A Place to Call Home Pt. 03

Before long, it was time for me to start dinner, so I suggested to Jill that I grill outside on the barbecue. Since Ann had passed, I didn't really use the grill that much, as it was kind of a waste to use that much wood or charcoal for one person, and I didn't care for gas grilling. You just don't get the flavor with gas, that you do with charcoal or wood.

"I have a nice, big venison steak that is just begging to be cooked over an open fire." I said persuasively. "I haven't really had an opportunity to fix it, as it's way too big for just me, and I don't get many visitors up here. I'm kind of a recluse I guess."

"You don't have to twist my arm!" Jill exclaimed. "I've never had deer meat before, but you're a great cook, and meat cooked over a fire sure sounds awesome to me!"

I retrieved the large slab of frozen meat from the large chest-style freezer in the basement. It was an old 1950's era commercial freezer I had gotten from a mom and pop grocery that had closed up, and I use it to hold the deer meat I shoot each year, plus veggies and other frozen items I buy in bulk.

"Wow, that's a LOT of meat!" Jill said excitedly, as I unwrapped it. "I haven't had London broil in a long time."

"Well, this isn't beef, so why don't we call it... a Carolina broil instead?" I suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" she replied enthusiastically. "I don't care what it's called, it looks like it will be delicious!"

I smiled at her vivacity. Her entire demeanor had changed since I had bought her that new outfit. She seemed so much more outgoing now; as if she didn't need to be dependent on Ann's things completely, anymore. Those clothes were hers alone.

"Come on," I invited, "I'll show you how to cook with wood on an ordinary charcoal grill."

"I didn't know you could cook on anything other than propane." Jill giggled. "I guess I really must be from the city, huh?"

I put my arm around her waist, and we went out onto the deck that was located off the living room. The house was built on the side of a ridge facing the mountains, so we were about fifteen feet off the ground on the outside edge.

"This view is gorgeous." Jill marveled. "I know I've said it before, but it is. This is the most beautiful place to build a house, Jack. You are so lucky to live here."

"This deck faces due south." I replied. "I can watch the sun rise on that end of the mountains and set on the other end there. Sometimes, I can sit out here and watch a thunderstorm coming across the river valley. It looks like a silver curtain moving toward me."

"It sounds beautiful." Jill responded. "Maybe I can see it sometime."

"I sure hope so." I replied. "I really like you, Jill, and I hope you can stay."

"Me too."

I smiled, and showed her how I build a small wood fire in the charcoal grill and add larger pieces. It's a combination of alternately grilling over an open fire, and then closing it to smoke for awhile. The result is a piece of meat with some terrific flavor to it that simply cannot be duplicated by any other means. Topped off with some lemon herb seasoning and sliced thin, it was a mouth watering entree.

Jill in the meantime, had made herself at home and rummaged through the refrigerator and freezer to make a complimentary side dish of broccoli and cheese sauce. By the time the meat was finished, she had the table set and the steaming broccoli sitting in a bowl on the table.

"Smells good!" I said with a smile.

"So does that!" she responded. "Looks like we make a good team, eh?"

"It does." I agreed. "I sure hope you're not married or anything. I'd hate to lose you. I feel so comfortable with you; like we were meant to be together or something."

"I feel that way too." she concurred. "But I just don't think I'm married. I don't feel it, Jack."

"You don't have a dent on your ring finger either." I pointed out. "Even if someone had stolen it, there would be an impression where it had been. It takes several weeks to go away, so if you ARE married, you've been separated for a while."

"You're a regular Sherlock Holmes" Jill laughed. "I had no idea."

"I used to be a cop." I replied. "I retired as a detective, and started writing crime novels about ten years ago."

I stood up and walked over to one of the bookcases in the living room, retrieving a hard cover book.

"This is one of them." I said, as I handed it to her. "It's my latest one."

"'The Strangler of High Hill,'" she read, "'By Jack DeVille.' I'm impressed. You are a man of many talents, Jack."

I smiled and beeped her nose affectionately.

"And you are a woman of many mysteries, Jill." I replied. "Do you like playing board games?"

Jill thought for a moment before answering.

"I think so." she responded. "I'm not sure, but I think so. It sounds fun anyway. What do you have?"

"A ton," I said with a laugh, "but our favorite was a three dimensional Parcheesi board I made about twenty five years ago."

