. I saw many disagreements on the horizon; this partnership would not work the way they were going about it. We walked back to the vehicles and shook hands. Stew said it had been good to see me again and I said the same.

Ed was unusually quiet on the way home. It was a big project, much bigger that he had ever tackled before. I wondered where he was getting the financing. 

"Why isn't Stew building this project alone? How comes he needs a partner?" I asked, thinking, why did he pick my brother for his partner?

"These are to be custom homes and it will take years to complete. He doesn't have the experience or the resources for a project of this size." 

And you do? I thought. "Want me to run the numbers?" I suggested, thinking that was the way to find out how much debt he planned to assume.

He laughed. "What do you know about building?"

I bristled. "I'm been around construction all my life. In case you've forgotten, I'm an accountant by profession."

As was his way, my brother backed off. I remember the time I got fed up with him bullying me and I decked him. He apologized and treated me with respect after that. "Okay, there's a folder in the top drawer of my file cabinet. It's labeled 'Stew'."

We dropped the subject. Ed got dressed for shopping and dinner with Jen, leaving me on my own. I found the file and was absorbing the details when my cell phone rang. It was Nadine.

"How did the conference call go?" I asked. 

"They wouldn't budge from fifty cents on the dollar, Ben. I think I've been found out. Max wanted to know if I was in collusion with you."

"Who's Max?"

"He's the spokesman for our group. He didn't say anything while we were in conference, but he called me later and accused me of trying to lower the settlement we will accept."

"What did you say?"

She didn't answer. "What did you tell him?" I repeated.

"I told him you hold some kind of control over me," she said in a low voice, almost a whisper.

"You didn't tell him about this morning on the subway?" I asked, frantic.

"Yes, I had to."

"You didn't have to say anything. How did he react?"

"He wants me to send him the picture?"

"What? Did you tell him about sending me the picture of you?"

A long silence, followed by, "I had to."

"NO, you didn't have to. Did you...did you send the picture?"

"Not yet, I told him I would ask you if it's okay."

"It's not okay. I don't want you to do it."

"But..."

"But what?" I demanded and heard her whimper. 

"Max said he will see to it that I'm fired if I don't send him the picture."

My mind was racing and I knew I wasn't thinking straight. Should I tell her to get his threat in writing? No, that wouldn't do any good because she would still have to tell her employer that she had sent the picture to me. The best we could hope for would be that Max would lose his job too. I certainly didn't want Nadine to lose hers. "Send him the picture and copy me," I said. "Tell him that you will copy the other members of committee if he hassles you again."

"Ben?" she asked, sounding like a thirteen-year-old girl, not a thirty-one year-old-woman.

"Yes, Nadine?"

"What if he likes the picture and wants to meet me in person?"

"You're getting way ahead, Nadine."

"But...what if?"

Why was she asking me this? Was it her wishful thinking that Max would want to meet with her in person? Would she comply if I said no? What would be the repercussions? Would Max pull the rug out from under me and take away the settlement offer? Or, if Nadine met with him could she convince him to side with me? "If he wants to meet with you...I guess you'll have to go."

"Thank you, Ben," she said, sounding pleased with my answer.

What have I done? I asked myself as we said goodbye. I hated myself.

Wanting someone to talk to, I called Millie. "I have a question," she said.

"What is your question?"

"Why don't you want to be seen in public with me until January?"

It was a reasonable question. I wondered why she hadn't asked it the day before. "Come over and I'll tell you."

"To my sister's house? Will we be able to talk privately?"

"They're out shopping and having dinner."

"I'm on my way," Millie said, almost breathlessly.

It was twenty minutes before she came in the back door, plenty of time for me to have a sandwich and glass of milk. I saw immediately why it took her twenty minutes to make the ten minute drive. Her hair was 'arranged' on top of her head. I went to her and held her at arm's length, really looking her over. 

"I like your hair that way," I said, dropping my arms to my side.

"I wanted to do something different with it. I'm glad you approve," she said, maintaining the two feet between us. I removed her coat and led her to the living room where we took seats on the couch. 

"I really got myself in the soup," I said, beginning to answer her question as to why we couldn't be seen in public until January. "Beverly Worthington asked us to bid on remodeling her house and Ed gave me the ultimatum of getting her to sign the contract for us to do the work or else I'll be out of work after next week."

"What's that got to do with being seen with me in public?" she asked, reaching for my hand.

"Ed believes, and I have to agree with him, that Beverly has designs on me. If word gets back to her that we're seeing each other she may give the contract to someone else out of spite. I don't know this for a fact, but I'm not taking any chances."

"Ed would actually fire you if you don't get the job?" Millie asked, incredulous.

"He won't fire me, but he threatened to lay me off," I said, thinking that it was contrary to our father's philosophy. Our dad always carried his workers through tough times. Maybe that's the reason he never prospered the way Ed obviously had.

"Oh, Ben, I'm so sorry that I questioned your sincerity," Millie said as she came into my arms. That's how Ed and Jen found us, holding each other, silently rocking.



It Just Happened Ch. 09



Chapter 9: Jennifer

Ed and Jen came in and found us embracing, Millie commiserating with me because of the predicament I had just described to her, broke and being forced into kowtowing to a rich girl in order to hold on to my job. I pulled my head away from Millie, hoping to alert her that we had company. She misunderstood and thinking that my intention was to kiss her, she closed her eyes and pushed her lips into mine. 

"Ahem!" Jen said rudely interrupting what was becoming a very tender moment between her sister and me. Millie looked up and seeing that we were being watched, became unsettled.

"What are you looking at? Can't we have some privacy?" Millie asked in a disturbed tone. 

"What do you think you're doing in my house?" Jen shot back at her sister. 

Ed began laughing; seemingly amused at his wife's irritation of finding her sister in the arms of her former boyfriend. 

"And you," Millie said, pointing at Ed. "How can you be so cruel to your own brother?" 

"What do you mean by that?" Jen asked her sister, becoming even more confrontational. "We've taken Benny in. Ed's given him a job and I'm helping him negotiate his way through the mess he's gotten himself in. How can you say we've been cruel to him?"

"Your husband," Millie said before pausing for effect, "is forcing Ben to become a gigolo and threatening loss of work if he's unsuccessful," she said, standing up and pulling me with her. 

Jen's mouth flew open. "Never would my husband..."she paused, thoughtfully and looked at Ed. "Is that what you meant by that suggestive remark? Did you really use loss of employment to intimidate Benny?"

"It was...I mean...a business decision," my brother stammered.

I guided Millie past Ed and Jen, toward the back door where I grabbed a jacket and helped her with her coat. As we left the house I heard Jen berating Ed. "So he made some mistakes. That's not an excuse for taking advantage of him. How can you even think of mistreating him after everything he gave you? He's not a bad person; it was that woman's fault."

"What does she mean? What did you give him?" Millie asked when we got outside, heading for her car.

"I relinquished my share of out parent's estate because I owed Ed for paying my college tuition," I said, opening the driver's door.

"Oh, yes, I remember that now," she said as she got in the car. I shut the door and went around to the other side and got in. The car, a small Nisan, was cold inside. We sat in the bucket seats, staring out the front window at the cluster of new homes.

I snickered and Millie turned to look at me, questioning as if to say, "what?"

"At the time, I thought I was only relinquishing my share of the house. I didn't know about those other houses. From the looks of things Ed made a handsome profit."

"Do you have any idea how much profit?"

"I can't even estimate," I said, trying to shake the hollow feeling inside. The six large homes all had a view of the lake. "The land was free because my parents had owned it for years. If the houses sold quickly it could amount to one hundred thousand or more per house, I suppose."

"They sold quickly. I remember Jennifer and Ed took a Hawaiian vacation a few months after your dad died."

I didn't respond to learning that my brother and ex-girlfriend had taken a vacation. I was lost in my own thoughts, remembering the months it took me to reach the decision to relinquish my part of the estate. It was my way of repaying Ed for financing three years of college tuition. Ed had built the homes; he deserved the profits. He and Jen also deserved a vacation after caring for my father. 

Seeing Jen's aggravation at finding Millie and me together was disturbing. What difference did it make to her if we gravitated toward one another? But seeing her accuse her husband for treating me unfairly was downright scary. This was not like her at all. I was seeing a side of Jen that I had never known before. She had even kissed me this morning. 

Millie was watching me, probably wondering what I was thinking. I decided to come clean. "Miss Hawley, I have a confession. My plan was to string you along for six weeks or until we finished Beverly's remodel job."

"I understood why you couldn't be seen in public with me. That's not to say I liked it, but I...what do you mean by stringing me along?" she asked, sounding alarmed.

"I was planning on using you."

Millie laughed. "You're not alone in that. I was planning on using you, too."

I signed heavily, "Wait, that's not what I meant. My plan involved gaining your trust to find out dirt on my brother and your sister. I believe Ed paid my college tuition so Jen and I would be separated for months at a time. I think he saw us together and wanted to take her away from me."

"What's that got to do with using me?"

"You're probably the only one who would know how it happened between them. I got their letters on November the fourteenth, four years ago, but I believe it had been going on a long time before then and they thought they had to tell me before I came home for Thanksgiving."

Millie was quietly looking out the front window, like she hadn't been listening. "I'm sorry, Ben, I can't help you. I was away at school and when I came home that summer I was too busy trying to get over a guy to notice what was going on around me. Your brother may have been sniffing around her, but I can't be sure. You'll have to ask them."

"I'm sorry...about the guy, I mean. I know how painful it can be."

She turned to me, eyes sparkling. "Thanks. Are you talking about getting over Jen or the other one?"

"I don't think I'll ever get over Jen, but you know what?"

"What?"

"She kissed me today," I said, regretting immediately that I had been so forthcoming. 

Millie pretended not to hear what I had said. "What about the other one?"

"Veronica was good for me. She helped me keep my mind off losing Jen for over three years. I miss her, but I know I'm better off without her. What about you? Did you ever get over the guy?"

There was a long silent pause before she spoke. "No, but I'm working on it."

"Miss Hawley?"

"Yes, Mister Crumbly?"

"Will you go to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

She chuckled and there was a catch in her voice. "In public?"

"Yes, in public."

"I thought you were broke."

"I don't have a car, but I have six un-cashed pay checks and a new credit card," I said, reaching over and rubbing her shoulder.

"Do you think that's wise to use a new credit card? Isn't that what got into trouble?"

"I don't actually have the plastic yet, but I have enough cash to take you to dinner."

She moved over, placed her hand on my chest the same way Jen had done that morning and kissed me, twice, the same as Jen had done. "I'd love to go to dinner with you, in public. What time should I pick you up?" she asked, moving back to her seat.

I got out and went around to the driver's door. She rolled the window down.

"I'll make reservations at the Regal for seven. You can pick me up at a quarter till, unless you want to come in and meet the family."

"The Regal is awfully expensive."

"I know, but it's the best place to be seen in public."

"Does that mean you're asking me to be your girlfriend?"

"Miss Hawley, I don't have a pot to piss in. After next week I may be out of work and have to find a place to live. But I'll make two promises; I'm not leaving town and I'll get a job. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Kiss me," she said. I leaned in and touched my lips to hers. She pulled away.

"Tell me truthfully, did that remind you of my sister?"

"Truthfully, yes, but..."

She interrupted me by starting her car. "Ben, I'll go to dinner with you, but I'm not going to compete with your infatuation with my sister," she said, putting the car in reverse.

"Am I competing with that guy back at school?" I asked.

"Kiss me again."

I stuck my head inside her car and kissed her. She took her foot off the break, making the car move backward, halting the kiss. "No, you don't remind me of anyone," she said, laughing as she left me standing in the driveway.

I went inside and finding the downstairs deserted, I locked the back door and trudged upstairs, planning on finding a suit, shirt, shoes and tie to wear the following night. But the sound of an argument taking place in the room across the hall was so disconcerting that I couldn't concentrate. I went back downstairs and watched television until one A.M.

