Snow days sucked.
At least that was how Patty felt after spending the entire day listening to her two children bicker and complain. She'd woken at five that morning to three inches of fresh snow, with more falling; the morning news had informed her that both the district she worked for and the one her children attended were closed due to the weather.
Naturally, on a day when they didn't have to go to school, her children were up by five-thirty. When they had school, Patty struggled to get them out of bed at six.
For several hours, the snow fell and the wind blew so hard they could barely see the other houses on their street. The children occupied themselves with computer and TV, but their attention was broken up with bouts of arguing about whose turn it was for what and whining that they had nothing to do. Patty had come to expect that sort of behavior from her nine-year-old, annoying though it was. She would have thought the fourteen-year-old would know better.
However, despite her frustration with her children, Patty didn't really mind having them home. The only real problem the weather held for her was the road conditions. She didn't have to go anywhere, but it was Friday, which meant her boyfriend Tucker was supposed to arrive for the weekend. He lived two hours away. With this weather, it was unlikely he'd attempt the drive.
A couple times during the day she tried to call his cell, but he had sketchy service and she kept getting the "Please hold while we attempt to reach this person" message. Why didn't he call to let her know what was going on? He knew she'd be waiting for him.
Finally, about mid-afternoon, a few rays of sunlight broke through the crowd and the snow tapered off. An hour later, the snow had stopped entirely. Although it was starting to get dark outside, up and down the street the sounds of snowblowers and shrieking children filled the air. "Mom, can we go out to play?" the nine-year-old asked.
"Yeah, I need to get out of this house." The fourteen-year-old looked out the window. "Ooh, Jenny and Sienna are out! Ha! Sienna just hit Grant with a snowball."
The nine-year-old yanked on his snowsuit about ten times faster than she ever did when Patty tried to get her ready for school. "I must help Grant defend the planet against the teen giggle squad!" He bolted out the door.
The fourteen-year-old rolled her eyes. "Little brothers are such a pain." She pulled on her boots and jacket and left before Patty could tell her to add a hat and gloves.
Five minutes later, both kids burst through the door. "Mom, can we go to Grant and Jenny's for supper?" the nine-year-old asked.
"They asked us," the fourteen-year-old added. "They're having a snow party and they said we can stay for supper and till like seven o'clock. They're going to make maple snow like in the Little House books."
Thank goodness for neighbors. "Sure, go ahead. Have fun with the maple snow. Don't squirt syrup on each other."
"As if we would." The fourteen-year-old gave another of her patented eye rolls, and she and her brother ran out the door again.
Till seven o'clock. Almost three hours of childlessness. Patty loved her children, but the day had been exhausting and it would be nice to have a break.
The first thing she did was clean up the messes the kids had made. Both seemed chronically incapable of putting dishes in the sink or trash in the trash cans, and the nine-year-old seemed to overlook the piles of toys and action figures he left in the middle of the living room floor on a daily basis. Ordinarily Patty would have called them back home and made them clean up, but the silence was too nice to break.
About eight inches of snow had fallen over the course of the storm, which meant some shoveling had to be done. Fortunately, her boyfriend had bought her a snowblower during a previous storm, after he'd decided he was tired of shoveling her driveway, so clearing the driveway and front walk took her little time and cost only a couple mouthfuls of snow when she angled the blower the wrong way. Once that was done, she shoveled off the front steps and went back inside to warm up.
She decided to take advantage of the remaining amount of peace and quiet to have a bath, a luxury she rarely allowed herself. Baths took too long. Most of the time she showered and was dressed within ten minutes so she could get on with the parenting and full-time-working parts of her life. But a nice bath would warm her up and relax her, and since she had nothing more important to do, she decided to go for it.
She ran the water as hot as she could stand it so it wouldn't cool off too quickly, and stripped out of her clothes while the tub filled. After searching through the medicine cabinet and the cupboard under the sink, she found an old box of rose-scented bath salts and poured some into the tub.
