Eighteen
Thelma and Louise
Day five since returning to Trails End saw two more bears measured, tagged, and moved. We’d been lucky so far, all four containments had gone off without a hitch. This chance to work with the bears made all those years in my office writing reports worthwhile. It was thrilling to stroke my hand down their coarse fur, to see up close the way the ends were lighter in color, giving it that grizzled look that gave the bears their name. Not to mention seeing firsthand how incredibly big they were. The adult bears, ranging anywhere from five hundred pounds, the females, up to half a ton, Cowboy, were intimidating. Their paws were massive with razor sharp claws protruding like daggers, and their canines were over three inches long and deadly. I had to admit I was glad they were out cold as we examined them, but I wasn’t about to express my fears in front of Max.
Once loaded, Max and the men took the bears over to his side, with Frank and Shane along to keep an eye out and release them once awake. That left Jess, Brian, Lucy and I to make our way back down to town after another successful day. We split up once we’d climbed down, with Jess, Brian and Lucy heading back to Maxine’s as I made my way to Martha’s house. I’d been staying with Max since we returned, but I knew it was time for me to make arrangements that were more permanent. Max may be comfortable with me in his home, but if I was going to make Trails End my home, then I needed a place of my own. I figured Max would argue, but I needed to have my own space as we worked out the kinks in our new relationship and got to know each other better. I’d never lived with anyone before, and though I wanted Max in my life, I needed to ease into his. Basically, I needed a sanctuary that I could go to when I wanted to throw an axe at him thus giving me the time I needed to learn not to throw an axe at him.
I’d mentioned to Martha I was looking for a place. I wasn’t stupid enough to ask Maxine since she’d just side with Max. And Martha, knowing Max as well as she did, had smiled and said she knew just the place. Her home, located on Crystal Lake, had an old cabin for guests on the property that hadn’t been used in years, and Martha said I could have it for as long as I needed it.
“Man like Max is used to having his way,” she’d told me. “Be good for him to see you aren’t just gonna kowtow to him every time he bellows.”
“I just need it while we figure each other out,” I’d explained.
“Mmhmm, I imagine an educated lady such as yourself isn’t used to jumping when a man barks.”
“It takes some getting used to,” I mumbled.
“Though, a man who looks like Max might make the bellowing easier to deal with,” she pointed out.
“There is that,” I agreed.
“However, now that I think about it, if you love him, then I suppose you’d be willing to put up with anything, right?”
“You make a solid point there as well.”
“In his defense, though, it can’t be easy puttin’ up with a headstrong woman either,” she went on.
“Something tells me he’s had more practice than I have,” I reasoned.
“True, true. Maxine and Max have been doing that song and dance since he was knee high to a grasshopper. Tom just sat back and enjoyed the show,” she’d explained. I’d laughed when she told me that, it was good to know that he’d survived their butting heads.
Martha agreed to meet me at her house at four, so I went to Smith’s Mercantile to grab groceries and supplies. Martha said everything I needed was in the cabin, just stock it with food, and I was good to go. She’d also promised not to tell anyone I was moving in tonight so I could break the news to Max in my own way. Preferably over the phone where he couldn’t "stomp" me into getting his way.
Roaming the aisle of Smith’s Mercantile, I was happy to see it was bigger than I’d thought and that the shelves were well stocked. As I made my way around the store, grabbing food and paper products, I was lucky to find a nice wine to go with dinner. They also had flowers for an old ceramic pot I’d picked up at a garage sale the day before. Done with my shopping, I was making my way towards the checkout counter when I felt a presence behind me. Turning, I was startled when I encountered a pair of angry blue eyes.
“Heard rumors you’d returned,” Stetson replied.
“You have a way of sneaking up on me I could do without,” I hissed.
“How long you gonna corrupt my town this trip?” He asked ignoring me.
“Indefinitely, if you must know.”
“Anyone else turns up dead, you’ll be the first I come lookin’ for.”
“I’m sure the town sleeps better knowing you’re on the case. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” I snapped. However, as I tried to pass by, he grabbed my arm and then leaned in and whispered, “You ever get tired of the King of Trails End you know where to find me.”
Wrenching my arm from his grip, I headed towards the checkout as that son of a bitch chuckled. I don’t know how a man like that became the Chief of Police, and I don’t care, I just prayed whatever Max had planned was swift and painful.
When I arrived at Martha’s, she met me at the back of her property. The cabin was charming with a large front porch that looked out onto the lake and most likely, the first home built on the property in the 1890’s from the look of it. The chinking was darker in color, mud brown, and the logs were gray with age. With a rock chimney on one side covered with ivy and flower beds that looked freshly planted with fall flowers. The roof had been replaced like so many in this area. Now it sported a green metal roof that held up under the excessive amount of snow they received in Trail End.
