Andrea Donovan Pt. 10 - Conclusion

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EVERLASTING LOVE

...I wasn't really sure how long I'd been awake or how long I'd been aware that Wolfie was halfway on top of my own pillow, obviously with his face buried in Andrea's jasmine scented hair. I could feel the cat's warmth on the top of my head now as he purred slightly with the contentment of being close to my wife. Wolfie was infatuated with Andrea and loved her with everything he had within him, I totally understood this. ...I kept my eyes closed and continued to hold Andrea within the spooning position as random thoughts of her flicked through my mind similar to a video. One by one, the photos within her modeling portfolio came to mind as did the sound of her laughter and the taste of her kisses. My mind replayed, in slow motion, Andrea's video footage which I had captured the day before as she had gone through the paces of a professional model, intentionally seducing my camera lens with little or no effort on her part whatsoever as she had posed with Pippi Longstocking. Andrea had me hooked for life and she knew it, which is what her intentions had been all along, she confided to me openly.

My God, it's no wonder that perfume companies, garment manufacturers and travel agencies had wanted A.J. West to represent them in advertising. ...The photo of Andrea, dressed as a stewardess, was mesmerizing and had most likely captured the hearts and minds of every male who'd ever seen that particular photo, whether they'd been fifteen or one hundred. The photo conveyed the lure of travel and adventure as well as the hint of romance with a gorgeous smiling woman with an hour-glass figure and dangerous curves... Why did Andrea choose me, I wondered for the millionth time? This was the one question that I could never fully explain to myself; regardless of how many different ways I approached it. Duffy often explained to me that whenever I tried to "understand" the attraction between myself and Andrea that I was in fear and trying to apply pragmatic logic to something that wasn't logical - love.

"Being in-love is all about FAITH in another human being, Tim" Duffy often insisted.

...Why is it that women seem to know all this stuff from birth and men have to blunder their way through it for half their lives and learn everything the hard way? I suddenly recalled a conversation from several years ago that I'd once had with a dear friend of mine, a lady that I could be totally open and honest with yet we weren't physically attracted to one another. I had made the nonchalant comment that I had made-love, mentally, with the woman in front of me within the grocery store check-out line for six or seven minutes one afternoon. I then quickly recanted my story with "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, you probably didn't need to know all that, Juana." To my surprise Juana had responded honestly and openly with "Honey, when we see a man that we're attracted to we don't think about making love so much, we start wondering what our grandchildren with him would look like. So you see, Tim, we're already WAY ahead of you." ...With a shock, Juana's analogy had made me realize just how far out of the loop, most of us men really are.

What a wonderful mystery they all are, I thought to myself as I pulled Andrea closer to myself. Concerning women, Ricky had once advised me with "They're fine as long as you don't try to figure them out, Tim, that's when you get into trouble."

Duffy's translation of Ricky's analogy was "acceptance."

The warm sensual curves of my sleeping wife were suddenly turning me on, I realized. ...Andrea Millhouse, what a mystery you are to me.

Andrea was an intense person that usually ran full tilt at anything she ever endeavored in, yet at the same time, there was a gentle side to the lady which held as much mystique for me as any other part of her. Sometimes her gentleness was cloaked within the veil of a flash of anger "You haven't made your dental appointment yet? WHY THE FUCK NOT? YOU'VE HAD THAT CHIPPED TOOTH FOR TWO WEEKS NOW!!" ...Some might interpret Andrea's occasional displays of quick temperament as controlling or just simply self righteous anger, this wasn't the case at all. Andrea simply wanted the absolute very best for me in life and she wasn't about to stand by and let me shortchange myself on anything. Her infrequent bouts of hot temper were usually out of fear that I was in some way neglecting myself within important areas of my life and this was simply unacceptable to her. Her gentleness was also evident in many other ways, such as spontaneous and loving text messages or making a lunch to take with me whenever I was on an all day adventure somewhere with Hans, Ricky or other guys.

"I wish my wife made me lunch to take with me, Tim" someone had once said in genuine envy of me. I had pondered this comment many, many times since that day...

