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Wes Boyd’s Spearfish Lake Tales Contemporary Mainstream Books and Serials Online |
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Wes Boyd’s Spearfish Lake Tales Contemporary Mainstream Books and Serials Online |
Chapter 35
By the time we got done – and we took our time since we were enjoying ourselves, both in the act and afterwards – it was well past lunch time. We spent a while cuddling on the blanket, just lying naked in the sun, before we sat up and opened the cooler. It was hot enough that the cold Cokes tasted really good.
Feeling a little better, we started in on lunch. We didn’t bother to get dressed on what was our little private nude beach. Some boats passed by well offshore, but the sand bar in front of the island kept them from getting very close, and we covered up a little or went into the brush when one of them got a little close for comfort.
We spent the afternoon alternating talking and making love, sometimes together. Rachel felt she was still a little tender to want me to get into her very much, and that was fine with me. There were plenty of other things we could do. A couple times we went for brief swims to wash off the sweat, but they didn’t last long. Besides, we both enjoyed taking the time to cover each other with suntan lotion again. Rachel had the most touchable body I’d ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and I got to experience it a lot that afternoon.
“God,” she said once, “I’m really going to enjoy telling Debby and Annette about this. I want them to think I’m some kind of a sex maniac who’s good enough to keep up with you. And I am. I’m just going to need practice. Lots and lots of practice! You’ll help me get all the practice I need, won’t you?”
“God,” I replied and shook my head, “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Hey, I’ve got what it takes in me to turn me into a sex maniac. I don’t ever want to be a cold bitch who hates sex like Brittany proved to be.”
“How’d you know about that?” I asked, then continued, “Don’t answer that. Debby, right?”
“Of course. After all, she was right there and heard it all. Well, at least the important parts. Don’t you feel lucky that you’ve got me now, instead of her?”
“More than you could ever believe, Rachel,” I replied. “You are already better at it and enjoy it more than Brittany ever did, and I suspect she ever will. I’m even happier than ever now that it didn’t work out, but boy, it was really the shits when it happened.”
“I knew about most of it. Debby and Susie mostly were the ones who filled me in.”
“I hope she’s happy,” I said with a sigh. “I know from talking to Greg last month that she landed a rich guy, apparently without much sex drive, which I think is what she really wanted. I would have had a hell of a time living up to the life she wanted.”
“From what I know, I think so, too. But that’s all in the past. We’re going to have a long future to enjoy.”
“I hope so,” I told her. “And look, Rachel, that’s something we really need to talk about. I’m never going to be a rich guy. I think we’re always going to have to be working.”
“I hope so. While I want to have a baby or two someday, I don’t think we want to do it quite yet. We need some time together, first.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” I agreed. “Don’t get me wrong, Rachel. I love you, and now that I realize that I love you I can see that I’ve loved you for a while. But it’s going to take me some time to get used to it.”
“We can take the time. We’ve got plenty of it, maybe several years before we get around to babies. That’s one of the things Debby set me straight on.”
“What’s that?”
She gave me a big smile. “I’m sure you know she planned to have John get her pregnant just as soon as she could, just to make sure she had a lock on him, don’t you?”
“Yeah, she told me one time. I told her I didn’t think it was all that great an idea.”
“I know you did. She told me that. Then she found out it wasn’t all that easy to get pregnant, and I guess she changed her thinking a little bit. Back before she told me that, I’d sort of planned on trying to have you get me pregnant as quick as I could, but I’ve since come to think that we need some time to have some fun and adventure and get to know each other better first.”
“Probably not a bad idea,” I said. “Babies tend to make things more complicated, I know that.”
“She pointed that out to me,” she replied. “At least I figured it out. Anyway, the point of the whole thing was to get you married to me as quickly as possible, but now that I’ve got you where I want you, which is several inches into me, I realize I’m not in that big a hurry. We do need a little time to get you used to the idea. Well, me too.”
“Good thinking,” I said. “I’ve always been impressed with your maturity about important things.”
“Then at least be impressed with the fact that I figured it out. If it had worked out that I’d managed to get you to make love to me when we were out here that first time last summer, you might have gotten another couple surprises. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to marry you, but we don’t have to do it right away. I’m thinking we might even want to hold it off until after we take the Pixie to Florida together next winter.”
