On a whim Dottie had decided to accept the invitation and spend the weekend here at this beach front cottage. All the drive down she wondered and wondered if she had made the right decision but kept pushing doubts out her mind until now she was standing on the front porch.
Inside the house Jeannie watched as the stranger pull up in the driveway then get of her car and was now standing on the front porch. When the doorbell chimed she jumped a little as it invaded her thoughts. Moving to open the door, she moved with it so that she positioned herself behind the big oak door.
"Gene?" Dottie called out looking into and empty hallway.
"Actually, my name is Jeannie, my husband is Gene."
Dottie jumped as if electricity coursed thru her body at the sound of a female voice stating who she is. Her body frozen she saw the lady come from behind the front door and stand across the threshold in front of her.
"You must be Dottie, as I said I am Jeannie. Would you like to come inside and put your bags away and sit down, I know you are probably tired from the drive over."
Dottie watched as Jeannie turned around and headed down the hall leaving her alone on the front porch to sort her thoughts.
"Come on in, I promise I won't bite. Besides I am sure you are curious about what I am doing here and not my husband. You can put your bags in the kid's room, first door on the right then come in here to the kitchen and I can fix you a drink if you want."
Dottie picked up her bag and moved into the house going to the appointed room and set her bag on one of the beds in the room. Quietly she walked across the hall and stood in the kitchen watching as Jeannie made herself a drink.
"Have a seat at the table. Can I fix you a coke or tea or would you like something a little stronger maybe?"
"Coke will be fine thank you" she said while pulling out a chair to sit in. Jeannie brought the glasses to the table and sat down across from her.
"Still in shock?"
"Just a little bit, something I didn't expect that is for sure."
"I can tell you what is going on here and hope you will hear it all out." Dottie nodded her agreement as she took a drink of Coke.
"Well, I take that you have met and got to know my husband Gene online. We have been married for almost 8 years now and have three great kids. I don't know if he told you this but this house actually belongs to his sister and her family and they will be down here Monday to spend the week before their kids start school next week. Normally we usually come down together and get it all cleaned up and ready for them but this time he said he wanted to come by himself. I was fine with that idea since he never has given me reason to be suspicious of him. Earlier this week I went to sign on and when I did I was in a hurry and not paying attention and it came on under his name instead of mine. Before I could sign off of his name a message appeared from your screen name saying you had decided to meet him here this weekend but was going to be away from your home with work and would just come from there. Needless to say I had reason to be suspicious then. After deleting your message I swapped over to my name as if everything was normal, never telling him about it. I believe this was on a Wednesday so Thursday I called his boss who happened to owe me a favor because I had set him up with the lady he was seeing at the time and asked for a return favor, to have Gene work this weekend. I told him that under no uncertain terms was he to let him off and I really needed this. Of course he asked no questions and said that for me not to worry and he would take care of it." Pausing she took a drink of her sweet tea and looked over to gauge Dottie's reaction so far. "That day when he came in from work it looked like his world had just come undone and when I asked him what happened he said that he was going to have to work this weekend because all the other guys were going to be out of town cause on some training over the weekend. Of course I offered to come down and take care of all this for him. He really didn't want me to but there was not much he could do so that night I called my sister and his and set up for the kids to spend the weekend with cousins so they wouldn't be a problem if he got called out. So, here I am and I am curious to why you are here." Sitting back in the chair Jeannie took a long drink and waited on Dottie, not rushing her.
Dottie sat there staring at her drink wondering what in the world to do. She knew that this weekend was going to be a chance for her to unwind, and that Gene had said he would be busy and she would be able to do as she wanted while she was at the beach house. Even though it sounds innocent enough she knew it was not too believable. Taking a deep breath she started with her side.
"I know that no matter what I say or how it sounds it will be hard to believe for you. I had been talking with Gene about how work has been dragging me down and I have had very little free time lately to enjoy anything at all and he offered for me to come and stay here this weekend. I was going to do all the cleaning inside the house while he worked around outside and in the yard. He told me that there were several good little strip malls here with outlet stores that I could find some good bargains in. As hard as it may be to believe, sex was never part of the weekend for either of us. Gene was just lending a hand to me to keep me from burning out as he put it. That is the truth with no kind of spin on it, crazy as it may seem."
"Actually that sounds like Gene, always looking out for others over himself. He is right; there are a lot of good shops in town. If you don't mind the change in company you are more than welcomed to stay here. We could both work on the house tonight and go into town tomorrow and hit some of those stores."
After a minute of thought and realizing that she was welcomed here Dottie said that she would be glad to stay around if Jeannie was sure she didn't mind. Jeannie said that was fine by her and stood up.
"Come on and let's get started."
For the next couple of hours both ladies talked and warmed up to each other while getting the house in order for the family coming down later. Together they stripped beds and put on fresh linens, gathered up dirty towels and got them washing, filling up ice trays and making up pictures of tea and kool-aid. In the kids bedroom where they had their stuff Jeannie said to wait and they would take care of those Sunday morning and would be sleeping in those beds tonight and tomorrow night. Give out around midnight Jeannie told Dottie it was time to knock off, they had done all they could. She walked into the kitchen with Dottie following and this time when she offered her a wine cooler Dottie accepted it. From there they moved into the den and sat on each end of the long sofa and relaxed, feet propped up on the coffee table in front of them. With little chit chat other than muffled yawns after they finished the coolers both decided they were ready for bed.
"You can use the bathroom across the hall to get ready and I will go down to the master bedroom and use that one." Jeannie disappeared down the hall with a small bag and robe leaving Dottie alone for the first time since coming across the threshold earlier.
Digging in her bag Dottie pulls out her old red and black plaid sleep gown and her make up bad and headed across the hall to the bathroom. After brushing her teeth she brushes out her hair and pulls it back into a ponytail. As the same as most other nights she now scrubs her face and rinses it clean. Wearily she starts to undress out of the clothes she has been in all day. She uses the rag and washes off the rest of her body before slipping on her gown along with the matching panties she had packed. Gathering up all her stuff she headed back to the bedroom and put away her make up bag and put the dirty clothes into a bag she had packed for that. Turning down the cover on the bed to the left of the room she jumped when Jeannie spoke.
"Well, I can see that you were not planning on seducing Gene wearing that" Jeannie teased her laughing.
"That was never any intention I assure you" Dottie said defensively.
