Walter & Dotty - A Love Story

FOR FOLLOWERS OF THE MOTHER ROAD SERIES:

This is not a linear chapter from the Mother Road series. Instead, it's a more detailed look at the relationship of Walter and Dotty which bloomed during the events of Mother Road Chapter 5 -- One For The Road, and Mother Road Chapter 6 -- Mile Marker 10. Since my Muse RiverMaya enjoys the series and characters so much, I wrote this specifically for her. If anyone else happens to like it, well, that's just icing on the cake.

FOR NEW READERS:

Mother Road 5 & 6 introduced Laura McFarland's lookalike younger sister Dorothy "Dotty" Harmon, 43, and her 5-year-old son Trent, who enter the story being pursued by Dotty's abusive and drug-dealing husband Sonny.

Mother Road 5 & 6 also brought back 6'4", 250+ pound ex-mob enforcer (now 50 and retired), Walter Connor, who was instrumental in bringing Olivia's baby daddy Brad back to his senses back in Mother Road Chapter 2 -- Dangerous Curves. (To this day Walter swears he had nothing to do with Brad's classic 1994 C4 model Corvette catching fire, and I, for one, believe him.)

As fate would have it, when Dotty's tweaker husband came to take back his son Trent by force, Walter intervened, meeting and falling for Dotty in the process. Dotty's green eyes immediately captured the heart of longtime bachelor Walter, just like Laura's eyes captured Tom's heart back in the original Mother Road timeline 15 years prior.

This is a more detailed story of how Walter and Dotty's relationship grew. As Walter once said, "it's just like that Julio and Juliet story".

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Walter Connor

My first home was Mucci's Pizza Palace in Kansas City. Well, to be accurate, it was the dumpster behind Mucci's, which is where they found me after I'd been abandoned as a small week-old newborn -- if 18 pounds can be considered small. I don't know much about babies.

I was adopted by the fireman that found me, Gerald Connor. He and his wife Jackie were my parents until he was killed by a burning house that fell on him. I was 3 years old. After that, my mom fell into a crippling depression and was institutionalized.

Back then there was no such things as anti-depressant meds, instead they just locked you up in the looney bin and that was that. Since my mom was no longer able to care for me, I ended up relinquished to the foster care system in the State of Kansas. I never saw her again.

I was in foster care until my 18th birthday. Lucky for me, I was a big kid, always off the top of the age charts for height and weight. I was quiet and shy, but in grade school and high school, fucking nobody picked on me. Anybody who tried found out how strong I was, quick. Anybody messed with me, I hurt them. Simple.

Sure, I got suspended a few times, but didn't care. I never had any girlfriends or nothing. I had no money for dates anyway, so I stayed home a lot. On my 18th birthday, I was kicked out of foster care with a duffel bag of old clothes and about $18 bucks in my pocket. I had nowhere to go, so I joined the Army.

I didn't make it through basic training because I couldn't do pull-ups or run any distance. One thing I could do, though, was shoot. I always got the best marksmanship scores on the rifle range, and by a lot, not a little. My ambition was to be an Army sniper, but because I didn't meet the physical requirements, I was discharged. I mean, everybody knows snipers don't run, they lay in hiding for days at a time to take that one-in-a-million shot, right? Fucking Army assholes.

I was pretty angry for about a year afterwards. If I happened to be in a bar and saw a guy in an Army uniform, I'd pick a fight and beat the shit out of him. I never lost. Physical requirements, my ass. Fucking Army assholes.

I'd been discharged for about 18 months and working for cash as a bouncer and living in a run-down hotel. Coming home one night, I heard a noise in the alley behind my hotel. Two guys were beating up this skinny kid. I ran up and made short work of those assholes. I beat them to a pulp, then took their wallets and some cash envelopes what was in their pockets for good measure.

Looking back now, what I did was fucking nuts. I shoulda been more careful, they could have had guns. Then again, I was always angry, so it probably wouldn't have made no difference. I was so pissed off, I felt bulletproof.

The kid told me his name was Eddie. He was beat pretty bad, so I told him I'd walk with him to make sure he made it home safe. We walked a few blocks into a warehouse, and there was a bunch of tough-looking guys in there. They was all wearing nice suits.

Turns out Eddie was a runner for a local mob boss, 'Quiet Sal' Bartolo. Eddie was on his route making cash pickups when he got jumped, which is when I stepped in. I give them the money I took off the punks. The suit guys asked me if I had a job. I said no. They told me I had one now, working for Mr. Bartolo.