In gentleness, Andrea would also never deny me my rights to feelings of genuine emotion either. If I needed to talk, then we talked. If I felt lonely or confused, then she'd sit with me. If I needed to cry, then she'd hold me until I felt better. Susan's reaction had always been a cold and stoic "Jesus, Tim, get over it." ...Duffy once explained to me that it took a strong woman to see her man within a seeming moment of weakness. Yet these moments of self perceived weakness were actually the building stones to which the pillars of trust and strength within a relationship were created from, according to Duffy. ...I had seen Brenda sit with my little brother when he had cried during Mom's passing ...sometimes strong men did cry and Brenda understood this. My wife was as strong as she was beautiful yet she wasn't afraid to let me see her within her own moments of self doubt and perceived weakness and this also took a courageous woman, Duffy had explained to me. Whenever in self doubt, Andrea would now run toward me instead of isolation, a sign that we were becoming one.

Man and wife ...Andrea and I were becoming one. My mother had understood this concept and I did too at times, or rather, I saw periodic glimpses of it. Andrea, I believed, understood the notion of marriage far better than me and although I had never met Joy Kitfox, later to become Joy Millhouse, I did believe that I instinctively knew her through Andrea. Joy had been a woman understanding the power of love and family and this was reflected strongly within both of her daughters. Some of this understanding for me came from knowing Andrea's own daughter, Connie, and seeing her own likeness and mannerisms paralleling those of Andrea. - The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as my own mother would often say. What would Mom have thought of Andrea Millhouse I wondered?

...I loved sleeping-in with Andrea during lazy mornings and apparently Wolfie now did too.

Breathing in Andrea's jasmine scent I again thought of the girl A.J. West when she was attired as an airline stewardess within the travel agency brochure and slid back into a deep and contented sleep once more. Andrea Millhouse, how did you steal my heart so completely? Love had taken me at last and I never saw it coming...

...

Rolling out of bed I noticed that Wolfie was gone, it was nine forty five AM now. I walked over to the bathroom and closed the door to pee. After washing my hands a few minutes later I went back into the bedroom and glanced over at Andrea as she lay asleep and suddenly extremely thankful that it was her and not Susan. I began putting on my pants and a tank top; I then sat on the edge of the bed and quietly slipped into my boots. Walking through the hallway I unlocked the outside door and grabbed an apple from the basket as I went outside and over to the stables which were temporarily covered with a blue plastic tarp as a roof. I immediately noticed one of the wooden sawhorses which had previously been sitting in the front yard that had now been moved and placed beside the stables with a beautifully hand crafted Mexican saddle atop of it and adorned with the embossed initials of M.M. . The saddle had been placed here after Andrea and I had gone to bed the previous night and was obviously intended as a gift to Andrea from Mary Lane, I suspected. The name "Pippi" was written in blue magic marker on a slip of paper which was taped to the saddle and obviously in a woman's handwriting.

Pippi greeted me warmly as I began petting and talking quietly with her; looking deeper into the stall, I noticed Wolfie curled up and asleep on Pippi's rump.

"Looks like you've got a new friend there, girl. You doing OK, like it here so far?"

Pippi pushed her head into me and seemed to relish in my affection.

"Here, I've got something for you" I said quietly as I held up the apple.

Pippi gently took a bite from the apple and began chewing contentedly as I continued petting her and held up the remainder of the apple for her.

"I figured you were out here" Andrea said as she came beside me, dressed in her blue nightgown.

"Someone left you a gift, it seems" I said indicating the saddle.

"I saw it early this morning, Tim. I checked on Pippi at around six and it was here then, Mary Lane left it, she's been driving around with it in the trunk of her car for the last week after selling her house." Andrea explained.

"I assumed that Mary had left the saddle, Andrea, it's very nice" I said, as Pippi took the rest of the apple from me.

...Looks like Vic has flown the coup, all his stuff is gone now and I don't think he slept here last night. He must have gathered all his belongings and left after we went to bed; maybe he found an apartment and stayed there last night. I guess we really are empty nesters now" Andrea said as she began to pet Pippi and yawned.

"He probably did, Andrea. I wonder how Ricky and Brenda did with their first night at the new house." I asked.

"Fine, I'm sure. - Tim, Indio and his guys will be here at noon so we better get a move-on and be ready when they start showing up, it's going to be a busy day" Andrea said, kissing Pippi.

"Yes, it'll be a busy day, Love. You and Pippi plan on going for a ride anytime today?" I asked, looking at Andrea.

