Chief Willie Morris delayed going home as long as possible. The sky cleared and the sun had been up for an hour, when he pulled into his driveway. Several more minutes passed, until he gathered enough courage to go inside. The smell of sizzling bacon greeted his empty stomach.
Annie was in the kitchen, humming a tune with the contentment he once found so cheerful and now found unnerving. "There you are!" The flimsy robe split open when she walked to him. "Your breakfast is going to get cold." She kissed his stubbly cheek, before leading him by the arm to the table. "Sit! Eat!"
After filling his glass with orange juice, Annie sat opposite him. "So, tell me everything that happened last night."
The request seemed truly innocent and sincere. Willie began to think his suspicions had been misguided, the evidence of her infidelity misread. "Wentworth's in critical condition…" he began. The events spilled out, just like any other day. Annie was his one outlet, his only relief from job stress. She listened carefully and asked pointed questions.
His chest tightened when the subject of Hannah came up. Willie couldn't look her in the eye, as he explained her criminal record. Maybe Annie would see the error of her ways and see the danger she put them in by bringing her home.
She touched his hand, and said, "I feel sorry for her. I think she wants to turn her life around. Are you going to arrest her?"
Willie swallowed hard. "I don't know. I don't want to… because of last night."
Annie nodded, seeming to understand the implications. "No one would believe a word she said."
The statement unsettled Chief Willie. He'd expected a denial of any wrongdoing. Instead she reinforced his suspicions. "What exactly did happen, Annie?"
She squeezed his hand tight. "Honey, you knew what kind of wild woman you married. So don't act surprised when I'm just being who I am."
Willie pulled away, and stood up. "But you're pregnant! I thought that meant something!"
Calmly folding her hands on the table, she met his glare with sad eyes. "It does… It means a great deal to me. But, there's more to life than slow and steady. Sometimes the impulsive part of me needs to break free. When opportunity knocked, I had to answer. If you can't deal with it, we're in big trouble."
****
Thursday morning, Hannah followed Tom as he pushed the linen cart to cabin number 5.
"Wentworth's daughter is coming tomorrow. I want this place spotless. I hope she'll let us work here until he's out of the hospital."
She edged up beside him, slipped her hand in his back pocket and gave his butt a playful squeeze. Hannah had never been happier. Life as a bonded woman provided a comfortable routine. The days and nights were filled with Tom: watching Tom, following Tom, helping Tom, and fucking Tom.
He turned his head and gave her body the up and down, horny eye that tickled all her erogenous zones. The daily fucking both thrilled and scared Hannah. In the past, she only wanted sex once in a while, enjoyed it on rare occasions. But, for the first time, she wanted a man, just one man.
Men had always used her for their pleasure. She made good money, indulging their lust. That was the payoff. Now, she wanted something greater than money, she wanted what was priceless -- love and devotion. The thought of rejection frightened her. 'Why should he love me? How could he love me?' These questions seemed unanswerable. All she had to offer was a hard day's work and a hardcore night.
The interior of cabin 5 was the typical messy morning aftermath. Tom approached the bed with an armload of clean sheets. "Wet spot."
"Really?" Hannah looked for herself. "Wow, weren't they the old couple?"
"So?"
"You think he popped some Viagra?" She stroked the length of her two-foot long plait.
Tom stripped off the bedding and threw it in a pile by the door. "Better living through chemistry." He fluttered a clean sheet over the mattress, while glancing at her.
The habit of stroking her hair always seemed to ignite a fire in Tom, a fact that only encouraged her to do it intentionally, like now. "I don't think you'll ever need it."
He left the bedside, grabbed both her braids, and reined her in. Hannah resisted the pull a little, kept her eyes downcast and acted shy, until he tenderly kissed her lips. Suddenly, they were on the bed in a tangle of sheet.
She clasped his cheeks between her palms and lifted his lips from her neck. "What are you doing? We're supposed to remove the wet spot, not replace it."
His thumbs hooked the bottom of her tee shirt and pushed it up. "How do we know if the bedsprings are broken, unless we test them out?"
Cool air washed over her skin as he bent to kiss a bared breast. "You're the boss."
Tom's sexual stamina seemed boundless compared to her old clients. He liked long foreplay. Hannah enjoyed the seduction.
A shadow passed over her eyelids. She opened them to see Police Chief Morris standing in the doorway. Their eyes met and then his steady gaze wandered down to where Tom skillfully pinched one nipple and noisily sucked on the other. Men were all a like. They couldn't resist temptation when opportunity knocked.
Tom's hand cupped her sex. His fingers worked their way under the waistband to twirl her clitoris.
Maybe a minute passed, before Chief Morris stepped outside.
Brushing Tom's cheek, she whispered, "I heard something. Someone's coming."
Quickly, he pulled down her shirt and jumped up. Hannah adjusted her clothes, while Tom stepped outside to greet the officer. Their voices faded as they walked away.
She continued to clean the room, letting her thoughts wander. Would Chief Willie come back and tell her to leave town? She decided not to leave, unless Tom left with her. Nothing was going to come between them now. She didn't care about anything else.
By the time the bathroom was scrubbed, the men returned.
"Hannah, Chief Morris has news. The Fed's have found the plane wreck."
Hannah tried not to react. She stepped outside and placed the cleaning supplies back on top of the cart. The sun was warm and the air smelled sweet. She focused on these simple pleasures to calm her pounding heart.
Chief Willie followed close behind. "Hannah, Annie wants to know if she could hire you to help with things around the house, like laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning." He paused, before adding, "That is, if you're staying."
Tom smiled. "Hey, that sounds great."
"I don't know… I have a lot to do around here." She saw disappointment darken her lover's face. "Let me think about it."
Chief Willie nodded, while writing his home phone number on a business card. He handed it to her, and said, "Okay, you think about it. Let her know… soon." He shook Tom's hand. "I'll be in touch."
Tom rolled the cart to the next room. As they picked up their cleaning supplies, he said, "The Police Chief asked you to help his wife. You should do it. Why do you look so sad?"
How could she tell him the truth? Annie's job offer couldn't be good for her future. She was damned if she did, and damned if she didn't. "I don't know. I don't like hanging around the cops."
"If we're staying in this town, you need to get over it. The Chief's wife would be a totally excellent friend to have. If she trusts you, everyone else will too."
Hannah pressed her face into his neck and hugged him tight. Circumstances once again dictated her actions. She would just have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. "I guess I could help her, a little while."
Only three cabins were rented. Hannah and Tom finished cleaning before noon. They pushed the cart back into the barn.
Before they left, Tom dragged out the hose to water the horses. "I think we deserve a break. What do you want to do the rest of the day?"
'Nothing,' sprang to mind. Was she becoming a bore? "I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"Why don't you call Mrs. Morris and get that out of the way, and then we'll go on a picnic."
She pouted and stroked her braid. "Do I have to call her today?"