by JQ Jones
“Hell, if they sell some of those genes in the store then I have to get me some.” Gloria laughed heartily and slapped Nora on the back, causing her to stumble forward.
“Hell, my daddy’s white and my mamma’s Mexican, and back here in the sixties that wasn’t something people really cottoned to. So I’m all for the live-and-let-live kind of thing. Clint, just wanted to get my ‘how y’all doing’ in a while I can. Enjoy the movie. You Davis boys surely know how to get people’s tongues to wagging.” Gloria laughed heartily before she went into the concession stand.
“She seems to be nice,” Nora said. Clint stood close to her waiting for her to follow him to the truck.
“She’s a character but good people,” he said.
Nora had a precarious grip on a bucket of beer and their enormous block of chocolate. She followed him out to his truck, picking her way through the now-full lot. Cars were lined up in perfect order with couples and families taking the time before the movie to talk to their neighbors. A lot of eyes were on Nora as she walked through the gravel, tripping every now and then one some of the larger stones.
Clint had the doors open to the truck by the time she got there. She sat the bucket of beer on the floor mat and tried to put the sodas into the cup holders but they were too large. She settled for placing them carefully on the middle console. Using the handles she heaved herself into the truck, turned a smile at the family of four beside her and carefully closed her door.
“Is there a reason we have so much food?” she said.
“The foot longs are because they are just the best in the world, the pizza is because it’s greasy but it’s good, too, candy and popcorn are just traditional so we had to have those. On a date you’re supposed to offer your lady as much as you can to show you’re very interested,” Clint said.
“I thought you were fattening me up for the winter.”
“You could stand some meat on your bones, but I like you the way you are.”
Several people came up to the truck to speak to Clint. Each time, he introduced them to Nora and explained that she was his woman living at the ranch. Nora always smiled and gave a slight wave, not knowing exactly what it was that she was supposed to say. She did get a twinge every time Clint introduced her as “his woman.”
The theater was showing a double feature. The first movie, a comedy about the end of the world, was halfway through before Nora realized she was halfway finished with the gallon of soda and two beers. She excused herself and made the trip back to the concession stand to use the bathroom. Several of the women there stared closely at her, but once she smiled and continued on her business, they went on with theirs, too.
At the truck, Clint was standing outside, talking to the tall, skinny man with a battered felt cowboy hat about cattle and the weather. Nora heaved back into the truck. The second feature began, this time a romance with very light sexual content. Clint had used the time she was in the bathroom to clean out most of their uneaten food. He’d flipped up the middle console and sat closer to Nora.
She laid her head on his shoulder, slowly eating the last of the strawberry licorice, watching the movie. She felt his hand go from the absentminded caress that he had been using to a more aggressive tactic where he slipped his hand into her bra.
“What are you doing?” she said.
“Part of the drive-in experience includes making out.”
“Well, my part of the dating experience means that nice girls don’t put out on the first date,” she said. She picked up his hand with two fingers and placed it gently back onto his lap.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“We have been sleeping together since we met and that was not quite two months ago. You can’t put that horse back in the barn.”
“I’m not saying I won’t have sex with you, I just don’t have sex on the first date.”
“That makes no sense at all.”
“It does to me.”
They watched the last movie in comfortable silence, but from time to time Nora could feel Clint watching her closely. The trip back to the ranch was just as quiet. Once inside, Nora showered, brushed her teeth, slipped into her customary PJs and went to bed. Clint checked the house to make sure all the doors were closed before he took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and joined her in the bed. He tucked her gently under his chin, gently taking off her nightclothes so that they both could be nude.
“Did you like the date?”
“It was a great first date. I look forward to more,” she said. She moved closer to him and wiggled her ass close to his dick until he was hard.
“I thought you said no sex on the first date?”
“First date was over with once I got home.” They made slow gentle love until early in the morning.
