by Marla Monroe
“Damn, this is good. I say it again, you rock at cooking.” Travis smiled before taking another bite of the stew.
After everyone had finished, the guys helped clean up, much to Gail’s surprise. They’d helped some in the past, but they’d worked hard all day, and she hadn’t expected it.
“I can handle clean up, guys.”
“No reason for you to when you cooked. We don’t mind, Gail,” Travis told her.
“You worked hard cooking over an open fire. That was just as backbreaking.” Benton tugged on her hair.
“If you have to use a wagon or whatever to bring back supplies, how many trips will you have to make to get what you want?” she asked.
“At least three or four. I don’t know until I see what I have to work with. Your idea about using a new battery for one of the vehicles may work. It’s worth a try, anyway. I’ll try that before I look for a way to get everything back. It’s just too bad there wasn’t a wagon out in the barn to use.” Benton put up the last bowl.
“Thanks for supper, Gail.” Travis bent over and kissed her on the forehead.
To her surprise, Benton did the same thing. It was the first time they’d done anything so intimate. She liked it and smiled up at both men. Maybe they did like her in a sexual way. She hadn’t been sure before. Or, maybe they just wanted to thank her for the meal. She sighed when they walked back outside to put the coffee on.
I’m looking too hard for how they feel about me. They’re men. Even if they aren’t all that into me, eventually they’re going to start hinting that they’d like more. I’m a female in a world where there aren’t many left.
When the men returned with three mugs, Gail smiled and accepted one from them. They all settled in the living room to sip the fake coffee and talk. Mostly, she listened as Travis and Benton made plans for the next day. Benton planned to leave right at sunrise, and Travis was going to start breaking ground on the garden so it wouldn’t be as hard to get the garden ready come spring.
“Can I help with the garden?” she asked.
“It’s going to be hard work, Gail. I don’t like the idea of you wearing yourself out. You can watch and get me tea and water while I work.” Travis smiled over at her.
“So, I’m the tea girl while you work. I can work and get your tea and water when I need some.” Gail crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
“Honey, it’s going to be hard breaking that ground, and we don’t want you hurting yourself doing it,” Benton said.
Honey? Had he just called her honey? Gail couldn’t help but smile at the endearment. At least that was how she took it. Maybe they really were interested in her.
“Okay. I’ll just keep the tea and water coming then.”
“Great. I’m going to turn in early so I can get up to head out at dawn. Have a good night, guys.” Benton stood up and stretched.
“I’m going, too. I want to see you off in the morning. Don’t leave without waking me up, Benton.” Gail jumped up and strode across the room to follow Benton upstairs.
“There’s no need to get up that early, Gail. You need your sleep.” Benton gently squeezed both of her shoulders when they reached the landing.
“I’m serious, Benton. Wake me up. I’ll worry less if I see you before you leave. Wake me up.”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll make sure I say goodbye before I leave. You stick close to Travis tomorrow while I’m gone. With only one of us here, I’ll worry about you. There’re men out there who’d grab you, given half a chance.”
“I will. I have no intentions of taking any chances. I don’t want to go through that again.” Gail took a chance and lifted on tiptoe to place a kiss on Benton’s cheek. “Night.”
“Good night, honey.”
Gail walked to her room and closed the door behind her. She quickly changed into the overly large T-shirt she slept in and climbed into bed. Before she fell asleep, she heard Travis’s door close down the hall. She had Benton on her left and Travis on her right. She felt safe between them like that. It made her wonder what it would be like to sleep between them. With that thought, she drifted off into sleep.
* * * *
Benton wiped his brow with his upper arm and continued walking. He should be close to the little town now. He’d been walking a good two hours. Had he misjudged the distance? He didn’t think so. They’d passed through it when they’d been looking for a place to settle down.
He liked Gail’s suggestion of trying the batteries at the store to see if one of them might have enough juice to start a truck or large car. Once on the road, the truck would build up the battery once more. He’d siphon any remaining gas from the cars in the parking lot into the one he chose before leaving. Benton prayed it would work. He’d be able to get most if not all of what they needed in one trip that way.
Just as he thought he’d never find the place, Benton spotted the Texaco sign not more than a half mile away. He was nearly there. Ten minutes later, he walked into the outskirts of the little town. Relief at finally being there washed over him like a warm summer rain. He was hot and tired and ready to get on with finding what they needed and getting back home.
Home, that sounded good to him. He realized that what made it a home was having Gail there. She hadn’t seemed to mind their initial approach to more with her. They’d taken every opportunity to touch her and give her compliments as often as possible. They’d even left chaste kisses her cheeks and forehead. He wanted more, but they needed to wait and let her grow used to what they were doing first.
She’s perfect for us. Giving and warm. She doesn’t seem to care that I’m not all white. I really like her.
Benton put thoughts of Gail and what he wanted to do to her out of his mind as he approached the building supplies store. It was a lot like an all-you-can-get department store for handyman types. He looked around the parking lot and noticed not only several trucks but also a small U-Haul truck. It looked like someone had been going to load up on supplies and abandoned it. That meant it might be out of gas.
