The Summer of '78 Ch. 03

Kara was closest, and she almost escaped before he grabbed her by an ankle and flipped her onto her stomach, giggling and protesting. The only thing that saved her was the return of the surfers, who wanted cold drinks and food! Kara quickly volunteered to fix sandwiches to tide them over until supper, so Caelan leered at Lauren; she popped up and ran to help with the sandwiches.

He turned his attention back to his wife, who said, "I think you fixed my broken sex box. I swear I haven't had an erotic thought, much less feeling, since I was kidnapped, until you applied lotion to me! My doctors were all worried -- maybe I should go call them?"

"Let's wait until after tonight," Caelan answered with a wink and leer. "You should have a very positive report for them by then!"

Alone with her husband for the first time in a long time, Barbara Ann sunbathed and talked about the things Dr. Spencer had tried to convince her of while keeping her confused and pliable on mild doses of two hallucinogenics. "Even on drugs, I knew he was wrong, Caelan. You don't control me and use me: you love me and look after me. He thought my struggles with temptations meant I wanted to have sex with other men and women -- and, being honest, I did. But it wasn't fear of you that kept me from doing things," she said with a red face, "it was the desire to keep my wedding vows and be the mom and wife I promised to be! Well, and fear I would lose you, I guess."

"You did exceptionally well under trying circumstances, Darling. Did you know Adrian was mixing small doses of ecstasy in the drinks he was making for you girls? Even with that, you fought him off, just as you did Bridgette, Hans, Ernst and their gang after being injected with a powerful mix of drugs. Then I heard and watched you fight off Spencer, even after he kept you drugged for three days! Heck, girl, you are a hero and tough as nails!"

"There was the one stumble, with Kara and Lauren, though, and you've never confronted me about it, just like you never confronted me about Judy. After the way you came down on Theo and me, I guess I'm confused. How do you really feel about me with other women?"

"In a perfect world, I would always be there to satisfy what we both know is your rather voracious sexual appetite. I do okay when I'm here, don't I?"

She laughed and said, "You rock my world like no one else ever could, and you know it!"

"But sometimes, like last month, I'm not here. I bought you some toys to help take the edge off, but you are very much a people person. You are naturally warm, outgoing, friendly, and you love to talk and listen. You are also very empathetic, and, while strong, oddly vulnerable. Everyone is captivated by that unusual combination of qualities; or perhaps even 'seduced' by them, and you.

Okay, your looks help too!" he said with another leer, before becoming serious again. "But your personality is like a beacon. I definitely see what Lauren and Kara - and Judy, before them - saw in you. They are also beautiful and seductive; so add your loneliness and vulnerability to a mix of drugs and alcohol, and... well, I get it.

Would I be as forgiving if it happened as it did with Theo, right after you and I balled our brains out and you declared your unending love? Not no, but hell no, so erase that thought if it crossed your mind!

Going back to Judy, you were just discovering sex. We weren't serious yet, and, to me, that was just another exploration. Lauren and Kara were different, and a little harder to digest."

The seriousness softened and she saw traces of a shit-eating grin around his lips. "But, I guess, in the end, imagining the three of you all wrapped around each other has a different effect on me than seeing you with some hairy guys!"

HIs grin broke into a smile, and she coyly asked, "So you're saying you'd like to see the three of us naked and engaged in an orgy of some kind? Are you watching, or participating?"

"Participating, of course!"

"Ha! Not likely, Big Boy, but enjoy your vision! Besides, you have a strict policy against fraternization with employees, don't you?"

"Actually, it's more like a loose guideline..."

"No, it is a STRICT policy! You keep your hands and your dirty mind off my friends!"

"Well, in that case, I guess I'll have to hire you too, so that STRICT policy applies to you too!"

She giggled and shook her head. With another leer, Caelan asked, "Isn't it time to turn over and let me do the front?"

She giggled gleefully and turned over, and, after lowering the flap between them and their parents, he proved again that her sex box was working perfectly fine!

At five-thirty Caelan whistled and pointed at the Shack. Barbara Ann, the elders, and the kids started up, while the four who went up earlier came down to help him. They were already clean and dressed for supper, but pitched right in as if they were still in bathing suits.

