Susan's Renaissance

This is part of my series about Kelsey and Susan of 'Shotgun' and 'Susan's Sunrise'. This story is very long, emotional, and descriptive. It's also 'Hallmark Channel' sweet. I suggest the order being, Shotgun> Susan's Sunrise> Lake Chantrain> Susan's Renaissance > A Chance and a Change. This story is a time commitment. If you like my story Shotgun, I think you will like this one. If you did not like it, I suggest saving yourself the time.

I have broken this down into parts with titles to allow you to have an easy place to stop and pick up again from a distinct place in the story.

This is number two of three already-written chapters released about a week apart.

My universe, my rules.

Covid does not exist in my world

This is the sequel to Susan's Sunrise. If you don't read Susan's Sunrise and Shotgun, you will likely end up lost.

Don't laugh at the iPhone 8 being electronic treasure. iPhone 8 was the latest in 2018 when this story takes place.

'Kissing frogs' references the Grimm Fairy Tale, 'The Frog Prince.'

McMansion = large but not huge house, typically from 3000 square feet to around 6000 square feet. IE the homes of the wealthy but not the true mansions of the elite rich.

Susan's Renaissance

From the previous story 'Susan's Sunrise'

I looked at her and then I saw them. I looked down at hers then his... First, her left hand then his. They had wedding rings on! She had a diamond!

My first big win of my life. I had succeeded at only one big thing in my life but it was huge. My baby girl was married and it stuck! THEY LOOKED HAPPY TOGETHER AND WERE STILL MARRIED!!!!

I sobbed hard and couldn't control it.

*******

Part 1

Dawn's Early Light.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

My sobbing was a release, a sweet wonderful release. I lost time after time after time in my life. I lost time and again, but in the single most important thing... Kelsey... I won.

I WON! I WON!

I was stunned. Finally, atthirty-twoo years old for the very first time. I WON!

My only big victory in my life, but it was the most important one: Kelsey.

It was a new feeling for me. I had a huge win and it took several minutes for me to sort my mind out, and I asked, "He brought you home?"

Kelsey smiled the smile of her life and nodded enthusiastically, "Mom... I love him and he loves me. We are a true married couple in every sense."

I started sobbing again as Andrew said, "We will leave you some private time with your mom."

I shook my head and said, "Please stay..."

I shuddered for a minute to compose myself and looked at Andrew then said, "Thank you."

He asked, "Why?"

I said, "I can see from the way you had your arm over her shoulder that you love her. I see the way you look at her. Thank you. I have succeeded in only one big thing, but my daughter has the good life I always dreamed of for her."

He smiled and said, "It was a strange start, but I love your daughter and am happy in ways I did not know existed until she came into my life."

I smiled. I was still thinking about the fact that my daughter was now living that life I had always dreamed for her... and one I would like for myself. To have a man, that soft affection of him holding me... kissing the back of my neck, and saying how much he loves me as he holds me in post-coital bliss... His bare body surrounding mine... Safely wrapped in his arms... I had read about it but had never experienced it.

I guess it is ironic. Some women leave a good man for a bad boy... I'm thirty-two years old and I have had all the bad boy I can stand for the rest of my life.

A deputy walked in and asked for everyone to leave because he had questions for me regarding Earl and the events of the past few days. Everyone left and shut the door behind them. I hoped I wasn't in trouble and thought I probably wasn't so I did my best to look helpless and scared. It wasn't much of an act. I was helpless and pretty damn scared.

His first question was what I saw the day of the killings. I said, "I got up and made a grocery list then borrowed his cousin's pickup to do a grocery run. When I got to Earl's station, four men in masks came out the door as I turned away from the pickup truck to walk inside. They looked like robbers so I tried to run. Something hit me hard from behind on my left side and I spun from the force. I kind of remember falling then nothing until I woke up this morning."

He asked, "What do you know of his criminal activities?"

He looked at me intently as I said, "I never asked and he never volunteered. He would never tell anyway. He would disappear for a few days and then reappear. I never asked for fear of making him angry because he was violent and I did not want to push him or know what he was doing."

He nodded, apparently believing me, and asked, "So he beat you?"

I nodded.

He asked, "How much and how often?"