Ed had already gone out when I went downstairs the next morning and since I didn't feel comfortable being around Jen, I grabbed a cup of coffee and went back upstairs. She wasn't unapproachable or anything; it was just that I didn't want to risk mentioning the argument I had heard in their room the night before. Besides, I had work to do. After selecting the clothes I would wear that night, I studied the folder labeled "Stew."

I had been at work making notes on what I found in the file for thirty minutes when my cell phone rang. I recognized Miss Sterling's voice. 

"I hope I didn't get you into trouble. Max noticed that I sent the picture to you too." Nadine said as soon as I answered her call.

"Why would I be in trouble? What did you tell him?"

"He wanted to know whose email I copied and I had to tell him it was you. Please don't be mad at me, Ben."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Ben?"

"Yes, Nadine."

"He wants to meet with me."

"When?"

"Tonight."

"What did you say?"

A long silence followed. "Nadine, what did you tell him?"

"I said I would meet him. Are you angry?"

I laughed and thinking I might hurt her feelings, became serious. "I'm not angry with you. Are you comfortable meeting him in person?"

Another long pause, "It's a little scary," she admitted.

"Are you excited?"

"Promise you won't be angry?"

"I promise. Are you excited?"

"Yes."

"In that case there's nothing to worry about. Go meet him and have a good time."

"But what if...?"

Why was she putting me in this position? "What if what...what if he wants to sleep with you?"

"Yes."

"You have to let your feelings be your guide, Nadine. If he excites you the way you think he will and if you're attracted to him, you should go for it."

"What if I'm not attracted to him?"

"That's simple, Nadine. Say no, you're not interested."

"But what if...?"

I was becoming exasperated with her. "What?"

"What if he's willing to meet your demand? What if he says he'll convince the others to reduce the amount you have to pay?"

I couldn't believe my ears. I had never met this woman. What was she saying? That she would bed the guy on my behalf? Prostitute herself for me? I couldn't let her do that, could I? "Nadine, I don't want you to do something you may regret later. Nothing is worth that."

"I just want to please you, Ben." Her voice had a plea that pulled on my heartstrings. 

I heard Jen saying I had a call on the land line. "It's Beverly," she said.

"I have to go, Nadine. Don't fuck Max unless you really want to. Do you hear me?"

When she didn't respond, I hung up, my concern for her overshadowed by disgust with myself. 

Beverly was very conciliatory, inviting me to her house, offering to come after me, saying she was ready to sign the contract. "Hang on, Beverly. Let me see if I can borrow my sister's car."

I walked to the stairs and found Jen looking up at me, telling me I could use her car, like she had been listening to my conversation. I told Beverly that I would be there soon. Fifteen minutes later, Jen caught up with me at the back door. As she handed me the car keys I felt her hand linger. Seconds passed before she withdrew her hand.

"Why did you refer to me as your sister?" She asked, her voice bordering on confrontational. "Beverly knows who I am."

She was looking at me, eye to eye, standing her ground. I knew; right then, that if I had suggested she kiss me she would have jumped into my arms. 

"What should I have said, 'let me see if my former girlfriend will loan me her car?'"

She had to struggle to remain calm. The way her face twitched, the way her body fidgeted, had me on edge, like something was about to happen. "No...that would have been...worse. Why didn't you say, 'let me see if I can borrow Jen's car?'" 

"I'm sorry about last night, Jen," I said, disregarding her instruction to refer to her as Jen instead of my former girlfriend. "I know this is your house now. I shouldn't have invited Millie over without getting your permission."

"I was...surprised to find her here. This is as much your house as it is mine. Do what you want; you don't need my permission. I promise not to interfere again."

"Thank you," I said, leaving, feeling relieved that I hadn't acted on my impulse to tell her to kiss me. What was this power I suddenly had over women?

Beverly was fully dressed and ready for me. She recited everything that was to be done, including the changes we had talked about the day before.

"Are you sure moving the half-bath won't be any trouble?" Moving the bath was going to give her a few more square feet in her walk-in closet. 

"My brother would want to charge you extra, but I don't see where rerouting the pipes will be a problem.

"You can reroute my pipes any time," Beverly said, grinning until she saw the serious look I gave her. "Sorry," she said, becoming very businesslike. "I only have one more question. Are you sure you'll be able to finish before Christmas?"

I assured her we would be finished in time for her to celebrate the holidays in her remodeled home. 

"I'm looking forward to it," she said, smiling as she handed me the signed contract, a check for ten percent of the total price and a key to the house. 

I reiterated that we wouldn't begin the work until the following week, thanked her for awarding the work to us and left, relieved that she didn't press the issue of rerouting her pipes.

When I got home I discovered a furniture truck blocking the drive, and not able to get past it, I was considering if I should leave Jen's car in the street or wait for the truck to be moved when I spotted two guys, each with a mattress on his back. 

"Shit!" The mattresses were obviously from the bunk beds in my room. "Shit!" That's where I had hidden Nadine's picture, under the mattress on the lower bunk. "Shit!"

I got out of the car and ran toward the two guys. "Nice photo. Is that your girlfriend?" one of them asked.

"Shit!" They found it. "What's going on?" I asked him.

"Your brother bought you a new bed," the same guy said, pointing to the new mattress inside of the truck. I watched them carry the bottom part of mattress into the house, wondering what came over Ed. I was waiting in the car when they came back outside, carrying one of the bunk beds. After two more trips they got into the truck and waved to me as they left.

When I got upstairs to my room Jen was there, making the bed. Seeing her tucking in the sheets caused my chest to fill with emotion. Ed had bought the bed for me and she was doing her part to make it comfortable. Suddenly, my triumph of the day, getting the contract signed, seemed trivial by comparison. All that mattered was that the only family I had, my brother and his wife, cared for me. 

Jen looked up from her work, puckered her lips to blow an imaginary strand of hair away from her cheek and looked at me, lovingly. She was dressed the same as me, jeans, sweater and sneakers. I smiled, nervously. 

"You need a trim," she said, matter-of-factly, like she was commenting on the weather. 

That was good enough for me. I silently thanked her for saving me from doing something stupid. She wanted me out of the house and I was glad to go. "You're right," I said, moving to the desk and placing the contract, check and key to Beverly's house next to the photo of Nadine. 

"You get the drafting chair and I'll get the scissors," she said, walking toward the door.

"What?"

Jen turned. "You only need a trim. I'm perfectly capable..."

A thrill invaded my body as I went to get the drafting chair. It was tall with a seat that swiveled. I carried it into my room and placed it near the desk where I could look out the window, hoping the view would keep my mind off of her being so close. I took my seat and waited for her to return.

"It's mainly the back and maybe we'll take a little off around the ears," she said as she placed a towel around my shoulders. 

A small piece of paper stuck to the outside of the window before being lifted by a gust of wind. I tried to follow the path of the paper, fluttering in the wind, the same way Jen's closeness was making my heart flutter. 

"Sit still," she ordered. 

Thinking it would take my mind off her perfume, I initiated a conversation. "Millie said she was in school four years ago. Wouldn't she have finished college before that?"

"She went back to work on her masters. She was studying library science."

"She said there was a guy. Did breaking up with him interrupt her study?"

The scissors stopped moving. "I don't...I don't know. That was the summer...Millie was kind of out of it and I guess I was too."

She hadn't finished the sentence, 'that was the summer...' and I didn't prompt her, 'that was the summer you were away and I let Ed steal me away from you'. 

She resumed trimming the hair above my left ear. 

"I told her about our kiss," I said, changing the subject. 

"What did she...don't tell me...did Millie make a snide comment about me?"

"No, she didn't."

"I'm surprised. It would be just like her to repeat what she said before."

"What was that?"

I felt Jen's lips next to my ear as she whispered, "she said I was grazing on both sides of the road, you know, like the grass is greener..."

She stopped talking, like she was waiting for me to respond. I couldn't laugh. She was talking about four years ago when I was away. She was admitting, 'grazing on both sides of the road' that she had sampled the grass, Ed, while I was turning down the opportunity to sample an Iowa farm girl. 

I felt a dull ache hit the bottom of my chest and hardly noticed as she spun the chair around to look me in the eyes. "It wasn't the way you think, Benny," she implored me, clouding, near tears.

"There's nothing you can say, Jen, especially not 'it just happened!' that will satisfy me."

"I'll make it up to you. I want to. You can't imagine how hollow it makes me feel to see you with my sister, but I swear it will be different. If she wants you and you want her I won't interfere. I swear I'll be good."

Seeing the pained look on her face and hearing her ramble on, like she thought talking would keep her from crying made me want to comfort her. I pulled her to me, saying something about it being okay.

"We shouldn't..." she said, whispering into my ear. But when I heard the comb hit the floor, followed by the sound of the scissors, I rubbed her back and felt her hand on my neck, smoothing the place where she had trimmed my hair. Our cheeks were pressed together, made slick by the shared moisture accumulated between us. She felt soft and familiar in my arms, making the time we had been apart evaporate, those years when I had used Veronica to fill the void. 

Jen pulled back, smiling through tear-filled eyes and brought her lips to mine. Our kiss started tender, changing to open mouths, thrashing tongues, unlike anything we had experienced in the past. Without thinking, my hands went under her sweater, up her bare back and found the little hooks that held her bra together. If she noticed that I was lifting the sweater over her head it was only to break the kiss and raise her arms to permit its removal. Her lips returned to mine and never left, not when my hands massaged her breasts, not when my fingers twisted the nipples and not when I unbutton her jeans. 




It Just Happened Ch. 09



I heard one of her sneakers hit the floor to be followed by the other one. She moaned into my mouth as my hand cupped her panty-covered pussy with one hand while I used the other one to lower her jeans to the floor. 

Jen broke our kiss, pulled back and kicked off her jeans before crawling onto the bed, waving her panty-covered ass in invitation. I kicked my sneakers off and joined her on the bed just as she was positioning herself on her back. She turned her head to the side as I surveyed my prey, searching for the little red birthmark I remembered so well. 

I crawled between her legs, fully clothed. She turned her head back to meet my lips and when I lowered my head she lifted her bra to give me access to her breasts. I sucked her nipples between my lips, flicked the hard pebbles and heard her moan. Thinking that Ed could return at any moment, I felt rushed. The same thought must have crossed Jen's mind. When I tugged at the elastic band at the top of her panties, she raised her butt off the bed to assist me. As I separated the slightly damp garment from her ankle I was aware that she was doing the same with her bra. 

Like a magnet, my eyes were drawn to hers. Nothing was said between us. I felt no compulsion to talk; her eyes said it all. She lay in the middle of my new bed, completely naked, silently willing me to take her.

Wary of Ed's imminent arrival, I lowered my head and dived into the patch of damp, matted hair between her legs, licking, sucking, worshiping, wanting to show her what I had learned from Veronica. 

At first, there was some reluctance from Jen, like she was unsure of what I was doing. Soon, the little grunts of aversion turned to moans of acceptance and her legs opened, wide. Her pussy was open, too. I stuck one finger in and curled it upward, hoping to locate her g-spot. Apparently it worked because her whole body shook and she clamped her legs together to halt the invasion. I looked up to see her staring at me through lust-glazed eyes, too frazzled to speak. I found her clit and flicked it three times, just to show her how that felt. I had never done it when we were together and I doubted that Ed had done it either. Unable to speak, her eyes pleaded with me to let her rest.

I got off the bed, looked out the window to satisfy myself that Ed hadn't come home and began to undress, dropping the towel to the floor first. I removed my sweater and jeans before looking down at Jen. She was lying on her back, legs spread, watching me. "Close the door," she said quietly and I did. There was no lock, but I didn't care. I imagined hearing a knock on the door and Ed opening it to see us fucking. It made me smile to picture us looking at him and saying, "It just happened!"

Jen gasped when she saw me pull down my shorts and let my cock spring upward. I think she was trying to break the tension we both felt because it wasn't like she was seeing my cock for the first time. She watched as I crawled between her legs and propped myself above her on my elbows. 

