Frank and Mary Beth

Then I pulled myself up short. I had always been honest and upfront so why was I going to play games with Alice? That would not be the me I always thought I was. Be honest with Alice and let the chips fall where they may.

What was it that the wise man said? Something like "Don't let your head get so big that they don't make a hat size big enough to fit you?"

After our morning romp (anal again) Alice fixed us breakfast and over scrambled eggs and bacon Alice said:

"I hope that you don't think that I'm a slut because of the way I've acted these last couple of days. I really did need to get laid and I really wanted it to be you so I can throw it in Mike's face, but I need to be honest here Ralph. I'm no where near being ready to get into another relationship. You are a super nice guy and a superstar in bed and maybe somewhere down the line we might be able to get something going. I'm just not ready yet.

"I really want to do more of what we have been doing, but I don't want to be a couple. At least not yet. Are you open to maybe having a friends with benefits relationship? Maybe once a week or so?"

What could I say to that except, "I understand completely. I feel the same way. I'm not really out of things with Mary Beth until the divorce is final in six months, but I would like to see you from time to time and not for just playing on the bed. How about dinner, drinks and dancing next Friday night?"

"I would like that."

++++++++++++++++++

Again, news travels fast in small towns.

I was doing a load of laundry about three in the afternoon when I got a phone call from Mary Beth.

"I see you took me up on my suggestion that you get a revenge fuck from Alice. Now that we are even can I come home?"

"No you can't Mary Beth. We are getting divorced."

"You aren't thinking clearly Ralph. I love you and you know full well that I d and I know that you love me. Getting divorced is just nonsense. We belong together."

"I'm sorry Mary Beth, but I need the divorce."

"You need it? Why?"

"I told you that I intend to bed Amber and in fact you even suggested I do it if I remember correctly."

"So?"

"She says she won't mess around with a married man so I need to get divorced if I'm going to get a chance to do her. Bye Mary Beth."

I hung up on her and got back to doing housework.

When I got done with what I wanted to get done I decided to head into town and have dinner at Bernie's Diner. I ate and had a beer and when I left and got out to the parking lot I found Mike sitting on the tailgate of my truck. Apparently Alice had wasted no time in letting him know that I'd been on his bed and in his about to be ex-wife. He wasn't alone. He had Jimmy Farrell with him.

Jimmy and I went all the way back to grade school and during that entire time, third grade through high school, we hadn't liked each other one little bit. We'd fought several times and we were about even in the won/loss column. I guess Mike figured with Farrell along he could take me and he probably could if I let him, but I wasn't going to do that.

I knew Mike well enough to know he was going to want to speechify before starting the ball so I didn't let him. I walked toward the two of them and Mike sat on the tailgate and looked at me with a smirk on his face and Jimmy just stood there smiling knowing that with the two of them against me I was toast. When I got to about where they thought I would stop and start the talking I lowered my head and ran right at Farrell. They didn't expect me to attack and it caught them by surprise. I head butted Farrell in the middle of his face and broke his nose. When his hands went up to his face I kicked his right knee and drove it outward and he went down screaming.

I spun to take on Mike, but in his haste to get off the tailgate he tripped and was stumbling to catch his balance when I got to him. I beat the fucking snot out of him stopping long enough between blows to go back and kick Jimmy to make sure he stayed down. I had Mike on the ground and I'd kicked him in the ribs hard enough to crack one or maybe even break one. I bent down and grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his head up until it was only a couple of inches from my face and then I said:

"I'm through fucking with you asshole. You know I have a concealed carry permit and I'm going to start using it. The next time you come after me I'll shoot your sorry ass."

I slammed his head back onto the ground, walked over to Farrell and gave him one more kick in the ribs for good measure and then drove home.

++++++++++++++++++++++

The next six months took on a sameness. A phone call or two a week from Mary Beth asking me if I'd come to my senses and was ready to let her come home. Two or three dates a week with Amber and at least once a week going out with and getting 'benefits' from Alice.

Again small towns being what they are it didn't take long for Amber to find out about my trips to 'the benefits office' and she brought it up one night when we were at the VFW dance. I was honest with her.

"I'm a man used to getting sex on a regular basis. I have needs and you are off limits until my divorce is final. Alice has the same needs, but doesn't want a permanent relationship nor does she want a reputation and neither of us want an emotional entanglement so we take care of each other. It works for us."

Amber didn't say anything to that, but when I took her home that evening there wasn't the usual make out session. I began to suspect that our relationship wasn't going to last much longer. That feeling was reinforced, at least in my mind, when Amber seemed to be avoiding me at work on Monday. It didn't bother me as much as it could have because the more time I spent with Amber the less likely I saw a long term relationship in the cards for us.

