The Santa Barbara Sun Pt. 01

Prologue

Most days, she did her exercise at noon and relaxed in the pool afterward. Floating on her front, head in the water, thinking. The Santa Barbara sun was hot on her naked back as she drifted over to the black granite infinity edge facing the ocean and rested her head in the half inch of water flowing past. It made a very small burbling noise. She shoved back and turned over, eyes closed, working her hands to move herself about. This is my thinking moment, she thought, just floating and letting the sun warm me.

Chapter 1

His heart attack was at work, and he was in the hospital cardiac unit after a short ambulance ride. Thirty years of climbing the executive ladder were over. They let him out of the hospital in a week, and she took her father home.

He looked at her and said, "Allie, my heart is in bad shape. Too much stress for too long. Surgeon said if I want to live, I have to take early retirement and go somewhere I can have a healthy existence."

He stretched out on the sofa and closed his eyes. She sipped a glass of wine to quiet her nerves and didn't like what she saw. Ralph Jenkins, computer industry pioneer, betrayed by a body to which he had not paid enough attention.

He opened his eyes and stared at her. "What am I going to do, honey? I don't know anything except computers." She walked to him and knelt. Taking his hand, she kissed a bristly cheek and said, "Dad, I am going to take a leave and we will work something out. You are not to worry. Right now, you need to rest and let your body heal."

He was fifty-three and she was twenty-eight, an only child of a marriage that dissolved long ago. She still saw her mother one day a year, in London. They didn't know how to relate to each other, so were polite and distant. The tie that bound them together was very slim indeed.

Ralph slipped into a nap, but she stayed on the floor, holding his hand. Other than gender, they were much alike. Smart, introverted, aggressively self-sufficient. Determined to make some kind of mark on the world. His contributions to compiler design and optimization were well known. Growing up, he had never encouraged her about computers and she followed her muse into European literature and languages. His assignments abroad propelled her into other cultures and other social milieu. She was independent from an early age and never thought of herself as a Daddy's girl. But each opportunity to go on her own, starting with university years, had passed by, untaken.

She got up from his side and went to the guest bedroom to change. Her current job was in Paris, translating and editing technical publications for a lab directed by one of her father's friends. They had been there together until recently, when the company asked him to replace the head of an R&D facility in North Carolina that had gotten into trouble. As soon as she heard he was in the hospital, she had packed a suitcase and flown to him. She looked at the meager contents of her bag. She needed shorts and there weren't any. In fact, there was nothing comfortable to deal with the heat and humidity of a North Carolina summer. They had to get away, she realized.

Gently touching her shoulder, he woke her from a jet lag nap. "Hi, would you like to get some lunch?" They walked to the car, hand in hand. His gait was improving. They went to the small dining room of his golf club and had salads, looking out at the championship course filled with men in carts. He played golf poorly and told his associates, laughing, "Golf is the responsibility of the marketing department."

He looked at her and said, "Allie, I don't want you to wreck your life looking after me. There is plenty of money to pay for help." His eyes had some of their fire back.

She stared back and replied, "We've been together for twenty-eight years and I am not abandoning you. This climate is not healthy. And it's worse up north. What about California?"

He responded, "We could be snowbirds, the Caribbean in the winter, a New England cottage in the summer."

He had fine hands with long fingers. She worked his fingers and traced his palm with her nail.

"Let's not make permanent decisions now. I have a school friend whose family lives in Santa Barbara. There are a lot of computer people there. The UCSB department is good. Perhaps they would make you an adjunct and you could keep your hand in." She squeezed it and smiled at him, "I don't think my famous father is ready to go cold turkey on his life's work."

They stood to go and he gave her a special hug. "Allie, you are such a boost to my morale. Lying there last week in the ICU with an oxygen mask, I thought I was a goner."

She tightened her arm around his waist. "Not yet, dad. Not yet."

He improved every day and saw the doctor once a week. The company was being very generous, but had their own heart doctor check him over. The verdict was the same, too much heart damage to return to a senior executive position. He said, "Your EKG looks awful, Ralph. Take the pension and disability and go someplace relaxing."

