Once Upon a Time Pt. 01

There are veggies like carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower that I didn't have success in growing. So, I take some of my excess and trade at the farmers market or get what I needed from the grocery store. We walkaround in the garden for about an hour or so, I want to show her how to walk in a garden and what to look for as far as ripe veggies and insect sign and how to pick the different veggies. I point out the beehives just on the other side of the garden and talk about harvesting the honey.

I want to show her the chickens. The chicken coops aren't that far from the garden. Each coop has a pen about 30' X 30' with a house for each pen. The houses are back-to-back with about 5 feet separating them. Currently I harvest about a dozen to two dozen eggs each day. At the peak I get maybe 3 dozen eggs a day. I sell my excess eggs to the tune of about $60 each week, which covers the cost of chicken feed.

Red is pretty good at keeping an ear out for any disturbance in the chicken house. I keep a.22 and a.410 near the closest door just to eliminate any chicken thieving. I talk to her a little bit about the different predators that like chickens and or eggs. Snakes, skunks, opossums, coyotes, dogs, hawks, bob cats, even feral hogs will tear up a chicken coop and eat eggs, chickens, or even the chicken feed. I feed the chickens and show Melissa how to gather any eggs.

We take them inside the house and wash them with a little bleach water and put them in the egg fridge. I explain to her that the day after tomorrow is egg day and then the next day is farmer market day. Egg day is the day I go around and deliver eggs to my regular customers. Depending on how talkative my customers are, the deliveries can take a few hours and just about all day. Most of my customers are older people that I enjoy talking to. The older men like to tell tales of their love conquests or tales of giant fish that they caught, or tales of trophy bucks taken. I like to flirt with the women. Older women are so much fun to flirt with. They are brazen with their inuendo. I have heard many times that time is of the essence, no sense beating around the bush. Melissa laughs at the stories.

I have been tempted to increase the size of my flock and egg production to try and sell to a couple of small family-owned restaurants. So far, I haven't been able to convince myself that it is the right thing to do.

My stomach growls, reminding me that breakfast was long gone. I ask Melissa, "Are you getting hungry?"

"Yes. I am famished," she replies.

"Excellent, Let's go fix supper," I said. We walk inside and wash up. I show her where the pantry is located, and where things are located in the kitchen. We have a very filling dinner. I prepare chicken fried steak, with pan fried green beans, corn on the cobb, and a garden salad. We clean up the kitchen and walk to the patio and have a drink. My patio has a large flagstone floor. It is totally covered so there is shade all day except very early morning. It has a 26" wall, except for couple of travel portals, capped with 4 inches of smooth concrete. I have several pieces of wicker patio furniture scattered about.

Roscoe and Red hear the door and join us on the patio. When Melissa sits down there is a dog laying on each side of her. Melissa has a glass of wine and my drink of choice is whiskey.

I ask her, "What is your take on what happened today. Tell me what you liked and didn't like."

Melissa explained, "I understand the attention that I or we received today. I did not care for the attention in the stores today. I can appreciate the old woman talking to me and caring about my situation. You just don't see that in bigger towns. I just came up with the car wreck story as a way to divert some of the unwanted attention away from me."

I told her, "I appreciated that. I was getting a little uncomfortable with the stares also. I can see how people might see me as the abuser in today's thinking."

She said, "I absolutely loved driving and riding on the tractor. I am impressed with the garden and the chickens. I have never thought about a lifestyle like this before and can totally understand how someone can fall in love with it. I like the house, the floorplan, and the flow of the house. I love the views off the front porch and the patio. The house can use a woman's touch and it is obvious that you don't have a woman in your life."

I open up and tell Melissa more about my life, "I had a steady girl in high school and I thought she was the one. We had been together for a couple of years, and we were serious. At least I was. Employment opportunities were not that good where I grew up. I enlisted in the Navy my senior year with a delayed reporting date. She didn't approve of my decision and our relationship was strained because of that decision. She dreaded being separated."

I continued my tale," The night before I was to leave, I went to her house to pick her up. Her mother told me that she had gone to town with some friends. I was surprised because she had not said anything to me about running around with friends. I went to town and saw her best friend and asked where Annette was. She said the last time she saw her, she was with Ken, an asshole jock that believed his shit didn't stink. Sure, enough I saw them at a local hang out dancing and kissing and hugging. I left and have not seen or heard from her since."

