Gone with the Wind

I just looked at her. "Dave..." she said in a very little girl type voice. "I don't really know how to use a chainsaw." I just started laughing.

"Oh, don't worry," I said. "I'll teach you...uhm?"

"Amanda," she smiled.

We got the saw out of the trunk and I gave her a pair of gloves and some safety glasses. I showed her how to set the choke and prime the saw. Then I show her how to start it and how to do a basic cut. She smiled and tried it herself. At first she had the choke in the wrong position so it wouldn't start. Then she couldn't really pull the cord because the hand she was supposed to brace the saw with kept moving. Finally the saw sputtered to life and as soon as she touched the trigger button and the chain started up she screamed and dropped the saw. Luckily it was on soft grass, so no damage was done. I laughed at her and she turned red in the face.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I brought you a girl's chainsaw." As we looked in the trunk and she saw the smaller chainsaw her eyes lit up.

"Where's the pull cord?" she asked.

"It's electric," I said. "And it's a lot quieter."

She punched me in the arm. "Why didn't you start with this one?" she asked.

The girls had disappeared in the twins' room and had taken Kyle with them. They were really too small to help and would only be in the way so we let them watch their cartoons.

I climbed up the tree tied a rope over the far end of the heavy branch that hung over her house. I looped it over another branch that was about five feet above it and then tied it off on another tree near the base. Then I did the same thing at the opposite end of the branch, near where we'd have to cut it.

When I got back to the ground another man was standing next to Amanda examining what I'd done.

"That's never going to work," he said. "That branch is going to fall and damage her house. You ought to leave things like that to the professionals."

"If it doesn't work, I'll either pay for the damages or fix it myself," I said. "Are you here to help? If you have a better idea, I'm listening." He just grumbled and walked off.

I looked at Amanda who shook her head. "He's been hitting on me for a while, but ever since I threw Steven out he acts like he just wants to move right in."

"So which saw are you taking up there with you?" I asked seriously.

"Daaa-aaave.." she whined. "I'm afraid of heights. Didn't you hear the girls yesterday? I do lunch. I'll help you, but I'm not getting up in that tree. My butt is kind of big but it's not big enough to cushion my fall from that high up." I let it slide. Amanda is the perfect girl next door type. She has medium sized boobs that aren't in Lisa's league but her legs and ass can stop traffic. Since she'd walked out of the house, I'd been wondering exactly how she got into those shorts.

"Okay," I said. "Here's how this works. The two ropes are looped over the good branch above the damaged one. They're both tied securely to the damaged branch using the upper branch as kind of a makeshift pulley. When I cut the damaged branch free the ropes will catch it. They're tied to the tree so you won't have to hold them. Once I get back on the ground, we'll slowly lower the branch and guide it to the ground. Then we'll cut it into small sections so you can either use it as firewood once it dries out or just throw it away."

"Firewood," she said smiling. "I think Robert is just jealous because he didn't have a plan. I'm sure it will work."

I climbed the tree hanging my saw hook a hook on my tool belt. I got onto a comfortable perch in the tree and started the saw. I cut a notch from the bottom of the branch and then got to a position that was slightly higher. I cut through the branch from the top. When I was part way through the branch started to fall but was still tied to the tree by the ropes so it couldn't fall. The far end dropped about six inches and then held fast because of the rope.

"Amanda, make sure you're clear," I shouted. She backed away a little bit but continued to watch. I also noticed that Robert was watching from his window. I cut through the rest of the branch and it dropped until the entire branch was held by the ropes. I climbed down and Amanda was clapping.

"I told you it would work," she said, smiling.

"We can't really say that until we get it safely on the ground," I said. "Do you have any neighbors?" I asked. "We might need more muscle than you and I can muster."

"Tina Barrett's husband is a firefighter," she said. "He's home and he'd help. I'll get him."

I checked on the kids and by the time I got back outside Amanda was there with a guy so big he looked like he could have just broken the branch off of the tree alone.

"Jason," he said extending his hand. "This is Tommy," he said pointing to another guy standing next to him. "What are we doing?"

As Amanda pointed to things while talking to a tiny woman who was obviously Tina, I explained things to Jason and Tommy.