"I thought that was a flat game." Jill said with a puzzled tone. "Like checkers."

"It usually is," I replied, "but I had just seen 'Stargate' at the movies, and decided to make one with a stepped pyramid in the middle, instead of a printed ladder. Wanna see it?"

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed.

I pulled the board out of one of the cabinets along the wall and put it on the coffee table. It was about three inches deep, with removable bases that were lined with green felt, to store the transparent colored dice and painted wooden pieces that matched the color of each base. The board itself was made of maple, with mahogany bases that were hand painted. In the center, was a shallow stepped pyramid, with a mahogany center. Each step was a different hardwood.

"Oh Jack!" Jill gasped. "It's beautiful! You made this?!"

"Thank you." I replied. "Yes, I made it a long time ago. The idea was to make a lot of these games like this; a checkerboard, Monopoly, Scrabble... but this was the only one I ever made."

"What happened?" Jill inquired. "Why didn't you make any more?"

"The idea was to make one a year for my brother and sisters." I explained. "This was the prototype, and was destined for my little sister and her husband for Christmas, back in 1993. I drew and painted some really nice pictures for my brother and older sister, because I couldn't make but one project a year. Well, my older sister made a smart-ass comment about how I always made such nice things for my other sister and I got pissed. I didn't give it to her and it sat unfinished for five years. I never made anything for anyone in my family again, unless they all got the same thing. I finally finished it and this is it; the only one in existence."

"It's beautiful, Jack." Jill repeated. "Like I said, a man of many talents. Now, why don't you teach me how to play it?"

We spent the next five hours playing game after game, and Jill finally yawned.

"I am so tired Jack." she confessed. "I'm sorry. I'm always falling asleep on you."

"It's okay." I said with a smile. "You've been through a lot the past few days. You'll be back to normal soon."

"I sure hope so!" she burst out. "Are you coming to bed?"

"I am." I stated. "I'm tired too. Let's get a good night's rest, and I look forward to showing you around the property tomorrow, and sharing my special place with you. It's at the bottom of a series of steps in the creek, and last one is a short waterfall that falls a couple of feet into a shallow pool. It's very peaceful and relaxing. It sounds like one of those Japanese tea gardens or something, with the little waterfall in the middle."

"It sounds wonderful," Jill said softly, "and I can't wait to see it."

I left the Parcheesi board on the table, and we went upstairs. We removed our clothes and got into bed; laying facing one another and smiling at each other.

"I had a wonderful time today!" Jill whispered softly.

"Me too." I confessed. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

I turned off the little lamp on the nightstand, leaving us in the pitch dark of a moonless Appalachian night. Thoughts raced through my head as I lay there trying to fall asleep. Shopping at the mall, Jill's outburst in the food court, and as always, the feeling that I knew her from somewhere. Then, there was that nagging line about taking me around the world. Where had I heard it before? I was just about to drop into lala land, when it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

Suddenly, I remembered where I had heard that phrase before. It was seven or eight years ago, at at friend's house on Superbowl Sunday. Ann was out of town visiting her parents, and Billy had invited me over to watch the game with a bunch of his buddies. I hate sports, but I agreed, since I didn't have anything better to do. After the game was over, we all stayed and got a bit lit on alcohol and weed. Billy the owner, had popped a porno into the DVD player for amusement, and I heard that line, "Take me around the world." Could Jill possibly be that blonde bombshell getting passed around from one scene to the next, like a bottle of beer at an underage party?

It hardly seemed possible, but I decided to jump on it while the idea was still fresh in my mind. I quietly rolled out of bed and tiptoed out of the room and into the office, where I turned on the light and awakened the computer, before calling Billy. Amazingly, he answered the phone, despite the fact it was after midnight.

"Pffff... ummmm... hello?" he mumbled groggily.

"Billy, it's Jack." I said apologetically. "Sorry to wake you up, but this is kind of important."

Billy suddenly sounded wide awake.

"Everything okay?" he inquired. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Listen Billy, this is going to sound really weird, but bear with me, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Of course, Bro. What's going on?"

"Okay, remember that Superbowl party you invited me to, when Ann was out of town a few years back?"

"Yeah..." Billy responded in a confused tone of voice. "What about it?"

"You put a movie in your DVD player." I continued. "Do you remember what it was called?"