"You two need to come down more often!" Caelan insisted to his younger brother and sister. "We have plenty of room now, so you can bring friends if you choose." They promised they would, if he would just go get cleaned up and dressed, because they were starving!

Only Barbara Ann, Lauren, and Kara knew where they were going for supper, but everyone was impressed with the new old bar and grill just down the beach, and even more impressed with the quality of the food. Dos and his brother proclaimed these the best hamburgers and fries ever, but Ali Mia argued that her hot dog was better. The adults were similarly impressed, and told Darrell.

He called the cooks out, and they basked in the compliments. After claiming their specialties and describing their training, Bertrand Bergeron said, with a straight face, "Of course, one of the main reasons our food is so good is that the owners let us buy the best ingredients. Most of my spices and the crawdads are imported from my home parish in southwestern Louisiana."

Austin York, the grill master, chimed in, "We serve only prime steaks and our hamburgers are ground sirloin, as is the chili on our market-made Taylor franks. Ya can't make great food without great ingredients!"

"Well, we shared our food so we could try different things, and everything I tried was delicious! I'd like to meet the owners and thank them!" Gary said emphatically. "Where do they live?"

"Sometimes a few hundred yards down the beach, sometimes in Corpus Christi. But if you want to meet them tonight, they're close by!" Darrel said tongue in cheek, and then pointed at the owners.

The unknowing were flabbergasted. Sean recovered first and claimed, "Hey, I thought we were partners in real estate ventures down here!"

"We usually are," Caelan said with a smile, "but this is the place you said wasn't worth the effort, so I did it on my own. What do you think now?"

Shamefaced after the harassment he endured, he finally answered, "Good thing you didn't listen!"

The conversation turned to the remodeling of the old bar, and Barbara Ann offered to show everyone all the "cute things", including the jukebox. She took a quarter from her purse, loudly announced, "A1" and the Beach Boys poured out of the speakers: 'A ba ba ba, ba Barbara Ann...' Caelan insisted everyone dance, and his wife beamed as they all followed his lead, pointing at her each time her name was sung.

Caelan's back was to the door, but he saw his wife and Kara stop dancing and go pale, so he whipped around, prepared for battle. It was Theo, followed by Rod and Doug, with Carlos bringing up the rear. Caelan strode purposefully toward them, as if to confront them. His wife and family could see only his back, not the smile on his face as he went straight to Theo, held his fists in front of him as if preparing to slug him, but instead gave him a hug, and then hugged the other three.

He turned back around and loudly announced that they were responsible for apprehending Adrian and turning him over to the Texas Rangers, to whom he promptly confessed and provided critical information to destroy the drug ring. He called them by name, and asked that they be made welcome. Three mouths were still hanging open when Caelan brought them to the dance floor, but Kara, Lauren, and Barbara Ann recovered and greeted the three they knew.

When the music ended, Caelan called for attention. "This is Carlos de Leon, my friend and one of the main reasons Barbara Ann is here with us today. He led the assault that freed my wife from Bridgette and her gang, and he was with me at the ranch near Sinton when we took down the fake doctor.

He did much more that we won't talk about, but without him I doubt we would be having this celebration tonight. Carlos, the first round is on me, and it's in your honor!"

Barbara Ann wasn't drinking so soon after her trauma, and her friends declined alcohol in sympathy, but accepted RC Colas. They showed the parents and kids the slab and the deck above it, while Caelan, his brother and sister, and the four late arrivals drank an ice-cold Lone Star beer.

When the others returned, minus the kids, their mom, and her friends, they got a cold beer and joined the conversation.

"Your wife and kids are on the deck watching the moon, stars, clouds, and airplanes; they won't return until the show ends!" Peggy teased, but they were back in ten minutes.

"The clouds got too thick," Lauren explained.

"Hey, there aren't enough chairs," Barbara Ann exclaimed. "I guess I'll have to sit on your lap, Hubby!"

She plopped down sideways, across his lap, and smirked, which drew a big laugh. He grinned and pulled her lithe little body against himself; she wiggled and kissed his chin, then giggled.

They talked a lot and danced a little, and called it a night at 10. They told the staff and the four men goodbye, and walked home laughing and talking. Caelan carried Sean Michael and Alison Amelia, and ten-year-old Caelan, Jr. -- Dos - looked unhappy about being too big to be carried.