"Why didn't the branch fall when you cut through it?" asked Jason.

"I'd tied it off before we cut it," I explained.

"That was pretty smart," said Jason, scratching his head.

"Yeah," said Tommy. "I thought that maybe he'd tied the ropes on, AFTER he cut it."

"Me too," said Jason. "That's the way I'd have done it."

"Guys, we don't exactly know how much the branch weighs," I said. "So, all three of us will hold onto the rope. I going to release about two feet of the rope and re-knot it so if we can't hold it it'll only drop about two feet."

The two burly guys just looked at me and then at each other and said, "Okay."

It turned out that the weight of the branch though heavy was manageable by any one of the three of us. So I grabbed one rope. Jason grabbed another and Tommy waited under the branch and guided it safely away from Amanda's flower bed.

Amanda was jumping up and down, she was so happy. Both Jason and Tommy grabbed my saws and started cutting the branch into smaller sections. I carried the pieces into Amanda's garage, where they could dry out.

Amanda and Tina busied themselves making lunch. The kids came out to get lunch and ran back to the TV. Just as the adults were about to sit down on Amanda's back porch, Robert re-appeared and he was angry.

"Is that hat you came here for?" he asked loudly. "..Just to start trouble? Because trust me, we don't need any troublemakers in this neighborhood."

"Robert, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"You purposefully excluded me and you know it," he shouted. "You could have come to me for help. I was right next door." I was speechless.

"Robert, he asked you point blank if you wanted to help," said Amanda. "When you told him that what we were doing wouldn't work, he even asked if you had a better idea. You just turned and went back into your house."

"I never said it wouldn't work," said Robert loudly. "I was the one who came up with it, Amanda, and you know it. Is that why your husband left you? Was he tired of you lying all of the time?"

Amanda's face clouded and she ran into the house.

"Robert, I think you should go back to your house," I said. "You should go home before you can't."

Jason and Tommy continued to eat. Tina got up to go after Amanda. When she came back in about ten minutes, she walked right up to me. "Your kids are adorable," she smiled. "I'm going to take my two, uhm...kids with me. Did they leave any food?"

"Maybe I should grab my kids and go too," I said.

"Why?" she asked. "Robert's the one causing trouble, not you. Besides, I think she wants to talk to you. I hope to see you again, Dave." And from the way she smiled at me, I could tell that she meant it.

I went inside the house to find Amanda sitting at her kitchen table. "No good deed goes unpunished huh?" she said. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Sorry I bailed," she said. "But that one really hurt. I guess this isn't something that someone like you could understand, but I take the failure of my marriage personally. Dave, Steve didn't leave me. I threw him out. He cheated on me for years and it got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. I just couldn't go..."

"Shhh," I said. "I understand far more than you think."

"He keeps telling me that he's changed and all he needs is one more chance," she said. "But I just don't believe him."

"You shouldn't," I said.

"What do you mean?" she asked. I pulled out my phone and showed her the video.

"When did..." she began.

"Yesterday," I said.

"And that woman is..." she said.

"My wife Lisa," I said sadly.

She shook her head and the expression on her face told me that she understood everything I was going through. We had in common the pain of the betrayal and the sense of wondering what we could have done to prevent our partners from cheating on us or what we'd done to cause it.

And in that same glance a bond was formed. The next thing I knew she was in my arms and sobbing. Hearing her, crying her eyes out and letting all of her pain out was somehow good for me too.

"So what are you going to do?" she asked.

"I have an appointment Monday with a lawyer who specializes in divorces," I said. Her eyes widened.

"Just like that?" she asked. "Isn't this only her first time?"

"How do I know?" I asked sharply. "I'm not an expert on cheating. I don't know what the frigging rules are. But what I am an expert on is how I felt the first time I saw that video. And how I felt when I looked through that storage shed and found her panties, right where she'd left them when she took them off to fuck your husband. And no one who really loves me would ever do anything to make me feel that way. So I'm doing what I'm doing for both of us."

"I didn't mean to make you angry," she said. "It's just that I've..." She looked down at her feet. "I've been through this several times and..."

