Life after the Lottery Ch. 40

"May I help?" I asked as she turned to look at me.

"I've got it James," she said as she looked at me and smiled.

Keith was jumping up and down on one foot trying to get his leg out of his pants while I watched his wife remove her top. I wasn't surprised that Elizabeth had on a simple white bra. I was sure when she removed her shorts she would have the matching panties.

Elizabeth handed me her top and reached down and unbuttoned her shorts and let them fall to the ground, I was right. She slipped her shoes off one at a time, using the other foot then pushed her white panties down with her thumbs. Keith had finished hopping around and had his clothes off.

"Here," Elizabeth said as she stood and handed me her panties then removed her bra. Elizabeth was fair skinned and her body looked incredible.

"Come on in," I said and took Elizabeth's hand and led her into the house.

"Hi Elizabeth," Sam said as she took her clothes from me and then took Keith's clothes.

"Let me get you a drink," I said.

+++++

By noon, everyone was there and we were all standing around laughing and talking. Nancy and the twins had loaded all the food up and taken it down to the tent and set it up. Chris and Jill came up to me.

"So when does then fun start?" Jill asked.

"It has already started, but the real fun probably will start after lunch I guess."

Jill gave me a kiss and the three of us talked for a few minutes. I felt someone grab my arm, it was Nancy.

"We are ready for lunch, I am heading back down."

"Good. You go on down, everyone will be down in a few minutes."

I walked over and stepped up a few of the stairs and got everyone's attention.

"It's good to see everyone, and I mean see! As you may have discovered you don't get your clothes back until you leave Monday, Samantha will make sure of it. Let me tell you what I have planned. Lunch is ready down at the lake, when we leave the house, we will be spending the rest of the weekend at our campsite. You may come up to the house to use the bathrooms and get drinks but the rest of the time, you will be in the camp. You will see when you get there that there are plenty of tents for everyone to sleep in, almost. We are a few tents short so you will have to share."

Everyone laughed and clapped.

"We will get the four-wheelers out and they will be available to ride around the property so you can explore if you want. The two Jet Skis are in the lake but don't try to go flying around too fast. Nancy is supplying all the food and taking care of the drinks this weekend, you all need to thank her for participating."

"We will!" I heard someone say.

"It is going to be a hot weekend, temperature wise also. Make sure you stay hydrated and take it easy on the alcohol while out in the heat. We have plenty of sunscreen available so make sure you don't get sunburned. The main tent is big enough for everyone to hang out in if the sun gets too hot. If you want to go swimming you may come up to the pool or swim in the lake. We have plenty of towels and blankets up here and down at the tent to spread out on. There will be fireworks Sunday night, the rest of the weekend is free do whatever you want!"

"Very good!"

"Now, before we all leave, I have some group business to discuss. Everyone has met Jill and Mike, treat them like family."

"We will!" Someone yelled.

"I need to talk to everyone seriously for minute. You know we don't add people to our group often. Recently, Amy and Samantha joined us for the New Year's party and I want to thank all of you for accepting them and treating them like friends and family. I have an announcement to make about the two of them. Samantha will be living here now with her sister. She will be transferring to the university this fall to complete her education. Amy is returning to graduate school this fall to get her Master's Degree in Nursing Science. So when you come over, or we come to your parties, Sam and Amy will be with us."

Everyone started cheering and clapping.

"Hold on. We have one other person going back to school this fall. Dawn will be starting this fall to earn her Doctorate of Nursing, so in a few years you all will be calling her Doctor Dawn."

"All right Dawn!" Karen yelled.

"Dawn will also be heading up the new advanced graduate and post-graduate program for the nurses at the university. She will be setting up a program that will teach future nurses all the advanced skills she has and more. Soon, she will be the Dean of the advanced nursing program at the university."

"Way to go Dawn!!"

"So, I will have three busy women in school, I hope some of you other ladies drop by occasionally so I can have some sex!"

"We will!!" Several ladies yelled.

"James!" Dawn yelled.

"I will make sure I do that," Katrina said as she looked up at me.

"I have one more matter to talk about. John and I have approved a new member to our group. I need to tell you about her. Besides Joe and Katrina, do any of you know Linda Williams?"

I heard a couple of 'oh my gods'.