This was serious business; we both knew what we were about to do. While I didn't want her to change her mind, I did want to give her one last opportunity to do so. I didn't even think of asking her if she wanted to back out. I let her eyes do the talking and they told me to proceed. In fact, she eagerly took my cock in her hand and guided the head to her pussy's entrance. I watched her facial expression as she introduced my cock to her pussy, running me up and down her slit before removing her hand and willing me to push. I noticed the differences the second I was inside her. This wasn't the girl I remembered from four years ago. She became a wild woman, clawing, digging her fingernails into my back, locking her legs around my ass and meeting my thrusts with wild abandon. 

We probably fucked for five minutes before she pushed her pelvis into me and stopped moving. "Ah!" she said opening and closing her eyes in rapid succession. Her hair was matted and her body was covered with sweat. I watched and waited until she smiled and used her internal muscles to say hello to my cock. We resumed fucking and although her hold on me was slackened she continued to mash her pelvic bone against mine. It was only a few minutes later when I felt a rumble in my balls. She must have known I was close because she just held on and let me ram my cock into her. 

When I erupted inside her I naturally wanted to stay engaged and savor the moment. Jen pushed me off and ran down the hall to the bathroom. Thinking she had heard Ed's van, I got up and looked out the window to find there was no van on the drive. 

What have I done? I came inside her. She's in the bathroom, douching or using some means of ridding herself of my semen. I was looking in the mirror, assessing the damage to my back when she returned. She closed the door behind her and came to me. We stood naked, looking at one another. She became the aggressor, pushing me to the bed and arranging me on my back. 

"I've wanted to do this ever since you came back to me," she said as she flicked my nipples with her tongue and then moved to kiss me on the lips. I kissed back, eager to hear more. Questions flooded my mind. What did she mean? Had she wanted to make love to me or merely flick my nipples and kiss me? Where was Ed? Did he know this was going to happen? Did she?

"Oh," she sighed when she saw my cock, partially flaccid, but becoming hard fast. I couldn't believe my eyes when she licked the head and then took me into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the head. She must have felt me growing hard because she pulled off of my cock, inspected it and looking satisfied, straddled me and sunk down, impaling herself. 

"This can never happen again, understand?" she asked as she began moving.

"Never again? I asked as I pushed up to try to get deeper inside her.

"Ed must never know," she said, reaching for my hands and positioning them on her breasts. 

She rode me for several minutes, looking down, smiling contentedly while I massaged her tits and kept them from bouncing. 

"Where is he?" I asked, really wanting to know when he was due back.

She stopped bouncing and looked down at me. "He's shopping for a new truck. Don't tell him I told you," she said, beginning to move again.

I had an urge to kiss her and only had to tug on her tits to make her understand. The kiss was wet and long. I moved my hands from her breasts to her ass and held her while fucking upward. She pulled away, looking flushed and out of breath. I moved my hands back to her tits. 

"You're so bad," she scolded.

"I was just trying to show you how much I love you," I said, feeling her mash into me, especially hard.

"I love you, too, but I prefer to call it lust."

I rolled her over on her back and began to fuck her slowly, thinking I could do this all day. 

She giggled and pulled me down for another kiss. "Fuck me faster," she demanded. "He may be back any minute."

"You still love me, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And you want to do this again?"

"No, we have to stop. Please fuck me, Benny. Come inside me before he comes home and catches us."

"I will come in you if you agree to do this again."

She turned her head. I stopped fucking and looked down at her. 

"You win, I'll do it again," she said.

"You'll do it again because you want to?" I asked, beginning to thrust into her again.

"Yes," she said, grinning up at me. 

I was aware that she had asked me to come inside her, but it didn't register at the time. It wasn't long before I came and she said she'd had an orgasm although I doubted her. 

Again, she ran to the bathroom and I assumed she wanted to douche. I stood guard, watching out the window for my brother. 

I wasn't very proud of myself. He had bought a new bed for my room and now he was shopping for a truck, staying out of the house long enough for me to fuck his wife. What a guy my brother was. I had also gotten her to agree to do it again. Was I to blame or had she seduced me? This made me wonder what happened four years ago. Was I wrong about my brother? Did Jen seduce him?

Jen came back into the room, still naked and beautiful. She looked out the window, nervously before coming to me. We kissed and I felt her body against mine. "We have to get dressed and be downstairs when he comes home," she said, pulling away from me. I reached for her and she didn't resist. I kissed her and she kissed me back. 

"Please, let me put my clothes back on," she said. I kissed her and she melted into my arms, saying, "Oh, you."

"You would fuck me again right now if I asked you, wouldn't you."

"No," she said, trying to pull away. I kissed her again and squeezed her ass. "Yes."

"You love me, don't you?"

"Yes," she said, kissing me.

"I love you, too, but we have to stop. It wouldn't be fair to Ed," I said, sadly wishing it were not so.

Jen's body went limp and she had to struggle to stay on her feet. "You're right. This must never happen again. Thank you for pounding some sense into my head," she said, reaching for her panties and finding them wet, she frowned, picked up the rest of her clothes and fled from the room. 

I watched her go, thinking, sense wasn't the only thing I pounded into her.

Sobering, I paced the floor, still naked, contemplating. 'It just happened' I told myself. It was no one's fault. The hell it wasn't. It was my fault; it was Jen's fault. I wanted it to happen. I wanted to retaliate against my brother for what he had done to me. I wanted to prove something to him, to Jen and to myself. 

Well, I had done it and I wasn't proud of myself, I thought as I headed for the shower.



It Just Happened Ch. 10



Chapter 10 Millie

I was getting dressed after my shower when I spotted Ed getting out of his van. I ran across the hall to see if Jen was in her room and breathed a sigh of relief when I found the room empty. 

Hysteria hit me. I had just fucked my brother's wife and now he was coming into the house. What to do? Look natural. Was that a smell of recent sex in the room or was it my imagination? I'll open a window. No, stupid, it's the end of November. Is that a flake of snow in the air? Play it safe, open the window, stupid.

"Why do you have the window open?" Ed asked. He was standing just inside the room, showing irritation. Jen was behind him, showing fright. 

"Oh, hi Ed, I was...is it snowing? I thought it was and opened the window to smell the air. Sometimes you can detect if it's going to snow," I said, feeling the cold air hit me as I lowered the window.

"I see you've already tried the bed," Ed said, looking at the indentation where I had pounded Jen's ass into it not thirty minutes ago.

"Yeah, thanks for having it delivered so...fast," I said, watching Jen. Her eyes were fastened to a spot on the bed. Was that a drop of cum? It was tiny, but how could I have missed it?

"Here's another surprise," he said, tossing me a set of keys, which I failed to catch. I bent over to pick them up and saw Ed walking in my direction and stopping at the foot of the bed.

Jen interceded by coming up behind him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her tits against his back. "Ed, Benny went out this morning to see Beverly and brought back a signed contract. He got a deposit, too," she said, speaking softly into his ear.

I was reading the key tag. The new truck was a four-by-four, dark grey in color, had a crew-cab and a large, V-8 engine. "Is this for me?" I asked.

"You can pick it up Tuesday and it will belong to the company. But it's yours to drive, not that I won't trade off with you sometimes," he said, showing a happy, contented smile. He was oblivious to the way Jen was distracting him, very effectively.

I was overwhelmed by his generosity. Only last night I was ready to pack my things and leave this house. Only an hour ago I was fucking his wife in this very room. Now, I had a real bed in my room and a new truck to drive. 

"Thanks, Ed. This makes me feel like my life is turning around," I said to deaf ears. Ed was facing his wife, who had his full attention. Her arms were around him and her head was on his shoulder, looking at me with desperation in her eyes. She pointed a finger at the spot on the sheet and mouthed, 'do something.'

What to do? Why don't we just tell him? No, that would create more problems than it would solve. I folded the sheet to hide the spot and Jen pulled away from Ed, telling him she needed to make something for us to eat.

"You haven't eaten yet? Do you know what time it is? I had lunch with the truck salesman. What have you two been doing?"

"I guess we lost track of time," Jen said in a distant tone that sounded vacant.

Fortunately, Ed was not listening. "What are you doing with the drafting chair in here?" he asked, looking at me, suspiciously. 

I looked at Jen. "Why don't we tell him, Jen?"

"Okay, okay, I was trying to trim his hair, but I guess..."

Ed burst into laugher. "You're going to have to go to a professional, little brother. I'm speaking from experience. She tried to give me a trim once and..." He stopped talking when she jumped him and they became entangled in a battle that halted his laughter, temporarily. He was easily able to combat her fists, but when he finally subdued her she had achieved her goal. Her impromptu machination had been successful. 

I shoved the signed contract in front of him and Jen started to leave the room. 

He quickly scrutinized the document. "What's this?" he asked, pointing to a hand-written sentence Beverly had inserted on the second page of the contract. I read it for the first time. 

"She wants to change the location of the half-bath. I told her we could do it," I said.

"At no additional charge?"

"It's a minor change and it'll increase the size of her closet by ten square feet."

"You think the change is minor, do you?" he asked, becoming upset. "Didn't you consider consulting me before you told her we can do it at no cost?"

He was becoming unreasonable and I didn't like his attitude. Did our childhood room bring out the worst in him? For a brief second it crossed my mind that I was glad I had fucked his wife. "Ed, you told me to get a signed contract. I did that and now you're quibbling about one stinking change that I gave away. Do you think its easy dealing with her?"

"Obviously, you didn't take my advice. If you had done what I told you it would be a piece of cake. We could charge her double and she wouldn't bat an eye."

"What did you advise Benny to do?" Jen asked, surprising us that she was still in the doorway. 

"I told him to fuck her," Ed declared, unabashedly. 

Jen's expression clouded and for a second I thought she was going to flee. "Is that what makes you a successful salesman, Ed? Do you fuck them and charge them any price you want? Well, Benny gave away a minor change, but he got the job without having to fuck the customer. You should pat him on the back."

"You know I haven't fucked a customer," Ed said, acting shocked at her accusation.

Jen softened. "I know you haven't, Honey."

"Well, anyway," he said, turning his attention to me. "You're going to have to run the job. I'm going to be busy planning the building project."

"Ed, you know I don't have a building license. Besides, we're going to need all hands. I promised her the job will be finished for the holidays."

"Please tell me you didn't promise her that." His voice sounded taunting, like it had when we were teenagers and he was trying to convince me I was really stupid. 

"I did it based on your suggestion. You said it was possible to finish before Christmas."

My brother was visibly annoyed. He practically shouted at me. "That was a selling point. I didn't say it was reasonable. You'll have to stall her some way. I know, you'll have to fuck her," he said, laughing.

I was about to laugh with him and tell him about the 'rerouting her pipes' remark she made until I caught a glimpse of Jen. She was seething. "You are a despicable human being," she said, looking directly at Ed before disappearing down the hall.

He patted me on the arm, "I'll help you as much as I can, but the job is yours. I've got to go out now. We'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, you're going out?" I asked, but he was already in the hall and didn't hear me.

I put the drafting chair back in the room next door and bided my time until I saw his van back out of the drive. At that point I ventured down stairs.

"Hi, are you hungry?" Jen asked, displaying a sunny disposition, which astounded me considering the way Ed had spoken to her upstairs.

"I'll have a sandwich and then I've got to go to the barbershop."

"Let me try again," she said, watching closely to make sure I understood. "Ed's gone out. He's gone to Stew Mercer's house to discuss their building plans and watch football. He won't be back for hours." 

She was upon me before I could collect my thoughts. "Jen, this isn't right. We've got to stop," I said, wishing she would stop blowing hot air on my neck. 

"I know we've got to stop and we will," she promised as she nibbled on my neck. I let her kiss me. In fact, I cradled her ass in my hands and returned her kisses. Everything, her lips pressed to mine, her tits against my chest, her ass in my hands and her pussy humping my thigh, everything about her felt the same as it had four years ago. There was one big difference; she was now married to my brother. 

"Is he back?" I asked, listening intently for the sound of Ed's van coming to a stop on the drive. It worked; Jen's attention was diverted to the imaginary sound. Her body slumped like the mood, wilted.

"I better go to the barber shop," I said, slinking toward the back door like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I'm taking Millie to dinner tonight."