Sleeping arrangements had been made earlier, with both sets of parents down the hall. Lauren and Kara were in the second bedroom in the shack, and Peggy and Gary were in the third. Brendan was bunking with Dos and Sean Michael, and Brianna with Ali Mia.

Before they adjourned to their rooms, Barbara Ann heard Lauren ask Peggy if they had ear plugs. When she got a negative answer with a puzzled look, she pointed at Barbara Ann, rolled her eyes, and suggested they borrow some of hers if they wanted to get any sleep.

Barbara Ann wasn't sure they would even be doing anything, but resolved to keep it down if they did. That resolution didn't last past his mouth finding her swollen nipple after ten minutes of making out and being felt up EVERYWHERE, and when his mouth began slurping her honey, she let out a keening cry likely heard back at the Dunes Dancehall.

Caelan was in rare form, having done without for two weeks, and having suffered not knowing whether his fuck bunny would even recover. He was gentle, he was demanding; he probed, stroked, squeezed, and teased; he nipped and sucked, driving her into a frenzy of begging, with intermittent cries of joy!

She finally frantically trapped his cock between her thighs and pulled him inside, which evoked a wolf howl, followed moments later by a panther scream. Caelan wasn't exactly silent through all this, but his low growls and grunts were drowned out by his wife's cries.

They slept from midnight until three, and then had another rousing round. They slept again until five and had their third. By this time Barbara Ann was hoarse and nearly sated, so it was relatively sedate, noise-wise.

As always, Caelan was up early. He went in the kitchen to put the coffee on, only to find Gary, Peggy, Lauren, and Kara had made coffee, and biscuits, sausage patties, and scrambled eggs were ready to be cooked.

"You guys are up early", he said in surprise.

"No, we hardly slept!" Gary grumbled. "The five o'clocker was the final straw; we got up after that and started getting things ready. We figured you two would badly need sustenance when you woke up!"

The three women were grinning from ear to ear, and Lauren teased Gary, "Should have taken me up on my offer of ear plugs, although NOTHING could have saved your hearing from that first hour or so!"

They drank coffee, talked, and intermittently harassed Caelan, and then planned their day. The others began appearing around seven, and by seven thirty all were in the kitchen, except one little brunette. They cooked four skillets of sausage, three dozen eggs, and three large baking sheets of biscuits, and set them on the counter. They served the three kids, and Dos led them outside to eat on the deck, leaving the adults around the big table, to which Caelan had added both leafs.

Mrs. Kelly commented, "Barbara Ann isn't here; I'll tell her we're eating" and started toward the bedroom. Before she got near the door, however, Lauren, Kara, Peggy, and Amelia all yelled NO and rushed to stop her. She was startled, and looked to her son for an explanation.

"Uh, Mom, she just needs more sleep. You know, recovering and all."

That caused the four women and Gary to double over in laughter, knowing full well why she was asleep and what the bedroom would look and smell like. Caelan's parents and Sean just looked puzzled, until Brendan chuckled and suggested, "Yeah, I suspect she didn't sleep much last night. For this being on a breach, it sounded like a jungle when I got up to pee. I'll bet the noise kept her awake."

That evoked laughter from everyone, and then a roar when Barbara Ann walked out of the bedroom with the sheets and went to the laundry room. She ignored them, but her neck and ears were red, as was Caelan's face.

She came out of the laundry room looking defiant and resolute; ignoring the grins and laughter, she marched around the table to her husband and plopped down in his lap. She turned, looked at him with her pouty face, and commanded, "Feed me, you brute! You kept me up all night!"

"I kept YOU up?" he asked, and the laughter became an uproar.

Caelan fed her from his plate, according to her wishes, and a smiling Amelia proclaimed, "They said it might take weeks or months, but our daughter seems to be back to herself already. This beach must have magical healing powers!"

Peggy rolled her eyes and offered an alternative: "I think Caelan's... um, magic wand, has more to do with her miraculous recovery!"

Food and coffee got spit through noses, but Barbara Ann's smirk was hidden against her husband's chest. He shook his head, grinned, and stroked his kitten, who purred. That refueled the laughter, but they were finally able to eat when it died down again.

