by Jess Bentley
“It’s just dismissive,” she shrugs. “Like women can’t have real emotions, or real frustrations or reactions. We are always just ‘crazy.’ It’s belittling.”
“I never thought about that way,” I admit. “If it makes you feel any better, I really do take you seriously. And whatever it is that you’re working on, I totally respect it. I will find a different word to describe this… phase you are in.”
She rolls her eyes, picking up a fork sullenly.
“A phase?” she repeats as she slowly wraps spaghetti around the fork tines. “Is that what you are calling it?”
“If you have a better word for it, I am all ears.”
“I’m just doing research,” she sighs, popping a bit of shrimp into her mouth and chewing with satisfaction. “Oh my God, this is delicious. I didn’t even realize I was hungry.”
“Research, okay. That’s what I will call it next time.”
“And I’m not crazy, I’m just excited, I guess,” she continues, her eyes glued to her plate.
I can feel what she’s thinking. She’s gotten some idea, some vision of the future and then invested all her mental energy into sniffing out a path to that fairytale vision. It’s really pretty remarkable, I have to admit. A combination of cleverness and stubbornness with a healthy dash of manic energy means that Penny can really get quite a lot done during these phases.
I mean, research.
We eat for a little while, and I’m happy just to enjoy the meal. I like being able to sense her thoughts, even when she’s not talking, even when she’s just focused and somewhere else. It’s nice to be next to her, to have her energy in the house.
After the meal is nearly through, I can sense that she is more relaxed. Less frenetic.
“So, what kind of thing are you researching? More environmentally-conscious construction stuff?”
She spears the last chunk of pancetta from her plate and chews it thoughtfully.
“Sort of…” she sighs. “I showed Elsie around the development today and she mentioned something that just kind of got stuck in my head, you know? She said there were a lot of other developments like this one that had been abandoned during the financial downturn. So I thought I would take a look. Just poke around and see?”
Shyly, her eyes flutter up to meet mine. She’s acting modest, but I can tell it’s actually a little bigger than that.
“More developments like Crosswind?” I ask, trying to gently guide her deeper into the conversation. “What did you find?”
Her eyes widen excitedly and her cheeks instantly blush. “So much!” she stage-whispers.
With her fingertips, she flips her laptop around to face me and taps on the screen.
“Just in Stinson County, there are eight more developments like Crosswind that were abandoned at more or less the same time. Three of them have been repossessed by the bank or by the county. The other five, I can’t tell. They might be in private hands or whatever. But these three…”
I cringe, afraid of what she is going to say next.
“These three are prime, ready to go. Two of them are coming up for auction this week. One of them is a hundred and twenty units, which seems like a lot. But the other one is only fifty-six. I can do that, Clay!”
I freeze in place, watching her carefully.
“With the commission from the sale to Elise’s company? I think I really could do it!”
“They’re all in this county, you say?” I ask gently.
“Yeah, that’s where I started. I’m most familiar with this area, but I could expand the search. Maybe even dive into Missouri. Why are you asking me that way? Is everything okay?”
I try to formulate a way to tell her this that isn’t going to burst her bubble too violently. I know that she can be a little devastated when her fairytale vision doesn’t quite work out.
“Well, it’s just that… it’s not a mistake that Ron was there at the Crosswind auction. That’s kind of his forte. If you are looking at auctions… You guys are going to run into each other again. Is that what you want?”
Her lips purse in an O of surprise. I watch her puzzle it all out.
“So, like… this one? Feather Rock? Are you telling me that Ron is going to try to outbid me again?”
I can see what’s happening inside her. I can see the way her sandcastle is being crumbled at the footings.
“Feather Rock is on his radar, yes,” I admit sadly. “If it makes you feel any better, he was planning on giving you free rein for that whole project. He told me so.”
“But I don’t want free rein,” she whispers urgently. “I want it to be mine!”
“Then you’re going to have to find a way around Ron,” I shrug. “And when he has his mind set on something, well, there is no stopping him either. And he has pretty deep pockets, Pen. He likes to win.”
She slumps back, distracted and fretting. Her fingertips drum on the tip of her chin as she pouts. Something inside me tugs me forward, urging me to fix this somehow. I don’t want to see her like this. She is beautiful in any light, but discouraged? Disappointed? I don’t like it.
“The auction is Monday,” Penny continues. “I’m going to go. I have to try.”
“You know, not to intrude, but I have pretty deep pockets too,” I begin, gauging her reaction carefully.
Her expression darkens. Looks like this is not the right time to bring this up.
“It’s not going to be like that, Clay,” she murmurs. “I can do this myself.”
“Of course you can, Pen.” I immediately back off. “But do you have to? Like, always? I know that Wanda is eager to help you out too. Everybody gets help from somewhere, sometime. No woman is an island and all that.”
She sticks her chin out stubbornly. “I am definitely an island.”
I watch her, eager to push her just a little bit harder. I know why she is so stubborn about this, but it’s true: everybody gets help. Ron had help from his parents. I had help from Ron. Money doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Somebody has to give you a push. And that push is money.
“What about family? Something like that?”
