A Change Of Pace

by Freya Barker

"Smartass."

  I start walking away but he holds me back, a wicked grin on his face.

  "Thought you liked my ass."

  "Newt," I hiss, as he pulls me tight into his body and splays a hand a little too low on my back.

  "Love yours," he mumbles, his fingers pressing in on the soft swell of my rear, as he kisses me a bit more thoroughly than his earlier peck. "Love how it jiggles when I take you from behind." His lips move against the shell of my ear, causing shivers to run down my spine.

  His reminder of our Monday morning acrobatics in front of my bathroom mirror still fresh in my mind, I feel a blush creep up my face. Worming myself out of his hold, I glare into his pleased-as-punch face before turning around, only to find Jess, Maggie, and my sister-in-law, Jane, closely observing us. All three sporting a wide grin. Just perfect.

  Loud squeals have all heads turn to the water, where my twin nephews are trying to push Jenna into the lake. Millie is already splashing around, laughing. Her stitches came out yesterday and the doc declared her safe for swimming, so she's been making up for lost time.

  What took me by surprise is the one-piece bathing suit she's wearing. Gone are the board shorts covering the fading scars on her thighs, and when I overheard Katie and Matt's youngest, Julia, ask her what they were, Millie cleverly evaded by pointing out the much fresher and larger scar on her head, effectively redirecting the little girl's attention.

  I'm pleased to see she seems to be settling in well, surrounding herself with new friends. I don't delude myself into thinking she's all fine now, but she's finding better ways to cope.

  I notice Jordan sitting on the far end of the dock, observing the antics from a safe distance. He's been subdued. Although part of that may be him feeling a little left out now that Millie and Jenna have gotten a lot closer, the main reason I'm sure has to do with the sorry state of his family. Jim mentioned getting him up to speed on their way back from his camp just this morning. The kid must be all kinds of overwhelmed and probably not just a little self-conscious.

  Jim apparently notices his son as well, taking off his shirt, and walking up behind him on the dock. Before Jordan even realizes he's there, his dad grabs him from behind and topples them both into the water.

  "What the fuck is she doing here?" I hear Newt whisper behind me.

  When I turn, I see Phyllis standing by the corner of the house, a pie in her hands and her mouth half-open, staring at the spot where Jim and his boy just disappeared in the water. Her attention is quickly drawn by Maggie, who walks up to greet her.

  "Phyllis made sandwiches last week," I explain, turning to him and putting a hand in the middle of his chest, I add, "and I'm pretty sure this time that pie isn't for you."

  -

  "Heading out, Sis."

  "Are you sure you don't want to crash at my place?" I ask, turning to my brother.

  "Boys have baseball practice tomorrow morning. We'd have to leave before six to make it back on time, and have you tried waking these kids up on the weekend?"

  "Besides," Jane contributes, "they've been in the water all afternoon, so they'll be asleep five minutes after we get in the car. It'll be a nice quiet ride for once, and Alex will carry them straight to bed when we get home."

  "Are you leaving?" Newt asks as he joins us.

  "About to."

  "Can you hang on just a few more minutes?"

  On my brother's, "Sure," Newt walks over to one of the Adirondack chairs. He climbs on, sticks his fingers in his mouth and lets out a piercing whistle that instantly quiets any ongoing conversation.

  "Now that I have your attention..."

  "Not sure I can hear you," Matt quips, wiggling a finger in his ear, earning a few chuckles.

  "I need to thank all of you," Newt carries on, undeterred. "I've been involved in too many cases where kids went missing in my years on the force. I've sat in living rooms of parents who were out of their minds with fear. I've even sadly had to give some the worst possible news." Sympathetic murmurs go up. "Still, I didn't have even the first clue what those parents were going through, until my world crashed to a halt only ten days ago."

  I'm already blinking furiously, when I feel Millie sidling up to me. I put my arm around her shoulder as hers slips around my waist.

