29. The Visit
Chapter twenty-nine
The Visit
Paul
Dad had a family meeting the next morning before chores, catching me before I left.
“I’ve decided to sell on contract over the next five years,” he explained.
“The Smiths will pay rent along with interest to give them time to pay off the purchase price. We retain the house out to the woods beyond the pond, the animal pastures, ten acres for making hay, and the three outbuildings. The rest goes to the Smiths.”
Sawyer said he already talked to Leena’s family about working for them. She kissed him behind the shed last week, so I was pretty sure things were going well for them. He had it made when she was an excellent cook and they seemed so in love.
As for Josh, he had been doing odd jobs and helping out on some different farms, also sticking around and help Dad with the animals.
Rob was in his last year of school for graphic design, already doing design jobs for people he met online.
He was doing an incredible job from the few I’d seen and helping more around the house.
And that left me. What the hell was I going to do?
Well, I had no fucking clue what I was doing, but when it came to Maggie, I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop doing it.
Nights I spent pleasuring Maggie into the wee hours of the morning until she passed out from sheer ecstasy.
Then, I returned her to her hotel room without anyone noticing, woke up early to take care of my morning chores, getting them done as fast as I could to check out more articles to learn some new ways to give Maggie orgasms. Around lunchtime, I met her at her room for an hour or two, and then went back to handle my new online business until it started all over again.
Strangely, Maggie didn’t say a word about the guy from Chicago, so either she dumped him or she didn’t care about him. Either way, he wasn’t here, she was craving what I gave her, and I wasn’t stopping until she said so.
We were an escape for each other. I took her away from the sadness she carried about her mom while she took me away from the tailspin I was in over the farm and my future.
Dammit, though, I wanted to claim her, tell her she was mine now, and keep her with me forever.
But I couldn’t. She didn’t want that. Maggie’s life was in Chicago, and I had nothing to offer her. Not even dirt.
Although I had plenty of people liking my content that I wrote and the few things I’d done to advertise it on social media, I still wasn’t sure what to do with it.
I monetized a few of the things I’d written, putting them behind pay walls to get some income, but it was only trickling in at this point. It was nothing I could count on.
Every day, I was reminded how I was no good at anything.
I had no talent. I wasn’t stupid, but I couldn’t be considered smart neither.
So, I distracted myself from it by thinking about Maggie coming on my hand, on my cock, and in my mouth.
Her sweet taste was forever in my memory.
Sometimes, I swore I could still feel her on top of me when I finally went to bed.
Sometimes I even still felt liquid heat wrapped around my cock, her inner muscles strangling it.
And it made me hunger for her every second of the day.
After a week of pure bliss, I never wanted it to end.
Coming together for a quickie during the day and then worshipping her all night was exactly what I needed to get me through this mindfuck.
All I knew for certain was that I needed to be with Maggie, but I had no idea how to do it.
She didn’t live here; she was just visiting.
Every time I thought about her driving away from Buena Vista again, my chest tightened so hard I lost my breath as the edges of my vision blurred.
How could I be without her? But how could I be with her?
Did I have to move to Chicago? Did I have to get a fancy job? How could I ever deserve her?
When I wasn’t sure what to do, I cleaned up after morning chores and took a piece of pie and a bouquet of flowers over to the Roth residence.
I wasn’t sure if Maggie was there, but my visit was for her mom.
When a person in town was ill, we all came together to brighten their spirits however we could.
“Paul? What are you doing here?” Mr. Roth said, scowling when he opened the front door.
“Bringing a little something for Mrs. Roth,” I said, keeping my chin up despite her father’s intimidating scrutiny. He was a formidable figure, one I usually tried to avoid. Coming to his turf and asking for something had my heart racing. “I thought she might like some flowers.”
Agnes was kind enough to wrap them in a pretty vase with a bow, so I held them to show what I meant.
Reluctantly, he nodded as he stepped back and held out his arm to invite me inside.
When I stepped into the foyer, he pointed to the sunroom but didn’t follow me there. Instead, he sat at the kitchen table, reading his Bible. The tension he emanated filled the room. Was this how Maggie felt every time she came to spend time with her mom?
Following Maggie’s voice, I headed for the back of the house in the most beautiful part of the house. The gardens outside the window were stunning.
