A Summer Without End

After what felt like a very long time, he was surprised when he actually reached the last page he'd written. He sat back, placing the tablet on the table next to him.

"That's it? That's all of it?" Erin exclaimed.

He nodded with a concerned expression.

Erin leapt from the couch and raced off in the direction of the bathroom. They heard the door slam.

Reid looked at the others in dismay. "Was it that bad?"

"NO!" burst from the others then they were all talking at once.

He held up his hands to get them to stop.

Erin marched back into the room and walked right up to his chair. She looked down at him with tears in her eyes and he didn't know how to respond. Suddenly, she sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck as she cried on his shoulder. He looked at Evelyn in shock. Elizabeth and Emily jumped to their feet and leapt to join their sister in hugging him but it was too much for the chair and over it went.

Wincing from the blow to the back of his head, he became aware of the girls untangling themselves from his lap and Evelyn pulling them to their feet.

"Are you ok, Reid?" she asked once she had her third daughter up and standing behind her.

"Just a little bump on the back to match the one on my forehead," he sighed. She helped him stand then grabbed him in a tight hug and her daughters did as well.

"Does this mean you liked it or is this a pity hug, because I'll accept either."

Evelyn pushed back and looked up into his eyes. "It's a beautiful story! Very moving."

The others let go of him as well but only moved back a little. He was still surrounded by the beauties.

"When are you going to finish it? I need to know what happens to Grant? Does he find true love with Melody? NO! Don't tell me! I need to read the rest!" Erin exclaimed excitedly.

"So... it's good?" he asked.

"YES!" they all yelled. Then everyone began to laugh.

"For someone who writes so beautifully, you sure can be dense," Elizabeth complained.

He turned his attention to Erin. "Why did you run off when I finished?"

"I had to pee! I'd been holding it in for so long as I didn't want to interrupt the story!" she explained.

"You're a very good reader too!" Elizabeth said with a shy smile. Evelyn smiled and stroked her daughter's hair. "You always loved Jack reading to you as well," she said fondly to her daughter, then realized who she was comparing to Reid.

"Jack?" Reid asked.

"Our dad," Emily said with a gentle smile.

There was a moment of silence which Evelyn seemed desperate to fill. "Ok, we've had a wonderful time tonight! Thank you for the delicious dinner and the amazing story afterwards. I think it's time we headed home."

"It was wonderful having you all over," he responded as he looked into Evelyn's beautiful eyes.

He saw she needed to leave so he nodded and stepped back as they began to move. Elizabeth was the last to leave and stopped in front of him to look up into his eyes. "Dense."

She followed her sisters out and Reid locked up behind them.

He wondered at Elizabeth's comment. Was she really expecting him to make a move on her mother? In front of them?

He shook his head. Maybe it was the beer talking.

On his way back to the living room he spotted something on the fridge door and froze. He walked closer and was stunned to see several photos of himself with the girls. There he was driving the Jeep. Then there were three shots of him shopping for groceries, one with each of the ladies. They must have taken turns taking the photos. He looked happy in each of the pictures and their gesture meant so much. He felt his emotions surge as he grinned at the happy memories.

He went back to pick up his tablet and linked it to his wireless keyboard. He felt energized by their enjoyment of the story. And their present!

He had a few more chapters in him tonight!

Chapter 4

Reid was returning from his run on the beach and he was dripping with sweat. He thought his fatigue might be due to recuperating from his drunken binge but he'd been ok the day before.

While it never really got too hot due to the constant breeze over the frigid water, today felt like the temps might reach an all time high as the sun was doing its best to compensate for water and wind. There also wasn't a cloud in the sky.

As he crossed the beach to return to his house he pulled his shirt up and over his head. He found a dry spot and used it to wipe the sweat from his face.

Climbing up the stairs he spotted Evelyn walking back to her place from his.

"Good morning!" he called out and she changed directions to meet him on the small grassy area.

"Good morning!" she returned as she eyed his sweaty muscles. She seemed to have some difficulty looking back up to his face. "I came over to ask if you had any plans today."

"No, my schedule is wide open," he said with a smile.

