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He Planned a Secret Ch. 01

By: Scorpio44a



[Not a normal Romance story. This one could have been in the Group area as easily as here. The sex in this story begins almost vanilla except it includes three people. The story is fiction.]


After the ceremony I walked back to my room. I'd been on the base for two weeks and had a room to myself all that time. As soon as I got inside the room my dress uniform came off and the shower came on. Twenty minutes later I was showered, shaved (again) and dressed in a new short sleeved Hawaiian shirt and khaki cargo pants. I left the dress uniform on the floor. The B4 bag full of other uniforms was in the corner of the room and I saluted it on my way out. I carried a half full civilian pack with a change of clothes, a folder of paperwork I'd need, a dop kit, and the case my Silver Star came in.

At the end of the hall I entered the Wing office and walked to the first Sergeant's desk. He stood, shook my offered hand and said, "Leaving so soon?"

"Not soon enough for my tastes."

"Where are you headed?"

"Somewhere far away. Don't figure to have a plan, just go."

"They'd give me a toaster oven if I talked you into re-upping." He smiled as he said it. We both knew he didn't like toast and that any chance of me staying was long past.

"I've more than had enough, Sarge. Don't waste your breath. Oh, someone will need to clean up my room. I left a little trash on the floor."

"Already on it. I'll miss you." He let go of my hand and I turned and walked out. 

Outside the building there were spaces for eight vehicles. Three spots were filled with blue sedans with USAF painted on the doors. One spot held the First Sergeant's 1955 Ford F-100. It was red. The wind wing on the driver's side had a broken lock/latch. Other than that the truck was incredible, new paint, leather upholstery, great tires and rims, a 289 c.i. engine that purred and all the other signs that he loved and cared for his truck. 

Next to his F-100 sat my 1969 Chevy El Camino. The day I returned from overseas I had it hauled out of storage and detailed. It had been purchased new by my Dad and when he passed on, it passed to me. It had the L-46 engine and a 3-speed Vette transmission when it came to me. I added cosmetic touches like a great paint job, rims, tires and a tuned exhaust system. Two days before the ceremony I picked it up and had to fight my urge to just leave at that moment. The moment I fired up the 349 horse V8 something pulled at me to push the truck down the road. 

I opened the door and put my bag on the seat. I opened the bag and took the Silver Star in it's case out of the bag. I walked it over to Sgt. Garcia's F-100 and opened the wind wing window. I reached in and put the star on his seat. I knew he'd understand that I didn't want it, wouldn't keep it and would probably never come for it.

I closed the wind wing window and got in my El Camino. She fired with barely a touch of the ignition and then purred at me. I backed into the street and headed for the main gate. When I made the turn for the gate my spotter was standing next to the gate waving me to the side. He was in cammo's, unusual for on-base attire. I pulled over and he went to the front bumper of the truck, bent over and twenty seconds later stood up with the base access sticker in his hand. He stepped to the side and saluted. 

I returned the salute as I left the base.

Thirty seconds later I had to make a decision. I came to a traffic signal at an intersection. Turn left and drive south, turn right and go north or, when the light changed, go west. The light turned green and I went west.

By the time I'd been on the road for three days I'd made a few discoveries.

I discovered that sleeping in motels was expensive. I discovered that eating in restaurants was expensive and I'd discovered that paying someone to open a beer for me cost more than the beer.

On day four of being a civilian I stopped at a huge store and went shopping. I bought four new outfits of traveling clothes; jeans, t-shirts, socks, underwear and a new pair of hiking boots, two sleeping bags, a lantern, a backpacker's stove, six magnets, a tarp, some bungee cords, a book locating campgrounds, an ice chest, ice, a six pack of beer, a six-pack of sodas and when I got to the checkout I bought six condoms. Walking to the truck gave me time to wonder why I bought condoms. It had been a year, a week and three days since I'd been with a woman.

Dad had installed a locking bed cover over the bed of the truck the year before he died. I unlocked it and lifted the cover. The boards between the metal runners were oak treated with polyurethane for the look and waterproofing. Dad and I had worked on them together. I missed him.

After a minute of memories I loaded everything except the ice chest, ice and sodas in the bed. I put the sodas in the ice chest, covered them with ice and had lots left. I put the ice chest in the foot well in the cab and went back inside the store and bought another ice chest. It got filled with the beer and the rest of the ice. I stowed it in the bed and locked it inside.

Three hours later I stopped in a small farming community and had a meal in a small café. The waitress looked to be about twenty-five and already getting old. She took my order and called it out to the cook. Five minutes later the cook, who looked to be the waitress' mother delivered the best meatloaf dinner I'd ever had.

The café was almost empty. All the people inside were already eating when she delivered my dinner. She pulled a chair out and sat across from me.

"You're new." She said.

I smiled and said, "Thank you. Actually I'm near thirty-eight, but new would be good."

"I meant new in town." We both knew I knew that, but my response kept the conversation alive.

"That, I am. This meatloaf is great! I'm impressed."

"I grind the meat myself and it's a mixture. This time of year I can get venison and mix it with beef. Glad you like it."

"I do. Do you do a great breakfast too?"

She smiled and asked, "Will you still be around for breakfast? Your truck has Virginia plates on it. I sorta figured you were headed somewhere."

"The somewhere I was headed was away. I'd say this qualifies as away. Away from Washington D. C.. Away from the Air Force, uniforms, officers, orders and the chain of command."

"Retired?"

"It was offered and I took it."

"Looking for a soft place to land?" Her eye were focused on mine. My answer mattered. I had no idea why.

"Looking, but without urgency. I could wander around for months or settle somewhere."

"When you settle, then what?" She sipped her coffee and seemed genuinely interested. I noticed that she was fit, clean at two o'clock in the afternoon, and seemed interested in me. For a cook to be clean at two seemed to be beyond belief, but then, I wasn't more than a survival cook.

"I've thought about that question for the last ten years, last three pretty heavily. I want to be useful somehow, but at the moment I don't feel useful at all."

"Are you strong?"

"I guess. Why?"

"Know anything about farming?"

"Grew up in Idaho on twelve hundred acres of corn and potatoes."

"Excuse me a minute." She went to the phone and called someone. She said, "Come to the café. I think he's here." She hung up and came back to the table. "Pie?" She asked.

"Did you make it?" I asked.

"Apple, cherry or peach?" She asked as she nodded.

"Peach, ala mode if possible."

I watched as she cut a generous slice and slipped it in a small oven. A minute later it came out and she put a generous scoop of ice cream on it. 

One bite and I said, "Is there something you cook that isn't very good?"

"Yeah, Escargot."

"Good! I hated them last time I ate them!"

"You really ate snails?" Her face screwed up like she'd just bit into a lemon.

"Once! I was in France and they were offered as a gift."

"Wow!" The door opened and two men came in. Both were dressed in the universal garb of farmers; one in worn bib overalls and a flannel shirt the other in jeans and a well-worn flannel shirt. They filled the other two seats at my table. The woman introduced them and herself. "I'm Diane, this is Mark and this is Solomon. They own the Feed and Grain you passed on your way into town."

I put my hand out as I stood. "I'm Ben. Glad to meet all three of you." We all sat back down.

Solomon said, "We're looking for someone who can manage the Feed and Grain. Diane thinks you're the man for the job."

"Tell me more about the business, please."

Two hours later I was the manager of the Feed and Grain. I had rented a small cottage from Diane and I had taken a tour of the F&G. The cottage was across the street from the F&G. Solomon and Mark talked money with me and we agreed on a starting compensation and a schedule of raises based on performance. In the beginning they said they wanted me to manage the F&G. It wasn't quite accurate. They wanted me as the manager, the labor force and the clean up crew.

I moved into the cottage before dark. I went back to the F&G and studied the books until hunger told me to leave it until the next day. I ate dinner with a café full of neighbors and got introduced to every one of them. 

When most of the people had gone home I asked Diane, "What happened to the last manager of the Feed and Grain?"

"No one knows. He closed up one Friday evening, ate dinner here and no one has seen him or his car since. He left everything, didn't pack a suitcase or anything. I found the house keys on his kitchen table."

"Same house I'm living in?"

She nodded her head and said, "Yup. No one's lived in it since he left. I thought for a while he'd be back. He left in February. I don't believe he's coming back." I thanked her for the conversation, the job and a great meal and walked to my new home.

By midnight I was asleep. Somewhere in the night I woke up covered in sweat and visions of being hidden outside a small village watching through a scope for a certain man to step into my sights. The sound of a twig snapping woke me up. Maybe the twig was just in my dream, my memory or somewhere within a hundred yards of the cottage. I'll never know. I listened and calmed myself until I went back to sleep.

The first month I was in town I felt like a one-man fire department. I studied the books, swept, took inventory, met lots of farmers and was grateful Bob had kept such good books before he was taken by aliens. Most of the time I felt like I was a month behind and rushing to catch up. It didn't help that I missed some sleep from snapping twigs about three times a week. It also didn't help that my muscles were sore every night from bags of seeds, grain, barrels of various chemicals familiar to farmers and pushing a broom.

Near the end of that first month I was pushing a broom at about 1700 (five o'clock to civilians) when a kid about fifteen with half a million freckles climbed up un the loading dock and asked, "Can I talk to you Mister Peterson?"

That conversation was how boys in farm country looked for work. When he, Ken, left that afternoon he had a two hour a day job, sweeping. Depending on how he worked out I left the door open for more hours and more work.

I don't think the business got ripped off the first months. A couple of the farmers gave me the impression they were looking for ways to rip me off, and Ken warned me about their reputation for being "shady. The books showed I stayed in balance.

I ate in the café twice a week. I bought things at the grocery and learned to cook some things. My cooking never compared to Diane's. I got to know most of the people in town, all the farmers for miles around and some from outside the county. For the first six months a common topic in the F&G was the question of "Who was I before I got to town?"

I lied. What I had done for the eighteen years attached to the U.S. Air Force was not something I wanted known, talked about or spread about. The military had a name, even a job title for what I did, but those who knew guys like me shortened it to, "Sniper". 

Officially the Air Force didn't have snipers. The Army did, the Corps did, as well, but officially, the Air Force didn't. I learned Inventory Management as my cover. Started actually using that education when I took over the F&G. I told the people who asked I had managed an inventory of supplies on various bases in different places, until I got hurt and medically retired.

The injury was from a knife, given to me late at night in a desert somewhere in the Middle East. I still got my target and got my spotter and I out alive. The same spotter who had removed the sticker from my El Camino as I left the base. The story I told was that a falling piece of storage rack had caught me and ripped into me deep enough to get me retired. I didn't show anyone the scar and no one asked to see it.

In that small town the opportunities for socializing were a little scarce. I attended Little League games, basketball games, and high school football games. I was invited to every church picnic, pot luck and bingo game in town.  I met the four single women in my age group before I'd been in town very long. I didn't make a move on any one of them. 

The week after I'd been in town six months I became fair game. I could tell because that week the four single women within fifteen years of my age invited me for dinner. I knew or had met all four of them, knew they were single and attractive. I had decided not to pursue any one of them since I was not being totally honest about who I was or had been. I believed starting a relationship with secrets isn't good in the short term or in the long run.

Diane invited first. She wanted Friday evening. Grace, the high school English teacher, invited me for Tuesday evening. Margaret, the principal of the elementary school, asked me to dinner for Saturday. Ann asked for Sunday evening. Ann ran the office for the local utility; natural gas, electricity, water and sewer. The only other single woman in town anywhere close to my age was Diane's daughter and she wasn't twenty-five. She was twenty-one and her name was Barbara. She didn't ask me out. 

Diane asked me on Tuesday afternoon. The phone rang and I answered, "Feed and Grain, how may I serve you?"

Diane's voice said, "You can shower, shave, dress nice and come to my house Friday evening for dinner."

I smiled and answered, "I was just thinking about you. I'd love to accept your invitation as long as you promise dinner isn't escargot." We both laughed.

Diane said, "I was thinking I might test a couple new recipes and if you like them I'll put them on the menu."

"An adventure! I'm ready for that. What time Friday evening?"

"I close the café at eight. Is nine too late?"

"I'll have a late lunch and nine will be perfect. Is there anything I can bring or help you with?"

"Are you going to The City in the next three days?"

"I could. What would you like?"

"A good bottle of red wine would be nice, I think."

"Is there one you like?"

"Balletto Vineyards makes a wonderful pinot noir. If you can find that, it would be great. It's from California."

"Ok. I'll find it. Friday at eight! I'm excited. Maybe while I'm in The City I'll buy a nice shirt to wear Friday night."

"Please, no jeans." 

"Ok, I'll get slacks and a shirt, maybe even some nice shoes so I'm not clomping into your house in my hiking boots."

"Forget the shoes. No one wears shoes in the house. We leave shoes on the porch. It makes it easier to keep the house clean."

Less than an hour later my phone rang again. I answered, "Feed and Grain, how may I serve you?"

A soft voice almost whispered in my ear, "Ben? This is Margaret. I am inviting you to dinner."

"Margaret, this is Ben. I accept. When?"

"Saturday night at seven. Is that Ok?"

"I almost always eat on Saturday evening around seven. That works great for me. You sure it's Ok for us to have dinner? Won't the other men in your life be jealous?"

"Last man I had dinner alone with was three months before I moved to town. I was in Madison, Wisconsin. I doubt he will be upset." 

"Last woman I had dinner with, in her home, was almost two years ago near Andrews Air Force Base. Sad memories. Dinner with you I can look forward to. You aren't shipping out to the Middle East next week, are you?"

"No, I'm supervising the state proficiency exams for fifth graders next week."

"Wonderful!" As we chatted about things going on at school and around town I made a note to get flowers and another bottle of wine on my trip to The City.

In the end I bought flowers for Margaret, wine for Diane, wine for Grace and at Ann's request I got four halibut steaks from a place in The City that had fresh fish flown in daily. I also bought some nicer clothes and a pair of non-hiking boots as well. It was called The City because it was the city anyone went to when our little town didn't have what we needed. The town and countryside around our town had maybe four thousand people in it. The City had almost a hundred thousand.

The four dinners were wonderful. Each served a delicious meal and treated me to conversations about something other than the weather or crops. Each made sure I could identify their best bait. With Diane it was her cooking. Grace wore a large sweater and leggings. She believed her legs were her best bait, for attracting a man. Ann wore a long sleeved poets shirt of white silk, her hair pulled up on top of her head, showing off her long, slender neck and skin down to the gentle swell of her breasts. Margaret opened her door wearing a flower print sundress, no shoes and she had a yellow flower in her hair. Her long, wavy, chocolate colored hair looked freshly washed. By the end of each evening I agreed with their beliefs about their best bait. 

But, I hadn't seen everything each of them had to offer.

Over the next weeks I cooked (using a microwave oven) at home on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Dinner with the four single women became a ritual for the five of us. At each dinner with each of the four I had thoughts about telling them about my past and how that past was effecting our "right now" and our futures. I didn't say anything, I did think about it.

Three months after my first dinner with Diane I was loading bags of seed into Mr. Thompson's stake side truck and he asked, "You saving any energy for Diane?"

I hesitated between fifty-pound sacks and asked, "What are you talking about?"

He smiled and said, "Everyone in the county knows you have dinner every Friday night over at Diane's. Earlier I was wondering if you were focused on Diane on Friday evenings or focused on her daughter, then I remembered Barbara isn't home until late on Friday evenings."

"You know everything that goes on in town?" I asked.

"Nope, but the wife keeps tabs on damn near everything... and she talks."

"I'll save a little energy for Diane. Enough to eat whatever new thing she wants me to taste."

"Best be careful. I think all four of them are looking for a husband and you're the prime target." He climbed into his truck, waved and drove away. I stood on the dock and watched him go. I knew all four wanted more than a once a week dinner companion. In that moment I was aware the whole town, the whole county, was watching. I was also aware I didn't quite know how to solve the problem I had going any farther down the road to relationship.

At nine that night I knocked and Diane opened the door. She wore shorts that hit her just above the knees and a big t-shirt that extended down over her shorts to just cover her butt. She had on a short apron, too. As I stepped inside she put her arms around my neck and we kissed.

After the conversation I had with Mr. Thompson I was really paying attention and I noted to myself that the kiss wasn't hot, exactly. It smoldered. The fire was there and I was pretty sure it would be pretty easy to blow on it and watch it catch and really burn.


He Planned a Secret Ch. 01



During dinner we talked food, national politics, town politics and then town gossip. Diane took a breath as we finished off the last of the Mountain Man Stew she invented and wanted to make a featured item on the menu.

I sensed she was about to ask questions about the meal, before deciding if it went on the menu. I didn't wait, I asked a question first.

"Diane, where do you want us to be five years from now?"

Her fork clattered on her plate. She locked eyes with me and said, softly, "I wondered when this conversation would happen. I also wondered if it would happen with me or the competition."

"The competition?"

"Ann, Margaret and Grace. They have an interest here too, and you know it!"

"At the moment, I'm asking you."

"Ok. Honestly, five years from now I want you home for dinner here with me, every night. I want rings on my finger and you in my bed. I want us to take vacations every year and go places. I want to wake up in your arms on a cruise ship, in a mountain cabin, in the desert, on the beach and... I don't want more children."

I opened my mouth and she said, "And, I want you to tell me you love me every day."

I smiled and said, "I like what you want. I don't know that I'm ready to give you all of what you want, yet. I have a few problems I need to solve. Once they are resolved I'll know what's next for me and for us."

"Those problems that need to be solved, do they have names?"

"Yes, but the first ones I need to solve don't have women's names. They have names from my past. I'll get them solved, then we'll talk about the future, Ok?" I watched her body language. She leaned forward less than an inch, her brow furrowed a little and her eyes locked on mine.

"No." she said. "Every Friday night I cook for you, just you. I shower and dress to be with you. I kiss you when you get here and I kiss you before you leave me and go back to the cottage. I have been patient. The four of us gave you six months without any pressure and you didn't make a move. Not a move... on any of us! Ok, you aren't aggressive. We've checked on you. At F&G you are decisive, strong and mild spoken. You don't talk about your past. We want to talk about the future NOW!"

"In the middle of that speech you changed from I to we. Do the four of you get together on Wednesday evening and confer?"

"No! Mondays." She blushed, a little.

"Ok, I've received the message, loud and clear. Here's the deal. I'm cancelling dinners with all of you for a week. Next Friday night all five of us will have dinner together, in the cottage. We'll start as soon as the four of you can be there. I will explain all the problems and what I'm doing or have done to solve them. If the dinner does what I think it will, I will be staying in town for probably the rest of my life. If it doesn't go well I'll be gone by the end of the month."

Diane leaned a little closer and said, "There's something I want you to know. I'll agree to wait until next week for the Show-and-Tell dinner. What I want you to know is that every Friday night for a month I have worn sexy underwear hoping you'd get to see them. You haven't seen them."

I responded, "I am not gay. I want to undress you and see what all you have hidden, but I'm not going to undress anyone until the problems are solved. After dinner next Friday each of you will need to decide if you're still interested in me. There will be enough evidence for each of you to make decisions based on knowing rather than in the dark. Ok?"

"There are clean sheets on the bed, fresh soap in the shower and new towels hanging in my bathroom. I can make a great breakfast in the morning." Her eyes and face made sure I knew what was being offered. I wondered if she would kick herself after she knew who I really was. I couldn't do that to her, or anyone. I wanted to throw caution out the window and spend the night with her, tasting everything on her menu.