Chapter Fifteen:
October Skies
Nora was in the converted barn rocking out to old Santana and new JK Kim Dong Uk as she changed out the electrical system in the shed. Ideally she should have installed her solar panels and wind turbines to cut down the electrical usage from the grid, but this wasn’t her home.
She constantly reminded herself that she and Sebastian would be back home as she planned spring crops, added more shrimp and tilapia ponds and PVC pipes to hold the plants and run the water and nutrients. She used smaller models since she hadn’t raised the capital from any of the families. They had never been crucial. Nora would go forward with Iona’s venture capitalists or apply for an NGO grant from the UN. Too many people needed food now for her system to be offline because as she was waiting for three stubborn old men to make up their minds.
She worried that Sebastian was getting too comfortable. She had to make a move soon because it was getting close to winter and he was eligible to begin kindergarten for second semester. As it was, Sebastian spent more time with Adriana, Ernesto, and Manuela than he did with her. She was worried and more than a little ashamed that she let her four-year-old brother bounce from house to house. But he was taller, thicker, and happier than he’d been when they lived alone.
She and Clint had a friends-with-benefits relationship. She craved him like crack addict craved a pipe, but she was very reluctant to tell him so. Last night as she and Sebastian spent a rare early evening at home watching totally inappropriate cartoons, Clint wedged between them, encasing them in a hug that wedged them both tight against his chest. Cradled in his arms, she felt safe and content. But she knew that the feeling was all wishful thinking.
Sebastian had gone to sleep with his head in Clint’s lap, comfortably secure as Nora and Clint watched the late news. After the credits rolled on the show, Clint hoisted Sebastian over his shoulder and interlaced his fingers with hers to guide her to the bedroom.
“How’s your project going?”
“I should have a crop in about two weeks.”
“That soon? I’m going to have to taste these things to see if they have any flavor,” Clint said.
“That’s the $64,000 question, if the nutrients are correct then it should be either as, or more, flavorful than the vegetables you get out of the supermarket. Getting the fish and shrimp to maturity at the same time has been a real bear.” Nora said they were going through their nightly rituals like they normally did, taking showers, brushing teeth, moisturizing. They were like an old married couple. Nora sat in the middle of the huge bed making notes in her battered notebook and humming slightly.
Clint got in on his side of the bed and pulled out some reports he had been working on earlier in the day. They worked for another forty-five minutes before Nora turned off her light and snuggled down into the bed. Clint quickly followed.
Right before she just drifted off to sleep, Nora thought that this is what it was like to be in a long-term, committed relationship. “Not bad,” she said.
* * * *
Nora sat in the October late-afternoon sun with Manuela and Iona, making treat bags for Halloween. The ranch rarely had visitors, it was too isolated, but this year
Adriana had invited the children from town to a small pre-trick-or-treating get-together. The thought of preparing for a children’s party had Adriana barking orders like a drill sergeant. Her husband and sons kept a low profile and wore the look of hunted men.
Nora and Iona were sharing a bottle of wine while Manuela drank sparkling water. They had already discussed what they were going to do for Thanksgiving. Manuela was going to go to CJ’s house on the family island close to Tahiti, while Nora and Iona planned on a traditional Thanksgiving at the ranch. Nora had finally given in and enrolled Sebastian at the school in Davis. But she still planned on going home for Christmas.
She had been able to provide vegetables to the ranch complex. The lettuce, green beans, spinach, tomatoes, strawberries, and peppers all came out plump and tasty. Her first set of shrimp had died and had been buried by Sebastian so that they could go to shrimp heaven. The tilapia was doing well. With the size of the operation she presently had, she figured she would have to hire at least five workers to harvest the fish and deliver them. Two older women from town had helped her with the fruit and vegetable so far.
Nora was currently experimenting with aeroponics to produce root vegetables and fruit but that was in the early stages yet. The families had not contacted her, but she and Iona had proceeded with more traditional financing, so she was okay with that.