There was no indication from Jen that she heard me, not that I looked back to assess her expression. I grabbed my jacket and borrowed her car without asking. Remembering that I hadn't made the dinner reservations, I got the telephone number for The Regal from directory assistance and by the time I reached Dean's barber shop everything was set for my date with Millie. 

As I waited for my turn in the barber's chair, reflection took over. What was it about our old room that made Ed want to play the domineering big brother? He was so intent on humiliating me that he didn't pay any attention to the indentation in the new mattress. Or was it my imagination? Was I the only one that saw the shape of Jen's ass imprinted on the sheet? 

My new bed had been broken in and I would never forget its maiden voyage. While I had initiated the union, Jen's meek objection, 'we shouldn't...' faded fast. Once she 'bought in' to having sex with me there was no stopping her. My ex-girlfriend helped me undress her and got into position with no further protest. 'We shouldn't' changed to 'we should' before I kicked off my sneakers. 

Thinking back to how it happened, Ed out of the house, my new bed being delivered, finding Jen tucking in the sheets, her suggesting I needed a trim, feeling her fingers running through my hair, her spinning the chair around to face her, all made me wonder if I was really the instigator. Could it be that Jen saw an opportunity and seized it? If so, she had pulled it off flawlessly. Until now, I thought I had been the seducer. I did regret not paying more attention to the little red triangle or her upper thigh. I longed to feel it with my tongue, to suck it into my mouth, to make her writhe in delight. Well, I had passed up my chance to explore the birthmark. She had her way with me once; it wouldn't happen again. 

The barber scoffed when he saw how Jen had carved an irregular chunk out of my hair. "Your wife took the shears to you, did she?"

"That's about right," I said, not wanting to tell him what caused my trim to be sidetracked. "Don't take too much off. We're going out to dinner tonight." He took pains to make me presentable and I tipped him accordingly. 

It was after three P.M. when I got home. Not finding Jen, I made myself a sandwich and went upstairs, planning to work on the schedule for Beverly's renovation. I was working at the computer, trying to plan the sequence of events into a three week timeframe when Jen came in the workroom. She was wearing a jacket, saying she had been out for a walk.

"I could have finished your trim. What did the barber do better than me?" she asked, teasingly. 

"For one thing, he finished the job," I teased back.

"I would have finished if you hadn't unhooked my bra."

She was behind me, pretending to watch what I was entering on the screen. I felt her hands on my shoulders. 

"I wouldn't have unhooked your bra if you hadn't spun my chair around."

Her hands moved to the back of the chair and I anticipated what she was going to do. "Like..." I planted my feet before she could spin the chair and say, "...this?" 

We tested the strength of her arms against the friction my sneakers created on the floor. We struggled for several seconds until I surprised her by lifting my feet. The chair spun around and Jen landed in my lap, breathless and laughing. 

"I told my sister she doesn't need to come by for you. You'll take my car," she said in a serious tone. 

"Thank you, what did Millie say?"

"She's a little dubious about going to dinner with you. She'll be wearing a new dress and has trimmed her hair so be sure you pay her a compliment."

"Why's she dubious?"

Jen moved her ass to get comfortable on my lap and put her arm around my neck. "She's fearful that you're comparing us. Did you tell her we kiss alike?"

"Yes."

"That was a mistake on your part, Benny. Every time you kiss her she'll think you're imagining that you're kissing me. That could make a girl paranoid. I advise you to find something different about the way we kiss and tell her that she's unique."

"Thanks, I'll make sure she knows she's wrong about that. I don't think about you when I kiss her."

Jen wiggled her ass and let the jacket fall to the floor. "You don't? Do you think of her when you kiss me?"

"Yes," I said, just to pull her chain. It didn't work.

"Then you should tell her."

"Thanks again."

"Are you really not over me?"

"Did she tell you that, too?"

"We tell each other everything."

"Everything?"

Jen smiled, got off my lap, picked up her jacket and walked away, stopping at the door. "Everything," she said before disappearing.

"Shit!" Now I was the one becoming paranoid. If Jen told Millie 'everything' she might be inclined to tell her husband that we had fucked twice that morning? It was one thing for Millie to know about our wayward interlude. Telling Ed would be a disaster of monstrous proportions. 

I worked on the schedule until it was time to get ready for my date and was pleasantly surprised when I went into my room. Jen had made my bed and ironed the shirt I was going to wear. I got dressed and went downstairs to find Ed and Jen in the kitchen, having dinner. He made one of his snide remarks, "you can't judge a book by its cover, Ben," obviously trying to justify his striking out with Millie years ago. 

Several retorts came to mind and if it hadn't been for Jen jumping to her feet and making sure my tie was straight, I would have delivered them. Jen's fussing with my tie, reminding me to notice her sister's dress and telling me I looked nice gave me the strength to hold my tongue. "Have a good time," she said, brushing her lips across my cheek. I held her hand and looked into her eyes, knowing we were sharing our private secret.

As I drove to the Hawley home, I analyzed Ed's remark, "you can't judge a book by its cover, Ben," I had to admit that it was his purpose to discredit my date for the evening. Was he saying that Millie's beauty was only skin deep? 

Well Ed, did you look under the cover before you made your judgment? I intended to read the book. In the meantime, I liked the looks of the cover, even if it reminded me of Jen. Was I reading too much into his underlying meaning? Was my brother really that deep?

The Hawley's welcomed me to their home, saying Mildred would be down momentarily. They asked the obligatory questions: Where are you taking our daughter, young man? What time will you bring her home? Are your intentions honorable? 

Naturally, the questions were more subtle. After all, I had dated their younger daughter for over a half decade. Also, Millie and I were in our mid-twenties and besides, we were related, almost. 

"Have you seen all the changes we've made to the town since you've been away, Ben?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What are you doing with yourself these days?"

"I'm working with my brother, doing construction."

"Oh yes, Ed must be busy. We don't see much of him."

"Yes, he is."

"That must be hard work, even for a young man like you," Mrs. Hawley said.

"Yes, it is."

"There she is now," Mr. Hawley said, calling our attention to Millie walking down the stairs, gliding really. I rose to my feet and went to meet her. She smiled, probably wondering when I was going to close my mouth and held out her hands, probably to support me in case I keeled over. I took her hands and held them, gazing into her eyes, too stunned to speak. She stood statue-like, patiently letting me take her in. The black dress flowed to her ankles, supported at the top by two strands of thin material that disappeared at her bare shoulders. Her neck was adorned with a gold chain, so thin it was barely visible. The earrings were small too, black onyx, I thought. Her hair was very librarian, rolled into two balls attached to the back of her head. 

"Miss Hawley?" I asked, buying time, not knowing what I was going to say. 

"Yes, Mister Crumbly?" she answered, having difficulty holding a straight face.

"Will it be all right with you if I wait until we're in the car before I tell you how lovely you are?"

"Make sure you wear a heavy coat over that dress, dear." Mrs. Hawley interrupted our moment. Millie squeezed my hand as if to say, 'let's get out of here'.

I held her coat and noticed that half of the back of her dress was missing. The straps supporting the front crossed mid-way down the bare spot. In four inch heels, Millie was my height. She buttoned up, put on long black gloves and we said goodnight to her parents. 

"This is just like a first date," she said as I took her hand and led her to the car. 

"It is a first date. We're back in high school and I finally got your parents permission to take you to dinner."

"I couldn't get near you in high school. You and Jen started dating when you were sophomores and I was a senior."

"Would you have gone out with a sophomore when you were a senior?"

She was pensive for several seconds. "I don't think so. You didn't drive yet and I would have been accused of robbing the cradle if I drove you around."

"It doesn't feel like a first date, does it? I feel comfortable being with you, in awe, but still comfortable."

She changed positions, turning her body to look at me. "I'll always think of tonight as our first date, but really, we made out on two occasions, first in my room on Thanksgiving Day and last night in my car."

* * * * *

We had to wait thirty minutes to be seated in the dining room and the bar was so crowded with others waiting for a table that we had to stand and make small talk the entire time. Millie's lighthearted view of everything we discussed, the world economy, sports, overdue books at the library, full circle to politics, kept me laughing and made the thirty minutes go by like it was only twenty-five. 

Beverly Worthington came in with her parents and two other couples. She introduced us as Ben, her contractor and Millie, Jennifer Crumbly's older sister. Millie was unfazed by the allusion to her being 'older'. She took possession of my hand, looked lovingly into my eyes and called me 'Honey' and 'Sweetie' so convincingly that even I was almost certain we were celebrating our wedding anniversary. When Mr. Worthington invited us to join him and his party at their table I felt a tug on my hand. "Thank you, but we must decline because...we're...celebrating...Miss Hawley has agreed to be my girlfriend." My explanation satisfied Mr. Worthington, but seemed to shock his daughter. He said he hoped to talk to me about my future and proposed that we meet at more convenient time. My name was called, signaling a table was ready and we parted, agreeing to meet...soon. Beverly assured her father that she had my number.

The table we were shown to was in the center of the dining room. I objected, but Millie said it was a great place to be seen in public and I let the hostess seat us. I had been to a few fine restaurants with Veronica and knew which fork to use, how to read the menu and how to order wine. 

Millie pointed out classmates of hers and mine, gave a brief description of what they were doing now and who had married whom. Some of them nodded or waved to us, probably curious at seeing us together. Millie had something to say about that.

"They're whispering to each other that you lost out with Jen and are having to settle for the old maid librarian."

"I don't think they're whispering anything of the sort."

"What are they whispering then?"

"They're speculating that I went away and made a fortune. They're saying, 'He must be rich. How else would a louse like him be able to captivate such a beautiful woman as Miss Millie Hawley?"




It Just Happened Ch. 10



For a second I thought I had flustered her, but Millie recovered quickly. "On the contrary, they're whispering that you've come home broke and in debt. Your brother has taken you in and given you a job. They're whispering that you have to borrow you sister's car and they're also whispering that you must have a kind heart to have taken pity on a librarian, who is totally infatuated with you."

Millie leaned back in her chair, satisfied with the way she had topped me. I didn't know if she was serious about being infatuated with me or not. But she certainly had me thinking. Lacking anything else to talk about, I told her about my new truck. "I'll pick it up next week, after they add the ladder racks and paint the company name on the doors."

"Crew-cab? Does that mean we can make out in the back seat?" she asked, shamelessly blinking her eyes.

"I don't think Ed would approve of the truck being used for parking with my girlfriend, not with the company name printed on the door. 

"Hmmm... so now I'm your girlfriend?"

"Would you go parking with a total stranger?"

This quieted her, temporarily. 

Several people stopped by the table to say hello on their way out of the restaurant. Millie introduced us, some I remembered, most I did not recall. One woman said she had heard about me and wanted me to quote on building an addition that she and her husband were considering. I took her name and telephone number, saying I would be in touch. Later, Millie told me the woman was the wife of the District Attorney and that she had a twin sister. "They were two years ahead of me in high school so you wouldn't know them," she said. 

We left the restaurant at ten P.M. and since I didn't think Millie would want to be seen in a club, (she was a librarian- a city employee) I took her home. 

"Would you like to come in?" she asked when she saw where we were. 

Her parents had gone to bed and since we had already had coffee at the restaurant, we sat on the sofa looking at each other, wondering what to do next. 

It was an awkward moment. We were two adults, in her parents' home.

"I've got to get my own place," Millie said, obviously frustrated.

"I'll go half," I said.

"You will?"

"Well, no, that's not possible."

"But if I...you know...got a place of my own?"

"YES!" I said, and then, thinking I had overstated my bounds, declared it was time for me to leave.

We were at the front door, saying goodbye. "Did you mean it about us celebrating that I was your girlfriend?" 

"I meant it. Will you?"

"I think it would be fun, don't you. We get along fairly well."

"Miss Hawley?"

"Yes?" she asked, watching closely for what I was about to say.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes Mister Crumbly. I would like nothing better."

We kissed and kissed again. I drove home in a cloud, unable to focus on the road or where I was. All I could think about was the decision I had to make. Who would I call first tomorrow morning, my girlfriend or Miss Spencer?