I stood up, thanked Diane for dinner, her various offers and kissed her good-night. I walked back to the cottage and went to bed, alone. Saturday morning I called Margaret, Ann and Grace. I invited each of them to dinner Friday night and we agreed to have dinner at eight-thirty. I made no secret of the fact that dinner was for the four of them and me.

As was my normal practice, I opened the F&G on Saturday at seven and stayed open until one in the afternoon. Three farmers dropped in and I did $3300 business. At one o'clock I closed the doors and went into the cottage. I showered, shaved and dressed in fresh jeans, collared shirt and hiking boots. I picked up the phone and dialed a number I had memorized three years before. A young male voice answered after the first ring, "Ninety-first Strat Wing. First Sergeant's office. How may I be of assistance?"

"Is there an old F-100 parked out front?" I asked.

"Yes, Sir!"

"Is the old Mexican who owns it in his office?"

There was a hesitation before he answered, "Sir, Sergeant Garcia is in his office. Would you like me to transfer this call?"

"Yes. Tell him Ben Peterson is calling."

"Yes, Sir!" The line went on hold and a few seconds later I heard Jose's voice, "I wondered if I'd ever hear from you again."

"It wasn't part of the plan when I drove off the base. Now, I need you're help. I need you to send me the star."

"Give me an address." I did and he read it back to me.

He asked, "You Ok?"

"I am and I find I can't hide like I wanted to. I need to tell a woman the truth about me. She wants to get really serious and I can't, until I tell her the truth."

"I can overnight the star to you. Is that quick enough?"

"Jose, did you tell your wife about what you did, before?"

"I did and it damn near killed me. I told her and two hours later I asked her to marry me."

"What happened in the two hours?"

"She raped me!" He laughed. Chief Master sergeant Jose Garcia was six foot three and weighed at least two hundred fifty pounds. I'd met his wife a few times and if she got caught in the rain she might weigh a hundred pounds. She might have been five foot two, wearing heels. My mind attempted to picture her raping him. I couldn't picture it, so I laughed.

We thanked each other for the laugh and touching base then the call ended. I didn't put the phone down. I dialed another number from memory.

The voice that answered said, "Identify yourself."

I said, "1975NP zero two six."

Twenty seconds later another voice asked, "Request?"

"A face to face in the next three days, near here."

"Today, fifteen hundred hours, mile marker two-eighty-four east bound on I-80." The phone went dead.

I gassed my truck in town and drove to I-80. I got on going east. I read the mile markers for eight miles before I stopped beside the mile marker. I opened the passenger door and waited.

Looking in every direction there were no other vehicles within sight. At fifteen hundred hours a figure rose up out of the weeds beside the road, dropped his camouflage into the ditch and sat beside me in the truck. He closed the door and pointed east.

When I was up to sixty-five he asked, "You want permission to tell all of them?"

"Marrying anyone without telling her would be wrong. I won't give details, sources or tell them target information or dates."

"Which one do you want to marry?"

"I don't know. Until I see their reaction to me, it could easily be any one of them."

"You understand what will happen if any one of them talks?"

"Yes."

Up ahead I saw a semi parked at a rest stop. My passenger pointed at it and I got off the Interstate. I parked and he said, "You need to take a leak." He was right. I got out and went inside, took a leak and when I came out the semi was gone and a piece of paper was on the seat of the El Camino.

It said, "OK."

I drove to The City and bought some things for Friday night. It was seven o'clock when I left The City headed home. At a quarter after, my cell rang. It was Ann's number.

"Hi Honey!" I said.

"When will you be home?" The tone of her voice told me something wasn't good.

"I'll be home before eight. What's up?"

"There are four women who need to talk to you."

"Can we meet at the cottage at nine?" I asked.

"Thank you. We'll be there." She paused and said, "We love you. You know that?"

"I don't know anything. I do believe you when you say it. Meet me at home, please." I ended the call.

I pulled the El Camino into my garage and noticed four women on the back porch. All four were in dresses. I saw a salad bowl, two bottles of wine and a huge pan from the café. I didn't need to cook dinner. It wasn't Friday night, either.

As I closed the garage they lined up beside the porch. Ann first, then Margaret, followed by Grace and Diane was on the porch. I kissed each one, and gave as good as I got. Diane squeezed my hardened cock when we kissed. After the kiss she said, "We have his attention."

I opened the door and we went inside. The table got set, wine poured and I was pointed at the chair where they wanted me to sit. I sat. Diane served a chicken pasta dish that smelled wonderfully. Every time I started to speak one of them touched my lips with a finger.

Diane sat beside me and stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork, lifted it to my mouth and said, "Eat." I did.

Diane said, "At two this afternoon two strangers came into the café. They ordered the meatloaf and the corn chowder. For half an hour they ate and never spoke to each other or anyone else. I went to their table after everyone else left and I said, "Ok. What's up?" 

"The older one asked, "Do you love Ben Peterson?"

"Who's asking?" I asked."

"He said they were friends of yours. They wouldn't tell me anything else."

"They came to my office, too." Ann said. Margaret nodded, as did Grace."

"Ok." I said, "Truth time. The preface to this conversation is that what is said here MUST remain here, between the five of us, forever. I've been promised that if I tell you and one of you tells someone, you will die. No excuses or apologies will be accepted. You will die." I paused and asked, "Do you believe me?"

They nodded. Their body language showed excitement, fear and worry.

"If you decide not to listen, not to participate in this conversation, please understand what it will mean. It means no more dinners together, no escalation of the relationship we have, in fact, it means the effective end to the relationship. After the conversation you may decide to end the relationship anyway, just understand the need for silence about what you learn will still be necessary."

"I'm in," Diane said.

"I'm in," Margaret said.

"I'm scared... and I'm in too," Ann said.

"Me too," Grace said.

I took a deep breath and said, "If you contact the Air Force and ask about anything I'm about to say they will deny it. They will admit I was in the Air Force for eighteen years and was medically retired. You need to know the truth so you can decide if you can still want to be with me."

Margaret said, "Jesus, Ben, get to it already."

"I was a sniper. That's the short version of it."

Grace said, "You shot people from a long ways away. You killed them!"

"Yes. Thinking I was an Inventory Management supervisor is one thing, a sniper is a whole different thing."

"You were hurt while you were in the field to kill someone?" Ann asked.

I nodded. Diane asked, "Did they die?"

"Yes. I was stabbed. He died."

Grace had tears on her face before ten o'clock. She stopped asking questions. Ann was shaken and kept wanting to know if I tended towards violence all the time. I explained that the violence had been trained out of me. My violence was part of the job, outside the job I was Clarke Kent.

Diane and Ann cleaned up the table. Grace stood up, shook my hand and said, "I cannot love you. I will stay quiet, but I cannot live in the world you live in. I believe in peace, non-violence and frankly, you scare me now." She was crying as she walked out the back door.

Margaret stepped into my arms and said, "Up until today I thought you were the mildest man I'd ever met. Now I see that you are holding the reins tightly. I'm afraid of you. I want to love you, and I'm afraid."

I held her in my arms and softly said, "I wanted to tell you so, if you decided to love me, it wouldn't be for the wrong reasons or because I kept the truth from you." We kissed and I felt her holding back. It was still a great kiss.

Ann and Diane watched Margaret and Grace leave and they stayed quiet. I guided them into my living room and the three of us sat on the couch. Ann said, "You could have chosen one of us, married one of us and kept your past hidden forever."



"Maybe. But getting serious with any one of you behind a withhold would have started our relationship with secrets. I won't do that. From the first dinner I've wanted to go farther with you. I didn't because you would have felt betrayed when you finally learned you were involved with a man who killed as his job."

Diane put her hand on my thigh and said, "That much integrity inspires me. I can trust you completely. I do trust you. I love you and if you have no objection I'd like to stay here tonight."

"Wait!" Ann said, "I love him too! I want him to love me!"

Diane asked, "Great! Now what do we do?"

I said, "Flip a coin?" The instant I said it I knew it was wrong. I followed the statement with, "No, that's crazy. I have a new problem, smaller than the one I had an hour ago, but still a problem. You see an hour ago I knew I could love any of four women. I was already having feelings for all four of you and not just on the nights I shared dinner with you. Two chose to end their relationship with me. Now I love two women. Ann, do you want to go home and be alone tonight and every night from now on?"

Tears flowed and she asked, "You choose Diane?"

I faced Diane and asked, "Diane, do you want to go home and be alone tonight and every night from now on?"

"Damn! You know I don't!"

"I already love both of you. I don't want to choose between you. Choosing one of you will hurt the other one and hurt me. I see a possible solution. How about if the three of us love each other?"

Diane asked, "You mean the three of us spend the night making a male fantasy come true?"

"No." I said, "That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying let's move our relationship to a new level of intimacy. We've been at the level I'd label, "Sharing time together getting to see if we want more." I'm at the level where I want to make a commitment. I spent eighteen years married to the military. My job and secrets kept me from even having a steady girl-friend. Now, I'm a civilian and I've found both of you. If you decide you can't share, then one or both of you will choose to end this, whatever it is. If you both decide ending whatever this is I'll be gone at the end of the month. I already believe I can fully love both of you, focus on making both of you happy to have me in your life from tonight on. The rest are details." 

"We both stay here tonight?" Diane asked.

Ann said, "By ten in the morning every wagging tongue in the county will be talking about us spending the night!"

Diane nodded and added, "And, I'll catch crap from every customer in the café for days."

"It might get you more customers, coming in to see the woman willing to share." I smiled as I said it.

"I've been a model of what the community wanted a thirty-something single woman to be... and I'm tired of it. I want to live with someone, be loved and act like a wife! No, I want to be a wife!" Ann said. "Let the tongues wag! I'd rather share than be alone."

Diane said, "You and I've been friends since the day you came to town. We've met and conspired to catch a man and be happy. If I had a sister she wouldn't be any closer than we are."

It was quiet in the cottage for a long time. They were thinking and I was waiting.

"Can three people sleep in a queen-sized bed?" Ann asked.

I said, "I don't have any experience sleeping with two women, or being in a live-in relationship. Hell, for the last few years I've kept my relationships pretty casual. I wanted to be honest and couldn't."

"Maybe we can learn as we go." Ann said.

"Maybe we ought to find out how comfortable the three of us can be, together." Diane said. She stood up and headed out of the living room. Ann and I followed. 

Diane said, "We should get really clean, otherwise people will think we were doing something dirty here tonight."

She unbuttoned her dress and opened it, facing Ann and I. I saw a lacy bra and matching panties. Diane said, "These are the underwear I've wanted you to see."

I said, "You can remove the dress, but please, allow me to assist you in taking off the bra and panties." I turned to Ann and helped her out of her dress.

I lowered the zipper and helped her step out of the dress. I saw her look for a good place to put it, ran to my bedroom and came back with two hangers. We hung both dresses and I took them to the bedroom leaving both women standing in the bathroom in bras and panties.

I heard Ann say, "Can this possibly work?"

Diane answered, "I've never known a man anything like Nick. I've never had a friend like you. I want this to work. I want him to love me and I want him to also love you. He already trusts us."

I went back into the bathroom and stood behind Ann. As my hands cupped her bra clad breasts I kissed her neck. She moaned and tilted her head allowing more access to her neck. I kissed her more than once and gently pinched her breasts through her bra.

Slowly I moved us closer to Diane. I moved behind Diane and kissed her, caressing her breasts through her bra. She reached behind Ann and unhooked her bra. She didn't remove it.

I moved back to Ann and again cupped her breasts, this time inside the cups of her bra. She moaned.  I pinched her nipples between the side of my index fingers and thumbs, gently at first. I kissed her neck, then Diane's, then back to Ann's.

Each time I kissed either of them I pinched Ann's nipples. She reached behind Diane and unfastened her bra then helped it fall to the floor. She moved one of my hands to one of Diane's breasts and she held the other hand against one of hers. I kissed Diane and squeezed her areola and nipple just as I did Ann's.

They both moaned and both reached for and found my belt. They worked as a team and loosened my belt then lowered my jeans and briefs far enough to uncover my erection. I kissed Ann, then Diane and kept caressing, pinching and holding their breasts.

Diane stopped the action by saying, "I could do this all night, but maybe we should shower and play in Nick's bed."

Lightning fast we were completely undressed and the shower was warming. They held my cock and we kissed a little more, until the shower was hot. Ann tested the water and helped us under the spray. I washed Ann's hair, then Diane's. As I washed Ann's hair Diane washed my back, butt and legs, reaching around me often to assure herself that I was still hard.

When Ann's hair was washed and rinsed they traded places and Ann washed me while I washed Diane's hair. We didn't hurry. When Diane's hair was rinsed I took the washcloth and lathered her body, top to bottom, front and back. As she turned to rinse I focused on lathering Ann. Both moaned and made other appreciative noises between shared kisses.

The kisses were shared between all of us. I kissed Diane and then Ann, then they kissed and I kissed other body parts besides their faces. When I felt the hot water running out I shut off the water and stepped out. I got towels for all of us and we dried each other.

We were each aware that it wasn't me sharing affection with the two of them. It was each of us being affectionate with the other two. We were physically reinforcing our decision to be an US, a WE.

We didn't exactly get dry. I kept touching their slits and making sure they stayed wet. They stroked me and Diane dropped to her knees and slid my cock inside her mouth. I moaned, her mouth and Ann's hands and mouth felt so very good. Ann's tongue danced with mine.




He Planned a Secret Ch. 01



As we explored the possibilities standing and kneeling we also moved slowly towards the bed. When we were close enough Ann broke our kiss and climbed onto the bed, asking, "How do you want to do this?"

I answered, "I want to taste both of you. Please, lie on the bed with your legs spread enough that I can get my mouth on your pussies."

Ann looked up at me and said, "I'm thirty-four years old and no man has ever done that!"

Diane said, "Or wanted to." They moved side by side on the bed, legs apart and butts near the edge of the bed. I assisted them into the exact positions I wanted them in, knelt on the little bedside rug and leaned into Ann's treasure.

Her legs involuntarily started to close when she felt my tongue touch the inside of her lips. Her hands went to her knees and held her legs open for me. She said, "Oh God, Diane, He's wonderful! I'm ready to cum!"

She twisted her upper body and kissed Diane. As they kissed I took my mouth off her vulva and touched her vaginal opening with a finger. My face moved to Diane and licked her from taint to clit in one long, slow lick. Diane's back arched, her legs shook and she screamed into Ann's mouth. 

I licked her clit lightly through her orgasm and then backed away, returning to Ann's dripping puss.

I sucked her clit and sucked in what I thought of as the way a baby would suck at a nipple. She and Diane kept kissing, moaning shaking and screaming into each other's mouths.

I stroked their sensitive areas with my fingers, kissed them with my mouth and licked, sucked and probed them with my tongue. When I was sure they both had cum at least twice I stood and pushed my cock into Diane.

All the way in, as deep as my seven inches could go, in one slow stroke. As my pubic hair pressed her lips I held still for a moment then slowly began to pull back. Diane said, "I may die here tonight! I feel..." Her words failed and all that came out of her mouth were noises. Sweet noises.

I used my hand to hold and squeeze Ann's breast as I penetrated Diane for three slow strokes, then I pulled out of her and moved to my right and repeated the slow, deep strokes into Ann. When I pulled back from the first deep penetration Ann was having none of it. She lifted her hips and followed my cock, trying to keep it inside her.

The instant I was all the way out except still touching just her lips I slammed back inside! Her back arched, her eyes closed and she uttered a low, deep inside, growl. I felt her vaginal walls spasm and her hips lift again. I pulled back quickly and slammed inside her again, feeling the pressure inside me build.

Ann's eyes opened and she said, "I want to have it in my mouth! Please!"

I hurried and almost made it. My cock was inches from Ann's mouth when my first spurt flew to her cheek. She captured the next three with her lips wrapped around the head of my exploding cock. Diane licked the first spurt off Ann's cheek, then moved enough that Ann moved and the last of my load went directly into Diane's mouth. She licked and sucked on me as if I was the best, tastiest Popsicle she'd ever had.

I moved to lie between them and they made room. I settled on my back with Ann tucked against my right side and Diane against my left. They sat up together and pulled the sheet up enough to cover us.

Our breathing slowed and my pulse rate declined back into the acceptable range for a man my age. We didn't say anything for a long time. They each had a hand that continued to explore my torso. They found the scar, the five inch long scar on my belly, just to the right of my navel. They both traced it with fingers more than once. Ann lifted up a little, bent her self to it and kissed the scar. It surprised me. 

I realized that no one had ever kissed or touched the scar outside a hospital because Ann and Diane were the first women in bed with me since I got stabbed. 

She dropped back against me, touched the scar again and said, "I think this will work. I love you both."

Diane said, "I know it will work! I love you both! I've never felt how I feel right now, safe, loved and so satisfied."

"This must be Heaven." I said, "I love you both. Sleep."

I don't know if they slept. I did. No twigs snapped. When I woke up it was daylight and I needed to pee. Ann was still beside me. Diane was up. I heard noises in the kitchen. I moved slowly, attempting to get up without waking Ann. I didn't make it. She opened her eyes and said, "It wasn't a dream."

"I'll be right back. Ok?"

She nodded. I went into the bathroom and sat. Sitting makes less noise. I made noise when I flushed and wondered if Diane heard me. I opened the door and saw Diane and Ann smiling at me from the bed, a space left for me in the middle.

As I took them both in my arms Diane said, "Breakfast is in the oven. It will be ready when we hear the timer ding, about twenty minutes."

I squeezed them both against me and said, "Twenty minutes! What the heck can we possibly do for twenty minutes?"

Two hands grabbed my limpest part and stroked me twice. Ann said, "This make take longer than twenty minutes."

We laughed and Diane said, "Let the kissing begin." She kissed me and pushed a mint into my mouth from her mouth. I started to laugh and Ann asked, "What's funny?"

I turned to her and kissed her, pushing the mint into her mouth. She burst out laughing and said, "I love it! The cure for morning breath!"

We traded the mint back and forth and fifth until it was gone. The timer dinged and we shared chiliquilles fresh from the oven. They were incredible. It was nearly ten in the morning before we dressed. We discussed some of the details of "how-we-make-this-work" and they made a list for me of things I needed to buy and keep in the cottage. We cleared and cleaned two closets in the cottage for them and it was decided that, at least for a while, we would keep all three homes, spending time in each.

After they went home I went shopping. The grocery in town was closed on Sunday so I drove to The City and walked into a huge everything store. It was so big it was a market for food, clothes, camping supplies, garden tools, a pharmacy, furniture, shoes and plants. I got two sheet sets, more cleaning supplies, a bag of mints, milk, bread, sandwich stuff, frozen veggies and other food items they put on the list. I was standing in the check-out line when one of my customers from the F&G said "Hello."

I recognized him easily. He was Mr. Zeppel. Last time he had been in the F&G he had given he a hard time about being the only single man left in the county over twenty-five. His wife and two teen sons were with him when he said hello.

I said, "Mr. Zeppel! Happy Sunday to you."

He said, turning to his wife, "This is Ben from the Feed store." Then he turned to me and said, "This is my wife Alisha and my boys, Robert and Matt. Robert is seventeen and Matt is fifteen."

