A reader suggested that a list of characters would be helpful. I thought that was a wonderful idea.
Folks living a simple life:
Ginger and Steve Baker: Red-headed hotty and her charismatic husband. Both are thirty.
Beth: A twenty-four-year-old perky brown-haired cutey Ginger and Steve met camping. The three are lovers.
Linda Rousch: Blonde-haired, blue-eyed athletic beauty who started as a new neighbor and is now wife to Ginger and Steve. Linda is thirty-five
Rich and Jeff Rousch: Linda’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed twin stepsons. Ginger relieved them of their virginity. She also got them to fuck their stepmom. Something that all three enjoyed and continue to enjoy. The twins recently turned twenty.
Rose: Rich’s twenty-year-old college girlfriend. A svelte brown-haired beauty with big brown eyes. Seemingly reserved until things get erotic.
Anne: Jeff’s twenty-year-old college girlfriend. She’s a mischievous blond-haired, green-eyed hotty who loves sex. She and Rose are aware of the sexual relationship their boyfriends have with their stepmom and encourage it.
Daniel (Dan): Brown-haired, blue-eyed, muscular friend of the twins. Dan is mature beyond his twenty-one years. He’s reserved, strong, loving, and has no clue how hot he is. He’s smitten with Ginger.
Stewart (Stew): Friend of the twins and the one that gets the party started. Stew is short and slim but extremely fit. He’s as much fun in bed as out.
Penelope (Penny): Twenty-year-old friend of the twins and major league hotty. Petite and bubbly with auburn hair, green eyes, and a fantastic body. She has the hots for Steve.
David and Janet Gentry: Owners of Ginger and Steve’s old house. They have recently been visiting and hanging out around the pool. He’s twenty-seven, and she’s a year younger. Janet looks like Rose’s sister with a slightly fuller figure and hazel eyes. David is a tall and solid hunk with dishwater blonde hair and blue eyes.
Joe and Rachel (She was Rose in the previous chapter because I messed up and used the same name for two characters.): Traveling musician friends of Ginger and Steve. She’s twenty-seven, and he’s twenty-eight. They’ve been together for years but never married. She’s slim, very pretty, brown-haired, with brown eyes. Joe has black hair and green eyes and is a slim five-foot-nine, an inch taller than his significant other.
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Ginger
Parlor concerts aren’t all that complicated. The invitation lets people know when to arrive, when the music starts, and when it ends. A parlor concert could quickly become a weekend-long celebration of life, or whatever you want to call it, with subsequent hangovers at no additional charge if we didn’t put some controls in place.
Joe and Rachel wanted to play their music and have a bit of fun. Most of all, they want to enjoy a good meal and sleep in a nice bed. Parlor concerts end at eleven and not a second later. We never had an issue with compliance or complaints. I believe our guests appreciated having a fun night out without it becoming something it didn’t need to be.
I knew Rich and Jeff’s college friends and lovers would embrace the experience. They weren’t looking for a drunken debacle like many at their age. It defies the odds that so many exceptional people have found each other. I have high hopes for all of them. I think they are the kind of people this world needs.
Guests started showing up, dressed as they pleased, and began to mill around. The bar and the smoking area by the pool were open. It was an eclectic group of people. A guy in Carhart jeans and a flannel work shirt, obviously having worked that day, was talking closely with a stunning hippy chick wearing a flowing dress and tons of bracelets and necklaces. I knew them both and didn’t think they would hit it off. This was the first time I had seen them together, and they were hitting it off very well. Who knew?
A married couple we knew from the actor’s guild arrived with their usual fun entrance. She’s a tall, skinny blonde and went the subtle route by wearing a silver flapper dress with a period-correct headband. Her thong matched the dress, which should say all that needed to be said about how short her dress was. Her husband is very short and broad. He was wearing a top hat and tails in non-traditional forest green. He wore a cravat instead of a bow tie. It was some heirloom he had found when they visited England or some shit like that—fun people, but a bit pretentious.
I wandered around, observing and looking for things that needed to be done. I love parlor concerts even though the time seems to fly by too fast. I talked to everyone for at least a few minutes before the music started.
Steve had everything set up in the great room. A chord from a twelve-string got everyone’s attention. “Music starts in ten minutes.”
People who hadn’t already found a seat began meandering into the room. I always leaned against the stairway wall and let the guests get closer to the musicians. Being behind everyone also kept me out of distracting conversations, allowing me to listen uninterrupted.
I wasn’t there long before Dan leaned against the wall beside me. “I hope you don’t mind. I prefer to stay back and enjoy the music.”
I smiled at him fondly because I was very fond of him. “I feel the same way.”