It Just Happened Ch. 11



Chapter 11: Five Weeks

"Hello?"

"Did you have a good time last night?" Hearing Miss Spencer's voice so early in the morning didn't surprise me, but her question did.

"How did you know I went out?"

"I called your cell and when I didn't get an answer I called your home number. That lady told me you were on a dinner date with her sister."

"That's Jen, my brother's wife. I didn't know you called."

"Well, did you have a good time?"

"Yes, thank you for asking. I believe I'm in love." What made me tell a stranger something that personal? It just hit me and I guess I wanted to tell someone. Funny thing, I wanted to tell her more, how beautiful Millie was floating down the stairs, how it made me feel to be with her while we were waiting for a table, how she squeezed my hand and how she looked at me. 

"That's...wonderful, Ben."

"Enough about me, what did you want to tell me when you called last night?"

"I was on my way to meet Max and had a case of the nerves. That lady...Jen...was very nice. You're lucky to have such an understanding sister. She gave me the same advice as you, to follow my heart."

"Did you...follow your heart?"

"Max is very nice. We had a lovely dinner and then he wanted me to go to his hotel room with him. I said maybe next time and he said he understood. He even escorted me home. I'm sorry, Ben, but we didn't talk about settling with you. Maybe if I had gone to his room things would be different." 

"It's all right, Nadine. You did the right thing."

"Really? Thank you, Ben. I'm so relieved that you're not angry with me."

"I'm glad your meeting with Max went well. That took a lot of courage on your part."

"Thank you, Ben. I'm pleased that you're in love. She must be very special."

Nadine promised to keep me updated as to the progress in regard to my settlement with the credit card companies, but I believe that hearing me say I was in love with Millie diminished the thrill of talking so candidly to a stranger about her fears and fantasies. 

Down stairs, Jen was in a jovial mood that rivaled mine. Ed was unusually chipper, too. They both acted like they had just had the best sex of their lives. 

"You came home early last night. I hope that's not an indication the date went badly," Jen said, showing concern.

"It couldn't have gone better. We got home early and I thought she wanted to get out of that dress so I said goodnight and left."

Ed looked like he was going to make a remark. "Don't even think of saying what you're thinking," Jen warned. "Benny was right. She was wearing a new dress and..." She was interrupted by the telephone. "That's probably her now. I'll find out everything. Sit down and have breakfast," she said to me as she answered the phone.

Breakfast consisted of bacon, eggs and pancakes. I poured myself a cup of coffee, sat down and loaded my plate. 

Ed began talking about the job we were starting the next day. I was only half listening, trying to concentrate on Jen's conversation with Millie. It was one sided and I was only able to pick up a few words, commingled with short laughs and sighs. "Really! ...He did? ...What did you say? ...Which twin? ... "No, Nan married Steve McCoy. If she said her name was Cary it had to be the other one, Mandy ... Oh! ..."

I gave up listening to Jen because Ed had changed the subject. "I'll apply for your permit for the Worthington job tomorrow, but I want you to talk to the subs. Give them an overview of the job and tell them it's a fast-track schedule, otherwise they won't be available when you need them."

Jen hung up the phone and I was anxious to hear what Millie had to say about our first date, but Ed had more to say. "I checked your schedule and it looks doable, but there's no room for anything to go wrong."

"I know," I said, wanting to turn my attention to Jen. 

"It always does, you know," Ed continued. "Just when you think you're ahead of schedule, something invariably goes wrong."

"I know," I repeated.

"You know what they say about a paper schedule, don't you?" Ed asked.

"You can't judge a book by its cover?" I responded and heard Jen explode in laughter. 

"No," Ed said, either ignoring my sarcastic remark or it had gone over his head. "A paper schedule doesn't allow for fuck-ups. If the scheduler doesn't foresee possible fuck-ups he's fucked up before the work starts."

Jen and I looked at each other. "Listen to your brother's pearls of wisdom, Benny," Jen said, ruffling his hair. He looked up at her, adoringly and seeing that she was teasing him, went back to reading his newspaper. "Finish your breakfast, Benny. We're going for a walk and I'll tell you everything Millie said."

I scooped the remaining pancake into my mouth and followed it with a swallow of coffee. We were out the door before Ed finished the paragraph he was reading so intently.

Jen was wearing the same suede jacket as the afternoon before when she landed on my lap. "You had sex with him last night, didn't you?" I asked when I saw that she was heading to the right. 

Her expression was serious and for a second I thought she was going to scold me for being personal. But she surprised me by smiling that same contented smile I had seen the day before when she was bouncing up and down on my cock. "You wouldn't give me any more so I used my husband."

The way she said it, like she had used her husband as a second choice, made me wonder it she preferred having sex with me over him. "Don't you think I would have given you more if I could have justified my actions? I had already taken more than I deserved. I was just carrying out my promise to stop."

"I know, Benny. Let's drop that subject. Let's try to forget it happened."

I grinned and saw that she was grinning too. I didn't state the obvious and she didn't either. We both knew it would be impossible to forget what we had done on my new bed. 

"What did Millie say?" I asked, changing the subject.

She turned right again and I could see that we were headed toward the new houses that Ed and my dad had built. I reached for her hand. 

"That's not a good idea. All the neighbors know who we are," she said without reclaiming her hand. 

"What will they do, tell Ed they saw us holding hands?"

She smiled, knowingly squeezing my hand. Holding hands on a public street was child's play compared to what we had done the day before. I released her hand and drew a sad smile. Why tempt ourselves?

"Millie said she had a good time, but that you were both nervous. She's concerned she may have said the wrong thing. I told her what you said about leaving so early and she seemed to understand, I think you should call her, Benny. You do plan to ask her out again, don't you?"

"She's concerned that she said something wrong? No way, she says what she means and means what she says. Your sister is the most confident person I've ever known. We said some self-deprecating things but that was all in jest. Yes, I plan to ask her out again, but she knows I don't have much to offer right now."

"Then you should call her as soon as we get home," Jen said, pushing her hands into her pockets, I believe, to show that she was definitely y off limits and that I should concentrate on wooing her sister.

"I think I'm in love with her, Jen."

We were walking in front of the six houses. They were in a semi-circle, all facing the lake. Jen's eyes enlarged and she covered her mouth with her hand, aghast. "Wow! Yesterday you told me you loved me and I told you I love you. Are you sure this isn't a case of transferred affection? Millie fears that you're bestowing the feelings you have for me to my next of kin."

"I'll always love you, Jen and I've been concerned that I was looking for your likeness in Millie. In fact, I told her that kissing her reminded me of you. But last night I saw her differently. I even told her she was unique. When I kissed her goodnight it was Millie that I was kissing, not you."

"Take it slow, Honey. Make sure your feelings for her are real. I don't want either of you hurt. I told her why you left early last night and she understands."

"I'll try to take it slow. I guess I'm forced to, considering my financial status. What else did she say about last night?" 

"She told me about some of the people that were there. She said Mandy Cary stopped at your table and wants you to bid on an addition to her home. Did you know who she was?"

"She gave me her number and asked me to call, but I didn't remember her."

"She and her twin sister are a few years older than us. Amanda married Willard Cary, the District Attorney. Millie said she gushed when she was talking to you."

"I didn't notice any gushing," I said.

"Isn't that just like you?" she said, playfully bumping into me. 

We walked past the new houses and Jen told me how quickly they sold. "Ed believes there's a demand for houses in this price range. That's why he and Stew Mercer are planning to build more on the land they're buying."

We turned and were on our way home. "I'm happy for him," I said, not trying to hide my sarcasm. 

"Ed feels badly about taking advantage of you. We should have been forthcoming regarding the value of the estate."

"No regrets, I had my reasons for turning my share down."

"Let's not kid ourselves. We both know why you didn't want to accept what was rightfully yours," she said, taking my hand again.

I doubted that she knew the real reasons, but I didn't tell her what they were; I felt I owned Ed for three years of college tuition and anyway, taking the money would have escalated Veronica's spending habits. At least Ed was putting it to good use by buying the land. I hoped he was successful with the new homes. In some respects I felt I had contributed to make the project possible. 

"Thanks for the bed. I know it was your idea." The squeeze to my hand told me my assumption was correct.

"The truck was his idea. He wants to share the wealth with you."

"That was quite a surprise. I was so overcome with emotion that I almost confessed that I seduced you."

She pulled away from me, obviously upset. "You must never, ever say anything about what we did. Do you understand? It would ruin us, all of us. Anyway, you didn't seduce me."

"I didn't?" I asked and watched her blush. I put my arm around her waist and we started to walk again.

"Be very careful when you're with my sister. Don't even think of me, promise?"

"You mean when we're making love?"

She nodded, blushing.

"Did you think of me last night when you were fucking Ed?" 

"Don't be vulgar," she said, still blushing. "Anyway, it was this morning."

"Did you think of me right across the hall this morning?"

She turned her head toward the lake, refusing to look at me. "Maybe."

I knew I was pushing it, but I enjoyed watching her blush. The girl I had loved since we were sixteen was admitting that she still cared for me, still thought of me, still craved having sex with me. I no longer wanted to punish her for cheating. She would have to live with that. Now, she would also have to live with the knowledge that she had cheated on her husband. I cared for her too much. I still loved her and I couldn't let it go.

"Want to do it again?"

She looked at me and bit her lower lip. "No."

"That was quite a chance we took."

"Yes, it was. We can't let it happen again."

"It'll be different next time."

Jen became quiet. We walked a long distance without saying anything. "How would it be different, I mean, if we...?"

"We'll use a condom, condoms if we have time."

She broke away from me and sped up, almost running. I followed at a safe distance, knowing I had embarrassed her by tricking her into admitting that she would sleep with me again if the opportunity presented itself. 

"Why don't you make yourself scarce? Take my car if you like. I'm going to fuck my husband," she said when we entered the house. 

Now who's being vulgar? I thought, knowing that things would never be the same between us. She had admitted that she had seduced me yesterday. She had also confessed that she still desired me. Paying for her mistakes was inevitable. Now, if I had impregnated her, Ed would pay, too.

I called Millie.

"Want to do something?" I asked.

"Yes...I mean what? How should I dress?"

"I like talking to you. You're so...direct. Let's do that... Talk, I mean. Dress casually."

"Should I pick you up...or?

"Jen loaned me her car. She's kicking me out of the house."

"I'm dressed casually so you can come any time."

After carrying out the obligatory chat about the weather with Mr. and Mrs. Hawley, we left the house, telling them not expect us for lunch. It was ten A.M. on Sunday morning and I didn't have the slightest idea where we were going. She suggested a walk in the park and I said it was a good idea, not telling her I about my earlier walk with Jen. 

It was a chilly November day, not cold enough to see your breath, just jacket-over-sweater weather. 

"If you had given me warning that you were coming I would have done something with my hair," she said, a hint of scolding in her voice. Her hair was in a single braid ending half-way down her back.

"I like it that way. It's very..."

"What?" she asked, pensively. 

"It's very...librarian."

Her solemn expression told me I should say something, but what? "I've only been awake a few hours and I've already told two people that I'm in love with you?"

This news took her back. She looked shocked, but being quick, it only took Millie seconds to respond. "So much for the six weeks of kissing and holding hands, you're going right for my panties, aren't you?"

Her remark, I thought, was a defense mechanism, meant to shock, but the bemused look in her eyes said something different. She was touched by my candidness. She believed me.

"I'm not trying to rush you. It was important that you know how I feel about you. We will still have six week of hand holding and talking."

"And kissing?" she asked, coming into my arms. 

We hugged, I kissed her and we hugged again. "We might cut it to five weeks," I said and felt her body shake.

Although there was no one else around, Millie spoke in a low voice, almost a soft whisper. "I'm sorry about the panty remark. It was crude of me. You're being very adult about this and I'm acting like a kid. It's not often a girl is told that she's loved, especially this old girl. I know I'll look back at this moment and treasure it forever."

"Five weeks from today is the New Year."

She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked into my eyes. "Mr. Crumbly, are you asking me for a New Years eve date?"