"I think we'll start with some walking, I don't want to try and ride her too soon - we'll work into that slowly. Duffy plans to ride over here this afternoon with Delight, just so Pippi will get used to being with another mount, close by" Andrea answered as she took my hand and we headed back to the house for a shower together.

Andrea and I showered with our usual routine of sensually lathering and then rinsing one another thoroughly, there was even some French kissing between the two of us during this process which was not uncommon for us. We then stepped out of the shower and dried each other with separate towels.

"I want to schedule a hair appointment for this afternoon" Andrea said seriously now as she eyed herself critically before the full length mirror now.

"I've got a busy day ahead of me and I'm not entirely sure yet that I'll be able to get you in - may have to be Friday" I teased with a straight face.

"Guess you won't mind sleeping by yourself on the sofa until then either, will you?" Andrea teased back with just as straight a face as she wiped the fog off the mirror.

"...Eh, I might be able to bend the rules some and put you at the head of the line ...if there was some incentive in it - for the salon of course, not me personally" I said with a wide smile.

"Uh huh, I'll just bet. You're a company man all the way, right, Tim?" Andrea asked nonchalantly as she looked herself in the mirror and began spreading facial cream on her cheeks.

"Depends on the company I keep" I said snapping the towel on Andrea's ass, making her jump slightly.

"You really like to live dangerously don't you, Tim?" Andrea asked patiently.

"I married you, didn't I?" I asked, putting my arms around her from behind and kissing her collar bone.

"I really want my hair trimmed this afternoon, seriously, Tim" Andrea said as she turned toward me and leaned up for a kiss.

"I could do you while we're at the Texaco, we'll be there all day anyway" I answered.

"Sure, that works" Andrea said as she turned back around and wiped the foggy mirror again.

"I'll start some coffee" I said, walking back into the bedroom in the direction of my clothes.

"K, Hazelnut, please" Andrea answered.

"What's Mary Lane's middle name, do you know?" I suddenly asked.

"Her middle name is Ann, it was on the deed to the Texaco" Andrea answered.

I made no reply.

"I know what you're thinking - the initials on the saddle are M.M. and I have no idea what Mindy Lane's middle name was but M.M. would sure as hell work for well Mildred Mayfield, wouldn't it?" Andrea asked, walking back into the bedroom now and collecting her own clothes.

"...Andrea, I guess it doesn't matter and really, it's no one's business if Mindy Lane was in fact Mildred Mayfield or not. Finding those out dated driver's licenses and then the buried movie in that safe, along with the old News paper just seems too convenient to all be a coincidence for me, that's all. I did some thinking last night and recalled that Mildred Mayfield was supposedly lost at sea in Mexico at almost the exact coinciding time as the death of Hank Williams - early nineteen fifty three. The Texaco was built in late nineteen fifty three and that girl in the nineteen seventy Texaco calendar looks exactly like Mildred Mayfield, to me. ...We'll never know what really took place here then - or maybe I'm just a conspiracy nut, I'm really not sure any more to be honest" I replied, suddenly tired of the subject of Mildred Mayfield.

"I think Mindy Lane was Mildred Mayfield, Tim" Andrea answered.

"Honey, please don't make fun of the subject, I'm being serious" I said, a little put-out by Andrea's flippant attitude.

"Tim, I'm not being cute, I think it was her and I think Mary Lane is her daughter" Andrea answered as she slipped into her shirt without looking at me.

"What changed your mind?" I asked, slightly shocked.

"As I mentioned, I was up very early this morning to check on Pippi, you were still asleep. When was the last time you checked your e-mail, Tim?" Andrea now suddenly asked.

"Pfftt, what month is it?" I asked sarcastically. I wasn't a fan of the internet.

"I checked your e-mail this morning, looking for the receipt that they e-mailed to us when you had your exam, we can write - off a large portion of that on our taxes. ...You had seventeen hundred and thirty five e-mails within the last week, did you know that, Tim" Andrea asked.

"It's Lard" I answered dismissively.

