The Making of a Gigolo (15) - Agatha Roberts

by Lubrican

Chapters : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18
19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36

Chapter Twenty-three

Suzie's graduation was, of course, a joyous event. She was graduating summa cum laude, both because of her grade point average and because she earned her bachelor's degree in three years, rather than the usual four. That meant more to Suzie and her academic family, than it did to her genetic family, but they knew it was important.

Mirriam was almost giddy with pride and excitement. Prudence told her several times to act her age. Mirriam stuck her tongue out at her best friend, and then giggled like a school girl.

It took four cars to get all the well wishers to Manhattan. All her sisters and brothers-in-law went, and Bobby, of course. Prudence and Constance went as well. With all the babies, toddlers and older children, they made a noticeable crowd.

The only real opportunity for disaster, as far as Suzie was concerned, was averted when she explained to her roommates that her entire allotment of tickets had been used up by her family, so there were none left for them. It turned out that Melanie had to work anyway, so Tiffany said that was fine. Suzie didn't tell them that everyone was going out to eat afterwards.

Even so, another of Suzie's friends came up to talk to her and showed obvious interest in Bobby. When she found out he was Suzie's brother, she lit up.

"I've heard so much about you!" she said. "Suzie just goes on and on about what a wonderful big brother you are."

Bobby looked at Suzie, who was blushing.

"In a moment of weakness I might have exaggerated your worth as a human being," she said, trying to sound casual.

"What are you doing after graduation?" asked the girl, staring at Bobby with bright eyes. It was obvious she hoped he'd say he wasn't doing anything.

"I'm here with family," he said. "I think we're going out to eat, and then I have to get back home."

"Awwwww," she said, staring at him. "That's really too bad." She brightened. "Well, if you change your mind, just tell Suzie. She knows where to find me."

She wandered off and Bobby turned to find Constance standing right beside him.

"My, my, but aren't you all popular," she said, glancing at the retreating young woman.

Bobby couldn't keep the blush from his face. He tried to cover for that by joking. "I can't help it if I'm irresistible."

Constance looked up at him, apparently missing the mirth. "No ... I suppose you can't."

Then she turned around to go talk to Bev. On the way she picked up Christopher, who was trying to get his mother to hold him, and pretended she was eating his neck.

Paula French sat, all but invisible in the sea of other young people, dressed in caps and gowns just like her own. Her parents were over in section K of the auditorium, also invisible in the assembled throng. They were proud of her again. The unplanned trip home during spring break had mended fences. Paula insisted that Millie had jumped to conclusions. She was careful to say that Bobby had done nothing to her on their New Year's Eve date. She freely admitted that she had used bad judgment in getting drunk, and listened as the lectures were given. She apologized for getting frustrated with Millie and going to stay in the bed and breakfast. It was easier to just listen as her parents droned on and on about the dangers that were in the world. It was safer just to nod and smile and say she'd learned a lesson.

She had learned a lesson, really. She'd learned that when a woman is confident in her own sexuality, she has a measure of control over the men she dates that is very comforting. Upon her return to school, she'd talked to Melanie, who was effusive about Bobby's visit. She assured Paula that her other two roommates were just as happy about it. Paula had listened to the details Melanie provided, and had been a little miffed that she had to miss out on the good time. She'd already been out on several dates since then, and she was happy with the way they'd gone. She hadn't had sex with anybody yet, but the idea of it no longer made her so nervous. Now it was something to look forward to, assuming she met a man who made her want to engage in that activity.

Soon she would climb the steps to the stage and walk across it. Then she would go start her new job, meet new men, and forge a life that her parents didn't necessarily need to know all the details of.

The announcer's voice caught her attention with the word "Dalton". She looked up to see a young woman shaking hands and receiving a ribbon-tied roll of paper. She looked familiar. Paula tried to place her, but couldn't. She thought it was interesting that, while she was thinking about Bobby Dalton, another person named Dalton would graduate. She wouldn't have thought that Dalton would be such a popular name. Then the woman walked on and Paula's row had to stand up, in preparation to make their own trip across the stage.

