Customer Satisfaction

by Cheryl Dragon

  Lizzie hugged Zoe over her big baby bump. She was due to pop in a week or so. “We ordered extra pizza,” Lizzie said.

  “It won’t go to waste.” Zoe patted her belly.

  “Plus breadsticks and cheese sticks,” Crystal added.

  Lizzie couldn’t wait for Zoe’s little girl to be born. No one knew which of the four men Zoe was with was the biological father but that made it sweeter.

  So two of the four women were happily settled. Lizzie looked at Crystal, a plus size woman with confidence, brains, and humor. Maybe she and Lizzie weren’t meant to find men so easily?

  “What’s with the frown, Liz?” Ash asked as she opened a bottle of red from her grandmother’s wine collection.

  “Nothing. The pizza should be here any second.” She didn’t want to throw a gloom over everything at once.

  “Oh, please, you look as if you lost your best friend. We’re all here.” Zoe gestured to the ladies in the room. “I’m tired of debating baby girl names with the guys. Give me something else to think about. Once the kid is here, I’ll be occupied.”

  “I still can’t believe you’re the first of us having a baby,” Crystal chuckled.

  Lizzie agreed. Zoe was the driven career girl who no one thought would stay in a small town long. Love changed a lot.

  “I’m not rushing into motherhood.” Ashley handed out the wine.

  Lizzie grabbed Zoe a pink lemonade from the kitchen. The doorbell rang, and she helped Crystal carry in the food. They sat around as if it were old times as they stuffed their faces.

  “Men trouble.” Zoe grabbed another breadstick and nodded at Lizzie.

  Lizzie looked down and refilled her wine glass. “It’s so dumb. Fisher hooked up with another guy. Byron is hurt. It basically broke us up.”

  “I can’t believe it.” Ash shook her head.

  Zoe put down her slice of pizza. “Those guys are crazy about you.”

  “It hasn’t even been a week. I think if you give it time, it’ll sort itself out.” Crystal nodded.

  The guilt of whining about two men not working out when Crystal was still the single one nagged at Lizzie, but her friends were all trying to help. Technically, Lizzie was single at the moment. “Fisher is only twenty-five. I don’t know if he’s ready for a real family.”

  “He never left Lucky Springs or went to college. Maybe he’s not?” Ash asked.

  “Sounds like it. He’s young. Maybe he’s not the right one?” Zoe shrugged.

  “Byron never left here either, and he’s not cheating or running around.” Crystal sighed and grabbed a cheese stick.

  “Different types of men are what make this group thing fun.” Ash smiled. “I think you need to go find some new ones. Don’t settle for anything less than you deserve. Fisher doesn’t realize what he lost.”

  Lizzie’s cheeks went hot. The Stinger brothers had been on her mind all week and plenty before then. She could go and talk to Damon. See what truly happened. Was it all just sex or were there feelings involved? “I’m not sure jumping into something else is the right move.”

  “You need to find what works for you. Not mope around the house hoping those men will come to their senses,” Crystal said.

  “You need to get out there, too,” Zoe said to Crystal.

  “The right men will show up at the right time. I’m not forcing anything or chasing down men because they’re single. No moping here. I’ve got plenty going on.” Crystal started to clean up the plates.

  Lizzie helped with the cleanup, and when they were alone in the kitchen, she sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “Lizzie, relax. You have to do what makes you happy. Don’t worry about where other people are. You can’t make Fisher ready or fix things. You need to be you. I’m not in a rush to dive into a group relationship. It seems so intense. Plus, I got that promotion at work. I’m still swamped on the career front. Maybe I just need the one right guy whenever he shows up?” Crystal shrugged.

  The scent of pizza hung in the air as Lizzie leaned on the counter. She admired Crystal. She lived her life without worrying when or if a man showed up. The confidence was wonderful. Still, Lizzie knew deep down Crystal had high standards but low expectations of men. Her size could be a problem for some men, but those were the wrong ones. Lizzie had to believe the right men would come along who appreciated Crystal, all of her.

