Paid to Seduce His Mother V. 02 Ch. 07

She noticed Maggie looking at her with a quizzical expression. The youngish blonde asked, "Did you say Woolsey? That was my grandmother's name, on my father's side. They had a big farm about five miles out of town, heading north. When I was in grade school, my parents sent me there for the summer a couple of times. I can remember an older girl there a few times, she and her brother."

"Ohmigod! That was Mom's grandparents' farm. Mike and I are—what, second cousins?" She paused a few seconds, chewing her lower lip. "Well, we're still legal, at least in most states; I think there are a few that don't allow second cousins to marry, and they tend to be western or southern states. Shit! Talk about a small world. We're what? Some kind of cousin; you'd be Mom's first cousin, sooo..."

"I haven't the foggiest. I never learned the differences between first and second cousins and all that removed stuff is Greek to me. My father had a fight with his father about working on the farm, and wound up taking his wife to live in Woonsocket. Eventually we wound up in Cranston, where Mike was born."

Just then, Sara's cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, expecting to see Mike calling her. She laughed, "Speak of the devil; Hi, Mom; I was just talking about you. You'll never guess who I just found out...Mom? What's wrong ...? When is he getting out...? Middle of the month... That's fine, Mom. We'll have you moved out of town by then. We'll move you here, to stay with me for a while... Don't you worry about it; I'm not with him anymore ...That's right; over a month ago ... Yeah, Mom, some one new; I'm sure you'll like him... He's practically family... Yes, I'll explain. We're thinking of coming to see you Wednesday; is that all right...? Okay, Mom; we'll see you then."

She turned the phone off and sat, gazing into space. "Is something wrong, Sara?" Maggie asked.

"Wrong? No, not really, but troublesome, yeah.

"The brother and sister pair you recalled were probably my mother and her older brother, Jake. He's been in prison for the past nine years for incestuous rape. When Mom was fifteen, he and a friend, Dad's brother, actually, took her to the swimming hole on the farm and got her drunk. They took some Polaroids of them having sex with her, and used them to blackmail her for sex right up to the night before she married Dad.

"Dad's Guard unit was sent overseas when I was sixteen. Uncle Jake forced his way into the house, saying Dad had told him to keep an eye on us. One night, a week or so later, I woke up and heard him forcing her to have sex with him.

"In the morning, I saw her cheek, looking like my eye. When I got to school. I went and talked to the nurse, who called the school social worker, who...anyway, arrangements were made to find safe places for us, and when Jake got home from whatever bar he had spent the day at, the police were waiting for him.

"At the trial, he swore he'd get even with her. Now he's getting out next month and she's afraid he'll try. If I can hide her long enough, maybe..."

"What about an order of protection?"

"From what I know of Uncle Jake, he'd drop his pants in front of the judge who signed it and use it to wipe his ass. OP's are only effective as a reason to arrest someone when they're violated." Sara sighed and shrugged. "Not much I can do about it now except HBEWPA."

"What?" laughed Maggie. "What's that?"

"Hope for the best; expect the worst, and prepare accordingly." Sara gave a small smile. "It was one of my Dad's mot toes. He said it was something his shift sergeant used to say at the end of roll call in the morning, when they started out for their patrol–'remember, men, HBEWPA'," she said, trying to imitate her father's basso voice.

Maggie smiled. "Good advice, whatever the occasion. I'm hungry; you ready for lunch? I was thinking we could put together something like a tuna caesar salad, with some grapes, cheese and crackers."

"Sounds good. What would you like me to do?"

Part XCIII

"Michael Nelson! What is wrong with you today?" Anna asked, putting a plateful of veal Parmesan, which should have been wiener schnitzel, down in front of him. "This is your third mistake today, and it's only two o'clock, which wouldn't be too bad with any other mortal, but it's also your first three mistakes since you started here. What gives?"

"Shit! I'm sorry, Anna. It's this thing with Sara and her questions about open marriage and...everything," he finished, lamely.

"Grab yourself some coffee or a soda and come to the office. Bella and Joe can handle things for a while. You guys hear that?"

"Yes'm," answered Bella. "We got it." She watched the pair leave the kitchen before saying, "Wow, that girl sure has his balls in a twist, doesn't she. I don't ever remember seeing him this distracted over Evie."