Suzie sighed. Everything seemed to be going well. She'd already crossed the stage, shaken hands, and received the roll of paper that represented her diploma. Now all they had to do was go out to eat, and Bobby would be gone back home, and the threat of exposure would be gone with him.

The announcer called Paula French's name. With horror, Suzie watched the young woman cross the stage and shake the same hands Suzie had just shaken. How could she have forgotten about Paula?! It was Paula who had brought Bobby to Manhattan in the first place!

She didn't know what to do. She tried to think of some course of action, as the remainder of the class got their diplomas, but couldn't come up with anything. Then the graduates rose all around her, shouting and laughing. Some threw their caps in the air. People streamed in every direction.

Her family members knew where she'd been sitting, and they struggled toward her, weaving through the throng. She saw Bobby moving chairs out of his way, coming toward her. She looked frantically for Paula, but couldn't find her in the sea of moving people.

Paula was moving slowly in the direction of section K when she saw Bobby Dalton moving chairs out of his way and striding directly toward her. She couldn't believe he'd come all the way here just so see her graduate! Part of her exulted that he'd want her that much. Then panic set in. Her parents were probably working their way toward her too. She made a snap decision and lurched toward Bobby.

Suzie looked away from Bobby and her eyes saw Paula just as the girl's face registered shock and dismay. Suzie felt so weak that she sat down on a chair. It was over. There would be a scene. People would stop and stare as Paula screeched her disgust.

Paula almost ran to Bobby, moving chairs herself, to get to him.

"You shouldn't have come!" she gasped. "You have to leave! My parents are here!"

Bobby's face registered surprise.

"You have to get over me, Bobby!" said the excited young woman. "I made up with my parents. If they see you here it will ruin everything!"

Bobby struggled to adapt to the situation. He decided to just go with the flow.

"Where are they?" asked Bobby, looking around.

"That way, I think." She pointed.

"You go that way," he said. "I'll go the other way."

"Yes!" she yipped. "Thank you. Thank you for everything ... but you have to go!"

"All right," said Bobby. "Go on."

Paula watched as he turned, and then rushed in the opposite direction. She relaxed as she saw that her parents had stayed in their seats, waiting for her to come to them. When she got there she put on a bright smile.

"I'm starved. Let's go!"

She led them toward an exit.

Suzie looked up, her eyes fearful. Bobby was gone! Paula was gone too! She stood up and looked around. Linda crashed into her and hugged her.

"What's wrong?" said Linda.

Before Suzie could say anything, Florence was there, hugging her too. Suzie's eyes jerked around. She saw Bobby sitting in a chair. He had apparently turned aside for some reason. Her eyes searched for Paula, but she was gone.

Then the others were there, and it was too hectic to do anything but respond to them. Eventually Bobby was there too. He was smiling, like the others. Nothing seemed to be wrong after all.

She didn't understand, but she relaxed anyway.

With Suzie and supporters, there were twenty-five people, when they went out to eat. They basically took over a German restaurant in the little town of Ogden, which was squeezed between Manhattan and Fort Riley, the Army post that was responsible for the German restaurant being there in the first place. The meal lasted for hours, but nobody cared. Everything seemed right in the world.

Mirriam hugged Suzie one last time before she got in the car to go home.

"When are you coming home?" she asked.

Suzie shrugged. "My job keeps going until the end of July. I should have a couple of weeks between then, and when I have to be in Kansas City to find someplace to live and start med school."

"I don't get to see you any more," complained Mirriam.

"I'll come see you," said Suzie. "According to Bobby, my old room will be rented out anyway. Where will I stay?"

"We can put you in the barn," said Mirriam. "You just get there, and let us worry about that. I'm so proud of you!" she squealed.

"Thank you, Mamma," said the only Dalton who had ever gone to college.

Suzie looked around for Bobby, wanting to hug him goodbye, and saw him getting something out of the trunk of his car. It was a diaper bag and he handed it to Betty. When Betty smiled and went to use the contents of the bag, Suzie went up to him.

"I miss you," she whispered in his ear. "I'm horny all the time now, and it's all your fault."

