Leaving Cowtown

My name is Dan Wyatt. This story covers a few decades, so grab some popcorn and get comfortable. There are a lot of side stories that I'll leave out for the sake of brevity, and I'll try to keep the story line as linear as possible, so it's easier to follow.

I guess the best place to start this story would be the on the best, happiest and most important day of my life. I'd have to look at an old calendar to give you the exact date, but I can tell you it was in August. I'm fifty one years old now so it must have been a little over thirty years ago.

It was Friday evening, and I had just graduated from the Ft. Worth Fire Department Fire Academy. As a brand new rookie, I was proud to be following in my father's footsteps, and wished he could have been there to see it.

A fellow grad and I were celebrating at one of the local young urban cowboy watering holes. We had no plans for a big blow out, but we did want to down a couple and say goodbye to the last few trying months in fire school, in anticipation of the future.

I had only gone through one beer when I saw a group of young ladies at the back of the place, and decided to go see if I could generate some action. They were standing by the entrance to the restrooms, so I used that as my pretense for approaching them. As luck would have it, there was a bit of a traffic jam, and I had to stop right in the middle of their group. As I sized up the crowd for a friendly face, I heard a voice behind me say,

"Hey, here's a cute one."

Now I'm not ugly, and I have been hit on a time or two, but I'm not so handsome that I'm jaded. I still perk up when someone hits on me. I turned to see who had made the comment, and was instantly transfixed by the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. It was as if everyone and everything in the room had gone out of focus, except for her face. I'd never thought one way or the other about love at first sight, but I know that that's what happened. I could almost see an aura or halo around her face. Sounds hokey, but that's exactly what happened. And I could immediately tell that it wasn't one-sided. She took my hand and said,

"I've got mine girls, you're on your own!"

This beauty grabbed my hand, and we started across the dance floor. We were immediately swallowed up in the Cotton-Eyed Joe crowd, so we just started dancing. After the Joe, and about five minutes of Texas Four Corners, we got off of the dance floor and found a table in a back corner. Her name was Dana Vargas and she was from Dallas. For those of you who don't know, Dallas is about thirty miles away, on the East side of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. Dana and I talked for hours. She was a freshman at TCU and was on a full ride golf scholarship. School was starting on Monday, and this was her group's first weekend away from home, and the last weekend before the "college grind".

I told her that I was a brand new probationary firefighter, and regaled her with a few fire stories. I told her about my parents; mom died from breast cancer when I was eight and my dad died when I was fifteen, about six months after being injured in a fire. My Uncle and Aunt took me in and raised me after that. They were really good people and made sure I had everything I needed, but they had three kids already, and I always felt like I was a visiting relative. I was a good kid who got decent grades and never got into trouble, so it wasn't too bad on anyone. I guess for losing both parents by my teens, I was fairly well adjusted.

Dana came from a family with big Dallas money. Her grandfather's was a true rags-to-riches oil field story. He started with a few coins in his pocket and one change of worn clothing, but ended up being a millionaire many times over. The Vargas family story makes me think of the TV show Dallas, except there were no assholes. Old man Vargas had two sons. Dana's uncle took over the oil business, and Dana's dad got into commercial real estate. He still had some holdings in petroleum, but all of his efforts went into the many office buildings and commercial properties he owned. Dana's older brother, David, still lived at home and went to SMU. He worked for his Dad, and apparently was as good at making money as the old man.

Like I mentioned, Dana was on a full athletic scholarship, so her tuition and books were paid for. Usually, she would have been required to live in a dorm, but another perk of being rich is that her dad pulled some strings so she could live in a duplex that he bought for her as a high school graduation present. She would live in one side and the rent from the other side would be her income. She was majoring in business, and she would join David in managing the Vargas Empire when she graduated. This stint at being a landlady would be sort of an internship.

Dana and I talked like we were trying to bring each other up to speed on our past lives so we could continue on with our future together. After about three hours, we realized we had lost our friends. My buddy was gone and so was Dana's girlfriend and roommate Brooke. Brooke had driven them to the club. Dana told me that during one of my bathroom trips, she had told Brooke to leave whenever, because I would bring her home.

