Rewrite: December 2023
Her husband's father steps in to pick up the pieces when his son follows the church and leaves his beautiful wife for a year with his mom. Sexy silver fox Stede and his young daughter-in-law Jill find they have a lot in common and will have significant surprises for the returning missionary mom and son.
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My Father-In-Law is my Salvation
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"You're what?" I had paint on my hands, so I swiped my forearm across my face and pushed errant strands of blonde hair back. "I must not have heard you correctly."
"I am going on a missionary trip to South Africa," my husband Andy said, enunciating every word as though he were talking to an imbecile.
"Okay, smart ass," I said and began rolling paint on the kitchen wall again. "Any idea how long?"
"A year."
I hesitated a moment. "A year. Is this spur of the moment, or did you know this when we bought the house, Andy?"
As an interior decorator, I networked with real estate agents, and one gave me a heads-up on this property. A cape cod from the nineteen fifties, the bones were good, and the price was right, so Andy and I snapped it up. At first, to flip, then we decided to stay. It's small and will have little upkeep. My career keeps me busy, and my husband, let's say he, stays busy between work and his church.
"I thought it may come up but was unsure," he admitted. "I have a calling. I must go." He hesitated. "You know I do not like it when you call me Andy. I've asked you numerous times to call me Andrew."
I knew better than to attempt to reason with him, especially regarding his church. And I knew he preferred to be called Andrew since joining this church. Something that has crept into every aspect of our lives- church.
"When're you leaving?"
Continuing to roll the robins' egg blue paint on the kitchen wall, I concentrated on how much I loved it against the new white cupboards. We planned on DIY other than the kitchen and two bathrooms. Thankfully, they all were done as far as the professionals went. I wanted to paint the kitchen so we would have one completed room.
"Next week."
"Okay." I turned the radio up and moved to the last area that needed painting. "Are you cooking for your parents tonight?"
"Yes."
His dad had just sold his construction company to retire and has been an enormous help to us. He and Andy's mom, Betsy, were usually ready to do whatever they could to help. I loved them both, but his mom was the one who got her son involved in the church, and I admit I harbored some resentment about that. I attended several times but never got good vibes and felt they were too controlling of the congregation, so I declined invitations from Andy and his mom after that.
"This kitchen looks fantastic, Jill. You really have an eye for color," Stede said.
Andy's dad was tall and muscled like a construction worker, not a gym rat. Stede was named after a pirate, which was a good choice because his silver beard and head full of soft silver curls made him look like one. He had an outdoor worker tan, which made his pale blue eyes even brighter.
"Thanks!" I took his dad to see both bathrooms since he hadn't seen the final results while Andy and his Mom conferred, no doubt about their church.
My husband loved to cook, and dinner was always something new, typically exceptional.
"Did you tell your parents what you're doing, Andrew?" I stood up and began clearing the table.
His dad looked at him expectantly, but his mom made a project of looking down and folding her napkin.
He looked at his dad. "I'm going to South Africa for missionary work for a year."
"Really..." Stede looked stunned; to this point, I'd never seen Stede at a loss for words.
"Yes, and Mom wanted to go, but they need money for the trip, and she was not sure what you would say. They collected funds for her. The only obstacle would be you. I guess."
Stede and I were hit with a double whammy, and he knew as well as I did that arguing with their devotion to the church would get us nothing but frustration. Their church came first. Always.
Stede turned to his wife and said, "Is that true? You want to go on a missionary trip?" She nodded, eyes downcast.
"Okay then, go." His eyes swung to me, and he smiled. "How about a beer for the old man?" Effectively dismissing any further conversation.
Everyone moved out to the deck since we had little furnishings besides beds and dressers. Andy continued to converse with his mom quietly.
Stede said quietly, "Don't worry about anything."
I smiled weakly and nodded, sure he saw the relief on my face. I've always been a self-sufficient woman, but I was not prepared to have a house dumped in my lap half in demolition.
I stared at the ceiling last night while Andy snored in a deep, peaceful sleep. For the last year, I have been considering divorce. When he first joined this church, it wasn't as demanding. Slowly, they crept into every facet of our lives. About six months in, Andy told me that the church sanctioned that sex should only be used for procreating. And that day, our sex life ended.
From then on, I could not imagine what kind of a marriage we would have.
I remained faithful to my husband, but this current situation that he was leaving me for a year would put the wheels in motion to end our marriage.
Church members picked up the two the morning they were to leave. We hadn't talked much about it. He had been in high spirits since his announcement and obviously looked forward to his trip.
After the goodbyes, I returned to painting and moved into the first bathroom.
"Jill," I heard someone call and recognized my father-in-law's voice.
"Stede! I'm in the bathroom."
"Oh, okay. I'll wait in the kitchen."
I laughed. "No, no, I'm painting. C'mon in!" I looked down and cringed when I saw my t-shirt with daubs and drips of paint on my tits. Thirty-eight D were always in the way, catching drips or smearing paint.
Too late to change, Stede appeared, nearly filling the doorframe. "Thought you could use some company slash help?" he smiled.
We both suddenly had unresolved issues; no one understood them better. At least we had each other.
"Please do both." He began to install towel bars and the remainder of the hardware.
"So, what do you think about all this, Jill?"
"Honestly? I'm going to file for divorce from Andy."
He nodded. "I understand, certainly. I admit the thought has crossed my mind as well." He sighed. "We're older, and I'm unsure how Betsy would do alone. Not like we're young like you and could easily jump back into the dating game." He shook his head. "Just thinking about dating makes me cringe."
"Yeah, it wasn't anything I had expected. The church has started to be too controlling, and it began to affect our marital life." I turned to look at him. "And you're not old. In fact, I think you'd be quite a catch for any woman. You got that bad boy pirate look."
He chuckled. "I've been called many things, but never a bad boy pirate."
"Yeah, well, I'm a woman, and I know these things," I said, stepping off the ladder and bumping into him. "Yikes, sorry." He steadied me against him.
I basked in the heat of his hands and hard body for a moment. I had been craving a man's touch. He was in no hurry to let me go or move away. He had undoubtedly been affected as much as I, but I honestly did not know him well enough to guess if he would have found sex elsewhere, outside of his marriage.
I always thought my father-in-law was looking, but not in the way I was seeing him. I painted, he finished up some odds and ends, and we brushed against one another. I knew he was starving for intimacy and affection, as I was. The fact that we were in the same situation added another angle to our closeness.
We grabbed a couple of beers and sat on the deck, watching the last bit of the sun setting. I know neither wanted to discuss his wife, my husband, or our situation. I think we both knew we had to move on, in some way, as soon as we could.
"What're you doing tomorrow?"
"I usually go out fishing on Sunday afternoon," he said, seeming to trail off. He looked at me. "To be honest, I went fishing to get out of the house after she would come home from church. It got pretty intense."