  Crystal was so calm about waiting for the right person it made Lizzie wonder about her own eagerness. Lizzie’s urge to settle down and make a family could be premature. “Maybe I’m just rushing things?”

  “I think you know what you want. You need to believe you can have it and find a way to make it happen.” Crystal smiled.

  “Do you think I should go talk to the Stinger brothers, too?” Lizzie asked.

  “No harm in talking, is there?” Crystal grabbed the triple batch of homemade extra fudge brownies. “At least there won’t be extras left over to tempt me. Zoe could eat this all by herself.”

  “True.” Lizzie giggled. They were all changing in various ways. Ash had embraced the town she’d left right after high school and had plans to start a support group for poly relationships. Zoe was going to be a mom. Crystal had been promoted at work. Good things were happening for them here. Lizzie had to believe she deserved good things and they’d come her way.

  * * * *

  The next day Lizzie woke with a splitting headache. Wine or stress? It didn’t matter. She called in sick and after some pain meds and a nap, she spent the morning on the early plans for a baby shower for Zoe.

  They’d tried before, but the mom-to-be was superstitious and refused any party until the baby had arrived and Zoe was recovered enough to enjoy it. The little girl was due in a matter of weeks, so Lizzie had to get the ball rolling. Ash was in charge of the guest list. Crystal chose to handle the catering. Lizzie had to find a place big enough and deal with decorations.

  Little princess was an easy theme, so fitting for Zoe and her offspring. Lizzie ordered the decorations online and felt productive. The location, however, required some scouting.

  After lunch, she took a drive. Lucky Springs wasn’t that big, and her choices were either outside in the nice park area with pavilion or the recreation center which was the default meeting hall used by every club and organization that wouldn’t fit into a small room. But that was huge and a bit drab. Beyond that, she could use someone’s house or the bars. None of those felt right.

  The café might be big enough, but they’d take over the entire thing. She found herself driving in the direction of the Stinger bee farm. No reason she couldn’t ask them about a location, and if Fisher came up, well that wouldn’t be bad. She didn’t want to force it or make things weird, even though her interest in them was far more than friends. They were always happy to see her when she ran into them. The brothers might be thrilled she’d made up an excuse to drop by. Damon and Luke were still two very sexy, kind, and confident men.

  She parked her used pickup in front of the house. The place was gorgeous. Big trees and open space. Bee boxes sat spaced in the landscape, but she spotted lots of natural hives in the old trunks. Flowers dotted the open grass. It was too pretty to be a place of work. Yet business hummed along with the bees, and in the distance she saw people going into the honey building. She was interrupting their workday, but she hoped they wouldn’t mind.

  Knocking on the front door of the house, she saw a couple bees check her out from a few feet away. She ignored them, and they flew away. Luke Stinger opened the door. He was the older and more reserved of the half-brothers who always intimidated her a little. Lizzie felt as if his dark eyes were on her, watching everything. Her body tingled as she studied him right back and took in his strong build and calm manner made her feel at ease.

  “Lizzie. Come in. To what do we owe this pleasure?” Luke closed the door behind her.

  “Nothing special. I was looking for a place for Zoe’s baby shower.” She walked into the normal
front room with plaid couches and a couple of recliners pointed at a TV. He led her to the back.

  “Damon, look who dropped by,” Luke said.

  “Hi Lizzie.” Damon stood up and gave her a hug. “How are things?”

  “Oh, fine. How are you guys?” She studied Damon as he sat back at his desk. Long hair pulled back and strong muscled arms exposed. He wore only a brown tank top and a ratty pair of jeans.

  “Great. I’m not sure a bee farm is a place for a baby shower.” Luke shrugged.

  Luke had on a T-shirt that advertised the Stingers Honey Line Up and neatly pressed khakis. The brothers were different but seemed well suited to work together. She looked away from his muscled body before she began to drool.

  “I know. But the fields are pretty, and the space is there. I just don’t want to do it in the park or the meeting hall. We can use Ash’s house but the huge party will spill outside no matter what.” Lizzie sat in a guest chair. “Any suggestions?”