"And you shouldn't have," I spat. "You're far too special and beautiful a woman to have to put up with this bullshit even once. I don't understand how you could take him back after that."

"Well...Our kids need him," she said sadly. "And, I always wait a while before I let him come home. I keep hoping that he'll miss us enough to change and that if he goes without us for a while he'll want to change to get his family back."

"Amanda, he isn't changing at all," I said. "Maybe he can't. Maybe they can't. Maybe it's just the kind of people they are. You saw that video. Did it look like he was regretting being away from you and your kids? Or is he just grabbing all the strange pussy he can while you guys are on a vacation. When he's had his fill he'll come dragging his ass back to you and be a good boy for a few months. Then it'll start all over again." She nodded and another tear rolled down her cheek.

"This is the first time I've caught Lisa in the act. And she doesn't know that she's been caught yet, but she's hinted around before about us trying other partners," I said. I told her about Lisa's two previous attempts at changing things.

"You turned that down?" she asked, incredulously. "I thought that having two women was every man's fantasy."

"Some of us just want one woman who loves us," I said. "If you have that you don't need anything else."

She nodded her head and for the first time since Robert left her smile came back out. Seeing her smile again was like the sun coming out after a storm. It just made everything better.

"I guess I should grab my kids and my chainsaws and head home," I said. "I'll be back next weekend to show you how to cut your grass, but you can call me during the week if you just need to talk. That is of course unless Steve comes homes or Robert moves in."

She punched me in the shoulder and shook her head. "Hey wait a minute," she said. "I do cut the grass."

"Well in this century, we have these things called trimmers," I said. "And there's one called an "edger" that you might not have heard about either."

"I think it's a scam," she said. "You're just making up tools that don't exist so you can come back over here."

I started to say something but before I got a single word out. "But it's okay," she smiled. "You go home and invent the trimmer and the edger and bring them over. It saves me some work."

"Oh, you're going to work," I said. "We're going to do the grass together."

"No, Silly," she smiled. "I meant that this way I don't have to make up a way to get you to come back."

"All you ever have to do is ask," I said.

* * * * * *

Lisa

I'd spent the morning and afternoon finding a way out of my problem. I didn't want to over play my hand so I didn't mention it when he first came in. I looked at Dave as he walked in with two armfuls of sleeping kids. As he awkwardly kicked the door closed behind him and headed up the stairs, I looked at him and realized again what a fool I was.

My husband was tall and boyishly handsome. He made a good living, so I didn't have to work. He was generous and honest. And most of all he loved me more than anything else I can think, except maybe our kids and that Mustang.

I don't know what had come over me for the past few years. Maybe it had been seeing myself as some sort of soccer mom and chauffeur, while my friends were out living their lives. The whole incident with the storm had brought back true memories of what my life had been like as a single slut.

I went out often and it's easy for women to bring a guy home. But most of those guys, just wanted to fuck me and steal from me. And after they'd done that they'd tell their friends what an easy lay I was. When I did meet a guy who wanted more than one night, there was always the problem of running into some other guy I'd had sex with. Or sometimes there was the problem of having to get rid of guys who thought they owned you because you fucked them one time.

The thing I remember the most though was the loneliness. That feeling that no one and I mean no one, not one person gave a half a damn about me. The guys I dated were only being fake nice to me because they wanted sex and even my girlfriends only wanted another person to go out and chase guys with.

Any and all of those bitches would have stabbed me in the back in a heartbeat for a chance at some guy I was dating that they wanted. Dave took me away from all of that. From the first second that I met him, I'd always felt all of that love just pouring off of him. And that started before we ever even had sex.

And sex seemed like such an insufficient word to describe what Dave and I did. It was warm and wonderful and magical. The problem was that sometimes I didn't want warmth and magic. Sometimes I just wanted him to grab me by my hair and ride me like a rented pony. But if I had to pick between wild sex and Dave, there was really no choice. I followed him up the stairs and watched him. He dropped Kyle off in his race car bed and then went down the hall to Wendy's room. He put her in her bed and then gently kissed her. Then he went back to Kyle's room and with his arms free, he rubbed his son's hair and kissed him too. He picked up a couple of Kyle's toy cars off of the floor and then came out of the room.