"I know who she is," Chris said. "Is she going to join our group, I heard she got divorced."

"She got divorced about a year ago from a serious asshole husband."

"Amen," Katrina said.

"From what I just heard, I take it a few of you know who she is."

"Are you talking about 'the' Linda Williams?" David asked.

"Yes."

"My god," came from David.

"James, you better explain who she is, I don't know her," Karen said.

"Linda is about 30, very tall and very lovely. She is also one of the wealthiest women in the country. As I said, she just got out of a bad marriage and is looking for some friends she can be with and trust. Joe and Katrina have known her a long time. Dawn and I met her before we went to Hawaii and have grown to know her very well. We met her by accident before going to Hawaii when the girls were shopping for bathing suits. When she found out who Dawn and I were, she knew a little about our New Year's Eve party."

"How?!" Several people shouted.

"Katrina, would you come up here please."

Katrina turned pale and looked up at me. I waited for her. She finally walked up and stood next to me.

"Katrina, would you like to explain to everyone how Linda knew about our party?"

"It is my fault. Linda has been a friend of mine for a long time. When Joe was handling her divorce, we got back together after a long time. I told her a little about New Year's."

There was some grumbling in the group.

"Katrina, you know better," Elizabeth said.

"I'm sorry, she was so sad, I was trying to cheer her up."

"John and I have discussed what Katrina did and Dawn and I have talked to her about it and the trouble she could have caused. Everyone knows the penalty for talking to outsiders. John has left the decision up to me."

"James...," Katrina said looking at me.

"I have decided to let all of you decide if she and Joe have to leave."

"James, please no...," Katrina begged.

"The floor is open to discussion," I said.

Chris raised his hand.

"Yes Chris."

"Katrina and Joe, the two of you know the rules. While all of us enjoy your company, you broke the rules. You risked someone outside the group telling other people. All of us know the risk our group involves, especially now. You know what all of us have to lose if we were exposed to the public. Many of us would lose our jobs and maybe our businesses. For those that have children, you put them at an even greater risk. You need to explain your actions." Chris stated.

Katrina was starting to cry, I gave her a minute. Joe walked up next to her.

"Everyone, Katrina knows that she shouldn't have said anything to Linda, but you have to understand who Linda is. Katrina knew Linda could never say anything about what she told her. She is a dear friend from back in college and she was just trying to make her happy and cheer her up some. We know we should not have said anything, but we knew Linda would never have said anything. We broke the rules. We don't want to leave, but we understand if that is the way you all feel," Joe said.

Katrina was crying more now.

"Katrina, you still took a huge risk," Chris said.

Lisa raised her hand.

"Yes Lisa."

"I know that Michael and I are here because Michael is the attorney for several of you, but Katrina, I teach school and I teach school because I want too. If I was found out, I would lose my teaching license and Michael would lose many of his clients. You know better!"

"I'm sorry!" Katrina pleaded.

Keith raised his hand.

"Yes Keith?"

"I do not wish to speak for everyone, but the rules say if you talk, you are out..."

"Yes," grumbled from a few.

"But, I have another concern," Keith said.

"What is that Keith?"

"The things that go on with all of us now are different. Things have changed, a lot. ("Yes they have." came up.) I am just starting my practice as a doctor, with a lot of John's help. I now have to wonder if we have all gone too far. Have we opened ourselves up to a completely new set of potential problems now?"

"Keith, what do you think?" I asked.

"Well, we have all known each other a long time, we all know each other very well, even more now. There have been people that left our group on their own for various reasons, but it was because they felt like it was time. What is our potential exposure if we kick someone out?"

"Keith, are you afraid if we kick Joe and Katrina out, they will tell everyone just because they got kicked out?" I asked.

"Well...yes, I guess."

There was a lot of mumbling, too much. I let everyone mumble for a minute.

"Okay everyone, hang on!" I said. "Keith has a point."

"James, please..." John said and walked up the stairs.

"Everyone settle down," John said. "I guess we have all crossed that boundary haven't we? For years, there has been a lot of fooling around at parties and sex in other rooms that I guess have led us here. I don't remember seeing anyone's arm twisted New Year's...did I?"

"no" came up.

"James and I have been talking on the phone all week about this, not just what Katrina did, but the entire situation. Carol and I told James that what happened to Joe and Katrina was up to him and Dawn, but I see we need to discuss a few other things."