"Find yourself a boyfriend," he said, squeezing her.

"I don't have time for that," she pouted. "Besides, I'm leaving here in a couple of months. Mamma wants me to come home for a visit before I go to Kansas City. She says I can stay in the barn. That's where your room is now ... isn't it?"

He pushed her back, and his eyes narrowed. He looked around before speaking.

"Are you on the pill yet?"

"No," she said, her voice tiny.

"You'd better be if you're planning on staying in the barn," he said.

She smiled.

"Okay!"

It was in the morning, a week later, when a full sized Chevy van pulled into the yard at the farm. Five people got out, and removed suitcases from the back.

Mirriam and the twins were there, waiting. Mirriam showed Jeffrey Hamilton to Bobby's old room, which the man had requested. It was at the head of the stairs. He said he didn't mind going down the hall to the bathroom. Randy and Wanda both claimed they didn't need any help. They'd been there before, and claimed the two rooms at the end of the hall, with the newly built bathrooms in them. Betty ended up with a young woman named Jennifer, and put her in Flo's old room. That left Matilda to take care of another young woman who introduced herself as Candy.

Jeff was in his role as the professor, and yelled for all of the grad students to just put their suitcases in the rooms, and then get back to the van. Within half an hour after their arrival, the van was leaving again, on its way to the research site, fifteen miles away.

Jeff had already warned Mirriam that they'd get back late. They were all dusty and dirty too, so by the time they got cleaned up and sat down at the table, it was already seven. She had planned accordingly.

The Dalton's dining room table was at least fifty years old. It had been a work of art when it was first made, but had been owned by several families. The inevitable dents and scratches had been dealt with by Bobby's loving attention, once the B&B idea had been accepted. The table had three leaves, and would seat fourteen when all three leaves were installed. Two leaves were in at the moment, primarily to make room for the two high chairs that were needed. The original set of chairs only numbered ten. That had been sufficient for the family, and still served to accommodate the ten people gathered around the table. Theodore had graduated from a high chair to a regular chair, even though he had to sit on a box Bobby had made for him, to reach the table easily. Joseph and Veronica, now almost eight months old were in the high chairs. Mother's milk was still their primary diet, but that was being supplemented with solid food too.

Mirriam was used to cooking for a large family, so the only difference was that there were new faces around the table as she set out bowls of mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and green beans. Two pans of hot rolls were split between ends of the table. The huge platter of fried chicken would have to be passed around. The diners had their choice of lemonade, iced tea or water.

"Since you all are going to be living here, I want you to feel at home," said Mirriam. "Part of that is feeling free to get up and get whatever you need. I'm not going to wait on you hand and foot." She smiled.

"Thanks," said Jeff. "I feel bad that we're making all this work for you."

"You're paying for it," said Mirriam, smiling. "I just want you to feel like you can have whatever you want."

"Whatever we want?" asked Candy, looking pointedly at Bobby, who was sitting across the table from her.

"Down girl," said Jennifer, who was also looking at Bobby.

"Within reason," said Mirriam, dryly.

"You're here to do research," said Jeff firmly.

"Of course we are," said Candy, still looking at Bobby. He seemed to be very interested in his plate. "And research we shall perform." she added.

Bobby got the feeling at supper that he was somehow in hazardous waters. Candy and Jennifer seemed to look at him a lot. It was after supper, though, that he knew he was in trouble.

Both girls engaged him in conversation, obviously competing against each other for his attention. Randy and Wanda had disappeared somewhere, and the professor was in the kitchen, where Mirriam was doing dishes. The twins had gone to the barn to let Veronica and Joseph suck. Bobby wished he was there as well, and not just because he'd get some mouthfuls of sweet milk too.

His experience with Melanie and Tiffany had left a faintly sour taste in his mouth. It wasn't that he didn't like them. He did. It wasn't because it hadn't been fun breaking them in. It had been. But it also hadn't meant anything, and that still bothered him.

Now there were two other college women vying for his attention. It didn't require the experience he had, to know that he could get either of these women between the sheets. It was obvious. Part of his mind evaluated whether he could get both women between the sheets ... at the same time, like he had done with the twins.