I reached up to hug him. My body reacted the same way it always did around him, but it was especially bad after seeing him with the kids. It had to be some type of genetic memory thing. Seeing how great a father he was, only made me want to make another baby with him.

Even as my arms snaked around his neck, the expression on his face changed. He turned and walked away. I wasn't giving up this time. I followed him.

"Dave, where are you going?" I asked him calmly.

"I need to wash my car," he said.

"Good idea," I said. "There's mud and bird shit all over that Jeep."

"Not that car," he smirked. "Jeeps are tough. They look good covered in mud and dirt. It adds uhm...Jeep cred."

"Didn't you wash the Mustang just before you left on your trip? I asked. And you only drove the car like three miles to the twins' house. It didn't rain. I'm assuming that like always you didn't drive through any water or mud so...?"

"Dust," he said interrupting me. "There's probably dust all over it."

"Okay, I'll give you dust," I said. I had to play my next part really well. "But it just seems like you're avoiding me. Why?"

We were in the kitchen and he'd almost reached the garage. He stopped and turned around to face me.

"Dave, you were gone for two days. Even after an over-night trip, when you get home you usually roast my pussy. Yesterday, I got it. We were both stressed out and you were in shock at the thought of losing me. But now...? I mean, the kids are asleep, I clearly want you...Hell, I always want you. But I'm stewing my own juices here and you just need to go out and wash your God damned car because there's dust on it...?"

"Dave, let me clue you in on something? There's dust everywhere. There's even dust in our garage," I said.

"So now you're an expert on dust?" he asked. "Did you learn that from Steve?" His eyes bored into mine looking for traces of a lie or a reaction. I'd practiced for this moment all afternoon. I'd also scoured several used bookstores to find exactly what I needed. My face remained neutral. And then I smiled.

"I love you Dave," I said. "But sometimes..." I grabbed his hand and dragged him up the stairs to our bedroom. I pointed to the nightstand on my side of the bed.

"What?" he asked.

I went over and picked up a dog-eared paperback that was open about mid-way through. The book appeared to have been casually thrown on the nightstand.

"Dave you bought me this book at the supermarket when we stocked up before you went out of town," I said, being purposefully vague. He looked me in confusion. I had in fact bought a book with him at the supermarket. Of course this wasn't that book, but to men all of those romance novels look alike. "Read the back of the cover."

He looked at me trying to figure out what the book had to do with anything. "I fell asleep reading the book last night. The woman in the book is looking for her lost love. A guy named Steve."

He looked a little skeptical but his face did soften. And this time as I moved towards him he didn't pull away. So that was something. I took his hand and pulled him over to our bed. I kicked my shoes off and lay down and pulled him down next to me. I recognized the look in his eyes. He was thinking. I wondered what the hell he had to think about. I rubbed my hand over his chest casually and looked him over. By now there should be a tent in the front of his shorts, but there wasn't. I'd started out by rubbing my hands over him and she should have joined in by now.

If he wanted to play hard to get, that was fine. I sat up and pulled my T-shirt over my head and dropped it to the floor. "Let's see him play hard to get now," I thought.

Dave reached for my breasts and rubbed across them half heartedly. That was when I knew that I was in trouble. Since long before I'd met Dave at twenty-two years old. Even before I'd started having sex at nineteen years old, I'd never met a man who could resist my titties. But right now the man who worshipped them, the man who owned them; had. I was in shock. I rubbed the front of his pants and there was no sign of an erection.

I wondered if he had any clue of just how badly I needed to have sex with him at that moment. First off I was a normal, healthy female in the prime of her life. Sexual release helped to keep me normal and healthy. But when you added to that the fact that I'd done something awful and I needed to unload at least some of the guilt I felt over it, my need multiplied. Right then I was feeling like there was something wrong between Dave and I, Sex would have told me that things were at least okay.

But there was something else going on too. Those guys had used me like a cheap whore. Not even one of them cared about me or whether I got off. Dave always made sure that I did. And there was more to it than that. I didn't like walking around feeling like I'd done some nasty, shitty thing. I wanted to feel loved and cared for. And finally, there was that bastard Steve. His comment about my pussy being too loose had hurt my feelings.