The Touch Ch. 15

WARNING TO READERS - This is a long, rambling, multi-part story and VERY British. The individual chapters will make more sense if read in sequence.

Chapter 15: Three in a bed

The mild weather in January had enabled the builders to move on with the work at the garden centre well ahead of schedule and the units in the old outhouses were almost completed, the walls had been plastered, flooring laid and drop-down mesh shutters fitted. The barn was also well on the way to being ready with a new extension built at the rear to house the kitchen and public lavatories for the restaurant.

Maggie and I spent most of Monday with Boris Keppel, the builder, as he was now ready to start erecting the major feature of the re-build. This was a huge steel and glass structure which would enclose the whole of the frontage of the existing buildings and extend over the yard creating an enormous enclosed shopping and display area. The footings for the main supports were already prepared and we needed to plan for the erection of the heavy tubular steel framework, as it would be necessary to close the centre for a couple of days so that a big crane could be brought in to drop the steelwork into place.

The new staff members were working out well; Kitty in particular was turning into a real asset as she was very knowledgeable and had a fair amount of practical experience, plants were her passion and she loved talking to the customers. Maggie had spoken to her tutor and arranged for her to complete her work experience for her Cities and Guild course at the garden centre which meant that she was able to work a full five day week.

Although Kitty was in the same course group as me at college we had never really mixed socially other than being part of the same set having coffees in the college canteen. She was quite tall, about 5' 9" with a very athletic figure, modest tits, a flat arse and very long muscular legs. She usually wore her long blonde hair tied back in a thick plait and her face was attractive with a wide mouth and very sharp pale blue eyes.

I spent Tuesday morning working with her in the greenhouse and discovered that she really did know her stuff. She was very keen on sports and extremely strong and could lift and throw sacks of compost about as easily as I could. Like a lot of sporty women she was not bothered about false modesty and after about thirty minutes in the hot greenhouse stripped down to a sleeveless sports vest.

"It's so hot in here!" she commented. "If you don't mind I will go and change into my shorts?"

I did not object in the least and she was back in a few minutes wearing a pair of cut off denim shorts, I noticed that she was wearing one of those very soft, fabric sports bras and that her nipples formed little points in her vest. Every time that she reached up to the higher racks the vest rode up to expose her muscled stomach and I had trouble trying not to imagine those long legs wrapped around my waist and the power that her stomach muscles would bring to an energetic shag.

We talked about plants and gardening but exchanged very little personal chat. I did discover that she did not have a boyfriend but I came away still uncertain as to the truth of the college rumours that she might be gay.

Just before lunch Emma came into the greenhouse looking for me. I saw her face change from smile to scowl when she saw the way that Kitty was dressed.

"Maggie wants you in the office ..... Now!" she snapped at me, glared at Kitty, then turned and started to walk back to the door. I tried not to smile and just raised my eyebrows to Kitty as I wiped my hands down the front of my overalls.

"Is that your girl friend?" Kitty asked.

"No, that's my sister!" I replied. This was the second time that somebody had asked me if Emma was my girlfriend in the last week, first Janet and now Kitty. What the hell was going on?

Emma was waiting outside for me and we walked together back to the shop and office block in silence. As we got to the door I decided that I needed to say something.

"What was that all about?" I asked. I really didn't need Emma causing friction with Kitty, or anybody else for that matter, especially with Maggie away for a couple of weeks. Managing the female staff members was always a concern, more so when I was alone and there was no womanly support. Emma was my sister but I needed to exert my authority before she upset somebody again, several times her moodiness had rubbed people up the wrong way.

"Are you going to allow her to walk about dressed like that?" She spat at me. Her eyes were flashing and her cheeks flushed with anger. "Wearing those .... Those ...."

"Shorts?" I suggested, grinning. "I think they look great!" I should not have said that bit but I just could not resist teasing her.

"Sod you, Jamie," she hissed, "all you men ever think about is sex!"

"You are probably right," I agreed. I knew that she was definitely right as far as I was concerned. She glared at me furiously and then turned and started up the stairs ahead of me.