At the same time, he wasn't interested. That was new to him, but he didn't have time to reflect on that, because he had to use all of his mind to try to get away from them.

"If you ladies will excuse me," he said. "I need to go collect eggs for tomorrow's breakfast."

"Need any help?" offered Jennifer.

"Been doing it all my life," said Bobby. "I can probably do fine on my own."

Jennifer's face fell. She looked like she might pout any second.

Bobby was saved when Professor Hamilton came into the room, and the girls turned their attention to him. It was obvious, at least to Bobby, they were just hot to trot. Apparently they liked older men too. They were flirting with their professor when he left the room.

Bobby did collect the eggs. He put them in the kitchen and then left, to go to the barn. Betty was sitting in the living room, topless, with Veronica in her arms.

"Good," she said. "You're here. She got sleepy and didn't eat much."

"Wake her up," said Bobby, grinning.

"She sleeps through the night now," said Betty. "She'll be hungry in the morning, when she wakes up. I'll be in pain by then, though, if you don't help me."

"Where's Tildy?" he asked.

"She's still feeding Joey. He eats like a horse. She won't need you tonight. If he keeps it up, she's not going to ever need you again."

"Give her to me," said Bobby, reaching for his daughter. "I'll put her to bed."

The transfer woke her up a little, and he patted her on the back while she relaxed on his shoulder. He hummed a lullaby to her while he put her in her crib. She blinked twice at him, and then closed her eyes.

He found Betty in his room, lying on the bed. She was naked, and was already playing with herself.

"Hurry," she purred. "I need you for lots of things tonight."

Bobby lay on his back, with his arm under Betty. She had been wild tonight, straining against him as she sought her release. She loved to have him suckle her. She told him it made her horny just thinking about it and said that even after she weaned Veronica, she was going to keep making milk just for him.

She'd wanted him on top, tonight, and asked him to let his weight down on her as he strained to get as deep inside her as he could. She'd had four orgasms, to his one.

Now, with her sleeping half on and half off of him, he stared into the darkness.

He loved Betty. There was no doubt about that at all. He loved making love with her too, just like he loved making love with all his sisters. There was a closeness there that meant something, and reached deep into his essence to make him feel good.

But he wasn't in love with any of his sisters. When Mary didn't need him any more, he hadn't minded. It was the same with Bev and Flo and Linda. They had found other men, and that was fine. He was happy for them. He knew that if the twins found men ... or another man, which seemed much more likely ... he would miss this, but it wouldn't kill him. He even hoped they would meet some men who would sweep them off their feet. They deserved to be in love, and their babies deserved to have a full-time father. He could serve in that role here, at the farm, but it wasn't the same as having a real daddy, and he knew that. And he could never acknowledge them as his son and daughter in public.

In all the time that he spent seeing to the needs of the women in his life, Bobby hadn't come to grips with his own needs. He would have laughed if someone had suggested that. Only now did he sense that he was missing something. He was searching, and didn't know he was searching.

He lay awake a long time, staring into the dark, before sleep finally claimed him.

June was a difficult month for two men in Granger, Kansas.

Candy and Jennifer seemed to be in what amounted to heat. They didn't give up on Bobby either. He was handy, and handsome. Both women sensed an aura about him of competence. And when Bobby didn't respond, they simply turned their attentions to Jeff Hamilton, who was the other handsome older man available. From their perspective, they were away from the university, and the rules that applied there ... didn't apply here. Randy was off limits. That was made obvious, both by Wanda's attitude, and the noises that often came from one or the other of their rooms in the middle of the night. Those noises only inflamed the passions of Jennifer and Candy. They were away from school. It was summer. They had a chance to kick up their heels, and they tried hard to do just that.

Jeff wasn't interested either. It was tempting, but much too dangerous to his career. If he'd known how they'd act on this project, he'd have chosen other students. What made it more difficult was that, while they were on the job, they were studious and serious. It was in the evenings that they prowled.

It was great for the twins. Bobby spent much more time in the barn than he would have otherwise, keeping away from the two young researchers. It was almost like old times, and they often slept with him together.