I said, "Only once was really bad. I learned to avoid his anger for the most part. Usually a hard slap or a gut punch two or three times a year. He was awful, but he did not seek out to hit me for the sport of it. We sometimes had fights and that was when it happened. I learned to avoid the brunt of it. He hit his cousins and even his cousin's wife a few times that I know of."

He nodded, "Did you recognize anything about the men?"

I shook my head, "They had black face masks on with eye holes. They were white or light Hispanic."

He said, "I'm sorry to inform you that Earl and his cousins are dead, including his cousin's wife. They were shot at the trailers. Earl's shop and the trailers were burned and all are a total loss."

That hit me hard, I had no place to go and I cried a bit. I was alone with nowhere to turn. Yes, I thought it odd I had no feelings for the dead because Earl was abusive and his cousins were his minions. He patiently waited a few minutes until I recovered, then asked a few more questions and said to not leave town until at least Tuesday if they had any additional questions.

I told him I doubted that I would be leaving that soon, shook my left leg with the cast and held up the splints on my fingers.

When the deputy left, my daughter, her husband, and his mother came back in and I sighed and said, "Everyone is dead except me. Earl, his cousins. Dead. Whoever they were, they burned everything too. It's all gone. Everything... All gone."

I sighed and since I was pretty much cried out and looked at my daughter. I felt better just looking at her, "Your hair is cut and styled. Your clothes are nice!"

I looked at Andrew after seeing her clothed and dressed nicely and said, "Thank you."

Andrew said, "Thank my mom. She bought her a wardrobe the first day after cutting her hair."

Kelsey said, "Mom owns a small salon."

I was confused for a second then asked Kelsey, "You call her mom?"

Kelsey smiled, pointed to a woman who was patiently waiting in the background, and said, "Meet my mother-in-law, Leah. I call her mom. She treats me as if I were her born child. Andrew's family is wonderful. His father is dad to me and treats me the same, like his own flesh and blood."

I looked at Andrew's mom and said, "Then thank you."

His mom smiled, "She is now my daughter too."

Another win... My daughter was beloved even by Andrew's mother. I broke down once again and squeaked out, "Thank you", then started sobbing again. Dry sobs. Kelsey hugged me and kind of half-hugged me around my bandages and padding and the mess of medical stuff all over me. I calmed down and looked at Kelsey, "What is it like? Your life now? I can see he treats you well."

Kelsey gushed, "Mom. Life is everything I dreamed of. Andrew has a house and it's on a lake! He treats me wonderfully."

Kelsey smiled at saying that and turned to Andrew and stroked his cheek fondly.

Kelsey turned back to me, "I have food and clothes and... no Earl."

I took it all in. I thought I was going to start crying again, but held it together, "And what do you do now?" Do you work?"

Kelsey nodded and said, "I have a job. I give tours of the place we live in. I work at the hotel there. I'm going to be an accountant in four years though."

Complete shock! Again, shock hit me in the most wonderful way, "College?"

Kelsey nodded, "COLLEGE! I'm an accounting major this fall."

I started dry-crying again. I lost a million times in my life before that day and suddenly I was stacking up wins and this one was huge. My daughter was going to get a degree. It was as if life was trying to partly pay me back for all the terrible things that happened to me before.

We were interrupted again when two deputies came to my room again then asked to speak with me alone. I was alone with the deputy when we mentioned some names and asked me if they meant anything to me. They sounded like Russian names, but I was not sure.

He then asked me if I had ever heard any Hispanic names mentioned by Earl. I knew he was in touch with a man named Diego, but I had only heard the name a few times before Earl would disappear for a couple of days.

He brought out two pictures. I winced, one man had a chunk of his upper skull missing on the right side above his ear. Oddly, his face was not marked. I turned away.

He said these were two of the men involved at Earl's station and that there was a shootout in McDowell County to the West. He said the two men in the photos were the names he had mentioned and the one who had shot me was the one with part of his skull missing. I told him I did not recognize any of them nor their names. I shuddered as the deputy left and my daughter came back in with everyone. I would see that dead man's face in my mind for days. I forced those thoughts out of my mind and after composing myself, I looked at Kelsey and asked, "You live in a house now?"

Kelsey smiled and nodded then pulled out her phone and pulled up some family pictures. I was in wonder at the fact Kelsey had a nice phone. I sat there dumbfounded when she brought up that nice new cellphone and I asked, "You have a cell now?"