He jumped into the truck and checked it over. There wasn’t anything inside the back, either. Next, he entered the building through a broken front glass door. The scent of decay filled his nostrils. He searched the store until he found the batteries. Most of them were for lawnmowers, but there were a few truck batteries, as well.
Benton found a wheelbarrow and loaded three batteries into it, then carried them out to the truck. He opened the hood and changed out the battery with the first from the store. Then, he hopped back into the cab of the truck and pulled out the wiring to try to hotwire the truck. It didn’t work. The battery was dead.
After going through the next one, the last one actually sparked, starting the truck. He quickly checked the gas gauge and breathed a sigh of relief. It was half full. He pulled it up to the door of the building, then left it running to build the battery up. He dumped the dead batteries on the lot and pushed the wheelbarrow back inside to locate the supplies for solar energy. They were in business. He found them on the third aisle he checked.
After filling the wheelbarrow with all he could carry, Benton carried it all out to the truck and loaded it into the back. Then he returned, making four more trips, emptying the shelves of all of the solar supplies. Next, he pulled all the seeds he could find in the garden department. He prayed that some of them would be good. They had a few seeds they’d gotten from a seed and feed shop nearly a year ago, but it wouldn’t hurt to have more. He located a box and piled them inside it.
On the next row of supplies, he found two nearly skeletonized bodies. One had a knife sticking out of the ribcage. He didn’t want to go down that aisle, but there were gardening tools he really wanted. They could use the sling blades and other tools. Benton gingerly stepped over the bodies and gathered the tools before returning to the wheelbarrow.
Another four trips and he had everything he thought they might need. He grabbed a couple of water hoses that didn’t seem to be dry rotted and returned to the truc
k. Driving the truck to each vehicle in the parking lot, Benton syphoned gas from each car until he had nearly a full tank of gas. Then, he started back.
Can’t wait to get back home to Gail and Travis. I can’t believe how lucky we were in getting all of this. She’ll enjoy real showers with warm water. I want to give her everything I can to make her want to stay and be our woman.
He’d drove as fast as he dared over the deteriorating road until he reached their drive. He turned down the road, then around the overgrown yard to the back where he found Travis and Gail hugging each other in the back yard.
“It worked!” Gail jumped up and down as Travis walked over to clap him on the shoulder when he jumped down from the truck.
“Good going. We’ll have time to unload all of this into the barn before dark. Gail’s suggestion was a great one.”
“It sure was. We have enough gas to use to dig up the ground with the tiller if it will run.”
“We’ll try that tomorrow. That would sure be easier than what I’m doing. I haven’t even gotten halfway to the end of what we marked off for a garden. Once we get the ground broken up, it will be easier to maintain by hand.”
Benton walked over to Gail and wrapped her up in a hug.
“Great thinking, Gail.” He kissed her squarely on the lips before releasing her to help his friend unload the supplies. He noticed Gail touching her lips before she jogged over to help.
“I can help with the smaller stuff.”
“Be careful and don’t get hurt.” Travis handed her a few tools, then helped Benton unload the solar panels.
It took them nearly an hour to completely empty the truck. Then, they closed up the barn and strode back to the house, talking about plans to install the panels after they got the ground broken up. Using the tiller would cut the time by days if they could get it to run.
“I’m so excited that things are working out. I was afraid that you guys would have to break your backs turning that ground. It’s hard, and there’s so much grass to work through.”
“We still might have to if the tiller won’t work,” Travis pointed out.
“I have confidence that it will. If you can get it to run, you won’t have to work so hard. I hated watching Travis trying to dig up a place to plant the garden. He worked nearly all day and didn’t get very far,” Gail told him.
“We still might have to work it by hand. Don’t get your hopes up too high, Gail. Everything is hard work these days. It’s just how it is.”
“Do you think things will ever get back to how it was before?” she asked him.
“Not in our lifetime. Right now, everyone is struggling to survive. There aren’t enough people to work on getting things back online anymore. It will take years for there to be enough people to work the mines and oil rigs again. Probably hundreds of years.” Benton pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear with one finger.
“That sucks,” Gail said.
“Yep, it does.” Benton squeezed her upper arm.
“Let’s see about supper and get some rest. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Chapter Five
“God dammit. We almost had it. Let’s try it again.”
Benton’s curses and exclamations had filled the back yard off and on all morning. Travis had been a little quieter with his, but wasn’t holding back. Gail was worried they’d fail at getting the tiller functional again. They’d spent the first hour cleaning the engine, then had taken some of the gas from the truck to fill the tiller’s small tank. Now, they were trying to start the contraption.
“Maybe we should have taken the gas tank off and cleaned it out,” Travis suggested.
“If this doesn’t work, we’ll do that next. After that, we’ll just be wasting our time fooling with it.” Benton fiddled with something on the engine of the thing, then nodded at Travis.
Gail watched as Travis pulled on the rope once, twice and the thing turned over on the third pull. It caught for a second but sputtered out.
“Woohoo! We got it to crank. Maybe it needs a little more gas.” Travis pulled on a knob and pulled the rope again. This time it caught and continued to run, backfiring and growling while the guys high fived each other.