But the novelty was waning too. Like Bobby wasn't in love with the twins, they weren't in love with him either. They didn't think much about that, because, to be honest, neither of them was pining to be in love. Their life, as they thought about it, was just about perfect. They had family, and their babies, and a very competent lover, and that was just fine. Still, their passion wasn't quite as hot as it had been, and Bobby's wasn't either. Some of that might have been simply because they had kept Bobby as a lover much longer, and on a much more frequent basis than any of their sisters. As absence can make the heart grow fonder, so also can what becomes routine rob the experience of some of its glitter.

In the house, it was a different matter entirely. Jeffrey Hamilton had the same needs as any man. He was around two young women who would gladly have met those needs. That, however, was unwise in the extreme. He had given some thought to the twins. Neither seemed to have a love interest, despite the babies they carried with them constantly. But they were his hostess's daughters, and pursuing that line of thought didn't seem wise either.

There was only one other woman in the house. She was a handsome woman, and old enough to know her own mind about affairs of the heart. Mirriam was also intelligent, and a good conversationalist. He discovered, quite by accident, that there were jigsaw puzzles in the house, and that she was quite willing to work on them with him. She showed no interest in him ... not the kind of interest he was beginning to have in her ... but it was pleasant sitting with her at the card table, talking about this or that. And it gave him an excuse not to be the center of attention for Candy and Jennifer. He felt astonishingly lucky that neither had any interest in puzzles at all.

Erica went into the building on the Hutchinson Community College campus where the continuing education seminar she was supposed to attend during the summer was being held. Bobby had introduced her to Renee Harqart, who was happy to watch Owen while she drove to Hutch every day for three weeks, to take the class that would keep her teaching license current.

That was important. She wanted no one to have the excuse to do what she knew most of them wanted to do - get her fired. She had been having better and better relations with her peers, after the musical, but it had all gone sour when her pregnancy became apparent. She had been horrified at the prejudice displayed by both men and women she had thought were forward thinking enough to accept her situation.

It wasn't that they were mean to her. It was just that they treated her like the kids in school would have treated one of their own age, who got pregnant out of wedlock. They ignored her. Sometimes, when she tried to start a conversation, some of them simply turned around and left.

Julia wasn't like that. Julia had sorrow in her eyes, whenever she looked at Erica, but it was sorrow for Erica. She knew what was happening, but had neither the authority nor mechanism to order people not to act that way.

She had other friends. Jake and Tilly were wonderful, and they had friends who Erica was introduced to. So, after school, she could find a social situation into which she fit, and could relax. And Bobby was wonderful. He took care of her sexual needs when she had them, and was perfectly willing to do something else with her when she wasn't in the mood for that. She classified him as the first real male friend she'd ever had. But school was difficult and tense.

She thought it was odd that the kids were more tolerant of her than her own peers. The boys still looked at her like males, but she had resigned herself to that now. The girls didn't seem to care at all that their teacher was an unwed mother. They'd have been cruel to one of their own, but she was older, and that made a difference to them somehow.

She found the classroom that was on the paper they'd given her. She'd already checked the roster, and had been relieved that none of the other teachers from Granger were on the list. At least no one here would know her. She'd be just another teacher, doing what they all had to do to keep their certificates in force.

The room was bright and cheery. There were other women and a few men scattered around. Some of them glanced at her. A few smiled. It didn't feel like the university she'd graduated from. It didn't occur to her that she was the one that had changed, instead of the environment.

"Are you going to the 4th of July picnic?" asked Bobby. He had been lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, instead of the TV, where Little House on the Prairie was playing.

Constance looked up from the magazine she had been leafing through during commercials.

"I always go to the picnic," she said.

"Would you go with me?"

She peered at him. "You mean like a date?"

"Yes." He looked uncomfortable. He rolled to face her.

"What brought this on?" she asked. He'd been coming over a lot, recently. He always said things like, "Hi, I was in the neighborhood," or, "I wasn't doing anything. Want some company?" He'd seemed like he wanted to talk about something, but had never brought it up.

