Chapter 10 #2
Finally, still embedded, he carried her into her bedroom, gently laying her on her back, and finally withdrew.
Molly settled on the bed, her head on the pillow, lying on her back, legs and arms spread, while he disposed of the condom.
He returned with a warm, wet wash cloth.
She let him gently wash between her legs before he did the same to himself and disposed of the wash cloth in the bathroom hamper.
He returned and lay on the bed next to her, taking her hand.
They were both still breathing hard, hearts pounding, recovering from the energetic sex.
She said, “Now, that’s what I’m talking about.”
He didn’t say anything. She chuckled. He didn’t talk during or after sex. Fine. She didn’t need that. She could do that for both of them.
“I wasn’t expecting that.”
No words.
Imitating his deep voice, she said, “Yeah, Molly, you were fantastic. Best sex I’ve ever had.”
No words.
Using her own voice, “Oh, Bart, you’re such a big brute. I love it when you pound your horse parts deep inside me.”
No words, but he was chuckling now.
Back in his voice, “Molly, you’re a wonderful lover. Thank you so much.”
Molly again, “Pounding that beast inside me like that should hurt. But it doesn’t. It’s so amazing that my body can take that. And, right now, it just feels so good down there. It’s just glowing. The heat waves that started down there are just radiating through my whole body.”
Her Bart voice again, “Yeah, Molly, me too.”
A quiet chuckle.
“Calm down, Bart. You don’t have to talk so much after sex.”
Another chuckle.
“I can’t believe I won’t need surgery after that.”
They were in the kitchen preparing dinner, each with a glass of Scotch.
The plan was to get the lasagna in the oven, then enjoy happy hour outside.
The sweet Italian sausage was sizzling in the cast iron pan.
Bart was grating sharp and medium cheddar to go with the ricotta.
She was layering the lasagna with large flat pasta noodles and the cheese and sausage mix.
They layered until the pan was full, sprinkled the remaining cheese on top, put it in the oven, and took glasses and the Glenfiddich out to the Adirondacks.
The dogs were running around in the woods somewhere.
They’d be showing up soon for their own dinners.
“Molly Omak?”
“Long story.”
“I have time.”
“Well, I was born Molly McGuire, but all the men in my family were nicknamed Mack. The Mack is from McGuire, of course. I’m surprised you don’t have some Macks in the McKinnon family.
My great grandfather was Archibald McGuire, a good Scottish name, but he only went by Mack.
It just became a family tradition. All the McGuire men were called Mack.
So my grandfathers are Mack 1 and Mack 2.
My father is Mack 3 and my brother is Mack 4.
I couldn’t really be Mack 5, so I became Molly Mack and rode professionally as Molly Mack. ”
“Makes sense.”
“The year after I graduated from high school, I was Queen of the Omak Stampede. As I’m sure you know, a rodeo queen has many responsibilities.
The queen leads the Stampede parade through downtown Omak, and she leads the Queen’s Ride that opens the rodeo.
And, of course, the queen gets paid a salary and expenses to represent the Omak Stampede at all the other regional rodeos.
For that, I dressed head to toe in Omak Stampede regalia and carried the Omak Stampede flag around the arena for the Queen’s Ride at all the rodeos.
The back of my shirt said Omak Stampede over a dramatic rendition of stampeding horses. ”
“I can picture it.”
“Well, I was a barrel racer, so I entered the race as Molly Mack at each rodeo. That was my start in professional riding. I did okay and loved it.”
“I like the image.”
“And, of course, even after my term as queen was over, I continued to wear Omak Stampede logo clothes and pretty soon Molly Mack became Molly Omak.”
“Got it.”
“The hometown paper really had fun with that. Jo and I won the barrel race at the Omak Stampede a bunch of years, so the local newspaper really worked the name. Molly Omak this and Molly Omak that. And pretty soon, I was Molly Omak all over town.”
“I like it.”
Molly wasn’t expecting Bart’s next question. “So if you have a son, he’ll be Mack 5.”
“Yes, if either my brother or I have a son, that will be his fate.”
“So are you planning a family?”
“Does it look like I’m planning a family?”
“Still have time. Lots of families get started in the thirties these days.”
“You need a man to start a family. It’s not something most women do on their own.”
“But if there was a man, might there be kids?”
“They’re not ruled out. In my case, it’s going to depend on the man, if I ever find one who’ll put up with me. Remember, I’m a barrel racer.”
“What’s the man got to do with it?”
Molly chuckled. She hadn’t been expecting this conversation.
“Takes two to tango. But, really, if I met the right guy and having kids was important to him, I’d be open to it.
If I met another guy, and he didn’t want kids, that’d be fine too.
I’m going with the flow on this one. But I haven’t foreclosed the possibility. ”
“Does your brother have kids?”
“Three girls and that’s probably it. Lisa only wanted two. She had the third to give Mack his son and instead got a third daughter. I think that’s the end of that line.”
“You close with your brother?”
“I wouldn’t say close. I’m five years older. We get along okay. We don’t go out of our way to keep in touch, but they invite me for the holidays.”
“You’re buying him out of the resort.”
“Yeah, he wanted the money and I didn’t want him as a partner. Wouldn’t have been good for the relationship. He’s getting $5,000 a month for eight years, three down, five to go. He inherited the family ranch and has taken over my father’s auction business. He’s a good guy. We’re just not close.”
“But you want me to be really close with my family.”
She chuckled. “Sorry about that. It just came out today.” She paused, wanting to shift the conversation to him. “You never said anything about Brett and his military service.”
“He served and served well. He saw some action, but his unit had a completely different assignment than mine. His was more into planning and staging. It was just the luck of the draw that landed him there. My unit got placed right in the middle of the hottest fighting. And, because our unit got familiar with the terrain and the villages and the enemy, and got good results, they just kept us there. Luck of the draw.”
