Fostering Love (The Soul Sisters Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Lick your lips Dolly.”  I did as he asked.  “So beautiful, lick me, gently just once on the tip.”  Again I did as he asked and he took a deep breath in.   I remember the salty tip, it didn’t feel or taste bad and I didn’t feel like it was something I shouldn’t be doing,
it
felt hard and
I
felt adventurous, brave and erotic.  He stepped away from me and sat down next to me.  He was still stroking himself, I was watching intently learning the movements and the rhythm he liked, the way he twisted it at the top of the swollen head and then clenched his fist on the down stroke.  When his breath hitched a little harder I slowly reached out, I wanted to touch him but was nervous he wouldn’t want the interruption; he looked content on his own.

“It’s Ok Dolly, you can touch me too.” So I wrapped my small hand around his fist and made the movements with him, after a few up and down strokes he removed his hand and encouraged me to carry on.  He leant forward a little more and started to kiss me, plunging his tongue deep into my mouth following the rhythm of my hand.  After a few more strokes he dropped his head back and with closed eyes, he licked his lips, I think he mumbled something like “grip harder” and “faster dolly” to me and then he came, spurting all over his stomach and my hand.  We both took a dip in the lake to clean off after and it felt like I had a permanent smile on my face.  I was a changed girl after.

My trip down memory lane over, I realized that even with access from Chris’s land I’d still struggle with the gear I need to get the best shot.  I made a note to call Tommy Sevens; I’d used him as an assistant in the past, he was super helpful, easy on the eye and would be paid by my employers for his trouble.  Just then my cell starts to ring and its Oli returning my call.  “Oli, how are you?” I ask and he replies with the usual pleasantries.

“Wally told me you’re looking for a photographer to work on a new tourist brochure.”  He replies with yes, he’s got some ideas, but would love for me to work on it with him and suggests we meet up for a kick off chat at his office.  He currently uses one of the rooms at the legal office in town so I agree and we schedule a time for a little later.  This gives me some time to kill and my kitchen cupboards silently nag that they need filling.   Grocery shopping it is then and looking at the time available to me it will be a supermarket dash worthy of an Olympic record. 

I go with my usual supermarket M.O. of run and dump stuff in the cart knowing that it will have a hit and miss success rate that usually all comes good by the time I get to the check out.  After replenishing the stuff the girls and I got through, as well as more mundane things like vegetables, fridge stuff, milk and bread I round the corner in to the toiletries aisle and spy Tits Brunel.  I quickly wonder whether I can double back without her seeing me and avoid bumping into her later on in another aisle.  Unfortunately she’s sneering because she’s already spotted me, so I take a deep breath and suck in my stomach, clear my facial expression and carry on.  My game plan is to ignore her; pretend she doesn’t exist.  I also acknowledge that if she chooses to push my buttons it’s game on.

I carry on grabbing stuff, toilet tissue, shower gel, tampons and as I get closer I see she’s moved towards the condoms and is doing an Oscar worthy performance over the selection.

“Hhhm, real feel or ribbed?  The mutual climax variety worked a treat last time,” she says as she fakes thought.  So that’s how it’s going to be.

“Hhhm, no, the ones you need are definitely not stocked here,” I reply.  She knew I wouldn’t leave
that
comment alone.

“And which ones would they be?”  I love that she’s predictable and can’t resist asking.

“Well, the trash bag variety for going over your head are located in the household aisle.  Or, the surgical thickness variety which you should probably use are not available here, I think you need to get them from hardware store, once you’re in there, head for the pest control and infection section.”  She spins round to face me.

“You fucking what?” She looks angry and she also can’t believe I’ve said any of that and said it calmly straight to her face.

“Any variety has to be better than what you currently need, which is none you dried up little bitch.”