She nodded as her eyes went back to his chest, his stomach, then quickly back up to his eyes. "We're going to have a picnic on the beach. We wanted to invite you. Maybe throw a football around. The girls also wanted to know if they could work on their tans on your deck afterwards. It's much wider than ours and it's sheltered from the wind. They've actually been using it for that for years."

He nodded. "Sure. That sounds like fun. What can I bring to the picnic?"

She shook her head then her smile turned into a grin as she reached out to run her finger down his chest to his stomach. "Bring this," she said then immediately spun and dashed away.

"When?" he called out and she stumbled to a stop at the base of her steps and looked back at him in embarrassment.

"Noon!" She ran up her steps and rushed inside.

He slowly walked back to his place, unconsciously running his fingers over the same place her finger had touched. He was beginning to get the idea that she might like him.

Inside he showered and slipped on his swim trunks. He had no intention of going in the frigid water, but he'd get a better tan wearing the smaller trunks. Due to the heat, he decided a long sleeveless t-shirt would be best and pulled one on.

He mixed up a large batch of lemonade in case his guests needed something cold and refreshing when they were catching the rays on his deck.

This done, he saw he had lots of time so he pulled out his tablet and wireless keyboard and continued where he left off the night before. He'd made considerable progress before he forced himself to go to bed.

A knocking on his door drew his attention back to the here and now from the depths of his story. He was getting to a very intense section and was grateful for the break as his emotions were becoming a little raw. He saved and shut down before answering the door.

Erin- no, Emily was standing at his door with a frown which quickly became a look of concern as she saw his eyes were a little glassy.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Hmmm? Oh, this? It's nothing. I was just writing," he said in embarrassment.

Her expression was instantly delighted. "How much further did you get?"

He grabbed his beach bag and locked up behind himself as he answered. "Between last night and this morning, I wrote maybe another eight chapters. It's just flowing now!"

She grabbed his arm as she squealed happily and walked down the stairs with him. She pulled him along out to the beach where the others were setting up. As they got closer, Emily released his arm and rushed ahead.

"He wrote eight more chapters!" she called out and excited squeals returned. "He was writing when I went to get him!" she added.

Evelyn was giving him a happy smile as her eyes admired his long, lean body. "Glad you could join us."

"There is nowhere in the world that could possibly hold more interest for me than right here, right now, with you," he said quoting something his lead protagonist just said in is story but lending it the weight of true conviction. He truly was where he wanted to be.

The triplets watched Reid with wide eyes and huge smiles. Then they looked to their mother who was also looking at Reid in shock, her blush making her cheeks almost glow. The girls looked back to Reid and saw he was beginning to realize he may have said too much too soon.

"It's something I wrote... in my story. Too much?"

Evelyn's mouth closed and she looked conflicted. "It's not nice to be a tease-"

"I wouldn't!" he blurted. "I meant them- the words. I didn't intend to upset you!" he struggled to fix the damage he'd done.

Elizabeth slipped up next to her mother and gave her a hug from behind. "You didn't upset her. You just surprised her with the lovely sentiment."

It looked like Evelyn was going to protest but instead she turned her eyes to him and nodded. A shock went through his body and he smiled gently. "I meant the words."

Evelyn's lips picked up his smile. "Thank you."

"Anyone hungry?" Erin said cheerfully and got a swat from Elizabeth. "Hey!" she swatted her sister in return before all three started in.

Evelyn separated them and got them seated on the blanket. Reid sat next to the mother and she handed him a sandwich. He smiled and gave her thanks. Soon they were all eating and chatting as comfortably as they had the night before at dinner.

"So your writing is going well?" Evelyn asked.

He nodded as he swallowed. "Yes, it actually feels easier now that I've read some to you and gotten your feedback on it. Hopefully, it hasn't diminished in quality with the increase in ease of writing," he said nervously.

"You'll just have to read the new chapters to us so we can let you know!" Elizabeth gushed and got smiles from the others. Reid smiled and nodded.

"I also want to thank you for the photos! They're wonderful!" he said. They smiled to him then exchanged looks of congratulations on the success of their gift.

They finished up lunch and Elizabeth had the cell today and took photos of them laughing and posing with silly grins.

They threw the football around then decided they would head back to do some sunbathing on his deck.