“Crap,” I said. “I never even thought about that angle of it.”
“What? Taking me to Florida with the Pixie?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I hadn’t even made up my mind if I was going next winter or what, so I didn’t tell you anything about it.”
“Dad told me,” she grinned. “Why do you think he got you the deal on those solar cells? There was never any way you were taking the Pixie to Florida next winter without me.”
“I knew you wanted to go,” I told her. “But like I said, I hadn’t made up my mind. I wasn’t looking forward to asking your dad if I could take you with me, because, well, he might have thought that we’d spend most of the time doing what we’re doing this afternoon.”
“I damn sure plan on doing a lot of it,” she stated with some force. “I like this even better than I thought I would.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the point,” I said. “In fact, there are two things about us taking the Pixie and spending the winter in Florida that need to be worked out.”
“What?”
“Well, the big thing is that while I wouldn’t mind taking you to Florida in the Pixie, it might be a little small for two for an extended period.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. I’m not very big, and all I’m going to need is a couple bikinis.” She grinned and pointed at where hers hung from a nearby bush. “They don’t take up a lot of space.”
“I hate to say this, Rachel,” I said, “but you’re actually going to need more than a couple bikinis, though I want to see you wearing them as often as possible – and not wearing them even more often than that. But it does get cold down there, and you’re going to want more clothes than that. Not a lot more, and there’s some space in the front bunk that could be used. We might even leave the pad for it home for a little more space. But, I mean, space for us.”
“That’s not a problem, either,” she said with another grin. “We can snuggle up tight.”
“Well, yeah,” I said. “I deliberately haven’t mentioned this, so you can’t have heard it from your dad or Debby or anyone, but a couple different times I had companions for a few days, and well, it got damn snug in there. A few days is fine, but I’m a little worried about three or four months.”
“We’ll get along,” she said confidently. “Dad and I talked about that part of it a little, and he said that if the two of us can still stand each other after three or four months of living together in a boat as small as the Pixie we ought to be good forever.”
“He might be right about that,” I agreed. “All right on that part of the deal, if you really want to do it, I don’t see any reason why we can’t, so long as we can work out the other problem.”
“What’s that?”
“That’s a little more complicated,” I told her. “Look, let’s face it. I’m a short-order cook, a general handyman, and a part-time deck hand on the Chinook. That doesn’t exactly add up to a large income, or a stable one. I mean, we ought to be all right for a year or two, but at some point we’re going to have to settle down and get prepared for the long term. I mean, we’re going to have to do that before babies get into the picture.”
“Well, yeah. That’s part of the reason why I want to hold off on babies for a while. But in the long run, there are some things coming up that should make things a little better.”
“What’s this? Something else that nobody’s told me about?”
“Well, probably. Nothing is hard and fast yet as it’s just been Dad and me talking about it, and Barb, a little. You know that thing about me saying all I ever wanted to do for work was be with Dad on the Chinook, don’t you?”
“That’s what I’ve always heard you say.”
“Well, it’s not quite true,” she said. “I don’t mean I want to go off and go looking for a job in some damn city somewhere. I like it where I am and I like what I’m doing, and I’m going to like doing it with you even more than I’ve have up to now. But there are some changes coming, though nothing has actually been decided yet.”
“I don’t follow you.”
“Look, I can’t believe Dad hasn’t talked to you about this. But then maybe he didn’t want to say anything until after today happened, I don’t know. Look, you know Dad is busy all the time with the Chinook, right?”
“I know he’s not missing very many days this year, and then mostly because of weather.”
“Right. And at that, he has to turn away business, since he’s got more than he can handle.”
“I guess I knew that. You’re saying he’s talking about another boat, with you and me to run it?”
“Got it right the first time!” She exclaimed. “Like I say, nothing is settled yet, and it may not be for a while. You and Dad and I are going to have to talk about it, though. What he’s thinking at the moment is that a second boat that’s a little smaller makes a lot of sense. The Chinook is all right when it’s loaded or pretty near loaded, but it doesn’t make as much sense with a party of two or three. I mean, he gets the same amount per customer, but the Chinook still costs as much to run with a full load or a partial load.”
“I get it. A smaller boat could be used for smaller parties, and it wouldn’t cost as much to operate.”