Katrina slipped down and sat on the steps and was crying, Joe sat next to her.

"It has always been a rule that no one talked about things outside the group. We all know the rules. I guess this is the first time we know of that it has happened, so do we just kick them out? Keith has a good point. What if we do kick a couple out and they decide to tell everyone to get even? Are any of you ready for the fallout?"

"Hell no!" Chris said.

"Maybe we should have thought of this a long time ago," I said. "I guess Dawn and I are as much to blame as anyone. We pushed things too far."

"No you didn't!!" Katrina screamed as she stood up. "No body's arm got twisted!! Everyone was as eager to take everything to the next level as we were!! It is everyone's fault!!" Katrina whimpered and fell back to the stairs.

"Katrina," Dawn said as she sat next to her and Joe.

"Who do we blame?" John asked everyone.

"No one," David said. "There is no one to blame for everyone taking the next step. Katrina and John are right, no one twisted my arm or Julie's, no one."

"Ours either," Carol said.

"We have all had enough time to decide if we made a bad decision at the party. James gave everyone the chance to tell him if it was too much before you each left, I don't think any of us did. If anyone had a problem with it, if any of you had a problem with all of this, you wouldn't be here right now. I don't see anyone missing!" Jack got out. "Joe, stand up!"

Joe stood.

"I have known you and Katrina awhile, what she did was wrong. If you two get yourselves kicked out, are you going to tell others to get even?" Jack asked.

"Oh course not everyone," Joe said. "I hope all of you know that. We messed up, we accept responsibility for that."

"Thank you Joe," Jack said.

Everyone was quiet.

"I'm sorry I suggested it Joe," Keith said.

"No Keith, you are right. Maybe Katrina just got caught. I hope no one else has said anything though. We all do know better." Joe sat back down with Katrina.

"I hoped this day would never come, but...I think we all have new things to consider at this point in time, right now. There is nothing anyone of us can do to stop anyone from talking. Is that a risk we can all take? I don't know, Dawn and I cannot answer that question for each of you. None of us can answer that question for anyone else. I guess this is too much." I told everyone.

All was quiet for a few minutes except for the sounds of Katrina's cry. I took several deep breaths and looked at Dawn, John and Carol.

"John...I make a motion that we disband our group," I said.

John and Carol looked at me.

"I second it," John said.

"NO!!" Came from the crowd. "You don't have the authority, we have to vote on it!!" Someone screamed.

Dawn stood and wrapped her arms around me and started crying. Everyone was talking and yelling.

"Settle Down!!" I heard John scream. "Enough!! Everyone sit down!!"

"We have to vote!!" "That's right!!" "Please don't!!"

"Sit!" John said to everyone.

I heard everyone sitting down. I released Dawn and turned to face everyone.

"As a matter of fact, James and I do have the authority to officially disband this group! You gave it to us when we sort of became an official group." John said. "Now, what everyone does after today is up to you, but if the two of us say so, there will be no more group gatherings."

"John, James, please wait," came from Lisa.

"Yes, please," came from a few other places.

Jeff stood with Lisa.

"Everyone, they are right," Jeff said. "We asked them to be in charge because none of us wanted to take the responsibility. Maybe we never thought it would come to something like this, but it has. We can't blame anyone; we are all a bunch of hedonists."

"Of course all of us would have a lot to lose if things got out, we all know that. Some of us would have more to lose than others. But, we all did know the risk going in, even New Year's. Admit it to yourselves. John, James, Dawn and Carol, thank you four for leading us and guiding us, it has been a fun trip. But, I think everyone wants the trip to continue, so we will take a vote," Lisa said.

"I move we take a vote," Keith said.

"I second it!" David said.

"The motion has been made that we take a vote on keeping the group together as it is, or breaking it up," I said. "Is there any discussion?"

"I have something to say," Dawn said.

"Go ahead honey," I said as I stepped back.

"Everyone...James and I have little to lose if something happened, we have already had to live in the spotlight. However, we have two young ladies that we are responsible for now that would suffer, Amy and Samantha. I love all of you and I have had a lot of fun, but I must protect the two of them now. When James and I talked to Joe and Katrina about their transgression, I wanted to kick them out because they had broken our trust, and honestly, Joe didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal. After we talked some more, James and I discovered some things from talking to Joe and Katrina that have us worried. I now wonder if it all has really become not that big of a deal. Maybe we have gotten too casual too quickly, I don't know, maybe that is for another time..."

