Player Three

Bach looked at me. "Okay, that's a little... unclear, but okay."

"My dad lives in New Jersey," Audra said. "Him and Mom are divorced."

She was obviously a very confiding young lady.

"We're just staying here until we can find another place," Liv said. "We're going to look at a place tomorrow night. If you want to come to school with us tomorrow, Audra, we can show you around."

Audra seemed to like that idea and they made plans. Neither of them seemed at all uncomfortable sitting next to me with my arms around them, and I sure wasn't going to complain. They were gorgeous! They both had that clear redhead skin, those baby-blues were amazing and they were very friendly and talkative.

By the time we went back to our suite, they seemed like old friends. Bach was looking for a job. She was an accountant, and I promised that I'd ask around and see if I knew anyone. We made plans to meet for dinner the next evening, and went our separate ways.

Work flew by, and we met Bach and Audra at the restaurant in the hotel. It was as good as advertised. We had an appointment to look at one of the townhouses after dinner, and Liv invited Bach and Audra to go. They seemed excited, so we all piled into the Trackhawk and went house shopping.

The agent met us and showed us around. It had its own entrance, garage and there was a little private yard and garden. There were neighbors to the west, but not to the east where the lawn and garden were. The girls loved the outside, and I was pretty impressed, too.

When we went in, there was a living room, a kitchen, a laundry room, an office, a common bath and a master-suite on the first floor. There were two large bedrooms and a bath on the second floor, and the third floor had another suite. It was very nice, and all four of the girls loved it.

"Do we need to look at the other one?" I asked.

"I can't imagine that I would like it any better," Cat said.

Liv agreed. "Same," she said. "This looks perfect, to me."

We talked to the agent and I signed some papers. She would get all the rest of the paperwork done and she promised it would be ready in a week.

We piled back into the Jeep and I took them for ice cream.

The girls took Audra to school with them twice, and we all had dinner together three out of the next five nights. I was really getting comfortable with Bach and Audra.

The girls met their mom for lunch, as they'd promised. I gathered it didn't go well.

"She's living in some fantasy world," Cat said. "She thinks she can 'explain' everything to you, to us, and that she can have lovers, have all this 'excitement,' you guys will just... bang everyone you want, and our family will all just be fine."

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I told her she's delusional," Liv said.

I chuckled. "That was a big hit?"

She smiled ruefully. "Not exactly. She wants to talk to you, Dad. She says she doesn't want a divorce. Cat told her she was probably going to get one, and she got all mad and left."

"Are you going to talk to her?" Cat asked me.

"Yes, I'm going to be talking to her a lot," I said. "I'm done with her, girls, but she's your mom, so we're going to have to talk to her. There will be a lot of divorce things to talk about."

"Well, I'll talk to her," Cat said. "We aren't going to be hanging out, though. If Livvy wants to, that's fine."

"I don't," Olivia said. "Why would I? She is our mom, Cat, and we kind of owe her something. Mom and Dad have taken care of us all our lives. To be honest, both of us have depended more on you than her, Dad. Always. She always pushed our shit off on you. You were the one who took us to our games, dance lessons, went to school conferences with us."

"Yes, I know," Cat said. "Still, if we had a friend who treated Dad the way Mom has, would we wanna hang out with them? I would block them off everything and I wouldn't be hanging out with them. Ever."

I sighed. "I love you so much. You're my babies, and I am so thankful to have you. I understand how you feel. She is your mother, and I'll be civil to her, but we aren't going to be friends, like you said, Cat."

I rented a truck and we went back to the house while Pat was at work, packed up all our stuff and took it to the townhouse. That brought another round of calls and texts, and the girls met her for lunch again.

The next time I saw her was in her attorney's office. Angela Abbot and I went there to discuss the divorce with them. It was as complicated and traumatic as you can imagine. Pat was insisting that she didn't want a divorce, she was going to fight it, ask for counseling, all the usual maneuvers. Her attorney, Sam Roberts, seemed like he was representing her well. He wasn't hateful or confrontational, just laying out her position.

"Ms. Abbot, my client does not want a divorce," he said. "She has never asked for a divorce and believes that this marriage should continue. She believes that with counselling, the marriage can be preserved."

