Lost Bird

by Tymber Dalton

  “So you’re not upset?” John asked.

  “No, not at all. The money they estimated I might be able to make from the sale is quite substantial. I can hire someone to come in once a week and handle the yard work or chores for me. And I should probably pay for an alarm system, too. Or, if I decide in a few years I want to downsize, I’ll have plenty of money to do that, especially if I sold the house.”

  “That sounds very reasonable,” Sachi said.

  “Well, it’s for the best. These boys are happier now than I’ve seen them in a long time.” She squeezed John’s hand. “And it’ll get Lisa off John’s case.”

  John’s mother hadn’t called him back since their chat Sunday morning.

  “Right now, I’m pretty sure she’s not real happy with me,” he said.

  “Well, she’ll just have to get over it, won’t she?” Aunt Tammy commented.

  Sachi wasn’t so sure of that, based on what John had told them. She felt badly that she might be a wedge between him and his mom, but he’d assured her he didn’t want her feeling like that. He also told her he’d go over to his parents’ house later in the week, alone, to talk to them and break the news to them, but that he didn’t want Sachi to feel guilty.

  Sachi made keys for the men and gave them the alarm code for her house. John started leaving his work van at the shop instead of driving it home.

  Now she had four vehicles parked in her driveway, where a few weeks ago she’d only had one. She didn’t mind, other than making sure they didn’t park her dad in so he could leave in the mornings. Which, oddly enough, wasn’t difficult to do, because he seemed to come in late every night now.

  Sachi knew she’d gladly accept this new status quo over what her life had been a few months before.

  In fact, those lonely, scared days felt like a dream in many ways compared to her life now. Or a nightmare.

  There was just one thing.

  Now that she had her personal life on something resembling an even keel, it was time for her to figure out what the frak was going on with her dad. He was staying out late, coming home showered and not in the work clothes she knew he usually wore.

  It was…weird. Her instincts and the look of his aura, what glimpses she could get of it, told her something was up.

  She wanted to know exactly what that something was. Otherwise, it would bug the shit out of her.

  Friday morning, she set her alarm early so she could get up and talk to him about it. Fortunately, she was able to reach up to the headboard, grab her phone, and silence it before it disturbed her men.

  Getting out of bed without waking them was a little trickier, however, but she managed it.

  Her father looked startled to see her walk into the kitchen. “Miki, I didn’t expect you up this early.”

  She pulled out a chair at the table and sat. “Um, yeah. About that. I wanted to talk to you and ask—”

  The sound of his bedroom door opening startled Sachi into shutting her mouth and turning around.

  In her dad’s bedroom doorway stood a very surprised-looking woman. Older, probably around her dad’s age.

  Sachi stared at her for a moment before turning back to him. “You want to provide a little context, Dad?”

  “Um, sweetheart, this is Lorie Garson.”

  Sachi swiveled again, staring at the woman. “Garson? As in Garson Aviation?” That was the name of the company her dad was working for.

  The woman, who to Sachi’s relief was fully dressed, nodded with a nervous smile.

  She turned back to her dad. “You’re sleeping with your boss?”

  He shrugged. “Technically. She’s not the one who hired me. The manager did. She owns the company.”

  “Right.” Sachi hauled herself up and out of her chair. “Now I understand why you didn’t give me a hard time about John and Oscar.” She turned to head for her bedroom.

  “You aren’t mad are you, sweetheart?”

  “Only about getting up an hour early for no good reason.” She stopped in front of the woman, smiled, and held out her hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Lorie. I’m Sachi. Even though he calls me Miki.” She waved at her dad. “I’m going back to bed. Enjoy your…whatever. Next time, you don’t need to sneak her in late. Or out early, either.”

  She closed and locked the bedroom door and climbed back into bed after dropping her robe on the floor. Oscar snuggled up to her, draping an arm around her.

  “Everything okay with Dad?” he mumbled.

  “Yep. He brought his booty call home.”

  “What?” both men echoed.

  “Get this. It’s his boss.”

  Both men sat up. “What?”

  She looked from Oscar to John. “Seriously? We can go back to sleep for another hour or more. Can we do this then?”

  “Uh, nooo,” John said. “We’re awake now.”

  She closed her eyes and let out a groan. “They’re still out there. Put on pants and go talk to them yourselves.” She rolled onto her side and pulled her pillow over her face. “This witch is going back to sleep for an hour.”

  She felt the mattress move on both sides of her as the men climbed out of bed.

  Seriously?

  She lifted her head and watched them both grab shorts, practically fall over trying to pull them on, and then hurry out of the bedroom.

  I’m not going back to sleep, apparently.

  With a groan she got up, pulled on her robe, and headed back out into the living room.

  Oscar and John stood in the kitchen with her dad and Lorie.

  “Someone better put a mug of coffee in my hand, stat,” Sachi warned them.

  It was Oscar who did that.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, sweetheart,” her dad said. “I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, and I didn’t want to upset you. And then you met Oscar and John, and there just didn’t seem to be a right way to tell you. I figured a necktie on the doorknob was too old school.”