I shook the boy's hands and nodded to their mother. She said, "The only single man in the county. I think I won the pool."

I wondered what pool she was talking about. She sent the two boys back into the store for something and as soon as they were gone she said, "I put five bucks on it taking over ten months and under twelve for you to bed one of the four. You've been in town eleven months and a week as I count. I win."

"Who all was in the pool?" I asked.

"All the women at the grange. We started the pool about a week after you started at the Feed store."

"Is there another pool for which woman?"

"Yes, but no one wins that one! Maybe Maybeth and Sally can split it! She laughed. Her husband and I blushed. The boys came back and no further mention was made about pools or my love life. I figured before I got home a list of the things I bought in The City would be circulating through the grange.

My cell rang while I drove home. It was Diane. She was laughing as I answered.

"You know, the government should hire the women of this county! I got home before eleven-thirty and by twelve I'd had three phone calls. The first two congratulated me on spending the night with you. The third gave me condolences for Ann spending the night with you!"

"I wonder if Ann, Grace and Margaret got calls too?"

"Yes! And, not from the same women who called me. Did you know the women at the grange..."

"Had a pool on who would be bedded by me and when? Yes, I heard about it this morning from the winner, Mrs. Zeppel."

"Alisha? I'll be damned. She won! How was that for you?"

"Weird. I didn't know we were such a gossip item."

"Small town and it's been a slow news month." Diane said.

"What do you mean, slow news month? It rained for three hours last week." We both laughed. I asked, "Where you sleeping tonight?"

She hesitated. I said, "You're invited. So is Ann, even though she might not know it yet. We need to spend more time together. There are some big decisions to be made and I both need and want your input."

"Big decisions? Like what?"

"Like do I buy a king-sized bed. And, if I do, do I have it delivered or use the F&G truck and get it myself?"

"If you're going bed shopping we should go with you! Going bed shopping requires we test lots of mattresses to make sure we got a good one." I could hear the laughter in her voice. I wondered how far we'd need to drive to be able to buy a bed for three without the news getting home before the bed did. My first estimate was Denver.

I asked, "Like what do I say when people ask me if I'm doing both of you?"

"Doing? Is that what farmers will ask? Hey Ben, are you doing both those women?"

"I need a haircut. I'll get asked by townies there, farmers at the F&G and if I get gas in my truck, Paul will ask as he pumps the gas. He might be a bit more crude and ask if I'm getting some of both of you."

"I wonder if I can get you a t-shirt with three big letters on the front? YES!" Diane was clearly enjoying the moment.

"Be glad we aren't living near a military base. They know how to be crude in three or four languages."

"What will you say to those who ask?"

"I'll answer with a question. "Would you, if you could?"

"Men are pigs!" She laughed. "Ok, I'll sleep with you again tonight. The café closes at eight. Do I bring food home or are either of you cooking?"

"Ok, If there aren't any leftovers, call me and I'll whip together a bachelor's delight dinner for the three of us."

"Something from the microwave?"

"Hell, no. I can use a frying pan and ingredients."

"Ok. I'll call you if there aren't any leftovers. Now, call Ann. Invite her."

"Yes, Dear." I laughed as I hung up. I called Ann and she agreed to come over after work, with a stop at her place to "pick up a few things."

She arrived at six o'clock. It took both of us three trips to get her "few things" into the cottage and put away. As soon as she was in and her car parked and closed up she smiled pointedly at me and asked, "Can we have an intimate conversation?"

"Is it going to mess up the bed?" I asked.



[As always your comments are welcomed unless you want to attack me personally. I have ex-wives and other relatives to tell me what a perverse, ignorant, asshole I am. Please don't waste time repeating their beliefs. If your comments may possibly assist in me becoming a better writer, please, leave a comment.]



He Planned a Secret Ch. 02



Her blouse came off, followed quickly by her bra. Ann's smile never left. I looked, savoring the look of her. I already knew her breasts looked slightly heavy, with oblong areola and nipples that pointed forward. The skin of her chest had no tan lines and no tan except for a slight darkening in a "V" where the conservative neckline of blouses may have let a little sunshine in on occasion. Blue veins were visible around her areola and the lower parts of her breasts and I determined to spend some time tracing those lines with my fingers and tongue.

"Most men are in a hurry when a woman starts undressing." Ann said.

"Most men aren't me. I'm savoring the look of you. I'm thinking, anticipating what is to come, while I enjoy what already is."

"Please shut up and help us get naked."

"Always willing to help." I moved closer and while we kissed her arms wrapped around my shoulders and she pressed her chest against mine. My hands started at her waist, then cupped her butt, squeezing and slightly lifting her.

In the second kiss my hands moved between us and opened the button and drew down the zipper of her pants.

"Oh, kind sir, it seems I have a wardrobe malfunction!"

"Oh, may I help you with that?" I asked, then kissed her again. She nodded. I ended the kiss and dropped to my knees. My hands grasped the waistband of her pants and drew them slowly down, over her hips and then all the way to the floor while I also kissed lots of the freshly exposed skin. She was wearing a pair of white, boy-leg, lacy panties.

"You like?" She asked.

"I love how they look."



I helped her out of the panties and stood up. My interest was pushing on the inside of my jeans like it wanted freedom. Ann noticed and liberated my interest, aiming it and me toward our bed.

She pushed me onto my back and climbed on top of me, straddling my hips and pinning my cock against, but not in, her pussy. "Do you need to always be the aggressor?" She asked.

"Not always, but often." My hands held her breasts and squeezed hard enough that when I pulled she came to me rather than my hands slipping off. We kissed again.

"You like foreplay?" She asked between kisses.

"And fiveplay, sixplay and sevenplay." I shifted her and kissed her breasts, from collarbones south, lifting them one at a time to kiss under them. Suddenly I flipped her onto her back and continued kissing and caressing her breasts.

"Ben, I'm not saying stop what you're doing, but could you be inside me, please?" She added to her request by kissing me and having her tongue explore the inside of my mouth.

We joined slowly and tenderly. The intensity built slowly and until I was within a minute of exploding inside her we weren't even breathing hard. Then I lifted her legs, holding near her ankles and increased the force and power of my thrusts into her.

Just as I felt my spunk pushing out of me and into Ann she grabbed my nipples and pinched hard! The sudden pain and surprise increased the power of my orgasm and I grunted like a bear in ecstasy.  I was looking at her face and she smiled up at me, pleased with her self.

She rolled me onto my side and grabbed four or five tissues from the bedside table. She used them to catch the flow from her opening. She turned and took my cock in her mouth and licked, sucked and hummed as I tried to calm down.

When she released my cock from her mouth she said, "Diane doesn't need to taste my juices on your cock when she gets home."

"You tasted her juices last night. Are you saying I should do something so you don't taste each other on me?"

"No. I'm sure we'll both get used to tasting each other on you and directly. I just meant tonight. I wanted some one-on-one time and I'd bet she does too. Giving each other one-on-one time is something we'll work out."

"Do you want or need one-on-one time with Diane?" I asked. Hidden in the question was a question about them playing with each other.

She looked at me for a while without answering. Then she smiled and said, "Probably, but not for a couple of months. We've had months of time together, sharing dinners, coffee and girl's night out talking about men in general and you in specific."

At 7:45 we got off the bed, opened the windows and then showered quickly. We dressed and when Diane walked in she saw us sitting on the couch watching TV. She carried a metal pan from the café.

We sat at the table and ate. Chicken and dumplings with peas and a small salad. Diane told us about her day.

"The lunch crowd came in and were talking about the fire over in Smith County last night. A barn burnt down. No animals were hurt or killed. The barn was a total loss. On Saturday and Sunday there's a barn raising. Everyone is to bring their tools and help."

"We'll be there, won't we?" I asked.

Diane said, "It's a tough call for me. What I do best doesn't involve a hammer or a saw. I cook, but if I show up with a hundred sandwiches I lose money. I have to close up the café and supply a hundred sandwiches." She paused. "I'll be there."

"Ann?" I asked.

"I'm not good with tools. I don't own a hammer. I'll be there as a gofer."

"Do we go together?" I asked.

Ann said, "I want to go together. We're already not a secret. If we hide we're saying we're doing something wrong."

Diane said, "I had a lull today and spent time on the computer. I ordered t-shirts for us! If they get here in time we can wear them Saturday or Sunday."

"T-shirts?" I asked.

"Yes! Printed in big letters on the front Ann's t-shirt says, "I'm with HIM!" My shirt says, "I'm with HIM!" Your t-shirt says, "I'm with BOTH of them!" All three shirts are royal blue."

"That puts it right out there and says we are not ashamed of what we're doing." I said. In my mind I wondered if we were opening up major problems for ourselves. I wondered just how socially conservative the town, the county, really were.

At that moment the phone rang. I answered, "This is Ben."

"And this is Solomon. Is it true that two women slept in your home last night?" His tone and energy said judgment to me. I couldn't just let it be.

"How many women slept in your house last night?" I asked. Both female faces I could see looked shocked when I asked.

"Two! My wife and my daughter."

I said, "Two. Neither is my wife or daughter."

"You admit it!" His voice was raised.

"Did I break a state or federal law?" I asked.

"Not that I know of. But, some people will not approve."

"Some people think buying anything but a John Deere tractor is a sin, too. Others still eat fish on Fridays and think people are bad for having a steak.  I can't live my life living by someone else's rules all the time."

"I like John Deere tractors and I get your point. Anyway, what are your intentions?" Solomon asked.

"I intend to work nine and a half hours tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, go to the barn raising this weekend, wash and wax my truck and play a little too. How about you, Solomon?"

"I'm worried. If people don't like what you're doing it could mean they stop doing business with the Feed and Grain."

"Let's say it does effect the bottom line. How big a drop in the bottom line will get me fired?"

"I'm not saying I'm going to fire you! I like you. I'm just worried. I've had six phone calls telling me that two women spent the night with you last night. One of the calls said both women are there again tonight."

"That says to me that both adult women decided to be here of their own free will. Solomon, I love my job. I love living in this town and I like having you as a boss. However, who I love, when I love, and why I love are really none of anyone's business as long as everything we do is consensual. Am I right?"

"You are. Sorry I bothered you. See you at the store tomorrow!" The connection broke from his end.

Both Ann and Diane had moved closer to me as I talked to Solomon. After I hung up the phone I asked Diane, "Have you seen a decrease in your business?"

"Nope." We both looked at Ann.

She said, "People talk to me at work for two reasons, to get something fixed or when they pay their bills. That hasn't changed and won't. If you don't pay your bill we shut off your utilities. If you want the electricity fixed you must talk to me."

"Has anyone said anything about us to you?" Diane asked.

"Yes. Mr. McDonald came in to pay his bill and he said I looked happier than he's seen me look in a while. I smiled and thanked him for saying so. He asked if he should call Ben and thank him for the smile on my face. Then he blushed."

I said, "He didn't call. McDonald lives about four miles north of town. Gossip travels quickly."

"His wife is part of the grange wives club." Diane added.

Before ten the three of us were in bed playing and reinforcing our bonds of affection. We had talked about getting a bigger bed, about sleeping at Diane's place and Ann's place and about the barn raising on Saturday. Ann set the alarm next to the bed for five-thirty. Together we focused on Diane and helped her enjoy four screaming orgasms before we spooned against each other and went to sleep.

Wednesday night we slept at Ann's and she made dinner. Thursday night we slept at Diane's and she brought dinner home from the café. Each night we brought clothes and things to the houses, making life easier for us to live in all three houses. After we ate Friday night Diane brought up the subject of moving.

She said, "Next week your rent is due on the cottage. It seems nuts for you to pay me rent on a house we both live in. It also seems nuts that all three of us pay for housing and most of the time we aren't in any one of the houses."

Ann added, "What if we look for a bigger place where we could live together and save money?"

"You think we could do that? What about all the wagging tongues in town?" I asked. I noticed how difficult it was to speak clearly with my tongue in my cheek.

"They'll get over it by the time we're seventy." Diane said, smiling.

"Is there a place we can buy or rent in town?" I asked.

"I can call Marybeth, the realtor, tomorrow. There may be a big house that is available. If there is maybe we can talk to the owners and rent it." Ann said.

On Saturday Diane went to the café and made breakfast, as usual. Ann and I gathered tools and wore grubby clothes with our new t-shirts. We arrived at the farm by nine. Two stake side trucks were being unloaded when we arrived. Lumber, siding, nails and cans of paint were being stacked and families were starting work on the new barn. The clean up of the burnt barn and ashes was already done.

I was put on a nailing detail, nailing siding on the barn when it was framed, until that started I was muscle helping lift and hold the posts and beams into place. Ann joined the ladies auxiliary inside the farm house making food and whatever else they did.

At about ten-thirty, six women came out of the house carrying glasses and pitchers of lemonade. Ann was one of the six. She looked for me and made a bee-line for me and the five men I was teamed with. When she stood by me it was obvious from our shirts we were together.

A man from Smith County that I hadn't known before looked at the two of us, smiled and asked, "Where's the other one?"

Ann smiled at him and asked, "Other one, what?"

"Aren't you the folks who are the cause of a lot of gossip lately?" He asked, pointing at our shirts.

She kept smiling and said, "I don't know. People don't tell me much gossip. What are people saying?"

"That there are three people, a man and two women, living together like there's nothing wrong with it."

I asked, "And if three people want to live together, love together and support each other there's something wrong with that?"

He shook his head, held his arms out wide and said, "I was married for twelve years to one woman. Hardest thing I ever did was live with her and try to make her happy. I don't see how it would be possible to live with two women, much less keep them happy."

Ann poured him some more lemonade and said, "Making me happy isn't Ben's job. My happiness is my job. We're a partnership. My job is to do what I can to help his life work for him, to help Diane's life work for her and they each do what they can to make sure my life works for me. Diane spends lots of her time cooking. I do what I can so she isn't overwhelmed when she gets off work with the other things that need doing."

We were out of lemonade. Ann took the glasses and the empty pitcher and went back inside... after I got a wonderful kiss and an "I love you." We went back to work. For the next two hours the conversation around me was about loving two women. I did my best to answer their questions and still maintain some privacy for us.

One of the men did ask the question, just as I said someone would. "You doing both of them?" I answered just as I said I would, "If you could, wouldn't you?" The men on the team with me nodded and we moved on.

Diane arrived just before lunch and unloaded her minivan of trays of sandwiches. As we all ate she told me the ladies of the grange paid her for the sandwiches. During lunch the sheriff announced that he believed the fire that burnt the barn was arson. That announcement took the focus off us and onto the questions "Why?" and "Who?" There were no answers.

We worked until it was starting to get dark then left all our tools right where they were and went home. Leaving the tools was, I was told, a promise to be back the next day. Ann had spent the afternoon outside the farm house being a gofer for whatever the men needed. At various times I saw her carrying siding planks, bags of nails, tools and doing clean up. As we drove home she was pretty quiet and when I glanced over, she was asleep. When I parked at Ann's house I dialed Diane on my cell and asked her to meet us at Ann's. I said I was taking the three of us to dinner in The City.

Ann and I went into Ann's and cleaned up. An hour later Diane showed up in a dress and we drove to The City. The three of us were well fed and in bed before eleven. All three of us were at the barn raising by eight-thirty.

Our triad was not a topic of conversation at the barn. The men talked about the barn, the weather, crops, the upcoming election and if the schools should adopt uniforms. None of the topics reached a consensus except the weather. The agreement was, no rain until September.

By dark Sunday night the barn was up, painted and drying. We slept together at Diane's that night.

Over the next three months the community around us got used to us living together. When we rented a house together, I didn't hear anything from customers of the F&G. Diane didn't hear negative comments from her customers and neither did Ann. The house we rented included a barn big enough that we used it as a place to park our three vehicles. I didn't hear a single twig snap.

In our town mail was not delivered. On the north end of town a small building bore the sign, "U.S. Postal Service". Inside, everyone had a mailbox. I went to the post office once a week to see what might be in my mail box. I never got letters from my parents, siblings or other relatives. As far as I knew I didn't have any living relatives. I got ads from real estate agents in Florida, A Ford Dealer in The City, stores that were having sales and notices from local fundraisers like the Girl Scouts selling cookies. I always bought three boxes of cookies.

One day I opened the box and saw a letter postmarked Virginia. Only one person in Virginia knew where I was: SMgt Jose' Garcia. I opened the envelope and read, "Ben, Things have reached the stage where getting out, retiring, is appropriate. My wife and I haven't spent much time talking about where to retire or when. Now the decision time is here. Can the area where you are support one more classic pick-up with a family?" The letter was signed Jose'.

I called his office and the young man who answered said First Sergeant Franklin had gone home for the day. My friend had been replaced. I called Jose' at home. We talked and I promised to see what work and housing was available in my area.

The very next day I got a visit from a man from the county. He wanted to know if he could interest me in moving twelve miles to the county seat and talking over the management of the county warehouse. I told him I had a friend who was looking for a job like that and I knew him well. He gave me contact information to pass along. It was passed along before he got back to his office.

A week later I checked my mail again and opened another letter from Jose'.

"Ben, Get ready. I will be officially retired as of the first of the month. Kasumi and I will be headed your way on the first. I accepted the job with the county and start on the eighth. Maybe you can help us find a place to rent for a few months? I know your woman knows your secret. I'd appreciate it if no one knows mine." He signed it, "Jose'".

Marybeth found a home for them to rent and think about buying. They arrived at our new home on the third. We had dinner at the café and Diane fed them fajitas. On the fifth the moving van showed up and we helped them move into their home. The three women became friends as we moved them in. Their home was twelve miles from ours.

Late that night after we were home and in bed Ann said, "Jose' is more than just a friend." It was a question and it was a statement.

I said, "I met him when we were both working in a warehouse. We've been friends ever since then."

Diane asked, "Was he hurt, too?"

"No. He retired by choice, not medical necessity."

The conversation was over. We went to sleep. Four hours later I heard a twig snap. Even with the help of Ann and Diane I didn't go back to sleep. At the F&G the next day I took a call and Ann's voice said, "Kasumi knows and knowing strengthened the bond between them. She didn't tell us. We listen to what isn't said as well as listening and watching. He doesn't look like your brother, but we know he is. We love you."

I stopped hearing twigs snap for almost a year. Jose' and Kasumi became close friends and we enjoyed retirement. I remember my Dad saying, "Sometime the lull isn't the lull before the storm, but don't count on it."

Both Jose' and I were invited to go hunting. The first time was when Mr. McDonald invited me to go elk hunting with him. As it happened Diane was with us when I was invited. She knew the odds were really good that if I went I'd get an elk.  She told me how much she would like to have the meat to use in the café. Reluctantly, I agreed to go. Jack McDonald lent me a rifle. I took it home and worked it over for four evenings before the weekend we went hunting.

When we arrived at the spot where we would leave Jack's truck there were eight other trucks. Jose' and two of his neighbors were there. One look and I knew he was as close to laughing as I was. None of the men we were with knew anything about sneaking up on prey. Our tags were for antlered elk, meaning males.

With ten men getting ready to spread out and begin a weekend hunt Jack asked, "Same rules as last year?"

Jose' asked, "Rules?"

"Every guy puts in a hundred dollars. First elk over three hundred pounds gets five hundred. Biggest elk gets the rest."