***

The reception was finally held two months later, at the ballroom of the Robert Driscoll hotel. Big wigs from the two largest American oil companies were there with their wives. It wasn't quite a red carpet event, but they were formally introduced when they arrived 'fashionably late', at Barbara Ann's behest. Caelan felt out of place, but Barbara Ann shown; she was in her element!

The buzz died down when their names were called, and then abruptly died when they entered. Being only 5'3", long dresses weren't as flattering as on taller women, so Barbara Ann wore a red knee length sequin dress with moderate slits on the sides, and four inch heels. As Charlotte Williams loudly announced as they approached her and her husband Winfred, their hosts for the night, "Darling, you are simply stunning!"

They exchanged air kisses and greetings, then Charlotte turned to Caelan and pronounced, "As do you, young man! How appropriate that the reason we are here steals the show by simply walking in with his lovely wife!"

Bob Allen and his trophy wife, Celeste, were next in the receiving line. Bob was practically drooling over Barbara Ann, who next got a rather cool reception from Celeste; apparently, she didn't like being outshone. When Bob finally turned him loose, Celeste drooled over Caelan, who read her intentions and quickly moved on.

His wife took his arm, smiling at everyone as they made their way to the head table; under her breath, she whispered, "Do not let that blonde bimbo get you alone; she'll trip you and beat you to the floor!"

"You probably want to stay away from old Bob too; he looked like he spotted his next trophy wife when he laid eyes on you!"

Barbara Ann was captured by a group of women she knew, and went scurrying off to chat.

Chairman Williams and CEO Durst insisted Caelan try a glass of their favorite bourbon. He took a sip while they watched expectantly, raised it from his lips, held it up, and said, "Damn! What is this?"

They chuckled, and Durst said, "Some of old Pappy van Winkle's best! Isn't it smooth?"

Caelan admitted it set a new standard, and they spent the next few minutes telling him the story of the Rip van Winkle Distillery.

Durst looked at his watch, said he needed to get the guests seated for the meal, and walked quickly to the small stage. It took five minutes to get everyone back to their tables, after which someone said a blessing over the food, and numerous servers appeared from the kitchen carrying heavily laden trays.

Caelan expected rubber chicken, but his company had gone all out. His wife had specified chargrilled prime rib and asparagus with their RSVP, and it was exceptionally good. They were seated with Charlotte and Winfred Williams, Celeste and Bob Allen, and Angela and Daniel Durst, so both boards were represented as well as the CEO of Texaco.

Each of the three who spoke -- Durst, Williams, and Allen -- were effusive in their praise of Caelan as an employee who accomplished remarkable things, as an innovator who imagined the future and worked to keep his company -- and the industry -- focused, responsive, and viable.

Williams mentioned how important Caelan's family is to him, and how his wife, the beautiful Barbara Ann, was critical to his success. Allen added, "As Winfred said, Barbara Ann and his family are the reason he does what he does -- they mean everything to him! In fact, we learned just how much they mean when he informed us of the future if we didn't sign the amazing deal he had worked with a government no one thought would budge! I would repeat his exact words, but this being mixed company I'll refrain! Colorful language aside, he was... very persuasive!"

That drew the biggest laugh of the night, and Caelan hung his head in mock shame. The women at the table with his and her parents shook fingers at him, mouthing 'naughty boy', but kept laughing.

Daniel Durst, CEO, gave details about Caelan's pursuit of "the deal" that most everyone considered quixotic at best, and then the phone at the dais rang. He answered with great aplomb and had a brief conversation while everyone wondered what was going on. He then connected the phone to the speakers, called Caelan to the front, and handed him the phone.

He took it with a quizzical look, said hello, and a booming voice with a Spanish accent proclaimed over the speakers, "Is this my good friend Caelan Kelly?"

"It depends. Is this the husband of the beautiful and charming Ymelda Sanchez? If so, he is indeed my good friend!"

There was booming laughter from the deep voice, and the tinkling laughter of a female, after which Ymelda said, "Good evening, Caelan Kelly! As always, you not only know what to say, but how to say it!

We apologize for not being there tonight; our absence was truly unavoidable, but we are with you in spirit, and we hope to see you soon. This time, please bring your lovely wife and your children, if you can. I would love to entertain them while you and my husband do your business!"

"Thank you for the kind offer. I'll speak with my wife and get back with you after Minister Sanchez and I set a date for our next visit in your lovely country."