"Yes, we understand that's her position," Angela said. "That is not my client's position. He offered to go to counseling with her, before her adultery. She refused. He is refusing now."

"Do you think it's likely that the court won't order counseling?" he asked.

"I do think it's unlikely," she said. "It's rare, as you know, in this state, and we are not a state that requires it. In view of your client's adultery and the fact that there are no minor children involved makes it highly unlikely. There is no possibility that my client is going to reconcile and stay married to his wife."

"Daniel, if you would just..." Pat began, before both attorneys shut her down. I said nothing.

I wrote a note and gave it to Angela. She looked at it and frowned at me. "I advise against this," she said. "Are you sure?" I nodded.

"We need to do financial disclosure," she said to Roberts. They traded documents, and Angela passed my note to Roberts. He read it, nodded, and we left.

"Don't do anything foolish," she told me before she left. "Take someone with you. Not your daughters. Just as a witness."

I reported to the girls when I got back, and they suggested that I take Bach with me. "Noo, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that," I said. "I wouldn't even know how to ask her."

Bach and Audra had moved out of the Adams, but we still got together for dinner on Fridays, and Audra seemed like she was the girl's best friend. She was around, almost daily, and I was getting to know her very well.

It turned out that I did know someone who needed to fill an accountant position, and she hired Bach, right away. Audra said she loved the job, and was doing well. Bach gushed about it on Fridays.

The girls and I had gone furniture shopping, picked everything out and we moved into the townhouse. They took the two bedrooms on the second floor, and we had a guest room on the third. Audra had spent a few nights there.

I asked Bach out to dinner on a Wednesday night and asked her if she might be willing to meet Pat with me, after the girls bugging me about it for two weeks. I was very nervous about it, but she didn't act like it was a big deal. We had a nice dinner and she looked great, as always. She was funny, easy to talk to and very intelligent. I decided her ex-husband must have been an idiot to let her get away.

I texted Pat and set up to meet her for lunch. I picked Bach up, and she seemed to have gone to a little extra effort. She was gorgeous, and I wondered how Pat would react to that. She handled it well, as it turned out. In fact, it pretty much solidified my position.

I introduced them when Bach and I arrived. Pat was already there, and we were seated quickly. We ordered, and Pat jumped in with both feet.

"How do you know Daniel, Bach?" she asked.

"We met at the hotel where we were both staying," Bach said. "Our daughters go to the same school and they're really close friends."

"Are you and Daniel 'really close friends'?" Pat asked.

I saw a sparkle in Bach's baby-blues. "I think we are," she said. "If you're asking if we're lovers, that answer would be, none of your business."

I was surprised that Pat didn't blow up at that. "Well, I am still married to him," she said, "but maybe I asked the wrong person."

"You might have, but that's not the problem, Pat," I told her. "You're the wrong person to be asking. You gave up any right to ask about anything I do with your little club excursion."

"This is a story I've got to hear," Bach said.

"I could tell you it's none of your business," Pat said, "but I won't. You're probably about my age, Bach. Have you ever felt old, unattractive, like the best years of your life are behind you? Have you ever felt like your husband is the only person who thinks you're attractive, and he only does because he looks at you through the rose-tinted glasses of love?"

"Yes, to the first part, but my husband didn't look at me through any 'tinted glasses'," Bach said. "He looked at other women through the x-ray glasses of lust and undressed them with his eyes, before trying to undress them in the flesh, so to speak. But you were making a point, I believe?"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Pat said. "I was making a point. I have felt like that for five years. I have needed to know that men, besides Daniel, think I'm attractive. I realize it sounds insecure and irrational, but that's how I've felt."

"Why didn't you say so," I asked.

She sighed. "I did, Daniel. You always dismissed how I felt, told me I was beautiful and tried to love the blues away. It would work for a while. Bach, I wanted Daniel and I to go to a swingers club. I didn't really have any idea of having sex. I wanted Daniel and I to go, see what it was like, see if I really am attractive to other people. I thought if we went there, I would see if people hit on me, invited me into the private rooms. I'd get that thought out of my head if they did."

"I don't pretend to understand," Bach said. "If your husband thinks you're attractive, why would you give a fuck what anyone else thinks?"