  “Small town. You know the options as well as we do. We can let you use whatever space you want here but so many bees so near a new baby. Zoe might freak out.” Luke frowned.

  “Yeah, even if we smoke them a bit to keep them calm, mommy tension will agitate them.” Damon nodded. “Now let’s get to what you’re really here about.”

  “Really?” She looked at her nails painted baby pink. “I know you and Fisher had a thing. I’m not mad at you. Are you two still together?”

  Damon shrugged. “Sort of. I told him to stop coming around because I didn’t want to hurt you, but we’ve been talking and—”

  “A few nights ago, I invited Fisher and Byron over for dinner. I was hoping to resolve this as if we were adults. Byron had been calling me and trying to get the real story. He and I were friends in school, and we sort of had crushes on each other. He’s been trying to get me to date him.” Luke shook his head.

  “Rebound love already. That’s crazy.” Lizzie couldn’t believe her guys were so nuts being alone. Jumping into other relationships so fast couldn’t be a good idea. Yet here she was sniffing around the Stingers. They’d all known each other most of their lives so maybe it wasn’t as crazy? She had felt left out.

  “I told them not to rebound into things so fast. Fisher and I went out on a date though; he wanted to talk. Byron got Luke out for the last couple of nights. None of us are exactly strangers. The relationships are sort of working actually. I wish you came with the deal.” Damon winked at her.

  Her mind spun trying to grasp the concept. Her two exes were dating the Stinger brothers. “So do you guys share guys? I mean is it a group men thing? Are Byron and Fisher back together?”

  “Not right now. It’s very new and odd. Damon and I have shared guys in the past and women, too, but things are still strained between them,” Luke said.

  “I tried to talk to them. I’ve kept trying over and over.” She folded her arms and frowned. “I must’ve been the problem. They faked it really well.”

  “They’re bisexual. There’s no doubt about that. Don’t blame yourself. Maybe you challenged them in a good way, and they couldn’t handle it? Something wasn’t right with their relationship either, or they’d be together. We’re trying to help, but they aren’t talking about it much yet.” Damon leaned on his desk.

  “Maybe it is better with an all-male thing? The girly parts could’ve been the problem. I hope you’re all very happy together.” She forced a smile. All her options seemed to have dried up in one week. Byron and Luke? Really? The men had moved on the Stinger brothers while she’d been waiting and hoping to patch things up.

  Luke stepped in her way when she stood to leave. “We never said we don’t want a woman in our lives. There can be only one woman for us. That’s why we started working on sharing. A group thing is the only answer. Those two men aren’t it. They’re great and it might work, but we both need a woman in our lives.”

  She chewed her lip and looked at Damon. “Do Fisher and Byron know about that?”

  “Byron is with us on that point. Fisher is bisexual, too. His family dynamic isn’t easy. No family comes without work. We can’t just plug in this many men and a woman, and it works. It takes effort and communication. I don’t think Fisher has done much work in that area.”

  Sitting back down, she had to admit Fisher had always been in it for the fun. The great sex and the dates. “He never wanted to be serious about anything but his family and Byron. Byron sort of balanced him out by being the adult. The apartment is in Byron’s name, and he got Fisher the job at the factory.”

  “Differences are good. Damon and I are different, but we talk about the business and our family. Fisher wants to close his eyes and let everyone else to fix things. If it doesn’t work, he walks away. He had a few different jobs before the customer service gig. He tried baseball and all sorts of clubs back in high school. If he wasn’t great at it or it wasn’t easy, he’d stop. That’s got to change, or he won’t last long with us.” Luke sat next to Lizzie.

  “So you want a woman in the mix as well? Why?”

  “We’re bisexual. Some can find love with one person and be happy. Group love just seems more logical. We can share one woman and a man or men if that works.” Damon made it sound so easy.

  She had an icky question to ask. Deep down, she was pretty sure she knew the answer, but she tapped her feet. They might hate her.

  “Out with it,” Luke said. He saw the anxiety swirling in her.

