Double Switch Ch. 01

Double Switch is a full length novel with a Prologue, an Epilogue and 18 chapters. So it will take a commensurate time to read. It is erotic in places but not on every page or even in every chapter. So a little patience is necessary. It is a love story, actually three love stories. I hope you will be rewarded for your time and trouble.

All of the major characters are completely fictional and bear no resemblance to actual people, living or dead.

Prologue

"You can't be serious", gasped Ernest, as he stared at his wife in utter disbelief. "You can't mean what you just said! For nearly thirty years, I thought I'd..." He exchanged a dubious glance with Frank, his twin brother sitting across the table. Except for the four of them, the patio was deserted. All of the other lodge guests had gone inside, most to bed, but some to play cards or do jigsaw puzzles, or just sit and talk, or read; in the overstuffed chairs dotting the large rustic lobby.

"Frank, did you...? That night? You never said you..."

His brother didn't respond, but even in the dim light, his countenance displayed the pangs of long﷓suppressed guilt and embarrassment he felt at the mention of the prank they had concocted as young newly﷓married men.

It was fortunate the two couples had the patio to themselves. The subject matter of their conversation demanded privacy.

Frank Adams, his wife Sally, his identical twin brother Ernest and his wife Sue, had not had the opportunity to share such intimate accounts of their earlier life in many years of job﷓enforced separation. Their all﷓to﷓few brief previous get﷓togethers, over their thirty years of marriage, had afforded them little opportunity to become really re acquainted and to re﷓live the exciting times of their courtships and early married lives. Besides, in those few meetings they did manage, the presence of parents and/or their children inhibited whatever opportunity they might have otherwise had to let their hair down, as they were finally now able to do this night.

Ever since they made plans to rendezvous at the lake, which had played such an important role in their earlier lives, all four had been anticipating this opportunity to get to know one another once again and reminisce about their early days as young couples. Sally and Sue, also identical twins, had married their husbands thirty years before in an impressive double wedding ceremony.

Ernest K. Adams, with his PhD, in chemical engineering, had worked all over the world since receiving his doctorate twenty-﷓seven years before. In the intervening time, he designed, and upervised the construction of, large chemical plants and refineries in over a dozen countries.

As a result, he and Sue have made their home in Europe, South America, Asia and the Near East; but only briefly, and seldom, in the U.S. His expertise, always sought﷓after, he has commanded substantial salaries and thus has accumulated comfortable nest egg for his eventual retirement. Sue, when she wasn't busy raising their three children, Ernest Junior, Sandra and Richard, spent most of her time writing, with considerable success, becoming a well known author of some two dozen commercially successful historical romance novels, most set in Elizabethan England.

Over the past thirty years, several books by Susan Davidson Adams have made the New York Times Best Seller List.

Frank Adams, a mechanical engineer by training, has worked his way up in the company he joined after graduation. In his early years at the firm, he secured a masters degree in engineering, attending college part time. Then, when the company recognized his managerial talents, he was granted a year off to obtain an MBA. Frank's wife, Sally taught school for several years but quit after the birth of their first child, Frank Junior. Since then, they have had three more children, Sheila, Shirley and Samantha.

Both families are grown now, or nearly so. Frank and Sally's youngest, Samantha, is still in college as is Ernest and Sue's youngest, Richard. All of the others are out of school and married. Ernest Junior, a computer programmer, and his wife, Janet, have already produced the first grandchild, little Sue, named after her grandmother.

"Do mean you and Sue..." Frank broke in, eyeing his wife with a shocked expression which matched that of his twin brother.

"Yes, I think, after all these years," Sally responded, "we'd better come clean about the little trick we pulled on you guys at the cottage. What was it, twenty﷓nine years ago?"

"That's right. It was just a few months before our first wedding anniversary," Sue continued. "But, do you think we should tell 'em, even now?" she asked with a quizzical look toward her twin sister.

"I don't see how we can avoid it now," was Sally's rejoinder. "You've already practically spilled the beans."

"Beans! Beans bring back interesting memories," Sue laughed. "Well, in that case," Sue began, with a slight giggle. Both women were feeling the drinks they had consumed before dinner and after. "Remember the time we came up here to the lake the first year we were married?"

"Yes, we came to the cottage to celebrate the anniversary of our first get﷓together there the year before," Sally broke in.

"And my meeting Ernie," Sue added with a satisfied grin.

"That's right, a few months before Frank and I were planning to be married, and you two got to know each other pretty well," Sally interjected.

"Very well," Sue agreed.

"How I remember," Ernest responded, his face reddening ﷓ although its hue went unnoticed in the dim moonlight. "I never really knew any girls before we met here that weekend. Not only did I meet my wonderful and beautiful wife, but I lost my 'innocence', as they say. I didn't want to admit that to Sue at the time, but I long since have."

"Don't worry, dear, I knew it," Sue shot back.

"You might say, you became a man," Frank offered, with a good natured jab at his brother. "I sure do miss that little cottage," he added. It was the scene of so many happy times. I wish it hadn't been torn down, along with the others along that part of the lake, to make room for those condos," he exclaimed gesturing toward the two story white buildings in the distance glistening in the moonlight. "But, I guess that's progress."

"Anyway," Sue began again. "We came up here to the cottage the next year, after we had been married about ten months, to celebrate our meeting here the year before?"

"I remember very well," added Sally. "And that's when we played that little trick on you two."

"I still don't believe this," blurted Ernest.

"We'll tell you all about it, if you'll just keep quiet hubbie dear," said Sue. "Which one of us is going to start?"

"You go ahead Sue. You've always been better at story telling than I have. That's why you're a successful novelist."

"Well, okay, Sis. Here goes."