"Miss Hawley, by the New Year asking will be obsolete. Our dates will be assumed. You'll ask what time to be ready and I'll tell you," I said, keeping my gaze steady.

"Mr. Crumbly, we're already there. I'll always be ready for you."

"Does that mean, Miss Hawley, that you're willing to be my girlfriend?"

"Mr. Crumbly, I was your girlfriend last night at The Regal. Today, we've left boyfriend-girlfriend in the dust," she said, tongue fucking my mouth to prove her point. 

It didn't occur to Millie to ask who the two people I had told that I was in love until the next evening when I called to give her the good news. My life had been turned around with a conference call from the four credit card companies. They offered a settlement figure of seventeen thousand dollars, which represented forty-two percent of the total amount owed. Jen wanted to hold out for forty percent, but Ed said forty-two was a number we could live with. He claimed that he had intended on footing the bill all along. 

"So I'm free and clear. Jen's going to establish a bank account for me tomorrow. We can go to The Regal every week if you like," I boasted.

"Ben?"

"Yes, Millie?"

"Who were the two people you told you were in love with me?"

"You must know I told Jen?"

"Yes, who was the other one? Not Ed, I hope."

I laughed. "You won't believe this, but it was a complete stranger. Nadine represents one of the credit card companies and we've established a habit of talking on the phone every morning. She has some issues and likes to share them with me. Actually, I told her that I was in love with you before I told Jen."

"You make me very nervous, Ben. I feel like I'm competing for your affection."

"That is so NOT true," I cut her off. "Nadine seems to trust me. She needs help with her personal life and I'm supplying it. There's nothing more to it."

"It's not Nadine I'm talking about. Did you see the way every female acted around you at The Regal? You didn't notice how Amanda Cary fawned over you, did you?"

"That's right. I have to call her," I said, ignoring her questions. 

"She says she wants you to build their addition, but I don't believe her. Ben, I'm not comfortable with this."

"I'll take Ed with me."

She laughed. "Am I becoming paranoid, overly possessive and bossy?"

"Yes, will you go to the movies with me tomorrow night?"

"I can't, Ben. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my nights at the library. We close at nine."

"Is that an invitation for me to come by the library and escort you home?" "Would you?" she asked, sounding excited and that's how it started. I would get to the library about a quarter until nine, not before because she said it made her nervous for me to watch her work, and follow her home. Sometimes we would go inside and have tea with her parents. Other nights we would go up to her room and lay on her bed, looking into each other's eyes, talking and occasionally kissing. Correction, we kissed often. We seldom went out in public, but when we did she loved to ride in my truck, always joking that the back seat looked like an excellent make-out space. 

Nadine's telephone calls tapered off until she only called me once per week, usually on Saturday morning. She said she couldn't call me on her way to work because it made her wet and going into the office reeking of sexual seepage was too embarrassing. "Are you wet now?" I asked and she said she was, but it was okay. Her mother knew better than to come into her room.

During December I was fighting a deadline to finish remodeling Beverly's entertainment area. That's what Beverly called it, an entertainment center. It was really a giant kitchen. We removed two partitions, moved the half-bath, installed beams in the ceiling, added a fireplace, updated the kitchen and tiled the entire space. 

Everything was done on the twenty-third of December, except for the final clean-up. Jen and Millie joined me after they finished their work day and Ed, discovering that we were not at home, reluctantly showed up at six-thirty. At seven-thirty, I called Beverly to tell her we were ready for her final inspection. She brought her father, who said he never thought we would get it done on time. Seeing that the space really was ready for occupancy, she phoned a furniture store to have her new furniture delivered the following day, Christmas Eve.

"Have you guys had anything to eat?" Beverly asked and seeing us shake our heads, she ordered pizza and beer. 

Mr. Worthington took me aside and told me he would like to talk to me about a job in his accounting department. I looked around the room we had just finished, winked at Millie and told Mr. Worthington that I had found my niche. "We're starting an addition to the District Attorney's home after the first of the year and then we're breaking ground for a custom house my brother's building. Thanks anyway, Mr. Worthington."

The pizza arrived and everyone dug in, except Jen, who said she wasn't hungry. After we ate Millie insisted on helping Beverly put everything in the new cabinets. I was assigned the task of carrying stacks of dishes and boxes of cookware from the bedroom where they had been stored. At the last minute, Millie suggested that everything needed to be washed before being put away in the new cabinets. Beverly concurred. 




It Just Happened Ch. 11



"Ed, take your wife home. Ben and I will finish up here," Millie said to her brother. Jen objected, wanting to stay and do her part but Millie insisted that she go home and once Ed got the message he wrapped her coat around her shoulders and guided her out the door. Seeing that we had everything under control, Mr. Worthington said goodbye and left too.

"Is Jen not feeling well?" I asked.

"She missed," Millie informed me. 

"Missed?"

Millie rolled her eyes and while Beverly watched, laughing, she backed me into a corner. "I love everything about you, sweetheart, really I do, but sometimes you can be as dense as your brother. Jen missed her monthly."

"Oh," I said and then, "Oh, does Ed know?" I asked, wondering how long I had to live after he found out I had knocked his wife up.

I sat down and had another beer while they gave the new dishwasher a workout. When everything was put away, Beverly wrote a check for the final payment and said she was pleased with the way things turned out. I thought I knew what she meant and when we were going out the door she confirmed my suspicions. "I'm so happy for you guys," she said. 

We went shopping the next day and helped each other pick out our gifts. Ed was making my weekly payments to the credit card companies and since I wasn't paying for my living expenses, I had more cash than ever before. I bought expensive gifts for everyone, especially the necklace I gave Millie. 

We talked Ed and Jen into going to the Hawley home for Christmas dinner to make it a true family gathering. The girls' brother, Tony and his family were going to be there. I noticed that Jen treated her nephew and niece differently than she had at Thanksgiving. She called them by name, like she was genuinely interested in them. When it was time to open the gifts she even asked the little girl to sit on her lap. "It's like her motherly instincts have taken over," I said to Millie. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against my legs. 

"You're very observant," she grinned.

"Tony is a little less hostile toward me this time," I pointed out.

She laughed and whispered, "He realizes he's outnumbered by Crumbly men."

"It may be that he's warming up to me."

She turned and looked up at me. "He thought he chased you off once, but he won't get by with it again."

All in all it was a very enjoyable holiday. For the first time in years I was out of debt, enjoyed my work and was in love. Things couldn't be better. Well, they could be better if I didn't have Jen's pregnancy hanging over me. Ed was sure to become suspicious and then the shit would hit the fan.

Stew Mercer hosted a New Year's Eve party at his house and Ed was invited. Naturally, he took us along. Millie and I rode in the small backseat of Jen's car. 

The guests were mainly in the trades with a few suppliers of lumber, tools and hardware rounding out the guest list. I met an instructor from the technical high school and thinking he would be a good resource for picking the best graduates, I buttered him up. 

Some of the guys said they remembered me from high school and several of their wives claimed they knew me well. Millie checked on me often, saying she was making sure I didn't get lost.

When the countdown began, 10, 9, I discovered Jen nearby, 8, 7, 6, I searched for Millie, 5, 4, 3, Jen moved next to me, 2, 1, she was in my arms and we were kissing. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Ed kissing Millie. They headed our way. "Thank you," Jen said. "I'm so glad it was you."

Millie jumped into my arms. "Happy New Year, Darling," she said before our lips met. I kissed her for five minutes while others made the rounds to kiss as many from the opposite sex as they could find. 

"Your five weeks are up, Tiger. This is the night," Millie said, just before Ed got my attention and said Jen wanted to leave. 

Millie kidded me about the women at the party monopolizing my attention. This was news to me although I did have two telephone numbers shoved into my pocket by ladies saying they needed work done on their houses. Perhaps Millie was right to suspect their motives. I was sure their husbands, a paint salesman and the lumberyard owner knew all the contractors in town. 

Jen and Ed were talking quietly and Millie was pressing her body into mine in the back seat. Her words, "Your five weeks are up, Tiger. This is the night," played in my mind. In the five weeks we had been seeing one another every day there was no time that we did more than kiss. We had talked about everything and she knew all about Veronica, but I still didn't know what happened between her and the love of her life. 

We had taken it slow. I hadn't so much as felt her breasts or squeezed her ass. Not that I hadn't wanted to, it was just that once I discovered that I loved her, I wanted everything to be perfect. 

Now, she was saying, "This is the night."



It Just Happened Ch. 12



Chapter 12: Double Incest

Millie Hawley's words, "Tonight is the night," played in my mind all the way home. We had left the New Year's party a few minutes after midnight because Jen was tired. I was a little tired too, but Millie was wide awake. Jen said goodnight and went upstairs to her room. Ed tossed me the keys to her car and reluctantly followed her. 

Millie handed me her coat and excused herself, going into the bathroom. 'What to do now?' I asked myself as I hung up the coat. Our five weeks of dating, becoming comfortable with one another, talking three times each day, almost inseparable during our free time and being seen in public, had been the prelude to this night. 

My problem was that I wasn't ready. I was afraid that, in a moment of passion, I would fuck up and call her by the wrong name. For the past five weeks I had searched for differences between the two sisters and found very few. Once when Millie declared she was thinking of cutting her hair short, like Jen's, I urged her to leave it long. Another time, I discovered a small mole on her neck. She said she was thinking of having it removed. I disagreed, telling her it was tiny and she needn't bother, when really, I was overjoyed, having discovered something that her sister didn't have. 

The sisters were so much alike it was scary. Oh, there was Millie's height; otherwise, their bodies, hair and skin coloring were almost identical, right down to the number of freckles below their eyes. What set Millie apart, what made me love her, was her disposition. Her quick wit and glib observations were a contrast to Jen's serious temperament. 

"Would you care for a nightcap?" I asked when she returned from the bathroom. She was wearing a long black skirt and a white silk blouse. 

"No, thank you," she said haphazardly dropping her purse to the floor as she came to within arm's length of me. She had removed her jewelry, pearls and matching earrings. It was also apparent that her bra was in the purse. 

"Would you like to dance?" I asked, switching the tape player on. She did.

We slow danced, staying in one spot on the parquet floor in the living room. By the end of the first song, Millie had removed her shoes and my sweater. Feeling her soft breasts pressed to my chest was giving me a raging hard-on. 

"Let's go upstairs," she suggested, without elaborating. I grabbed the tape player and took her by the hand, leaving her purse, her shoes and my sweater on the floor where we they had been dropped. 

"Welcome to my room," I said, swooping her up and carrying her through the door. 

"So, this is the infamous bed," she said, looking around the room as if she were searching for relicts from my youth. There were none; all our childhood toys had been removed to make room for the bed.

I wasn't sure what to read into her 'infamous bed' comment. What had Jen told her about the bed? "Try it out if you like," I offered. She was shimming out of her skirt. 

"Do you have a hanger for this?" she asked, handing me the skirt. I took it to the closet and when I turned she was sitting on the bed, removing her stockings. "May I wear a pair of your socks?" she asked.

I found a pair of sweat socks; several sizes too big for her small feet and watched her roll down the silk stockings over her shapely ankles. She looked up at me and smiled, knowing that I had discovered something else that set her off from her sister. The absence of the little red birthmark was a relief to me.

I started the tape player and she stood up, ready to continue our slow dance. "There's something else about me that you need to know," she offered.

Why now? We had spent the last five weeks finding out everything about each other. There was only one thing she hadn't told me. This was no time to hear about the guy she was in love with at graduate school. That had to be it. Didn't she know I had a hard on? "What do you need to tell me?" I asked, trying to be conciliatory while praying she would make it short.

"I had a crush on you before you met Jen."

"What?" I asked. Having been braced to hear what happened to the guy at grad school, this took me by surprise.

"You were a sophomore and I was a senior. I made the mistake of telling my sister about you."

"Why didn't you...say something?"

This wasn't like the Millie I had come to know. She seemed shy and vulnerable. I held her close, moving slowly to the music.