Lowering herself into the water, she closed her eyes and let the warmth and scent surround her. Lazily, she ran her hands over her body, though she wished they were Tucker's hands. It had been five days since she'd seen him, which didn't sound long but felt like years. Why hadn't he called? He had to know she was concerned. From what she'd heard on the news this storm had been worse where he lived. She was reasonably sure he wouldn't make the drive, but it would have been nice to know for sure.
Although she wanted to touch herself, to bring herself to orgasm, she held back. This was a time to relax, not to get herself off. She rested her hands on the sides of the tub to avoid temptation.
After a while, she heard the front door open and close. Great. One or both of the kids must have decided to come back early. Patty started out of the tub, but changed her mind. The kids could manage without her for a few more minutes; she was too relaxed to move.
Heavy footsteps made their way up the stairs. It didn't sound like either of the kids. It sounded like Tucker, but it couldn't be. He wouldn't have been crazy enough to drive in a storm, would he?
"Patty?"
It was him! Patty couldn't believe it. He'd actually made it! "In here."
The bathroom door opened and Tucker came in. "Mmm, nice view."
Patty sat up so she could get out of the tub. "What are you doing here?"
"You didn't think I'd miss a chance to see my girl, did you? They got the highways cleared pretty well. It took me almost twice as long as usual to get here, but this makes it worthwhile. Stay right where you are."
He walked away, leaving the door open. Again Patty started out of the tub. "Stay put," Tucker called from somewhere. "I have a plan."
Patty relaxed back into the water. What was he plotting? She wanted to get dressed so she could spend some time with him before the kids came back, but this might be more fun. And it wasn't like he'd never seen her naked before.
He returned a minute or so later carrying candles in holders and his lighter. Carefully he set a couple candles on the front edge of the tub, and the others around the sink. He lit them and shut off the overhead light. "That's better. You look so beautiful, honey."
"Yeah, candlelight improves the view dramatically."
He splashed her. "That isn't what I mean and you know it. Where are the kids?"
"Next door. They're staying till seven."
"Perfect." He sat on the edge of the tub closest to her head. "Sit up and let me wash your back."
She leaned forward and handed him the bar of soap that was floating in the water. He soaped up his hands, then ran them over her back. "That feels nice," she said.
"You're so tense. I thought baths were supposed to be relaxing." He massaged her shoulders. "Relax, honey. Let me take care of you for a little while."
Patty closed her eyes and let her body go limp. Take care of her. Before Tucker, she hadn't had anyone to do that in so long she'd forgotten what it was like. Tucker tried, but sometimes she just couldn't let him; she'd gotten too used to doing everything on her own.
But it felt heavenly to have his hands on her back, washing and massaging at the same time. She shouldn't spend so much time in the bath. There was housework to do and her kids would be home soon, but she didn't want to move.
As though he'd read her mind, Tucker softly said, "Don't worry about anything. The house is fine, the kids are fine, and I'll make supper after we're done here. Just relax."
"I have to get things done."
"Right now the only thing you have to do is let me get you nice and clean. I'm here, remember? You don't have to do everything. Put yourself first for once and let me worry about everything else." He worked his knuckles down her back, on either side of her spine. Patty moaned. "That's it," Tucker said. "Just let me do this for you."
She opened her mouth to argue, but changed her mind. A gorgeous, sexy man who loved her wanted to make her feel good. Why would she try to stop him?
Tucker's hands moved lower, below the surface of the water, and knuckled Patty's lower back. This was where she felt the most tension most days; teaching kept her on her feet, and by the end of her work days she nearly always had a back ache. Though her shoulders and neck competed for most tense part of her body.
A teasing finger ran along the top of her ass crack, and Patty jumped. Tucker laughed. "Sorry, honey, couldn't resist."
"If you're trying to relax me, that isn't the way to do it."
"I know, but you have such a cute ass." He ran his hands up her back, bringing water with them. "We'll rinse this soap off and then I want to wash your hair."
She'd never had a man wash her hair, at least not like this. It appealed to her, and she didn't try to talk him out of it. He sluiced water down her back to remove the soap. "Okay, lean back and close your eyes. I'm going to use the drinking cup to pour water over your hair."