The late fall sunshine beamed down on the patio as the women finished their discussion of the holidays and moved on to discuss men. CJ and Iona were currently having words because CJ was ready to get married after being in a relationship with Iona for almost two years and she wasn’t. Nora had Clint issues. And Manuela, was just strange right now.
“So you’re mad at CJ because he wants to put a ring on it?” Nora said.
“Not so much that, I just don’t see the need to do anything other than what we’re doing right now. I’m not going anywhere. He’s not going anywhere. So why do we have to do this whole celebration ceremony saying we’re not going anywhere?” Iona said. Her deep, raspy voice dropped in octaves as she drank more wine.
She and Nora were discreetly high, having dipped into Iona’s ready-but-dwindling supply.
“The shit is totally two-hitter quitter,” Iona said.
“That might be the problem you’re having with CJ right now. He wants to make a commitment in front of people and you’re running,” Nora said.
“Pot calling the kettle black,” Manuela said.
“Clint is so far away from wanting a committed relationship, it doesn’t make sense. We’re okay the way we are. I guess,” Nora said.
“So when was the last time you guys had the kind of sex that used to wake up the dogs on the ranch?” Manuela said.
“How did you know about that?”
“The Menendez boys are the biggest gossips you could ever meet.”
“We make love now, but we haven’t fucked in a long time,” Nora said.
“Yeah, that’s it then. You start the fire again. Men get comfortable and you have to punch them in the gut. Metaphorically speaking, of course,” Iona said. She took a sip from her wine and pushed the vaporizer to the middle of the table.
Nora pocketed her vaporizer and looked out over the sparkling pool toward bushes that ran into the lake. “That’s an issue because a couple of months ago I told him that I would not initiate sex anymore. And since then he’s been initiating this, I don’t know, Ozzie-and-Harriet sex. It’s nice, but I like us the way we were better,” she said.
“Well, looks to me like you’ve got your homework assigned to you,” Manny said.
“Looks simple enough to me, too,” Iona said.
“Because you guys are sitting out here on the porch but I’ll have to actually do it,” Nora said.
* * * *
After Iona and Manny left, Nora went back into her workshop. She was working mostly with the fish, cleaning their tanks, adjusting the nutrients that she used to feed them and keep them healthy without medicine. By the end of the day, she had been waist-to-elbow deep in three foot tall, eleven feet wide tanks.
“You stink, Nora,” Sebastian said.
“You’re not so fresh yourself, buddy. I think I smell horse and cow shit all over your body. Since we’re not so fresh, let’s jump in the shower and have dinner in our nightclothes. We haven’t done that since we’ve been here,” Nora said.
“We used to do that all the time at home,” Sebastian said.
“You miss home, Spot?” It was the first time she’d used her nickname for him since she’d returned to the ranch.
“I do a lot sometimes, but I really like it here. Mostly I like how you and Clint take care of me and each other. I like it a lot,” Sebastian said.
“I do, too, Spot. Let’s get non-stinky and eat.”
They decided to have dinner in the master suite because it seemed slightly naughty. They spread out the meal on the cocktail table in front of the entertainment center to watch cartoons until they finished eating then watch a movie until they went to sleep. They stretched out on the bed to watch.
Sebastian barely got past the opening credits before he was asleep. Nora worked for maybe an hour more before she fell asleep, too. That was how Clint found them, Sebastian sleeping horizontally across his bed while Nora had burrowed under the covers on his side of the bed.
After he scooped Sebastian up and tucked him into his own bed, he scooted Nora to the middle of the bed and climbed in behind her. He pulled her close to him and rubbed his chin on her much longer hair and went to sleep.
* * * *
Three hours later the phone buzzed him awake.
“Three long, black limos are coming up the road to the gate. Should I let them in?” Mano said. The entire ranch was wired for CCTV, with the main video panel set up in the upstairs of the Menendez house. The monitors pinged there first and they decided if the matter should be escalated.