He was intrigued by Allie's suggestion about Santa Barbara, but the doctor would not let him travel. "Maybe in a month, Ralph."

Allie volunteered to fly out and reconnoitre. He worried about her job. "They are being very nice, dad. A few more weeks will be ok." She didn't tell him she had already resigned.

In the usual way, her friend's mother had a real estate agent in mind, and Allie spent an afternoon learning the highs and lows of Santa Barbara homes. Higher was better, with nicer views and less fog. And more expensive, of course. Toward the end of the day, the woman said, "I'm going to take you to a place that some friends are going to put on the market soon. It is too much house for them now and they are moving to a nice retirement home at the other end of the city. If you are seriously interested, I can arrange a private transaction with a reduced commission."

The house was up a steep road, on a pad carved out of the hill. A modern design with lots of glass and strong horizontal lines. On the south side was a gorgeous pool that dominated the patio and had incredible views of the ocean and the Channel Islands in the far distance.

The agent said, "Three thousand square feet, three bedrooms, three baths, everything in the kitchen updated last year. A fabulous infinity pool." The owners were cordial and gracious, and not ready to talk about a sale date or a price.

On the way back to her hotel, the agent told Allie that the property was very attractive in the local market and an offer would need to be close to three million. "The husband was in commercial real estate in Chicago before he retired, and thinks he still knows about these things." They smiled at each other and Allie asked what was needed to get on the inside track when the house came to market.

"If you are in a position to make an all cash offer, we may not need an escrow, and he would like that. Told me that he always did his deals on a handshake."

She had dinner with her friend's family and picked up all the local gossip. They said that the neighborhood of the glass house, above the Bowl, was considered very desirable and if she and Ralph had that much money, they would not regret buying it.

Knowing her father was meticulous about these things, Allie used the time on the flight east to make a careful sheet of notes about her real estate tour, describing various places, the price/altitude ratio, and the virtues of the last house she had seen. Because it wasn't listed, there were no photographs, and she realized she should have taken some with her smartphone camera. And wondered whether her father would commit three million to a house he hadn't seen.

Ralph seemed very peppy when she got to his house, and insisted they go out to dinner. While they waited to be served, he stole sips of her wine and smiled at her trip report.

"Give me the bottom line, Allie, what would you do? You know I have a lot of faith in your judgment."

"Dad, we've never really talked about money. How much of a dent in your savings is three million?"

He kept smiling, "If it is the right thing to do, three million is not a problem. I guess you liked it?"

"I did a little list: location, design, match to our lifestyle, things like that. It rates way above the other properties I saw."

"What are the downsides?"

"It's not on the market, and the owners might change their minds about moving. We may need some patience. But the agent knows them well, and seems to be on our side. We should probably send her a generous deposit, maybe a hundred thousand, and a bank letter saying you are able to complete an all cash transaction for at least three million."

"More?"

"I'm nervous about hillsides and earthquakes. We should pay for a careful soils and seismic review."

"Done. Let's go ahead."

"It's ok without seeing it yourself?"

"Get me some pictures, but I am sure the answer is yes."

In ninety days, the Santa Barbara house was theirs and they were moving in. The North Carolina doctors had sent a five pound Fed Ex package of his abundant medical history to the best clinic in town and Ralph had already seen a cardiac guy he liked.

Allie had a tough moment with her father when she admitted the Paris job was history. His eyes flashed and he was in the middle of saying, "You foolish..." when he sat back and shook his head.

"You're right. There are things I can't manage any more. Let's work together to make this an opportunity for you as well as me." She discovered a grown woman could still crawl into her dad's lap and cry on his shoulder.

Chapter 2

They were naked, sitting on towels in front of a very large monitor with several programming windows open. Munching on Maria's vegie sandwiches as she worked on their hair and made suggestions.

"Maya, you are going to ruin your eyes squinting at those little lines. Both of you."

"Mama, this is important. I need a good grade in this course. And Allie needs to learn too, if she is going to write technical manuals about it."