Pat shrugged. "I guess I'm that insecure. I asked, begged Daniel to go. The more I asked, the more I tried to explain, the more pissed off he got. That pissed me off, and I finally just thought, fuck it, he's never going to get with the program. I got a friend of a friend to take me. It all got out of hand... That's the story."

"That's A story," I said. "THE story, from my perspective, is a little different."

Our food came, and we were interrupted for a bit. "Okay, let's hear your story, Daniel," Pat said.

"I remember it quite vividly," I said. "I asked you if your plan was to hook up with someone there, and you said something like, not at first. After we got comfortable with the place, we'd talk about it."

"That's a different story, all right," Bach said.

"It's a continuation of the same story," Patricia said.

"Well, if we're continuing stories," I said, "I also remember something like 'I don't answer to you. This is going to happen'."

Pat shrugged. "I told you, I was pissed off. I'm sorry."

"So am I," I told her. "You have your perspective. Yours is the only one that matters to you. I have mine, and mine says you disrespected me in the worst possible way, you were showing me that I wasn't your boss, you went and banged some dude, maybe many, and expected me to just take it. I'm not going to take it. I'm moving on, Pat. I suggest you do the same."

"Okay then, I hate to break it to you, but we seem to have an impasse here," Bach said. "What say we enjoy our lunch and talk about something else?"

"I just want to say, I'm not a hypocrite," Pat said. "If you two are lovers, I'm okay with that. It wouldn't be a problem. God, you're beautiful, Bach."

Bach blushed a little. "Thanks, but we're not, and we're not going to be."

I arched an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry, Daniel. No, I'm really not. You're a great guy, and I hope we can be "really close friends," but not like Patricia meant it. If I was interested in a guy, you would be at the head of the list. I've... met someone. I'm very interested in her, and she seems like she's interested in me."

"Oh," Pat and I said it together, and all three of us laughed.

"I see," I said. "I really didn't have any expectations, and I very much want to be your very close friend. I love your daughter, Bach." I turned to Pat. "She has an amazing daughter. They look very much alike, and Audra, her daughter, hangs out at our place with Liv and Cat all the time."

"She loves you, too," Bach said. "I know she also loves Olivia and Catalina."

"About them," Pat said. "Do you think you can intercede with them a little for me, Daniel? They will hardly talk to me. I'm sorry I said you were turning them against me, by the way."

"I'm not turning them against you," I said. "I've encouraged them to talk to you, but I'm not pushing them. They are grown women, and they'll do what they want. I won't discourage them, but it's on you to fix your relationship with them, not me."

She nodded. "Fair enough. I'm not giving up, Daniel. I want you back, but things would have to change."

"Just don't," I said. "Moving on, remember?"

We talked about other things, and soon enough, Bach and I went our way and Pat went hers.

Driving Bach back to her office, I thanked her. "Sorry to drag you into all the drama," I said.

She patted my arm. "Don't be," she said. "I told you Audra loves you. So do I, Daniel. You and the girls have been so kind to us. I kind of feel like you're my best friend I have here. I was happy to help you."

I leaned over and hugged her, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

As it turned out, we did stay close. She took over the accounting for my business, and we had lunch at least once a week. Audra spent nearly as much time at our place as she did theirs.

Inside a year, I felt like I had known them all my life, and we did all sorts of shit together. My girls did manage some sort of relationship with their mother, and I knew they did things with her, just finding out by accident from time to time. They never mentioned her to me, and I didn't ask.

The divorce went through, although it took a hell of a lot longer than it should have. Pat sent me a birthday card, and another at Christmas, but I never responded. It was a big relief when I got the final notice.

*****

Audra graduated from college with a degree in forensic accounting two years later, and she got accepted into the business school where she was going to get an MBA. Bach's company was expanding, and they were very interested in Audra.

Olivia and Catalina were in their last year, and I had all the usual thoughts a parent does. They would get jobs, find a partner and move out. I wasn't looking forward to that, but that's life. You can't keep your babies as babies forever.

I met Bach's lady, and she was a cute little petite brunette named Molly. I liked her, instantly. The girls liked her, too, and she became part of our tribe.

