Distribution Ch. 09

Paige wanted to pick up a few things at the grocery store. When we returned to the house the telephone was ringing and it continued to ring all afternoon. Most of the calls were from townspeople who had read Miss Adams' article. Many of them had known Mackey and Elsie, but were surprised to learn that Mackey had been in the battle for Iwo Jima. Others wanted to know when the book would be out.

Paige and I took turns answering the phone. She just happened to take the first of two calls that were quite disturbing. I saw her frown as she looked my way, questioning what the caller was saying. She offered to share the receiver with me. I was not surprised to hear Mrs. McMahan's voice.

"I've done my best to shield my son from women like you, Mrs. Kindle, but he attracts your type like a magnet. I've always known that Gordon has that innocent, irresistible quality. He could have his pick of lovely young women. Why he lowers his standards is beyond me. It's always been a struggle, but up until now, I've been able to keep him pure."

Paige's mouth was open in astonishment. I put my arm around her and pulled her to me, smiling to show that I was amused by what we were hearing. Her lips formed a half-smile before looking shocked at Mrs. McMahan's next statement.

"You win, Mrs. Kindle. You've managed to allure my son into your wicked den of iniquity. I give up. You may have him. I only ask you to agree to one stipulation."

There was a pause, like Mrs. McMahan was waiting for a response from Paige. We looked at each other, shook our heads, and grinned at each other.

"Yes, Mrs. McMahan? Please tell me what I am to agree to."

After clearing her throat, Gordon's mother said, "I pray that my son's fascination with you will be short lived. After my son is finished with you, after he adds you as a notch to his belt, you are to go away quietly. Do you understand my demand, Mrs. Kindle?"

Paige had a hard time answering the question with a straight face. "I understand, Mrs. McMahan."

"My son's indiscretion will be at your expense. You will not expect a monetary reward."

"Please rest assured, Mrs. McMahan, I will assume complete responsibility for your son's indiscretion. Thank you for calling. It's been lovely talking with you."

I would have liked to hear Mrs. McMahan's response, but the receiver was already in its cradle. Paige turned to me. "Do you believe that?"

"I'm surprised at the restraint you showed. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had lashed out and set her straight."

"It's more fun this way, don't you think?"

I agreed with her and we only had time for a brief kiss before the telephone rang again. The caller wanted to know how he could acquire one of Mackey's collectibles that had been mentioned in the article. I told him that we were listing everything on eBay and he said he would bid on the whirl-a-gigs.

The next call was like a knock-out punch. Janice Whitney said that I'd been summoned to Judge Claudia Lockwood's courtroom on Monday morning to answer charges of misappropriating the estate funds. "Mr. Nelson is not available to accompany you on Monday. He suggests that you go armed with meeting minutes, voting records and complete financial statements."

"Shit!" I blurted out.

"I know this caught you off guard, Brian. Judge Lockwood is fair and reasonable. She's bound by the law to hear both sides of this complaint."

"Who lodged the complaint?" I asked, already knowing it was Gordon McMahan and Nancy Dickens.

"The judge wouldn't say who it was. I'll see what I can learn before tomorrow night. We'll discuss it then," Janice said.

For the second time that day, a telephone call had sent us into a state of shock. We ignored the ringing phone and concentrated on plotting our defense. First, we worked on producing the items Janice had suggested that I take with me. While Paige reconstructed the meeting minutes, I updated the financial statements. Next, we tried to predict the charges leveled against me.

Paige maintained that I was the only one called to appear before the judge because Gordon wanted to protect her from having to answer the Judge's questions. She offered to go with me, but I knew she would be cramming five days of work into four as it was and insisted that I would go before the judge alone.

Our lovemaking was lukewarm that night. I blamed myself, saying my mind was elsewhere. Paige said we were just going through the motions. "It will be better tomorrow," she said, but we didn't have to wait that long.

It must have been near daylight when I felt her body shaking. Concerned, I drew her to me. She wouldn't or couldn't stop shaking.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

"Did you hear that silly old lady? She made me agree to go away quietly after her son adds me as a notch on his belt."

Paige's body began shaking again, and that got me to shake with her. Suddenly, I was wide awake and realizing that my cock was stabbing her in the tummy, I tried to pull back. She became aware of my hard-on at that same moment. Her body stopped shaking and she became intent on moving the head of my cock up and down her slit.