Kelsey realized that I had no news of her and how much her life had changed, "I want for nothing. Mom... My mother-in-law, mom, bought me this phone while Andrew was at work the first full day back. I have an SUV now, too!. Andrew bought me a Rav 4. It's a 2015 just like his Camry!"

Cue me crying dry again number one thousand. As I got over my last cry, I stroked Kelsey's face and said, "Your face is happier. You don't have the worries you did when you were at the trailers."

I relaxed and smiled, now laughing and still not believing this was happening. I looked at my daughter, "You made it! You actually escaped and you made it!"

Kelsey nodded then showed more pictures then I was in for a shock. Up came a picture of Kelsey standing in front of an A-frame home, naked as she was born.

Kelsey laughed, "Oh... riiiiight... I didn't mention they were nudists did I? I guess I am one now too. I enjoy it a lot, really I prefer it plus I don't have to worry about selecting what to wear each morning if I am not going anywhere outside the community. I wear shoes though!"

It took a minute for me to think it through before I simply asked, "You are happy right?"

Kelsey beamed, "Mom, I wake up every EVERY... *EVERY* day with butterflies in my stomach I am so happy."

That was all I needed. I could see it in her face. Kelsey had a life, a sweet wonderful life with a man who clearly adored her. I thought for a moment then asked, "Is that house behind you where you live?"

Kelsey nodded, "Mom. It's a wonderful place and I live there with my Andrew. It's home like I never dreamed home could be. The neighborhood is called Lake Chantrain and I never want to leave.

She went through several pictures before she showed me one from the upper landing of the stairs that overlooked the twenty-seven-foot tall open living room then a picture of her bedroom showing the layout and Daisy, her stuffed cat sitting on the dresser. It was odd to think how that stuffed cat had been with my daughter since she was small. It was the stuffed cat Troy had won at the fair when I was with Troy and was now still with her all these years later as a married woman. The third picture was simply from the rear deck, showing the view over the lake as a thunderstorm rolled in.

I shook my head in wonderment at how nice it was and asked, "You get to live there?"

Kelsey nodded with a huge smile and said, "Home."

Andrew excused himself with his mom to take care of some things he wanted to get done and told Kelsey he would be back. He wanted Kelsey to stay with me, so she did. She went back to picture one in her phone and I told her I wanted every story about every picture on her phone. It was pure bliss watching my daughter describe every picture.

Picture 1 was simply at the cell phone store inside Best Buy. Kelsey was standing with her new phone with a giant grin on her face. Andrew's mother had forwarded the picture to her. Her face, was so happy with such a mundane item. My daughter's foray into the world without Earl holding her back. That smile she had just over a stupid cellphone. Her hair had been cut and it was shiny, but she still had her old clothes on.

Delight!

It was almost as if I was there as she described each photo. There were four more pictures at Best Buy then just a picture as they drove up to Target. Silly mundane moments for most, but firsts for my daughter and to her delight. Andrew's mom had taken Kelsey out to buy her clothing. An entire wardrobe. NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS! She spent that money on my daughter without a thought. My daughter raved about her mother-in-law. Seeing her delight... I was almost high looking at my daughter as she described each picture with delight in her eyes.

Sixty pictures of her looking at clothes and going to the dressing room and coming out in an outfit. SIXTY! They went to three different stores. Mundane moments for most people except for Kelsey. I was in heaven as she spoke about each one and it was almost as if I was there as she got to do it. Andrew's mom had Kelsey's phone and was taking the pictures and my daughter came out each time in a new outfit and a pile of clothes grew and grew! Mundane for you. For me... more bliss! I was paying attention as Kelsey described each in detail. Her eyes! Her smile! My baby made it!

I WON!

There were pictures of a lunch at Chick-fil-A and pictures of a furniture store. Mundane except for my daughter finally getting to stretch her wings beside a loving man and his family instead of underneath the pressure of an awful man.

Then the first nudist photos. Dinner. Naked dinner. What struck me was it looked like dinner at any regular place. It was so ordinary, yet it wasn't. They were eating at a long outdoor table under a large wooden gazebo on an equally impressive large rear deck. There was a lake in the background and a nice-sized house, presumably Leah's. The difference was body parts were visible. There was a man who looked to be the same age as Andrew's mother and another man who looked to be in his mid-twenties.