" - Spam" Andrea corrected. "No, it wasn't spam, the emails were all replies to a comment that you had posted on a website devoted to Mildred Mayfield after we opened the second safe. According to the replies in regard to your post, the movie reels that we found under the car lifter are known within the movie industry as 'Master Reels'. The Master Reels are the final cut and edit of a movie, then it's sent to another lab where they copy the Master Reels and make duplicates to distribute among movie theatres. That's why the reels we found inside the second safe look so much different than other movie reels, because they are different. Master Reels are considered extremely valuable and they're always transported by the Marshal's Service - hence the locks we saw on the containers. Apparently Belle of Autumn never reached movie theatres because the Master Reels were stolen by someone - someone that obviously owned a gas station in Arizona City where they buried them in an old safe beneath a car lifter and just happened to be married to someone that looked exactly like Mildred Mayfield, probably John Light - our expert safe cracker and master forger who suddenly one day just vanished himself." Andrea said.

"...You know, that fits, Andrea" I said speculating and trying to piece it all together in my mind.

"I also read the article in the old News paper this morning that we found in the first safe - it's in there on the dining room table, Tim, I carried it back over here last night when all of us went to the Texaco" Andrea answered vaguely and nodding her head toward the living room.

"...AND, what about it?" I asked, suddenly very intrigued.

"Mildred Mayfield was quoted, in the last part of that article, that the movie she enjoyed making the most was called Arizona Dawn, a moderately successful Western movie made in early nineteen fifty two where she played a strong and self reliant character named Mary Ann MacKay - M. M. are the initials if you skip the middle name. Early this morning I watched a few minutes of that movie on YouTube and the character Mary Ann MacKay had a saddle very similar to the one outside on that sawhorse now. That old saddle would be about the same vintage as Arizona Dawn, it's old. ...The character Mary Ann MacKay, in the movie Arizona Dawn, was also left-handed, I noticed. Mary Lane once told me in casual conversation that her mother had been left handed. Mildred Mayfield also mentioned, in the News paper article, that if she ever had a daughter that she would be named Mary Ann. Apparently Mildred Mayfield had connected very strongly with that particular character, Mary Ann MacKay, which she had played in the movie Arizona Dawn." Andrea answered simply.

"Andrea, it MUST be her ...but WHY would she move all the way out here after being a major movie star? There was NOTHING out here then but coyotes and dust! She must have faked her own disappearance and stolen the Master Reels herself - BUT WHY?" I asked more or less to myself in slight frustration.

"She probably got tired of all the News paper hype and groping fans, everywhere she went. It gets old fast, that I can tell you from personal experience, Tim. The guy she was married to at the time was a real odd ball too, apparently." Andrea said dismissively.

"...I guess now we really do know that Mindy Lane was in fact Mildred Mayfield and that Mary Lane is her daughter. We also know that Juan Lane was most likely John Light and that Mildred Mayfield faked her own disappearance in early nineteen fifty three but what we don't really know for sure is WHY? ...We'll probably never really know that but you're right Andrea, she probably just got tired of all the bullshit that went along with being a famous star. ...I wonder if Mary Lane knows her mother was Mildred Mayfield?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter, Tim, just accept Mary for Mary. It was a long time ago and people have reasons for doing what they do" Andrea said standing on her toes and kissing me.

"Love you" I said looking into her eyes.

"I love you too" Andrea replied holding eye contact with me.

"... Yeah but, how does John Light enter the picture, I wonder?" I asked, noticing my own pun a second later as my mind continued to shift back and forth on the subject of Mildred Mayfield.

"Let's make some coffee, Tim" Andrea answered with a tone of dismissal as she took my hand and lead me toward the kitchen.

Andrea and I helped each other make coffee as we flirted and kissed. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoyed the solitude of being in an empty house with my wife, it felt like we were two teenagers skipping school. Wolfie quietly watched Andrea and I flirting with each other as he sat on the kitchen bar observing us and patiently waiting for his own breakfast. Andrea and I soon sat down at the dining room table to sip our coffee as we mentally prepared ourselves for the busy day ahead of us. Andrea's phone pinged with a text message.

"Ricky and Brenda are on their way over" Andrea said, glancing at the text.

I silently nodded an affirmation as I sipped more of my coffee.

"Andrea ...does the name, which the Lane's chose for the Texaco - 'Desert Belle' convey a slight hint of rebellion in your opinion when compared to the movie title 'Belle of Autumn'? Almost like the Lanes were hiding in plain sight and snubbing their noses at the world somehow" I asked.