“Aaah, defensive Letitia comes out when she hears the truth.  I’ve heard guys generally go for less used females, as opposed to well travelled and already broke in tramps with cunts like buckets.  I get it now, are you trying to get an award for Hawkstown’s best know tourist attraction?”  Shit where did that come from? And did I really use the C word?

“How dare you, you can’t speak to me like that you little bitch.”

At this point a small audience is gathering and people are pretending to intently read toothpaste tubes and shaving foam cans.  I knew we weren’t having a pleasant conversation, but I thought I had the volume under control, obviously not.  I may as well see it through now, because I may never get another chance to say these words.  I may also regret them too if she is a permanent fixture in Jonas’s life.

“Look, Letitia,” saying her full name for a second time does not make it easier, but I push it past my lips, whilst holding back a sneer and continue. “You don’t like me and I can’t stand you, you treated me like shit all through high school for no apparent reason.  We’re not in high school anymore some of us actually graduated from there and moved on in the world.  So you stay out of my way and I’ll give you a real wide berth, it won’t be hard, it will be my pleasure and with a bit of luck I won’t meet you in the supermarket again, looking at condoms, which forces images into my brain which I can’t un-see unless I go back a couple of aisles and get some fucking bleach.”  She doesn’t like this side of me because she’s never seen it before.  I never answered her back in high school, she was a mean girl but sneaky about it because she worshipped Jonas and falling out with his sister could have forced him to choose.  I also wanted to keep the peace, I wanted house harmony and I was a good girl. 

“Poor little orphan Dalton, still wandering round like a lost puppy.  The Griggs have been taking in strays for years, they were scraping the barrel when they found you, just another one to add to the freaks and weirdo list.  It was a nice change when Jonas turned up, their luck had to change sooner or later.” No way am I listening to her disrespect Barbara and Harrison.

Oh, the fucking gloves are coming off now.

“Don’t go there.   DO. NOT. GO. THERE.” I grit my teeth and say the words through them, whilst leaning forward into her with a menacing glare.

“Did you get all cozy with Jack and Jake under the one roof? Teach those twins a thing or two?”

“Seriously, shut the fuck up.”  I pray she notices my fury soon, I don’t like what I’m feeling, but my grasp on its control is becoming untenable.

“A little Twins/Dalton spit roast after a game of spin the family bottle, and doctors and nurses maybe or just the classic of you show me yours and I’ll let you have a good feel of mine?”

I’ve reached the limit of what I’m prepared to listen to so I launch myself at her, she’s not as tall as me even though she’s wearing ridiculous stripper looking shoes, it comes as a surprise to her when condoms are flying everywhere because I’ve pushed her into the shelving.  When she drags herself upright I slap her so hard her head spins, exorcist style, this time she ends up on the floor and she is literally sitting on hundreds of boxes of condoms.  I bring my hand back and bend down for another go but my hand is clasped in mid air.  Tits is still on the floor holding her face, and the audience are silent, somewhere in the background I can hear a frantic speaker announcement asking for a manager to urgently haul ass to our aisle.

I feel myself being pulled against a large frame and am nervous that Jonas has just witnessed this bitchy ugly scene, taking in the hand wrapped around my middle I feel relief when I see it is really sun tanned.  “Ssshhh Dalton,” I’m breathing heavy almost heaving and my face feels wet.  I’m crying, when did that happen? 

I recognize the voice, it belongs to Chris.

“Come on Dolly, let me get you out of here,” he says quietly.

“I can’t, I’m meeting Oli at his office,” I try to say between sobs.

“It’s OK.  We’ll sort that out, delay it for a bit and get you straight first.  Come on.”  He’s talking to me like he’s trying to reason with a crazy person. Yep. That would be me right now; I’m feeling all shades of crazy.

I nod and go with him and as I get in the car, he is calling someone who I assume is Oli on his cell.  He tells Oli that something has come up and I’ll be along when I can.  I’m really too stunned to argue.  I know I’ve got a temper, but I’ve never lashed out like that.