"I need a date," he said.

"Why?" she asked. She felt like smiling. That was silly. Nobody needed a date for the 4th of July picnic. Not in Granger. You just went. If there was somebody there you wanted to sit with ... you did.

He seemed frustrated, getting tense, and then finally slumped.

"You know about those people that are boarding at our place all summer?" he said.

"Uh huh." She knew it was rented to some researchers, and that it was a good thing for Mirriam, but that was about all.

"This professor brought some graduate students with him," said Bobby. "Three of them are ... women."

That seemed funny to Constance too. She knew Bobby as well as anyone outside his own family. She knew about the women Bobby had been with. She'd seen him with some of his own sisters. It would never have occurred to her that Bobby might be uncomfortable around any woman. It wasn't funny to him, though. She could tell that.

"So?" She waited.

"They're kind of interested in me."

Constance blinked. Lots of women were interested in Bobby. Bobby was always involved with one or more women who were interested in him.

"Okay," she said carefully. "That's never seemed to be a problem in the past. What's wrong with these two?"

"Nothing's wrong with them," said Bobby. "I'm just not interested. But they won't leave me alone. They keep bumping into me, and pretending it was an accident, and things like that. One of them - her name is Candy - says things like, 'Try me, I'm sweet,' and stuff like that." He sighed. "I have to go to the barn to get away from them, or come here."

Constance was confused. This wasn't the Bobby she knew. She put her magazine down. "You've been coming here to get away from them?"

"Yup," he sighed.

Constance's face formed into a frown.

"I thought you came here because you like to be with me." Her voice carried an edge that Bobby detected quite easily.

"I do like to be with you," he objected.

"But only when you're running away from two college girls," she said.

"That's not true, Connie. You know that."

Connie felt anger trying to bubble up in her, but she forced it down. The fact was that he had always been there for her.

"So you want me to go with you to the picnic ... as your date ... so these two girls will leave you alone?"

He rubbed his face with his hands. It muffled his voice as he said "It doesn't sound very nice when you put it that way."

"It's not, Bobby."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just didn't know what else to do."

Constance looked at him. That he was handsome was old news to her. She'd been infatuated with him when she was seventeen. She'd watched him making love to her mother, and to some of his sisters. He'd always been so masterful with women. They melted around him. She imagined these two women he was talking about, flirting with him and tried to imagine him looking frightened. She'd never seen him frightened. She'd never seen him in any time that he wasn't confident and strong. It was ludicrous.

She giggled.

"It's not funny, Connie," he said.

"Yes it is," she said, giggling again. "Big, strong Bobby Dalton is scared of two teenaged girls!" She laughed. "Big, strong sexy Bobby Dalton, who's bedded half the women in this town, can't handle two little girls!" She laughed harder and then tried to stop as he sat up, looking angry.

"I'm sorry," she said, covering her mouth to try to hide her smile. She couldn't cover her eyes, though, and they were smiling too.

"No you're not," he grumbled.

"Come on, Bobby. Think about it. Okay, you haven't bedded half the women in town, but still, you're very experienced with women. It's just humorous to think that you'd run from one, instead of what you usually do."

"Is that all I am?" he said, his voice loud. "Am I just a big penis that women can have whenever they want it?"

"I don't know about big." She tried to stop the giggle that followed that, but couldn't. She broke into laugher again.

"Ha - ha," he groused. "I'm glad you're having such a good time. But I'm not! I thought you were my friend. I thought you might want to help me."

Her laugher died as suddenly as it had begun. When she took her hand away from her face there was no trace of humor on it.

"I am your friend, Bobby," she said. "But asking me to pretend to be your girlfriend, so you can avoid telling two girls you're not interested in them isn't my idea of what a friend would ask another friend to do. How do you think that makes me feel, Bobby?"

"I don't know," he moaned, flopping back on the couch. "I'm sorry."

She was silent for a few seconds.

"You know you're hopeless," she said.

"I am not." He sounded wounded.

"Yes you are. You'll probably boff those two girls anyway, even if I pretend to be your date."

"No I won't," he said firmly.