Gail ran over and hugged each man, giving them a kiss on the lips before backing away as she realized what she’d done. Benton just grinned and slapped Travis on the back.
“I’ll take the first shift tilling. Why don’t you fill up the gas can and rest until I need a break,” Benton said.
“Got it. There were two gas cans. I’ll clean the other one up so we’ll have more fuel ready to use with the tiller.” Travis turned to look Gail’s way. “How about some tea, hon. We’d really appreciate a glass.”
“No problem.” She felt her mouth turn up in what had to be a huge grin.
She was so happy for the men that the tiller seemed to be working. She couldn’t help but get excited. They would be able to get the garden tilled up in a fourth of the time digging by hand would have taken. Benton had pointed out that this would be the only year they would probably be able to use it since they’d run out of gas soon.
She’d suggested making a run back to town and filling every can they could find to make the tiller last longer. Benton hadn’t vetoed the idea, but she could tell something about it worried him. Maybe it was that he didn’t want to risk running into others who might not be friendly. She could understand that. He’d mentioned that worry before he’d headed out to find the solar panels.
Gail filled two glasses with sun tea and hurried back to where Travis was busy syphoning gas from the truck into the gas cans. He accepted one of the glasses and drained it in one go. She laughed, shaking her head.
“You were thirsty. I’ll refill it after I get Benton’s to him.”
“Thanks, hon.”
The sound of the tiller meant Travis had to yell to be heard. She just nodded and walked in the direction of Benton and the laboring tiller. Black smoke had poured out of it at first, but had turned to a light grey by the time he’d made it to the end of a row and turned around. Gail lifted the glass of tea and climbed over the clumpy ground to reach him.
“Thanks.” He took the glass and pretty much did the same thing Travis had done. He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and handed the glass back to her. “Glad the tiller is working. I don’t know if we’d have been able to break this up before the winter snows set in. It’s nearly impossible, even with the tiller.”
Gail shouted to be heard over the engine noise. “Me, too. Break up as much of the back as you can in case we decide to plant a larger garden than you first thought. You can never have enough food, and I can put up some of it. I’m good at preserving and canning.”
Benton’s face spread into a wide grin. “That sounds like a good idea. If we go back to town in the next few days, we’ll look for canning supplies. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Gail beamed up at him. When he cupped her cheek with one hand and lowered his head, she knew he was going to kiss her and didn’t resist. She wanted that kiss. She wanted it more than just about anything. Other than the broken-up garden. They really needed that.
The kiss was light but not nearly as chaste as the last one he’d given her. She responded but was surprised when he pulled back. His eyes showed heat though he’d stopped. She wanted to say something but couldn’t think. Instead she reverted back to the tea.
“I’ll be back in a little bit with more tea.”
Benton waved her off with a wink. It made her feel a bit better. He hadn’t been disappointed in the kiss. He was just taking it slow. Real slow.
Maybe too slow.
Gail wanted more.
When she returned thirty minutes later with more tea for both men, this time it was to find Travis using the tiller while Benton used a hoe to break up the larger clods of dirt. She once again gave both men their glasses of tea, but this time they drank it much slower.
Travis dropped a kiss on her head. “I’m nasty
and sweaty now, but after I have a bath, I’m going to kiss you silly.”
Before she could think fast enough to answer him, he’d returned to guiding the smoking machine along the ground. She was sure she had a huge smile on her face from the way her mouth ached at the corners.
When she stopped by Benton to take his empty glass, the other man cocked his head. “Something made you smile. I wonder what Travis said to you to put that shit eating grin on your face?”
“Nothing. I’m just excited that you guys don’t have to work nearly as hard on the garden. That’s all.” She quickly strode off to avoid answering any more of Benton’s questions.
She could tell he was teasing her, but right then, she was a little nervous with the way things were going. Yeah, she’d wanted more from the men, but wanting was one thing, and the new reality of their inching in that direction had her a little nervous.
It’s not that I don’t want more, it’s just that I’m not sure what more means. Sex, yeah, but with both men? I know that’s how it works these days, but really. How can I please two men at one time? Do I hop from one bed to the next? That feels so sleazy.
She couldn’t believe that’s what they had in mind. But she wasn’t sure she was ready for the alternative. She’d heard the others at the farm where she’d lived talking about how two men took on one woman and that scared her a bit. Anal sex wasn’t anything she’d tried and wasn’t sure she wanted to try. It sounded painful.
Gail put it out of her mind and concentrated on the onion soup she had simmering over the fire. Sweat from the fire ran down her cheek. She’d stirred the soup before setting up another jar to make dandelion tea. She set the second jar out to brew in the sun then poured tea from the first jar for Travis and Benton. She was sure they’d need it by now. When she walked out to where they were working, she noticed that they’d switched jobs once more. Evidently, the tiller took a lot of work, as well, since it seemed to jar them as they tilled.
“We’ll have this broken up by the end of the day tomorrow. It’s slow going the first round. We’ll go over it a couple of times before we call it done for the winter. Then, we’ll start on the solar panels.” Benton drank from the glass, draining in three long gulps.