It's All About Faith Pt. 09

"That's what Layla said, but we wanted to check."

"So have you picked out something to buy?"

"We have, one of the townhouses."

Buck straightened up and Wendy knew what he was thinking. "Well, we have something of a tradition here for new owners. Sara, do you like to shop for clothes?"

"Sometimes I do, yes."

"Then come with us, because you're about to have a very unique treat compliments of Mitch and Layla." The three of them led the couple to Alice's and they went in and started their dog and pony show.

As soon as Buck's arms were full of merchandise, Sara stopped and asked, "So I'm going to get all of those free if they fit me."

"That's right." When Sara found out about the dressing area, her cheeks flashed pink but she didn't waver too long. By the time Layla appeared, Buck was sitting on the couch next to Ray and Sara was naked as she studied garments that Wendy was handing her. Layla was none too pleased to be left out, but she stuck a smile on her face and played along.

With Sara's selections in bags, they went back to the tables to talk and Wendy went up to get iced tea for all of them. Brenda came back from her tractor ride and came out helping Wendy with the drinks. Now Buck had to sit there and pretend he and Layla hadn't fought, but that didn't stop him from making good eye contact with Sara and Brenda. He was just mad enough that he didn't care that much if Layla saw him either.

Sara moved closer to Buck and asked him, "So why is it you don't have a place here?"

"I'm too busy to get here enough to make it worthwhile. Besides, my wife and I usually stay with Layla and Mitch anyway." "It's too bad that you're that busy."

"Well, I'm self employed so if I screw around...sorry wrong words. If I don't get the job done, I'm the one that starves. So how did you find out about this sweet place?"

"A lady named Ethel."

"Oh, sweet Ethel."

"So you do know her."

"Very well in fact and her ex husband Darren."

"You really do know them. I'll be sure to tell her I've met you."

"Be sure to tell her that I behaved myself too."

Sara laughed and said, "I will tell her that."

With the tea mostly gone, Ray and Sara talked to Layla for a minute and then left which created an awkward silence for a minute. Then Layla, ignoring Buck said, "I made sure that Theo and Rae got together and when I left they were sipping beers and talking in her living room."

Wendy pretended she didn't know about the fight and said, "I'm glad and I don't know why that didn't happen sooner, except for the fact that they are each dysfunctional in their own way."

Carly didn't really care if it upset Layla so she looked right at her and said, "I think most if not all of us are dysfunctional in our own way, and more so sometimes than others." At least Layla didn't blow up.

Buck stood up and said, "Well, I've been here almost twenty four hours and I'm still dressed, but enough is enough," and he stripped naked and tossed his clothes off to the side and sat back down. There were trickles of conversation and slowly things settled down, but Buck couldn't forget that Mitch had offered that job to Anita and just as bad, she was considering it. Layla had to be told even though she was most likely still mad at him for some reason.

He stood up then and said, "Layla, I got a call awhile ago that you need to know about."

"What is it?"

"Not here," and he picked up his clothes and walked toward the apartment without out looking back. He stopped at the top of the stairs and held the door for her and then followed her in closing the door behind him. She turned on him like she was going to lash out, but she stopped and waited for him to say something. "Layla, Anita called earlier while you were with Sara and Ray. She called twice in fact. The first call is the one that involves you the most. Maybe we better sit down."

"No. I'm okay so just say it."

"Okay. Mitch asked Anita to work for him full time."

"What? In what capacity?"

"In my own words now because I'm still not sure, to come up here a lot, or more accurately to stay up here a lot, and help with sales." "That's not a full time job."

"Well, you can see that and I can see that, so at least we're together that far."

"What did Anita say?"

"She said she was thinking about it."

"What? She wouldn't."

"She asked me what I thought and that's when she and I got into it. Layla, I'm just as pissed at Mitch as I am at Anita and maybe even more so. Carly was here so she heard a lot of this."

"She could have left."

"And come out there so you could offend her again? I wouldn't have if I'd been her. Let's look at a few details here: Question. Why hasn't Wendy been helping with the sales? She's been here the whole time. Instead he's having us drive for four hours to get here and sell the real estate, while Wendy lives in a luxury apartment for free. Why would he want Anita up here for days with little or nothing to do? The questions go on and on, but that gives you an idea where my thoughts are."