"Yeah, right," she said. "I know you, Bobby."

"Do you?" he asked, leaning back again. "I don't see how. I don't even know myself. I did something ... a few weeks ago. I feel bad about it, and I'm just now beginning to understand why."

"What did you do?" she asked.

"You remember Paula?" he asked. "She's Millie's sister."

"Oh, the girl you supposedly raped?" Constance's voice was stiff.

"Oh," he said. "You heard about that, huh?"

"It's a small town, Bobby, and Millie was irate."

"I know," he said. "She didn't understand. In fact, it was Millie who drove Paula to ... " He stopped. "I mean that was why we ..."

Constance bowed her head. "Don't tell me you really did anything with her."

"It got complicated," he said. "But she asked me to, honest."

"You really are hopeless," she sighed.

"No!" His voice begged her to believe him.

"But you at least feel bad about Paula," suggested Constance.

"No ... that's not it," he moaned. "I can't tell you now. You'll hate me."

"I won't hate you, Bobby," said Constance, looking at him. "You may be hopeless, but I can't hate you."

"You say that now," he said. "Just listen. I'm trying to explain this, okay?"

"All right," she said.

"Paula was happy about the way things turned out," he said. "Maybe she was too happy. When all that stuff happened, here in town, and Millie started screaming about it, Paula kept telling her nothing happened. But Millie wouldn't believe it. That's why Paula left there, and stayed with us for a week." He sighed. "Then, because she was being blamed for it anyway, she got me to take her virginity"

Constance interrupted. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm trying to get you to understand!" he said. "Just listen, Okay?"

"Okay," she said. She didn't look happy, though.

"Paula had these friends, in college, and I guess she told them about it, and about how it wasn't all terrible ... losing her virginity ... and they wanted me to do the same thing for them, and we were out of money for the barn, but it had to get finished so the B&B could get a contract for all summer and ..." He ran out of breath.

"You charged them money?" squealed Constance. She looked horrified.

"They offered it," he said weakly.

"You took money to have sex with them." Constance sounded like she was in pain.

"It wasn't the first time," he whispered.

"What? What are you talking about?" Constance's eyes bored into his.

"Some of the women here ... in town ... kind of hired me ... to take care of them ... help them."

Connie knew about most of the women Bobby had lain with. She'd seen some of those women look at Bobby, and had seen what was in their eyes. It just didn't match with what he was saying. She felt like her skin was crawling, and looked at her arm.

"It's not what you're thinking," he said urgently. "Most of the time it was because I just charged them for whatever time it took away from my job. I couldn't just not work ... and not get paid. But then, later, I didn't charge them any more."

"This is too weird, Bobby," said Constance. "I thought I knew you. I thought you were just horny all the time, and I know how you affect women." She stopped. "Did you charge my mother to have sex with her?"

"No," said Bobby. "She just needed to know she was beautiful, and desirable. I helped her understand that."

Constance had thought a lot about her mother, and this man. When she'd seen them making love, and later seen Bobby with his sisters, she'd tried to understand what was happening. She had gotten an inkling when Bobby had kissed her. It had made her feel wild and crazy, but he hadn't done to her what he'd done to her mother and sisters. She hadn't understood until she and Tim had made love. Then she could look back at her mother's behavior, after going so long without a man. She could understand why her mother would like Bobby, and be attracted to Bobby and want to do that with Bobby. What she'd never been able to understand was why Bobby had wanted the same thing. Now, with his simple comment, that clicked into place.

"You never took money from her?" asked Constance, wanting to believe that was true.

"Only for the jobs I did. Never the sex."

"Then I don't understand," she said. "You said you charged some of them for taking care of them."

"Felicity hired me to escort her to her High School reunion," said Bobby. "Chester wanted an heir. He kind of asked me to seduce her. He was happy about it, and he knew we needed money, so after it was all over, he gave me money. He said it was to compensate me for all that lost work, but it was way more than the time I lost."

"That's not quite charging someone to have sex," said Constance.

"Okay, but the thing is that I got paid for keeping Felicity happy."