Our wallets came out and Jack collected a hundred per man for eleven men. He then announced, "The hunt ends at dark Sunday night. To count the animal must be weighed in the field and seen by three of us."

Ten minutes later Jack and I were walking away from the parking lot. He acted as my mentor all day. I saw three bull elk. Jack wouldn't let me shoot them. He said they were too far away. Using the .300 Winchester he was right. They were at the kill limit distance for such a small weapon.

Saturday we saw two bulls fighting. The larger of the two had a rack with four tines on each side. When the fight was over he gathered three cows to him and headed west. I told Jack I wanted to follow him and see if I could get close enough for a shot. He said he would follow the loser, who was injured and we agreed that if we got a kill we'd email the coordinates and meet at the kill.




He Planned a Secret Ch. 02



It took me two hours to catch up to the bull and his cows. By catch up I mean get within shooting range. I watched and saw how he moved around his cows, protecting them and watching for threats. I got closer.

He turned his cows toward me and I took a prone position and waited. The wind was at his back. When he was a hundred and fifty yards away he turned and froze, listening. In the distance he heard a bull. I took the shot and the round penetrated just behind his foreleg, exploding his heart. I chambered another round and fired at the largest cow, standing ten feet beyond the fallen bull. She went down. The other cows scattered and I ignored them. I policed my brass and made my firing position invisible. Old habits die hard. I remembered a saying I had learned in training; old habits die hard, good habits keep you alive.

When I got to the down elks I made sure both were dead, texted the coordinates to Jack and told him I had a bull and a cow. Half an hour later he showed up with his truck. He called and two other men showed up to help us load the two animals in the truck. They were impressed. The bull measured 391 they said. I wanted to know how much meat I was bringing home to Diane. Jack took my picture by the antlers and a minute later I asked him to erase it.

"Why, for God's sake?"

"I hate pictures. Tell you what, let me take your picture and you can say they are both your kills. I just want a majority of the meat. If we say both elk are yours then maybe you'll even win some of the pool money."

"That's a sure thing. I'll put this on my tag and drive it to the locker in town. I'll come back tomorrow to collect you and whatever else you kill. Ok?"

"Works for me." He called and two more men showed up to help us load the two elk in the truck. We got them in and Jack drove away a happy man. The two men who helped us rode part way out with Jack leaving me alone in the woods.

I climbed a tree and waited. Just before dark I saw another bull with six cows. They were eight hundred yards off moving north. I followed.

Elk move quietly for big animals. However, the bulls have a need to tell the world when they score. The bull I was following was intent on starting a new generation of elk, making following him pretty easy. The musk of he and his cows was pretty easy to follow as well.

Looking at the GPS I saw that he was close to a county road when the sun came up. He turned and headed away from the road. I got a little ahead of him and two hundred yards from him. His cows stopped to feed. He circled them, head high, smelling the air and looking for any threats. He could neither see or smell me.

He posed for me and I squeezed a single round into him, right behind his foreleg. He just collapsed. A second after he started down the sound of the shot hit the cows and they ran. I collected the brass, cleaned my area and walked to the bull.

I called Jack and gave him the coordinates.

A minute later he called me. "You aren't kidding? You got another one?"

"No. I just got mine. You got yours yesterday. Can you come get us?"

"I'm already on my way." He arrived with his two sons and we loaded the elk into the truck. His boys were impressed. The younger one said, "The one Dad got yesterday is the first one he ever got with just one shot. Now you got one like it."

We got the animal back to the locker and the butcher cut and packaged the meat for us. I rented a locker because all the meat wouldn't fit in Diane's locker. I gave Jack all the meat from the cow and the antlers from his kill and mine. I called Diane and said, "I'm on my way home. I got some meat for you."

"How much meat?" She asked.

"Almost six hundred pounds. I rented more locker space. You didn't have enough."

"Six hundred pounds! You were after elk, not elephant!"

"We got two bulls and a cow."

"I wonder about the word we."

"Jack got the big one and even got his picture taken with it! If you want a copy I'm sure he'd love to have it on display at the café."

"He might even come in to eat some of it." Diane said.

"I'll bet he would. Anyway, I'm on my way home."

I brought her a five pound rump roast and she showed proper appreciation. Ann was equally appreciative.

During the following week I found out that Jose's hunting partner got a big bull with a single well-placed shot to the heart. Jose's kill netted him a little over two hundred pounds of elk meat. Being who she was raised to be his very Japanese wife didn't want the meat so I bought it from him and gave it to Diane. The café had months of wonderful meals with elk meat blended into them

The second time I was invited hunting the circumstances were quite different. Jose' and I were sharing our day off, hanging at the park in his town watching thirteen year-olds play hardball. The local leo (Law Enforcement Officer) came by and came to us.

"You boys both got elk a couple months ago, didn't you?" He asked.

We nodded. He continued, "I need your help. A bear attacked Jack McDonald and his wife. They're both in the hospital. Their older boy shot the bear, but didn't kill it."

Jose' asked what weapons the sheriff had. He had a variety, but only one thing he mentioned would do. We took the M-16's, drove out to the McDonald place and started tracking the bear. As we drove I called Ann and had her drive to the farm and stay with the boys. I cautioned her to stay indoors and keep the boys inside as well. Before we left the farm we test fired the weapons and sighted them in. 

The bear had left us an easy trail. We tracked it about four miles up into the hills before we saw it. It was licking the wound on it's hind quarters. Jose' went one direction and I went another, both paths would keep us down wind of the bear.

Half an hour later I could see both the bear and Jose'. I texted him a message: "When he stands we both fire."

Two minutes passed and Jose' stepped on a twig. The instant the bear heard the snap he stood up and roared. We both fired and the bear fell.

Jose's bullet entered the bear's mouth and took of the back of his head. My shot entered his chest and stopped inside his heart.

As we walked to the bear I called the sheriff and told him the bear was dead. I gave him the coordinates and within half an hour he was there with three pick-ups of men all armed for war.

By the time Jose' and I got home the male counterpart of the grange ladies club had spread the word about how we had taken out a wounded bear. Ann had organized women to stay with the boys while their parents healed. The boys would take care of the farming. That night they came to town with Ann and ate with us at the café.

At the F&G the next day I had plenty of customers. Some even bought things. The topic was the bear. The sheriff had it in the back of his truck and took it on a tour of the county. It weighed almost four hundred pounds and had a broken foot that had healed poorly.

The men who were hunters want details on how we had triangulated the shots, tracked the bear so quickly and they wanted to know what weapons Jose' and I owned.  

After two weeks the news changed topics and became the weather. Jose' and I were grateful. On the fifth of December a twig snapped at both Jose's house and mine.

It happened when both of us were at work. I was loading sacks out of a truck onto a pallet and heard the sound of a rifle. I immediately identified the sound as from a 7.62 mm NATO round. I searched for where the round hit and found nothing. An hour later the F&G phone rang. I stayed low and answered.

Jose' said, "Someone fired a NATO round near me."

"I heard one about half an hour ago, but I haven't found where it hit."

"What the hell is going on?" Jose' asked. Neither of us knew. I reported the incidents to the phone number I had used once before. An hour later I got a call sending me to The City and into a seedy bar on the south side of the City.

I sat next to the only other person in the bar. He said, "The Syrians don't like you. They don't know for sure if they don't like Jose' as much so the contract is for both of you."

"Who's the shooter?"

"Montgomery." The man said. He still hadn't looked at me.

"I need a weapon."

"It's in the back of your truck. XM-110 and three hundred rounds. We put Pierce and Toshiro in the hunt as well."

"Montgomery doesn't miss."

"He was hired to terrorize you first, then kill you."

"So far all he's done is piss me off."

"So, kill him." He turned and looked me in the face for the first time.

Back at my truck I walked around it and saw a single hole in the tailgate. A 7.62mm hole penetrating the center of the "O" in Chevrolet. An arrogant message.

Back at the F&G I searched the El Camino finding a GPS transmitter. I called Diane and Ann.

I said, "Jose' and I are going hunting."

Diane said, "Nothing's in season."

"Jose' and I are the targets. We're going after the man who wants both of us dead. Our covers have been blown. I parked the El Camino at the F&G. You can take it home anytime. I'll be back when this is over."

Ann asked, "How can we contact you?"

"When the threat has been neutralized, we'll be back. Two things: I love you both and I am coming back." I added emphasis to the word "am".

Both told me they loved me. I hung up the phone and hid in the F&G until after dark. Jose' and I had prearranged a meeting spot if our covers were blown. Midnight at a barn no longer being used for farming about ten miles away from the F&G and six miles from Jose's warehouse.

After dark I made my way to that barn. My rifle was in a padded bag and I only carried a hundred rounds. More than that was too heavy and made noise. I wondered about how rusty I might be. I felt better when I crossed a farm with three dogs. The dogs didn't notice me.

When I got to the barn I was tired. Working the F&G had me fit, but my endurance was suffering. I got inside and sat down. I heard Jose's voice, "You're getting old. I heard you breathing for the last half a mile."

"I'm not as fast as I was, either."

"Neither am I. Must be my wife's cooking making me soft."

We discussed our plan of action and quickly put the plans into action. Quickly doesn't mean we ran out of the barn posting gunfight notices inviting our adversary to the Ok Corral. It meant we stayed completely hidden for two days, didn't use or even turn on cell phones and stayed inside the abandoned barn. Jose' had stocked the barn as his emergency spot shortly after arriving in the area, months before. We had food, a chemical toilet and could stay warm even if it snowed without building a fire. What we didn't have was our wives. A steady diet of physical, emotional and spiritual support and love causes severe symptoms when they are no longer readily available.

After the two days it was the night of a new moon. We left the barn and spent that night looking for signs of the sniper. I found two signs that he had been watching Diane and Ann. A piece of an energy bar wrapper rolled into a ball and thrown under a bush and a piece of invisible tape across the driver's door seam of the El Camino.

Well before dawn we were back in the barn. During the day we compared notes and used maps to plot his movements. The next night I made my way to a pay phone and called my contact. He arranged for encoded satellite phones for both of us and told me where I could pick them up the next night. He also gave us a valuable piece of information, confirmation of the name of the sniper. We both knew him and knew him well.

The next night Jose' picked up the phones and I found further evidence left by the sniper. Knowing him helped me spot his preferred patterns and his tells. He had eaten an energy bar and carried out the waste paper, except for the corner that he ripped off. He ripped it off with his left hand, like he always did, rolled it into a small ball and tossed it away. I unrolled it and was able to identify what brand of energy bar he ate. , Alpsnack. 

Back in the barn we rested during the day. At five in the afternoon my phone vibrated. I answered and a voice properly identified itself as friend and gave me the information that his target had been changed. Because we had not been found, his controllers had upped the ante to include family. He was now authorized to take out any one of our women. It was to draw us out where he could get us.

He also told us there were two other teams in the area looking for him.

I called Ann and Diane. Since the calls could not be traced I talked to them for some time. I avoided saying anything of mission importance but I did tell them where to find the pre-printed escape plans I had made for them. I told them to put those plans into operation immediately. Jose' called his wife and before dark all three women were out of town.

Jose' and I had places we knew Giovanni Montgomery had used to watch our homes so we got within range of both places and waited. I had once spent sixty hours in the prone firing position before my target walked into the line of fire. I was prepared for a long wait this time as well. I was twelve hundred meters from the spot I knew Giovanni had been in. If he showed up again he would die. Twelve hundred meters was just under three quarters of a mile.

He didn't show that night. After the sun came up the only real change was that I got warmer. A field mouse paid me a visit and cleaned up the few crumbs that had fallen from my energy bar. I took two naps during the daylight hours. It got dark again with no movement in Giovanni's last known hiding spot. My watch was where I could see it's face without moving. At ten minutes after two in the morning I saw movement through the scope on my weapon.

He moved slowly and took up a position that had him aligned with a shot at the back door of my, our, home. I watched as he positioned his rifle and adjusted the sights. All his movements were slow and carefully done. The last movement I saw was his right hand removing the forward lens cap from the scope of his rifle. I waited and saw that he was still. 

I increased pressure on the trigger of the MX-110 while I watched the cross hairs centered on a spot an inch above the stock of his weapon, right where his head had to be.

Suddenly the mechanism of my rifle fired and the flash surprised me. Years of experience and practice kept me from jumping. I rolled one roll to my left, then I stayed still. Through the scope I saw his position destroyed and I could see enough of his body to know he was very likely dead. I carefully aimed again and put another round in my target.

Five minutes passed slowly. I stayed still. My phone vibrated. I pressed the button feeding sound to my ear bud. Jose' voice said, "Got one." I whispered, "Ditto." 

Jose' said, "Leave them. Let's go home." We went back to the barn. We called and the other teams checked our kills. Giovanni was dead and so was Marcus, his recently promoted spotter. The bodies were removed and the kill sites cleaned up by teams trained for such duty.

In the barn Jose' and I talked. We had decisions to make. Going back to the Feed & Grain and the County Warehouse would be inviting another team, another team of snipers, to come and take a shot at us... and the three women we loved.

After our conversation I called our contact number. We talked and he agreed with our plan. He had thought we might think of doing what we asked for so he was prepared. Both of us were sad about what was necessary, but knew it had to be done.

At 0410 a dirty GMC Denali came to the barn and picked us up. We were driven to the safe houses where Diane, Ann and Kasumi were hiding and being guarded. They were less than a mile apart. Kasumi was trembling when we got her inside the black GMC and Jose' held her as we drove to the barn where Diane and Ann were hiding. Even after I opened the door to the barn I couldn't see or hear them. I said the single safe word I had included in their instructions. They rushed me and hugged me, cried and shook like Kasumi. Once we were inside the GMC the driver took us south to an Army post about two hours away.

During the ride all three women stopped shaking and began asking questions. I was not surprised when Diane was first.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"I don't know. You can ask the driver, if you want." I said, knowing he probably knew his destination, but not ours.

She asked him and he answered, "An Army Post isn't very far from here."

Diane said, "Are you Army?"

The driver chuckled and said, "I'm sorry, but the answer is, I don't exist."

Kasumi asked, "After we get to the Army Post, then what?"

The driver answered, "I'm to take you to building 288, drive into the building and leave you there. You know almost as much as I do."

I asked, "What are you leaving out?" 

"Both of you are to leave those canvas bags with me." Those canvas bags held the XM-110 rifles.

On the post we got close to the roll-up door on building 288 and the driver honked. The door opened and we drove inside. The door closed behind us. A man dressed as an Army Major was waiting for us. He opened the door behind the driver and all of us got out. Through the driver's window the Major handed the driver an envelope. He turned the GMC around and drove to the door. We moved quickly through the door the major pointed to and when we were out of sight the roll-up door started opening.

We entered a room with six empty chairs, a TV and a man in a gray suit in it. The major stayed outside and closed the door once we were inside.

We sat. Jose' and I stayed quiet. Kasumi asked, "Ok, what's next?"

The man turned on the TV and the news came on. A scene filled with flashing lights and uniformed police all over showed. A male voice over said, "At approximately two-thirty this morning shots rang out in both Bayard and Bridgeport Nebraska. As of this moment we have reports of seven bodies. Three adult females and four adult males." The scene changed to an on-site reporter who said, "Police have identified the three victims who lived in Bayard and the couple who lived in Bridgeport. The two assailants appear to be hired assassins who were killed in a fire fight with the two men trying to protect their wives. They are, as of now, unidentified."

The man in the suit shut off the television. He said, "Later today your bodies will be identified by the FBI. Your homes and café' will be sold and the proceeds will find their way to you. The two collector vehicles will be sold at a classic car auction and that money will also find you. Somehow your backgrounds will be leaked and the identity of the assassins will be identified as foreign nationals from Syria. The holes in the vehicles and the story of how all of you died should increase the going price for both vehicles."

Ann asked, "What about our clothes, our things?"

"A company will go to both towns to hold sales of everything you had. The real estate will be handled locally. A few personal items like pictures, photo albums we can recover for you. Anything with your names on them, quote, perished in the small fire in your home, unquote."

Diane asked, "Where do we go? What do we do?"

"This is not witness protection. In the contingency plan Sergeants Garcia and Peterson made before separation each requested a motor home so they could wander for a while before settling into life as new people. That can still be provided, if that suits you."

A conference was held. Actually, two conferences were held. The first was held with Diane, Ann and me while the second happened ten feet away between Kasumi and Jose'.

We got together as two entities for a third conversation. Kasumi started that conversation.

"It seems to me that we are stronger if we stay together. Our men are a good team. I want us to stay together."

Diane said, "All of us in one motor home?"




He Planned a Secret Ch. 02



"No, silly! You three in a big one and us in a not-quite-so-big one!"

Diane asked, "Where will we go?"

I pointed at a map of the USA and Canada on the wall. I said, "Anywhere in the map! There are lots of places I've never seen, things I've never done. We could do them."

"We could see Disney World or the Grand Tetons! Jose' added.

"We could spend this winter somewhere warm." Ann said.

"What about our military retirement pay and benefits?" I asked, facing the man at the front of the room.

"Your record of military service will be transferred to your new identities. As soon as you have bank accounts checks will be automatically deposited. You and your ladies will be fully covered for retired health care."

"All of us?" Ann asked. The man nodded.

A few more questions and we were ready to make some decisions. We would stay together and in motor homes. We would wander and then settle somewhere. I asked about getting motor homes and the man led us out of the room. Parked where the black GMC had let us out were two used motor homes. A good sized class "C" and a bus. He said, "They are fully loaded with dishes, food, linens, and the water tanks and fuel tanks are full. The class "C" is registered and insured to Jose' Chavez." He pointed first to the class "C" then to Jose'.

He pointed at the bus and said, "The class "A" is registered and insured to Ben Svenson. Inside your new homes you'll find packets of new identities, credit cards, driver's licenses, triple-A cards and other things to help you settle into new lives. Your covers are that you both retired from the Air Force and decided to wander. Ann and Diane are sisters. Spend some times getting the details of your stories straight before you start telling people much." He paused and said, "You were found because you're too good as hunters. Shooting one of those elk in the butt would have been better and two kill shots to the bear was a bit much."

We shared a glance. Being a poor shot never occurred to either of us. I'd fired three rounds and brought down three elk. Dumb. That dumbness could have gotten Ann or Diane killed!

We stayed in the motor homes inside the building that night. We got familiar with how they worked and practiced hooking up to water, power and sewer so that anyone watching would think we'd been doing it for at least months. The class "A" bus had been modified. It came with a queen-sized bed that wasn't fully queen-sized. It had been removed along with the two nightstands built into the wall next to it. A king-sized bed took it's place. 

The new bed and our new home were good. After the man in the grey suit left us Diane and Kasumi looked in the small refrigerators and put together dinner for us. A search of the outside storage found two folding tables and six folding chairs. We extended the awning and ate outside the motor homes.

By ten I was ready for bed. Jose' and I put the chairs and tables back into storage while Kasumi and my wives cleaned up dinner. We closed all the shades and closed the door. Ann started getting undressed for bed and Diane noticed that the huge windows at the front of the bus allowed anyone outside to watch whatever was happening inside.

We figured out how to draw drapes across the expanse of windows. Then all three of us got naked and went to bed.

I kissed both women and started settling in for eight or nine hours of hibernation when Ann said, "Thank you for not dying. Thank you for saving our lives."