“That’s what Dad thinks. We’ve still got the same problem as we had last year, that I’m not old enough for a six-pack ticket. Don’t get me wrong, Dad likes you a lot, but I think he wants to be pretty sure I’ve got you pinned down enough that you’re not going to leave on us.”
I was just a little amazed at the prospect. Having a second charter boat was something I’d never thought of, but the whole idea seemed to hold a lot of potential. “You think this is going to happen soon?”
“It’s a lot closer to happening right now than it was this time yesterday,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t see how we can do anything about it yet this year, but I could be wrong on that. It may be that this fall Dad will have us out fishing while he goes and looks for a new boat. Fall is the time to buy them, you know that. There are other things I don’t know yet, but it looks like it could happen. We might not have enough business to keep both boats busy every day, but I’m sure Barb will still want you to work at the Channel Stop whenever you can, too. That could actually be more of a big deal if Debby manages to get pregnant like she wants.”
“Hell, I never thought about that part of it, either,” I said, shaking my head. “Rachel, I’ll be honest. Last winter I was giving some thought to not coming back to Winchester Harbor this spring, since it didn’t seem like I had all that much of a future here. Boy, was I ever wrong about that!”
“I’m sure glad you came back. I really would have hated it if I hadn’t been able to have my guy.”
“I damn sure would have missed out on something special.”
“So would I,” she said through a snicker. “Hey, I know I’m still a little tender there, but I think I want some more of it anyway.”
“You really want to be walking funny when we get back, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” she laughed. “I love you, Jake, and I’d like to be able to sort of show off how much I’ve loved you today.”
To make a long story short, we went ahead and did it again. I tried to keep it gentle for her sake, but we might have pushed it a little too far. Or, if not then, the next time, and there was swimming and licking and cuddling going on in between times. The afternoon got late, and it was absolutely the best day I’d ever had.
Eventually, it got late enough that we had to go. It was tempting to think about spending the night on the Pixie, but I didn’t have the sleeping bags aboard, and besides we both knew we had to take the Chinook out in the morning. We’d eaten all the food we’d brought with us, so finally we waded out to the Pixie with our gear. I dug around in the storage cabinet and found a large can of beef stew that I hadn’t taken out of the boat for some reason. I still had my cookware on board, so we ate our first dinner together as a couple while we were still at anchor.
The breeze was still blowing, though it had dropped off some, so after we ate we sadly got the sails up, pulled the anchor up, and headed back toward Winchester Harbor. Even then, Rachel hadn’t bothered to put her bikini back on, but sat there nude in the rich light of the setting sun. She’d never looked prettier to me. It was a sight I’ll remember all my life.
There was still enough of a breeze to keep us going all the way to the breakwater, but it was coming at an angle that would have made it awkward at best to sail up the channel, so I reluctantly fired up the kicker. As we rode up the channel, I turned to Rachel and said, “Hey, honey?”
“What?”
“I know you don’t want to put your clothes back on, but maybe you ought to before we get up to the dock.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she said sadly, digging in the barrel bag for her bikini. “I guess I won’t be able to go out naked on the Chinook tomorrow, will I?”
“Well, you could,” I said and laughed. “But I think maybe your dad would want to charge extra.”
“I guess I better not, then,” she said, starting to tie the bikini back on. I always thought it had to be a little awkward for a woman to tie on one of those things, especially the bottom, but it was fun to watch Rachel doing it.
When she was finally dressed, or as much as you could use the word, she sat back down and said, “God, that really feels strange after today. I guess I won’t be able to do stuff like that too often this summer since I don’t think we’re going to be able to get out with the Pixie much, but maybe I can sail nude some this winter.”
A few minutes later, we tied the Pixie up at her normal place at the dock. I carried the cooler back up to the snack bar, while Rachel carried the bag, as before. Her tiny bikini was not the first that had ever been seen inside – it was actually pretty common – but it drew a knowing grin from Barb. Rachel gave her a big smile and a thumbs-up, and I knew exactly what that meant.
“Let me set this down,” I told her. “I’ll be right with you.” We went back outside, knowing that with nothing having been spoken an awful lot had been said.
We went over to my room. Rachel stopped at her car to grab a second barrel bag, then we went inside. “Jeez, honey, what a day,” I said once the door was closed. “I don’t want this day to end.”