"Wait a minute," said Constance. "You said he wanted an heir. She had two babies, Bobby!"

"I know," he said. "I guess they liked the first one, and wanted another."

"And they kept paying you?" Connie was aghast.

"Not really," he said. "Unless you count Suzie's scholarship. I don't think that would have happened except that they ... um ... knew me so well."

"Are there more?" asked Constance, closing her eyes.

"Um ... yeah. A woman named Janet hired me for ten or fifteen dollars ... I can't remember, exactly, but it was to have sex with her best friend, Rhonda, because she had a miserable self image." He looked hopeful. "But the money was only because it would take time from my work," he said. "And then that turned out pretty well, and Rhonda hired me to do the same thing for Janet ... because she was divorced and down on men."

"People just don't do that kind of thing, Bobby!" moaned Constance.

"Some of the women I know do," he said.

"Is there a point to all this?" asked Connie.

"Yes!" he said, as if he'd just remembered it. "Paula hired me to have sex with her friends. But when I did it, it was different. Always before I had felt like I really helped a woman. But I didn't feel that way this time. It didn't feel right."

Constance snorted. "These other women. My mother ... Felicity Chumley ... some of your sisters, and who knows who else. Bobby you got them pregnant! You call that helping them? You call that doing the right thing?"

"I didn't mean to," he said. "Not really ... well, except for Felicity. But, when it happened, that usually was okay too. I mean none of them hated me afterwards."

"Why didn't you marry any of them?" asked Constance. "I mean I know why you didn't marry Felicity ... and one or two other women I suspect you've had sex with. They had husbands. And obviously you couldn't marry your sisters, though I think Florence would have married you if she could have. But the others. They didn't have husbands."

"They wouldn't marry me," he said. "I even talked to most of them about it. Your mother wouldn't marry me," he said.

"I know all about that," she replied. "We talked about that."

"The thing is," he went on, "that it used to be fun. I liked it, and they all liked it. I mean it's fun to have sex. You know that."

Constance colored. She remembered too well how much fun it was. "I do," she said softly.

"And I love the babies too. I helped make them. I get to see most of them, but they'll never call me Daddy. They won't even know I'm their father. And some of them I won't even get to see at all. I don't like that. It makes me feel empty inside. And then, with those girls in Manhattan ... it was just for money. I didn't make their lives any better. I didn't help them with anything. Only one good thing happened because of it. I still feel empty, though."

"What good thing?" asked Constance.

Bobby didn't want to tell her about Suzie. She was already disgusted with him, and that would only make things worse. His mind sought frantically for an answer. When it came, it almost shocked him.

"I found out I don't want to do this any more," he said.

She stared at him.

"I'm not a gigolo," he said. "I don't want to be a gigolo. I want to be in love, and raise my own kids, and just be a normal guy."

"It's a little late for all that," said Constance.

"I know," he said miserably. "But that's why I want these two girls to leave me alone," he said. "I can't do this any more."

Maybe it was because Constance had never heard Bobby ever admit defeat, or say he couldn't do something. Maybe it was the pain she heard in his voice. Maybe it was because she realized that he had, in fact, done a lot for a number of women ... had made their lives better ... even if money was involved. He had done a lot for her, and she knew there was no money involved with that. For whatever reason, her heart thawed a little bit.

"What am I going to do with you?" she asked.

"Just don't be disgusted with me," he said, his voice quite serious. "You're the best friend I have, Connie. I couldn't take it if you hated me."

There was a long pause, before Connie spoke.

"Okay ... I'll help you."

He sat bolt upright. "You will?"

She couldn't keep a smile off her face. He sounded so pathetically thankful.

"This one time," she said. "After that, you're on your own."

"They're going to be here all summer," he moaned.

"You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend all summer?" Her voice rose.

"I could pay you," he offered meekly.

She was still throwing pillows, books and anything else she could reach when he ducked out the door.

"I'll call you!" he yelled through the door. Something solid hit the door and it shuddered. He winced, thinking first about the mark whatever it was had to have made on the door. Then he wondered if he'd just screwed up the only thing he could think of that would hold Jennifer and Candy at bay.

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