Ranch Undressing

In college, at a party, again strip poker was the game of choice. Every girl was enthused about it, so to conform, she joined in reluctantly. Again, she ended up naked and having sex in front of the others with a guy that was almost 10 years older than her 19 years of age at the time.

What attracted her to me was the fact that I truly seemed interested in her...not just getting her naked and having sex. I spent time talking. I cared about her. It wasn't a ploy just to get inside of her pants.

I was so thrilled that she was able to see the sincerity in me. Yes, she was pretty. Yes, she had a hot body. But it was the sweetness in her voice, her caring nature, and even her vulnerability that attracted me to her. I wanted to be a true friend, not just a fuck buddy.

I wanted to be someone she could confide in, not just talk sweet to her when I was feeling horny. She needed a safe outlet, and I was able to be that. In some ways, our entire family was that way for her.

Jenny also mentioned to her that the owner of the diner, Mandy, of Mandy's Diner, had been one of the towns people that had spread nasty rumors about our family. Lynn needed the job, but Jenny wanted her to be careful about what she heard and what she said.

Lynn did the opposite. She faced it head-on. She told Mandy where she was living and that she didn't want to hear a damn word about it. Lynn knew some dirt about Mandy cheating on her husband and threatened to spill the beans to him if she caused any problems. Mandy never said another word about our family and was particularly nice to Lynn.

Lynn also got to meet my grandparents. As expected, that went very well, and Grandma Spencer told her that she expected that her name would be Lynn Spencer someday. Grandma's intuition. Lynn laughed nervously, but although we had only been together a few days, that thought was in both of our minds.

There was one incident that took place a couple of weeks later. It created a little tension, but was resolved quickly.

Jerry was in the shower and Lynn stepped inside to join him. She thought that I was in the shower at the time. Once Lynn realized what happened, she apologized profusely. Jerry treated it like it was no big deal and told her that she could sit at the end until he was done.

It was innocent enough. Lynn accepted the invitation, believing it must be common in our home. She had no clue that Jenny was boiling mad since she could hear the conversation from her bedroom and that Jerry was about to receive an ass-chewing like never before.

"You son of a bitch!" Jenny yelled at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Shit, she's a visitor here and you're already having her joining you in the shower?"

Lynn could hear some yelling coming from Jenny and Jerry's bedroom, but she was clueless as to why. I knew why, and I quickly got in the shower with her and gave Jenny and Jerry time to argue. I briefly explained the reason behind Jenny's ire.

'Shit, Kevin. Nothing happened. Nothing ever will happen. She doesn't trust him? She was in the other room. What the hell did she think we'd do in there?"

"I know, Lynn. You're right. Give them time to argue and I'll step in and talk to Jenny. She listens to me."

It was obvious from Lynn's facial expressions that my promise to help soothe things did little to reassure her.

When we finished our shower, we stepped out and there was no noise at all coming from their bedroom. I looked inside, and Jenny was laying on the bed while Jerry sat on the edge. They were both still naked, but looking quite pissed.

Lynn said nothing. She dried off very quickly, ignoring my attempts to make eye contact with her.

She walked quickly to my room and grabbed her two suitcases. I knew immediately what she was doing and did what I could to stop her.

"Look, it was a misunderstanding. This is new to us, but I want you around. I'm sure Jenny does as well."

I said that loud enough for Jenny and Jerry to hear me. Still, no words of reassurance from either of them; especially Jenny.

"Screw it, Kevin. I liked it here. I thought I was wanted. I'm going to my friend, Helen's house. I'll sleep in my car tonight and I'm sure I can crash a few nights until I make enough to move out. Living in my car or even sucking my dad's dick and moving back at home is better than this shit."

"What? Jenny, what in the fuck did you just say?" Jenny replied from the other room.

"You heard me. If I can't be trusted around your husband, then I'm out of here. Sorry, I thought this would end better."

"Well, you aren't going to suck your dad's dick, that's for sure. Jerry feels bad for putting you in this spot"

"Why should he feel bad. He behaved himself like a complete gentleman, just like he always has. Believe me, if he made one false move towards me, I'd punch his nuts so hard that he'd be spitting them up."

"I've spent damn near all of my life watching my mother become a meek little lamb. I've watched my dad sleeping with other women, some of them married. I've watched my sister join some kind of free-love clan in Nevada. I was almost becoming one of them before I resolved to do something better with my life."

"You can bet your sweet ass that I have no desire to mess around with Jerry, your dad, or any other married man. In fact, right now, Kevin is the only guy that I've truly ever desired to have me...and he's about to lose that because I'm out the door as soon as I pack the rest of my shit."

I couldn't believe it. "No way, Lynn. If you go, I go. If you're not welcome here, then I'm packing and going as well. I can always drive to work each morning."

About that time, Jerry walked into our room. He was pissed.