And I did. I drove her home, walked her to the door, kissed her goodnight, and after we exchanged numbers, I promised I would call. I didn't want to screw this up by trying to jump her bones. The strange thing is, I didn't want to. Well, I did, but I didn't treat this like a conquest. This was something special.

Bright and early the next day, I called Dana and by noon I had picked her up and we were headed for Los Colinas Country Club to play golf. Dana's family were members, and she played there quite often. I had only driven by the place a couple of times, and certainly had never been inside. Hell, I couldn't even see over the fence.

When I went by to pick Dana up, she took one look at my set of mismatched golf clubs and said,

"We've got to make a quick stop at school."

She ran into one of the athletic dorms and came out with a very nice set of Taylor Made clubs. She told me to try them on for size. They were a spare set that someone had donated to the school and they weren't a real "pro quality" set, but for a hacker, they were perfect. When we got to the course, almost everyone said hi to Dana. Being a Vargas and TCU golfer, she was a minor celebrity. I won't go into how I did, but I shot a very respectable score...for an entire basketball team.

After our round of golf, we went back to Dana's place and made love for the first time. It was so natural and soft and...right. She told me to jump in the shower and throw my sweaty clothes out so she could put them in the washer. I heard the washer start and then I heard the bathroom door again. The shower door opened and Dana was standing in front of me...naked. She asked if there was room for her. She stepped into the shower and into my arms. I can't explain the feeling. I had never felt like that with a woman before. She was part of me, though we had met less than twenty-four hours ago; it seemed we had been lovers for a lifetime. She felt comfortable in my arms. Her ample breasts pressed against me. She didn't have to look up to me because I was only an inch taller than her. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers. This was only our third kiss. The first one was last night, then when I picked her up this morning, and now, naked in her shower.

Our hands began to explore each other. We reached around and put our hands on each other's ass and pulled ourselves tightly to each other. There was a gentle passion. Sometimes, passion is hard, like you're afraid your partner will try to get away. We knew this thing wasn't going to end. We knew, after just a few hours, that we belonged together. Dana and I washed each other, we touched, kissed, and explored each other entirely. I kissed around her neck, and down between her breasts. She pulled my face tight against her. I eased over and kissed, then licked around a nipple. She again pulled me against her. I took her nipple into my mouth and rolled it between my lips. She made a small gasp, and I felt her shudder. Her nipple grew harder, and I sucked it gently, flicking my tongue across the tip. By now, my cock was hard and throbbing.

As I stood up from Dana's breasts, my cock came up between her legs and pressed against her pussy. She immediately squeezed her thighs together trapping my cock. She began a slow rocking motion rubbing me into her wet slit. I knew that in a matter of seconds I would be over the top. Dana must have been close too. She raised one foot up onto the shower seat and guided my rock-hard cock into her. She was so wet from our passion that I immediately slid my entire length into her. I had to stop moving because I was so close to losing my load. Dana began to quiver, and I felt her vagina begin to spasm. She softly whimpered and leaned back against the shower wall which brought my thrusts hard against her clit. Her orgasm became so strong that had she not been impaled on my cock she would have fallen. I could no longer control myself and I felt my eruption start. I looked at Dana, and she stared right into my eyes as she felt every ounce of my cum flood into her. I watched her face and I knew we were sealed together forever. It's hard to describe the feeling to someone who has never experienced it. It was a mutual total surrender. No need for words, you just know. As we regained our composure we held each other closely. It was like we were waiting for our souls to completely bond and become one.

We slowly began to finish our shower, gently washing each other, as though we were closely inspecting a newly acquired possession. Then we heard Brooke.

"Dana, where are you?"

Dana giggled and said, "Party's over."

"I hope not," was my reply.

She smiled and said, "Sweetie, we are just getting started."