"Hey!" I called after her. She stopped several steps up from me without turning around. "Those shorts," I said seriously, "are a lot longer than your skirt, you know .... And show an awful lot less!" I stepped up and slapped her playfully on her exposed arse which was prominent in the skin tight leggings she was wearing beneath her min-skirt.

We both suddenly burst into laughter. The tension was broken and whatever it was that had sparked her off had moved on. I caught up with her and put my arm around her waist.

I could not hold back from teasing her one more time, "I was thinking of making hot pants part of the summer uniform for the girls!" I joked as we got to the office doorway.

"You just want to fill the place up with tarts and bimbos!" she retorted, laughing and turned into her own office.

"What was that about?" Maggie asked looking up from her desk.

"Nothing really," I replied, "Just Emma having a 'girly moment' I think."

"I just wanted to remind you that we are seeing, this woman this afternoon," she said, handling me a sheet of paper. It was an application for the catering manager job for somebody to run the new restaurant. I had actually forgotten about the appointment and went off to wash and change out of my working clothes.

After my visit to Charles Lowe's set up in Norwich we had revised our original ideas about the restaurant. The initial proposal had been for a large coffee bar in the old barn just serving hot drinks and perhaps some sandwiches and cakes, however after seeing the up market self service restaurant at Lowe's garden centre Maggie and I had decided to upgrade our own plans to incorporate a much classier enterprise serving hot food at lunchtime and refreshments throughout the day.

Charles had shown me around his establishment at lunch time when the restaurant was really busy and had pointed out the large numbers of retired couples and middle aged women who were occupying most of the tables. Many of them came in for lunch at least once, often twice or three times a week and seldom left without also purchasing something from the garden centre. Maggie had been enthusiastic about my ideas from the start and had immediately called in a friend who specialised in catering design who had helped us map out the requirements for kitchens and utility areas and select the correct equipment. The larger enterprise would, however, require a professional manager and staff who were experienced in the catering trade.

This was the third submission that we had received for the post and seemed much closer to our expectations than the previous two. The application was from a Mrs. Grace Jackson, who was presently the restaurant manager for a department store in Bournemouth. Her details and experience seemed to fit the pattern that we were looking for and so we had asked her to come in to see us.

Maggie and I had a quick family lunch in the kitchen at her house with the twins and Emma and we had not been back in the office for more than a few minutes when Eileen called up from the shop to say that Mrs. Jackson was waiting to see us. Emma went down and brought her up to the office.

Grace Jackson turned out to be a handsome, smartly dressed, Chinese woman of middle years. She was about 5' 7", with a trim figure and short black glossy hair. From the start we all got on very well and soon discovered that she was aged 42, had been married to a British soldier who she had met in Hong Kong and who had later been killed in Ulster. She had been in the catering trade for over twenty years and her experience absolutely matched our requirements in every respect.

Maggie and I took her down to view the new restaurant building and kitchens although the unit was only partly plastered but she immediately seemed to understand the potential and was extremely enthusiastic. I think both of us were so impressed with Grace and did not want to risk losing her that after a very quick discussion to one side we made her an offer there and then and were delighted when she accepted. The builders had promised to have the restaurant building at least close to finished by the end of February and so we agreed that Grace would start with us on the first Monday in March so that she could begin recruiting her catering staff and planning the menus. Grace came with an added bonus. She had suggested that to start with she would combine the job of manager with that of head cook which was a considerable start up budget saving, and she said that she already had in mind somebody for the assistant cook position.

Maggie walked her back to her car and I returned to the office, it wasn't worth changing back into working clothes as it was nearly three-thirty and I decided to wade through a pile of invoices and delivery notes that Emma had dumped onto my desk for checking.

Just as Maggie came back into the office the telephone rang and Emma came through to say that it was Lauren on the line wanting to talk to Maggie. It was obvious from the snatches of conversation that could be overheard that something was wrong and so I just sat in silence until Maggie put down the receiver.

