Chapter Five
Calvin
I walked home and was totally surprised to find a few hang-arounds from the BBQ and an Armageddon-sized mess to deal with the following morning. I thought everyone had left, but those sitting by the dwindling bonfire were completely drunk and almost incoherent. Instead of kicking them all out, which was what I really wanted to do, I decided a little diversion would be a fun way to wind down the evening.
I was walking in a haze of love or more likely, lust. I couldn’t accurately pin my emotions, but they were raw and right at the surface. I just wanted to enjoy that intoxication that no liquor on earth could provide. Only Lainey, and everything she was, seemed to have the power to alter me so greatly and I’d only just met her. Was it infatuation?
Honestly, I needed a drink and a little levity to pull me out of my fog. Left waxing philosophically, clutching a Lonestar, and spouting off about field turnover, Ed had dominated the conversation for most of the evening. I loved my neighbors, but wow, their conversation, while passionate, was often amazingly dull. Of course, that all changed when I walked up to them.
“Well, lookee here what the cat dragged in,” a very inebriated Lindsay Triton said, looking at me a little more seductively than I was expecting.
Lindsay was my farthest neighbor on the east side. She was a widow with two grown sons and usually her conversation was tame. But after guzzling a few beers and some of Vernon Pillar’s homemade whiskey—which could turn your insides into molten lava—she became quite enamored with everyone and everything.
“Whatcha been doing out there in that gazebo of yours?” she interrogated. “Can’t be anything godly,” she said with a chuckle, and I laughed at her remarkably accurate insinuation.
“I was getting to know my new neighbor, Lainey, and we lost track of time. She’s a city girl, so it’s going to take a while for her to adjust here, I fear.” I was being sincere and hoping that sincerity would throw the bloodhound off the trail.
“Getting to know her, huh? I ain’t blind nor stupid, son. I see you two young’uns canoodling over there,” she said with a knowing grin.
“Canoodling? Who still says that?” I laughed. “But, anyway, we were just talking, and I told her just how nice all my neighbors were. You are nice, aren’t you, Lindsay?” I teased, and she let out a grunt of disdain and rolled her eyes at me.
“You should know that city folks get eaten up and spat out with the seeds around here,” she said as she spat on the ground for effect.
“I don’t give ‘em more than a year,” Vernon chimed in, slurring his words.
“That girl’s far too pretty for these parts,” Lyndsay continued. “Men around here need a solid woman by their side,” she said as she raised her hands to her huge, sagging breasts, adjusting them more tightly into her V-neck t-shirt, then nonchalantly pointed them in my direction. Anyone could see that shirt was at least one size too small to house those mighty bazookas, if not two, and I immediately raised my hands in surrender. “Don’t shoot, Lindsay. I give up,” I joked, and everyone laughed out loud. She looked a little indignant, but soon enough a big smile spread across her face when she saw the funny side.
“In your dreams, Calvin,” she replied. “You ain’t man enough to handle these puppies,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest and suddenly, the laughter was turned on me.
For a moment, I wondered why I’d ever befriended these people. They were simple folk who’d never strayed far from their land. They had no idea what New York was like and to them, it might as well have been as far away as the moon. They’d only ever orbited in their small world, and some had never even been out of their own state.
As kings and queens of their crops and pastures—they could be rather arrogant, opinionated, yet entirely fascinating at the same time. If I was honest though, people in big business—especially the oil business—were no less arrogant or full of their own self-importance, but perhaps they were better at hiding it.
My immediate goal, however, was to dispel any rumors or impressions that Lainey and I were doing anything other than just talking—that’s all we did, after all. She said she was a lady, and I had no reason to doubt her. As a proper gentleman, I shouldn’t have assumed she’d be willing to have sex with me on the very day we met. However, once opinions were formed, these country folks would relentlessly grind the gossip mill, and I was sure Lainey would never survive the scandal of it if they did.
I hung out with the remaining guests for a little longer, talking about ranching, reliving times we’d spent together and anything else I could think of to take the focus off me and Lainey to deter them from gossiping about us. Eventually, the conversation subsided, and I mentioned that it was past two in the morning and it was time for me to head off to bed.
I did offer for them to stay as long as they wanted, but it seemed to have the desired effect, and everyone got up and ambled home. I suppose I should’ve cleaned up the place a little as my regular cleaner was on vacation, but frankly, I was exhausted. It could wait until the morning and I headed off to bed, excited about the prospect of seeing Lainey again the next day.