  Sachi had settled herself in the chair at the table again, the coffee mug cupped in both hands. She wryly smiled. “Yes, because this was sooo much better.” She took a sip. Everyone seemed to be waiting for her to continue. She turned off the snark. “Seriously, Dad, I’m not upset. I want you to be happy. It’s been…”

  She swallowed back the lump in her throat. “It’s been a long time. I never expected you to stay a monk for the rest of your life. Mom wouldn’t have wanted that, either.” She took another sip. “Just be safe, kids. Wrap that rascal.”

  John groaned and shook his head. “You’re too much, babe.”

  Lorie finally found her voice. “Since it’s out in the open now, would you three like to join us for dinner tonight at my house?”

  “We’d love to,” Sachi said before either of her men could answer. She’d shifted her focus to see her dad’s aura. The grey cloudiness in it had completely cleared away. Immediately after her mom’s death, when she first realized she could see auras, her dad’s aura had looked darkly mottled with black blotches she now understood was his deep grief and anger.

  When he’d come to Florida to be with her, she noticed that it had faded out into pale grey clouds. The anxiety she’d also noticed was gone as well.

  Now his aura looked a crystal clear shade of dark green, with tinges of pink around the edges matching the tinges of pink around the edges of Lorie’s aura.

  Sachi didn’t know if what the two of them had would last forever, but for now it seemed they were mutually happy.

  For that reason alone she would gratefully accept this woman into their family.

  Before her dad and Lorie left, Sachi stood and hugged her, then him. “Love you, Daddy,” she whispered in his ear before stepping back.

  He gave her a smile that lifted her heart. “Love you, too, Miki.”

  After they were gone, John offered his opinion. “She seems nice.”

  “Dad looks happy,” Oscar added.

  “That’s because he is happy,” Sachi said. “I wish you
two could see their auras.” She refilled her mug and headed for the bathroom. “Who wants morning shower sex?”

  Behind her, the men sprang into action, racing to join her. “Me!” they both said, their eager tones making her smile.

  If I’m going to be up early, I’ll damn well make it count.

  The men beat her to the shower and had it going by the time she carried her coffee into the bathroom. Having the house to themselves, Sachi knew she could make as much noise as she wanted.

  As much noise as her men could coax out of her. Which was, usually, quite a lot.

  Oscar grabbed a couple of condoms. He handed one to John and ripped the other open and rolled it on his eager morning woody.

  “Wow. You’re ready for action.”

  He grinned. “Oh, baby. You have no idea.”

  She took another sip of her coffee, pulled her hair up and out of the way with an elastic band, and stepped under the water. She bent over, smiling at him over her shoulder as she wiggled her ass at him.

  He stepped behind her, quickly lining his cock up with her pussy before slowly sinking in all the way until his thighs were pressed against hers.

  “Oh, baby,” Oscar moaned. “That’s sooo fucking good.”

  John stepped in and grabbed the handheld shower head, pulling it down and switching the setting. A quickly pulsating stream of water flowed out and he knelt in front of her.

  “Let’s see how many times I can make you come before he does,” he said. He sucked one of her nipples into his mouth and used his free hand to play with her other, all while directing the stream of water right at her clit.

  She braced herself against his shoulders, fingers digging in as the first orgasm almost immediately swept through her.

  Oh, holy hell…In just a few short days, the men had become experts at getting her off. They also seemed sweetly bound and determined to do it as frequently as possible.

  Oscar held on to her waist as he slowly fucked her. “That’s only one, baby. I want at least two more out of you before I’m done.”

  John released the nipple from his mouth with a wet pop. “That means I’ll want at least three out of you,” he added. Then he started sucking her nipple again.

  Between the feel of the water on her clit and the delicious sensation of him fucking her hard and deep, not to mention John’s devilish torture of her nipples, she was soon crying out again with number two.

  “One more,” Oscar said. “You can do it. Conditioning.”

  She started to laugh, but then John changed the angle of the water just a little, hitting her more squarely in the clit, and number three started.

  “There you go.” Oscar picked up the pace, harder and faster until, finally, he took one last thrust and buried his cock deep inside her cunt.

  After a moment, he withdrew and stepped out of the shower to dispose of the condom while John stood, cradling her against him.

  “You’re not done yet,” he teased. “You owe me three now.” When Oscar returned, they swapped places, John rolling a condom on before sliding his cock into her well-fucked cunt.

  He held her up against his body, spreading his legs and forcing hers wider apart. “Let’s go easy on her,” he told Oscar. “Let’s get her three out of the way.”

  “Roger.” She spotted the playful grin on his face as he focused the stream of water onto her clit and they were off to the races again. It took her a little longer, but John wasn’t going to get off until they’d gotten her off again. Finally, when her legs were trembling and she wasn’t even sure she could stand much longer, Oscar got the third one out of her.

  “There you go, baby,” John said. “I knew you could do it.” Oscar helped hold her up while John drove his cock into her, hard and fast and deep, quickly emptying his balls into the condom.

  As she stood there, Oscar’s arms around her, John leaned in and kissed her before stepping out of the shower.

  “At this rate, we’ll need a second hot water heater to keep up with demand. You realize that, right?” she called out to John.

  He returned, laughing. “Oh, I think I know a guy who can help you out there. But he might ask for a trade of labor.”

