We're a Wonderful Wife Ch. 09

Lanh shrugged, "First place I moved to was Grant Valley from Minneapolis, and I thought that was a culture shock. But after we got married, we moved to Texas, then Germany, then North Dakota, then Korea, then New Mexico. We were planning to go to either Okinawa or England but Don got hurt and had to retire." She looked at the girl from Georgia who thought culture shock meant meeting someone who said "Howdy." Karole was clearly stunned, so Lanh brought it home. "When I ended up in Germany, we lived in a town called Dudeldorf, that was a real culture shock, until I learned to drink the wine... German wine can fix anything." She looked around and said, "Speaking of which, where's your wine glasses?"

"Ah ain't got none."

Lanh grabbed the Needs list and added wine glasses and a corkscrew. "Do you have a bathing suit?"

"Do ah need one?"

"If you want to get in the hot tub with guys around, but if it's just you and me and Kim-ly then no," said Lanh as she added bathing suit to the Want list.

"Who is Kim-ly?"

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When Don got back to the house his back was aching worse than it has in ages. It felt like someone had punched him in both kidneys and it was hard to stand up straight. It had to be those boxes he hauled out to the garage, whatever was in them was quite heavy. He had been tempted to open one up to see what he hauled out there, but he let it go and just moved them out of the way and covered them up. Whatever was in them stank, it smelled like skunk piss, a chemical they use to mask human odor when setting squirrel traps in the woods and he didn't want to get any of that on him.

He noticed the time and swore to himself, one of his medications is time sensitive and he was late for a dose. As he walked past the office, a spare bedroom that was set up for Lanh's work, he heard a keyboard furiously clattering. "Afternoon Kim-ly," he said as he walked past the door. "Glad to see you're up today."

"Take a pain pill," was her response, "you're groaning again." Normally he'd give his sexy sister-in-law some kind of wiseass remark in response, but instead he just grunted in agreement. "And hit the hot tub!" she shouted without looking up from her work. Kim-ly was part of the Campbell household: part time in Colorado, part time in Minnesota. She helped Don and Lanh move to Colorado and stayed with them to help unpack when their hold baggage arrived and ended up staying a month. Her routine became a month or two in Colorado followed by a month or two in Minnesota.

"Doesn't Tom miss you?" he said over his shoulder as he headed to the bathroom.

"His name is TIM!" shouted Kim-ly. She knew he got her boyfriend's name wrong just to get under her skin, and she was sure that Don could see though her smoke screen.

After taking his pills and inhaler Don headed to the kitchen. "We will probably have company for dinner tonight," he said as he walked past the office again.

"So?" she asked as she swiveled in the office chair.

"You may want to wear clothes."

"Pajamas are clothes," she called as she heard Don rattling around in the kitchen. When she finished up her work and emailed her report to her business partner (her brother Bao) she headed over to her room (the other spare bedroom) and changed into her bathing suit and headed out to the hot tub. Their spa on a large, covered patio on the back of the house, the sides of the patio had roll up screens to block the intense sun or provide privacy. As she stepped on to the covered back patio, she saw smoke oozing out of the smoker and smiled, BBQ for dinner! When that Speech Pathology position at Bemidji state opens up and Don and Lanh move back, her parent's restaurant is going to gain a great cook in Don.

She found the hot tub open and gurgling away, country music playing on the stereo and Don, who appeared to be snoozing, was in the hot tub. Kim-ly slipped in as quietly as she could and sat down in the corner opposite Don. The café lights hanging from the patio roof were changing colors in sequence and the water was so hot and relaxing on this early summer afternoon. Don's garden was coming up nicely and the lawn in the back yard was cut to perfection. The smells of the smoker, the flowers in the garden, and the weed & feed on the lawn were intoxicating.

She eased into the soothing bubbles, it was amazing how tense you can get when preparing a client for an audit, a soak in the hot tub will be perfect to unwind these knotted muscles. She glanced at Don, and it didn't appear that he even noticed that she got in the tub with him. She slid down deep into the water until her chin touched the water and she reached behind her back with both hands to release the top of her bikini. It was then he revealed he was aware she was there. "Please leave your top on," he said.

"How did you know I was taking my top off?"

"Seriously? I've been married to your sister how long? I'm pretty sure I know how to tell if a woman is taking her top off." Don never opened his eyes.

Kim-ly covered her delightful breasts with her hands and rose up out of the water. "You're not afraid of my boobies, are you?"

"Yes I am."