He wanted to add that he still had no idea what had set her off, but he left that alone for the time being. The next thing he needed to do was see if Carly would give him a ride home so he could leave his there for Layla. He had no desire to stay there now.

After several seconds of silence she asked him, "What about the second call?"

"She found out that Carly and Brenda are here and she blew her cork over that."

"Why? What does she think will happen, that you'll run off with one or both of them?"

"You're mad at me. Mitch tried to screw me and Anita is pissed at me and you're asking me how she thinks? I don't know how any of you are thinking and in fact I'm going to go see if Carly will give me a lift home tonight. You can bring my car back when you get home."

She reacted like he'd slapped her face. She blinked and stared at him as he walked toward the door and then she said, "No Buck...please don't do that."

"Layla, this whole thing is turning out to be a very bad idea."

"Please...just wait. I'm going to call Mitch now, but please wait until I'm done okay? Please?"

"I'll be down there then," and he walked out, gently closed the door and went back to the only two people that were treating him like a human being.

Chapter One Hundred Forty Six

Carly, Wendy and Brenda were still at the table and Carly told them what she knew about the fighting, which wasn't a whole lot, and that she would probably head home no later than six or seven o'clock.

Buck joined them and kissed Carly before he sat down. "I'm holding you hostage for awhile. I told Layla that I was going to catch a ride with you back to civilization and she asked me to wait until she had talked to Mitch."

"Well, at least she talked to you."

"I didn't learn much of anything, but yes she did talk to me."

Brenda told him, "Buck, I told you this once before but I'll say it again. Living here is hard. Visiting here for very long is hard. That's why I left remember? Wendy, Jim and Delia are some of the very few that I know, that can live in this environment full time and thrive. Maybe even Rae, I don't know, but for you and Layla and Mitch and Anita? All of you love it here and I can understand why. But all of you are suffering from it right now. It's simply matter of too much of a good thing. If Anita is up here without you that still affects you at home, so this place continues to take its toll on you. It would be better if none of you were up here without your spouses actually. You're thinking about making love to Carly and Wendy and me...or at least I hope you are. That's good, but you can bet that Anita is thinking about that too."

"But she and Mitch are likely doing the same thing."

"Probably so and sometimes that's okay for all of you. The four of you need to learn how to decide when and how often without causing these rifts and emotional disasters."

"You learned all of this from living here?"

"I watched a quite a few people come and go because of the emotional stresses. It cost me my marriage too you know."

"No, I didn't know that and I'm sorry."

"That's old news to me now, but thank you."

It wasn't that much later when Layla rejoined them and dropped into a chair. They all just looked at her waiting to hear something good or bad.

Layla looked down like something was crawling on her leg and then said, "Well, I've learned this much. Anita and Mitch had a fight. What about I don't know, but they are barely talking to each other, partly about the job thing but something else too." She looked at Buck then and said, "I'll let Anita tell you about that one. I also told him to retract the job offer or he'd better look for an apartment to live in so that was settled. Then we got into it about the whole thing about him buying all of this property and that still isn't resolved. But at least he said that the loan is paid off so we're back to even money. Isn't that a laugh? All the grief and work and we're breaking even right now. Granted we still own some properties and the commercial buildings and the ten acres, but big damn deal. What good is all of that to us? I've been mad at him every since he bought all of this anyway, but I do have to admit he's doing better than I ever guessed he would have. I also told him this is the last time any of us would be up here to help him with appointments. Wendy, he's going to be talking to you about taking the clients through and so forth."

"It's about time."

"That's pretty much what I said too. He has some other things to talk to you about, but he'll be up here to see you in a few days." Layla took a deep breath and said, "I know it isn't even quite dark yet but I'm going up and just hide and try to fall asleep."

Carly watched her go and then she asked Buck, "So what was her tantrum all about then?"

"My best guess is stress. I wasn't aware that she was so against him buying all of this and that part about him cutting them so close financially. Plus of course the stress that Brenda was just talking about.