My mouth opened, but before I said anything Diane said, "Next time either of you goes hunting it better take five shots to kill anything bigger than a squirrel!" We broke up laughing and touching and that led to more laughter, more touching, more kisses and... well, we were noisy and reinforced our affection and commitment to each other.

We woke at nine in the morning, local time. I know that because the man pounding on the door to the bus said, "It's oh-nine-hundred! I need this room! You need to get these things out of here!" He said it loudly. 

He kept pounding until I answered, "Yes, Sir. Soon as possible I'll get this bus on the road. Sorry we over slept."  

Fifteen minutes later I sat in the driver's seat and found an envelope taped to it. A note inside gave me an address in Texas to go to. The GPS was programmed to take us there and we were to attend a Good Sam's Gathering. I handed the envelope to Diane, started the bus, looked over to see Jose' sitting in the driver's seat of his RV and put the bus in drive. I pressed on the accelerator and after a slight hesitation we were moving.

A female voice of the GPS guided me off the base and to the Interstate. I got on and headed south. Diane made a breakfast burrito for me and made coffee. Ann started to help but the motion of the motor home kept her hanging on for dear life so Diane had her crawl up front and seat belt herself in.

She found a two-way radio and called Jose'. She got Kasumi who answered like she was in a Burt Reynolds movie about Smoky and the Bandit. She said, "Breaker, breaker, good buddy!" All three of us laughed and it took some practice for Ann to get used to the push-to-talk button on the radio. Using Ann and Kasumi as mediators Jose' and I discussed our travel plans. Jose' said he had something he needed to show me. I saw a rest stop a few miles ahead and I let him know we were stopping. Kasumi said she was glad we were stopping, because she needed a bathroom.

Ann said to her, "There's a bathroom in your motor home!"

Kasumi asked, "Don't we have to stop to use it?" We got to laugh again. We stopped. Kasumi ran to the public restroom and I went to Jose's vehicle. He showed me the note he found when he sat in the driver's seat. The note he had told him our job for a month was to become full-time RVers. Learn how to fit into the community of people who live in RV's. Then our job was to spend a few months living like we were part of that community while we looked for what's-next. The note specified that we should not settle until at least May of the next year.

I went back to the bus and shared what I knew with Ann and Diane. Diane saw another bus pull into the rest stop and two adults and two teens got out and started walking. She said, "I think we should start right now. Let's go for a walk."

The three of us got out and started walking around the edge of the rest stop. Pretty soon we were caught by the people from the other bus. The man said, "You've got a nice bus."

I thanked him and Diane asked his wife about something to do with cooking and they were off. The woman loved to cook and had lots of ideas to share with Diane. Ann joined in and the man and his sons kept walking with me.

One of the boys asked where we were headed. I told him and they were headed there as well. Dad and sons were leading a few sessions for RV owners on repairing plumbing and electrical problems.

When we got back in our bus we had agreed to caravan to the RV gathering and Mack promised to get us a primo parking spot. We traded riders in all three motor homes for the rest of the trip. When the boys rode with me they taught me a lot about both the plumbing and the electrical systems. When Peach rode in with Diane and me they talked about how to have four people live in a motor home and they talked cooking. The trip to Texas took three days from where we met the Cobblers. Peach called her husband Pit. For the whole first day I thought it was a play on Peach Pit, then it hit me that it was a Peach Cobbler Pit. His actual first name was Barry. His parent must have been strange.

The second night, after we parked, did the hook-up and the ladies served chicken and dumplings the boys asked if the could sleep under our awning. I looked at Pit and he nodded, just enough to let me know it was Ok.

I said it was Ok with me but they needed to be quiet. The younger of the two boys, Brian, said, "It isn't our noise that is the problem!" The he and his brother laughed and Dad blushed. Peach put her hand on Pit's shoulder and said, "He snores."

Later that night I found out that Dad had an interest in having sex with Peach and the boys didn't want to listen to the noises. We were parked twenty feet away and we had to listen to the huffing and puffing and other noises from their bus.

The next day Ann rode with Kasumi and Pit. Diane rode with Jose' and Peach and the two boys rode with me. Before noon Brian asked, "There are three of you. Do you make up the dining area every night?"

"Nope." I answered. A full minute passed and he asked, "You sleep with both sisters every night?"

I nodded. Brian's older brother said, "Don't ask, Brian. Just don't ask."

He had to ask. "Do you have sex with both of them?"

I was so tempted to ask the question I asked at the barn raising, "If you could, wouldn't you?" But, I didn't. Brian was sixteen. Instead I said, "When your parents do it, you know about it. Your Dad doesn't come to breakfast and say, "Last night was incredible! Thanks Honey!" The reason is that there are some things that are best kept quiet and private. You have a girl-friend at home. There's a place she likes for you to kiss her. If you're smart and wise you'll never tell anyone where that is. It's private, secret, secret information. I'm not answering your question."

That evening we arrived at the fairgrounds where the gathering was being held. Pit got us primo parking spots. Close to all the exhibits, near enough to trees to get some shade and easy to handle the hook-ups. By the time the gathering got really going there were over fifteen hundred motor homes, 5th wheels and trailers parked side by side.

All five of us got the schedule of events and planned our sessions. We figured where to meet and what times. Jose' and I carried the two-way radios. On the second day we wore our "I'm with HIM" and "They're BOTH with ME" t-shirts. Got lots of comments and a few questions. The questions were different depending. Depending on if I was alone or if either Diane or Ann was with me.

We talked to lots of people. Some told us all about their favorite places to camp, their favorites during the summer and their favorites for the winter. On the last day of the gathering Jose' and I met with the ladies and he asked, "Where to next?"

I made a list. I heard, "Disney World", "Atlanta", "St Louis", "L.A." and I heard "Canada". Ann voted more than once. Diane said, "These first few months we should be just traveling and having fun. I have an idea. Let me get a map." She got a map of the USA and a piece of paper. She tore five small pieces off the big page and wrote the numbers, 1, 2, 3,4, and 5 on them. She got a clean coffee cup and put all five slips of paper in it.

"Each of us draws a number. The person who draws number one picks where we go first. Number two picks where we go second."

Kasumi said, "And so on, and so on." I said, "Person number two doesn't need to choose until we have been to the place number one picked, Ok?"

Diane held the cup and each of us got our number. Kasumi got number ONE.

She said, "I pick Disney World! We can see lots of Florida and the Kennedy Space Center too!"

Jose' and I planned the route we would take. The ladies planned meals and fun. We decided we had enough food to last another day or two so we wouldn't attempt going to a local market that would be feeling the brunt of over a thousand RVers leaving in the next twenty-four hours. The Cobblers let us know they were headed for Portland Oregon and gave us their email address.

When we arrived at the gathering we only knew the Cobblers. Leaving we had at least twenty-five email addresses and many invitations to come visit.

That afternoon we were packed and ready to go. With hugs, handshakes and promises we parted with some of our new friends and headed out of Austin. One of my ladies had taped a small sign near the speedometer of the bus. It was a reminder to me. It read, "We're not in a hurry."

The woman inside our GPS got me headed in the right direction and four hours later we were entering Houston. We had a map of where the various "Free Parking" sites could be found. The one we found in Houston had quite a few RV's in it when we arrived. Many of those had been in Austin with us.

That evening I got out the new BBQ I had purchased at the gathering and I cooked up some hamburgers for us. The two neighbors we invited to share the fire. I'd learned that if I felt like lighting my BBQ it was generous to offer to let my neighbors use the fire to cook their food too. That way we only have one BBQ to clean. Our neighbors cooked corn on the cob, some summer squash and a few chicken breast slices. Kasumi made some guacamole and we were having a feast.

That night as we were getting ready for bed Diane got a fresh sheet out of storage. I asked, "What's that for, Honey?"

"I'm sleeping on the couch tonight. Ann wants some one-on-one with you and I'll be fine on the couch."

We each tucked her in and then Ann and I went to bed. The bed felt strange with just two of us in it. I gave Ann a massage and lots of foreplay before we joined. As we snuggled together in the after-glow Ann said, "Any other time your hair is just there but after we've been loving, like this, your hair tickles."

"I'm not shaving."

"Oh, I don't want you to shave. I know Diane doesn't want you to shave anything but your face either."

She shared with me things she had learned at the gathering. Many of them were things to benefit all of us living together in our motor homes and some of what she shared was about what she learned from the women she had met. It was a little difficult to listen to her because every time she moved she was rubbing her wonderful body against mine.

She and Diane had attended a session in Austin and when asked Diane had said they were sisters. Some of the women asked how it was with both of them living with one man. Diane said, "I sleep on his right side. Ann sleeps on his left and we share what's in the middle." Ann was surprised that Diane had said it and she was surprised at the reaction from the women in the room. They seemed to like the idea.

"You both get a best friend to share the work, someone to talk to and your man has no chance of ever winning an argument!" One of the women had said.

"Don't I share in the work? Can't you talk to me?" I asked.

"She was talking from where she sits. She's obviously married to a traditional man. He believes the chief jobs of women on the planet are to carry around a pussy for men to use and to open beers for them. You aren't like that at all. Neither is Jose'."

"Then what is the benefit that has living like this Ok with you? Sharing is not something most women do well. Men almost never do it well."

"Most women are in a competition with every other woman. They see that other women want their man. I saw that I could either share and be loved by both of you or I'd probably be alone for the rest of my life. Diane and I had been taking care of each other for a couple of years when you moved to town. When you proposed that we share we both thought it was a great idea. We got to keep loving each other and we got to love you, too."

She might have said more, but I fell asleep. Ann stayed snuggled against me and when I woke up she was right there. I opened my eyes and she said, "Don't you agree?"

I said, "Agree?"

She said, "You haven't been listening to me? What's the point of talking to you if your not going to listen?"

I opened my mouth to say something. Nothing came out and Ann started laughing. "I waited till you woke up and then accused you of not listening. I'm sorry."

"Oh, sorry? You should be. I usually wake up wanting to pee, but this morning I really want sex. Would you like sex too?"

"Noisy, monkey sex or gentle, mushy sex? How do you want it, Mister?"

"Cave man sex!" I used my hands and spread her legs as I pinned her between me and the mattress. She resisted and said things like, "Oh please be gentle!" "You're so strong!" "OH! Are you sure that big thing will fit in there?"

I was sure it would fit. It did fit and I was not gentle. We pumped together for a while and I felt my juices starting to build. I lifted her legs high and pulled completely out of her. I leaned forward and my cock touched her back door. Her eyes opened wide and she whispered, "I want you to have me there. Take me."

I pushed and slowly entered her. When I was half buried in her ass I pulled back and pushed in again. She looked into my eyes and said, "Fill my ass, Honey!"

I stroked into her as long as I could, feeling her grip on me and seeing the surrender on her face. When the urge to slam in deep and deposit my seed was all there was to do I pushed in as deeply as I could and filled her.

As I started to wilt and my pulse rate started back towards normal Ann pulled me down on her and whispered, "I know I'm strange, but I love having you be my cave man and love feeling you unload back there."

"You never said anything."

"My last relationship ended because he thought I was a freak, wanting that. When you went there this morning I wanted to sing!"

At that moment I popped out of her. She grabbed some tissues and as she bounded from the bed she said, "Don't move a muscle!" Half a minute later she was back and I was cleaned with a warm, wet wash cloth. She got me us and into the tiny shower. She washed me and made sure I was very clean.

When I came out of the shower I stood in the hallway to dry off. Diane and Ann were in the kitchen kissing and cooking breakfast. I walked to them and kissed both good morning.

Diane asked, "Do I get to meet the cave man tonight?" I kissed her and said, "I'll teach Ann to drive the bus and we can introduce you to the caveman today!"

Ann stepped back and said, "Like I could concentrate on driving with both of you joining right behind me! No, thank you."

We left Houston just before nine in the morning headed for New Orleans. Both Jose' and I had been there before. I wanted to spend at least a day or two there. The big attraction for me was food. Three different times during the day I was reminded that we were not in a hurry. As I drove I was pampered by both ladies. I was fed snacks I never touched with my hands. I had a fresh beverage held so a straw was right at my lips often. I was kissed on my neck at least ten times in the seven hour drive. And, whichever wife was sitting shotgun sat with either her shirt open or no shirt.

Kasumi called on the radio just after we left Baton Rouge. "Breaker, breaker. Are we parking in a RV park or a Wal-Mart in New Orleans?"

Ann picked up the mic and said, "An RV place. We want the hook ups."

Kasumi said, "Lead foot here knows where one is. Ok if you follow us?"

Ann answered, "Sure, you lead we'll follow, good buddy."

He passed us and I pulled in behind him. The back wall of his motor home had a mural on it of a bear. I asked Ann to call Kasumi and ask, "Bear, we eatin Cajun food tonight?"

She did just as I asked. Kasumi came back with, "Wear your loose jeans tonight. We're eating Etoufee!" I think I drove that whole day with a big smile on my face.

New Orleans was two things for us. Food and education. We stayed two days. The first day we walked around and sampled different foods. The second day we attended a school where we took classes in Cajun cooking. When we left New Orleans we had lots of cook books and spices, rubs and things to help us make great Cajun food.

Three days later we were at Disneyworld. Three days of Disneyworld and Kasumi had had enough. We sat together and number two got to pick. Jose' was number two. He said, "I spent an hour on-line yesterday. We have eight days to get where I want to go. Getting there before next Sunday is even better. I have tickets for all of us to attend a New England Patriots game! We need to be in Massachusetts in eight days!"




He Planned a Secret Ch. 02



None of us had ever been to a pro football game. The next morning we were on the road again. By nightfall we were parked in Savannah and Kasumi was cooking dinner for us. We watched the Patriots play on TV and Jose' and I answered lots of questions. They won.

The next night we were in Fayetteville North Carolina. We ate delivered BBQ from a local place. Diane fell in love with the way they prepared their BBQ. She spoke to the man who cooked at the place and early the next morning she took a taxi and spent two hours with him, learning. She brought back some of the meat he had made the day before. We stopped for lunch and ate his BBQ Pulled Pork. It was so good!

Next day we stopped outside Washington, D.C. and rented a minivan. We visited the VietNam memorial and the other memorials on the mall. That night Jose' and I talked and discovered both of us had thought about wearing our silver stars to the mall. Neither of us had done it. It was an emotional day for both of us and for the three women who were holding on to us.

We planned one more stop before arriving at Gillette stadium in Massachusetts. It didn't happen. We drove eight hours that day and parked within sight of the stadium. Jose' was like a kid. I figured by game day he would be wearing not only a jersey but pads and a helmet as well.

We spent the next day in Boston. We acted like tourists and did all the things tourists do. We even took a Duck Tour! A Duck is an amphibious vehicle, both a truck and a boat. We got in and a driver talked us past lots of famous places and then drove us into the river and we motored down the river a ways and drove back out onto land. Every time we stopped, even for a traffic light we switched seats so Jose' and I got to sit with each of our ladies. It was a great, fun day.

The next day Jose' wanted to go to a museum so he and Kasumi went. Ann and Diane wanted to go to a cooking school they had spotted while on the Duck Tour. I stayed back with the RV's figuring to do a little clean up and maybe catch a nap.

I got the cleaning done, but the nap didn't happen. As I put the cleaning supplies away a Mazda Miata stopped in front of me and a tall blond got out of it. She was model material, even to the clothes she had on. Easily as tall as me, slender and moved in the practiced, sexy way some women spend years perfecting. Her dress screamed that the dress and shoes were all she had on. The dress was cut with a "V" neck that almost reached her navel and the hem was within three inches of exposing her pussy.

She walked up to me and said, "You did a nice job cleaning the bus."

"Thanks. I was about to get something to drink and sit out here to relax. Can I offer you a beverage?"

Her eyes sparkled like she had a secret and she said, "Diet Coke, if you have a spare."

"Diet Coke it is, even if I don't have a spare." I went inside and she sat down in one of our chairs. I came back and gave her a can. We both took a good drink and I asked, "So what brings you to visit me?"

"I came to deliver a message. The government that put out the contract on you and your brother has paid the families. They accept that the contract was fulfilled. You are dead. You can establish new identities and settle down wherever you like."

"Thank you."

"Oh, there's one more thing. I've met Diane and Ann. Talked with them at the gathering in Austin. I want what they have. I want you. Is that possible?"

"I'm not sure. What they have is a very intimate partnership with me. We might as well be married. Is that what you want? To move in here with us and participate as a full partner in this marriage?"

"No, that's not possible. My work moves me around and has me alone most of the time. What I want is to be loved. When I saw you together I felt it. You absolutely love them both. They both love you and each other. I want that feeling."

"Stay for dinner. I'm not making a promise or anything like it, I'm just opening a door. Stay for dinner. If you need to change appointments or clothes, do that."

From her car she got her cell phone and made three calls. From the trunk of the car she got casual clothes and asked if she could go inside to change. She came back in three minutes in dark grey slacks and a silk blouse. It was obvious to me that she was not wearing a bra. Her pebble sized nipples were pressed against the silk and aimed at me. She looked good.

She sat with me and we sipped out diet Cokes. We talked about the weather, about the situation in the Middle East and about domestic politics. We watched the minivan drive across the parking lot and stop behind the Miata.

When they stopped I realized that I had never asked and she had never offered a name. I didn't know how to introduce her. She solved the problem. She stood and shook hands with each person saying, "I'm Almond. I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

We laughed. No one from the government was here to help it was a joke from the Reagan years. He said one of the biggest things to fear was someone who said, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Jose' got drinks for everyone and we sat. Kasumi asked, "I heard the joke, but why are you really here?"

Almond looked at me and I knew she was asking if she should tell Kasumi and Jose'. I nodded. She said, "I am from the government and I came to deliver a message. I stayed to have a conversation with Ann, Diane and Ben."

"What was the message?" Diane asked.

"The foreign government has paid the families for the killing of Ben Peterson and Jose' Garcia. They are convinced you are dead. You can settle down any time you want."

Jose' said, "Good news. Thanks." He stood and said, "Kasumi, the rest of what she has to say isn't for or about us." He held his hand out to her. She stood, told Almond she was happy to have met her, and left with Jose'.

He and Kasumi got in the minivan and drove away.

Ann said, "Ok. What?"

"I've been watching you for months. The more I watched the more I knew what I wanted. I have a wonderful job. I love my job, but it has a huge downside. I am alone. I watched how you guys started together. How you support each other and how you love freely." She took a breath, watching Ann and Diane for their reactions.

"I want what you have. I know I can't have it the way you do. I can't drop my life and join you living in a Winnebago. What I want is to be loved. Not just sex, but loved, accepted and ... whatever it is that I always know I belong somewhere. I have no family. My parents and brother are gone." She stopped talking. A tear slid down her cheek.

Ann looked at Diane and then at me. She said, "I feel it. I remember that feeling. I had it when I moved to town. If you and I hadn't become sisters I probably would have died of loneliness."

Diane said, "Remember the night Ben told us about why he didn't hit on us? If he had said he was gay or not interested in us I would have jumped off a bridge. I've felt it too."

Ann was crying and said, "You want to stay for dinner and be here for breakfast. You want to follow us wherever we end up and drop in for a refill often, knowing that when you show up, you're home?"

Almond nodded.

I asked, "When do you have to be back at work?"

She opened her purse and pulled out a ticket for the game on Sunday. She said, "I got a seat right next to one of yours. I'm due back at work Monday at 0900."