"Open marriage, huh? Think she has some dude on the side she wants to keep humping. Good looking chick like that, even if she is a cop, I wouldn't be surprised. Somebody worked her over. Did you see her the last time she was in—black eye and bruised cheek. Gotta make him wonder."

"Yeah. He's too nice to get screwed over again. If I was fifteen years or so younger---mmm, the good times we'd have. Damn, down, girl. You gotta buy batteries as it is."

Joe laughed. "You wanna come over and join me and Dolly tonight. She's been hintin' she'd like to see you again."

"You trying to smooth talk your way into my pants again, Joe? I gotta stop at the drugstore first, then I'll be there."

Mike sat down in the chair across from Anna and placed his cola on the desk. "Would you be a kind soul and pour a shot of the bourbon you keep in your desk in there?"

"No, Mike. You're already distracted enough. I don't need you in the kitchen, addled from alcohol, making more mistakes. What's this about open marriage and Sara?"

"A week or so before the accident, the first night Evie slept at the house, she learned about me and Mom, and told me about her and her dad. A couple of nights later, in front of Mom, she told me I could continue to have sex with her and Ellie, but I had to include you, as well, just she came first.

"The other day, when I proposed to Sara, that night she asked me if I was sleeping with Mom. I told her the truth, and about you and Ellie. She said she could live with that, and said I might have to include her mother, then asked if I wanted our marriage to be that open.

I talked about it with Mom this morning, and she pointed out that it was only fair, if I could go outside of marriage to get some unmet needs satisfied, then Sara should have the same opportunity; that, even though Evie had said she didn't need that freedom, if she had ever felt the need, she would have assumed she had the right since I was. Do you think that's right?"

"Which, that she should have had the right, or that she would have assumed she did? My guess, and it is only a guess, is that she would have come to you first and talked about it, and, just like she told you, you could have a harem, she would have told you, not asked, but told you, she was going to take a lover unless you were willing to make the change necessary to meet whatever unmet need she had. And if it was curiosity, then she would tell you and do what she thought she had to do to satisfy it. In that way, she and Sara are very much alike, were very much alike. Indecisiveness is not one of their shortcomings.

"Are you in love with Sara? I know you want to marry her; it's not the same thing. Would it be the same if Maggie, Ellie and I weren't in the picture? If it meant losing her if you didn't stop your affairs with us, what would you do? If you decide on an open marriage, are you prepared for the possibility she will take one or more lovers, male and female? Would the sex of her lover make a difference to you? What if it was emotional but not physical? Would that make a difference? Wh...

"Christ! You're worse than Mom with the what if's. Sara and I need to have a long talk, I can see that. D'you suppose you could be there to kind of keep us on track? There's no way I'd ever remember everything you and Mom have suggested we need to discuss."

"Sure, Mike, if you and Sara want me there, I'll be there. I don't want my two favorite young adults to go astray."

Part XCIV

Business at the restaurant was slow enough both Anna and Mike had time during the day to get their extra tasks done, and they were out on time. Bella and Joe both told them not to worry, they would take care of things on Monday and Tuesday, and wished them luck with the Inn.

They called the house and alerted them they were leaving and should be home in a half hour or so. Sara asked them to stop and pick up some cold lambrusca wine to go with dinner. Mike went into the store while Anna waited in the car. "What on earth could they be cooking if this is the wine for dinner?" he asked when he got back in the car. "Might as well serve Kool-Ade."

Back at the house, Sara was checking the leg of lamb she was roasting in the charcoal kettle cooker. By the time Mike and Anna got home, it would be ready to take off the grill, giving them time to have a drink and relax. She had a green salad and a warm German potato salad ready to assemble and serve. "Not as good as Mike's, but edible and tasty," she told herself, and set out the glasses for the wine.

About twenty minutes later she was carrying the meat in from the patio when Mike and Anna came into the kitchen from the garage. "Mmm, smells good in here," Mike commented. He peeked under the foil covering the meat. "Damn; I wasn't hungry until I smelled this. Wha'd you do to it?"

"Oh, just a little of this and a little of that. All stuff you had in the pantry. It has to rest a while, so sit and tell me about your day."

"My day, huh. Later, when we're alone and won't be interrupted..."

"That bad, huh? Did I do that to you? I'm sorry, sweetheart, really. If you want, we can go for a drive after dinner..." she looked up from the potato salad she was mixing.

"No, after the sun goes down, we can sit by the pool. How was your day?"