"That was Lauren," she confirmed, "She has taken a call at the house, from your Aunt Susan ..... there has been an accident!" I hadn't seen my other aunt since I was a tiny child and so didn't really know her at all, she lived in York, but even though she had fallen out with Mum years ago, Maggie still kept in touch with her.

"What? .... Who?" I asked.

"It seems that your Uncle Andrew, fell from somewhere after having a heart attack ...... he's dead!"

"Oh, God! Is there anything we can do?" I asked. I didn't remember Uncle Andrew, Susan's husband at all. He had been something to do with historic building maintenance and had been working at York Minster since before I was born.

"Yes, I think I had better drive up to York tonight, to support Susan," Maggie said simply. Then she added, "Can you call your Mum for me, and ask her to ring me at the house as soon as she can, please? If I leave in the next hour I can get up there by about nine."

"OK," I said, "Just go... I will sort everything out here ..... just do whatever you need to!"

"Thanks," she replied, "You're a sweetheart, I couldn't manage without you!" Then gave me a hug and ran down the stairs.

I went into the admin office. "What's happened?" Emma asked.

"Uncle Andrew has died!" I said without frills, "Can you get Mum on the 'phone for me, please ... she should still be at work?" She looked about to argue or ask questions. "Come on, Emms!" I urged, "This is urgent, I really do need to speak to Mum, quickly!"

Emma put Mum through to my desk within a few minutes and I told her as much as I knew. "Alright, love ...." She said "I'll ring Maggie now; then I will go straight home, pick up a bag and get over there and go with Maggie to York!"

A little less than an hour later, Maggie's Range Rover pulled up outside the office block. Emma and I went down and joined Maggie and Mum as they got out of the car.

"We're now off," Mum said, "We will obviously stay the night but will probably be back sometime late tomorrow!"

"That's fine .... Just take care and don't worry about Emma and I, we can look after ourselves!" I assured her and gave her a kiss and a hug, then she said goodbye to Emma and got back into the car. I went round to the driver side and picked up Maggie's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, she did not pull it away.

"Will you do something for me?" she asked. I nodded affirmation. "The girls are going into town to meet some friends this evening for a last drink before they leave on Friday. I don't want them drinking and driving, I was intending to play chauffeur ..... will you drop them off in town for me and then pick them up later?" She held out the spare keys to the VW Polo.

"No problem, consider it done!" I agreed. "Just call me in the morning and let me know what is happening, OK?" We hugged and she got into the car and I watched them until they rounded the bend in the road.

I didn't really want to have to go home, cook something for myself and Emma then come back to pick up the twins and so I called the house, spoke to Lucinda and suggested that we all went to the 'Funky Chicken' diner for burgers or Kentucky chicken. By the time Emma and I had closed the garden centre up at six o'clock, the twins were waiting for us in the car and we drove over to the diner.

For obvious reasons we mostly talked about what had happened to Uncle Andrew and the rift between Mum and Aunt Susan. Luci seemed to know more about the situation than anybody.

"Aunt Susan is a total snob!" she announced unsympathetically. "Mummy says that when Auntie Gwen married your dad, Aunt Susan and Uncle Andrew refused to go to the wedding because they thought that he was not good enough to join the family, and Aunt Susan caused a lot of trouble between Grandma and Auntie Gwen."

"I can't say that I will miss him," Lauren added," When we were at school, York was only a few miles away and we had to go and visit them on Sundays sometimes. He was a stuck up prick .... He may have been very clever at his work .... But he was still a prick!"

We were at a cubicle table, Emma was sat beside me with the twins opposite and we had hardly sat down before Lucinda had kicked off her shoe and was probing my groin with her foot until by the time we had finished our meal her toes had worked up an erection. I was concerned that Emma would glance down and see what she was doing and so spent most of the time leaning forward with my elbows on the table concealing my lap from view. It reminded me of being groped in Maggie's car the night that the twins passed their driving test.