“Pardon me,” I said as I stepped into the doorway.
“Oh, hi,” Maggie said, her eyes widening. “Mom, Paul is here.”
“Paul?” Mrs. Roth said. “Oh, how delightful. Come in, young man.”
When I stepped in the room, Mrs. Roth turned to look at me.
She was almost unrecognizable now with her head wrapped in a floral scarf, her face drawn, and her body almost vanishing under her blanket.
The sight hit me in the heart, realizing that she was quite literally disappearing in front of Maggie a little more every day.
I stepped further into the room so she wouldn’t have to strain to see me.
“Mrs. Roth, I’m so sorry to hear you aren’t feeling very well.
To cheer you up, I brought you some flowers and a piece of Minnie’s strawberry rhubarb pie.
As I recall, Maggie said it was your favorite.
” I placed the flowers on her end table, then pulled the slice of pie and a plastic fork from the paper bag.
Her face brightened more than I’d expected. “You remembered my favorite pie?”
“Steel trap,” I said, pointing to my head with a grin.
Mrs. Roth giggled. “Oh, Paul, that’s just the sweetest thing. You’ve always been such a good boy. I’ve had my eye on you for my daughter, you know.”
“Have you?” I asked, raising my eyebrow as I turned to Maggie.
Maggie set the book down before taking the container and fork, refusing to make eye contact with me. Sitting on the edge of her mom’s bed, she offered a small bite of pie to her mom.
“You have a lovely view out here,” I remarked as I took Maggie’s chair and stared at the impending sunset.
Mrs. Roth smiled. “It is lovely out here. My husband tends the gardens with me. We go out every night to water and prune.”
It sounded like something they used to do together. She seemed to be losing track of time, but I didn’t say anything about it.
“Well, the love you put into it certainly shows,” I said.
She took another bite of pie, and Maggie glanced over at me with a grateful look as she mouthed, “Thank you.”
“So, you and my daughter spend a lot of time together,” she said, giving us a knowing grin. “You’re only seventeen, so there’s nothing I should be worried about, is there? You’re being proper with her?”
“Mom,” Maggie said, blushing.
“What? I’m your mother. I have a right to ask questions. Boys and girls never stay ‘just friends,’” she declared. “Ask anybody.”
Pressing my lips together, I thought the best way was to set her worries at ease. “We’re always proper, Mrs. Roth. And just friends.”
Maggie’s eyes darted to mine for a second, then she prepared another bite of pie.
Mrs. Roth sat up a little straighter as she nodded her approval. “Good. You two have a bright future. I expect babies from the two of you one day, but certainly not now. You’re far too young.”
“Mom,” Maggie hissed. “You can’t put that kind of pressure on him after he brought you pie.”
With a wide smile, Mrs. Roth nodded. “Well, I think he’ll agree with me how beautiful you are. Won’t you, Paul?”
“Absolutely, Mrs. Roth,” I said, keeping my eyes on Maggie, who averted her eyes. “I’m fortunate to have the company of two beautiful women this evening. Like mother, like daughter.”
Mrs. Roth beamed. “You’re such a charmer.”
When Maggie gave her mom another bite while avoiding my gaze, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was embarrassed because of what her mom said or because of me.
Did she not want to tell her mother about us?
Surely, she hadn’t if her mom was asking about our relationship.
Sure, I worked on a family farm my whole life.
I didn’t do particularly well in school, I wasn’t well-spoken, and I didn’t have a lot of money.
Was it my lack of status or financial position that made Maggie too embarrassed to admit to her own mother that she was spending time with me? Or was it her mom’s confusion?
“Well,” I said, standing. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I’m going to head home, but it was lovely to see you, Mrs. Roth.”
She finished her bite of pie and reached her frail hand to me. “It was wonderful to see you, too, Paul.”
I held her delicate hand in both of mine, suddenly struck by how little time she likely had left. Would this be the last time I saw her? Is this what Maggie felt every time she left this house? A sense of loss, a sense of hopelessness?
After pressing a soft kiss to the top of her hand, I gently placed it beside her on the bed.
“It’s been a pleasure, ma’am,” I said, straining past the emotion thick in my throat.