Smoke rose from the chimney as I got out of my rental, a Jeep I’d picked up in Fairbanks. With Curly gone, finding a pilot to fly us back would have delayed our return, not to mention, I was in no hurry to ride in another tiny plane. Besides, I needed transportation until I sorted out my life here and was able to retrieve my own vehicle.
Martha was on the porch as I climbed the steps. When I reached the door, she opened it, and I walked into heaven.
The cabin was one big room with a kitchen and bathroom. On one side, there was a white, rod iron bed, with a pale blue down comforter and big fluffy pillows. There was an over-sized leather chair in one corner with a floor lamp for reading and a small round table with two chairs in the other. The floors were wood plank covered in light blue and yellow throw rugs. Along the back wall was a small stove and fridge, with a large white farm sink in between them and window just above it with a forest view. There was enough countertop space to prepare small meals, all done in butcher-block, and they were currently covered in bread and a large bowl filled with salad. The windows all had white curtains to block out the sun, but the best part about the large one-room cabin was the fireplace. It was huge, and clearly had been used to cook meals before gas or electric appliances, as it was right now. Hanging from a rod inside the fireplace was a large, cast iron pot and from the smell of it, something was cooking.
When I turned around to ask Martha what was going on, I found Max instead.
“Um,” was all I got out before Max responded.
“I don’t like it, but I get it.”
“You aren’t going to yell and beat your chest?”
“Nope, if you need this for a few months until you can see this is gonna last a lifetime then I can live with that. However, I want it on record that I intend to wake up with you as much as possible.”
“I suppose I could handle that from time to time,” I smiled in relief.
“Starting tonight,” he grinned as he tossed my bag on the bed, then turned and shut the door.
“I have groceries I need to unload,” I told him as he stalked me across the room.
“They’ll keep,” he answered as he trapped me against the counter and removed my glasses.
Wrapping an arm around my middle the other hand came to my hair, and he tugged gently until my head tilted back so he could take my mouth. He kissed me like I hadn’t just seen him a few hours before, but like I’d been gone and had just come home from a long voyage. Our tongues tangled as he took the kiss deeper and soon, without my permission, my hands divested him of his shirt one button at a time. His hands found a way to strip the jeans from my body, and then two seconds later I was shirtless, standing in my bra and panties. Max bent, lifting me off my feet, and then tossed me on the bed landing on top of me.
“Time to break in the bed,” he mumbled as he stripped off my panties and got to work.
I gasped when his mouth found my core, and then whimpered as his new beard tickled my sensitive skin. Reaching down, I tangled my fingers in his hair as his tongue built magic between my legs. My orgasm hit swift and hard when he curled his finger up and then pressed down. I’d never come that quickly, never ignited like that for a man, but Max took his work seriously and the results were sheer bliss.
Max wasn’t done, though. He must have liked how quickly I succumbed, liked the way I whimpered his name, because he growled, then ordered “Again.” That had me so turned on that I did as he asked, and came long and hard.
Our hands, mouths and tongues, fought each other as we christened the bed. When I tried to get my mouth on him, he flipped me to my knees and then entered my core in one deep thrust.
“Hands on the headboard,” he ordered, so I reached up and took hold.
With a slow, torturous rhythm, he worked us both building a burn as our echoing moans filled the cabin. As he picked up the pace, driving deeper, Max grunted “Love this ass,” and then smacked said ass to my surprise. I gasped, shocked yet aroused, and my body trembled from the exquisite pain.
“More,” I cried from a place deep within me. I needed more, so much more; his arms, his mouth, his heart. The way I felt protected when he was close, the way I felt loved when he looked at me, just more.
Max reached forward and grabbed my hair, using it to pull me back against his body as he sat back on his heels. He curled his hands around my shoulders as I raised up on my knees and then he slammed me back down.
“You want more then take it, all of it. My heart, my cock, take what you want ‘cause it’s fuckin’ yours,” he whispered, never breaking his rhythm.
I whimpered in reply, too far gone for words, then my hands found my breasts, still needing more, and I tweaked the tight buds as he watched. Max groaned “Fuck, baby,” then took over, rolling one nipple as I leaned back, felt my core spasm in response and then tightened in my coming release.
Max hissed as I tightened around him, then tangled his hand in my hair, yanking back, covering my mouth as we both shuddered in climax, my responding scream silenced by his mouth. His groan mixed with mine as he slowed his thrusts. The rhythm going from fast and urgent to slow and gentle as the storm he’d built for us both quelled with his release.