For 30 years, I did whatever needed doing. I never had to kill nobody, but I collected a lot of payments and roughed guys up when it was necessary. After a few years, I even stopped being angry. One time Mr. Bartolo asked me to help a friend of his, Tom McFarland, who had a problem in Oklahoma. His daughter Olivia had gotten knocked up by a fucking frat boy who turned his back on her, the rat bastard.

Long story short, we scared the crap out of the frat boy, enough so the kid finally come around and did the right thing by Tom's daughter and married her. Mr. Bartolo sent me to their receptions to deliver a new minivan as a wedding gift, and that's when I met Tom's wife Laura.

Laura was one of the most beautiful women I ever seen, red hair and freckles and a nice figure. When she and Tom danced at the reception, I could see there was something special between them. I decided someday I'd be in love with a woman just like her.

Over the years I never had no girlfriend, the only women I'd ever had sex with were rented, but when I seen what Tom and Laura had, that's what I wanted too. It took 15 years, but I finally ended up with a woman as beautiful as Tom's wife - her sister, Dotty.

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Dotty Terhune Harmon

I'm Dorothy Harmon, the fifth child of Silas and Ruth Terhune's fourteen children, but everybody that knows me calls me Dotty. Of fourteen kids, there were ten of us Terhune girls and we all looked like our mother - red hair, turned up nose, and freckles, but we all inherited our father's deep green eyes.

I was the last of my siblings to leave the house. Everybody else had moved out, but I stayed and took care of our mother and father until they died. After they passed, I was married for 6 years to Sonny Harmon and we had a 5-year-old son, Trent.

When Sonny got into drugs and became abusive to me, I thought about leaving. When he became abusive to Trent, I took my son and ran away. I spent a few days hiding at a battered women's shelter, mostly using the shelter's computer to find my siblings to see if they could help.

By this time, most had scattered as far away from our hometown of Rankin, Texas as possible. The closest one I could find was my oldest sister Laura, in Wellston, Oklahoma. That's where I headed, and that's where I met the true love of my life, Walter.

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Walter

I was 50 years old when Mr. Bartolo told me I was officially retired. I was the oldest of his crew, all the others were in their 20s and 30s, and I wasn't getting around as fast as when I was younger, my knees bothered me sometimes. With nothing to do, to keep myself busy I went into business with Tom McFarland, advising his architectural clients on security systems. It made sense when he proposed the idea. It takes a thief to catch a thief, right?

One day, Tom called me for help. Personal help, not business help. Turns out his sister-in-law Dotty and her kid were hiding on his farm from her abusive ex-husband, and the stupid meth-head had somehow tracked her down. He'd come out to the farm and ordered Tom to hand Dotty and his kid over. Tom told him to fuck off; knowing the guy would be back, though, he called me for advice. I came out, and that's when I met Dotty.

I'm not too good with words, and when I saw Dotty all I could manage was "nice to meet you," or something, and I mumbled about how she and Laura looked like sisters. Which they did, very much so. Dotty was a younger version of Laura, a little thinner in her face, but those deep green eyes were the same. I couldn't stop looking at her until her son ran into the kitchen. He was a little guy, barely taller than my damned kneecap.

Dotty introduced us, telling him that I'd come to help Uncle Tom and Aunt Laura in case his Daddy tried to take him away and hurt him. Having grown up with no one to ever defend me, I decided right away that there was no fucking way anyone would touch this boy as long as I was drawing breath.

I knelt down and told him, "Don't be scared, little guy. I'm on your side. You know how sometimes you think there are monsters under your bed? I'm the guy the monsters are scared of. Nobody's gonna hurt you as long as I'm here." I meant it. I've always been a man of my word. Ask anybody I worked with, if Walter Connor says he's gonna do something, it fucking gets done.

The boy wrapped his little arms around my arm and told Dotty he wanted me to stay. When Tom and I stepped outside to talk about security arrangements, still in shock, I told him, "Tom, that little boy hugged me. He doesn't even know me, but he trusted me. Just like that."

Tom answered me, "Yeah, Walter, just like that. Kids can be good judges of character. He could see you're a good man."

I asked him, "Is this what it feels like, being a dad?" Turns out, yeah, it was.