We relaxed in companionable silence as instruments were strummed. Moments later, the music started, and I was transported. Joe and Rachel make wonderfully upbeat music for the most part, and their performances are always fun. They have a love song that makes my heart ache whenever I hear it, and I always sing along.
They had played for nearly an hour and were coming back from their break when Rose announced the song. Then, she threw me a curve. “Ginger, get up here. You’re gonna sing this.”
I went from laid back and mellow to a near panic instantly. Dan saw the state I was in and calmly looked at me. “If you weren’t good, they wouldn’t ask you to sing. Sing for us, Ginger. I don’t care if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket. It will be you singing, and that’s all I need.”
There was no way I would let Rachel down, and dear Dan had given me the boost I needed to move my feet.
I moved through the crowd and stepped in front of the microphone. I kept my eyes away from the crowd and focused on the microphone in front of me. I could do this if they weren’t all staring at me. The first chords rang out, and the song became part of me. I lost myself in it and sang from my soul. I didn’t look up until the last verse. I was so deep into the song’s emotion that my voice wavered at the end.
The loud clapping startled me, and I know I blushed like crazy. Steve gathered me in his arms and kissed me in front of everybody. I hugged him tightly and told him in a low voice, “I love you more than life itself, but you are making me blush in front of everyone.”
His soft chuckle sent a rush through me. “I love you, woman, and I did notice that you look a bit red. Ironic, isn’t it? How’s it feel to be on the receiving end for once?”
“Hush, you. Now let me go before you make a spectacle of me.”
“You’re not a spectacle. You’re an amazing and beautiful woman, and I love you.”
He let me go, and I made my way back to my previous spot, leaning on the wall next to Dan. I wasn’t sure how I felt about how Dan looked at me. His eyes gleamed with unshed tears, and he was fighting the urge to kiss me. Suddenly, I was fighting the urge to kiss him back. “Dan, we can’t.”
He leaned back against the wall next to me. “I know, Ginger, but you sure don’t make it easy.”
Steve joined Joe and Rachel for the last set, which was magical. When they finished, Steve was putting stuff away while surrounded by admiring fans, all women. Dan shook his head in admiration. “That dude has some serious charisma.”
I laughed. “Oh yes, he does!”
Steve, Rachel, and Joe joined me near the front door as people started trickling out. More than a few CDs were sold, and encouraging words were offered to the musicians. I blushed a lot at the compliments. I still don’t understand what the big deal was. It was only one song.
Soon enough, we had the house to ourselves. Steve helped Rachel and Joe pack up their gear, and before long, we were all on the pool deck with fresh drinks, passing the bong around. Joe and Rachel were a couple but weren’t married. They had been traveling troubadours for five years or so and had done it together from the start. I didn’t know what kind of relationship they had, but it seemed to work for them.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when Anne and Rose latched onto Joe. I was surprised at how ready he was to return their flirtations. Rachel was totally unaffected to the point that she was smiling and laughing even though she could clearly see what was happening.
I was standing next to her, and Dan was standing next to me. I, being the shy and unassuming person I am, didn’t hesitate to shoot the elephant. “Rachel, what’s the deal with you and Joe? Are you guys like married, only not, or what?”
She took it well. “We have a loving relationship that we both want to last forever. We also like to enjoy life, and we get to meet tons of cool people while doing what we love. Some of those people are seriously hot and very fuckable. I’m cool with him having some fun, and he’s cool with me in the same way. Sometimes we have fun together.”
I thought about that while watching Anne take Joe’s hand and lead him inside. Rose was right behind them. I wondered if the two women ever had sex without each other. It was an interesting thought and well worth pursuing. I wanted to know everything about the women who loved my men.
I knew Dan wanted me, maybe more than he should. As much as I wanted to let him take me where we could be alone, I knew that wasn’t the wisest thing to do. I cared for Dan and was highly attracted to him. I didn’t think it was a good idea to let those feelings build in me, and I was convinced that it wasn’t in Dan’s best interest to think we had a future together.
He was falling in love with me, and as much as that thrilled me, we couldn’t go there. Rachel presented a fun opportunity if she was up for it, and I expected that she was. As besotted as Dan was with me, he was still a young hunk of a man and liked what he saw in Rachel. The two shared more than one glance, and I think both would have gone for it if I hadn’t been part of the equation. I set out to correct that.
I turned in the general direction of the kitchen. “Would you two please excuse me? I need to get things put away. It’ll be a while, so please don’t wait.
I walked away to my made-up chores and left them to connect, or not, as the case may be. I was pretty sure that they would. Dan is a smart guy; I’m sure he understands he can’t have me the way he wants. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young sang it best: “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” He’s a young and virile man. He’ll figure it out.
