We drove for almost two hours before we found a town large enough to have a pharmacy that carried the morning after pill, and as we stood there to pay, the clerk asked if we planned to use Medicaid. I guess this was a common way of paying in this part of the country, but I could see Erin bristle at the question before politely explaining should we be using her credit card.
Along the way, we sporadically talked about the night before repeatedly coming back to the subject from different directions, and each attempt at the conversation was awkward as if we were probing each other to understand our feelings.
"You can't be mad at me. You made me do it," Erin said defensively from out of the blue, starting one of these discussions.
"I know," I replied without elaboration.
"I'm serious," she implored.
"I know. I agree with you," I answered more emphatically.
"So you're not mad?" she asked, looking at me with those big eyes that always got their way.
"I'm not mad," I said.
We drove in silence for several minutes.
"You said last night you were surprised," she stated.
"I guess some," I told her.
"What does that mean?" she asked nervously.
"Well I guess I didn't think it would go so far," I said, laughing to try and lighten the moment.
I had thought about how to answer this question knowing it would come up but it was still awkward.
"I know," Erin responded, sounding a little confused but also happy that my response was light hearted.
"Much more than I expected," I said stupidly continuing.
"Meaning?" she demanded quickly.
"Meaning that you are usually so conservative that I thought it was out of character for you to go so far. It's okay though. Hell I was pushing you so I have nothing really to complain about," I explained, after a pause.
"Yes, you did push," she replied, attempting to get the upper hand.
"We can do it again sometime," I said in jest, again trying to keep things from getting heavy.
"Oh you think so, huh?" she replied with a sound of annoyance, that I couldn't gauge if feigned.
We drove through New Mexico and into Colorado leaving the freeway in Pueblo. The countryside was beautiful, but the road was demanding requiring my full attention leaving little time for casual conversation. By early afternoon we made it to Aspen and found the house without trouble. It was on the outskirts of town on about two acres, and had a secluded feeling as it was set back on a secondary road in a stand of trees. The house had two bedrooms, a master with a king size bed and a smaller one with twin beds, a very nice kitchen and a combination dining and living room. In addition, there was a deck that ran along the backside of the house that overlooked a small stream.
We rested that afternoon before going into town for dinner then spent the next two days exploring the town and going on several hikes on trails close by. In the evenings, we would sit on the deck as the sun set sipping wine and chatting before going to bed and making love. I thought the encounter with the truck driver had been left behind and I was happy to have it that way. However, on the third night, after the majority of a bottle of wine, Erin returned to the topic.
"I'm struggling with what happened and I know despite what you have said you must be disappointed in me," my wife blurted out, in a slightly slurred voice.
The way she said it though made me think that she was fishing and wanting my validation.
"I'm not disappointed in you at all. If anything you should be disappointed in me. But, sweetheart I'm not interested in judging what happened. I love you totally and always will so please don't be upset," I said while reaching for her, and pulled her close to me.
"Please answer something for me and don't hold back," she requested, pushing me away gently and looking into my eyes.
"Okay," I replied, trying to clear my mind quickly to be able to answer what I knew would be a difficult question.
"What were you thinking and feeling when uh...you know...when we were doing it," she asked.
"Well let me see," I said, buying time to develop a good answer before continuing and trying not to sound judgmental, "Truthfully there was some surprise and we have talked about that. I remember I was very nervous because I was shaking and trying to catch my breath. It was erotic too though, I have to admit, to see you get so aroused."
"It didn't bother you to have another man with your wife?" she asked, now looking down towards the floor.
"I don't think bother is the right word. It's like my mind was not completely connected. Part of me was very excited with what occurred but there was also a part that needed some time to think it through," I explained, happy with my answer.
"And now, after thinking it through. Any regrets?" Erin asked.
"No, I don't think so. We did it together," I replied.
"You're a wonderful man," Erin replied, seemingly happy now, and she crawled onto my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed me.
"Nothing wrong with a wife that's a naughty girl from time to time," I said, to break the tension.
"You liked me being naughty?" Erin asked, resting her hand on the bulge in my shorts and looking at me with a grin.
"I'll admit I did to some degree," I replied to her sincerely.
We cuddled and kissed while continuing to discuss the truck driver. In a strange way, the episode had brought us closer together as we were communicating in ways we had never done before. Fantasies and sexual interests had always been difficult for us to talk about with each other, but now it was like the ice had been broken. We weren't there completely, but we had made a good start.
"Are you hungry?" I asked after a lull in the conversation, since it was now 7:00 PM.
"A bit. Maybe just something quick and simple though," she replied.
"Agreed. Let's go to that café at the end of the road. It seems casual and not too crowded," I suggested.
Twenty minutes later we were seated in the café, although once entering it seemed more like a bar that an eating establishment. The friendly waiter who doubled as the bartender brought over some worn menus and took our drink orders. We stuck to wine and amazingly the obscure brand was not too bad. Unfortunately, the menu was lacking so we decided to split a burger as the safe alternative.
"What interesting things are there to do that tourists don't know about?" I asked the waiter when he brought the check.
"Well there is a pretty good live band Thursday night at the Broken Yoke. Usually gets lots of locals," he explained.