Ann said, "Please stand up." Almond, Ann and Diane stood. They moved together and hugged. I joined them in the hug and I kissed Diane. When the kiss ended I said, "I love you. Wherever I am with you, we are home."

I turned my head and kissed Ann. When the kiss ended I said, "I love you. Wherever I am with you, we are home."

I turned to Almond and kissed her. She was quivering all over. When the kiss ended I said, "I love you. Wherever I am with you, we are home."

We stayed in the hug for a long time. Kisses were shared. Bodies pressed against bodies and tears fell on silk, cotton and the ground. When Jose' and Kasumi returned plans were made and put into operation for all of us to have dinner together. Diane took Kasumi aside and explained why Almond was still with us. Kasumi listened and walked away for a few minutes.

When she came back Diane called us all together and said, "From before Jose' and Kasumi came to Nebraska we accepted both of them as family. She's been like a sister to Ann and me, but different. She lived twelve miles from us. Now she lives in there and we live in here. We screwed up. With your permission I want to fix that."

She stood inches from Kasumi and kissed her. Kasumi didn't react as I expected. I expected her to back away. When Diane's lips touched Kasumi's lips she wrapped her arms around Diane and they really kissed. When the kiss ended Diane said, "I love you. Wherever I am with you, we are home. We are family."

Kasumi looked around the circle of all of us, beaming. Ann stepped close and repeated the ceremony. It was repeated until Kasumi had repeated the ceremony with Almond too. 

Dinner made it to the table and we feasted. As it got later and later in the evening I wondered how the sleeping arrangements would be worked out. I had no need to worry. Diane and Ann were way ahead of me.

Ann whispered in my ear, "You're ready to get ready for bed. Go inside and get showered, shaved and into bed. Ok?" A man would need to be stupid to say "No". I said Good Night to everyone and went inside. I showered, shaved and climbed into bed.

A few minutes later three women came inside. The shower came on. I heard voices and movement, then the shower shut off. More movement a few giggles and kissing sounds and the lights went out. I waited, anxiously for whatever was next.

The door between the bedroom and the rest of the motor home opened and I felt a body climb into bed with me. Before I could reach for her I felt another body join us, and a third.

The first body was Ann. She found my face and kissed me as she crawled over me to snuggle against my right side. Diane climbed on me and we kissed. She moved to my left side. An unfamiliar body climbed up my body, entering the bed by my feet and slithering up until we were face to face.

Over the next hour or more she was touched, kissed, licked, poked, caressed and other things all with the intent of having her know she was loved. I held the caveman under control and gave her Clark Kent's full attention. 

We had snuggled in and covered up, ready to fall asleep when we heard the door to the motor home open. My reflex was to be armed and I was. From under the mattress I had my 9mm weapon in my hand with a round chambered before whoever opened the door stepped inside.

I heard Kasumi's voice say, "Excuse me, please. You not making enough noise. Need to make Japanese girl sing for you." Kasumi usually spoke perfect English. We laughed and I stashed the weapon back where it belonged.

As Kasumi crawled into bed with us she said, "I explained to my husband that we are family. I now have three sisters and can have sex with all three. He wants to know if that means he can have sex with all three as well."

Diane asked, "What did you tell him?"

"We'll talk about it in the morning!" Kasumi said. The action started and while I was included I was not included in any action involving Kasumi directly. The clock showed 0433 when she thanked us and left the motor home.

We settled again and Almond said, "It smells like sex in here."

"Good!" I said. It was quiet and I listened as the breathing of the women told me they went to sleep.

When my eyes opened what I saw was one unfamiliar breast about five inches from my face. Small, pert and untanned, I assumed it belonged to Almond. I leaned forward and captured it with my mouth. She squealed and grabbed my head, pressing her breast into my mouth.

"I didn't know you woke up!" She said.

"I didn't either. I thought I was still dreaming." I said. I went back to sucking on her and she rolled me on my back with her above me. She moved to have me change from one breast to the other. Then she squealed again and said, "Someone just touched my pussy!"

That someone guided my morning wood into her pussy and nature took over the guidance from there. She looked in my eyes as we joined and kissed. No words were spoken between us.

I rolled us so I was on top and she opened her legs wider, inviting me in deeper. Kasumi joined us and kissed me good morning. She said, "Jose' says if it's ok with you, we are all married." Then she kissed Almond.

When their kiss ended I said, "Kasumi, Right now I'd really like some one-on-one time with Almond. Please."

She said, "Gotcha Good Buddy!" Bounced off the bed and closed the door as she left us. I joined with Almond slowly and gently. I whispered, "Can you feel it?"

"Yes. This isn't a one night thing. I'm in. They accept me as a sister, even as a co-wife."

"Kasumi has been with us for months. The possibility of having what you wanted didn't occur for her as possible until you asked for it. She wanted it too. She has it and is grateful. So am I."

"I'm not fragile." 

I looked at her face and asked, "What would you like?"

"Pound into me hard enough that while were at the game I can still feel you. Eat me until I have whisker burns around my lips! Take me!"

My hands moved her hands so they were against the back wall of the motor home. I said, "Hold them there as if they were handcuffed there." I thrust into her and bent to her neck, kissing and nipping at her skin. I lifted her legs and slammed into her, grinding against her as I was fully inside her.

The door to the rest of the motor home opened and Ann put a towel and a wash cloth on the bed, stepped back out and closed the door. I smiled.

I rolled her over and lifted her butt up, presenting me with both butt and pussy. I used her juices to lube her pucker and pushed my cock into her. Her hands helped her push back against me until I was completely inside her butt. I held her hips and pounded into her as fast and hard as I could, knowing I would not last long.

I felt her body shake and she screamed that she was cumming. I came and she screamed that she felt me cumming in her ass. I held my cock in her until it wilted. I used the washcloth and towel to clean us both and then I turned her back over and dove into her pussy for an after coitus snack.

She screamed twice more. We went to sleep and napped for almost an hour. That's not accurate. I went to sleep and napped for almost an hour. Almond stayed with me for a couple minutes, got up showered, ate breakfast, dressed and talked with Kasumi, Ann and Diane.

When I woke up, got up and showered, dressed and came to the kitchen I looked out the windows and saw that there were at least a hundred vehicles parked out there. The famous tail-gate party had begun. Jose' came over and asked if anyone wanted to go for a walk. Ann went. I looked outside and saw them walk away, hand in hand. I wondered, 'Were we co-husbands?'

Almond sat with me while I ate. When I was done she washed my plate and Diane said, "Don't pamper him too much. He'll get used to it."

"I want to walk around and see what's cooking and how these folk do a tail-gate party." In a flash they were ready to go with me. Diane carried a camera to take pictures of things we wanted to remember.

Almond made sure she got one of my hands. As we walked I smelled various smells and asked people cooking about what they were cooking. We were offered tastes of brots, ribs, chicken, pulled pork and lots of side dishes. Beer was on tap at some motor homes. We walked, ate and talked for three hours before we were back at our motor home. Ann and Jose' were waiting for us.

Ann got up and kissed me, then went inside. Jose' said, "We need to talk."

Ann came back out with a beverage for both of us, kissed us both and pushed us away from the table. We walked, leaving all the ladies at home.

Jose' said, "I started hating you months ago." I waited. Sometimes Jose' takes a while to say what he needs to say.

"I realized Kasumi was in love with you and I knew it was wrong. She's been with me for a lot a years. I knew if you crooked your finger at her she'd be gone in half a minute. I believed I'd lost her to you."

We walked to the end of that parking row and turned. I said, "You didn't lose her."

"I know. She explained it to me. She's always felt isolated here in America. One look and people see an oriental, not a girl from San Francisco. She wanted to feel like she belonged. She wanted girl-friends who didn't speak Japanese! She saw everything she wanted in what you had with Ann and Diane."

"And because we lived twelve miles apart she still felt isolated and not part of what we had." I said. He nodded.

"Last night I said to her, "Go over there. I believe they see you as a sister but they haven't said it. Go and let them love you. I spent the night alone. I kept thinking and praying that she would be loved the way she needs to be loved."

"Did you realize you need it too?" I asked.

He nodded again. "I started walking with Ann and she held my hand. Ben, she held my hand like our hands belonged together! I didn't know what to do. I kept thinking, 'She's Ben's, not mine.' When we got back she said, "Talk to Ben. I love my sisters. I love Ben and you. I want to share."

We walked to the end of that row and stopped. 

I said, "In eighteen years of serving I was close to three spotters and you. Two of the spotters didn't come back. I see you as a brother I didn't grow up with. When we leave here on Monday we leave as a family. Let's talk with the ladies and see how they feel. I have no problem with all of them loving both of us."

We walked back to the motor homes. Ann, Kasumi, Diane and Almond were sitting at the outside table. On the table was a cardboard piece with an arrow on it, a spinning arrow. Printed on the cardboard were five equal spaces, each with a woman's name on it. Kasumi said, "Husband, one of us wants to have a very intimate conversation with you. Spin and see which one."

Jose' spun the arrow and it stopped at Ann. Jose' and I smiled. He asked Ann, "Where do you want to talk?"

She took his hand and led him to his motor home. They went inside. Diane said, "Before you went for a walk with Jose' we cheated. Almond put a bug in your pocket and we could listen to your conversation."

I took the bug out of my pocket and said, "I know. I found it."

"We're in favor of the family sharing this way. I can't love you without loving Jose' as well. Kasumi can't love just Jose' and not you. So you don't need to spin. Take Kasumi inside and love her."

"The rest of you can wait a little while and then join us, if you'd like." Kasumi said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the motor home door.



[As always your comments are welcomed, unless you want to attack me personally. I have ex-wives and other relatives to tell me what a perverse, ignorant asshole I am. Please don't waste time repeating their beliefs. If your comments will possibly assist in me becoming a better writer, please, leave a comment.]



He Planned a Secret Ch. 03



Inside Gillette Stadium we found our seats pretty easily. We brought jackets and three blankets in case we got cold. When we first sat down we sat Diane, Jose', Almond, Kasumi, me and then Ann. Someone watching would have seen that at the end of the first quarter the ladies changed seats and it became Almond, Jose', Kasumi, Ann, me and Diane. During half-time it shifted again and by the end of the game they had shifted again.

After the game we walked back as a family. We shared our thoughts and feelings. At Jose's motor home we stopped and Diane asked him, "Which of us are you inviting to stay with you tonight?"

I saw the look on his face and knew his fear. What if he picked and the one he picked said, "No thanks"? We might be strong manly men, but rejection wasn't something we'd ask for. I asked, "Raise your hand if you'd like to be picked." All female hands went up.

Jose' smiled and picked Almond and Diane. They high fived each other, kissed Kasumi, Ann and me good night and went inside with Jose'. I held Kasumi's and Ann's hands and we went to the bus. I opened the door and they climbed in, Kasumi first. As she climbed the three steps I patted her butt. Ann stepped up on the bottom step and offered her butt for my enjoyment. I used both hands for a minute and she said, "Come inside and start the furnace, please. We're cold."

Kasumi was still in her jacket when I climbed into the bus and shut the door. Two minutes later it was warm enough inside and the jackets came off. I held Kasumi and asked, "How do you feel, knowing Jose' is next door enjoying Almond and Diane?"

She put her arms around me, squeezed a little and said, "I used to worry. He's a good-looking man and he would be gone sometimes for weeks. I worried that he was with another woman. I don't worry now. Both of you take good care of us, love us and only leave us to go kill something. I hope he has a good time tonight. I plan to have a good time, too."

She kissed me and Ann joined the hug and the kissing. Clothes came off and we made our way to the back of the bus and the bed. They teamed up and got me on my back in the middle of the bed. Ann focused on my cock and used her hands and mouth to stimulate the reaction she wanted while Kasumi fed me her breasts, one at a time. Her breasts were small, with small areola and big nipples. They were very sensitive and I discovered again that the harder I sucked the more she liked the feeling. So, I opened my mouth and got most of her breast in my mouth as I sucked, hard.

Meanwhile Ann was doing her best to swallow all of my cock. I felt my hips responding and as she sucked they lifted, making a fucking motion. Her hands held my hips.

When I was hard enough for a different action she guided Kasumi's hips and my cock to meet and greet each other. As I started to penetrate Kasumi's puss she sat up, freeing her breast from my mouth and she said, "Ann, I love you! Ben, I love you!"

Ann swung a leg over my head and said, "I love you both."

Her open, wet vulva lowered itself to my waiting mouth. They kissed and as Kasumi rode me I ate Ann. 

I'm sure if we had been paying attention we would have heard people packing up, trucks and RV's starting and driving away. We didn't hear any of it. 

In the afterglow of our romp we were snuggling in bed together and heard someone pounding on the outside of the other motor home. A voice called out, "You can't stay here tonight! You have to get out by midnight!" 

It was clear to me that we were next. I got up, pulled on some clothes and said, "Ladies, stay in bed. I'll take care of us." I swung the door open just as the man wearing a Patriot's parking uniform hit the side of the motor home.

"I heard you when you woke my brother." I said. "Give me a few minutes and we'll be on the road." He nodded, got back in his golf cart and drove towards two more RV's.

Jose' and I high fived each other, readied our vehicles and climbed into the driver's seats. Almond came flying out of Jose's motor home. Her Miata was parked between the RV's! She yelled, "Go! I'll follow!" She started the Miata and put the top up.

Jose' laughed, put his RV in Drive and she followed. I followed her. Jose' headed south, knowing that in the morning Almond needed to go back to D.C. and her cover job with a magazine. He drove for almost an hour, saw a Wal-Mart from the Interstate and ten minutes later we were parked.

Crawling back into bed with Kasumi and Ann was a joy. They had stayed very warm and willing to share their warmth and more. In the morning Almond came to us and kissed all three of us "good-bye for now". Then she drove away. I wondered how long it would be until she was with us again. A month? A year? Ever?

We got together for lunch. Jose' asked, "Who is number three?" 

NUMBER THREE

Diane smiled and said, "I am."

Kasumi asked, "Where are we going?"

"North east. Boston, Maine, New England. I want to learn about cooking seafood. Chowders, lobsters, crabs, fish, cioppino."

I said, "I want to learn how to appreciate fish, lobsters, crabs, chowders, and that cioppino stuff, whatever it is!"

"It's a tomato based sea food stew with clams, lobster, fish, scallops, crayfish, corn, onions and spices in it." Kasumi said.

Jose' got out some maps and we planned the next five days travel. Our first stop was Boston. Kasumi and Diane really learned chowders. Red ones and white ones. Ann found a place that taught her Italian pastries. Jose' and I enjoyed Boston.

Our next stop was north towards Portland Maine. Less than two hundred miles between the two it still took us three days to make the trip. Diane was in charge. This was her trip and any whim she had was followed by us and enjoyed to the fullest. We turned north from where Almond left us and by mid-day we were slightly north of Boston. At Diane's direction I headed towards the ocean and when we saw it we saw plenty of big, fancy restaurants and Bed & Breakfasts advertising lobster and chowders. Diane ignored every one of them. We drove along the shoreline seeing boats and docks, trucks and stacks of lobster traps. Suddenly Diane saw a small shack of a restaurant. It was smaller than the cottage I had lived in when I managed the F&G. The building was painted white a long time ago and some of the white was still visible, but mostly it was bare wood. The weather beaten sign above the door said, "Jenny's". There were eight vehicles parked nearby. All were local trucks for workers; fishermen, plumbers, electricians, two different construction companies and a truck from the City Parks and Recreation Department. 

Diane said, "Find a place to park. This is it."

She radioed Kasumi that we were stopping for lunch. We found places to park and walked a block back to Jenny's. Opening the door was like stepping back in time. Formica tables washed and scrubbed until the color and pattern were gone from the Formica, matching chairs with plastic seats also worn smooth. Chrome napkin dispensers on the tables. The menu was a chalkboard on one wall. I held the door and Diane entered followed by Ann and Kasumi. A woman about fifty smiled and greeted them. She commanded three of the men customers to put two tables together and they jumped to as if she was "Mom." I knew Diane was right. This was the exact place Diane had been looking for.

Diane and Jenny bonded in microseconds. None of us ordered. Diane told Jenny what she was up to and Jenny accepted the challenge. She turned to head for the kitchen. Diane, Kasumi and Ann followed. Fifteen minutes later they came back, carrying plates of food and looking as if they had been steamed as well. Diane's sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, her eyes sparkled and she was in heaven. She put a sandwich and slaw in front of me and said, "If you don't have an orgasm with the first bite I'll be surprised!"

I grabbed ten napkins from the dispenser and stood to stuff them in my pants. The regulars all around me laughed. I sat back down and took a bite of a lobster roll. It was chunks of lobster, onion, celery, a light dressing inside a steamed, freshly made hot dog bun. Simple food that tasted like heaven!

I did my best to imitate the scene from the movie "When Harry Met Sally" when Sally faked an orgasm. I got a rousing applause and cheers. I also got a kiss from Diane. 

Each of us was treated to something Jenny loved to make and serve. Her chowder was thick, strong and incredible! She didn't skimp on anything. The breads were fresh and complimented the seafood perfectly. 

I had noticed it was 1230 when we opened the door. Jenny closed the door to fresh customers at eight (2000 hours). Jose' and I had bussed tables, washed dishes, swept the floor and run the cash register. The tiny restaurant was packed from before we arrived until almost ten that night (2200 hours). Jenny told us where we could park for the night and sent us home.

As we walked to the motor homes Diane and Ann bubbled over about Jenny, the food, the passion and the delight of working as a team. Kasumi walked a step behind them for half the block, and then Diane turned on her and said, "Do you guys know that Kasumi saw a way to improve something Jenny has been doing for years?"

Suddenly Kasumi was not just included, she was a star. We got her to tell us about it and we got to watch as she lit up and stepped between Diane and Ann and they put their arms around her. 

We got to Jose's motor home first. Diane said, "I know this isn't exactly what you would call the best vacation ever, but I'm in heaven. Jenny invited us back for another day in the kitchen. Can we stay?"

Jose' said, "Only if Ben and I can sweep the floors, bus the tables and laugh all day long."

Diane kissed him and looked at me. I said, "I want more. I want another lobster roll and a bowl of chowder."

She kissed me, turned to Ann and Kasumi and waited. Ann spoke first. "In the not too distant future I see a small restaurant in our path. A big wonderful kitchen where we dance with food and feed our new community. This is cooking school where we learn to dance together in a kitchen, making magic together. It's Ok with me if we stay here a week. I cannot remember working so hard and having so much fun ever before in my life! The looks on the faces of the people we served made the heat and the rushing all worth while!"

Kasumi said, "The four of us were sisters in the kitchen today. No one was the Boss or the Queen. Jenny treated us all like sisters, learning and laughing. I never knew a kitchen could be like that!"

"So, You'll stay too?" Diane asked. Kasumi nodded. All three women hugged. As they hugged Kasumi said something and the other two laughed. I asked, "What was that?"

Ann said, "Kasumi said we'd have gotten better tips if Almond had been serving the food."

"Wear bikini tops and shorts tomorrow!" I said.

Kasumi said, "I'd need to put a lobster roll in mine!" 

Jose' grabbed her and said, "If you do, I get the first bite!" He unlocked their door and Diane said, "Jenny opens the door to start cooking at five. You can arrive whenever you want. I'll be there at five."