"What?!" Billy shot back. "You called me in the middle of the fucking night to ask me about some fuck flick from eight years ago? Are you out of your mind?"

"No! I'm not, I promise." I replied. "I told you it was important and it is. Please, just humor me for the moment, okay?"

"Okay." Billy grumbled. "Go on."

"Do you still have it?"

"No I don't have it!" Billy burst out crossly. "I traded it for another one a long time ago. Why is this so motherfucking important?"

"You know the chick that was in it, that blonde hottie that kept saying, 'take me around the world?'" I prodded. "Bro, I think she's asleep in my bed right now."

"Are you drunk?!" Billy exploded. "Jack, of all people, for you to call me in the middle of the night and tell me you think some porno star is sleeping in your bed..."

"I'm serious." I replied. "I found her walking up the road by the end of my driveway the other day. She was all fucked up, and she keeps saying weird shit every now and then, but one of them is 'take me around the world,' and she doesn't know why she says it. She has amnesia, and I swear, Bro, it's her! What was the name of that movie? Do you remember?"

"Yeah, 'Around the World in Eighty Lays.'" Billy answered. "You really think it's her?"

"I was a cop. You know that. I think it's her!" I responded. "At least I can try looking it up online. Billy my friend, I am so sorry to awaken you like this, but I had to call you before I fell asleep and forgot the thought."

"It's okay Bro. Listen, let me know one way or the other, okay?"

"Will do, thanks. I owe you one."

"You owe me two!" Billy retorted. "G'night!"

I typed that title into a search engine and got a ton of listings. I clicked on the video option, and to my surprise, a few exact matches popped up. I clicked on the full movie and put it on full screen.

"Around the World in Eighty Lays." it began. "Starring Sylvia Silverstar and..." a ton of male names, including Dick Hertz, Long Dong Phooey and Jack Action.

"Long Dong Phooey." I muttered to myself. "Number one porno guy. Cute. Who the hell comes up with these names? 'Around the World in Eighty Lays.' What's next, 'A Sale of Two Titties?' 'Lassie Cums at Home?' Maybe we could get Elizabeth Warren, and call it 'Poking Hantas.'"

I was so focused on the movie, that I didn't even hear the soft sound of bare feet coming down the hall. The first scene started, and I heard the familiar line, although this time, it was accurate.

"Okay boys, let me take you around the world!"

The scene cut to the actress' face, and I couldn't help but suck my breath in. It was her! A few years younger maybe, but it was definitely Jill! The woman asleep in my bed! At least I thought she was.

"Oh my god!" Jill's voice burst out from behind me. "That's me!"

I whirled around just in time to see her cover her face in shame and duck out of the room. I jumped up to follow her, but banged my left knee painfully on the desk as I did so. I clutched my knee in agony and dragged myself down the hall after her. rubbing it all the while to try and lessen the discomfort. I finally caught up with her back in the bedroom, where she was sitting on the edge of the bed and sobbing hysterically.

"Jill-" I began, but she immediately cut me off.

"I'm a whore!" she screamed. "Oh my god, Jack, I'm a whore! A fucking whore!"

I sat on the bed next to her and tried to put my arms around her.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. "I'm dirty! I'm a dirty whore! Oh God!"

She buried her face in her hands and continued sobbing. I placed my hands on her shoulders and squeezed them gently.

"It's okay." I said quietly.

"It's not okay!" she shrieked. "Don't you understand? I'm a whore, Jack! A porn star! People fuck me for money! I'm no different than a street hooker. Oh God!"

I placed my arms around her and embraced her tightly.

"Listen to me." I said in a firm, but not stern, voice. "That woman in that movie, it's not you."

"Yes it is!" she sniffled. "We have the same tattoo on our left shoulder. It's me. You fell in love with a whore."

I grabbed her and spun her around so that she was facing me.

"Don't you ever say that again!" I hissed. "You're talking about the woman I love. Don't you dare call her a whore!"

Jill seemed stunned, and stared at me blankly.

"Look Jill," I explained, "three days ago I found you wandering somewhere along the road. You had no idea who you were and I brought you here to try and find an answer to the mystery. Since then, I have fallen completely and madly in love with you. YOU Jill; NOT her. We've made dinner together, and had a lot of fun going to the mall and playing Parcheesi tonight.