I usually woke at seven, no matter how late I stayed up the night before, but I was shocked to discover I’d slept until ten; I hadn’t done that since I was a teenager. I still felt groggy and fog-headed, so I stumbled to the kitchen to make a pot of strong coffee.
I didn’t even want to look at the mess I knew was waiting for me on the porch and the side yard until I’d taken a good, healthy swig of Joe. In fact, I was on my second cup when I glanced through the window and noticed everything outside had already been cleaned up. My mind felt a blaze of bewilderment. Who had cleaned my house? Did the cleaner come back early, or did I get her vacation dates wrong?
Not many of my neighbors were the do-gooder type. They be there in a heartbeat to help each other when someone was in need, but never just show kindness unless it was some sort of tragedy. I walked out onto my porch to find Lindsay sitting on the porch swing, taking in the view. I was a little disappointed to discover who my mystery maid was since I secretly hoped it had been Lainey who’d come over.
Not that I wanted her to clean up for me exactly, but knowing she was here and doing something nice would have been exciting. I had such an infatuation with her, but I knew I had to keep my thoughts under control. As I thought of Lainey, my cock started to stiffen, and I sure didn’t want Lindsay getting the wrong impression.
“Morning,” I chirped jovially as I took a seat in the chair across from her. “Did you clean up my yard?” I asked, trying to sound appreciative.
“Me? Clean up your shit? Nah, I came over to get more dirt on that girl. I must have been so drunk last night, I forgot everything you said.” She leaned in as if she was expecting me to give her some juicy gossip.
My mind did a mental eye roll. “She’s a nice girl,” was all I said.
“Nice to look at maybe, but she ain’t Texan,” Lindsay said with a note of disgust.
“I’m not much for gossiping this morning, Lindsay. We just talked as I said last night. Is there something else I can help you with? Do you want some coffee?” I was suddenly irritated with her intrusion and her attempt to put Lainey down as an outsider.
“So, you aren’t gonna throw me a bone, huh?” she pushed.
“There are no bones to throw. We shared a bottle of wine and had a nice chat,” I told her plainly.
“Okay, okay. I get it. Maybe she is nice, we’ll see.” She seemed pacified for the moment then said, “The faucet on my sink is busted.” She smiled a big smile, showing off all her crooked and decaying teeth. “I thought you might be a doll…” She didn’t have to finish.
“Give me a few minutes to freshen up and I’ll be over,” I responded, not terribly enthused by the task ahead of me.
I figured I’d either help Lindsay or she’d be in my hair all day, and if Lainey was feeling anything like I felt, she probably needed a few more hours of sleep before I went back over there. However, the prospect of calling on her was enough motivation for me to get moving.
“Do you mind hanging out here while I get ready?” I asked, not really wanting her milling around my place.
“Sure… unless you want me to come scrub your back… or anything else?” she said with a grin.
“Um, thanks for the offer, but I’m a big boy now. I think I’ll be fine on my own,” I said, my face burning with embarrassment.
“I’ll bet you are,” she muttered, her eyes tracing down my body to my crotch and lingering there.
I smiled nervously, and my hands moved unconsciously to block her gaze. “Uh… right. I’ll be back as quick as I can,” I said, and turned abruptly to go back into the house.
I felt annoyed as I walked toward the bathroom. She could have just called instead of coming over unannounced. At least if she’d called, I would’ve been spared starting off my morning with an unwelcome view of her one-piece, strapless, and short jumpsuit—which was her signature two sizes too small, of course.
That hideous outfit was so tiny, her butt cheeks were barely contained within it, leaving me with nothing to wonder about what was inside. Nope, not interested… at all. I took a quick shower, threw on an old pair of jeans and T-shirt, and went out to greet her again.
“Mmm, mmm, mmm,” she exclaimed, hungrily. If only I had a gorilla suit to wear instead.
“Okay, I’ll have to make this a quick trip, Lindsay. I have a lot to get done today,” I warned.
“It’s Saturday, whatcha gotta do?” she pried.
“A lot of stuff,” is all I gave her.
“Okay, let’s take my truck. I promise to have you back before you turn into a pumpkin,” she laughed, thinking herself riotously funny. I’d been driven to her place in her truck a hundred times before, so I couldn’t really protest this time—but I wanted to. The last thing I wanted to do was be at the mercy of this woman.