We got out of the shower, dried off. Dana had to give me one of her bathrobes because my clothes weren't dry yet. When we came into the living room from Dana's bedroom, Brooke gave us an evil eye then smiled and said, "Well, it looks like you two have hit it off." Dana and I just smiled.

The next few months were just a blur. I had a new job that I absolutely loved, and a new girlfriend that I absolutely loved. I was the happiest man alive. Lucky for us, Dana and I were in much better than average physical condition, because our schedules were maddening. I was working twenty-four-hour shifts in the Fire Department. Dana was carrying a pretty good load in school, playing tournament golf, and every minute that we could be we were together. We went out to eat a lot, we worked out at the gym, and we fucked like a pair of rabbits.

After about four months, Brooke hooked up with a new flame and decided to move in with him. I guess that was around Christmas. I was at Dana's watching TV one evening, and she began telling me about her newest project.

The street that Dana's house was on was lined with nice duplexes, mostly for college students. Dana had an opportunity to buy the two duplexes to the east of hers. She started giving me a rundown of the financials and how the deal would go down. Both properties were in need of some cosmetic repairs, nothing major, just some drywall patching, paint, and TLC. The owner was getting up in age and just wanted to let them go.

Now here's something about firefighters. We all have sidelines of one thing or another. Dana knew that I had access to, painters, plumbers, electricians, roofers and about anything else you could need. She decided to have me put the remodel work together. And she would handle the finance and occupancy.

I asked Dana if she was going to borrow the money from her Dad to put this thing together. "I don't need my Dad to do this. This duplex he gave me is all the seed money I need. I've already been to the bank and they are ready to do whatever I want — another perk of coming from big money. I think my Dad will be pretty pleased when he sees what I've done." Then she looked me in the eye and added, "If we are going to be partners in this thing, maybe you had better move in with me."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I had dreamed of us living together, but neither of us had ever even mentioned the possibility before.

Let me digress here. First, I had spent the night with Dana numerous times, so that wasn't the deal. Did I mention that Dana was an athlete? Did I tell you about her toned and incredible body from walking all those many miles on a golf course? Did I explain that Dana was about the most beautiful, sexiest women on the planet? She stands about five-ten, weighs about one thirty. Has a bigger rack than I thought you could have and still play golf. She always smells like flowers, not overpowering, you just want to breathe deep when you are around her.

And having sex with her is a spiritual experience. And Dana loved sex. She was the most adventuresome sex partner I ever had. She was willing to try anything that I could think of, and she thought of more ways to have sex than I did. Not all of them were great. Some didn't work at all, and a few I thought might land us in the hospital, or jail. One thing that used to worry me was that Dana loved sucking my cock. It wasn't that she loved giving me blow jobs, I was all over that, it was that she loved doing it when there was a chance of us getting caught - in the car, at the beach, in our backyard, Department store dressing rooms...anywhere. And of the probably hundred of times we did it, we only got caught once. We flew out of Love Field at about ten o'clock one night for a weekender in Las Vegas. Lights in the plane cabin were down low and we had a blanket on our lap. As usual when we flew, we would tease and masturbate each other.

On this occasion we decided to join the mile high club. We slipped back to the lav. No flight attendants were around, so we both went in and locked the door. She couldn't get my cock out fast enough. She had me in her mouth and was working like a vacuum. I got my hands inside her loose sweatshirt and was rolling her nipples between my fingers. It didn't take me thirty seconds and I was ready to pop. About the time that my first shot of cum hit the back of Dana's throat the door came open. A flight attendant was standing there. She got a quick little smile and closed the door. Dana didn't miss a stroke or spill a drop. When we had finished she looked up with a big smile and said

"Oops, I hope they don't throw us off the plane." We fixed our clothes and we exited the lav, the flight attendant was sitting on the seat in the galley.

She smiled and said, "I hope you are enjoying your flight."

Dana and I got married after about ten months together, and we lived in that duplex until she graduated with her bachelor's degree. Her Dad wanted her to get her masters, but when he realized how much money we had made in four years buying and selling real estate, he decided she was a chip off of the old block and didn't need any more schooling.