"I'm still trying to figure out why she invited me to join you two."

"She likes you Carly. Riding down the road she was relaxed and we were like a loving couple. Now the next part is partly guess work on my part, but they aren't wild guesses. Once we were here things started to chew on her. She chose to stay dressed which was fine, but that wasn't like her to do that. Carly, I'm sure she knew there was a very good chance that you and I would make love at some point, but she felt she could deal with that. Until of course she started to unravel. Then Brenda came into the picture and she knows that Brenda and I have a...well, a close friendship. I think she can see the real me about as well as anybody." Then he smiled and said, "Of course that thought can be a little unsettling too. I guess once she started to crumble, she just fell apart, but in the end I think she will be okay. Carly, please stay. Give her time to apologize to you okay?"

Carly smiled and said, "Okay, but if she acts up in the morning I'm out of here."

"If she acts up too much in the morning I'll go with you and let Mitch deal with her."

"Do you still love her?"

"Of course I do, and I don't mean that I'm abandoning her, but if she can't get it together, she needs a wake up call. She and Mitch need to have it out so the healing can begin." Then he looked over at Brenda and asked her, "Got anything to add pretty one?"

She smiled and said, "No. Like you said, maybe once you two are home maybe the healing can begin. As unpleasant as it sounds, my analogy is all of you were developing a mutual emotional boil. Now that it's been lanced it will heal."

"An unpleasant visual that's for sure, but that's about how I see it, so where did everybody else disappear to?"

"I think we were left out of a small party."

"Good."

Brenda stood up and said, "Well, I'm going to do what Layla did. See you two in the morning."

Buck stood up and kissed her and said, "When I saw you come down the stairs with Wendy, this isn't how I hoped things would go."

She smiled and said, "I had hopes for more too, maybe next time hon."

"I can only hope. In the meantime we'll stay in close touch okay?"

"We can do at least that much, night lover."

Carly went over next to Buck and slipping her arm around his waist said, "We better go up too."

"Carly..."

"I know Buck. For now we better just take it hour by hour."

"Thanks for sticking with us."

"I've been through worse and you know it." It was past midnight when Buck sat up in bed and looked at Layla. Her hair was a mess from being restless before she fell asleep, and he wished he could just touch her or kiss her to make her worries disappear, but life just wasn't that simple. He knew, because he had lain there and done his share of tossing and turning as well. He got up and went out for a glass of water and looked outside. The moonlight was scant, but he could make out the tables and the end of the square just off to his right, and the gray outlines of the small trees in the square. In his mind he saw bits and pieces of memories of walking the square, talking to and being close to different people. He remembered taking part in walking the new residents to Alice's and them getting them naked in public for the first time. The more he looked the more he remembered. He couldn't just go back to bed and expect to fall asleep, so he went to the door and walked down the steps and stopped again. The air was too cool to just stand there for very long, but in a way it felt good to him. He walked down to the right toward the end of the square and then made his way back. Then Carly stepped out of the shadows.

"You okay, Buck," and she walked over to him.

They leaned into each other and his arm went around her waist as she did the same with him and he said, "Yeah, I'm okay. Why are you out here naked in the cold at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same question, but I probably know the answer. I heard you stir and then go to the kitchen. Then I heard the door open and close so I watched you for a minute through the window and the came out to check on you. Let's walk again like we did the last time."

As they stepped off he smiled and said, "I was just thinking about that night before you appeared."

"That memory has come to me a number of times since then. You're in kind of a mess right now aren't you."

"Kind of. It's like fate just keeps picking at the threads of our lives. No one thread that is pulled does much harm or changes things very much. But sooner or later holes begin to appear and you get little peeks of what's underneath. But I also know that with you here right now, I realize that with special people like you in my life things will work out okay in the end. Not without more hurt and a lot of work, but in the end it will be okay."

"What about Anita and Mitch? Can you get past all of that?"

"None of that is about jealousy so I believe I can." They walked a little farther in silence and then he pulled her closer as they walked and he kissed the top of her head as she kissed the side of his chest. They stopped and shared the gentlest of kisses and then walked around the end of the square and headed back.