  "You came out in full force, and without question, to help a virtual newcomer to town. That's not something I'm used to in the city, and I thank each and every one of you. But first and foremost, I'm so grateful for my daughter—" Newt's eyes find her in my arms before he continues, "—whose smarts, courage, and presence of mind, helped bring her home to me."

  Millie curls into me, burying her face against my shoulder when applause goes up.

  "And then there's Freddy," he goes on to say, as his eyes slide up to mine, "whom I've come to care about a great deal in a few short months." His blue eyes burn with an intensity I feel in my soul, and I lose the battle on my tears. "This woman went off on a vigilante goose chase by herself, but found and carried my girl through the woods to get her safely back in my arms. I'll be forever in her debt."

  Now it's my turn to be embarrassed as people start clapping. I let go of Millie and spin around, uncomfortable being the centre of attention.

  Alex, who knows this well, chuckles behind me. "Serves you right for going off half-cocked like that."

  I haul out with my arm in retaliation, and am rewarded with a loud "umphff," but the arm coming around me from behind is most definitely not my brother's.

  Newt

  She catches me off guard when her clenched fist lands in my gut, just as I walk up. I quickly wrap an arm around her, in case she repeats her action. I'm sure the swing was meant for Alex, who is snickering behind me.

  I as much as declared myself in front of her family and friends. I didn't plan that; I just wanted to make sure I thanked everyone before people started leaving. But then I saw my daughter and Freddy, standing side by side, their arms wrapped around each other; the words just came rolling out.

  "That's what I get for telling you I'm falling hard?" I whisper in her ear, feeling a shiver run through her, but that's the only indication she's heard me.

  "We've gotta run, Sis," Alex says, interrupting the moment, and I reluctantly let her go.

  Alex, Jane, and the boys are only the first ones to leave. As the sun is going down, more people start heading out, until finally only the Bennetts are left.

  Julia is sleeping on Matt's lap and the older two are inside watching something on TV. As much as our kids have been hanging out, we haven't really had a chance to socialize, so I'm surprised to find out they live in Barrie, less than two hours away. Apparently Matt owns a construction company there.

  "How many years have you been coming up here?" Freddy asks Katie, who's been kind of quiet.

  "Twelve years, since Jenna was three." She smiles at her husband sadly, and he pats her knee. "This will be our last year, though. The owners have decided to retire up here this October. We'll have to find another spot."

  "Hey, I'll keep an eye out for you," Freddy offers. "I hear of places going up for rent all the time, and I know most folks actually prefer renting a longer stretch at a time."

  "We'd appreciate it."

  "Of course. It would be great to stay in touch in any event, Barrie is a pretty easy drive."

  "We'd love that," Katie says. "And I'm sure it'll make Jenna happy. We're still scheduled for another two weeks here, and already she's been whining she's going to miss Millie when we go. Which reminds me," she adds, turning to me, "Jenna wants me to ask you if it's okay if she and Millie have a sleepover at ours tonight? I warned her you might not want her to—"

  "Yeah, if you're sure," I interrupt, perhaps a little too eagerly, because Matt starts to chuckle.

  "Absolutely. We were talking about going on that Island Queen cruise? There's a shorter morning one that leaves at ten, do you think we could take Millie with us?"

  "I'm sure she'd love that. And let me return that favour sometime th
is week."

  It's not long after that they tell the kids to get ready. My girl squeals at the news of a sleepover and darts upstairs to grab her overnight stuff.

  "Your place or mine?" I whisper in Freddy's ear as we wave them off.

  -

  "Right there, honey...fuck!"

  We ended up at Freddy's place.

  She gave me a choice, either she stays, but then she'd have to get up first thing to look after her other animals, or we go to her place, check in on her critters, and sleep later tomorrow. I opted for the last, so we tidied up, packed up both puppies and Boulder in the Jeep, and left her car in my driveway. She could pick it up tomorrow.

  As soon as we got to her place, Freddy headed out to the barn to let George and Timber have a run with the dogs. I grabbed us some beers from her fridge, which I took out on the porch. We spent the next half hour sitting side by side, her legs draped over mine, my fingers stroking her soft skin. We rehashed some of the day’s events, including Phyllis' surprise appearance, and her reaction to Jim.