Maria Rodrigo came with the house. The departing couple said that she had been hired as a housekeeper but gradually came to manage everything. The wife told Allie that Maria was a terrific person on top of everything else, with two great kids.

The day Ralph and Allie moved in, Maria insisted on helping. At lunch, Allie asked if she was interested in continuing her work with the new owners. Maria had perfect English and said perhaps they should take a week or two to get to know each other. Then they could decide.

There never was any doubt and Maria became part of their lives. She was proud of her smart daughter, younger than Allie by six years, but more experienced about life in many ways. One morning, she announced that the daughter was coming to help when class was over, so that the two of them could leave early to attend a celebration of a relative's wedding in Los Angeles.

That afternoon, Allie had finished an important writing job and was in the pool. She looked up and a version of Maria was standing at the edge.

"Hello, I am Maya. Mama says you have invited us to use the pool if we want. I have to finish a bathroom and then go, but may I come back some time? The water looks nice."

"Yes, please do. Anytime. You don't have to worry about a suit. I usually don't."

Maya was a sophomore at UCSB in computer science. She was done at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays and came for lunch and a swim her next free day. Allie was already in the pool, naked and tan, when Maya appeared and dropped her clothes on a patio chair. They looked at each other and smiled. Allie said, "That's a fantastic body. If I were a guy, I would be on you in a second."

Maya dove into Allie's arms and said, "What if you don't have to be a guy? I get hit on by girls at school all the time." They sank to the bottom, kissing.

Thus began a strange, wild relationship that dragged Allie away from worries about her dad. After a few weeks, she thought it had dragged her away from everything. Ralph, whose heart was weakening and was on oxygen continuously, was pleased. He said, "Maya is good for you, Allie. All that energy and brains."

Allie said, "Yes, dad," thinking of the kisses she shared with her hot new friend. She wasn't sure she had Maya figured out yet.

The Rodrigos were a close, hard working family. Manuel's mother had gotten across the border in time to deliver him in Calexico. His birth certificate and passport were precious and he used them carefully and with much thought. By the time he was fifteen, he was busy doing lawns and landscaping for gringos willing to take a chance with the earnest Mexican kid. A succession of teachers for whom he worked very hard helped him to assimilate and eased him out of his accent. His grades won him a medal at high school graduation and an acceptance at the UC Riverside campus. He studied hard and went through a period in college wanting to get as far away from agriculture as possible.

In his junior year, Manuel paid a visit to the career center, where a sympathetic woman talked about opportunities for Hispanic graduates. She was direct. "Manuel, despite the laws about equal opportunity, you will find all kinds of discrimination out there. Your history card says you were a landscaping businessman as a teenager. You already know the essentials. What about setting up your own business in one of the upscale suburbs? Irvine, or Malibu, or Ventura? Rich people are spending a lot of money on mansions and fancy landscaping. If you take some courses here about plants and eco-systems, you can work with architects and garden designers."

He took the advice and moved to Santa Barbara after graduation, finding an entry level job with a Hispanic gardening outfit and keeping his college degree to himself. At night and on the weekends, he exchanged his working clothes for fashionable outfits and patronized bars near the university, meeting smart Anglos and absorbing their values and tastes. After a few months, he felt his strategy was working and took a week off to visit his family hometown near Hermosillo. In his wallet was a picture from a family gathering that had a beautiful young face in it. She was a cousin he had never met. He asked his aunt for an introduction in the traditional manner, and took Maria to a nice place for dinner. She was smart and bold and asked him why he was there, taking out a girl with no papers to get across the border.

She was very attractive and flashed her dark eyes at him. He knew she must get a lot of attention from the local young men, much of it aggressive and unwanted.

He waited a moment and said, softly and in Spanish, "I have been in love with you since high school. I am making a life in the States and would like you to marry me."

They stared at each other and she said, responding in good English, "You are fresh, Manuel. In Mexico, a sincere man does not express his love on a first date."