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Dotty

When Walter walked into the kitchen, it took my breath away. My first impressions were, first, he was ruggedly handsome. Clean-shaven and square jawed, with salt-and-pepper hair, this was a man, not a boy. Second, he was huge, easily a foot taller than me. Dressed in a black suit, blue silk shirt and gray tie, he was a physically fine package. Then Trent ran in.

Having never seen anyone as tall as Walter, Trent instantly clung to my leg in fear. I tried to reassure him that Mr. Connor was here to help us, so he didn't need to be scared. I was stunned when Walter knelt down and gently spoke to Trent, promising him no one was going to hurt him.

This giant of a man was speaking to my 5-year-old son on his level, calming him and letting him know he was safe. That's when I began to fall hard for with Walter Connor.

Walter had no clue of course, but at that moment I decided I wanted him in my bed, and to have his babies. Hell, Momma had fourteen, Laura was on her tenth, I knew I could handle whatever number of kids he threw at me. Now, the only barrier was if he was feeling the same way.

He and Tom stepped out of the house; when Tom came back inside, I discreetly asked about Walter, if he had mentioned me at all. Tom was blunt, "He didn't need to say anything, Dotty. In case you couldn't read his reaction, those damned Terhune family eyes of yours got his attention."

Then he went on to warn me, "Walter may be older, but he's never been in a real relationship. If you want to get to know him, you might have to help him with the words to express his feelings."

Apparently, what I had on my hands was a strong, handsome, shy, and emotionally inarticulate man who my son adored. Oh, yes, I could definitely work with that.

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Walter

I knew Dotty's meth-head ex was coming back, and soon. With everything I learned in the Army and while an enforcer for Mr. Bartolo, I put together some defensive measures that I thought would be effective. They were.

The meth-heads attacked that night just like I knew they would. Flash-bang grenades combined with trench-sweeper shotguns and my trusty Raging Bull .454 handgun were more than enough to stop the intruders.

I wish I could say I was calm and level-headed during the whole thing, but when it came to Sonny Harmon, I wasn't. This was the man who abused Dotty and little Trent, and who led an attack on my friend's farm.

After I pulled him from his wrecked truck (courtesy of a lucky shot from my .454), I gave him a thorough beating before aiming the Raging Bull at his head. This guy was a shit-stain I was going to wipe off the face of the earth. Before I pulled the trigger, though, I felt two arms around me. Dotty.

She pleaded with me not to kill him, not for her sake but for mine. She didn't want Trent to remember me as the man who killed his father. This beautiful woman who I barely knew cared enough about me to stop me from someday being a bad guy in her son's eyes. All these years later, I still don't have the words to say how it felt. All I knew was how much I cared about that boy, and about this woman with her arms around me.

I put the big .454 Raging Bull back in its holster, but before the cops came, I made sure the scumbag signed the divorce papers Tom and Dotty were about to serve him with. Sonny showing up in person just made things easier.

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Dotty

When I heard all that noise, I became really scared. Walter was out there fighting for Trent and me, as well as for my sister and her family. I couldn't let him do it alone. I ran out of the cabin to find him, and it didn't take long.

In the light of the burning motorhome, I saw Walter standing over Sonny with a big gun pointed at him. Panicked, I screamed, "WALTER, DON'T KILL HIM!"

Did I still love Sonny? Hell no! But I was beginning to love Walter, and I didn't want my son to remember him as the man who killed Sonny when Trent got old enough to process what happened. I did the only thing I could think of and put my arms around Walter. Thankfully, that was enough.

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Walter

After it was over, I ended up back in the cabin with Dotty and Trent. With all the noise, Trent was really shaken up and insisted I be right there with him. Dotty told Tom that I slept on the couch while Dotty slept in the bed with Trent, but that was bullshit. That damned couch was just too small for me. After about ten minutes, Dotty got up and pulled me into bed with them.

We basically formed a Trent sandwich, with him in the middle and Dotty and me on either side. I slept like a log after all the night's activities. I mean come on; I was 50 years old after all. I was fucking tired!

What woke me up was a kiss on the cheek, and the feel of a woman's body next to me. "Good morning, handsome," I heard Dotty whisper, "Trent's in the house having pancakes, so let me show you how much I appreciate what you did."

Boy, did she...