My legs buckled, and I slumped forward, the burn in my thighs too much to bear. Catching me, Max turned to his side taking me with him as he fell. Once down, he grabbed my waist and pulled me back against his chest as his hand moved across my body, massaging, caressing, as if he was memorizing my every curve.
“Jesus, I can’t get enough of you,” he mumbled into my neck.
“It’s my cartoon tees,” I replied out of breath.
“It’s a toss-up between the Care Bears on that great fuckin’ rack or the bear on your great fuckin’ ass, both keep me hard all day.”
I wiggled my ass as he tightened his arms around me, and thought right here, right now was heaven, and I intended to stay this way all night. Unfortunately, my senses told me that wasn’t gonna happen. The pungent smell of smoke invaded my nose, and my eyes burned slightly as it drifted through the room.
“Max something’s burning.”
Max sat up, looked at the fireplace, then rolled from the bed and made his way over. And I, being an educated woman, watched Naked Max in all his glory. Whatever had been cooking on fire was now spilling over causing the room to fill with more smoke. So, I jumped up, pulled on Max’s shirt, then moved to the front door opening it to air out the cabin.
“Needs to cool before we can eat,” Max told me as he grabbed an oven mitt and set the pot on the kitchen table. When he turned back and saw the door was open, he raised an eyebrow and then looked down at his naked body.
Whoops, don't need Martha getting an eyeful!
Max chuckled as he moved to the bed, pulling on his jeans, leaving one button undone at the top. I was just about to ask him what was in the pot when I heard Billy Joel singing from my purse. Grabbing my phone, I saw Jess was calling, so I swiped answer.
“Hello?”
“Mia, we’ve got a situation,” Jess whispered.
“Jess? Speak up, I can’t hear you.”
“Are you alone? If Max is with you just answer no.”
Looking back at Max, I watched him lift the lid off the pot and dip a piece of bread inside. Certain his attention was on his stomach and not my call, I turned my back on him and answered, “Um, no.”
“Maxine and I came to check out one of the men on the list—”
“The flannel shirt list?” I broke in.
“Right, but when we got here, the guy wasn’t home, so we figured what the hell, no one locks their doors here anyway.”
Surprisingly, that seemed to be true, though I couldn’t imagine not locking my doors. But, there you have it, Trails End might be the last known holdout from the 1950’s, a virtual “Pleasantville.”
“Tell me you didn’t go inside and get caught?” I whispered.
“Not yet if you get your skinny ass down here and distract this guy.”
“We are so gonna have a talk about running off half-cocked on one of Maxine’s missions,” I hissed.
“God, you’re starting to sound like Max. Just grab Martha she’ll know where this guy lives.”
“Fine, but I have no idea how I’m gonna get away from Max,” I whispered back.
“Tell him I need you, that Brian and I had a fight and that I’m crying.”
“Ok, that might work. What’s this guy’s name?”
“Just tell Martha Stewie from the post office.”
“Stewie from the post office, got it.” Then, for performance sake, I continued loudly “Right, hang tight, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” so Max would hear and then hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath, I painted on my best game face and started to turn when I heard “Problems?” from right behind me. That made me jump, so I whipped around and was met with crossed arms and raised eyebrows as he looked down at me.
“Um, that was Jess. Apparently, she and Brian had a fight, and she’s really, really upset. I, uh, I think I better go see if she’s all right, do you mind?”
“Nope, if she needs you then she needs you. Dinner will keep.”
“I swear I’ll be as quick as I can, promise,” I told him and then rushed past, grabbed my clothes, and headed into the bathroom to clean up and change. When I came out, Max was dressed, the groceries were on the counter, and he was on his phone. So, in a hurry to leave, I blew him a kiss as I headed towards the door.
“Babe,” Max called out and I stopped dead in my tracks expecting the worst.
“Yeah?’’
“You forgot your keys.”
Max held the keys up and jingled them as he smiled. Ready to crack under the pressure, I ran back and grabbed the keys. Max winked at me as I kissed him quickly before I left. Then he went back to his call as I got the hell out Dodge.
As I made my way to the front of Martha’s property, she was standing on the edge of her porch. Obviously, the two criminals had called her as well. When I pulled up, she jumped in, throwing her Passion bag on the back seat. Then she shouted “Floor it; take a left at the end of the drive, then a right when you get to Old Mill Road.”
So, I floored it, leaving a trail of dust in my wake. Lord only knew what Max would do if he caught Maxine breaking into homes, and I sure as hell didn’t want to find out what Stetson would do if he caught Trails End's resident fire bugs. The way this town talked, there was no doubt in my mind he’d heard the rumors flying around. If he couldn’t prove Jess and Maxine destroyed his boat, I bet he’d love to arrest them for anything that would stick.