I go on to explain, "I was devastated. I have trust issues regarding women to this day. I have had plenty of female company over the years mainly one-night stands and short-term relationships that did not involve feelings. When I start to get feelings for a girl, I terminate the relationship to avoid deeper hurt. It feels strange to vocalize this. I think this is the first time I have talked about this with anyone. Saying it out loud makes it sound silly. All men are not alike, all women probably are not alike."

She sat quiet for a couple of minutes and then spoke, "Thank you for sharing your story with me. It was interesting to see how you worked your way through it. You are right, all women are not alike. Some are total sluts, some are prudes. Most are somewhere in between. With 10 being a jezebel slut and 0 being a virgin prude. I think I would rate myself about a 5 or 6. I can be a little bit of a slut with the right person."

She continues her tale, "I think I am extremely loyal, and the right person will not have to worry about a wandering eye from me. I am a one-man woman and sharing my man is out of the question. I want a man that has a good heart and makes me feel safe and loved. I don't care about money or materialistic things. I want to find someone to build a life with and share good times and bad times. I know that in a long-term relationship there is not going to be fun all the time. I do like fun, but when life is not so fun, I want to be with someone to lean on and work through the hard times with."

I nod in agreement. Things went quiet. I said, "Well, I'll go change the bedding on the spare bedroom for you. Then I believe I am going to take a shower and hit the hay. The days start early around here."

When we got up the dogs came in with us. I walk down the hallway and gather sheets and pillowcases for the spare bed from the linen closet. Melissa joins me in the spare bedroom and helps me strip the bed and make it. I spray Febreze on the bedspread to freshen it up as well. I tell her goodnight and walk into my bedroom. Red stays in her room and Roscoe lays down outside her door. I walk into my bedroom and strip off my clothes. I take a shower and I lie in bed processing the day's events and working my way through the million thoughts in my head trying to get my mind to rest.

About fifteen minutes pass, I am just about asleep when I hear my door open. Melissa slips into my room and slid under the covers. She whispers, "I hope you don't mind. I don't want to be alone. I don't think I can fall asleep in there by myself."

I replied, "Melissa you are welcome to share my bed any time you want. I can't be held responsible for my actions when I am asleep. I want you to be sure about this."

Melissa scoots next to me, and her naked ass is rubbing against my hip. She reaches behind her and brushes my cock on the way to grabbing my wrist and pulling me into a spoon position. I roll over and she rests her head on my one arm and pulls my other over her. My hand rests on her belly. She smells wonderful. She has to feel my hard dick poking her. She wiggles her head on my arm getting comfortable. She is snoring within a minute. I am sure I joined her about 30 seconds later.

Monday June 10, 2019 0500

The sky is just starting to lighten. It will be sunrise in 45 minutes to an hour. Time to get started. When my eyes open, my face is buried in the back of Melissa's head. It appears that we did not move much during the night. My morning wood is trapped in the Bermuda triangle of her thighs and the lips of her pussy. Some involuntary movements during the night have resulted in this very erotic predicament.

As bad as I want to impale my morning wood into the very tempting depths of Melissa's vagina. I choose to try and extricate myself from this very tempting position. Every time I try to move away, she moves toward me resulting in more stimulation. She is unconsciously moaning when I move away and then purrs when I am trapped again in the Bermuda triangle. What is a guy to do? Play cat and mouse across the bed or give in and give both of us some pleasure?

I really need to get up and get the day started. Hopefully we can continue this tonight. I kiss Melissa on the neck a few times and she wakes up and releases my rock-hard dick from the Bermuda triangle.

She rolls over to face me and whispers, "Good Morning Hero."

I reply, "Good morning beautiful."

She laughs, "Not hardly!"

"Look," I say, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You may be battered and bruised, but you are still beautiful. Beauty is not all external. You are an extremely good-looking woman with a great figure, I see your beauty also coming from within and that attracts me to you. Please don't put yourself down. Even the Venus de milo has flaws, but she is still regarded as one of the world's most beautiful."