I’d like to say I feel sorry for what I’ve done, but I don’t.  Defending my family, my loved ones, is the only thing to do and Harrison would secretly be proud, but I think Barbara would be sad that I let myself get so affected by someone else’s words.

  The only other thing that makes it way to the front of my brain and I can’t get out of my head is that anything between Jonas and I would have been seen like she’d just described, wrong.  People would talk about it like its dirty and I can’t believe in all this time I never figured that out and realized it for myself.  Maybe she’s not as dumb as she looks or maybe your brain really does block out things it doesn’t want to acknowledge or deal with.  Holy crap, for years I’ve been lusting after someone and never seen how inappropriate it was, more importantly that it could have ripped our family apart.  Where the fuck has my head been?

After a bit of a drive I begin to realize that we’re heading for Chris’s ranch, it’s located on the far edge of our town, around 15 miles away from the main high street and it’s in a beautiful part of the county which is dedicated to our rural and agricultural community.

I don’t want to go there. 

I can’t bump into Jonas whilst I’m this undone.  I know he lives on a different part of the property and the hunting cabin is set back but I don’t know whether they see each other during the day or live completely separate lives.

“Errrr, honestly Chris, I’m feeling better now and more together, we can just head back now so I can get my car.”

“No worries, Dolly, just a quick coffee at mine first, we’re nearly there now.”

He doesn’t look at me when he replies he knows I hate being babied or pitied.  I’ve always been fiercely independent. When we were together I shared some of the things I went through before I came to live with Barbara and Harrison, so Chris knows I am used to making sure I’m OK myself.  He knows it helps me get to grips with whatever issue I’m having quicker.

We pull up outside his ranch.  It’s extensive and the building and grounds are a blend of old and new.  It’s obvious if you really look where the old house used to start and end. Over the years, Chris and his family have built on it, added to it and modernized it so it’s more suitable for modern day living and family life.  The outside is a mixture of traditional wood cladding and brick, its facade looks tough but homely.  It now has an additional floor but didn’t always and one of the best features is that it has plenty of windows all over the property. 

The views all around are amazing and the way it takes in the surrounding ranch land means the whole place comes across as the home of someone who wants to survey all the land they can see, they’re proud of it and want to remind themselves of it every day, remind themselves why they work so hard to keep it growing and thriving.  It has views you wouldn’t tire of, but feel blessed every time you see each new winter, each new fall and the other seasons of the year.

From the back windows you get a view of the undulating fields on the ranch land, with an added glimpse of some of the cattle occupying the land, as well as some cattle sheds further in the distance.  Beyond those sheds are uninterrupted hills and mountains. 

To the left side of the house you can see and access the working side of the ranch, the barns, the horse stalls and machinery.  I imagine that most of the day you’ll be able to sit in the kitchen and view the workers working and keeping busy to make the ranch a success.  Chris and his family have always considered the workforce as part of their extended family, the Hales are good people and just as the Hales have worked the land for generations so have some of the ranch hands; it really is a large family unit.  I imagine that many of the females in Chris’s family over the years have baked cakes and bread and made refreshments for the men they’d been watching come and go all day long. 

To the right side of the house you get to appreciate the family side of ranch living.  A large back yard which is more like a small field contains a huge old tree and in it hangs a couple of swings that are used by both adults and children.  There is a large decked area with outside furniture and a BBQ grill where Chris cooks most of his meals in the summer.  He returns home after a long day on the ranch, uses the outdoor shower which is heated, throws some steaks on the grill and kicks back with a bottle of beer.  The newest addition to this area is a massive hot tub.  It is situated in the corner of the decking and is accessible by a huge sliding door from the living room.  Its position and location is also in eye line of the ma-hoo-sive flat screen television on the living room wall, this means he gets to relax and watch a football game at the same time surrounded by views and muscle relaxing spa bubbles.  I also imagine this accessory is a big hit with the many girls he entertains.