Kim-ly was actually shocked. She expected an answer like "No, that's just silly," or some manly way to laugh off her question, but "Yes?" That's insane! She sat up holding her breasts in a handbra, her small hands barely containing her breasts. "How could you be afraid of these cute little things?" she taunted.

"I'm not afraid of your breasts, I'm afraid of me." He sat up and leaned toward Kim-ly. "I love Lanh, I love her so much it hurts, I don't deserve her, and it breaks my heart that she's saddled herself to a loser like me..." He stopped and shook his head. "For a short time, I was deluded into believing it wasn't true but here I am... And here you are... so sexy, so beautiful, practically inviting me to reach out and..." He couldn't finish so he started to get up and get out of the hot tub.

Kim-ly always knew she was sexy, but the word beautiful never crossed her radar, she's heard the word cute quite often, but never beautiful. "You think I'm beautiful?"

Don stopped and stared off into the distance. "When we first met, when Lanh and I skipped school and you brought me that bowl of pho and sat next to me, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he suddenly looked sad, "Nothing has changed my opinion."

"Wait!" She slipped back under the churning water and put her top back on, cursing herself for being so stupid. "Sit, please? I'm sorry for being stupid... I don't know what I was thinking." Don sat at the edge of his seat, ready to vault out. "Look, I'm sorry... I just like the feeling of the water..." What she DIDN'T say was "Ever since I saw you and Lanh fucking, and I saw that cock of yours, I've wanted it." As Don sat back down, she sat up showing that she had her top back on. "Why didn't you say something back then?"

Don gave her a look like she just sprouted a second head. "You were a super-hot college junior two years older than me. To me you were and are a playboy perfect super genius and I was a high school sophomore and a failure at everything, I even failed at dropping out and I just got my ass kicked by a couple of bullies." Then he mumbled something that she didn't catch over the sound of the jets.

"What did you say?"

"It's not important."

"Tell me."

"It will sound stupid."

She shut off the hot tub jets. "What. Did. You. Say." She used a forceful tone that sounded just like her mother. Don could never deny Mai anything, especially when she spoke like that.

"I said that back then I didn't talk to females." He looked as if he was in agony.

To Kim-ly he looked as pained as he looked that horrible day when she saw him lying in that hospital bed in Germany, and as sad as that day he arrived back in New Mexico when they carried Cynthia's coffin off the plane, and he fought so hard to hold back the tears. "You didn't talk to females? What do you mean?"

"I was the last person my mother ever spoke to; she died right after she spoke to me. It kind of fucks up an eight-year-old boy," said Don, his eyes focused on the middle distance...

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After a full day of setting up the house and shopping Karole and Lanh found that Jayce hadn't returned so they retired to Don and Lanh's house and found the house empty. Lanh showed Karole the bathroom and said, "Put your suit on, we deserve to relax after everything we did today."

When Karole emerged, she was wearing a modest hunter safety orange bikini while Lanh was wearing a mismatched bikini. When Lanh saw Karole, her mouth went dry. The bikini accentuated Karole's impressive figure, it could barely contain her large, round breasts and if possible, it exaggerated her beautiful cleavage, her narrow waist, her rounded hips, and her perfectly formed butt. When Lanh finished admiring Karole's body, she showed off their house and Don's perfect kitchen which uncharacteristically was a bit messy.

"Looks lahk he made 'tater salad," said Karole as she inspected the dishes and utensils in the sink.

Lanh grabbed a bottle of wine from her stash and Karole stood at the screen door and sniffed the fragrant smoke that the smoker was lofting into the Colorado atmosphere. To her left was the hot tub to her right was the smoker, decisions, decisions. Karole stepped on to the patio and sneaked a peek into the smoker and grinned. "I hope you like ribs," Lanh said.

"Honey chil', ah'm from the south, I was born gnawin' on a rib," grinned Karole.

"I'll go get the hot tub ready," and Lanh as she stepped toward the privacy screen where the hot tub jets could be heard. "I'll just be a moment!" she called back to Karole who was sneaking a pinch off of the ribs in the smoker. The jets suddenly stopped, and she heard Kim-ly demand "What. Did. You. Say."

"Don no!" muttered Lanh as she ran to the hot tub. So much of Don's life really is none of Kim-ly's business, if she dredges up the pain of his past it could be days before he's comfortable enough to talk again. She's using their má's voice again which means she's probing and demanding. Lanh around the screen just in time to hear Don's reply.

"I said Colonel, I don't give a rat's ass about those silver chickadees on your shoulder, I have a sortie to generate and if you do not un-ass this airplane, I will have security escort you to the main gate."