"OK hero, just for you," she whispers. She gave he a very soft lingering kiss. I wanted to continue but...

"Hey, we need to get up and around. We got a busy day today. Rick is going to bring the Big John tree spade out today. We will need to take him home, and then I need to come back and be done with that, then I want to load up a side by side and go ride the horses." I said,

"Well alright then, what are we doing laying around in bed?" she laughs.

We get up, dress, and walk into the kitchen. Melissa starts coffee and I start cooking breakfast. Pancakes and sausage on the menu today. I mix the batter while the cast iron griddle and the cast iron skillet are heating up. Put the sausage patties in the cast iron skillet and they start to sizzle. I check the griddle by flipping water droplets on it. They dance and evaporate telling me that the griddle is ready for the batter. In no time we are enjoying buttered pancakes with syrup and perfectly cooked pork breakfast sausage.

We finish the meal talking about what we need to do today. Feed the chickens, tend to the garden, get with Rick, fertilize some hickory trees, go for a horseback ride and eat a picnic lunch.

We clear the table and clean the kitchen and then feed and water the chickens. Rick calls and says he is on his way with the machine. He says he will be here in about an hour. I say, "Let's start in the garden and see what is ready to pick. Should be green beans, black-eyed peas, tomatoes, start checking the okra, it should be starting to come in soon along with the corn. There maybe a few cukes and squash. Let's get some harvesting snips. We won't finish before Rick gets here but maybe we can have a good start."

We start with the tomatoes and harvest about a half a bushel. Then we collect about a half a bushel of green beans and almost the same of black-eyed peas. We decide to leave the okra and the cukes and squash for another day. We rinse the veggies off and set them under the covered patio out of the sun. Just as we sit down, Red alerted, and Roscoe growled.

"EZ Roscoe," and he sat down. Red barked one more time and I told her to "HUSH", and she sat down.

We walk around to the front of the house and Rick is coming up the hill driving the Big John. He honks and we wave. Melissa walks into the house to get some drinks. I point to the area where I want Rick to park the beast. He gets out, we shake hands, and give each other a bro hug.

"Show me how this thing works," I said.

"Ok, all the controls are on the side," Rick said, "You just have to keep an eye on the hydraulic pressure (pointing to a gauge). The levers are all labeled ARM OUT/IN, MOUTH OPEN/ CLOSE, RAISE RELEASE/ LOWER DIG."

He shows me the operating manual with pictures depicting what each lever operating position is supposed to do. Melissa comes out with the drinks, and I introduced Rick to Melissa. She notices Rick's expression and tells him the car wreck story. She says she was traveling and gave a location a couple of counties over where the wreck had occurred. She knew me from my hometown and knew I was in the area. She got my phone number from my mom and called to see if she could stay a while until everything got sorted. I was gracious enough to let her stay. Rick's curiosity seemed to be satisfied.

We finish the drinks, and I suggest that Rick follow me in the Big John and let me do a test dig and see if I understand the operating instruction enough to not damage the Big John. He agreed.

I collected the glasses and walk into the house to get the truck keys leaving Melissa and Rick to talk. Rick said, "I hope you stay around a while."

"Why is that?" Melissa asks.

"JJ is a great guy. I love him like a brother. You couldn't ask for a better friend. He will give you the shirt off his back anywhere, anytime, all you have to do is ask. He will drop what he is doing to help you in a second. I hate to see him out here all alone. He needs a companion, a friend, someone to fill the hole in his soul. I don't even think he knows there is a hole in his soul, but there is. He will be even a better man once that hole no longer exists."

Melissa nods in agreement. "He gave me an open-ended invitation, and I don't have any firm plans. His action toward me has shown he is a good man. He has been good to me since I have been here. We will see how it progresses," she winks at Rick with her good eye and smiles.

As I come out of the house, Melissa walks toward the truck and we get in. She spoke, "Rick seems like a good friend of yours."

"He is. He's my closest and my most trusted friend," I said.

I take him to the place where I want to transplant a trio of small pecan trees. He lets me handle the controls while he explains what I need to do. His instructions along with the operating manual how to manipulate the hydraulic controls, help me to successfully dig a hole for a tree. I tell him if I have any questions I will call before I proceed so as to not cause damage to the Big John.