"Want to?" she asked in a seductive voice that I couldn't resist.

She soon had me fully inserted and on top of her. For once, she was content to let me move at my own pace. And this time, I was able to keep my mind focused on the task as hand.

"I love this feeling," she whispered.

"I love you," I said, stopping momentarily before continuing to slowly fuck her.

I'd meant to say that I loved this feeling, too, but I couldn't very well correct what I had said, could I? If she heard me say that I loved her she didn't let on, but after we were finished, cleaned up, and back in bed, she wanted to make out. I don't know which one of us went to sleep first, but when we woke up she was on top of me and her cheek was pressed to mine.

With daylight, the enormity of my appearing in front of the judge returned. We went over everything, making sure that the meeting minutes matched our memories as to when each topic had been discussed.

Paige eventually tired of my gloomy outlook. "I'm going with you to see the judge. Janice says she's fair and reasonable. I'm going to tell her about the sacrifices you've made and how hard you've worked. None of the rest of us has your knowledge and experience. You've been the leader from the beginning."

I didn't argue with her. In fact, I was glad that she had decided to go before the judge with me. We got dressed for dinner, stopped for wine and arrived at the Whitney home just as Fred and Nadine were getting there.

Again, the girls wore long dresses and were braless while the guys were in casual clothes. I wore the only sweater I'd brought with me and my new coat.

Harold had renovated the old house, but he said it would never be finished. The bathroom fixtures were original, as was the kitchen sink. The dining room table was located between the open kitchen and a hearth, where a single log warmed the room.

I could tell that something was not right between Janice and Harold. She hinted at what was bothering her until he blurted it out. "My son will be eighteen next month. Janice says I've fulfilled my obligation according to the divorce decree, but the kid is in college and needs my help more than ever now."

"We're in the same situation, only Fred's daughter will soon be twenty-one. I say that a loan is the answer, but my husband thinks his little girl is above going into debt to get her through the rest of her senior year."

This opened the floodgates and the other two couples were soon embroiled in a shouting match. In a way, I was glad that my date with the judge didn't come up until the others tired of arguing.

When Janice did bring up my court appearance everyone was sympathetic. Paige told them that she was going with me to see the judge, and everyone agreed that I had nothing to worry about if Paige was going to be at my side.

We changed the subject to Miss Adams' newspaper article and how many people had called wanting to know more about Mackey and Elsie. "You would be surprised how many callers wanted to purchase one of Mackey's collectibles. I had to tell them that everything that is left is being offered on e-Bay," I said.

Harold spoke up. "Brian, have you checked the attic? You never know what you'll find from past generations."

"I haven't been in the attic. I don't even know how to get up there," I admitted and Harold took that as an opportunity to pay me back for the help I'd been in his securing work. He insisted that he would stop by on Sunday morning. Seeing his need to repay me, I couldn't refuse his offer.

The conversation returned to my appearance before the judge. "We still don't know who lodged the complaint that you are misappropriating estate funds," Janice said.

Paige and I exchanged a look before she said, "Yes, we do."

She described how Gordon McMahan had tried to assure her that it had not been his intention to cause trouble for Paige. We later put two and two together and decided that he blamed Ms. Dickens for complaining to the judge about me. She went on to tell about his mother's telephone call. Paige repeated Mrs. McMahan's side of their conversation word for word and soon had us all laughing hysterically. Everyone agreed that it was the perfect conclusion to a fun evening.

"Tonight was good for you," Paige said as we drove to the house. "There's nothing like a good laugh to relax you."

I had to admit that I felt better about going before the judge on Monday morning. "There's something very relaxing about anticipating when a boob is going to pop out of one of those dresses you girls wear."

Paige expressed shock. "Mr. Driver, did you think I would pop a boob?"

"Not you, but Nadine came close to exposing one of her boobs a couple of times."

"Would it have relaxed you if it happened?"

"Not really, but I'll be very relaxed when I take that dress off of you tonight."

"Mr. Driver, I want you to be relaxed."

Paige was serious and she proved it. We were having a late breakfast when we heard Harold's truck pull into the driveway.

We made a dash for the upstairs bedroom to put on clothes appropriate for a Sunday morning. When we came back to the kitchen we found Harold and Janice sitting at the table, having coffee.