It was winter before Fiona felt it was time; time to move on, time to leave the cocoon of warmth, friendship, and casual sexuality that defined her time with Meg and Bill.
The hill climbing, and forestry work, had transformed Fiona's body... always fit in an endurance sense, Fiona had gained an incredible amount of muscle on her upper body. Her shoulders, neck, and arms had well-defined, if not massive, muscle; Fiona's chest was thicker and deeper. Her capacity for aerobic endurance had retained its natural impressiveness; but now, she had gained an immense ability to add bursts of speed and power.
Fiona now carried at least ten more pounds on her once petite frame; very little of it was fat, despite eating more meat in the last few months, than she had in any one year of her previous life.
Her time with Meg in the forest, forest bathing; and with Bill, summiting many peaks--taught Fiona patience. Her victories would be like the victory of soft water over hard rock, inevitable; but, rarely perceived in the short term.
If it were springtime, or even fall, she would have preferred to leave on a bike; but, the weather was too chancy for trusting her life to the safety of a bicycle on New England roads in winter. Instead, she called another internet friend; actually, the person who introduced her to Bill... Joe.
Joe was leading a somewhat dishonest life, in that his online sex chats and friends were unknown to... his wife; but, he had another reason for driving north, and besides, Bill's place was only an hour from his house.
Where Bill was short, tanned, and an outdoor guy; Joe, a retired librarian, was tall and had an indoor pallor. The lone similarity to Bill, was his beard. Fiona had surmised that they were once lovers, and maybe, still; although, as far as she could tell, they both preferred women.
Instead of a pickup truck like Bill's, Joe drove a Prius. So he needed to be careful parking in Meg's uneven yard.
Bill was enthusiastically restrained in introducing Joe to Fiona and Meg. Did he think that their true relationship was a secret?
Well Fiona thought, it does not matter. I am starting a new life... a new part of my new life. Bill and Meg are wonderful; but, I need to move on from rural Vermont.
And moving on from rural Vermont, meant going south... into Massachusetts.
People from other states, particularly those in the west, joke about how 'tiny state people' treat distance... and it was true--an hour's drive is an arduous journey.
That hour drive in the Prius, Joe was driving with a silly grin on his face. Finally seeing that Fiona was no mythical being... no 'catfish'--she was, indeed, as she had presented herself online.
A young, athletic, smart professional woman, somewhat shy in person; belying her somewhat salacious personality online.
On the drive south, Joe was going over what together they had planned for the next few days. First, Fiona would stay with a friend of Joe's in Hatfield. It was, in fact, a dairy farm and the housing was a 17th century farmhouse.
Lucinda W. and her husband, Darryl, owned the farm. It had been in Darryl's family since 1655.
Lucinda was the first to greet them, saying with a straight face, "Well Joe, who is this young girl you have gotten in trouble with?"
Fiona blushed. Joe and Lucinda had known each other for decades, and if not the closest of friends, they knew a lot about each other.
Joe grinned broadly, as one does to a person blatantly pulling your leg. "You know I have been with just one woman my entire adult life; and besides, Fi is not into guys."
"Really?" Lucinda arched an eyebrow. "That makes her safe around Darryl, too. Not that Darryl is known for his roving eye; as far as I know, he has not been with another woman since we got married 35 years ago. Before that, well... I have my suspicions."
Fiona was overwhelmed by the personal details she was getting in the first few moments knowing this woman. She sized her up quickly: five foot four, short purple-tinted hair, a freckled complexion, her head tilted to one side as a raptor assesses its prey. She was in her 'at home ready for anything clothes', jeans tightly fitted over broad hips, a sweatshirt that hinted at covering larger than average breasts, and muck boots on her feet.
As Lucinda led them into the house, she marched with the air of one who not only owned, but ran the property.
"Fiona, we usually have a full house, Darryl and I have the master bedroom upstairs and two of our grown daughters have nearby rooms; what we have for you is, our little guest room. It was a pantry when the house was first built; but when we renovated the kitchen twenty years ago, we didn't need a pantry any more. So we recycled one of the girls' beds from their teen years into that space. It still has preteen princess pink paint on the headboard, but the mattress is newish and the sheets have been freshly laundered. I have an old Hudson's Bay blanket at the foot of the bed if you need it, but you are very near the main wood stove downstairs; if you keep your door open a little, you will be comfortably warm."
It was late in the day, when Joe and Fiona had arrived at the farm. They had stopped to eat in Burlington, so as not to arrive at the farm during dinner. Joe's reasoning was this would delay the third degree Fiona would undoubtedly undergo until breakfast.
"Thank you so much, Lucinda; this is most generous of you."
"No problem, Fi. I'd stay up and chat, but both Darryl and I have to be up early, with the cows (dairy farmer joke). You'll see him at breakfast if you're up early. Right now, he is soaking in the tub; and I get my soak as soon as the water heater catches up with what he has used. If we don't see you at breakfast, feel free to make whatever you like for yourself. Otherwise, you can wander around and explore the place I have to leave for the library by 9:00am, and I have a meeting at 10:00am. Oh, and the only bathroom is upstairs... we are pretty informal, so the door is open even if someone is using it. During the day, Darryl uses the one in the cow barn."
"Well that is fine, I think I am all set. I used the bathroom in the restaurant; I'll just need to brush my teeth later."
"Okay, don't be shy, you can do that while I'm taking my bath... I am covered in bubbles, anyway."
Fiona spent the next hour settling in; nothing needed to be unpacked, and she did not plan on staying long. She laid out clothes for the next day; she hoped she could rinse out her panties in the morning, she had given up wearing a bra. In deference to the cooler weather, she wore a size small men's undershirt, which fit tightly over her muscular chest and prominent nipples.
Fiona's panties were white and somewhat thread bare, since the incident in the cabin weeks... or was it MONTHS? ago, she had not trimmed her public hair. So, instead of a well-manicured 'landing strip'; a dark, dense triangle showed at her crotch.
Lucinda had assured her that Darryl would be in bed right after his bath, and the two daughters, who lived in the old farmhouse, were on night shift as nurses at a local hospital. Fiona felt secure in traipsing about the house in her underwear; especially, since the wood stove kept the area near her room so toasty.
The warmth did not extend to the upper floor, as Fiona ascended the well-worn stair treads to the second floor, the temperature seemed to drop a degree with each step. The second floor hallway windows were old wooden double hung windows with no storms; they let in lots of fresh air, and this night was not particularly windy.
The bathroom, however, was steamy. Two consecutive tubs full of hot water made it practically tropical compared to the rest of the second floor. And the water still flowed, as Lucinda continued her wintertime soaking ritual. The door to the bathroom was ajar and Fiona could hear the steady flow. She could also hear a rhythmic splashing, as if the tub water was slowly sloshing back and forth. Through the slightly open door, Fiona checked out the scene. A very large very old claw foot tub drew her gaze... with just of the top Lucinda's head visible, and Lucinda's legs obscenely draped over the edge of the tub near the faucet.
Fiona waited until she was sure that Lucinda had 'finished', and then entered the bathroom.
Lucinda's face betrayed not a trace of what activity she had been engaged in mere seconds before. Sex, whether intercourse with her husband (and ONLY her husband) or masturbation were parts of human nature; something she needed to do, like eating. And while she enjoyed eating, once she was done satisfying her hunger, she moved on to other things. She had her orgasm... now, it's time to finish the bath and get ready for bed.