"I waited too long and the first thing I knew, she had you. I tried to break you up, but she was enjoying seeing me suffer and you were so loyal to her that you didn't notice anyone else. I hated coming home from school because I knew I would have to see you together. Then, Jen and Ed fell in love and I thought I had a chance with you, but you didn't come home."

"I'm sorry, Millie, I really am. Things may have turned out differently if I had known how you felt."

"After almost ten years I have you and I don't intend to let you go. Seeing those ladies practically eating out of your hand tonight made me envious of the time you were devoting to them. That's why I followed you around, like a guard dog."

"Selling is part of my job. I had to listen to them. Besides, they're married women."

"I had to tell you how I've felt all these years. Thanks for listening."

Her morose disposition was depressing. I decided to play her game. "Isn't this where I get into your panties?" I asked, hoping to shock her. It worked.

"Why, Mr. Crumbly, am I finally going to get lucky?" she asked, unbuttoning my shirt.

I fumbled with her buttons, too and what followed was a different kind of dance. Our first time together was a total disaster and ten minutes later I found myself apologizing. Millie said she had been nervous, too, as if she knew my nervousness was because I had been afraid that I would call her by the wrong name.

"Thanks for not faking an orgasm," I said, pulling her to me and feeling her breasts against my chest. 

She put both hands on my chest and pushed up to look down at me. "I'm a librarian, not an actress." 

"You're unique," I said, hoping she would understand it was the highest compliment I could pay her. My fears were abated; in bed, Millie was unique, nothing she did reminded me of Jen.

"And you're sweet," she said, kissing me and lowing her breasts to rest on my chest. 

"It'll be better next time," I said, speaking confidently. I was right; it was much better. I pulled out every trick Veronica had taught me, taking my time with her breasts, pussy and clit. Millie responded with positive praises for my technique, with timely giggles and even professing her love for me. It was an unforgettable night of lovemaking. 

Sun streaming through the window woke me. I looked up to see Millie smiling down at me. I smiled back. 

"Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year to you too," I said, reaching for her and saw a serious expression come to her face.

"How's your memory?" she asked.

"I'll remember last night for the rest of my life."

"Is that all?" she asked, cautiously. 

"Isn't that enough? Wasn't it memorable to you?" I teased.

"Yes, but..." Her expression was one of desperation. I took pity on her.

"I remember proposing marriage and I believe you said yes."

Millie brightened. "You do remember. Thanks for assuring me that I wasn't hearing things," she said, her smile fading. "But it doesn't count. Your proposal and my acceptance were made under duress."

"What duress? I was sincere and I believe you were too."

"Ben, I was sincere. I am sincere. Let's give it some time. I want to hear that same question from you when we're not...making...fucking," she said, giving my forehead a kiss as she got out of bed.

She was right. Things said during sex should not be taken seriously. Also, my timing was bad. 

"I should be out of debt on March the thirty-first. We'll go to The Regal for dinner that night," I said and received an approving smile from Millie. She was buttoning the shirt I had worn to the party the night before. 

"It's a date," she said, heading for the bathroom, wearing my shirt and sweat socks. She turned at the door. "I left my purse down stairs. Be a dear, please."

I made it downstairs and back without being heard or seen by Ed and Jen, who were in the kitchen having breakfast. Fifteen minutes later, they greeted us with inquiring stares. We endured Jen's knowing smirk, confident that we had discovered the secret of bliss. Ed had a permanent grin on his lips. We ate ravenously. 

"Would you like to look through my closet? I'm sure there's something that will fit you," Jen asked, looking critically at my shirt hanging loosely from her sister's body.

"Ah...thanks...but we didn't...it was a short night...we're going to..." Millie looked to me for help.

"Right, we're going to...need some more...rest," I said, taking great glee in Jen's disapproving frown. She looked from us, both grinning, to Ed, who was staring straight ahead, grinning for a different reason.

I took a sip of coffee and looked at Jen, wondering if she was going to reprimand her sister for sleeping with me or reprimand her husband for grinning like an idiot. There was a sound of urgency to the telephone's ring. Jen answered it and called me to the phone.

"It's Veronica," she whispered as if to protect her husband and sister from a dreaded disease.

I took a deep breath before taking the receiver. "Happy New Year, Veronica," I said, determined to sound cheerful.

"I've been thinking a lot about you, about us, Ben."

"How did you know where I am, Veronica?"

"That's not important. Listen to me, everything will be different."

I laughed and heard her scoff in disgust. "We tried it once, Veronica. I didn't fare so well." 

"You fared just fine, Ben, much better than you think."

"What are you talking about? You ruined my credit standing and that ruined my reputation." "Wake up, Ben. You were nothing before you met me. You let that ex-girlfriend drag you down. I pulled you out of the depths of depression. I gave you confidence and sex appeal, things that spell success."

"Thanks, Veronica, but I think you're forgetting that you also gave me debt."

"Happy New Year, Ben," she said. I heard the line go dead, before I had the chance to say, "I met someone; it just happened."

We went back to my room, removed our clothes, got into bed and I told Millie about the telephone call, ending with Veronica's assertion that she had given me confidence and sex appeal. 

Millie disagreed. "She may be right about giving you confidence, but you always had sex appeal."

We cuddled. "Did you see the permanent grin on Ed's face?" I asked, feeling my cock grow. 

"He found out he's going to be a father," she said, moving her knee up my thigh and sighing when she discovered my hard-on.

"I wonder what Jen told him."

Millie wrapped her hand around my cock. "Like this, 'It just happened,'" she laughed.

Here ends "It Just Happened."

Epilog: 

New Years: Three years later.

The last three years have been crammed with so many meaningful events that I don't know where to begin. 

Our wedding was postponed three times, always caused by others. We made our engagement official in April, the day after dining at The Regal. Except for some college loans, I was debt free and had accumulated a small nest egg. From the day Millie's picture appeared in the local newspaper we received congratulations from friends and strangers, all except Tony Hawley. He couldn't fathom why his sister would want to spend the rest of her life with the likes of me. 

Our wedding was set for the last day of June. Invitations were being acknowledged and the seating plan, though changing daily, was taking shape when Mr. Hawley suffered a massive stroke, followed by a heart attack. It wasn't fatal, but his life would never be the same. It was May, five weeks before our wedding date and we were able to postpone the reception and travel arrangements for two months with very little loss of deposit monies. "I told you we should have eloped when you proposed," Millie quipped. We returned the wedding gifts and made new plans to go away over the Labor Day holiday.

Tony showed up at the hospital and finding me answering calls regarding his father's condition on both of his sisters' cell phones, he went berserk. 

"What the hell do you know about my dad's state of health?" he practically yelled at me. 

"Excuse me, Aunt Amelia, Tony's here," I said into one of the cell phones. "Excuse me, Aunt Sophia, did you hear me? Tony's here," I said into the other phone. Both Aunts said they had heard him.

By the time I turned back to Tony he had calmed, probably remembering that it was me that called to give him the news about his father the day before. "The critical care unit is on the third floor. They'll probably let you go in to see him for a few minutes," I said, thinking, wait until he sees his sister. Jen was in her sixth month and getting bigger every day. How I wished I could tell him it was me that knocked her up. But that was impossible. She was very nervous that I would, in a moment of weakness, tell Ed that, "It just happened." 

We moved Mr. and Mrs. Hawley into a small, one-floor house with easy access and wheelchair ramps. Millie and I, much to the consternation of Tony, made arrangements to take over the family homestead. I immediately began updating the old house in my spare time. 

It was important that we marry as soon as possible. Ed was opposed to the company truck being parked overnight at the Hawley home, saying it was bad for business. I countered that everyone in town knew the reason our wedding had been delayed. He was right though. It was a small town and people took notice when a public employee was shacking up, especially an Assistant Librarian. Sneaking around didn't agree with either of us. 

Our second marriage date was called off at the last minute when it became increasingly evident that Jen was not going to have an easy birth. She told us to go ahead with our plans, but it was clear Ed wasn't going to be able to survive the event on his own. Besides, he was useless at work; somebody had to run the company. This time we lost our deposits. Millie hid her disappointment, saying, "I told you we should have eloped when you proposed." 

E.B. was born at seven P.M. on the thirtieth day of August, the exact date and hour we were to be married. Edward Benjamin Crumbly weighed seven pounds, fourteen ounces and had a sprinkling of fine, reddish-blond hair on his otherwise bald head. As I held him for the first time I looked down at Jen. She was smiling, nervously. I winked at her, assuring her I would keep our secret. 

I was pretty sure that Millie knew I was the father of E.B., but Ed, being pompously proud, would never admit he suspected it and Millie, being lovingly supportive, would never tell. 

Business was great. Ed still hired the sub-contractors and negotiated with the suppliers, but he left selling up to me. Veronica had been right about one thing; she had given me the confidence to be a good salesman. That summer, we doubled the number of employees, hiring four graduates from the technical high school. We had orders for two custom built homes and kept one crew busy on renovation work. When needed, we could always borrow a crew from Stew Mercer. I reciprocated by lending my selling skills when he had a reluctant buyer. 

Ed, admitting that I was indispensable, changed the name of the company to 'Crumbly Brothers, Contractors' and made me a full partner. I became the company treasurer, taking over the books from Jen. She continued to maintain the personnel files and watched our bank accounts. 

Our third wedding date was planned for the New Year's Eve. We made plans to be away one year after sleeping together the first time. Two hours before our wedding hour, tragedy stuck our family. Hannah, Tony's wife was involved in an automobile accident. She was in serious condition. Tony phoned Jen and she phoned Millie. We called our wedding off, packed essentials and left at seven P.M., the exact time we were to say 'I do'. We took my truck. I drove, Ed sat in the front with me and Millie and Jen and E.B. sat in the back. 

"I understand why Tony didn't call me, but Mom deserved to know," Millie joked about being snubbed by her brother.

"He knew it was your wedding day. He didn't want to upset you or Mom either," Jen tried to explain their brother's single telephone call to her.

Millie's laugh had a sinister ring, "Apparently, you didn't want to upset Mom either. You both left it up to me to break the news." 

We went directly to the hospital and found Tony pacing in the waiting room. He looked relieved to see us, hugging each of us, even me. Since none of us could get in to see Hannah, and Jen wanted to put E.B. down for a nap, it was decided that she and Ed would pick up the two kids at a neighbor's house and take them home. This left Millie, her brother and me in the hospital waiting room. She tried to comfort Tony. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I struck up a conversation with a couple whose baby was also in intensive care. 

Later, I learned the extent of Hannah's injuries. She had suffered a broken leg, broken ribs, but the worst was the damage to her face. She had lost a few teeth and reconstructive surgery would be required. In a moment of weakness, Tony tried to get chummy with me.

"This wouldn't have happened if we had gone to your wedding. I was the stubborn one; Hannah begged me to go."

I consoled him and we became buddies. He thanked me for helping his parents through their trying times. I shrugged it off, telling him I was just doing my duty, adding that both of my parents were gone. And then he made a telling comment that I'll never forget. 

"Jennifer's baby is quite an armful, isn't he? At four months, E.B. favors you and your brother more than his Hawley roots."

I looked at Millie to get a reading on what her brother meant by that. She shrugged as if to say, "Beats me."

Tony insisted that we take his car and go to his house to get some rest, saying that he would camp out at the hospital. We wished him a very hollow sounding 'Happy New Year' and left.

We heard bells ringing and car horns blowing, signaling the calendar was turning to a new month, our kiss before entering the darkened house was the extent of our celebration. We were greeted by Jen's hiss, telling us to be quiet. She and Ed were in sleeping bags, on the floor, next to the crib. Our sleeping bags were lain out on the other side of the crib. We undressed, down to our underwear and Millie pulled me into her bag. "I'm not sleeping alone on my wedding night," she whispered.

I guess we didn't think of combining the two bags or we may have thought that it would make too much noise. After sleeping almost every night in the same bed for the past year, unhooking her bra was second nature to me. I busied myself with her breasts until she pulled my shorts down and took possession of my cock, saying it belonged to her. Not to be outdone, I pushed her panties down and claimed her pussy. 

We never did get completely untangled from my shorts and her panties, finally giving up and fucking hobbled by our underwear, our bodies facing each other in the small confinement. 