She scowls. “What, like my mom? She’s barely hanging together. I know you mean well, Clay, but I’m used to just being responsible for myself. And for Ethan, of course. It’s worked out so far, hasn’t it?”
Silence falls between us. We just look at each other, both thinking pretty much the same thing: it has worked out, more or less. Sometimes much less.
But I don’t think that I can make her understand that there’s no shame in getting a leg up from time to time. She’s proud, but her pride is part of what is keeping her in a struggle.
And I would be proud to help.
But this isn’t about me, I have to remind myself.
“You know, it actually is kind of hard sometimes,” she says out loud, and I can tell that it is a struggle for her to get the words out. “Like, with Ethan… Sometimes it’s almost too much. Sometimes I wish there were somebody…”
Her words fade out quickly and she looks away. When she looks back to me, her expression is determined, wistful.
“But I meant to tell you,” she continues in a rushed whisper, “you hanging out with Ethan… It has really meant a lot to me. It’s not something that I was expecting at all. And it’s something that he really needed. He really needed it, and there you were! That’s never, um, happened before.”
Her eyes shine brightly as she holds back a tidal wave of emotions.
“And his dad? He doesn’t help?” I probe gently, curious but unwilling to exacerbate her discomfort.
She shrugs, scowling as she glances away. “Bryce was a mistake? I mean, Ethan was not a mistake. Ethan is the best thing that ever happened to me. But Bryce… He has never been in the picture. He didn’t want to.”
“That’s not right!” I blurt out before I even think about it. “I’m sorry, I’m not yelling at you. It’s wrong. That’s not what a man should do.”
She takes a d
eep breath and holds it, pressing her lips together tightly while she downloads an entire library of emotions directly into the middle of my chest. She knows it isn’t right. She’s happy that I know it too.
“So what I was just trying to say is, thank you,” she finishes quietly.
I simply nod, afraid I’m going to say something else to make things worse. Bryce better hope I never run into him.
“And I’m going to go to the auction, and I’m going to try again. I may not make it, but I’m going to try, okay?”
“I understand,” I nod. “I just thought it would be fair to warn you that you will definitely be running into Ron.”
Suddenly she leans forward. “But what if not?”
“What if not… What?”
She shrugs innocently. “What if he’s busy? What if he forgets?”
“He’s not going to forget.”
Her eyebrows go up suggestively. “What if you make him forget? What if you—I don’t know—get lost on the way?”
The sight of her sly smirk is enough to make me think this is a good idea. Her eyes sparkle with mischief.
“What, him miss an auction?” I muse, chuckling. “Man, he would be pretty disappointed! He’s really the big man on campus, you know. Gotta keep up appearances.”
She wrinkles her nose and shrugs coyly. “It’s just one teeny development! He will never miss it in his empire.”
“Oh really? Do you think that you could take one grizzly bear out of a hall of grizzly bear trophies and the hunter wouldn’t miss it?”
“That’s a terrible metaphor,” she shrugs.
“Well, maybe, but you know what I mean. This is Ron’s whole life. What should I do, sabotage his car or something?”
“I know you will think of something,” she smiles suggestively. “You have all the best ideas.”
It’s a simple ploy, but it always works. I’m helpless against her charms.
“Oh, do I? What am I thinking about right now?”
Biting her lower lip, she pushes herself to standing and comes around the side of the dining room table, lifting her knee to slide over my lap and sit gently down, wriggling against my ready erection.
“Actually,” she replies with a sly smirk, “it’s a trademarked secret. I’m not supposed to say it out loud.”
“Oh, really?” I ask as I circle her thighs with my fingers, squeezing gently. I love to feel her muscles working against me, feel the strength in her toned legs.
“Yes, really,” she nods, covering my hands with hers as she presses up on her toes and grinds gently on my lap.
Slowly my hands drift up her thighs while she kisses me with just the edges of her lips, driving me crazy. She’s too far away. She’s taunting me.
“Do you still remember how to do it?” she teases. “Do you need me to refresh your memory?”
I should make her wait, but I can’t. My fingers find the edges of her panties and slide underneath. She catches her breath, gasping, but I can’t let her get away. With my other hand on the back of her neck, I pull her down so I can taste her mouth, taste her breath as her body comes alive.
She moans into my mouth, submitting to me completely. Her pussy is juicy and taut, but trembling with anticipation. I slide two fingers into her hole and twitch them forward to tap against her G-spot. She tries to buck against me but I’ve got her by the neck. She’s not going anywhere.
Her hair falls over my cheeks as she rides my fingers. I catch her rhythm instantly and work her G-spot and clit simultaneously, unlocking her body for her, letting her fall to pieces in my arms.
When she comes, she throws her head back and I cover her throat with my mouth, drinking in the musky scent of her climax. She’s like food to me now. I can’t be satisfied without this.
Chapter 22
Penny
Monday morning, and there’s a crispness in the air. I roll out of the garage and get a third of the way down the driveway before I slam on the brakes. I can see Wanda’s wide, excited smile in my rearview mirror.
“Hey! Why don’t you watch where you are going!?” she hollers out the window, waving her arm.
