21.
FARRAH
I took a sip of my coffee and looked around the diner that had become a favorite since I moved to Rojo. In the short time I’d been in town, I’d found quite a few things around that I loved, and one of them was this diner. The place was always busy, which made sense because everything they served was delicious, from the coffee to the pie.
I’d made a lot of memories here in the eight months since I was released from prison, and most of them included time spent with my son. We’d had so many good conversations sitting in the corner booth, which I’d come to think of as our spot, and gradually got to know each other in a way I never dreamed we would while I was locked up.
Other memories I’d made in this diner included meeting my half-brother, Chai, and the woman who was now his girlfriend. It had been such a surprise when they stopped by on their way to Florida, and it was nice to see him in person after writing letters back and forth for years while we were both incarcerated. I was so happy that he’d found a woman who could accept his past, as colorful as it was, and love him anyway.
Kind of like what Lynn was doing with me.
We hadn’t ventured into love quite yet, or at least he hadn’t. I’d been feeling it for a while now. It had been almost two months since our first date, and even though we weren’t able to spend much time together for those weeks spent wrapping up the CPS case with the girls, I still considered them time well spent.
For the first time in my life, I had navigated a relationship with baby steps rather than jumping in with both feet. Back in the day when drugs and alcohol ruled my life, I had jumped from one toxic relationship to another, never realizing that most of the drama could have been avoided if I’d taken things slower and gotten to know the man I was interested in rather than going at warp speed.
Luckily, Lynn wasn’t a speedy kind of guy, mostly because he had so much going on in his life. Between his business and his family, who I had gotten to know very well in the last month, and my work at The Flower Patch along with meetings and milestones in my recovery, we didn’t get to see each other every day, although we texted and talked on the phone all the time.
As funny as it was to think about, considering I was creeping close to fifty years old, I finally had a healthy relationship with a man, and, as an added bonus, was developing a close relationship with his family. I’d become close with Lanna and enjoyed spending time with her as often as our schedules allowed. I was excited to imagine how much fun it would be to watch her baby grow once it was born. And, according to Lanna, she was going to lose her mind if that didn’t happen sooner rather than later.
It had been so much fun to get to know Brin and Berk, little powerhouses full of sass and fire. I was happy that they’d accepted me into their family so easily. Of course, there had been a few bumps in the road as they felt out the new dynamic and tried to draw me over to their side in arguments with their Pop. Luckily, Lynn and I had figured out a way to balance what we had together with the life he was creating for his granddaughters, and they were beginning to understand that I wasn’t quite as easy of a mark as they’d first thought. But, just like all children, they had to test their boundaries even though it made the adults around them crazy.
I took another sip of my coffee as I watched Colt park his truck behind my car and got angry all over again when I saw the new scratches and dents in it, although I was just glad to have it back at this point. Zoey’s brother, Zane Duke, who ran their family’s towing company, had received a call about a vehicle that had been abandoned at the mall. When he arrived to pick it up, he ran the tags and discovered it was my stolen car.
Since it had been gone for more than a week and we weren’t sure how long it had been in the parking lot, the cops didn’t really do much more to investigate the theft. The car still ran, even though it was a little worse for wear. It may not be much, but it represented something that, for years, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to have again - independence.
But now that I was living alone in a house I adored and had a vehicle that I could mostly depend on, I felt like a new woman. My relationship with my son was getting stronger, and the friendships I was making with the women who lived around me filled my days with laughter and support that kept me on the right track. Of course, Lynn was helping with that, too, reminding me that I was smart, worthy, and beautiful and, when we got a little time alone, worshiping my body in a way that had me walking on clouds for the next few days.
“You look like you’re lost in thought,” Colt said as he slid into the booth across from me.
“I was just thinking about how wonderful my life has become.”
“You should be proud of yourself. You’ve worked really hard to get here.”
“Thank you. That means a lot coming from you, Colt. God knows I put you through so much shit that I wouldn’t really blame you if you didn’t feel that way at all.”
“You’ve taught me a lot, Mom.”
“Mostly what not to do,” I said with a laugh.
“And that life won’t ever get better unless you pick yourself up and dive back in with a purpose every time you get off track.”
“It would be better if I hadn’t gone off the rails in the first place.”
“True, but we’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”
Colt turned over the mug that was resting on the saucer in front of him, and within just a minute, a server appeared with a carafe to top off my coffee and fill his to the brim. Since we met here a few times a week, we knew what we wanted to order without even looking at the menu.
“So, what’s new with you?” Colt asked.
“Not much, really. The Flower Patch is thriving, and business has been steady since the store opened. We’ve got a few more houses ready for women to move into, and I’ve been working with Zoey to get that in order while still helping out with the plants.”
“What’s the status of the case about your car?”
“Nothing new. I think that since I have it back, they’re really not trying very hard to find the woman who stole it.”
“She’s still in the wind? What about that other woman?”