They collected the blanket and picnic basket and headed back up to the house. The ladies went out to the deck and pinned the blanket to the railing to give themselves additional privacy while they soaked up some sun. They put their towels out and pulled the lotion from their beach bag.

Reid went inside to get a serving tray, glasses, and the large pitcher of lemonade. When he returned he almost dropped the entire thing. The ladies had removed their wraps to expose their sexy bikinis. Then the triplets had gone one step further to remove their tops. They were all sitting up looking at him expectantly. Evelyn still had her top on but was holding the ties of hers, as if undecided. She held his eyes nervously as he stood holding the tray of drinks. Ice tinkled against glass. All eyes were on him.

His senses returned and he walked over to carefully place the tray on the small table before them.

"Would you mind if we went topless, Reid? It's what we do in Perth." Evelyn asked nervously.

He cleared his throat to loosen its tightness. "Not at all. Please make yourself comfortable. You just surprised me, is all. I'd heard Australia is pretty conservative. They have topless sunbathing in Perth?"

"Not many public beaches allow it but we can do it on the deck at our house," she answered as she tugged the strings free. Her beautiful breasts were suddenly free of their confines and he felt sparks shoot through his body. God, she was lovely! He caught her smile at his obvious look of awe. He pulled off his t-shirt and Evelyn's smile widened.

"It's only fair. We got to see all of you on our first day back," Erin said with a grin as she squirted lotion on her hand and rubbed in over her chest. The ladies weren't as large up top as their mother but they were all truly lovely.

"Lemonade?" he asked with a wobbly voice. They grinned and nodded so he made himself busy by pouring them each a tall glass as they all put on lotion. Evelyn accepted a glass as well. He popped back into the house to prepare a second jug after pouring his own glass.

Coming back out onto the deck he saw all four beauties resting back with the sun gleaming on their skin. He felt himself filling up all the extra space in his small swimsuit. He put his own towel down next to Evelyn's and laid back with his eyes closed after taking a deep drink of the cold lemonade.

"You didn't put any lotion on!" he heard from his left and the cool lotion plopped onto his chest. Before he could move his hands to rub it in smaller hands began to do it for him. His eyes opened and he saw Evelyn kneeling at his side, spreading the lotion over his chest. Her hands felt wonderful and he saw her breasts rocking back and forth as she worked the lotion into his skin. He was quickly discovering just how little room he had in his swimsuit. Her satisfied smile told him she'd noticed. She reached his neck and her fingers moved over his face, not missing anything.

When she stopped he tried to relax but heard the squirt of the bottle again. His stomach took a blast of lotion and he jumped at the coolness. Her hands spread the lotion over his hard abs and down his arms. Her hands moved back to his stomach and moved lower. A hand rubbed the lotion just under his waistband and he yelped quietly when her fingers bumped into something very sensitive.

"Oops! Sorry!" she chirped. Then her hands were on his upper thighs and worked their way down his legs.

His body vibrated like a piano string struck by a sledgehammer.

"All done," Evelyn said happily and his eyes opened to take in that smile.

Her words about being a tease came unbidden to his mind but he clamped down on that response. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," she responded and his eyes took in the stiffness of her nipples. He nodded and saw her smile widen.

She rested back and he did his best to relax, lying beside the four gorgeous... topless women. He was actually surprised when he felt a hand nudging him awake. "Time to turn over, sleepy head," she said fondly. He smiled blissfully at Evelyn and turned over onto his stomach.

He jumped again as lotion squirted onto his back. He glanced to the side to see Evelyn on her knees leaning over his back.

"You may return the favor," she said with a coy smile as she spread the lotion over his back.

He smiled and relaxed as her strong hands kneaded his back muscles as she worked the lotion in. They moved lower and lower until one dipped under his waistband once more, deeper this time, to stroke across the top of his ass cheeks. He jumped again and looked back at Evelyn. She was smiling innocently but avoided his eyes as she moved on to his legs.

When she finished he immediately pushed himself up to his knees and looked her in the eye. "My turn."

She had the good sense to look just a little timid as she'd teased him pretty unmercifully. The result was showing against the front of his swimsuit. Still, she eased herself down onto her breasts and seemed to relax.