We walked to our home and went inside. We moved to the spot Jenny told us about and ten minutes later we were all asleep.

At 0445 the alarm woke us. Ann and Diane bounded from bed and at 0455 they were out the door, dressed in shorts, bikini tops, light cotton over shirts and athletic shoes. I heard the door to the other motor home open and close. I didn't know if Jose' had gotten up or not. I reset the alarm and at 0600 I was up, dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and athletic shoes. I closed and locked the motor home and heard Jose' exit his. We walked quickly to Jenny's and walked in to a packed house. I had thought we would eat and then start helping. I was wrong. 

Ann came out of the kitchen delivering food and said, "You're late! The fun's already started. One of you take the register and one start bussing tables, Ok?" We both nodded. I pointed at the register and Jose' went there. I got a tub and started filling it with dirty dishes. Every time one of our wives brought food out of the kitchen one of us got kissed.

Half an hour later I was elbows deep in hot water washing dishes when it hit me that the dishes weren't dirty. I'd had KP in the military and guys threw food away. They'd take three eggs and eat two. Take two pieces of toast and eat one and a half. These plates had tiny bits of pancake, a little syrup, and a crumb of egg. The food here was worth finishing! 

I reached for more dirty dishes to wash and Diane put a fresh hot cup of coffee in my hand. I took a hit and thanked her. She said, "I love how you say you love me." We kissed and both resumed work.

It was about 0900 when the morning rush slowed down. Jose' swept the place and brought me the rest of the dirty dishes. We wiped down all the tables, reloaded the salt, pepper, sugar and napkin dispensers and we ate breakfast. After the first bite I knew why the dishes had come to the kitchen so clean. Kasumi came and sat with us. She asked, "What do you think about the syrup?"

"I expected maple syrup. This is that, but with something extra added."

"Ann added some cinnamon to the syrup. Then she warmed it and everyone raved."

The day passed with Jose' and I trading jobs and having fun with the patrons. We didn't need to do anything to fit in. We were in. In the after lunch break Jose' and I actually spoke with Jenny. She'd been so busy the rest of the time she hadn't had time. We found out she inherited the diner. Her husband had bought it and ran it for five years when they first came to Maine, but he died of lead poisoning one night after closing and left her a stack of bills and a restaurant with her name above the door.

Jose' asked, "Lead poisoning? Thirty-eight or bigger?"

She looked in his eyes and said, "Nine millimeter. Times three."

"Damn! Sorry." We said, together.

"You two act like brothers, but you don't look like brothers. Tell me a story." Jenny said. As she asked three women joined us at the table.

I said, "Jose' and I met in the Air Force. He taught me everything I'd ever want to know about pushing a broom or a mop. We're both retired and looking for a soft place to land, but not too soft."

"So I've figured that Kasumi is attached to Jose'. These two, I'm not sure about."

Diane smiled and said, "I'm two years older than my sister."

"And the three of you live in a motor home together?" Jenny asked.

Ann answered, "It's difficult to do anything separately in a motor home. There isn't a lot of privacy."

"Ben, are you married to Diane or Ann?" Jenny faced me for the answer. I hesitated half a second before opening my mouth and she said, "That I understand. You love them both. Since they both have the same last name as you, you found a way to be legal with both of them. They work in the kitchen like the three of them were raised together."

I asked, "How long has it been since you had a vacation?"

"You mean two days in a row off? There was a hell of a storm three years ago and I lost power for three days. I was still here, keeping water outside. I guess that doesn't count, huh?" She paused. "About six months before my husband died we took a week and went to Nashville."

"When did he die?" Ann asked.

"2002. August fourteenth." Jenny looked at the table as she answered. Ann touched her shoulder and suddenly Jenny turned to her and they embraced. Diane and Kasumi joined them.

I motioned to Jose' and we went outside. We walked down the boardwalk a ways and I said, "When we get settled we should send her some money and have her come visit. The four of them are family. They may not all be married to you and me, but they are sisters."

Jose' nodded in agreement, crossed the street and entered a bank. He stepped to a teller and asked, "How much cash can I withdraw on my credit card?" He slid her the card from his wallet.

"Sir, This card is not from this bank. It will take me a minute to find out." Her fingers danced on the keyboard and it was just about a minute later she said, "One thousand dollars a day, Sir."

Jose' smiled and said, "No hundreds. Fifties, twenties, tens and even a few fives, please."

I slid my card to her and said, "Double it, please." She smiled and six or seven minutes later we each had a grand in our pockets. As we walked back I asked, "You got this money to leave Jenny for tuition for the cooking school she's given, eh?"

"Jenny is the kind of woman who found herself on a dirt road with lots of rocks in it and instead of sitting at the side crying she pulled up her socks and went to work. We walked in and were unexpected and meant more work. She opened her arms and heart and took us in. The Hawaiians have a word for that attitude. Ohana. Family. It doesn't matter that you've never met before, you're already family. I think maybe the two grand we leave in the till tonight will let her know we see her as family, too."

"We're too soft to be warriors. Good thing we ran warehouses." I said.

When we stepped back inside the women were in the back, cooking. The chalkboard said there were two chowders available, cioppino, crab cakes, lobster cakes, and two kinds of lobster entrees. Jose' and I made sure the tables were stocked, cleaned and ready. We opened the doors and let fresh air in for a few minutes. It lowered the temperature in the kitchen about ten degrees and lasted about two minutes after we closed the doors.

A little after five (1700) four huge men came in together. They took one look at Jose' and me and asked, "Where's Jenny?"

"She's in the back cooking." Jose' answered. "We're just helping out out here."

Jenny came out of the kitchen wiping her hands with a towel. "Mike, This is Ben and Jose' they're helping me out a little today. Ben, Jose' meet Mike, Tom, Mike and Mike. They're brothers."

She disappeared into the kitchen. Jose' took their orders and went into the back. I got their drinks. Three Heinekens and a Thunder Hole Ale. One of the Mike's said, "Jenny hasn't ever had hired help. Now she has two of you? I don't get it."

I said, "We don't work here or for her. Our wives are in the kitchen taking cooking lessons from a master, Jenny. As part payment for her teaching we take care of bussing tables and such."

"I didn't know Jenny would teach!" Mike said.

"Maybe no one asked her before." I said. As I spoke Kasumi, Ann and Diane delivered their dinners. Tom said, "Wow! This is service!"

Jose' said, "Boys meet Diane, Ann and Kasumi. Enjoy your dinners and when you're done I request you let them know what you think of their cooking." While they ate more people came in and Jose' and I got busy. When the brothers Mike and Tom were finished I got the three wives to come out and get their evaluations.

They blushed at the high praise. The older Mike asked if Jenny would teach his wife how to cook. Jenny said, "If I teach her how to cook the four of you will eat at home every night! These folks live a thousand miles from here. I make money teaching them. I'd lose money teaching your wives. Sorry." She went back into the kitchen. 

Mike said, "When you get back to wherever you have your place, call us. We can supply you with all the fresh seafood you'd ever want. He gave me their card. I figured he'd be getting a call from us. I thanked him and handed him another Heineken.

I went into the kitchen and found Jenny. "Jenny, we haven't talked money. We need to. Two full intense days of teaching like this is worth a lot. Tell me how much you want."

She looked at me for a few moments and finally spoke. "I want two things from your family. When your restaurant is up and running I want an invitation to come for a weekend. You pay my way and put me up."

"That's only one thing."

She hesitated again and then said, "I want to be kissed by each of you. I've watched. Almost every time you pass each other in the kitchen here or out there, you guys kiss! The only ones who don't kiss are you and Jose'. Even when y'all are in a rush it's still a shared kiss. I want a no-hurry kiss from each of you. My last kiss was years ago and that's just too damned long ago."




He Planned a Secret Ch. 03



I smiled and said, "When Kasumi comes back in here ask her for a kiss. Ask her before you ask Ann or Diane. It will make her week! That will be your second kiss." I took her in my arms and kissed her mouth. Softly but firmly to begin and then with thoughts of melting butter I kissed her a little deeper. I felt her surrender. I held her together until she regained some control and then I ended the kiss and said, "Thank you."

I turned and quickly went out into the dining room. I took the three wives aside and told them what Jenny wanted. I asked if they thought they could give her what she wanted. They nodded.

More people came in and the wives headed for the kitchen. The older Mike looked at the bill that totaled almost sixty dollars and gave me two fifties. I turned to the register to make change and when I turned back the brothers were gone.

Suddenly I was aware that Jose' was closing the front door and turning the sign to "CLOSED". It was time to clean up and get the restaurant ready for tomorrow. I stood at the register and loaded my thousand into the till. Jose' stopped by and gave me his thousand and I added it to the count. I made out the bank deposit slip, clipped like bills together and all the credit card slips and put it all in the zippered and locked night deposit bag. Jenny wouldn't even need to look inside.

We reloaded the salt, pepper and condiments, cleaned the floor, tables, chairs and then went into the kitchen and washed all the dishes, pots and pans. As we wiped our hands on towels all four women came to us and we both had a woman on each arm. Outside Jenny locked the door and we walked away. We all walked to the bank where Jose' and I had withdrawn some cash. Jenny dropped the bag in the night deposit and again hooked Jose's arm. I wondered where Jenny was parked.

She stayed on Jose's arm all the way home. He unlocked the Winnie and Kasumi said, "If it's Ok, I invited Jenny to spend the night here. Can we make her welcome, husband?"

Jose' held the door open and smiled. Jenny turned to Ann, Diane and me and said, "I'll be up and back at work early. Please let me thank you here and now." She embraced Ann, whispered to her and the shared an intimate kiss. She turned to Diane and repeated the message. I expected my hug and kiss to be much like what I had seen. When she whispered in my ear she said, "Next time we are together your wives promised I could have you inside me. I've been wet all day thinking about that."

Then she kissed me! My clothes must have a percentage of Nomex fire retardant in them. Otherwise I should have burnt to the ground!

The kiss ended and while I caught my breath she went into Jose's Winnie. Ann and Diane helped me inside our Winnie and into bed.

It was fully daylight when I woke up. I hauled myself out of bed and into the bathroom, noticing two naked women playing in the kitchen as I made the transition. When I came out of the bathroom they guided me to breakfast and introduced me to their own invention: a lobster, crab and cheese omelet with onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and sliced avocado. A toasted, sliced bagel sat next to the omelet.

One bite and I said, "When we print menus we list this as "Ben's Second Favorite breakfast!"

Diane smiled and Ann asked, "If this is second, what's first?"

"Either of you!"

At about nine we were joined by Jose' and Kasumi. We talked about what they had learned and how valuable the two days had been. We told them about the two thousand we had deposited to Jenny's account, to pay for the education.

Diane shared that she felt done. She could go for weeks of learning new cooking techniques and be happy but she had learned what she came to learn and was willing to let number four have their turn.

Jose' asked, "Who's number four?"

NUMBER FOUR Ann raised her hand and said, "I'm number four and I want to go to Yellowstone National Park." 

I asked, "Why?"

"I've never seen a bison, a wild bear or a moose. All three live there. I've heard the area is beautiful and the people are friendly."

I'd never seen a live moose either. We did the on-line research, planned the route, did the shopping and the next day we were on the road again. Since it was Ann's trip, she was in charge. The trip could have been done in four hard days driving. We took seven. We stopped often, enjoyed the sights and met some wonderful people.

Yellowstone is big! We discovered how big after we were there. We spent three days doing the double loop road and some short hikes. We learned about volcanoes, mud pots, geysers and about white water rafting... for fun.

We saw bison walking in the middle of the road on our first day in Yellowstone. We saw a big bull walking with two cows out in front of him. Their coats were shaggy and they totally ignored us.

The second day we saw a momma bear and two cubs walking across a parking lot, being followed by three rangers. We stayed inside the RV's. All of us were excited to see the animals walking freely and so close.

At breakfast on day three Ann said, "Ok. We've seen the bison. We've seen the bears. Today, we'll see moose. We checked with rangers to see where the moose could be found. We went where they told us to go, hiked three miles and saw the lake where they were supposed to be.

They weren't there.

On day four we repeated the process and were told that other visitors had seen four moose the day before at a certain spot. We went there and again were forced to hike in to see the moose.

As we hiked we got hot. Ann took off her shirt and Jose' rubbed sunscreen on her freshly exposed skin. Kasumi took off her shirt and I rubbed the same sunscreen on her. It had a strong odor, not unpleasant, but strong.

We were standing together in a grove of lodge pole pine when Jose' softly said, "Freeze!"

We did and two moose came towards us through the trees. They were in no hurry and seemed curious about us. Not hostile or threatening, curious. We'd been told to be very careful around moose, if we saw them, as they are huge and could be dangerous. The bull approached us first. His head was about seven foot off the ground and sported a gigantic rack, easily eight foot across.

When he was less than two feet from Ann he bent his huge head down and sniffed her chest. A few seconds later his big tongue came out and he licked her chest, right where Jose' had rubbed the sunscreen on her. She didn't move, other than shaking in fear.

The female moose moved to Kasumi and licked her back, methodically licking all the sunscreen off her back. They shifted and kept licking until they had taken all the sunscreen off both women, front and back. They moved to the rest of us and sniffed us, but didn't lick.

After about ten minutes of the close encounter of the licking kind they snorted and walked back into the trees. As soon as we felt almost safe Ann and Kasumi started walking back towards the motor homes. Jose', Diane and I followed.

Inside the RV with the doors closed Ann said, "He licked my tits! A monster moose licked my tits!"

Jose' said, "We should write the company that makes that sunscreen and warn them that moose like the smell and the taste of their product!"

Diane said, "I'm so glad I didn't take my shirt off!"

"Why? Ann and Kasumi are probably the only women in America that have had their boobs licked by a wild moose!"

The conversation/discussion lasted hours. Every time it lagged or stopped Ann would say, "That monster licked my tits!" And, about the tenth time she said it I started laughing.

As I laughed Jose' asked, "You've been licked before, haven't you?"

Her eyes got bigger and she yelled, "Not by something with a tongue that weighs ten pounds! He licked my whole breast in one swipe! And, his tongue was rough!"

Kasumi added, "She had the worst breath! And, and neither of you saved us!" Inside I felt for both of them and was sorry there was nothing we could have done that wouldn't have put them in more danger. Outside I couldn't stop smiling. It had looked so funny.

Diane said, "Just be glad neither man had a camera ready!"

That set off another round of disgust, complaint and moaning. When things calmed a little they went into the bathroom and showered to try to get rid of the lingering feeling of those big tongues. When they came out, drying with a towel Ann said, "Ben, You're number five! Where are we going?"

NUMBER FIVE I answered, "To Seattle and then south along the coast, until we get to somewhere we want to live. I think I want to be near the Pacific Ocean, open a fun restaurant and only have it open four days a week."

"Leaving us plenty of time to play and enjoy being a family." Kasumi said.

The maps came out followed by hours of discussion about places any of us had been, places we'd heard about and wanted to see, ideas for the restaurant, staying hidden, money and avoiding moose. Laughter, touching and some kissing accented the discussion. Ann made lunch with Diane's help and we ate big bowls of vegetable soup with bread.

Towards evening we moved the RV's toward the north gate of Yellowstone, found a place to park and took another walk. We saw some mountain sheep in the distance and on our way back to the RV's we saw a dozen elk.

Diane asked, "When we have the new restaurant are you going hunting for fresh meat?"

Jose' smiled and said, "There will be no one shot kills. I'm not that good a shot."

"We might get reputations as bullet wasters." I said.

"I heard once about a man who traveled half-way round the world and fired one shot from three-quarters of a mile and got a kill." Jose' grinned.

I matched the grin and said, "I saw a man make a shot in a rain storm at half a mile and kill the target running away from him."

Diane said, "Back home, a man claimed he caught two trout with a single cast of his bait."

"Liars. Hunters, fishermen, golfers and politicians all lie." Ann said. We all nodded. They knew we meant what we said about our long distance kills.

It took two days to get to Seattle. Once there we stayed four days in the area. It was beautiful and we enjoyed lots of activities. Diane spoke to some local folk about the winters and we decided to move south. None of us wanted another winter shoveling snow.

Over the next month we moved farther and farther south. We tested various small towns and restaurants, but nothing gelled. I think each of us was waiting for something to tell us we were home. We stayed in various campgrounds, parking lots and parked a few nights on quiet country roads.

We loved the coast of Oregon, but the locals kept talking about the snow and cold of winter so we kept moving south. Even in northern California the talk was still about snow and cold. We moved south again.

We pulled into a small town slightly north of the San Francisco basin and Ann said, "I like how this feels."

We parked and started exploring the town and area. The main street looked a lot like it probably looked back in the forties and fifties, except for the newer cars and trucks. The drug store was a Mom & Pop, not a chain store. A poster posted on many of the shop windows advertised the schedule of the high school football team.

We wandered off the main street and saw a restaurant. Once upon a time the building had been something else and someone had transformed it into a restaurant. The sign over the doors said, "Martha's Kitchen". On a large window the painted words told the tale: "Open for Breakfast & Lunch, 6am to 5pm, Closed Sunday and Monday."

We seemed drawn to Martha's Kitchen. It was Tuesday at almost eleven in the morning. As we got closer we saw that the front windows were dirty, the sidewalk in front was cluttered with debris and leaves. Ann looked through the windows and whispered, "No one's inside. No lights are on."

The rest of us looked through the windows and Kasumi tried the door. It was locked. Kasumi said, "It's been closed a while. Even the door knob is dirty."

Across the street from Martha's Kitchen I saw a small Fix-It shop. The lights were on inside. I crossed the street and went inside. In the middle of lots of vacuums, toasters, blenders and things I saw an older man working at either taking a Hoover vacuum apart or her was putting it back together.

He was watching me and said, "Morning. Martha's not going to be open anytime soon."

"How long has her kitchen been closed?" I asked.

"About six weeks. Ever since she had a stroke." He shook his head. "It's sad. She's such a nice gal."

I got the feeling if I waited he'd tell me the story. He tightened a screw and then looked out the window. He said, "Roger, her husband, died last year. He was seventy. Martha kept working, closed just one day for the funeral and then kept cooking and feeding folks."

He loosened the same screw he had just tightened and continued, "When she had the stroke I found her. We got her to the hospital and they did what they could for her. Now she's in a care facility in Santa Rosa. They don't expect she'll ever get back here."

"Does she have family?" I asked.

His head shook slowly and he said, "Used to. Roger and two kids. The kids moved away after high school and came back when Roger died, for about three days. They have busy lives."

I heard between the words that they had stopped being in her life. 

I asked, "You think she might sell the restaurant?"

His eyes locked on mine and he said, "I don't rightly know. I do know she needs money. She wants to come back and cook for people again."

"I think that might be possible. How can I find her and talk to her?"

He stood up and slowly moved to an old desk. On a scrap of paper he wrote the name and address of the care facility where Martha could be found. From the desk drawer he got a set of keys. He handed them to me.

"These are her keys. After you look over the place, please return them to me." 

I took the keys and the paper, thanked him and went back across the street. Diane said, "We're home, aren't we?" Her eyes were full.

I handed her the keys and said, "Let's look inside. Maybe we'll get a feeling."

She molded herself to me and said, "We already have a feeling. What did you find out?"