One picture in particular struck me so odd. Someone had taken a picture of Kelsey at the dinner table. She was just sitting and smiling as if listening to a funny story... yep! There are her boobs. It was chest up and the boobs were not the focus, but there they were in all their glory. Her face was the focus. She looked happy and content... at peace with the world with a fork with a piece of chicken in her hand and a smile as she listened to someone talking.

There were two dozen shots of her car shopping. A simple thing to most yet there was this picture of her signing the documents and another of her standing in front of a silver Rav 4 with the biggest happy smile and keys in her hand. My baby daughter escaped and was thriving.

Mundane days, thunderstorms rolling across the lake, the house, dinners, breakfasts, Kelsey with Andrew, Kelsey with his parents, Her giving a tour to hotel guests buck naked, Kelsey with his mom, The Fourth of July, love, happiness, family... REAL FAMILY! I saw how my daughter had blossomed through the summer. Bliss is not a strong enough word. She was naked in most and who gives a shit. She blossomed and she lived life to the fullest!

I looked at her and asked, "Are you used to the nudist thing?"

She nodded and said, "I have like... zero modesty anymore and honestly, I love it. It feels nice actually and only having to put on shoes makes the mornings a breeze. It's not sex... it's being free kinda... hard to explain other than it feels nice and I like it a lot and now prefer it over being clothed. If I come home from being out where I have to wear clothes, the first thing I do when I come home is strip off. We have a shower with hot and cold water on the deck and I shower outdoors most mornings."

I was basically high from the rush I got at seeing my daughter live her new life when Andrew got back to the hospital at two in the afternoon

Kelsey brought up her phone and went to the Lake Chantrain Website and wow, there was a picture of my baby girl full frontal naked leading a group and she was only wearing shoes. It took me a second to digest it.

I asked, "Your nude photo is on the internet."

Kelsey nodded and half shrugged, "It was a process and I was surprised the first time one of the guests took a picture of me. I'm used to it now, there are hundreds by now I'm sure. Nothing all that explicit, but, yep, pretty much all of me. Mrs. Johannssen asked me to be on the website au naturale and I agreed. She said I was attractive and that would help encourage people to make reservations at the hotel. I have come to love living in a naturist resort so I'm on the website how I prefer to be; bare as I was born. Are you mad?"

I shook my head, "Earl and his friends have pictures of me and are much more explicit."

Kelsey was shocked, "MOM!"

I shrugged, "It wasn't much of a choice. Happy Earl or Angry Erl and I chose happy Earl as much as I could. Poker nights at friends or in Vinny's Bar. On poker nights, I was the nude servant fetching beer and snacks wearing only a smile. Earl screwed me well over a dozen times on the pool table at Vinny's Bar in front of everyone. After a while, I got used to it. I'm sure there are pictures though not that many people would have them compared to a tour guide."

Kelsy was aghast, "He raped you in front of everyone?"

I shook my head, "I consented. Look. My relationship with Earl was very complicated and I either let myself enjoy the sex or it would hurt and Earl was my husband. Dry sex without arousal hurts. Plus, I always had lube in my purse and he was always just nice enough to let me go get it from my purse if I wasn't ready. I decided to let go and try my best to enjoy it because that was my reality and my reality was that I was stuck. He was decent at fucking and not a quickdraw."

Kelsey shuddered.

I asked, "Too much information?"

Kelsey nodded, "Sort of, but puts your mentioning being fucked in a bar on a pool table into context."

I shuddered, "At least Earl wasn't into sharing."

I shuddered again.

Kelsey sighed then giggled, "When Andrew makes love to me, I definitely don't need lube."

I stroked her cheek, "I'm jealous."

Kelsey asked why. I looked down and sadly realized, "Because I have never had a man make love to me. I've had two men and they both only fucked me. It felt good... mostly, but there was nothing behind the sex."

Damn that realization hurt. I had liked Troy, but never loved him. We shared a daughter and he simply saw me as an extension of our mutual daughter. Earl was a pure physical attraction to his swagger and confidence when we met. It evolved to fear and dislike as it became clear he was violent, but I was trapped. He was a decent fuck though. His penis was nothing special size wise big or little, but he knew very well how to use it.