Reid squirted the lotion into his palm and rubbed his hands together to warm it. Then he started at her neck and worked his way down her arms. He felt her muscles relaxing under his strong fingers. He went back to her shoulder blades and down her spine and she sighed. When he got to her sides he stroked the soft flesh bulging out from her front and she sucked in a breath. He moved his hands down her sides to her hips then surprised her by repeating the side strokes, once more caressing the sides of her breasts. She shivered under his hands and seemed to be waiting for a third stroke when he dug his thumbs into the knots of her lower back and eased them.

"Oooohhhhhh!" she moaned aloud and her girls looked over with envious expressions.

"You ok?" Reid asked as he gently ran his fingers down her back. He felt her tremble and twitch under his hands. He assumed that meant she was enjoying it. She hadn't said otherwise.

He loved touching her! Her skin felt so soft yet her muscles underneath were firm if knotted with tension.

"God, yes! Keep going!" she sighed and he smiled.

He added more lotion to his hands and felt for tight spots in her back and rubbed them out until her back felt like putty and she was moaning softly and constantly.

Mischievously, he ran his fingers under her waistband over the tops of her ass cheeks and her head came right up off the towel with a loud gasp. She looked back at him and he smiled. "Returning the favor." He saw her trying to keep the smile from her lips but she finally surrendered as she settled back down on her towel.

Suddenly recalling they weren't alone Reid looked over at the triplets and saw their delighted grins. He smiled at them and added more lotion to his hands as he started on Evelyn's legs. She jumped a little when he touched her thighs but settled down when he began the deep muscle massage.

"Oh Reid, you have magic hands!" she purred as he worked her calves. This caused her daughters to giggle excitedly. "Shush you!" she scolded them fondly.

Then he lifted her left foot and pressed his thumbs deeply up and down her foot.

"AAAHHHhhhhhhhh!" she cried and grabbed at her towel. He gently tugged on each toe, releasing its tension, and massaged the skin between each as she moaned and bit down on the towel to stifle her cries. He moved to the other foot and repeated the tender treatment as she got louder. When he gently set the foot down she made an oddly desperate sound and looked over her shoulder at him.

Not knowing what she wanted he gripped both feet tightly in his hands and began to pull them downwards, gradually increasing the strength of the pull as he massaged her arches deeply with his thumbs.

She bit down on the towel again and shook silently. He eased off on the pressure and when he released her feet she sighed happily.

"Magic hands!" she cooed and bit her lip as she watched him with dreamy eyes.

He blushed at her frank appraisal and moved back to his towel. Glancing over Evelyn's head he saw Erin wiggling a bottle of lotion while looking at him hopefully. Elizabeth snatched the lotion from her hand and pushed her sister down. She threw an apologetic look his way. He just smiled and sank down to lie on his towel. As he felt the sun soaking into his skin he looked across to Evelyn and saw she was watching him with a satisfied smile. He returned it then closed his eyes.

He heard one of the ladies get up and go inside and soon the sound of ice tinkling in the pitcher returned. There was the sound of pouring, ice falling into a glass with lemonade and the coolness of it touched his hand. He opened his eyes and saw Emily holding it for him.

"Thanks!" he said as he took the glass while trying not to stare at her lovely, young body. She smiled knowingly all the same as she moved to pour for her mother.

They enjoyed the afternoon until clouds arrived to spoil the party and the air began to get chilly once more. They slipped back into the bikini tops and pulled on their cover ups. He was relieved that he no longer had to work at averting his eyes.

"Would you like to go in town for dinner? Our treat!" Evelyn said with a hopeful smile.

"Sounds like fun but you don't have to treat me," he replied.

"Maybe not but we want to," Evelyn insisted with a determined smile.

He just nodded to that.

"We'll be back in ninety minutes to pick you up," she said and he nodded.

Evelyn and her daughters headed home and he went inside to have a shower and get changed. He tidied up and when he heard the horn honk he locked up and headed down the stairs to their van. He got to ride up front next to Evelyn.

He allowed himself a moment to admire how pretty they all looked and remembered he should tell them. "You all look very lovely."

Happy smiles appeared and he settled back in his chair.

The van had more difficulty navigating the ruts and he made a mental note to contact someone on Monday to fix the lane.