I started noticing something, soon after Audra's graduation. She would be over at the house and the girls would tell us they had to go do something, leaving Audra and me together. We were pals, and it wasn't awkward, but it seemed like Liv and Cat were manufacturing errands, appointments, things that demanded their attention.

Audra and I would have dinner together, go to movies, go have a beer or just Netflix and chill. She belonged to the same gym I did and we worked out together quite often. When we first met, she had been gorgeous, but sort of tall and very slender. I noticed her workouts were paying off. She was getting strong.

She had muscles on her muscles, and the outfits she wore let you know there was a dynamite package in there. Her butt was spectacular and her legs were strong and beautiful. She had better abs than I did.

It was pretty much of an ego stroke to walk into the gym with her and see all the guys look. In a bar or club, it was the same. She was a very physical girl, hugging me constantly, holding my hand or keeping an arm around my waist while we were walking.

I got home from work one Friday, and the girls told me they had dates. I showered and changed, thinking about what I was going to have for dinner, and Audra came in. I looked up from the sofa where I was sitting, thinking about dinner, and did a double-take. Damn! She looked spectacular.

She had on a gold dress that hugged her like a second skin, that hair was up in a very elegant style, she had a gold chain around her graceful neck and big gold hoops. That dress left her shoulders bare, with those sleeves that went straight across from the neckline, it was very short and it had a slit up one side that let you peek at one beautiful thigh.

"Hi, sweetheart," I said. "You look great. Got a date tonight?"

She came and gave me a kiss, then stood in front of me and did a twirl for me. "You like?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. You're going to break hearts, looking like that. A special occasion?"

"I hope so," she said. "I don't know yet. Do you have plans?"

"Nope, I was just thinking about dinner," I said.

"I have reservations." She cocked her head to the side a little like she always did when she was going to ask you something. "Would you go to dinner with me, Daniel?"

I was always up for that. "I'll have to get dressed," I told her.

She glanced at her phone. "Will that take more than 30 minutes? We have 45, and it will take us 15 to get there."

I hurried, pulling on black slacks, a pink Oxford shirt, my black shoes and giving myself a spray with some cologne. I looked in the mirror. I wasn't going to look anything close to Audra, but I wasn't bad, I thought. Smiling at my own narcissism, I was ready in 20 minutes.

She was drinking some orange juice in the kitchen when I came out, and I offered her my arm. "Your chariot awaits," I said. She giggled. She had the cutest giggle.

It turned out she took me to eat seafood, and it was delicious. I had shrimp and she had crab legs. I cracked some for her and fed her bites, dipped in the butter, and we had a blast. I asked her if she wanted dessert, and she declined.

"What I really want is for you to take me dancing," she said.

This was new, something we'd never done before. She knew where she wanted to go, and she gave me directions. There was a line outside, but she just ignored it and the door guy let us in. "How did you swing that?" I asked.

"I go to school with him and I told him I might be coming," she said.

"Ah, it pays to know people," I mentioned.

She shot me a dazzling smile and we got drinks, found an open booth and slid in. As soon as I was comfortable, she slid over against me and put my arm around her bare shoulders. She looked up at me. "Remember the first time we met?" she asked.

"I do," I said. "At the Adams."

She nodded. "Remember Liv switched places with me and we were sitting just like this?"

"Yep. I was the luckiest guy in the city," I said. "You on one side and Bach on the other."

She giggled. "Well, she couldn't make it, so you only have me." She finished her drink. "Dance with me, Daniel."

I was happy to dance with this beautiful woman. I got a surprise: she knew how to dance. I had taken all those classes with Pat, and Audra knew all the steps. Not only that, but she was athletic, very coordinated and she moved like a dream. We danced two fast songs, then the DJ put on an oldie, "When A Man Loves a Woman."

I looked at Audra, and she held up her arms, expectantly. I pulled her up close, and she snuggled into my embrace. She was the perfect height. In her heels, she was nearly as tall as I was, and she bent her head, laying her cheek on my shoulder as we moved together.

"I love dancing with you, Daniel," she murmured. "Do you like me?"

"I love you, sweetheart," I told her. "I have ever since I got to know you."