Don't get me wrong here; I would love to have a long term relationship with Amber. She was a sexy looking, drop dead gorgeous redhead and she was a fun date, but it was the age difference that was the problem. I still hadn't figured out what she was doing spending time with a man almost old enough to be her father. I had no illusions about myself. I was decent looking and in pretty good shape, but I was nothing special and Amber had a host of good looking guys her own age always trying to date her.

We were from different generations. We didn't like the same music, TV shows, books, sports or even food. She loved oriental and I couldn't stand it. She liked hard rock and acid rock and even a little of that rap shit and I was country western, bluegrass and jazz. She liked golf and went out and hit the ball every Sunday morning and I considered that a complete waste of time just as she considered my bowling a waste of energy. We had nothing in common.

+++++++++++++++++

Amber was still avoiding me on Tuesday and even if she wasn't we wouldn't be doing anything that night anyway because Tuesday night was Amber's night to attend her literary club meeting at the library. Alice was in Overton visiting her sister so I had a rare free night so I stopped at The Drop Inn for a beer or two after work. About the second long neck I'd come to realize that I was in a rut.

I was seeing Alice because I wanted sex and she was willing to give it. I was seeing Amber because she was giving me a social life while we waited for my divorce to become final. It was taking two women to do about eighty percent of what one woman used to do. True, the one had stabbed me in the back, but she had been one hell of a woman and I couldn't forget that.

Truth be told I did miss her and I did miss the life we had. Shit! The truth was that I still loved her. She had been right when she said that I couldn't turn off my love like I was turning off a light. What a mess. What a fucking mess.

+++++++++++++++++

When Amber seemed to be avoiding me on Wednesday I decided that I needed to make a change. I couldn't change the fact that Amber was unhappy that I was getting what I needed from someone else, but what I could do was take myself out of the situation where what she thought mattered. She wanted to avoid me so I would just ignore her and get on with my life.

I made a start by picking up the phone and calling Martha Rich. Her husband Henry had a gun collection and when he died of cancer she had called me and asked me if I knew anyone who might like to buy his guns. I gave her a list of names and then forgot about it.

Martha was a fine looking woman and I had dated her in high school and we almost had something going until Henry transferred in from some other school and whisked her away. Henry had been gone a while and I wondered if Martha was about ready to dip her toes in the dating pond and I used Henry's gun collection to open a dialog. Yes, she still had a few of the guns so I arranged to go over to see her after work.

I took it as a good sign that she had fresh makeup on and was wearing high heels when she answered the door. She showed me what she still had left of Henry's collection. I was surprised to see that she still had his Colt model 1911A1 and I asked her what she wanted for it. She had browsed the Net for information when she decided to sell the collection so she knew what the pistol was worth and she surprised me by offering it to me for about twenty-five percent less than what it was worth. I told her that I would take it, but only if she would have dinner with me some night that week. She smiled and said:

"Pick a night Ralph. All of them are open."

"Friday work for you?"

"What time?"

"Six-thirty?"

"I'll be ready."

"Mexican and the Barnyard for some two stepping and line dancing?"

"Perfect."

I went home with a big smile on my face.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Thursday was uneventful at work. Amber had taken the day off and so I didn't have to ignore her while she avoided me. When I got off work I didn't feel like going home and cooking so I stopped at Bernie's Diner to get a bite to eat.

The first thing I saw when I walked in the door was Mary Beth waiting tables and I wondered when she started. The last I'd heard she was pushing drinks at Bud's Bar. I knew the layout at Bernie's and how things worked so when I saw where Mary Beth was I knew what section she was working and I headed for the other section. I could have just turned around, left and gone some place else, but why bother. It was a small town and as long as we both lived there we were bound to run into each other from time to time. Might as well get used to it.

As soon as I sat down Velma came out of the kitchen, saw me, smiled and came over to take my order. I nodded toward Mary Beth and asked:

"When did that happen?"

"This is her third day. Is it going to keep you from coming in?"

"Not as long as I can avoid whatever section she is working. Although it is a safe bet that I won't be coming in if I have a date with me."

"None of my business Ralph and I know it, but no chance of the two of you getting back together? You two were just so good together."

"I know we were and that's the hardest part of the breakup, but no, there isn't a chance."

She took my order, brought me a beer and then took my order into the kitchen. As I waited for my meal I read the sports section of The Times and kept the corner of my eye on Mary Beth. I wanted to be ready if she tried to do something, but outside of not taking her eyes off me when she wasn't taking care of customers she did nothing.