  The way she fidgeted and the shy smile made him want to kiss her senseless to get the truth out of her. Lizzie was the common denominator in their group situation, and she had shown up without the Stingers even making a phone call. Luke wasn’t as into signs and fate as his brother, but he knew when something felt right.

  They should’ve moved faster on her but sharing a woman with no other men in the picture would’ve felt odd. Damon’s relationships had been mostly men, the only women he’d been with were those Luke had dated and shared. It’d never lasted.

  “First, I need to know. You guys never do anything with each other?” Lizzie scrunched her nose.

  “Hell no!” Luke shuddered.

  “We’re brothers. Half, but we’ve got the same dad. That’s just gross.” Damon stuck his tongue out at her.

  She laughed. “Good. But then why just one woman to share? Why not have wives of your own and add other men if you want?”

  Luke saw her point. Sharing with a man he wasn’t screwing seemed as if a disconnect to her. “We’ve seen first had what happens when two women try to run a family. It doesn’t work. Are your parents still married?”

  “My parents? Yeah. Why?” she asked.

  “Because most people aren’t that way anymore. I was born into a bit of a power struggle. Dad had a kid and an ex-wife. My mom felt as if she had to compete with Luke’s even though we were brothers. Luke and I never felt anything but brotherly and refused to play into their wanting us to take sides. It nearly ripped up the family for a while.” Damon sighed.

  “My mom hated being displaced by a new woman. She divorced my dad when he was more interested in the business than her, but she had custody of me. We stayed in Lucky Springs, and Dad wanted to see me as much as he could. They had joint custody.”

  “That’s nice.” Lizzie smiled.

  “Sure, but that means I lived with a step-mother half the time. My mom didn’t like that. She fought to make sure I got my share of the family business, and wasn’t pushed out because I went back and forth while Damon lived here full time.”

  “Dad never would’ve let that happen,” Damon said.

  “No, but your mom would’ve loved it. Our mothers made our lives hell when we were little because we’re so close in age, and they had every right to be mad at Dad, but we wanted to be brothers.” Luke shrugged.

  “You are,” she said.

  “Our mothers…well it felt as if they were trying to turn us against each other for a while. Especially in our teens. So we had to trust each other and le
t them fight it out. We knew we’d take over this business one day. We knew we had to be in it together, or all hell could break loose,” Luke said.

  “Where’s your dad now?” she asked.

  “Retired to the Gulf to fish. My mom divorced him after he cheated on her. No kids there. No new step mother. But it finally made our mothers get along and see we could share. We’re not breaking this business up. Ever. One woman means we’re unified. The kids are all siblings.” Damon leaned back in his chair.

  “Zoe has no idea which of her men is the father.” Lizzie nodded.

  “And short of a medical condition or emergency, we wouldn’t want to know either. That’s the idea. No competition beyond normal sibling stuff. Make sense?” Luke asked.

  “Oddly enough, yes. In this town, any relationship makes sense if it works.” Lizzie grinned.

  “Too bad you didn’t come with Byron and Fisher. With all the masculine energy around here, we need a woman to balance it out.” Damon stared at her.

  “What’s with that smile?” Luke studied her, and there was a glow about her with a dark blush in her cheeks. He knew his brother was right. They simply weren’t the types able to pick. The need for male and female in their world was equal and powerful.

  Lizzie couldn’t stop her smile. Apparently, her ex-boyfriends were both dating Stingers, and she was the odd one out. That didn’t mean she couldn’t explore the brothers herself.

  “What?” Damon asked.

  “It might cause a little trouble at first. But if you wanted to date me before…why not now? Polyamorous relationships are tough no matter how they are designed. If Byron wants to be with Luke and Fisher wants to be Damon, fine. I want to date both of the Stinger brothers. So we’ll just have to sort it out. Maybe it’ll start some sort of healing with Byron and Fisher.” Lizzie took a breath and waited for their reaction.

  “A group like that could be tough given the situation and history, but if you’re interested in us?” Damon smiled at her.