"Goddammit, Jenny, I would never lay a hand on Lynn. Kevin is not only my brother in law, but he's one of my best friends in the world. I don't do shit like that to any guy, let alone a guy like Kevin."

"If I can't be trusted, maybe I'm the one that needs to leave. I can always stay with my parents before landing elsewhere. That shower was as innocent as it gets. Maybe by most standards it might be peculiar, but the whole damn lifestyle in this home is peculiar...but innocent."

I knew Jenny well enough to see the wheels turning in her head. She had clearly jumped the gun, but wasn't quite ready to concede that she was wrong. Still, her tone softened noticeably.

"Lynn, please stay at least for the rest of the day and tonight. You did nothing wrong. Jerry and I can sort things out later."

"Like hell, we will" Jerry argued. I did nothing wrong either. I'm fucking serious about getting out of here. Lynn, I agree with Jenny that you need to stay. Everyone in this room wants you here. I'm not sure how much Jenny's going to want me here, though."

Lynn sat on the edge of my bed with tears streaming down her face.

"Guys, thanks, but for me to leave would cut some of the tension. I'm the newcomer around here.'

"No," stated Jenny emphatically. "Lynn, I can't be any more serious when I say I want you here. As long as you wish, as far as I'm concerned."

Jerry walked back to his room and we could hear the distinctive sound of a suitcase opening.

"Where in the hell are you going?" asked Jenny.

"I refuse to stay with someone that doesn't trust me. I thought we had worked out the jealousy issues with nudity around here. I guess I was wrong. Even suspecting me of doing something with Lynn pisses me off more than you'll know."

Quiet. Lots of quiet. With the exception of a suitcase closing and another opening, there was complete silence.

Jenny came back into my room.

"Lynn, could you please come in my room and talk to Jerry with me?"

Lynn looked at me for guidance. She wasn't sure she wanted any more to do with this.

"Only if Kevin is with me. Bring Jerry in here."

She coerced Jerry into coming back into my room. Surprisingly, Lynn took over.

"Jenny, you can get as pissed at me as you'd like, but you owe Jerry a huge apology. You two could have discussed this quietly without being so loud and nasty about it. You could have had this discussion and neither Kevin or I would have known a thing about it. Instead, we get dragged into it since we couldn't help but hear all of the yelling going on."

"Jerry, I thank you for always being a kind gentleman around me, and helping me feel comfortable in my naked skin around here. You've been the best. Every nice thing Kevin has ever said about you has been very true."

Jenny can be incredibly stubborn, but she finally realized that more than anything else, she had handled this the wrong way. Lynn was right. This could have been done quietly. Privately.

She finally looked at Jerry and softly spoke the words, "I'm sorry."

"Lynn is right. This could have been handled a hell of a lot better. Jerry, we still need to discuss a few things, but I know that I can trust you and that I allowed myself to feel insecure."

"Lynn, please understand that I am kind of envious of your body. I can't blame any guy for liking what he sees, even Jerry. He's human, not a robot. Even mom is still desirable to look at. Still he's always made me feel beautiful and desirable. I have no reason to doubt him."

"Holy shit, Jenny," Jerry countered. "There's a whole world of beautiful women out there. I chose YOU...do you get that? YOU, to spend the rest of my life with and be faithful to. I will never tolerate having my loyalties or fidelities questioned. I'm not that kind of guy, and I don't like being lumped into the same category of Lynn's dad. Even Lynn is disgusted by it."

"He's right," Lynn agreed. "I think he's a guy of high character, and I can assure you that nothing will happen between us. Clear?"

Jenny voice was so soft it was barely audible.

"Agreed. I'm so sorry to all of you. I've fucked up your afternoon and I'm so sorry."

"No," Lynn argued. "It's only fucked up if we dwell on it. I'm staying. I bet Jerry's staying. Let's let this slide. It's over. You guys are more like family than any I've ever known. I just want you to know that I will probably leave before too long, but at least let it be for a better reason."

"Why leave at all?" asked Jenny. "Maybe you can exchange room and board for taking on some chores here. I can already tell you that Mom and Dad want you around. I know Kevin does."

"Let me think about it," answered Lynn. "Kevin, can you and I go for a drive? I have a few dollars. I can get us a cheap snack somewhere."

That served as an opportunity for us to discuss our expectations for each other as well as Jenny and Jerry clearing the air. There were never any further incidents like that, although Jerry and Lynn were never in the same shower again.

Two weeks later, Lynn and myself went with my parents to visit Lynn's parents. We knew about their dysfunction, but we believed it would help Lynn to have us meet them and assure them that she was doing fine.

Dad and I sat in the living room with her dad. Her mother, Eileen, sat in the den with Lynn and Mom and visited.

Immediately, I didn't like her dad at all. Even if I hadn't known about his perversions, the man seemed like a creep and untrustworthy. Dad tried to engage him in random conversations, but all of his responses were short and terse. He kept turning his head as if he were trying to hear what was being said in the den.