When we left the diner I got to the car first and climbed into the driver seat. Lauren sat beside me and I couldn't help but think about shagging her in this very car a few nights ago. I dropped Emma off at home. She had a couple of friends coming over for the evening and I was about to caution her not to get drunk or wreck the house, when I remembered that we were supposed to trust each other and so just let it go, with saying goodbye. I got back into the car and drove over to Maggie's house so that the twins could change to go out.

I went through to the kitchen and made myself a cup of instant coffee, whilst the girls went up to their rooms to change. I took my cup and sat in the drawing room reading the newspaper for about half an hour, I could hear the girls upstairs talking, giggling and running from room to room.

"Jimbo!" It was Lucinda calling me from the stair landing. "Can you come and help us?"

I went out into the hall. Luci was running up the stairs wearing the same Kimono style robe that she had on that night in the garage. "Come on!" she called over her shoulder, "We need you up here!"

I wasn't so stupid that I didn't realise that this was some sort of set up, but I didn't really care. If I was going to be attacked and raped by one of my gorgeous cousins before they went out, I was not going to be putting up much of a fight. When I got to the top of the stairs I could see Luci standing in a doorway, not the door to her bedroom or Lauren's and not Maggie's room which was at the front. She beckoned and I went down the hall towards her.

When I reached to door I realised that it was one of the guest rooms. It was lit only by small bracket lights on the wall and all that I could really see was a large double bed in the centre of the room, but all I was really interested in was the sight of Luci kneeling on the centre of the bed almost wearing that short silky kimono, the open front edges of the gown exposing little pink half moons of her aureolas and only just hiding her nipples.

Why is it that when presented with the type of opportunity that for most guys only comes once in a lifetime, men always say the most inane thing that comes into their head. I heard the words coming out of my mouth, "I thought you two were changing to go out?"

"Oh! That all changed the moment we realised that we had the house and you all to ourselves for the night!" Lucinda purred. "Now why don't you get out of those togs and onto this bed?"

I needed no further urging and started by shedding my jeans, shorts and socks, then pulled my t-shirt over my head and knelt on the bottom of the bed. "Where's Lauren?" I heard myself asking ... it was going to be one of those nights for stupid questions.

"Don't be greedy," Lucinda teased, "She will be along later .... You didn't think that you were going to get out of here without satisfying both of us, did you?"

I crawled up the bed towards her and she shuffled backwards until she had her back against the headboard. The kimono had fallen open and her luscious pale breasts were completely bared, the aureolas and nipples pink and already a little swollen. She was kneeling with her feet tucked back beneath her and had let her knees fall apart and I could see her pussy, the pouting lips smooth and bare and already slick with moisture. My breath caught in my throat, Luci looked delicate and gorgeous and so wanton with everything naked and wide open on display just for me. I knelt in front of her my growing erection paying homage to the sensuality of her body.

"Wait!" she told me, "Just watch ... I promise you will like it!"

Her honey brown hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders, and I noticed that she had used some of the time since we got home to add a little make up and apply some deep pink lipstick. She tilted her head backward, tossing it once so that her hair fanned out in a silky cascade, her eyes were closed and her lips slightly apart the tip of her tongue slowly caressing the upper lip, seductively.

Luci arched her back so that her perfectly rounded breasts were thrust forward and then slid her hands up her torso, over her ribs to cup a breast in each and squeeze the nipples. She gripped a pink nub between each fore finger and thumbs and gently rolled them as they started to swell and deepen in colour until the areolas were a deep pink, vivid against her pale breasts. The hard little nipples totally mesmerised me, I couldn't take my eyes from them. A shallow shudder flowed through her body as she rubbed and pinched herself into a state of higher arousal, and not for the first time I wondered if it would be possible to make a girl cum simply by playing with her stimulated breasts.

She started to roll her hips slightly and I could see the lips of her vulva opening and closing slightly with each movement and the flushed pinkness of her labia. Just watching her I felt my face start to glow and my whole body surged with warmth; she looked so sexy and desirable and I wanted her there and then, my prick was rigid and quivering and she was only three feet away.