Jen was furious, calling us animals and reminding us that her son was in the room. Millie giggled. "You're envious that I'm getting lucky and your husband's snoring. This is my third wedding cancellation and I'm determined to make the most of it," she said to her sister. 

I've always maintained that Jennie Lynne was conceived that night in the sleeping bag, but Millie believes it was three nights later, after we were married earlier that day by a sympathetic justice of the peace. Our daughter was born the first of October. 





It Just Happened Ch. 12



Tragedy struck the family again that same month when Mr. Hawley passed away. We invited Millie's mother to live with us and she accepted. 

Tony took more interest in attending family gatherings, coming to terms with the realization that his sisters were married to Crumbly brothers. I guess he could see that our business was treating us well. Ed and I still argued, but we kept our disagreements private. It fact, it was Ed that made a motion for Millie to become an officer of the company. Jen and I made it unanimous. 

Now that we were parents and confined to the home, the four of us became best friends, getting together at least once per week. At first, we played cards until the conversation turned to business. Ed and I would go over the schedule and our wives would offer suggestions. Mrs. Hawley was our live-in babysitter and never complained about having two cribs in her room, but her daughters did. Like Ed and Jen's house, our third bedroom was set up as a workroom and became the subject of much debate.

Jen suggested that we combine the workrooms at their house. "You can drop by the house when you need something from the files," she suggested, looking at me. "That will give Jennie her own room when she's ready to be on her own."

"I use that room at night," I argued.

"Honey, you can move the computer into our bedroom," Millie said. 

Under pressure of the others, I conceded although I didn't like having to go to Ed's house every time I needed something. 

"What we need is an office with storage space for the equipment," Ed said and I agreed that his three-car garage was becoming crowded. It was impossible to find anything. 

I thought the issue was solved. Our workrooms would be consolidated and I would live with the inconvenience until we could find a suitable office. "Maybe we should build exactly what we need," I said, not knowing Jen would pick up on my suggestion.

"As long as it's before I have another baby," she said and when she drew looks from the rest of us, she amended her assertion. "If it's a boy it won't matter, but if a girl...you never know, do you?"

Against my better judgment, we consolidated the workrooms. I found myself putting off trips to their house until the need for a blueprint or file became urgent. Going into my brother's house, especially when Jen and E.B. were the only ones there, made me nervous. Jen's comment about having another baby made the hair on my neck stand up. I was always on the lookout for a building site where we could construct our own office. 

The family gathered at our house for New Year's Eve. It had been a year since Hannah's accident and she was feeling much better. Millie gave Tony and Hannah our room and the kids, Sara and Tommy were to sleep in the vacant bedroom on sleeping bags. Sara, now seven, was becoming intrigued by family relationships. 

"Mom says I have to call you Uncle Ben now. Why didn't I have to call you Uncle Ben before?"

"I'm married to your Aunt Millie now. That makes me your uncle and you are my niece, by marriage."

She pondered my answer. "How come you don't have to call me Niece Sara, by marriage?"

This drew laughter from everyone, which encouraged Sara.

"Do you want me to call you Niece Sara?"

She smiled and shook her head, no. "E.B. and Jennie Lynne are my cousins, right?"

"That's right."

She was thoughtful for a second, knowing she had the attention of the grown-ups. "Are E.B. and Jennie Lynne cousins?"

"Yes, their double-cousins," I said, knowing this was going to be trouble.

"Huh?"

"Jennie Lynne and E.B. are double-cousins because Uncle Ed and I are brothers and Aunt Millie and Aunt Jen are sisters."

Surprisingly, Sara walked away nodding like she understood my explanation, but a minute later she was back. "Uncle Ben, what's your ship with Aunt Jen?"

Everyone laughed at how Sara shortened relationship. "Aunt Jen is my double-sister," I said and anticipating her next question, I elaborated. "Before I married your Aunt Millie, Aunt Jen was my sister-in-law, but when Aunt Millie and I married it made Aunt Jen my double-sister-in-law."

Sara looked around the room and getting her mother's attention, announced that she was ready for bed.

The others waited for her to leave the room before piling on me for confusing the little girl. It was a quiet, but fun New Year's Eve party. We laughed, toasted each other and told stories until midnight when the girls kissed the guys. That's when Millie insisted that Ed and Jen stay overnight. "It's dangerous. There are drunks on the road and besides, E.B. is asleep in Mom's room," she argued and I agreed.

Ed and I let our wives undress us in darkened living room. From the way Millie and Jen whispered amongst themselves, I soon discerned that this was an arranged event, especially when I discovered there were only two sleeping bags. 

"Leave your underwear on for now," Millie instructed the other couple. 

"Why?" Jen asked.

"It's a tradition," my wife proclaimed, pulling me into the sleeping bag.

Millie made me work to free her of her bra, while describing my failed actions in detail. "Hey, that's not a box of nails you're trying to open. This is exactly why I never wear a bra to bed anymore. How is your guy doing, Sis? My guy is so clumsy. Do you want me to do it? Ah, he finally found it."

"What's next?" Jen asked, like their dialog had been rehearsed.

"Did he take it off?"

"Yes."

"Stick one in his mouth and tell him to suck on it," Millie instructed and we laughed as we heard Jen comply. Millie whispered to me, "Not you, Honey. Mine are too sore."

"What's next?" we heard Jen ask, interrupting our kiss. 

"Push his shorts down and have him do the same with your panties," Millie patiently tutored her sister. My shorts were already around my ankles as were her panties. 

We heard the rustling of underwear being lowered. "How far?"

We were lying face to face, kissing and my cock was bobbing, bouncing against Millie's pussy. She took my cock in her hand and held it inches away from the target while she calmly spoke to Jen. "Down to your ankles, but don't kick them off."

Millie had released my cock and it was bobbing again when we heard Jen. "Why?"

"Because that's the way it's done, tradition, remember?" Millie answered with a hint of irritation in her voice. 

Frustrated, I entered my wife and heard her shout, "YES!"

"What now?"

I was surprised when Millie, unperturbed, asked, "Is it hard?" she asked, giving my cock a little squeeze to assure me that we were still joined. 

"I'll check...oh, yes, it is."

"Are you wet?"

I groaned frustrated by the way the sisters were prolonging their little drama. Millie squeezed again, putting more effort into it this time.

"Yes, very," came the answer from the other side of the room.

"Then it's time for penetration," Millie said, meeting my thrusts.

"How...far?"

I'd had it with their nonsensical banter. "All the way," Millie said as I kicked her panties off and rolled her over onto her back.

"What's happening over there?"

For once, Millie didn't respond. She was too busy wrapping her legs around my ass and urging me to fuck her. It was the next morning at breakfast before Jen got her answer. 

"Your double-brother broke tradition," Millie said, exploding in laugher as she caressed my cheek.

Jen and Ed were the only ones that got the joke. 

"What's tradition?" Sara asked looking astonished that such a simple question could make grown-ups crack up.

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary by having dinner at The Regal and later in bed where, according to Millie, we made Benjamin E. Crumbly, Junior.

Millie swore me to secrecy when she told me she was pregnant with our second child, wanting to postpone giving Jen the news as long as possible. 

I don't know if Jen believed the 'tradition' would create a miracle, but when it became impossible for Millie to 'hide' our good fortune, Jen became noticeably depressed. She and Ed came to our house less frequently and Ed became difficult to work with. Millie took the long absences from her sister hard and I missed seeing my nephew, E. B.

All that year, we used every excuse to host family parties. Ed and Jen always showed up, usually arriving late and leaving early. When it came time to celebrate E.B. second birthday, they balked at coming to our house, rightly saying that Millie was in no condition to do that much work. They invited everyone to their home. 

I didn't know it then, but that was the day Jen launched her campaign to persuade me to donate my semen, again. She lifted E.B. onto my lap and held the cake for him to blow out the candles. On the surface, this act evaded the attention of most onlookers, except my brother, who was sitting at the head of the table and my wife, who was eight months pregnant. 

"E.B, you have to call him Double-Uncle Ben," Sara said, making everyone laugh and breaking the tension that Ed, Millie and I shared.

Next, Jen approached Millie in her quest to 'use' me, but I didn't hear about it until after our son was born on October the second. We were in the bedroom, admiring the newborn when Millie broached the subject. 

"Jen wants another child."

"Does she need another 'tradition' lesson?" I asked in an attempt to be funny.

My wife didn't laugh. "She's asking for your help."

"Hmmm, does that really work?" I asked, thinking Jen wanted to mix my semen with her eggs. 

"It worked before," Millie responded, smashing my charade wall that I had taken refuge behind. Either Jen had confirmed her suspicion that I was the father of E.B. or Millie had known all along. 

"You're not talking about...doctors...laboratory...that route, are you?"

Millie shook her head, no.

"Not me, I'm not available," I said, retreating from the room.

That was the end of our discussion, I thought. Two days later she brought it up again.

"Have you given any thought to what we talked about the other day?" Millie asked.

"Yes, I have and the answer is still no. I won't do it." "Even if I'm okay with it?" 

I was so shocked by what she said that I couldn't talk. I left the room, only to be cornered later, in bed.

"Jen's desperate to have another baby. She even got Mom to agree that you should help her."

"Oh, no. Does your mother know about E.B.?"

"Mom thinks it's better to keep it in the family than use a stranger. She says we know what we're getting from you."

Millie could hardly contain herself and I laughed with her. We kissed and professed our love for each other. "I love you and I love Jen. I trust you both. Nothing could come between us," she said.

"What about Ed? Does he know?"

"I think he does. How could he not know?"

"I won't go behind his back," I said, adamantly. 

"You did before," Millie reminded me. "And don't say 'it just happened'."

"You're right," I admitted.

"Can I tell Jen you'll do it if Ed approves?"

"I don't know. Let me think about it. Are you sure you're okay with it?"

There was a long silence. "I can't help but wonder how different it would be if I had said something when we were in high school."

"We would have fallen in love and probably gone to the same college."

"I wouldn't have met Bruce," she blurted out.

I waited for her to tell me who Bruce was and when she didn't, I asked, "Was Bruce the guy at grad school?"

"We got into a fight over you and I left without completing my work."

"Over me?"

"He blamed me for always being preoccupied about something and I finally admitted it was you. I told him I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if I had let my feelings be known when we were in high school."

"We would probably have six kids," I said, still waiting to hear if she was really okay with my spending a day in Jen's bed.

"I love you, Ben. I love my sister, too and I trust both of you to do the right thing."

I held her close, feeling terribly unsure of my own feelings, but wanting to please her. Nothing more was said until three nights later. 

"Ed stopped by my job site today."

"Oh, what did he have to say?"

"He wanted me to look at a lot in the industrial complex. He thinks it's suitable for the building we've been talking about."

"Oh, is that all he wanted to talk about?"

"No, he said he loved me."

"That's so sweet of him," Millie said, kissing me on the chin.

"I told him I love him, too."

"You really are a Dear."

"He said I should spend a day organizing the workroom at his house to decide what to discard and what to move."

"What day did he say you should work at his house?"

"He didn't know which day would be best."

"I'll find out. Jen may want me to bring E.B. over here that day. You know how he gets into everything."

My whole body stiffened and Millie asked me what was wrong.

"I've wanted to tell him, 'It just happened' for six years. It was on the tip of my tongue, but after he told me he loved me I couldn't bring myself to say it."

"You're a better man for telling him that you love him, Ben Crumbly. Revenge is a sickness that will eat your guts out."

So I'm in a holding pattern, waiting for my wife to relay the news that my double-sister has reached the height of fertility. 

I wait, wondering, 'what if it doesn't work the first time?' Will we all, Millie, Ed, Jen and I agree to try again in January?

I want to tell my brother that I admire him, but the words don't come out. I love my wife, but I don't think I could let my brother make love to her to prove it.

Meanwhile, I watch Millie feed our newborn and marvel at the love she has for Jen and me. I try to show my appreciation. I try to make her laugh.

"Is there such a thing as double-incest?" I ask.

"You make me laugh," she says.

The end