“No one has seen Margie in over a month, and Jill’s been spotted around town, although she’s not living in the halfway house any more. I have a feeling that her parole is going to be revoked sooner rather than later, and all I can say is good riddance. She’s not ready to be trusted out in the world yet, and knowing her, I’m not sure she ever will be.”
“Maybe you’re wrong. She may turn her life around yet.”
“I’ll admit that I don’t know her very well, but that wasn’t for lack of trying. I found out the other day that she has a family who moved here to be near her.”
“Sucks for them. If I was married to a woman like her, I wouldn’t move a rock for her, let alone uproot my entire life.”
“Your life has been uprooted too many times already, so it’s perfectly understandable for you to feel that way.” I took a sip of my coffee and then explained, “She’s got a daughter close to your age, and she’s raising her siblings while Jill goes on her merry way, fucking her life up even more than it was before.”
“That’s sad, but at least her kids can depend on each other.”
“True. I always wanted siblings, but I’m kind of glad it was just me now.”
“I never wanted more children because I got perfection on the first try.”
“You’re so full of shit,” Colt muttered as the server appeared with our food. We were both quiet as we started eating, but after a few minutes he asked, “What’s the status of you and Lynn?”
“We’re still dating.”
“But you’re living at your place and he’s living at his?”
“Yes. We spend time with each other as much as we can, but we’re not even close to talking about moving in together or doing anything permanent like that.”
“That’s a change from how you used to be.”
“I know, right?”
“I guess it makes sense that things are different now. You’re older and wiser, thank God, and he’s got his shit together.”
“He does, and he’s raising his grandchildren, which is a full-time job in and of itself.”
“Those girls are a riot.”
Berklee and Brinlee had been happy to see Colt again, so much so that I thought they might have a little crush on him. When he met me at Lynn’s for dinner the other day, they asked him to come to their school for an awards assembly and then screamed so loud that it hurt our ears when he said yes.
“I love ‘em.”
“What’s the deal with their mom?” Colt asked.
“She called once from the prison where she was transported but hasn’t called again since. Lynn got worried, so he called the admin office. They told him that she had an infraction, so she was put in solitary and would call when she got out.”
Colt winced before he said, “Solitary already? It usually took you a few months to get in trouble after you got locked up.”
“The fact that you know that makes me sad.”
Colt ignored my comment and asked, “How are the girls dealing with her being gone?”
“Even being as young as they are, I think they saw it coming.”
“Kids are pretty observant.” I wasn’t sure what to say other than to apologize again for all I’d put him through, but I didn’t have a chance before Colt announced, “Well, I’ve got some news.”
“I can’t tell if that’s good or bad,” I said as I studied his face.
“Both?”
“You don’t sound sure about that.”
“I took a DNA test and sort of found my father.” I choked on the hashbrowns I’d been swallowing and slapped my napkin over my mouth before I coughed so hard that I started to see stars. My head was still swimming when he said, “I’ve got at least nine brothers and sisters.”
“At least?” When Colt nodded, I just stared at him before I tried to make a joke. “Well, you always wanted siblings.”
Colt burst out laughing before he said, “Not sure I wanted the entire Brady Bunch, but it looks like I’ve got it.”
“My guess is that they don’t all have the same mother who has had a wonderful life living as his wife in a nice house in the suburbs with a white picket fence.”
Colt laughed again before he said, “That’s way too normal for anything having to do with him.”
“Have you met him?” I asked.
“No. I have no urge to meet him.”
“Why did you take a DNA test?”
“I thought it might be cool to find out about my ancestors.”
“Where are they from?”
“All over Europe, but it basically just said I’m really white.”
I cackled before I asked, “You had to take a test to figure that out?”
“You should take one.”
“Fuck that,” I scoffed. “I’m perfectly content knowing that Chai is my half brother. I’m sure I have other siblings out there somewhere, but I’ve gone this long without meeting them and have no desire to start now.”
Colt wrinkled his nose before he said, “Other than Chai, you’ve got three that I know of.”
“Oh, hell,” I muttered. “Are they normal?”
“What exactly would you consider normal?” Colt asked.
“Forget I asked. Tell me about these siblings you found. Are they normal?”
“You really don’t want to know about yours?”
“Honey, I’m content with the life I’ve got with you. I’m not sure I could handle adding more to it.”
“Aren’t you doing that with Lynn?” Colt asked.
I didn’t have to think about it before I said, “I hope so, and if I am, that’s more than I ever let myself dream of.”
◆◆◆
LYNN
“Do you realize that it’s been almost exactly two months since we met?”
Farrah looked up from her phone and blinked a few times before she swallowed hard. I could feel a slow grin transform my face, but she didn’t seem to notice since she was staring much lower. “If you keep looking at me like that, we’re going to end up eating sandwiches for dinner.”
“I like sandwiches,” Farrah muttered as she put her phone on the nightstand. She didn’t seem to notice when she missed her target, but that might have been because she was on her hands and knees crawling down the bed toward me by the time it hit the floor. Without looking up at my face, she said, “Restaurants are overrated.”
“Have you missed me, sweetheart?” I asked.