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Dotty

Back in the bedroom I slipped off my jeans. Wearing only my bra, panties, and a button-down shirt I'd borrowed from Laura, I slid under the covers next to Walter. Trent had slept between us all night, so this was the first chance I'd had to snuggle up to him. He'd collapsed into bed without showering, so he smelled faintly of sweat and smoke from the fire; this was a real man. I wanted to wake him up and devour him, but Tom had advised I take it slowly, so I did.

I woke Walter up with a kiss on the cheek. He was still in his khakis and a t-shirt. His eyes fluttered open, and the smile he gave me damn near soaked my panties. "Good morning, handsome," I whispered, "Trent's in the house having pancakes, so let me show you how much I appreciate what you did."

He rolled onto his side facing me, gently caressing my face with his huge hand. "I'm just glad you and the kid are safe," he said, "that's all I cared about." Then he said, "I should be thanking you." His voice was deep and rumbling, and I felt it in my bones.

"Whatever for?"

"For stopping me from killing that asshole. Once I calmed down, I realized it's better that I didn't. I mean, he had it coming and I was gonna give it to him without a second thought, but you were thinking about me, about how it would make me look to Trent and the rest of the family. In 50 fuckin' years I never had nobody who cared about me like that, Dotty."

I looked into his big hazel eyes and saw something I'd never seen in a man before -- devotion. This was the point of no return. I wanted this man, heart, body, and soul. That's when I kissed him. Hell, I had no choice, no way was I leaving his side.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, then went in soft, gently pressing my lips against his. As his big python arms enveloped me, I pressed a little more firmly, parting my lips just slightly and tickling his lips with the tip of my tongue.

We stayed like that for a good 30 seconds, then I backed off. We both lay very still for a moment just looking at each other, then I moved my right hand onto his chest. His heart was pounding.

"That was just like Tom said it would be," he murmured.

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Walter

We was in each other's arms when Dotty looked at me with those beautiful green eyes of hers. I explained, "Tom told me after I kissed you, I'd never want another woman. He was right. It took me a long time, but I just found the perfect woman. You're smart, you're beautiful, you're...you." I stopped and took a breath. I was never good with words, so I hoped I was saying the right thing. Then I added, "I hope someday you'll feel the same way too."

Dotty laid there for a second, then started to cry. Dammit! I must have said the wrong thing! I blurted out, "Dotty, whatever I did, I'm sorry! Please don't cry! Tell me what to do to fix it! I'll -" Dotty put her hand over my mouth. I got the message and shut the hell up. She pushed me onto my back, then slid on top of my chest so we were face to face.

"Walter," she whispered, and just the way she said my name made me want her more, "you didn't do anything wrong. Just the opposite. I'm crying because I'm happy, OK?" She stopped and sobbed a little bit, but managed to squeak out, "You're the one that made me happy."

I didn't know how to answer, other than to ask, "I did?" Dotty didn't answer. Instead, she kissed me again. And again. And again. As she did, I could feel every bit of her softness on top of me, and my dick started to stir. In my life I'd been with some professional working girls but let me tell you, none of them made me as horny as this red-headed angel laying on my chest. She was so small, as we lay together her belly was just above my erection, so she probably hadn't noticed I was at full staff, but I sure did.

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Dotty

When I was finally able to stop kissing Walter -- not an easy task, I assure you - I answered him, "Yes, Walter. You are the most loving, caring, and romantic man I ever met. When you said you hoped that someday I'd feel the same way, well, I already do."

I pulled myself up further onto his chest, so my head was slightly above his and I was looking down at him. Taking his face in my hands, I looked deep into his eyes and said, "Get this straight, Mister Connor. As of right now, you belong to me. You're MY man, do you understand?"

I kissed him again with as much passion as I could put into it, and afterwards Walter appeared to be stunned. Good. I told him, "I'm claiming you, Walter. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," was all he could manage to whisper. I scooted back down his chest again, kissing his chest over his t-shirt. Reaching down, I felt his hardness; it was clear I had his undivided attention.

I sat up, took off my shirt, and undid my bra. Walter's expression was wide-eyed and full of wonder, like a 4-year-old visiting a county fair. I'd never felt so desirable to a man before.

"It's your turn to claim me," I told him.

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Walter

Dotty was gorgeous enough with her clothes on, but when she took her top off, I couldn't fucking breathe for a minute. She got off the bed and stood next to it. I got up and, taking extra care, slowly peeled her panties off. Her red hair, pale skin, freckles, those lips and oh yes, those eyes -- she was perfection.