Ten minutes later, we sat in front of a brown, weathered wood house with gardens choked out by weeds. It had a rusted roof; mini-blinds bent and torn with junk cars in the drive, and I didn’t have a clue how to get me in or Maxine and Jess out undetected.
“Now what?”
“We’re gonna do this just like you did with Maxine. I’ll knock on the door, and you distract him with your womanly charms. See if you can get him out of the house and I’ll ask to use the bathroom.”
“How do you get them past him if he’s in the yard?”
“Then we go inside and I’ll ask to use the bathroom while you keep him occupied. I’ll sneak them out the back door and if we make too much racket and he gets suspicious, improvise.”
Improvise? I'm gonna kill them both.
Hands on my temples, I began rubbing the slight throb that had landed between my eyes.
“I’m gonna kill them both,” I mumbled as I grabbed Martha’s Passion bag and opened the door of my Jeep.
This plan was as rickety as an old ladder. If I screwed this up I could be putting both my aunt and quite possibly (barring unforeseen issues such as he kills me for helping his mother) my future mother-in-law in jail.
You could hear music playing from inside the house and it took three tries to get him to answer. When he did, my mouth went dry. Stewie was not what I was expecting. Stewie looked like he could play linebacker for the Seahawks. Stewie was bigger than Max. And Stewie was leering at me, taking in my body from head to toe. I did not see this going well for me, not one iota. Yep, totally gonna kill them.
“Well, hellooo darlin’ what can I do you for?”
“Stewie,” Martha started, but he didn’t take his eyes off me. “Maxine and I are expandin’ the business door-to-door sales and we’ve hired on a few new girls. I’m breaking Mia in this week and wanted to stop by and see if you needed anything.”
“Mia? Aren’t you Max’s woman?” Stewie shrewdly deduced then wiped the leer off his face.
Sensing this was a make or break for Stewie (which meant no entrance into his house and no escape for Maxine and Jess thus landing them in jail) I tossed my hair and giggled, “Max, who?” Then, to emphasize how much I meant “Max, who” I raised my hand, grabbed his bicep and in a breathy voice told him, “Wow, that’s the biggest thing I’ve ever felt.”
Unfortunately, instead of Stewie smiling, his face drained of color as he stepped away from me. Shit, now what? Think Mia think
“Mia,” Martha whispered tugging at my sleeve, but I ignored her. I was determined I would save those two idiots since my future happiness depended on it, so I went for the gusto.
“Stewie I’d love to show some of our edible underwear, maybe I could even, you know, model it for you.”
“Oh, hell no,” Stewie gritted out and then put up a hand to stop me from entering. What on earth?
“Mia,” Martha snapped.
Before I could turn to her, I felt heat on my back and the little hairs on my neck stood up. I knew, I knew, I knew this plan was doomed before I ever left the cabin. Squaring my shoulders and taking a deep breath, I turned and found a pair of blue eyes scowling, Brian, and a pair of green eyes twitching with controlled rage.
“Max, I—”
He raised his hand, silencing me. Then bit out, “Don’t talk. I need a moment to erase that shit from my memory.”
Right, keeping quiet!
I looked at Brian for help, but he just crossed his arms in male solidarity. Oh, man, Maxine and Jess were so screwed.
Just as Max opened his mouth to bellow the likes I’m sure I’d never heard before, voices, pitched in anger, arguing back and forth, came from the side of Stewie’s house. Everyone turned at that point and watched as Jess and Maxine rounded the outside of the house and Maxine, as if she’d done it every day of her life, and I’m thinking that she had, bold-faced lied.
“About time you got here Maximilian. I told you my starter was going out on the Van,” she snapped as if he’d ignored her and she was stranded because of his inaction. Then she marched right past our group and headed straight for my Jeep.
Max, used to his mother’s stunts, got right on her heels as Stewie, done with the lot of us, shut his door with a thud. When Max reached his mother, the shouting began, so Martha and I started moving out of the line of fire and kept right on going to my Jeep. We got in, locked the doors for protection, and then watched out the windows as Max and his mother went toe to toe. However, Brian and Jess gave them a run for their money. As I watched, I heard paper rustling so I looked down and saw a bag of microwave popcorn. The mouthwatering aroma of butter wafted through the Jeep so I snagged a piece.
Handfuls popcorn eventually made their way to our mouths as the battles unfolded. Then, just like that, Max dragged his mother to his truck, put her in, and then took off down the street. In a similar move, Brian grabbed hold of Jess’s hand, put her in their rental, and they took off down the street as well.
Staring after the retreating vehicles I mumbled, “I think Max overheard my phone call,” to which Martha snorted her agreement. We continued to watch as they drove out of sight, then, after a moment or two more, we finally turned to each other and shrugged, asking in unison “Last Call?”