Ch. 3 Pickerel Season
We saw Fred over the next few days but only in a passing, greeting kind of way. Then the morning of starting another set of days off, I decided it was time to be over whatever it was I was feeling. Hell, I think Cindy was doing better than I was. I went out to sit with him.
"We haven't sat together for a bit," he remarked.
"I haven't had any real time off 'til now and, well to be honest, we didn't know how to be any more."
"Why do you need to be anything?"
"Come on Fred, things have changed between us."
"Okay, yes they have. It doesn't mean we can't still be friends. It was a bit of fun, a turn on. Do you regret it?"
"No, nor does Cindy really. It's just the reality is something I'm not sure we were ready for. Unnerved us a bit."
"Yet it was exhilarating. Keep that in mind as you two go along in your marriage."
"Helping Cindy to be less reserved, to feel better about herself, was the whole point. Maybe it was too much, because now there's this big question mark that seems to be in our heads. Did we overdo it? Was it right or wrong? Should we..."
"Hold on George. Have you two been fucking like rabbits lately?"
"Um well, yeah, I guess."
"Then you have your answer. You both think or even talk about it over and over, and it turns you on."
I tried to digest this, then asked, "How do you seem to know all this?"
Chuckling, Fred replied, "Because I've been there George. I was married too." After a few moments he rose and said, "Well I'm going to have some lunch, then I'm off to go fishing," and he started to leave.
"Fishing huh, I like that too. Haven't been for some years though."
"You're welcome to go. Cindy too of course, if she'd like. You have a rod? I have some extras but I haven't looked at them in a long while."
"Yeah I do. Okay, I'll ask and get back to you."
Cindy had never fished but was warm to the idea. "Sounds like fun. I don't know about worms and hooks though, yuck. Where we going?"
"Don't know. After lunch I'll let him know we want to go and find out."
"I'll go over," she replied. "Haven't talked to him all that much since that day. Heck, I've seen Paul more than Mr. Wilkins."
Cindy left and it seemed a long while before she returned. "Want to go away for a few days?" she asked. Stunned I just looked at her. Not only did her question surprise me but her shirt looked different. "Fred is going to his cottage to fish and he's going to stay there for a while. He said we were welcome to come up tomorrow, for the day, or we could go today and stay over. He gave me this map he printed out."
"Shit!" I exclaimed. "What happened over there?"
"We talked," my wife giggled. "He said there's a couple of bedrooms and indoor plumbing though the place could use some cleaning up. He has a boat too," she added, sounding excited at that prospect.
Deciding to wait it out about the shirt, I tried, "I'm caught off guard here. It seems it was just a bit ago we were concerned about how things would be with Fred and the what ifs kind of thing. Spending some time hanging out fishing sounds okay. You want to stay too?"
"I was wondering when he was talking and doing the map. I asked him if he was figuring that might mean he'd get to look again. I'm pretty sure I turned red though. He said he expected nothing though he'd be a liar to try and deny liking what happened before."
"Well we can go for the fishing and to be someplace different," I offered and Cindy nodded. "We can take a bag then decide up there if we want to stay." Another nod. "You gonna tell me what happened to your shirt?" I finally asked.
My cute wife blushed but gave a small grin. "George, like I told you, I thought about things while I was at Mr. Wilkins'. I wasn't thinking about whether we would stay or not. I just figured if we go it would be there, in the air, and would I feel comfortable. I had to decide George.
"We were standing near each other when he gave me the map. Maybe I was trying to make light of things but I mentioned I wasn't as fussy about the buttons on my shirts as before. Well he looked at my chest really good then. I asked if he thought I was being more confident or if I'd gone too far. He said I hadn't gone too far at all. He went on and said with friends there was no need to be shy or modest.
"I thought again about that day and so I asked if undoing more would look okay and he agreed. I gave an, I don't know thing to him, and he asked may I. I nodded but I wasn't really sure about what he meant. Well, he touched my front and undid not one or two, but all of my buttons. We looked at each other and I believe I tried to smile, thinking he was playing cute.
"He must have thought that was a signal or something because then he slid my shirt down and off my shoulders and arms. I stood there like that, then I guess I kinda hugged him, to let him know I wasn't mad, but part of it was to hide my face. I went to put my arms back into my shirt but he stopped me. He unhooked my bra...and took it off. He looked at my boobs a good while, then pulled my shirt back on and tied it at the bottom like you see. He said that was much better."
I sat there in fascinated awe of what my wife had just related. I also came to the realization that I had a healthy erection. "Um, I didn't see you carrying your bra when you came in?"
"Well, I went to pick it up from the table, where he'd put it, but he asked if I would leave it there 'til we got back from fishing."
I sprang up and started to leave the room. "Where are you going?" Cindy asked, sounding more than a tad anxious.
"To pack."
I must have been quick because Cindy was just coming upstairs as I was going down to go out to the garage and look for my fishing stuff. The line was a tangled mess on the reel and the contents of my fishing box looked pathetic but I threw it all in the trunk of the car. Going back in to get our bags I found Cindy wasn't ready so I went to take a good look at the map. It showed a route to Otter Lake, then a couple of small roads beyond a tiny place called Broken Pine. I figured under two hours easy.
Cindy came down lugging an overstuffed suitcase.
Women,
I thought to myself. She was still wearing that shirt that Fred had rearranged but had put on the shorts she'd doctored for her pretend outfit. Looking up, it dawned on me I hadn't seen Fred's car when I went out to the garage before,
oh well
. We loaded up and were off.
Other than the radio there was silence for a long while. I know my mind was spinning however. Taking the chance I started, "You wearing that outfit for Mr. Wilkins?"
"Yeah, I figured why not. He did the shirt and I thought he might like it that I'd still have it on when he sees me later." She shrugged like it was no longer a big deal. "He's already seen my boobs today. The shorts sorta go with it, don't you think?"
"By all means. You do have a creative thing for outfits."
"Paul seemed to like it."
"Huh?"
"While you were in the garage messing about, he came to the back door. He had that big smile of his but he seemed sad when I said we were going away and had to run."
I slowly shook my head and she continued with a small giggle, "I was wearing them with the white halter one day when Paul stopped by with his dog."
Smiling I remarked, "He must have liked that too."