“Apparently, not as much as you’ve missed me,” Farrah said as she reached out and tucked her arm over my hip to pull me closer.
When her mouth covered the end of my cock, I gasped, and when she took it all the way to the back of her throat, I shivered. “Goddamn, you’re good at that.”
When she hummed in answer, I felt my entire body go taut. She must have felt it because she hummed again, and I blew out a long breath as I tried to control myself. As if she knew what I was doing, she used a hand to reach up and find mine and then lifted it to rest on her head before she gently cupped my balls.
I took that as an invitation and ran my hand through her hair before I twisted it in a tight grip and pulled her away before pressing her back down the length of my cock.
“Oh, holy shit,” I mumbled as I watched her from above.
Her magical hands and mouth had me teetering way too close to the edge, so after just a few minutes of that bliss, I used my hold on her hair to pull her back and let my cock slip out of her mouth. In one quick move, I flipped her onto her stomach and then reached down to lift her hips so she was on her hands and knees in front of me.
“Panties off,” I ordered as I flipped up the hem of her sundress. While she was wiggling out of them, I reached over and opened the top drawer of my dresser and found the small vibrating egg I’d purchased online and readied for her visit tonight. Originally, I’d planned to tease her with it for hours after we came home from dinner, but I’d found that my good intentions with Farrah almost always got interrupted by the fact that I couldn’t keep my hands off of her.
By the time I had the vibrator in my hand, Farrah was naked from the waist down and ready for me. I dropped it within reach on the bed and then pulled her closer. I used a hand on her hip to steady her and pushed my cock in deep on the first stroke. Her gasp turned into a moan when I pulled out and did it again, even harder this time. We had just settled into a fantastic rhythm that I knew wouldn’t let me last long when I reached up and got a fist full of her long hair and tugged her up to her knees.
The angle of my penetration changed, and I heard Farrah gasp as she let her head fall back on my shoulder. I slid the hand on her hip up to cup her breast through the thin fabric of her sundress as my other hand wrapped around her to cover her clit. As I fucked her steadily from behind, I whispered in her ear, telling her how much I loved her body and how good it felt to be so deep inside her.
Farrah’s moans got louder when I gently tapped my fingertip on her clit, and when I used all four fingers to give it a light slap, she let out a yelp and then another moan.
“You like that, sweetheart?”
Farrah’s voice was barely more than a whisper as she breathed, “Yeah.”
“Want more?” When she eagerly nodded, I slapped her pussy again a little harder. Her entire body shuddered, and her ass pressed against me. By the time I tapped her again, she was moaning so loudly that I could barely hear it over her ragged breathing. “Remember the other night when you teased me on the phone?”
“No . . . Yeah . . . Oh, God.”
“And I told you I was going to fuck you so hard that you’d be feeling me for days?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Is that what you want?” When she nodded eagerly, I slapped her pussy again, but didn’t wait to continue this time. She was writhing in my arms by the time I stopped and grabbed for the vibrator. I knew it wouldn’t take long to make her come apart in my arms.
She turned her head to meet her lips with mine as I hit the button to turn the little egg on and screamed into my mouth when I touched it to her clit and held it there. Her entire body jolted as if she’d touched a live wire. She pulled her mouth away from mine and let out a loud wail as her body started clutching at my cock with her first orgasm.
I kept my rhythm steady along with the pressure from my hand, and one orgasm turned into two before she started squirming in my arms. I held her close to my chest and waited for her to peak again, and the second she did, I let go deep inside her. My moans joined hers as we came together until she finally pried my hand off her pussy to take away the vibration.
I had the presence of mind to turn the gadget off before I tossed it onto the bed and collapsed forward, rolling so that I landed on my side next to Farrah who was breathing heavily. Since we were still connected, I reached over her hip and lifted her leg to bring it back over mine and slowly started fucking her with my now softening cock.
“That was wonderful,” Farrah whispered when I finally stilled and let my cock slip out. “Let’s do that again before we go to sleep.”
“I was planning on it.”
“Maybe we can take a nap first,” Farrah said before she yawned loudly. “Yeah. I need a nap.”
The sound of her stomach growling made me chuckle before I said, “I need to feed you before we go to sleep.”
“I’ll be fine,” she argued before she yawned again and rolled to her stomach.
I smacked her on the ass before I sat up, and as I got off the bed to clean up, I said, “Let me take my girl out for dinner so we can come back and do this again.”
“Only once? I haven’t gotten to spend any time with you since last Thursday, and I’m more interested in sex than food.”
“More than once tonight, and then I promise to wake you up in the best way tomorrow morning.”
“Starting the day off with a mind-blowing orgasm makes it hard for me to concentrate at work.”
I hurried back from the bathroom and used a washcloth to clean her up as I said, “Does that mean you don’t want me to wake you up in the morning?”
“If you don’t, I may have to kill you,” Farrah threatened with a grin. “You’ve spoiled me, Lynn.”
“You ain't’ seen nothin’ yet, sweetheart.”