Her eyes fell closed. “The pleasure was all mine.” When her eyes stayed shut, I nodded to Maggie and took a step toward the door. “Oh, Paul,” she called softly.
“Yes, ma’am?” I said, stepping back into her sight.
“I really do hope we’ll be seeing more of you over here very soon,” she said with a smile. “Maybe you could come over after school to spend some time with Maggie. I know she’d like that. And don’t forget that the dance is coming up. You two would make a handsome couple.”
While I wasn’t sure what she meant, I didn’t make a fuss over it. She thought we were younger, still in school. I just nodded, smiled, and went back through the house to the kitchen. Her father still read at the table, ignoring me.
A second behind me, Maggie came into the room. “She’s asleep now,” she said, putting the rest of the pie in the refrigerator. “Thank you for bringing this. She ate a little, which is really good for her.”
Her father lifted his head, listening intently.
“Glad she enjoyed it,” I replied. “She’s such a nice lady. I wanted to do something to lift her spirits.”
Maggie turned to her dad. “It was strawberry rhubarb pie, her favorite.”
He nodded, then went back to reading.
“About the school dance thing …” Maggie started, then shook her head.
I took a step toward her, seeing her pain and wanting to help. But her father was right there. As much as I wanted to hold her, to comfort her, I couldn’t. “Don’t worry about it. I understand.”
“It’s just that she forgets some things later in the day when she’s tired,” Maggie explained, clutching her upper arms with a shiver.
“It’s fine, really. Talk to you later?” I asked.
“Yes,” she agreed, looking exhausted herself. “Goodnight.”
While I wanted to pull her into a warm hug to soothe her, her father watched us too closely despite the way he feigned disinterest. Maggie gave me an apologetic smile as she took a step back toward the sunroom.
I tipped my chin to her, hoping she understood it as being encouraging.
She had an incredibly hard time here, between her father’s demeanor and watching her mom slip away.
I’d known this was awful for her, but seeing it with my own eyes was startling. Everyone knew that hospice care wasn’t a good sign, but Mrs. Roth struggled to keep going due to the love of her husband and daughter. And love was a pretty powerful thing.
Stifling a yawn when I reached my truck, I knew how powerful love was myself.
I hadn’t been sleeping much to make sure I gave Maggie all of my time and attention when she needed me.
A few hours during the day and after she left for the night, though, I focused on writing and making posts to promote my new blog.
A few times, Rob helped me take more photos of me around the farm.
He even gave me some ideas for promoting my page.
His training in graphic design was really helping me out with coming up with ways to promote my site.
Yet, growth was slow. It would take a lot more work to see if it would actually turn into anything.
On the way back to the farm, I thought about all the things Maggie and I weren’t talking about: Chicago, Maggie’s job, her lack of gallery openings, her boyfriend, how she really felt about me, or what she wanted her future to look like.
We showed each other what we were feeling for each other, showed how much we cared, but neither of us ever said anything about what our future could be.
Everything was so uncertain now and talking wasn’t something either of us had the energy to do.
Yet, doubts crept in when we were apart.
Maybe she didn’t feel as strongly for me as I did for her.
Maybe she was afraid to get too close since she was going to have to leave again at some point.
Some of it had to be how emotionally spent she was from a day with her mom, unable to have the energy to think ahead to her future.
The one thing I knew was that pushing Maggie to talk during her exhaustion wasn’t going to help. She was dealing with a lot, and it didn’t seem fair to make demands of her. Instead, I’d let silence enclose us in a bubble that let her forget that anything else existed in the world.
That night, when we came together at the pond, I already had candles set up again because she liked them so much.
That night, after I pleasured her, I held her for an hour after.
She clung to me, holding on so tight that I hated for us to go separate ways like always.
However, since there was nothing good that could come out of me being seen leaving her hotel room in a small town up before the crack of dawn, I kissed her goodnight and watched her drive away.
Before I drifted to sleep, I couldn’t stop thinking about how our bodies were made for each other.
I couldn’t imagine a better connection with anyone.
Never even thought about anyone else. A few girls expressed interest in me after Maggie had left, but I turned them all down.
Maggie was it for me; she was my one and only, my soulmate.
It has always been her, so now I just had to figure out how to deserve her so I could make her mine forever.