Kim-ly whooped with laughter, "Un-ass? Is that a medical term Doctor Campbell?"

"Don't be silly, it's a military term. It's the polite way of saying get the fuck out of here."

Lanh looked around the hot tub side of the patio. Don and Kim-ly were drinking out of insulated wine cups and there were wine bottles standing on the side table. "Hey tôm," grinned Kim-ly, "Your hubby was just telling me about the dumbest officers he ever met."

"Colonel Watts," said Don as he sipped his wine.

"So what happened with that guy?" asked Kim-ly as she looked forlornly into her empty cup.

"He would not get out of the plane, so I went up to the guard and declared a security breach and the security police dragged him out at gunpoint. Kind of a career ender for a full bird."

"Oh God, I remember that night," said Lanh. "You came back from work all worn out and upset and said, 'I think I got a colonel fired.'"

"Hey y'all," said Karole as she stepped around the screen. "Ah was jest inspectin' them ribs and they're going to be awesome!" She climbed into the hot tub and sat next to Don which nearly raised a growl of anger from Kim-ly.

Kim-ly took one look at Karole and instantly hated her. Tall, curvaceous, and oozing sex appeal, Karole was everything Kim-ly wanted to be, a tall, slim, sexual magnet to men and women alike with a cute smile, natural blond hair and big natural tits that attract rich men like flies to honey. And she plunked herself down next to her Don... I mean Lanh's Don!

"Em, this is Karole, Karole Krenshaw, she and Jayce just moved in next door," said Lanh. "Karole, this is my big sister Kim-ly, she comes down from Minnesota quite often and stays with us."

"It's Karole Krigbaum, both with a K," said Karole as she got settled in the tub.

As they leaned forward to shake hands Kim-ly was transfixed by the sight of Karole's large, heavy breasts barely constrained by her bikini. "What's your middle name? Please tell me it's Kathleen," said Kim-ly with a grin. She had no idea why she said that, what she wanted to say was, "Stay away from Don you bitch."

"Ah ain't got a middle name, hell, ah ain't got a pappy neither, ma left both of those spaces blank on the birth certificate."

"Darn, I coulda called you the KKK, guess I'll call you Special K," said Kim-ly. Don worried that Kim-ly was trying to insult Karole, maybe even draw her into a fight. Or maybe accuse her of being a racist?

"Ah wouldn'a put up with Triple K, ah come from small town Georgia, people jes grow up with the skin they was born in an' no one faults 'em for that." She leaned forward as if to share a secret. "It weren't till ah got to the big city, Athens Georgia, where I learned that people will hate you just because of your skin, or your hair or sumpin stupid like that."

"I think you're right," said Lanh as she came up behind Kim-ly and hugged her. "We got a lot of grief in Minneapolis, but it evened out in Grant Valley, didn't it."

"That's because they were amazed by the world's only Asian garden gnome," which earned Kim-ly a splash of water in the face from Lanh. "You're the lucky one, you found a boy with yellow fever."

"I think I cured him of that," said Lanh as she walked around to Don and gave him a hug.

"I never had yellow fever, I HAVE Lanh fever," said Don as he turned around in his seat for a kiss.

Since Don and Lanh were occupied, Karole asked Kim-ly, "What do you think of Colorado?"

"Too dry, it's hell on my skin, but I like being the only Asian snow bunny in the state," grinned Kim-ly and she waggled her eyebrows.

"You're prolly cuter 'n all git out," smiled Karole without a hint of malice. "Ah can picher you in a pink parka with white fir trim all aroun' that purty face of yours. Or maybe a knit cap with kitty ears!"

"I got both," said Kim-ly with an exaggerated sweet smile. Maybe I misjudged her, thought Kim-ly who surrendered to her love of all things cute years ago.

"I need to get back to cooking," said Don and he got up as Lanh stepped into the tub. They kissed gently and muttered a few things to each other, then Lanh sat down where Don had been sitting and he got out and toweled off.

Karole saw the surgery scars on his arms, legs, back, and abdomen and after a hissing intake of breath said "Them scars! What all happen to him?"

"He got run over by an exploding fire extinguisher," said Kim-ly.

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Jayce didn't return that night, which was a shame because he missed a great BBQ dinner. He didn't return the next night either, but he did come back on Monday night. Don and Lanh could hear the shouting over at their house as they sat out on the patio enjoying the cool of the evening. "It sounds pretty bad over there," said Lanh.