“I’m pretty sure I know who these guys are. You can open the gate but I need the rest of the hands at my ranch before they get here,” Clint said. He quietly slid out of the bed, making sure not to wake up either Nora or Sebastian as he passed his room, shutting both doors so they wouldn’t be disturbed. He tiptoed out of the room and dressed in the hallway in jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved T-shirt.
He’d put the Menendezes on notice that Nora might have unpleasant guests arrive, he just didn’t know when. He’d not anticipated three carloads, but Clint was confident that he could talk to whoever arrived and reach a satisfactory conclusion. The only satisfactory conclusion he had in mind was for Nora and Sebastian to stay exactly where they were.
Chapter Sixteen:
I’m Willing and Ready
Clint stood on the porch, watching as the three very long, very black, very sleek, slick Mercedes limousines pulled into his driveway. As if they had practiced, the passenger doors opened and three large men, one white, one black and one Hispanic exited the car and slammed the doors shut before they opened the back doors. Before the men that Clint was expecting exited, three other men came out, looking around the yard as if expecting an ambush. Finally, Mr. Carlevaros, Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Vargas stepped out of the cars.
Mr. Carlevaros wore a tweed jacket and corduroy pants with what looked like, from where Clint was standing, Italian shoes. Mr. Maxwell had on a suit that could have only come from a private French tailor, while Mr. Vargas wore a suit that was more tropical and made from a lighter material but screamed custom-made.
As the men walked closer, Clint could see that they knew each other well and were friends of a sort. They had been in the same business for years and had a grudging respect for one another. Clint had no doubt that somewhere around the ranch were the Menendez brothers as well as all the other cowboys that worked the three spreads.
Now he concentrated on shepherding his “guests” into the house without waking Nora. He made brief introductions to Mano before escorting the three older men down the hallway to his study.
Each man’s group of three b
ig, burly men lined themselves outside of the door. Within minutes Miguel entered the house through a side door to shoot a concerned look at Clint before he shrugged his shoulders and sat down to watch early-morning TV with Moritz.
“I had really expected you earlier than this, gentlemen, just not this early in the morning. What can I do for you?” Clint said. They all waited as Mano rolled a cart into the room with the morning beverages, including some Danish pastries, doughnuts, and fresh fruit.
Mr. Maxwell helped himself to some fruit and a cup of tea. Mr. Carlevaros poured himself a cup of coffee with two sugars and milk. Mr. Vargas opted for a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Clint sat behind his desk and waited for them to answer his question.
“We are here about the Davis siblings, first and foremost. We’ve discussed this issue amongst ourselves and decided that we prefer them to be back where they were. We plan on speaking with Nora to inform her of our decision,” Mr. Carlevaros said.
Mr. Maxwell, sitting in one of the four leather chairs that surrounded Clint’s desk, paid strict attention to the crease in his pants as he began to talk. “Of course, we are reasonable men and can foresee that this might be an issue, should Nora decide to be stubborn. She will know how strongly we feel about this since we’ve arrived together.”
“Why talk to me and why at 4:30 in the morning?” Clint said.
“You seem to have a bit of influence on Nora,” said Mr. Vargas.
“Nora is brilliant and incredibly stubborn, much like her father,” Mr. Maxwell said.
“We decided that speaking to you man-to-man might lead us to a sensible solution more quickly than just speaking to Nora alone,” Mr. Carlevaros said. He left his chair to pour more coffee, adding three lumps of sugar this time.
“Nora is my friend, my special friend, and I will never go behind her back. Maybe you can explain to me how you think I can get her to do something she doesn’t want to do. You’ve known her longer than I have. She’s single-minded, loyal, loving, and a genius at what she does. She also knows what she wants and is more stubborn than most people I’ve come across. As you yourself said,” Clint said. His speech had become slower and lower, which to those who knew him meant that he was at his most dangerous.