Clearly, she’s not letting me out of the driveway, so I pull back into the garage and get out, trying to arrange my face into a believable scowl. The passenger door swings open on her Suburban.
“You’re not even going to let me drive myself?” I mumble, irritated and pleased at the same time.
“You drive like a little old lady,” she quips. “What if we are late? What if you miss it?”
“Well, then, step on it!”
“You got it, sister!”
She actually does floor it, and the Suburban’s engine roars as we hurtle down the farm roads. If I weren’t so nervous, I would be enjoying this.
The woman at the auction barely glances at me when she gives me my bidding slip and takes my check for the deposit. I want to talk to her for some stupid reason. I want to talk to everybody, to share this excited feeling. But nobody really cares, I guess. It’s just another day at the office for them. They aren’t rehabilitating their entire lives, I guess, the way I am.
“Okay, so what do we do?” Wanda whispers conspiratorially. “Do we need to be in front? I can get you to the front or something. I bet you all the old guys would fall over all at once if I just push one of them.”
“Jeez, it doesn’t have to be like that,” I chuckle, though I am happy for the distraction. “I just need to be somewhere in that little group. There’s only like fifteen of us, so I think the auction guy can see me okay.”
“And, what? You raise your paddle like on TV shows?”
“Just watch,” I whisper, shouldering past one of the older fellas. “You’ll figure it out. Our development will be last.”
Just like last time, the auctioneer starts with single-family houses and duplexes that were repossessed by the county for various infractions, usually tax liens. The men around me buy them up one by one with a sort of bored attitude, not even a real sense of competition.
There is just a single moment of excitement over a four-bedroom home in a nicer area that starts an enthusiastic bidding war. It finishes just under current market value, with the winner sucking his teeth in disappointment that he didn’t get a better deal.
“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” she mutters, a little too loudly for my taste. “That guy just paid market value.”
He glances over at us, clearly annoyed and with very good hearing. Wanda just shrugs defiantly. I like it that she is not the kind of woman to turn away and pretend she didn’t say anything.
“Our next and final item is the Feather Rock subdivision,” the auctioneer starts in, and my heart gives a stubborn leap in my chest.
“That’s us!” Wanda announces, ignoring the glare that I give her.
Despite myself, I glance around at the other faces. I’ve been so nervous this whole time, with my skin crawling as though I expect Ron to walk up right behind me and probably fire me on the spot. I’m afraid to turn around and see Ron hauling ass up the courthouse steps.
But Wanda isn’t afraid. Her head swivels around as she squints across the parking lot, keeping vigilant watch for me.
“Oh, shit,” she mutters.
“What?” I gasp, so startled that I don’t hear what the auctioneer says right away.
“Be right back! Do your thing!” she says quickly as she nudges me toward the auctioneer and disappears behind me.
My breath turns to concrete in my lungs as I try to focus all my attention on the auctioneer. He makes an opening bid and I raise my hand. He nods at me, then moves on immediately, asking if anybody else would like to bid. His eyes scan the small crowd, focusing briefly over my head and I wonder if Ron is coming up the stairs right now. If he’s running. If he’s got his hand raised like he’s bidding.
“Going once!”
I think I’m holding my breath. I can barely hear anything around me.
“Going twice!”
“Wait!�
� I hear a howl behind me, but I refuse to turn around.
With my jaw clenched, I watch the auctioneer’s lips. My knees are shaking.
“WAIT!” I hear, so much closer.
“Sold!” the auctioneer announces, and it might be my imagination but I think he shoots a look of disdain at Ron as he barrels forward, practically crashing through the crowd.
“No! Wait! I’m here!”
“That concludes today’s auctions,” the auctioneer sniffs, barely registering Ron’s mini tantrum. “Please proceed to the registrar to complete your transactions.”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Ron shuffles toward me with his hands out. He is wearing a maroon tracksuit with the zipper only halfway up so that his pelt of chest hair is exposed.
“What did you do? How could you do this?”
I just shake my head. “I won the auction, I guess?”
Turning around to make my way to the registrar, I feel him coming up close beside me and resist the urge to cringe away. After all, he’s not a stranger. I’ve known him for almost twenty years. He’s just Ron, even if his head does look like it’s going to explode.
“Just give me the papers, sweetie,” the registrar simpers, holding out a hand. From the look that she shoots at Ron, I can see that this is giving her at least a small amount of pleasure.
“Okay, a joke’s a joke,” he continues. “But you can’t do this, Penny. It’s going to take, what, a million dollars to finish? You don’t have that kind of cash.”
“She doesn’t need that kind of cash,” Wanda interrupts, shouldering between us defiantly. “You don’t build every development with your own personal money, do you, Ron?”
He grimaces in frustration. “You guys… did you do this? Did you do this on purpose? Screw me like this?”
“You’re not being screwed, Ron,” I sigh, but I still can’t look right at him. “It’s just business. Right? Just regular old business.”
The registrar fills out a form and then turns it to face me, circling the number on the very bottom with a ballpoint pen. My stomach drops. Wanda looks at me in alarm.