Sara laughed. "I learned the craziest thing today. Our mothers are cousins, making us second cousins. Isn't that wild?

"If you wouldn't mind, can we drive to Cherry Valley Wednesday. I want you to meet my mother, plus she's feeling kind of fragile at the moment. I told you about my Uncle Jake; he's getting out of prison next month and she's afraid he'll go after her to get even for turning him in."

"Sure, that's no problem. Is the farm still there? It's been ages since I was there. Before I was in middle school."

"Yeah; mom's parents live there now. They rent the arable portion to a co-op, with the stipulation they can't touch the woods. Then every five years or so, they have the forestry program at a nearby college come out and mark trees for harvesting. They get to cut them down, and sell them to a local mill. Gramps gets half and the other half goes to the school program, who gives half of their half to the students involved." She uncovered the meat and placed the platter in front of him, with a knife, to slice the boneless roast while she called the other women.

When the sun went down, a stiff southerly breeze brought in fog from the Sound, making it uncomfortable outside. Mike grabbed what was left of the lambrusca and led Sara down to the in-law apartment in the basement. Before he could say anything, Sara slid her arms around his neck and turned her face up, saying, "You haven't kissed me since you got home. Are you mad at me?"

Mike smiled, all the resolve he'd built up through the day to have a serious discussion slipping away. "No, love, I'm not mad, but I think I should be. I made more mistakes at work today than I have since I started working." He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. "And it was all your fault. Well, maybe not all, but a lot of it."

He led her to the sofa and pulled her down on his lap. "This open marriage thing you brought up last night. What does that term mean to you?"

"You mean, how do I define open marriage?" He nodded. "It's a style of life where each member of a married couple, with the knowledge and consent of the other member, is free to have sex with people outside the marriage. I know there are variations, but that's the basic premise."

"And in your concept, if it's okay for one member, it's okay for the other?"

"If they want to, or feel a need to, yes. Why?"

"If they feel a need to? Why would they need to?"

"If they felt they were being neglected, or if their partner was away for a long time, or was ill, or..."

"Okay, I can see the last ones, but neglect? Wouldn't it be better to try to talk to the 'neglectful' partner"

"In an open, and loving, marriage, that wouldn't be an issue. But by the time a person begins to feel neglected by their spouse, to the point where they feel they need to find someone, it's probably too late for talking to do much good except agree to formally split up. Look at your parents."

"So, if one party cheats, it's okay for the other party to cheat, too?"

"If they both agree it's okay, and they keep each other informed of what they're doing, it's not cheating. If A and B get married, and acknowledge the fact that at times they will desire to have sex with other people, agreeing that is permissible, when A has sex with C, and B has a fling with D, and they let each other know about it, then no one gets hurt. They realize it's similar to scratching an itch.

"The problem would come if A gets jealous of D for some reason, or if the bond between A and C grows stronger than the bond between A and B. That's why in an open marriage communication is so much more important than in a conventional marriage—to keep that from happening."

"The other night you asked me if I wanted our marriage to be that open. What did you mean?"

"Maybe that was the wrong way to ask what I was trying to say. Do you want the kind of open marriage Evie was suggesting? If you do that's fine. I didn't mean to imply that I would have an equal number of lovers, but I would have the right to take a lover if I wanted to. You have to know that.

"All I was asking was if you wanted other people involved in our relationship so soon. Then you mentioned your Uncle and Aunt and I guess things got mixed up.

"Face it, we've only known each other for a few weeks. It's been long enough for me to know I want to be with you, physically, emotionally, and sexually. I feel at ease with you, Mike, and safe, and this week, loved, by you and your mom.

"But, as this shows, we have a lot to work on to get to really know each other. If you're going to be involved with all those women, when will we have time to be together to work on us? That's all I was asking." She turned and pressed her lips to his, coaxing them open for her tongue.

When they separated, she went on, "Maggie told me a little about your talk, and her suggestion we have a talk about the limits we would want in an open marriage, if that's what you really want. I asked her if she'd be willing to sort of moderate the discussion, to keep us on track..." She paused when Mike started to laugh. "Wha..."

"I was having such a bad day, Anna called me into the office to ask what was wrong. I told her about the problem and asked her to act as moderator, too. She said if we both wanted her there, she'd be glad to."

Sara laughed. "That's what Maggie said, too. Well, Sir Chef, what are we going to do?"