Dawn was tensing up and breathing hard.

"You all vote on if you want to break up the group, I don't care!"

"Dawn..."

"Leave me alone James!"

"You vote if you want to kick Katrina and Joe out, I don't care!! But I swear to each and every one of you, if any of you every do or say anything that hurts my two girls, I will ruin you!! Is that understood!!"

"Dawn..."

I grabbed Dawn and she turned and grabbed me hard.

"I think that covers it," John said. "Any more discussion?"

We waited.

"Jeff, you and Lisa are in charge of the vote. The four of us will excuse ourselves," John said. "We will abide by your decision."

Carol took Dawn and headed up the stairs with her, John and I followed.

"Girls...," I said. Sam and Amy followed us up.

+++++

"Dawn, please calm down," Carol said as she set with her on our bed. Amy was sitting with Dawn on the other side, Sam had disappeared.

"I meant it!!" Dawn yelled.

"I think you got your point across," John said.

"I don't care!"

"I don't either Dawn," John said, "but calm down honey. I couldn't have said it better."

Dawn did not get mad. I had never seen her this mad before, she was shaking.

"Amy, would you take John and Carol to your room please?" I asked.

"I need to stay."

"Amy..."

"I need to stay damn it!" Amy said. Amy and Dawn wrapped their arms around each other.

"John, would you and Carol come with me?" I asked.

I guided them out of our bedroom and closed the door behind me. I took them across the hall to the study.

"Is she okay?" Carol asked. "I have never seen Dawn upset like that."

"You probably will never see her that upset again," I said. "Let's sit."

"James, how do you feel about all of it?" John asked.

"It is up to them, I don't care."

"Yes you do," Carol said.

"I think if everyone stays together, we all need some group therapy," John said.

"Yes we do. There are things that everyone needs to discuss regardless," I said.

"You are right. If they vote yes, we will setup a Saturday afternoon meeting at our house," Carol said.

"Thanks Carol. Are you two okay if they all vote to stay together, that is a legitimate concern that someone would get pissed and tell everyone or put some of the recordings on the internet," I told John.

"I don' think that would really happen, do you John?" Carol asked.

"I don't think anyone would dare now, besides, we wouldn't know who did it," John said.

"Yes we would," I said.

"How could you?"

"I would know. I made sure I would know."

"I won't ask how," John said.

"Don't...ever."

"Can I come in?" Sam asked from the door.

"Sure honey," I said. Sam came and sat on my leg.

"Where have you been?"

"Taking care of something."

"Oh shit!!" I said.

"I took care of it," Sam said.

There was a knock on the door a few minutes later, it was David.

"We have decided, would you all please return?" He asked.

"Give us a few minutes David," John said.

David left.

"Sam and I need to check on Dawn, you two go ahead," I told John. They left and headed down the stairs. Sam stood and took my hand and we crossed to our bedroom and knocked. Amy opened the door and came out.

"James, forgive me, I didn't mean to..."

I lifted Amy's chin up and kissed her.

"You were right," I told her. I opened the door and saw Dawn coming from the bathroom looking fine.

"Dawn?" I asked.

"I'm fine."

I grabbed Dawn's hand and held it, she was fine. I grabbed Amy's hand and held it, she was calm, but fine.

"Should I ask?"

"Not now," Amy said.

"Oh fuck, it is 1:30, where is Linda?" Dawn panicked.

"I took care of it," Sam said. "You two need to go see what happened."

"Come James," Dawn said. The girls followed us down the stairs. We could see everyone looking up at us as we walked down the stairs. Jeff and Lisa were standing at the bottom of the stairs with David.

"James and Dawn, John and Carol, we have made our decision. If the four of you will still lead our group, we all still want to be together. We understand there is nothing none of us can do to stop anyone from talking, but we all had a discussion and we feel like that will not be an issue again. He have also voted that Katrina and Joe can stay, but they do so with the understanding that they, or anyone else, will not get another chance. Thank you James and Dawn for hosting our parties." Jeff said.