He smiled, and said, again in Spanish, "You are right, Maria, our aunt would be angry with me. May I take you out tomorrow night?"

They finished the meal and walked to her home. She looked over at him frequently, trying to guess what this distant relative she had never met was doing. Some of her friends were pregnant after their first dates, and the men had disappeared. Manuel didn't know it, but she was determined to be a virgin on her wedding night and carried a knife in her purse.

At her door, he pressed her hand with his and asked for a kiss. Most dates just took it as a reward for spending money on her. This guy was different, asking first. His lips were firm but tender. She let them linger longer than usual. "Yes, I will go out with you tomorrow. There is a dance."

He escorted her every night for the rest of the week. The day before he had to go back, he asked his aunt if she thought the family would allow them to marry.

"Manuel, the girls here will do anything to marry and follow a guy across the border. Why do you want Maria?"

"There is something in me, even back in high school, that said she was probably the one. I came to see if that was true and to see if she will have me. I asked her the very first night and she said I was fresh and you would be angry. Last night, I asked her again, and she said I must have your permission."

"She is in love with you? You are not forcing her?"

"Tia, this is for real. I will be a good husband. I will build the business in Santa Barbara and marry in the spring."

After Manuel had gone, Maria sat with her aunt and asked what to do.

"He is very handsome. He has a passport and works hard. But do you love him?"

She cried on her aunt's shoulder and said, "I think so. He is so sweet. Are you ever sure about love?"

They did marry in the spring, the traditional ceremony going on for twenty-four hours. For the duration, neither of them spoke any English. In the wedding bed, she lay unclothed and smiled at his big hard cock pointing at her. "Manuel, I don't know how many girls you have had, and don't care. Take your virgin bride now, I am tired of waiting."

He did. The taking was slow and tender. The rest of the night was wild and, she thought, very naughty. Her body tensed up time after time and she was exhausted when the day brightened in the east and they finally slept.

He flew them to Cabo San Lucas, where he spent all of his savings on an American hotel. They spoke only English and he bought her a daring bikini like the girls wore around the pool.

At night, with the balcony doors open and the warm breeze blowing, he turned out the light and danced with her naked, to the throbbing music coming from below. She could feel his stiff cock between her legs, and see it flopping in the light from outside. He guided her to the railing, looking down at the pool, and silently pushed the big thing into her. The nice girl from Hermosillo was all grown up now. Doing it outdoors, where others could see if they tried, was so nasty. She didn't tell her mother, but she had a prescription for birth control pills from the clinic and was taking them. She wiggled her ass at Manuel and he growled in her ear. "Are you my bad girl? Bent over the railing taking me all the way?"

He felt so good in there. Why did perfectly healthy girls have to wait so long for this?

"More, husband, more!"

They arrived at their peak at the same time, hardly controlling the noises they needed to make. She was still shaking when she noticed clapping from nearby. On the next balcony was another couple, just losing the last of their clothes. The man was hard and ready. Manuel turned and said, "Thanks, amigo," as he guided her inside. They lay on the bed and listened to the loving outside. Maria was on top, feeling her new lover getting hard again. They could hear the woman saying "Yes, yes, yes."

Maria sat up, laughed silently at Manuel and put him inside of her. When the guy outside started making those last wild noises, Manuel turned her over and matched the other man. They finished together, Maria not caring that she shouted as she came.

Early in the morning, when all was still, he whispered, "Maria, we will make an American life in California and live well and raise our children. I will love you always."

She lazily took his fingers to her sex and repeated what she had heard a girl say to her boyfriend as they walked away from the pool, "Do me." The giggle was cut off as he drove hard into her. The new bride looked her tough husband in the eye and said something bad in Spanish. He drove harder and whispered in English, "Come for me, sexy woman. Tell me you like this after waiting for your marriage night.

"Are you mistreating your wife after only two days?" She twisted up and bit his neck. He responded with a terrible growl and pounded into the firm flesh below. Her breasts were magnificent and he sucked hard on the nipples. She struggled against him and was seized by a shuddering climax as he filled her with his own ejaculation.