Sounds a bit callous, doesn’t it? I never intended it that way, but Dan needed to understand the reality in front of him. I was never going to have a love affair with him. It wouldn’t happen, and there was no sense in leading him on. The sooner he accepted the nature of our relationship, the sooner we could continue as friends with benefits. The right woman was out there, and he needed to find her. My role was to show him that he had a lot to offer and deserved to be loved.
One thing women are really good at is bruising a man’s ego. Some women get off on that power, and it pisses me off to no end. I get that feeling empowered can be uplifting, but never at the expense of someone else’s heart.
Dan didn’t deserve the way his ex had treated him. I thought I had done a pretty good job of convincing him he was a desirable man. She wasn’t a reflection of his abilities as a lover. At best, she was an experience that left him wiser, if scarred.
I found my husband inside and took him to bed. Linda and Beth joined us a while later, and the four of us snuggled before falling asleep. Spring break was a lot of fun but exhausting. I slept like a log.
When I made my way to the kitchen on the last day of spring break, Dan was already seated next to Rachel, sipping coffee. I poured myself a cup and sat down with them. I assumed that they hadn’t been up long because the three of us sat in companionable silence when we would have normally been talking.
Rachel was glowing, and her sidelong glance at Dan gave away her obvious infatuation with him and some apprehension.
I understood where the apprehension was coming from. Dan is a remarkable man who is very hard to resist. Rachel was in a loving relationship with Joe, yet found her heart being tempted. It was exciting and scary.
Dan left mumbling about showering, which I expect meant that he had to take a dump but was never going to say it. I took the opportunity to talk with Rachel. Fortunately, we were on the same page. Yes, he is an amazing man. Yes, he’s an even better lover. Yes, it would be wonderful to be with him. No, it wasn’t worth giving up the men we wanted to spend our lives with. I couldn’t help but nod in agreement when Rachel mentioned how glad she was he wasn’t readily accessible. She doubted that she would see him again in life. As much as she regretted that, she also appreciated it. If the temptation wasn’t available, it wouldn’t be an issue.
Joe joined us a few minutes later, and the three of us talked while I fixed them breakfast. They needed to be on the road soon for a gig. They were heading upstairs to get their stuff as Steve, Linda, and Beth made their way down. Within the next fifteen minutes, the household was all together. It was cool that Joe and Rachel got to say goodbye to everyone before they left. Joe didn’t hesitate to kiss Anne and Rose fondly goodbye. Rachel took Dan into the hallway for her goodbyes. Their former U-Haul moving van, now equipment transport, awaited them in our driveway. Steve and I walked with them to their van, gave them a hug, and waived as they drove away. The moment was bittersweet. They are great friends, and I knew we might not see them again for months.
Their leaving was a reminder—not that I needed one—that the twins and their friends would be leaving soon, too. I fought my instant blues and reminded myself not to ruin today by worrying about the day after. Easier said than done, especially for Linda. I set out to find her and snagged Penny on my way. That bundle of happiness was the salve Linda and I both needed.
The three of us kicked back by the pool while the others did morning stuff. Rose, Anne, and Beth eventually joined us. I could see the pensive looks that sporadically swept over our impromptu women’s group. Penny had her work cut out for her, trying to guide us toward having fun today instead of obsessing about tomorrow.
The guys decided to take off with Steve to do some four-wheeling. I knew they were all facing the same things we were and were dealing with it in their own way. Penny decided she would deal with things in her own way as well.
She stood from her lounger, walked over to Linda, and straddled her as she lay on her lounger. Linda had been lying there with her eyes closed, fighting her mounting depression. She looked up, clearly startled by the hot little pixie that had just plopped her cute little ass down on her lap. Penny leaned down and kissed Linda softly, then caressed her face. “You are so beautiful. I never want you to be sad. It will be okay, I promise. Rich and Jeff will be back sooner than you think.”
A tear trickled down Linda’s cheek. “It’s not just my sons I’ll miss. It’s all of you. I feel like we have found something wonderful, and soon it will be gone. Things will never be the same. I feel like I’m losing something extraordinary and guilty because I’m being totally selfish.
“You all have so much life ahead of you. You’ll graduate, build your careers and lives, and move on. I can’t; I won’t hold onto Rich and Jeff. I have to let them go live their lives, but I’m grief-stricken because I don’t just love them as my sons; I’m in love with them.
Linda was sobbing now, and the rest of us were shedding tears. All of us except Penny. She kissed Linda’s tears away and smiled gently. “What makes you think we don’t want the same things you do? Look around you. Does it look like Rose, Anne, or any of us are happy about leaving? Don’t be silly. Being here with you all has been wonderful for all of us. Why…