I told them what I had learned. We went inside and Diane headed directly for the kitchen. Ann and Kasumi followed. Jose' and I checked out the dining room and the bathrooms, then we went into the kitchen. I heard phrases like, "We can..." "This will be perfect for..." and "I can't wait to..."

Jose' looked at me and said, "Guess we ought to go see a woman about a restaurant." I nodded.

It took another hour to get the women out of Martha's Kitchen and another hour to get to Santa Rosa. We entered the facility and at the reception desk I asked if we could see Martha. The young man behind the desk asked, "Martha who?"

"We don't know her last name. She owns a restaurant, Martha's Kitchen."

"Oh, that's Martha Adams. She's had a stroke. Why do you want to see her?"

"Maybe to buy her restaurant. Maybe." Jose' answered.

The young man called someone and a minute later we were met by a woman who introduced herself as a nurse. She explained Martha's condition to us as she led us to Martha.

Martha was sitting on a couch facing large windows that looked out towards the mountains. Nurse Kathy introduced us to Martha and waited while we greeted her. We pulled chairs near her and talked to her. Her mind was sharp even though she had some problems communicating. It was easy to tell she understood who we were and that we wanted to talk about her Kitchen. Two hours later we had a verbal agreement with her about the restaurant and her house. Roger had bought a duplex years ago, figuring the rental of one half would pay to keep Martha in her half, even if she didn't have much else. We agreed to look it over and maybe buy both from her.

By the end of the week we had a lease agreement for the restaurant, had transferred the utilities to us and had seen the duplex. Jose' and Ann said, "We can put a door between the sides and make it into a home for us!" 

They were right.

We parked both motor homes behind the restaurant and put For Sale signs on both. We slept in the motor homes but lived in the restaurant. Our first two weeks were spent cleaning and getting the restaurant ready to function. For a small fee the city gave us a dumpster and we filled it. 

As we got closer to being ready to feed people we sat together having lunch when Jose' said, "This isn't Martha's Kitchen anymore. I'd like to rename it and really make it ours."

Diane said, "The windows need to be scrapped and cleaned, too. The hours of operation will be different and we'll be closed three days, not two."

I asked, "What name?"

It was quiet for a while as we each thought about the right name for our restaurant.

Kasumi said, "Ohana. When we were stationed in Hawaii we learned the word. It means family, but more. It means that even if we don't know you we treat you like family."

Jose' nodded. Ann said, "We need someone to make a sign and to add the days and hours we'll be open." The name was picked. The hours we'd be open and which days was the discussion for the next few hours as we continued to work, getting the restaurant ready.

Kasumi and Ann bought plants for the dining room and pain for the walls. Diane updated the kitchen supplies with new pots, pans, utensils and plates. Jose' and I found suppliers for linens, food deliveries and a printer for our menus. I called the brothers Mike and Tom back in Maine. I placed an order and specified the delivery date.

We worked hard and by the end of a month we were close to being ready to open the doors. We had taken many trips to all the restaurants within about ten miles, checking their menus, their product and their delivery. Some were hole-in-the-wall places with paper plates and quick food. Some were up-scale places with white tablecloths and long wine lists and charged fifteen dollars for a hamburger. We found two places that served "fresh" seafood and in both cases Diane tasted their food and said, "Not really fresh."

Jose' and I hung the sign above the doors that read "OHANA, A Family restaurant where friends and Family gather for Good Food". We hung a banner that said, "Grand Opening, September Fifteenth!" Our wives delivered fliers to the businesses in the area offering discounts to our new customers to try us.

We put a quarter page ad in the local paper offering a discount if they brought the ad in with them. Jose' had signs made for inside the dining room. One said, "OHANA, the Hawaiian word for Family!" Another said, "Hugs are better than handshakes". "Free dessert to any student with an "A" on their report card!"

On the fifteenth we were all up, dressed in Hawaiian shirts and shorts and in the kitchen by five in the morning. I was worried. I kept thinking, 'What if no one comes?' Ann started the coffee at quarter to six. At six Diane opened the front doors. At five minutes after six our first customer walked in. Ann seated him and gave him a menu. By quarter after six we had ten customers and Ann delivered the first order to our first customer. He had ordered "Ben's Second Favorite Breakfast", a lobster meat omelet with cheese, a bagel and hot coffee.

After he ate all of it he asked Ann, "If this is Ben's second favorite breakfast what's his favorite?" Ann bent close to him and whispered in his ear. They both blushed and he laughed. When he paid the bill he asked me, "Are you Ben?"

I nodded and he said, "I loved breakfast. Is there a Ben's second favorite lunch on the menu?" I smiled and he said, "I'll be back."

We served twenty-three people breakfast. At eleven-ten a couple walked in and asked if it was lunchtime. It was. Between then and three (1500 hours) I noticed many of the people who had breakfast were back for lunch. We served eighty-seven lunches. Jose' and I washed lots of dishes and smiled a lot. Between three o'clock (1500 hours) and five-fifteen (1715 hours) we ate, kissed and got ready for dinner.




He Planned a Secret Ch. 03



Families showed for dinner. Three guys in their thirties came in and when they were done one pointed to the sign that said, "Hugs are better than handshakes" and asked Kasumi if that meant they could have hugs. She hugged all three of them. Her next customers asked for hugs too. Then Ann served dinner to a family and the teenaged son asked for a hug. She said he had to finish his dinner, including the veggies to get a hug. He got the hug and his parents smiled and left a good tip. 

By closing we had served a good number of people and many of them had given us great feedback on the food. Diane's years of running the café' prepared her for making the adjustments needed. The first one was to get rid of the paper menus, except for "Take Home". We marked two parking spots as "Take Home" parking while people stopped in to pick up food they had ordered by phone. On day two Jose' mounted a white board on the wall and Ann lettered the menu for the day on the board. The weather report said we had a sixty percent chance of rain that afternoon. The special of the day was thick, white clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. When Diane filled the twentieth bowl at twelve-thirty Ann started making another batch. The chowder was a hit. 

By the end of our first work week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday) we had served three hundred breakfasts, almost four hundred lunches and four hundred fifty dinners. We were still in the red, but I believed the word of mouth would have us in the black soon.

All five of us made a point of talking with our customers. They gave us some good ideas. A teen son of one family said he needed a job. His Dad asked if we would allow him to do deliveries, for three dollars per delivery plus tips. Ann said it was Ok, if he kept up his grades to a GPA of 3.2 and didn't get into any legal trouble. No speeding tickets, parking tickets or DUI's.

In the second week a teacher asked if he could get a discount and use the discounted lunches as rewards for hard work for students. He got a twenty percent discount and we had reward tickets printed that were good for any meal up to $15.00. The reward tickets had to be signed by the teacher and dated to be valid. He paid $12.00 for each ticket. He bought a dozen and we gave him thirteen. The next day four other teachers came to see us about reward tickets. 

Those teachers put notes in with report cards, letting parents know that we gave free desserts to any student who showed us an "A" on their report card.

In our third month we were doing a little better than break even when our phone rang at six in the morning. The caller ID showed a number in area code 808. Jose' answered. Three seconds later he put it on speaker.

Almond's voice said, "I need to come home."

"So, come home. You're home is right here. How soon can you be here?" Jose' asked.

We heard her sob. "I'm not pretty any more."

I said, "We let Jose' in the family and he isn't pretty. Where are you, Sweetheart?"

"Hawaii. I can't leave until tomorrow. Where do I go?" I realized she was calling on our cell phone, not our new restaurant number.

Jose' said, "Fly into San Francisco. Call or email your flight information and one of us will pick you up."

"Thanks. It should be either Ann or Diane. I'll call back." The connection ended and she was gone. Thirty seconds later the phone rang again. Jose' answered, "Hi." And hit speaker.

A voice none of us knew said, "Her cover is blown. We'll pick her up in San Francisco and deliver her to you in two weeks. She was attacked and injured a week ago. For your protection and hers we scrambled the phone in her room. She still needs some medical attention before we release her."

Jose' started to speak and the line went dead. Diane and Ann started asking questions immediately. "How badly was she hurt?" "Is she coming to visit or stay?" "What do we do to get ready?" 

We had all heard the same two phone calls. We had no answers.

Kasumi said, "Give up on your questions. Every time Jose' went on duty I had questions, questions without answers. He'd be gone for weeks and come back, without answers. My job then was to love him back to health, so he could go away again. There are no answers."

I nodded and so did Jose'. I said, "She's right. Our job is to love her back to health, if she's here for a month or the rest of her life."

Twelve days later a dark blue Chevrolet sedan parked behind the restaurant and two men got out. They unloaded two suitcases from the trunk and brought them in through the back door. The taller man set the suitcase he carried down and went back out to the car. He opened a back door and helped Almond out of the car.

She was dressed in a lavender pantsuit and she wore flats. She held on to the man as she was walked to our back door. The left side of her face was bandaged and her left arm was in a sling.

Diane saw her arrival and whistled. Both Jose' and I rushed to the kitchen and she pointed out the window. We met Almond at the back door and took her inside. Diane went to the door with us and the man handed her a large envelope. He didn't say anything. 

As we helped Almond inside they went out the back door and left. We got her into the booth closest to the kitchen and Diane sat down with her. Kasumi said, "I've got the kitchen. Welcome home, Sister."

Jose' kissed Almond's hand and went to help the customers seated in various places. Diane got her some tea and she smiled as she sipped it. None of us asked any of the questions we had eating at us. We knew she'd tell us whatever she could, as soon as she could.

The morning rush ended and Ann sat with Diane and almond having some more tea. I had noticed Almond crying quietly as we handled business around her. Diane asked, "Tired?"

Almond squeezed Diane's hand and nodded. Diane motioned to Jose' and I and we helped her into the bus parked behind the restaurant. We got her on the bed and removed her shoes. I covered her with a light blanket and we kissed her, and then left her to rest.

For the rest of the day one of us checked on her about once an hour. Her sisters took her food and helped her with whatever she needed. Diane, Jose' and I read the contents of the envelope. It was mostly medical information about how to care for her injuries. Her shoulder had been badly wrenched and some muscles had been damaged. Her face and neck had been cut with a very sharp blade. 

The doors got locked, the lights went off and the five of us went into the bus. The restaurant was closed for the next three days.

Almond was awake when we entered the bus. She got out of bed and came to the dining table. She sat and whispered, "This is all the voice I have."

Ann sat next to her and held her hand.

"I can never go back. I'm out and need to do everything to stay gone. How long can I stay with you?"

I said, "You're home. You aren't a visitor. Stay forever. I think we can get you a job at a great little restaurant we know of." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Diane said, "We need to change dressings on you, get you out of the clothes you've been in all day and back into bed."

Ann said, "Almond should sleep here. One of us should stay with her and the rest go to the other Winnie."

Almond waved her hand and whispered, "Could I have Ben on one side and a sister on the other?"

Ann said, "Ok, but be warned, Ben snores sometimes." She smiled as she said it. 

Almond said, "I just want to be held."

Jose' took Kasumi and Diane with him and left Ann and I to get comfortable with Almond. We went to work on almond, getting her ready for bed. Changing bandages was high on our list of things to do. Getting her undressed was a slow and careful process. Her damaged shoulder made us move slowly. Almond pointed to her suitcase and I found a bottle of painkillers inside. She took two.

When her top finally was off we saw bandages on her left breast. She said, "He cut me."

Ann prepared a fresh bandage while I carefully removed the one on her breast. The red scar started about three inches above her nipple and towards her collarbone. It extended through the nipple to the bottom of her breast. Three staples near her nipple held the skin together. I cleaned the wound and Ann rebandaged it.

"I know I'm ugly."

"There are women all over the world who would like to be as beautiful as you." I said.

She smiled a weak smile. I went to work on the bandages on her face and neck. When I got them off we looked at the red line that started next to her left eye and extended down across her jaw and onto her neck. The damage to her voice was because the blade had damaged her larynx as it sliced through. The scar was not as red as the one on her breast and appeared to be healing well.

We got a fresh bandage on and turned her towards the bed. She mad a hand sign with her hand. Her thumb stuck between her first and second fingers of a fist and jiggled. She softly said, "Pee." 

We got her into the bathroom and she took care of business. Ann and I undressed and when Almond came out we got her in bed and we took our turns in the bathroom. I showered and shaved. When I climbed into bed Almond snuggled against me, her right side down and her head on my shoulder. My arm naturally held her against me and Ann snuggled against her back. Her eyes closed and she was asleep.

Early the next morning the rest of the family joined us. Jose' and Kasumi made breakfast of oatmeal with cinnamon and bagels. Almond ate half a bowl. While we ate I thought about how Almond's arrival had me seeing our need for an actual home as urgent. We owned the duplex that we got from Martha, but it was three miles from the restaurant.

Jose' sat by me and said, "Brother, we need to sell a motor home and get a place for all of us to live."

Diane looked at both of us and said, "Amen. It needs to be close to the Ohana and have lots of room."

Kasumi said, "I have an idea. I heard some folks talking yesterday about a place that might be perfect for us. After breakfast let me check it out and I'll get back to you at lunch. Ok?"

"You must be crazy." I said. "Where is this house that might be perfect? Why can't all of us go look at it together?"

She smiled and said, "It's on the corner." She pointed in the direction and I said, "there's no house over there. Just a church and a plumbing supply business.

Kasumi smiled and nodded her head. "The people I overheard said the church went under and the building was for sale."

Jose' said, "Let's go look at it."

Kasumi said, "Let me see if I can find out who's selling it. Maybe we can get inside." While she grabbed the phone the rest of us started getting ready to go look. I ran across the street to the Fix-It shop and borrowed a wheelchair from Marty. Almond could go with us!

When I got back everyone was ready. We put almond in the chair and I pushed. As we walked I realized that if we bought the church we expanded our parking as well as living really close to Ohana. A silver SUV pulled into the church parking lot and a woman about fifty got out, smiling like we were her best friends. I remembered seeing her at dinner two nights before. She had salmon and her dinner partner had swordfish.

She opened the doors to the church nod we went inside. She rattled off the stats for the building. It had been built in 1955, had a little over ten thousand square feet inside and half an acre of land. Diane looked hard at the kitchen and approved. I found the two restrooms and both were four holers, with three urinals in the men's room as well. There were six classrooms, two offices and the chapel. The building had a five-year-old furnace that we were told worked well.

Kasumi was right. The church could really work as our new home. Three hours after Francine opened the doors for us we made an offer. At ten o'clock the next morning we were in process of buying the church. Our offer was much lower than what was being asked for the building, but since it had been for sale for two years without a nibble, they took it.

We worked an agreement to rent the building until the sale finalized. We began the process of moving in immediately. The restaurant was closed three days a week, but we worked seven days a week. Jose' found some boys playing basketball at the high school and hired them to do some of the demolition and clean up work. As a part of their pay we agreed to put hoops in our parking lot.

The six classrooms became three huge bedrooms. One office became a bedroom. The bathrooms were remodeled adding big showers and getting rid of half the toilets and all but one of the urinals. All the pews went to salvage. 

Both Jose' and I had been sensitive to almonds healing process, giving her plenty of time to heal. In the third week she was with us Diane cornered me in the kitchen and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing that I know of. Why?"

Almond has slept snuggled against you and Jose' every night since she arrived. You both know she feels ugly. Neither one of you has made a move on her. This morning she was thinking about leaving. She doesn't feel wanted."

"Would you excuse me? I need to go talk to Almond." I smiled and left Diane in the kitchen. I found Almond in the bus looking at the screen of a laptop. I said, "Can I ask you a couple of questions?"

She closed the laptop and said, "Sure. Go ahead."

"Maybe I'm dense. I'm going crazy looking for a sign that you're ready and maybe even willing for a little more loving than just being held all night long. Can you tell me how soon I can stop going to one of my other wives for the action I want with you?"

She looked at her watch and said, "It's a little after eleven. There should be a lull between lunch and dinner at about two o'clock. I'll be right here, nude and ready at two o'clock. I'm sorry we haven't communicated well. I thought you didn't want me."

"You slept with me last night. Was I hard this morning?"

"You're hard every morning. It doesn't mean anything except you're a man."

"Anytime I'm hard and you want the use of it, go for it. I promise I'll do my best to use my mouth, my hands and my cock to tell you I love you and want you. I do love you."

At two that afternoon I found almond in the bus, nude and willing. No clothes on and no bandages either. I massaged her for an hour or so and included lots of foreplay, fiveplay and sixplay before we got to joining. At three-thirty we cleaned up the motor home, opened windows and changed the sheets on the bed. As we walked back to Ohana I asked, "Do you believe I think you're ugly?"

I looked and her eyes were full of tears. She said, "No. You think I'm still beautiful." That night Ann joined us in bed. I love three-way sex where I get to please both women. That night we ganged up on Almond and she gave up her plan to go away. My belief is that all the sex and affection helped her heal. I know it helped me feel better.

We'd been in town less than a year when we moved into our new home. Almond had healed and regained most of her range of motion and strength. She delivered food from the kitchen to diners, and she cooked. Her scars stopped being red and angry. We had her get them treated and they faded to almost unnoticeable. Jose' and I played basketball on our court with the boys at least once a week. 

On the exact day that Ohana had been open a year I was washing dishes and Almond came to me in a hurry. She tugged on my sleeve and I asked, "What?"

She whispered, "Something is wrong!" She led me to the door from the kitchen into the dining room and when I looked I suddenly felt cold. Three men in gray suits were looking at the menu on the wall. All three were armed.

"Stay back here." I said. I walked out into the dining room and to the three men.

"You guys ready for lunch?" I asked. 

They faced me and one said, "Lunch sounds good. We were told we might find Ben Peterson here in town. Know him?"

I said, "I'm Ben Svenson. I think there's a Peterson family over in Santa Rosa, but I don't think the husband is Ben."

"Ok, thanks." They ordered and I served their lunches. The older one of the three paid the bill with cash. He left exactly fifteen percent tip. When they left they left in a gray four door Ford sedan. There were three antennas on the trunk lid.

I went back in the kitchen and Jose' said, "Tell me we don't have to move."

Instead of answering I went to the phone and dialed a number I'd memorized years before. I identified myself and was connected to another voice. He said, "They goofed and they know it. They were not supposed to contact you. You do not need to move. However, you will receive a package later today. Put them somewhere you can get to them easily."

The package contained four weapons. Two modified XM-110 rifles and two 9mm pistols. One rifle went in the house and one into the restaurant. The handguns were also hidden, but easily accessed.

We sold the class "C" RV. Jose' and I traded taking wives on three day trips in the class "A" bus and enjoying our lives. Ohana stayed profitable and we invited Jenny for the visit we promised. She came and stayed a week.

The day after she arrived Ann said she waked funny. Jenny said, "I haven't had sex in years. Now I've been well fucked and eaten by the best lovers on the West Coast! Of course I walk funny!"

She still walked funny when she got on the plane back to the East Coast. She had been in each of the four bedrooms in our home and had shared "quality time" with each member of the family.

Jenny is selling her restaurant next year and moving to the west coast, where it's warmer than Maine. There will be a bedroom added to our home for her in time for her arrival. That will be a bedroom for Diane, one for Kasumi, one for Ann, one for Almond and one for Jenny. Neither Jose' or I have had a bedroom in years. We haven't slept alone in years, either.

I planned to keep a secret when I left the Air Force. I have kept a secret or two, but not the one I intended to keep. All the women in my life know that secret.