Dana's parents marveled at what we accomplished in a short few years. After Dana was out of school for a couple of years, we had parlayed the duplex into a seventy five hundred square foot modest mansion. As with all of our property, this one had been ridden hard. Some over the top rich oil guys had it for a rendezvous place for their trysts. After the oil bust, they couldn't keep the maintenance or the mortgage up so we got it from the bank for thirty cents on the dollar. It took some work and money, but when it was all said and done we had about five hundred thousand dollars in a two million dollar house. And it was paid for.

But Dana and I never put on airs. We never got a big head or flaunted what we had. Oh, there were Fire Department guys who talked crap about me...the millionaire firefighter. None of the guys that ever worked with me did. I was one of them. My wife drove a Volvo and I drove a pickup. I almost bought a Miata one time but I didn't. Dana was always rich; her family never wanted for anything but I never knew any of them to put it in anyone's face or use their influence against anyone.

Dana and I stayed busy. I had my career in the fire department and the two of us had our business. We never planned a family and one never happened. Dana's parents told us several time that they were looking forward to grandkids but they never got any from us. Kind of selfish I guess, but we were happy with our lives. David and his wife Jen ended up with three kids, so the parents were satisfied.

We had been married fifteen years when Dana's parents were killed in a private plane crash. They had gone with some friends to a Dallas Mavericks away basketball game and they didn't make it back. We were crushed. They were very good people and the family members truly loved one another. David assumed control of the family business, and Dana and I just sat back and drew nice dividends. Our venture was still going so good we couldn't complain about anything.

I started eyeing retirement from the fire department. I had worked my way up to Captain and that made the job just pretty sweet. But Dana and I had started talking about traveling. We figured when I got my twenty years in, we'd buy an RV with a tag-a-long little car and tour the country for about a year.

We got the maps and planned routes and everything then after about a year of planning we decided we don't need no stinkin maps. We'd just go where the urge strikes us, find a nice place and stay there until we got an itch to see something new. We'd start off spending about six months West of the Mississippi and then explore the East for six months.

We talked about the kind of RV we wanted, what features we had to have and how much room we would need for all of our stuff. One minor point of contention was what kind of little tag along vehicle we would buy. I wanted a Mini Cooper. Dana's brother David had recently purchased a shiny yellow Corvette. Dana loved that car and that's what she wanted to tow behind the RV. I tried to explain that I didn't think it would tow very well. It was like talking to a wall, so I let that subject alone for a while. It's fun planning things like this when money is really not an object. Between being half owners of Vargas Properties, oil and gas properties and investments and our business, we were millionaires many, many times over.

I put my retirement papers in a little less than a year before I could retire. I was anxious. Then the hammer fell. I had been working one day and Dana called me from her Doctor's office. Could I come down and talk to her Doctor with her? I didn't like the sound of that, so I hurried over as fast as I could. They had found a lump in one of Dana's breasts. An oncologist was there with Dana's Doc and they explained the situation. The cancer was a fairly aggressive type and they wanted us to go to Houston to a major cancer clinic.

We spent the next eleven months trying to find a way through our situation. But all the prayers and all the money made no difference. The cancer surprised even the Doctors at how fast and aggressive it was. I lost my Dana on a Saturday morning. The sun was bright, it was about seventy degree, the flowers were in bloom. A perfect day. I thought my life was over.

I had retired a couple of months before Dana died. For the last six months I had spent my days taking care of her and nothing else. I had known for quite some time that we were fighting a losing battle and it was just a matter of time before I would be alone. The thought of that was almost more that I could bear, but watching her pain and not being able to help was sheer agony.

We had a small staff that was managing the day to day operation of our real estate business, so we had that covered. Dana's brother David was also a big help. He was just like Dana in that they both could make things happen with very little effort. Just like when she envisioned our duplex endeavor at the very start, there was no hesitation, no what ifs. She knew what was going to happen and it happened. David had no trouble keeping our stuff in line.