"I don't care about Sylvia Silverstar. I care about you; Jill. I don't know that woman. She means nothing to me, but YOU do. I don't care who you were before we met. All I care about is the person sitting next to me right now. The person I met three days ago and fell in love with, and that person is you, Jill. I love you."

"Do you mean that, Jack?" she inquired, sniffling again. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do." I replied, reaching for a box of tissues and handing her one.

Jill honked her nose loudly into the tissue, and then smiled at me through teary eyes.

"Thank you." she said quietly. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything." I replied. "Other than, 'I love you.'"

Jill threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"Oh Jack! I love you too!"

"Good." I stated. "Then let's go back to bed and get some sleep. In the morning, I'll look into Miss Sylvia Silverstar, and see what happened to her. It seems like I just heard that name the other day for some reason. You can help me if you'd like."

"This is weird." Jill responded. "It's like I'm solving my own murder or something."

"You may very well be." I agreed. "In the meantime, let's get some sleep. In the morning, before we even start with all of this, I want to show you my special place and share it with you, okay?"

Jill smiled brightly and nodded.

"I'd like that." she said quietly. "And I love you."

"I love you too."

It was now after 1:00 AM, and we turned in for the second time that night. When I awoke the following morning, I found Jill not in the shower this time, but tightly embraced in my arms instead. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at me.

"Good morning." she said sweetly. "I had wonderful dreams last night."

"Anything from your past?" I inquired.

"Nope. All new stuff. Just you and me!" she said brightly. "We went horseback riding in the nude, and then you took me to your special place and it was a cave. A cavern, actually, I guess. It was full of stalactites and stalagmites, and they were all glistening like they were made of solid gold. Then all of a sudden, we were in Walmart shopping, and we were both sill nude."

"Did we at least get a good deal with the Blue Light Special?" I inquired.

"That's Kmart, Silly." she retorted. "We got a good deal, alright. We went into the garden center and they were selling alien fruit plants. I was going to buy some plants, and then I woke up. To you."

"Hope I didn't disappoint you." I said with a smile.

"Never." she replied. "It was funny about the alien fruit though. One side tasted one way, and the other side was different."

"Dreams can be stupid." I responded. "But let's forget that for the moment. Let's get up and go to my special place. It's not a cavern, but I think you'll like it anyway. We don't even need to get dressed to go there. We can shower and get dressed when we get back."

"We can go for a nude walk?" Jill inquired excitedly. "That sounds so hot, Jack; like when we were in Walmart, except there won't be other people around. Show me the way!"

I smiled, and gently pulled her out of bed along with myself.

"It's a smooth walk." I explained. "No shoes needed."

We left the house and padded across the dewy, freshly-mowed grass, before entering a shaded pathway that led down to the creek through mixed forest. It was covered in pine needles and leaves that were still moist and soft from the overnight dew, and they were very comfortable beneath our bare feet as we descended almost one hundred, fifty feet down to reach the creek. Eventually, we arrived at the waters edge, where the base of the falls was located.

It was a natural pool, about three feet deep and almost twenty feet in diameter. The water was fairly still, yet moved about in a slow eddy before exiting the depression on the downstream end. Just as I had promised, the falling water cascaded down a series of short drops and finally tinkled into the pool in a natural orchestral tone.

"This is it." I said with a smile. "My special place."

"I can see why!" Jill marveled. "This is so peaceful and serene, Jack."

"I love to sit on that ledge and masturbate." I admitted. "Later in the season, when the water warms up more, it's a nice place to take a dip too. Right now, it's still a bit chilly, but come August and September, it'll be almost lukewarm."

"I look forward to taking that dip with you." Jill said with a smile. "At least I hope I can."

"Me too." I replied. "Right now though, I'd love to do you doggy style on that sandbar."

"That would be great!" Jill acknowledged. "I don't know if I've ever had sex outdoors before, but it'll sure be nice to try it anyway."

The air was still cool, due it being early morning and the fact that the creek kept it about ten degrees cooler than up by the house. It was perfect for fucking, and we took full advantage. I reached under her chest and cupped her soft tits in my hands as I shot a thick, morning load of cum inside her cunt. We collapsed onto the sparkling mica sand and giggled like little kids. We were truly in love. All I could do was pray she wasn't spoken for.