"Give her a call," said Don. "It will give her a chance to ask for help if she needs it."

Lanh took out her cell phone and called Karole, she had it on speaker so Don could hear. "Hey sweetie, are you ok? We can hear you down here."

"Dinner?" asked Karole. "We already ate but thanks for the offer, maybe desert later?" She sounded like she was scared. Very scared.

Lanh couldn't breathe, her new friend was clearly in trouble. She looked at Don in a panic, but he was already in the house opening his gun locker. But as he did that Kim-ly called out loud enough to be heard on the speakerphone, "Don't worry Special K, I'll be right over with desert," and strode out across the lawn.

Lanh heard Karole shout "Don't..." then the phone went dead.

Don headed out the door, but he was far behind Kim-ly who was standing at the edge of the rose garden that divided the property. Karole came running out of her house as fast as her long legs could carry her, a look of sheer terror on her face. She was followed by Jayce who was screaming incoherent babble and carrying a butcher knife. Karole flew past Kim-ly who suddenly assumed a fighting stance. Karole raced into Don's arms, seeking shelter in the arms of the only man she ever met that didn't leer at her with lustful intent.

At the same time that Karole reached Don, Jayce bared down on Kim-ly with that huge knife. "Dừng lại!" shouted Kim-ly, but he took a swing at her. In movements almost too fast to see, Kim-ly crouched, she blocked his swing knocking the butcher knife out of his hand, then punched him in the balls so hard he landed on the ground and vomited from the excruciating pain.

"He was going to cut my baby out of me!" wailed Karole.

"You what?" shrieked Kim-ly at Jayce when she heard Karole's accusation. Her next hit was square in the kidney.

"Did he hit you?" Don asked Karole.

She nodded and started to cry.

Don gently pulled away from a trembling Karole and led her over to Lanh, then he walked over to where Kim-ly stood ready to drive Jayce's solar plexus into his spine. "What is wrong with you?" he said in his sternest Master Sergeant Campbell voice.

"It's that bitch!" shrieked Jayce, "She stole my..."

"SHUT UP!" boomed Don's voice. His voice had a threatening edge that sounded like an impending doom. Jayce cowered in silence. "I wasn't talking to you dumbshit, I was talking to her!" He turned to Kim-ly and in a disappointed voice he said, "Look at this, you've had control of your opponent for almost a full minute and not a single bone broken, both knees are still intact, both elbows fully functional, what happened? You were my best student." Actually, Don had no idea what Kim-ly's fighting skills were, he just knew that Tam dragged her and Bao to a martial arts studio several nights a week for years.

"I'm sorry sensei, it won't happen again."

"I need my shit back," squealed Jayce.

"LISTEN DUMBSHIT!" boomed Don, "If you interrupt me one more time, she's going to kick you in the balls so hard you're going to have to stick your tongue out to take a piss, do you copy me?"

Jayce was too terrified and in pain to answer but Kim-ly said "Yes sensei, can I kick him now?"

"In a moment little one," Don glared at Jayce, terrified that Jayce was going to see through his bluster, but he continued to play the game. "What shit are you missing, moron?"

"S-s-some moving boxes." Jayce continued to look at Kim-ly in fear.

"About eight boxes? One cubic foot size boxes? All heavier than hell?"

"Y-y-yeah," Jayce still looked at Kim-ly in terror.

"The boxes marked Garage?" demanded Don.

"Y-yes...," said Jayce.

Don took a deep breath and shook his head sadly. "They're in the garage, dumbshit." Jayce just gave him a blank stare. "Oh, and by the way," continued Don, "Skunk piss may fool a deer or a squirrel, but it won't fool a trained drug dog."

Jayce just growled, "Fuck you!"

"That's a funny thing to say to someone who just saved your life." He took two steps back from Jayce and shouted something to Kim-ly in Vietnamese. Jayce had no idea what he said but it sounded evil, and dangerous.

"Ý tưởng hay!" was Kim-ly's response and with a wicked grin she quickly shifted into a threatening looking stance.

Jayce screamed in fear, scrambled to his feet and ran back to Karole's house. Don gave a grinning Kim-ly a hug then he walked over and picked up the knife that Kim-ly slapped out of Jayce's hand and turned to Lanh. She and Karole were still by the front door of the house holding each other in fear, their eyes wide in shock at what they had just seen happen. "What did they say to him?" Karole gasped. She heard Don shout in an Asian language, it sounded mean and evil, and Kim-ly's enthusiastic response! It scared her and she wasn't there on the ground with Kim-ly ready to strike.