"I'll take you home so you can get on with your day," I tell Rick.

Melissa gets in the middle and Rick got in on the passenger side and off we went. Rick and Melissa talk constantly, mainly about me. Rick is able to poke fun without getting too deep and I gave him a few verbal jabs back. Rick is married to wife #2 (Becky). Both have been cheated on and have similar beliefs on infidelity. They seem to have a transparent relationship. She works with Rick. She runs the nursery side of the business while Rick runs the tree doctor side.

Rick works the nursery when the tree doctor stuff is slow. He is real busy during the spring storm season and with tree clean up after a storm. The conversations keep flowing which helps make the drive go bye. We arrive at the nursery and as Rick is getting out of the truck, Becky comes out of the nursery office. I introduced Becky to Melissa.

Becky comments to Melissa, "You must be special. I don't think I have seen this handsome knucklehead out in public with a woman in the daytime. It is nice to meet you, Melissa. Hope to see you around more."

Melissa smiles and says, "It is nice to meet you, Becky. I would like that. I don't know many people around here and the ones that I have met seem nice."

Becky nods and pats me on the arm, "I gotta get back to work, Mondays are crazy around here. JJ don't be such a stranger." Becky turns and leaves. Rick waves and follows Becky into the business.

Melissa looks at me and said, "She seems nice."

"Yeah," I said, "Becky is a good one. Her and Rick belong together. They have a good work ethic and seem to want the same things out of life. I believe that you and your partner need to want the same things in life. They make each other better." I start the truck and start the journey home.

I ask, "Do you want to go by a clinic and get an STD test?" She nods her head. I pull over into a parking lot. "I don't know where to go so I can either look some clinic up that takes walk ins or I could call Becky and see what she recommends. Which way would you rather go?"

"I think I would rather just look up a clinic. I would be too embarrassed to talk to Becky," she said.

"Sure. I understand," I said.

I look up clinics in the area and there are two that advertise walk ins. One is the county health clinic and the other is Doctor Johansen on the other side of town.

I call and put them on speaker. "My sister needs an STD test. How soon can she get results."

The receptionist says, "It will be 2-5 days for results. Melissa nods.

"How busy are you at the moment?" I ask.

She said, "Currently the office is empty."

"Great we will be there in about 20 minutes," I ended the call and took off across town.

We arrive at the office and Melissa registers. Melissa fills out various forms. She has insurance coverage. I wait with her about 15 minutes. They call her back and she leaves her purse with me. She is back to the reception area after about 30 minutes. Her eyes are a little red and puffy when she comes back out.

"Are you OK?" I ask.

"Yes, I told the doctor that I had been raped and that is why I need to be tested. She wanted to call the police and I told her I wasn't going to pursue charges. I lost it a little when the memories came flooding back. I'm OK. The doctor told me that if I didn't hear from them by Friday to call them."

We walk out of the office I put my arm around her waist to comfort her. She leans her head on my upper arm. We load up in the truck and head for home.

"So, you and Rick seemed to be having a deep conversation when I came out of the house. Care to tell me what the topic of conversation was?" I asked.

"You," she replied.

"I had no idea I was that interesting," I commented.

Melissa continued, "Rick offered his thoughts. That how he thinks the world of you and how generous you are. He said you are loyal to a fault and can be counted on in thick and thin. He told me that he believes you need someone. He said that you don't see it, but every else that you know sees it. To me, you seem like a very independent man, maybe too independent for your own good."

I pull a toothpick out of the sun visor and chew on it in silence. I nod taking in all that Melissa had just said. I am thinking about it and the last couple of days.

"Did I lose you?" she asks.

"No, I was just thinking about what you and Rick think of me and my situation. I mean, I don't have to solve my complex and world shaking issues right this minute. But I guess it is nice to know what your friends think of you. Anyway, when we get home, I'm going to load up some stuff and go make some holes. I don't expect you to help or even want to. I'd prefer you to finish working the garden and sort the veggies. I think it will take me about 3 hours to be done. After that we can go horseback riding. I've got a nice spot for a picnic in mind I think you will like."