“Or bad luck of the draw.”
“Whatever.”
“So you raised the topic of kids. How do you feel about them?”
“I’ve always assumed I’d have kids. I grew up in a family with four.
The lady I was with wanted a big family.
When Megan died in the car wreck, it just blew all that up.
Now, I can barely manage a jenny mule, a hunting falcon, a wayward lynx, and a purebred dog.
I can’t imagine having kids. I have no idea how to factor the PTSD into kids.
The federal government doesn’t think I’m capable of holding a job.
Wonder how they’d feel about me raising kids.
Maybe like you, it will depend on whether I find a lady and if she’s interested. If she is, I’d want to support that.”
Molly decided to leave the conversation right there.
It was a little early to be talking about kids.
The sex and companionship had been fantastic.
The fling was going really well. But how wise was it to get involved with a man with serious mental and emotional issues who’d killed a lot of people and only stopped by once a month?
The lasagna made for a filling dinner.
“Do you eat with your family in the mountains?”
“Pretty much. I typically cook a big pot of something at night. Bear, Bella, and I each have a bowl. Beryl gets her ration of grain at night after grazing all day. Blitz is usually on a branch nearby picking at a bone I put out for her.”
“Nice image. Is Bella domesticated?”
“I’m trying to keep her wild, although she does get a bowl at night. She sleeps outside in a shelter I built for her away from the cabin. She spends the day hunting. Lives off snow rabbits. Big population of snow rabbits and lynx in the Pasayten.”
“Does she come inside in the winter?”
“When she was a kitten, but I discourage it now. I want her to remain wild. Bear has a swinging door into the cabin from the woodshed, and Bella knows about it. But she doesn’t come in anymore.”
“I can picture you reading your Kindle on a cold, wintry day by the stove with Bear and Bella at your feet.”
“It was a nice scene when she was a kitten.”
After, they settled by the fire pit with the bottle of cognac.
She finally had to ask, “When are you heading back to the mountains?”
“I usually stay two nights, just long enough to provision and take care of business.”
“So tomorrow?”
“That’s been the plan. Are you okay with that?”
Molly didn’t know what to say. It was nice that he was asking.
In her current mood, she’d be happy if he moved in for a while.
But that wasn’t the program. There was a part of her that wanted to encourage him to stay another day, and another part that was thinking maybe two days at a time right now was best. He was letting her mull this.
A long silence settled in, the fire flickering, the sun about to set on the western horizon, the cool night air dropping down.
“I’d like for you to do what works for you right now.
I want you to know you’re welcome to stay here on your visits.
And I’m really hoping you can come for the birth of the pups.
If you’d like to stay longer this time, you’re welcome.
But, I understand how you are drawn to the mountains.
I understand how that works for the PTSD and your therapy. I’m not going to discourage that.”
He didn’t say anything. Did he want her to urge him to stay longer? Did he want to stay longer but didn’t want to impose? She was having a hard time reading the situation.
“Do you think you can make it for the pups?”
“Yes, but I won’t plan to stay long. We’re talking about July 1 and, for what it’s worth, the Fourth of July and PTSD don’t mix very well.”
Molly chuckled. Loud, unexpected explosions going off steadily for three or four days. No, she’d seen that bad movie downtown today.
“I hadn’t thought of that, but of course. Let’s hope Shadow is on time so you and Bear can be here for the birth and get away before the fireworks.”
“That’s my plan.”
“How about the Stampede? Second week in August.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s going to work. I scheduled my next session with Gloria for those dates. If Kitty comes, I’ll plan to stay longer.”
Molly didn’t mention that Kitty had reserved three cabins and an RV site. That was Kitty’s business.
The fire was dying down and the Glenfiddich was empty. They were getting ready to turn in. He hadn’t confirmed he was leaving in the morning, but she assumed he was.
“You mentioned an idea for another photo for Kitty.”
“I thought they’d like to see the mountain man in full leather standing with Bear and Beryl just before he left on the trail.”
“We could do that. You could be in the photo too.”
“I’m superfluous for that photo. They want to see you.”
“The part they liked best in the last photo was you. I’m pretty sure that was fascinating for them.”
“Why is that?”
“I haven’t been with anyone since Megan. They will see it that maybe I’m finally moving on.”
“Interesting. It feels to me like you’re moving on. Or am I just a sexual adventure?”
Her eyes were twinkling. She hadn’t expected to go there. The subject just landed in her lap, she’d been drinking for three hours, and was getting ready to bonk his brains out.
“Well, you definitely are a sexual adventure.”
She reached over and slugged his shoulder.
“But it feels healthy to me. I’m not thinking about Megan. I’m thinking about you.”
“Oh, really? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking what a great sexual adventure you are.”
She reached over and slugged him again.
He looked her straight in the eyes and said, “It feels good to me. It feels real. Like, maybe we’re starting something good. How does it feel to you?”
Molly paused, then said simply, “Yeah, that’s how it feels to me too.”
The lovemaking that night was slow, tender, and laden with emotion.
Molly was moved by the day. Her body needed a break from the pounding, and she felt very close to him.
They’d just exchanged words about a promising start to the relationship.
The words meant something to her. They capped a strange but beautiful day.
She’d really learned a lot about him this visit.
They lay side to side, kissing and talking for a long time before it got serious.
It started side to side, then they rolled her on top, then they rolled him on top, and they finished side to side, a long, slow, gentle finish, through which she purred, and he softly kissed around her open mouth, always gently caressing.
It was beautiful and reflected how she felt about the relationship.
She spooned in behind for the night, holding him tight and whispering, “It’s okay” when the bad dreams caused his body to struggle.