“Me either,” she said, throwing the bags in one of the chairs. “But it’s not going to end just yet. I’m spending the night with you. In fact, I plan on spending every night with you. I might be a little sore down below tonight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hold onto each other while we sleep.”
“Rachel,” I asked, “what’s your dad going to say about that?”
“Nothing. He knew what I was planning.” She looked into the little refrigerator. “Damn, nothing but beer and Cokes. I guess I could tolerate a beer, but we’d better get some wine coolers.”
“He isn’t going to say anything? I asked in surprise.
“No, like I said, he knew what was happening today.” She grinned while pulling a couple beers out of the refrigerator. “So did Barb, and so did Debby, for that matter. I’ve got my clothes for tomorrow in that bag, and we can get some other stuff from the house after we get off the lake.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Of course I’m sure, silly,” she said with a laugh. “It puts the final piece in the puzzle, so now everybody can get on with what they want to do.”
“Rachel, I’m not following you on this.”
“Boy, lover, I have to tell you everything, don’t I?” She grinned again. “I’ll have to leave this bikini on if we go out on the porch to drink this, but you probably want your evening weed, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said. “I need it after today.”
“Well, we won’t be all that long, after all,” she snickered. “I guess I kind of got used to having it off.”
We carried our beers out onto the balcony, and sat in the chairs. The sun was setting now, and while we couldn’t see it directly, the shadows were getting long. I lit a cigarette and leaned back in the chair. “What a day,” I said. “I didn’t expect much of anything that happened, but it all turned out better than I ever could have dreamed.”
“It worked out pretty well for me, too, babe. I love you, Jake.”
“And I love you, Rachel,” I replied. “Now what’s this stuff about putting the final piece in the puzzle?”
“It’s all pretty simple,” she said. “Barb and Dad have been friends for a long time, you know that.”
“Yeah, no secret.”
“I mean real close friends for a long time,” she grinned. “You know Mike is only my half-brother, don’t you?”
“What? Nobody tells me shit, but I’d never heard that one before.”
“I don’t know all the details,” she sighed. “But Dad and Mom and Barb and Sam were close friends for like forever. I’m still not quite sure how it worked out, but back years ago before they got married, I guess there was some kind of a falling out. Mom was with Sam for a while, and Barb was with Dad. They both got pregnant about the same time, but before they discovered it, they got back to the way things were supposed to be. I guess they still stayed close after that, and again, real close, up till Sam died.”
“Hold it,” I said. “You’re saying Susie is your father’s daughter?”
“Yep!” She laughed. “You ever wonder why Susie and Annette are so different? That’s because they have different fathers. Small town fucking around at its finest.”
“Son of a bitch. No, I never knew that. I never heard a word about it.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t know about it until a few years ago, just before Sam died,” she said. “I guess everybody decided to wait and not tell us until all us kids were old enough. It’s also part of why Susie and Mike broke up, though it was already coming. I come from Dad and Mom, by the way, and Annette from Barb and Sam.”
“That has to be the damnedest thing.” I shook my head. “But I still don’t see how that puts the puzzle together.”
“Think about it,” she said. “Dad and Barb have been getting back together. It started when Mom got real sick, but as far as I know they weren’t getting in bed together again until last winter when I was in school. They’ve tried to keep it covered up a little because of my living in the house, but I know all about it. I guess Dad feels a little funny about going to bed with Barb while I’m living there. I told him I don’t mind, but Dad has some funny streaks. You know that.”
“I get it. If you move in with me, that means Barb and your Dad will feel free to get together.”
“Darn straight. I’ll bet if Barb isn’t there already, she’s on the way over right now. Now, if I move in with you, and Barb moves in with Dad, then what happens with Annette and Wayne?”
“Oh, shit,” I said. “I’ll bet they’re getting the ropes out right now.”
“That’s how I figure it,” she said through a smile. “And I do want to try that some time, but not right now and maybe not soon since there are other things I want to try first. But the important part is that everyone gets what they want out of the deal and the privacy to do it. So, lover, you’re stuck with me or you’re going to upset several apple carts.”
“I don’t have any intention of doing anything different,” I told her. “I love you, Rachel.”
“I love you, too,” she said. “This beer tastes like shit. Like I said, we’re going to have to get some wine coolers or something. Now toss that weed and let’s go inside. I want to get this bikini off, take a shower together and get in bed with you.”