My meal came and I ate it and had a second beer with it. When I finished I dropped a twenty on the table to cover the tab and the tip and then I headed for the parking lot.

It was almost déjà vu. Some one was sitting on the tailgate. It wasn't Mike; it was Mary Beth. As I walked up she got off the tailgate and said:

"I'm tired of trying to talk to you on the phone. Maybe in person I can make you come to your senses. We love each other Ralph. Let me come home Ralph. I need you."

"What you need is to get it through your head is that we are a week away from being divorced. A divorce is the ending of a marriage. If I didn't want that ending I would never have started the divorce process. Get it through your head Mary Beth. We are through. Done. Over. Quits. Finished.

"Don't waste your time telling me how much you love me because it wasn't enough to keep you from letting Mike foul your body. And yes, I still love you and a part of me always will, but the sight of you and Mike rutting on those hay bales is burned into my memory and it won't go away. Every time I see you or hear your voice that memory comes back and I see it in my head as clear as day. To keep that visual out of my head I have to keep you away. If you really love me Mary Beth stay away from me. Stay away from me and let that picture die."

I got in my truck and drove home.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Around lunch time Amber came into y office and asked, "What time are you picking me up tonight?"

"Tonight? What's tonight?"

"The VFW dance. We always go."

"Well we won't be going tonight."

"We won't?"

"You have ignored and avoided me all week Amber. I assumed that it was your way of telling me that you no longer wanted anything to do with me so I made other plans for tonight."

She stood there looking at me for a few seconds and then she spun on her heels and left.

My date with Martha went well and I received a kiss on the cheek when I took her home. I asked her if she would like to go out with me again and she said that she would like to.

I drove home in a good mood and when I pulled into the drive I saw a car parked up next to the house. When I got closer (the drive to the house was 600 feet) I saw that the car was Amber's. She got out of the car and was standing there waiting for me when I got out of the truck and before I could say a word she said:

"Okay, so I avoided you. It was childish of me, but I was pissed. You were supposed to be mine and you were off screwing around with another woman. How did you think that was supposed to make me feel? I know it was my own fault because of my stance on waiting until your divorce was final, but it still sucked finding out that you were seeing someone else. Did your date tonight leave enough for me?"

"What."

"Did your date drain you or can you get it up for me?"

She saw the confused look on my face and said, "Never mind, I'll find out for myself."

She grabbed my hand and started leading me to the house as she said:

"When I get through with you this weekend you won't even want to look at another woman. You are mine Ralph. Get used to it!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Amber was right. When she was done with me that weekend I wasn't interested in any other ladies. From then on Amber and I were a couple.

The day after my divorce was final Amber moved in with me. My fears about the age difference dooming us before we could even start proved groundless and after living together for five months I put a ring on her finger.

When I called Alex, Melanie and Gloria to give them the news all three said that they wanted to be there for the ceremony. When I told them it was just going to be a simple civil ceremony they said I would still need witnesses and it might as well be them. I was worried about that since I didn't know how they would take a step-mom who was only a couple of years older than they were.

Again my fears were groundless. Gloria and Melanie arrived three days before the ceremony and Gloria immediately organized a 'girl's night out' for her, Amber and Melanie and when they came home they had bonded. The three might as well have been sisters.

Alex arrived the day before the wedding and after meeting Amber he told me privately that he was pissed at me.

"She's my ideal woman dad. You should have left her alone so I could have had a chance at her."

"Don't be silly Alexander. She is four years older than you are."

"And your point? Older women with younger men is quite common these days. In fact you should be ashamed of yourself for robbing the cradle. She is almost the same age as my sisters."

In short, my kids approved of my choice and six months to the day after my divorce was final I said "I do" for the second time in my life and eleven months later I became a father for the fourth time when Allen Franklin joined Amber and me. I'll be in my sixties when he graduates high school, but so what? They say that kids will keep you young at heart.

Epilog

Mary Beth went back to work as a nurse at County General and she met and eventually married a doctor. The marriage lasted less than two years. It seems that the good doctor didn't have any more use for a cheating slut than I did. Two divorced people working at the same place created a friction that the hospital administrators decided that they could not tolerate. Doctors have more clout than nurses so because of 'budget cuts' Mary Beth was let go. She landed a job at Centura Hospital over in Overton where she got involved with another doctor. Is the third time a charm? Too soon to tell.

Mike left town after Alice cleaned him put in their divorce and no one has heard from him since.

Alice dated for a couple of years and then she finally met a man she felt that she could settle down with. They seem happy together. Alice and I have kept up our friendship (without benefits of course) and she and Amber have become friends.

All in all the future turned out better for me than I could have possibly imagined that day I discovered Mary Beth and Mike in the barn.