"Not sure what in the hell the ladies are talkin' about. Damn Eileen is probably boring the hell out of them."

"I doubt it," responded Dad. "My wife is a good listener. I doubt that she's getting bored. Besides, she's probably enjoying it knowing that Lynn is getting to spend time with her mother."

I knew her dad, Walter, wanted to say more. He was the reason for Lynn leaving, but he knew better than to bring that up. He wasn't sure about how much we knew.

Again, Dad tried to get the subject back to work. He was trying to learn more about the oil industry. That was the leading employment in Danielson and Dad figured that Walter Douglas might be the one to share some information.

"No offense, but it's shit that you ranchers wouldn't understand," said Walter with obvious derision in his voice.

Dad had sat patiently listening to that rude son of a bitch. We showed up in good faith, trying to befriend my girlfriend's family, but that last remark struck a nerve with he and I both.

"Ranchers? You really think that we're too dumb to understand what you do? Are you serious? You wouldn't last a day at our ranch. If it were up to you, we'd be out of business in a month."

Walter responded even more rudely.

"Dumb ass ranchers are a dime a dozen...except ranchers that run around naked all of the time. You all are unique."

Dad ignored the naked remark and went after the dumbass insult.

"How about explaining to me how to feed various types of cattle and hogs. Explain to me how what they eat affects the quality of the meat they produce. Chickens and turkeys? What do you know about them? Like I said, those damn animals would either be dead or so useless to sell if it were up to your and your brains to take care of them."

"Fuck off," was all Walter said to Dad.

"Fuck off? Like you did to your oldest daughter? And you have the nerve to think that WE'RE perverts? You are one sick son of a bitch, you know that? I can tell you that the only sex in our home is between my wife and I, Jenny and Jerry, and Kevin and Lynn. No incest at our place, you sick bastard."

"Get the fuck out of my house, NOW!" yelled Walter. It was loud enough for the ladies to hear him from the den.

"What the hell?" asked Mom.

"Babe, we need to go. This man has insulted our family and our business. I don't take any advice or insults from perverts like him."

I put my arm around Lynn. She was practically in tears and her mother had such a defeated look on her face.

We left, peacefully, with no further comments. Her dad made it clear that we were never welcomed in that house again...and that included Lynn, unless she apologized to him.

"When hell freezes over!" she shouted back at him. "Mom, remember, Mrs. Spencer said that you're welcome to visit anytime you wish. Love you."

Eileen Douglas stood in her front yard in tears as saw her daughter ride away with us. Dad explained to the ladies about what had been said earlier. Lynn began crying again. She apologized for her dad's behavior.

"Lynn, it's not your fault" Dad told her, trying to reassure her. "You already know that you're welcome to stay with us as long as you wish. 1 week... 2 weeks... several months...whatever it takes."

"He's right, Mom added. "We kind of think of you as family already. Family sticks together."

"Not my lousy family," Lynn argued. "I hope my mother took your advice, but I bet she won't."

Advice? I wasn't sure what she was talking about.

Mom took advantage of being alone with Lynn and her mother to get to know her. She saw the same thing that Lynn had describe. She was a scared woman. Very unhappily married. Now, she didn't even have a daughter at home because of her husband.

He was very verbally abusive. He made fun of her appearance, although she was just an older version of Lynn. She was still quite attractive. Somehow, by denigrating her, he kept her humbled and in her place. Mom offered an opportunity to get out of it, but doubted that she'd take her up on it. At least, she hoped that she'd come over when she wasn't working and spend time with us on the ranch.

Fortunately, she did take my parents up my parents on their offer. She lived in the trailer behind the home until her divorce was final and she had enough in the bank to afford her own place.

Lynn and I married soon after Jenny and Jerry moved into their home. We moved into our home nearly a year later.

Lynn took bookkeeping classes and got a job in Danielson. She's still employed there. She was able to put her waitress apron away for good.

Our two sons and Jenny's son and daughter are doing a great job of keeping our ranching legacy alive and well. My parents are now completely retired from ranching and enjoying their retirement years by traveling around the country in their motor home.

Ranch life isn't glamorous. We didn't get rich from it, although it has given us a very comfortable living. What we had on that ranch could not have been traded for, or bought. Love. Respect. Boundaries. Communication. There isn't a price tag on these values. It's worked for the past four generations on the Spencer farm.

We aren't and weren't perfect. Each generation has made its share of mistakes. Today, family life is threatened by the abundance and dependence on communication devices. Smart phones, fast computers, tablets, etc. Online gaming takes our kids from the real world and places them in a virtual reality.

My children fight that battle. Hopefully, our two grandchildren don't succumb to these vices to the point where they don't appreciate the heritage that's been preserved for them. The future of Spencer Ranches depends on it.