"Buck, I was just thinking about something..."

"I hope it's the same thing I was thinking."

"It's cooler out than the last time."

"I don't mind."

"Why don't you get us one of those mats."

Once again they made love on the cold vinyl covered mat, but the mat didn't stay cold for long. They had both climaxed but they were still joined and as he lay on her he said, "Carly I..."

"Don't tell me you love me because we both know that isn't true."

"I love you as a very good friend. I love you as a lover too, but what I was going to say was don't be surprised if I turn to you for advice in the coming weeks and months."

"Brenda is the one to go to for advice. She is one smart lady."

"She is and I'm sure I will be talking to her. Maybe with you it would be better if I said, it will be more a matter of solace and comfort. Don't be surprised to see me at your door some day or evening."

"I hope you will, Buck." Then they kissed and though they didn't quite make it they tried for second orgasms before getting up and dragging the mat back to its resting place. The short walk back to the apartment was made holding hands and talking like best friends talk sometimes. Once inside, they kissed one more time and Buck carefully went to bed and fell asleep. Carly slipped into her own bed and only had minutes to replay what she and Buck had just shared. Not sex. Not simply seeing to their carnal needs. They shared emotions, very personal thoughts and wishes and their friendship like so few friends can ever seem to allow.

Chapter One Hundred Forty Seven

Not surprisingly, Layla was up first and was out on the stretch of former parking spaces. What they now referred to as the patio with its three tables and umbrellas and twelve chairs. She thought about the two appointments that were scheduled for eleven and one o'clock. She thought about Buck and Mitch and Anita and she thought about all they had been through and shared since their first visits to Discovery. Even that name now caused her to pause. How could those few days that first time have changed them so much and continued to influence the way she thought and how she saw simple everyday life? How could she love Buck so very much and not just when they were making love or teasing each other? Why did she lash out at him after Brenda came into the picture, when Kali was the one she worried about? Brenda was a friend and she knew that the two of them had made love before and probably would again.

Carly got up and looked at Buck sleeping on his side and smiled as she remembered their nocturnal liaison just hours earlier. No, she didn't love him but he would never be far from her thoughts either. They bonded like twins and made love with abandon. She poured a cup of coffee and after seeing Layla outside, she took a breath and went down to join her. "Is it safe for me to approach," She asked.

Layla showed a guilty smile and said, "Yes it's safe." She waited until Carly was seated and then said, "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"What brought that on? Are you afraid of me trying to steal Buck?"

"Sometimes, because I know you two seem to get closer all the time, but that wasn't it. I just have so much on my mind right now and I'm not doing a very good job of handling it."

"Anything you can talk about?"

"Not really. I just have to deal with it and quit trying to pretend it doesn't exist, but this isn't the place or time for that. I guess what sent me sliding down hill was when Brenda appeared yesterday morning."

"So it's Brenda that is bugging you."

Layla was looking down at the glass table top and drawing imaginary lines on the glass until she looked at Carly and said, "Let's just say she has quite a sexual aura and she makes me nervous."

"I don't know if you'll believe me, but I can tell you a few things about them, or rather their relationship."

"I'd like to hear what you have to say."

"Some of this is conjecture based on what I've seen and heard and a lot of what I've witnessed. They met and were instant friends. That was it. No awkward preamble, just hi I'm so and so and they were friends. Then they were thrown together when they went through that mess with Kali. I won't bother you with those details other than they ended up sleeping together in the guest room and their friendship grew very rapidly. More of that damn Discovery magic or curse depending on your viewpoint. Now to where they are now. I'll use the analogy of her being his sister. Maybe older sister I guess. Brenda is so damn smart and intuitive. She comes off as this woman that simply loves sex and good times and I think that is true. But she's much deeper than that and she lets that part of her pop out every so often. It's like there are two sides of her and she can change back and forth like flipping a coin. Does she like being with Buck? I have to admit she does and I'm sure they make good music together. Enough so that sometimes even I feel jealousy when she's around. But don't let her dominate your thoughts Layla. I wouldn't suggest you put the two of them in a bedroom and lock the door, but try and see her as a friend with an impetuous tendency."