  The moment our beers were done, I was on my feet to take the animals back to the barn, while she got the dogs squared away.

  We ended up chasing each other up the stairs and went at each other the moment we hit her bedroom. Clothes went flying and I was inside her before the last piece hit the floor. It was fast, it was furious, and it was intense. It also tuckered us both right out, and we barely managed to clean up before we fell asleep curled around each other.

  This morning she woke me up with her lips on my cock. Best fucking wake-up call ever. Her talented mouth is a surprise. I'm not usually a passive lover, but I like taking the lead, so I'm going to seriously make some exceptions.

  My back is against the headboard, my knees cocked in the bed, and Freddy is between them on her knees, working my cock. I reach down and wipe the curtain of hair from her face so I can watch her mouth stretched around me. She's phenomenal.

  For minutes I've been ready to blow, but each time she has me right there she eases off, plays with my balls, only to work me up again.

  "Frederique..." I wait for her eyes to lift up, "ride me, baby."

  She slowly slides my cock from her mouth, sucking firmly on the tip before letting it pop from her mouth. Christ, she's a tease.

  I watch as she climbs up my body on hands and knees, low enough so her heavy breasts brush along my skin. When she straddles me, I lift them to my mouth, sucking first one, then the other nipple in my mouth. She's so wet, sliding torturously slow along my length until my tip breaches her opening.

  "Look at me," she orders softly and I focus my attention on her face. Her eyes are soft as she poises herself over me, and eases herself down. "I'm falling in love with you."

  She takes me deep and I take in a sharp breath before I can respond.

  "Sweetheart, I'm already there."

  THIRTY

  Freddy

  "You can hold on to his mane."

  I smile as Millie helps Jordan get onto Chester's back.

  When Newt mentioned he would be over at Jim's today, to help him build his new deck, I offered to take both kids and Bella for the day. Millie was a little sad when Newt dropped them off earlier. The Bennetts went back home this morning, and even though we've already made plans to go see them before school starts, I know Millie will miss her daily trek over to see Jenna.

  Jordan hasn't been here before, and it was amusing to see Millie take it upon herself to show him around. It wasn't a surprise to see him immediately enamoured with Timber and George, those two will love on anyone giving them some attention, but for Jordan it was Chester who stole the show.

  I had the kids help me muck the barn first—it doesn't hurt to reinforce work first, play later, as the order of things—and offered a ride after. Millie went first on Jordan's insistence, but now it's his turn.

  "You're holding on to him, right?" he nervously asks, when he's seated on the horse's broad back.

  "Not letting him go, I promise," I assure him.

  A little nervous the first few steps, Jordan quickly settles in to Chester's easy gait. By the time we've rounded the field, he's comfortable enough to goof around, yelling, "Yeehaw," and throwing a pretend lasso at Millie who is trotting ahead.

  Good to see him so carefree, he's seemed very subdued the past few times I've seen him. Jim brought him by the office last week for a session, and he spent most of his time on the floor with Boulder, saying very little. I'm afraid the weight of this summer's events is far too heavy on his narrow shoulders, and I cautioned Jim to keep a close eye on him.

  It's such a hard age, those early teenage years. Stuck between being old enough to be exposed to the sometimes harsh realities of life, and yet too young to be able to process them properly. Millie is a prime example of that.

  She seems to have turned a corner since managing to escape Billy. If anything, it's made her more confident, and it's amazing what that does for someone.

  "Want to make sure Chester's water bucket is filled?" I ask Millie, as I help Jordan get down and hand him the lead to put away. "I'm going in to get some lunch ready for us. Why don't you round up the herd and get them safely in the barn? After lunch maybe we can hit the lake for a swim."

  "There's a lake?" Jordan looks around.

  "Right behind here, actually." I point at the trees and thick brush obscuring the water. It's only about sixty yards to the edge of the lake, but you can only see the water from the bedroom windows. "But we usually walk down the road a bit to the boat launch. There's a small stretch of beach there."