  She hugged him, kissing him. “I think we could arrange that.”

  * * * *

  Lorie lived in a very nice older two-story home just east of US 41 in Masaryktown, south of Brooksville. The woman obviously had money, but the understated and homey furniture told Sachi she was a practical woman, and one who didn’t seem obsessed with putting on airs.

  Sachi liked that about her.

  When Lorie’s husband had died seven years earlier, she’d taken over running Garson Aviation full time and had no intentions of slowing down.

  “I’m only fifty-eight. I still have plenty of energy,” she insisted. “I helped Dave run it. It wasn’t like I didn’t know what I was doing.”

  Sachi smiled. She was actually a year older than her dad. The way he looked at Lorie as they were finishing up dinner preparations made Sachi want to break down in tears of the good kind. The happiness in his face, the smiles…

  She hadn’t seen him look like that since before her mom died.

  He’d actually done the cooking, pot roast and blintzes that made Sachi’s mouth water.

  As the evening drew on, Lorie reached over and cupped her fingers around Sachi’s father’s hand. She turned her hazel gaze on Sachi. “So, your dad tells me the three of you are going to move in together?”

  She nearly choked on the drink of water she’d been sipping. “Um, yeah.”

  “Any plans for a ceremony? I’d like to help out with the plans, if you’d let me.”

  Sachi nodded, smiling. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that.” She glanced at Oscar and John. “We’d appreciate that,” she amended. “We’re going to do a handfasting and keep it short and low-key. But I’d appreciate help with the reception.”

  “I didn’t have kids of my own,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind I sort of would like the chance to do this for you.”

  Sachi pointed a finger at her dad. “If you screw this up with her, I’ll make with da shoosting and hexing on you. I like her.”

  Michael turned his hand palm up and squeezed Lorie’s hand. “Honey, believe me, I don’t plan on screwing it up.”

  Later that night, as the three of them were returning to Sachi’s house, she rode in the backseat.

  “You’re awfully quiet back there,” Oscar said.

  “Just thinking.”

  John looked over the seat at her. “Are you all right?”

  “Oh, sure. I’m fine.” She realized how that sounded and adjusted her tone. “I mean it. I’m really fine. I like her.”

  “That was nice of her to offer to help with the plans.”

  “Yeah.” She stared out the window. She refused to let herself dip into the self-pity well again. Angry that it should be her mom there helping her.

  Then again, if her mom were there, Sachi knew she might never have moved to Florida. Or met Oscar and John.

  It wasn’t a fair trade-off by any stretch of the imagination.

  And that was why she knew she couldn’t allow herself to entertain those thoughts.

  “Just thinking?” Oscar asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Happy thoughts?” John asked.

  She stared out the window at the darkness. They were almost back to Brooksville, with more street lights and less pasture land. “Just thoughts.” She closed her eyes.

  Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Julie. And thank you, Goddess. Namaste.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Mandaline was Sachi’s first choice for their handfasting. Not just because she was Sachi’s best friend, but because Sachi couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it. Sort of the circle completed, a nice bit of symmetry since she’d conducted Mandaline’s handfasting to Ellis and Brad.

  The three of them had discussed Sachi maybe marrying one of them, but she wasn’t in a rush to make that decision, if ever. S
he didn’t need a piece of paper to tell her these men were hers and she was theirs. The rings the three of them would wear on their hands were far more important to her.

  Well, John would wear his when he wasn’t working. Sachi didn’t want him losing it down a sewer pipe or hurting his hand if he got the ring caught on something.

  They held the ceremony outside, at sundown, by Julie’s memorial tree. Sachi had requested a far smaller gathering than they’d had for Mandaline, preferring only immediate family and friends be invited. They were holding a reception party at the store, which would be the official celebration for everyone.

  Sachi wanted as few people as necessary to see her cry.

  At least John’s mother had finally come to terms with their unusual relationship. His dad, on the other hand, had been easy to convince.

  Sachi had given Mandaline free rein with the ceremony, with her only stipulations being to please keep it as short and snarky as possible.

  Mandaline stood before them, a serene smile on her face as their friends and family gathered close. “I think Julie is probably laughing and dancing and happy for us right now,” she started. “She loved to play matchmaker. She couldn’t have come up with a better pair of guys for our Snark Queen if she’d gotten them from a mail-order husband catalog.”

  Sachi breathed a sigh of relief, smiling as she stood between John and Oscar, their right hands clasping her right hand. Mandaline was going for snark.

  Oh, thank the Goddess!

  “I also think Julie would approve of the way we’ve all been healing. And I would hope it’s with her blessings that today we recognize this handfasting between three people whose hearts have joined to become a family.”

  Uh, where’s the snark?

  Brad, who stood next to Ellis behind Mandaline with a small basket in his hands, handed her a braid of three ribbons, white, red, and green. Mandaline loosely looped the braid around their hands, tying it so the knot wouldn’t come undone, but they could still free themselves from it at the end of the ceremony. “Three and three and three again. I call upon the Goddess, here and when, before us now these three do stand.” A smile crossed her face. “And boy, howdy, ain’t love grand.”