  "That doesn't make sense to me," Jordan points out. "Why don't you just cut a path?"

  "That's what I told her," Millie adds her opinion.

  "One day I might." I leave the kids and head inside with the dogs to get started on the tacos I thought I'd feed them.

  The truth is, I've been thinking about things I could, and maybe should, do around here a lot these past few weeks. I'm not sure why, this place has always been fine the way it is for me, and yet these days I seem to notice ways it can be improved. Access to the lake is one of them, and maybe a nice deck on the water's edge, similar to what Newt built at his place. Would be nice to go out there in the morning with my coffee and watch the world come alive.

  Funny, you live somewhere your entire life and you become blind to what you've always had at your fingertips. Sometimes it takes new eyes to help you see. I guess perhaps Newt and Millie are my new eyes. Or maybe it's because I'm over halfway done with my treatments and am starting to see my future beyond cancer.

  Perhaps it's a combination of the two.

  I've let myself imagine what it might be like if, somewhere down the line, Newt and I move in together. Although space-wise our houses are very similar, his place is newer, and I hate to admit it, nicer. I don't think I've painted my walls since I moved in. It's not that it's run-down, but it sure could use a facelift.

  On the flip side, my property is substantially bigger, there is room for my animals, and I also border on a lake, this one much quieter. The only thing missing is access. Of course I'm also almost ten minutes closer to town.

  I shake to clear my head. It's barely been a couple of months, and a lot has happened. Not the brightest idea to get ahead of myself.

  Turning the beef down low on the stove, I pull lettuce from the fridge and start chopping it into strips. I thought I'd make my own taco shells with the small corn tortillas I picked up in town. Heat some oil in the cast iron pan, and quickly fry them, leaving them to cool draped over my rolling pin, but I'll wait to do that until the kids are in.

  Talking about kids, where are those guys?

  The thought no sooner enters my brain, when I hear yelling outside. I rush out the door to find a familiar convertible parked halfway up my driveway, and its owner trying to pull Jordan toward it. It's Millie who is yelling, trying to hold onto Jordan's other arm, the poor kid literally pulled in opposite directions.

  I start running toward them. "Ell
a!" Her head shoots up at the sound of my voice. "Let him go, right now!" Instead of pulling on poor Jordan, I step between them, with my back to the boy, and grab hold of her arm. "Let go of him, Ella," I hiss, using one hand to bend back the fingers she has digging in Jordan's bicep. I'm not careful either and feel some satisfaction when she finally releases him with a small yelp. "Millie, do you have your phone?" I ask without taking my eyes off the plastered woman in my hold.

  "It's inside."

  "Take Jordan, go inside, don't let the dogs out, and call your dad. Right now."

  "You can't do this," Ella whines, trying to wrestle free, but given the state of her inebriation, she's not getting far. "That's my boy. You can't keep me from my boy."

  I lean my face close, fighting the urge to recoil at the column of alcohol fumes coming from the woman, and say in a deceptively soft voice. "Yes, that's your boy, and you don't deserve him. Right now, you are blowing your last chance to have any kind of relationship with him. Can you for once think about Jordan? What the hell was going through your head? How did you even know to find him here?"

  By now the woman is crying and no longer struggling. "I jus' wanted to say hello, but he got into your new boyfriend's Jeep and took off," she slurs, swaying on her feet. Holding her firmly by the upper arm, I walk her over to her car, and lean her against the hood. "Shoulda guessed he'd be bringing him here."

  She lets herself slide down until her ass hits the driveway, her back against the low bumper of her sporty ride. I don't make any effort to hold her up. Her crying is pathetic and self-serving, and it doesn't move me in the slightest.

  "Where are your keys, Ella?”

  "I dunno," she mumbles between sobs.

  I leave her sitting in the dirt and check in the car, to find them dangling from the ignition. On full display in the centre console cup holder is a bottle of vodka, three-quarters empty.

  When I round the car, bottle and keys in hand, I find her lying on her side—passed out cold.

  Newt

  Millie's panicked call scares the snot out of me.