One Indecent Night

by Hargrove, A. M.

  “How do you know you won’t find someone else when I get old and ugly?”

  The fact she said that hurt. I took her hand in mine and kissed it. “One, you’ll never be old and ugly to me. Two, when you get old, so will I. We’re in this thing called life together. We’re partners, remember?”

  “Sure, but I’m going to get super fat with button, you know.”

  “It’s not fat, it’s button and I can’t wait to see you that way.”

  “You’re just saying that so I won’t cry again.”

  “No, I’m not. Seeing you with your belly poked out and our baby in there excites me.”

  Her eyes burned into my cheek as I drove. I knew she didn’t believe me, but it was true. I was thrilled with this pregnancy and couldn’t wait to see our baby grow.

  The wake and funeral were exhausting, even for me, and I didn’t know nearly the number of people Sylvie did. It seemed everyone in town came out to pay their respects. The service was lovely. The priest gave a short eulogy, but John was the one who brought everyone to their knees.

  The girls tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. “Cindy was my other half and this is my send off to her,” he said.

  They wouldn’t have been able to stop him no matter what. He’d made up his mind. When he eulogized his wife, love poured from the very depths of him. I could barely blink the entire time. I’d never thought of myself as a particularly emotional man, and yet as I listened to him speak of Cindy, tell how much he would miss her company every day, my face was as wet as Sylvie’s.

  From the time they’d met, he knew she was his. I felt so many similarities in my relationship with Sylvie, it was uncanny. He spoke about her love for her family, her strength, kindness of spirit, how she saw the good in everyone, and of her willingness to help others. Sylvie was like her mother and I wished I’d gotten to know her, the real Cindy.

  His final words were, “The day you left me, Cindy, my heart cracked in two. One half will always be missing because it went to heaven to be with you.”

  Jesus, the man nearly broke me and poor Sylvie and her sisters. They sobbed like babies.

  I ran out of tissues, but thankfully there was a box at the end of the pew we sat in. I handed her some more and then took some for myself. She passed the box down to her sisters. Her dad came and sat down with us and the priest concluded the service. We then proceeded to the church hall for the reception.

  Paige and my mom were there, along with the caterer, having helped set it all up. I was hoping this didn’t last long. But initially, the crush of people that flowed in had me worried. Sylvie looked like she was ready to collapse.

  “Why don’t you have a seat over there?” I suggested. “You look weary.”

  “It’s not just that. I’m all cried out, Evan. I just want to stop shedding tears.”

  I hugged her and let her lean on me for a minute. Rose found us and asked her how she was holding up.

  “Look at my eyes. I look like I have severe allergies,” Sylvie answered.

  “Leeanne is here. She mentioned something about you taking a couple of weeks off,” Rose said.

  About that time, a woman I hadn’t met came charging up to Sylvie and pulled her into a fierce embrace. “My sweet, sweet Sylvie. I am so sorry for you.” She kept her grip on her shoulders but shifted slightly and in a bit of a scolding tone said, “Where is your medallion? My darling, this is when you need your essential oils the most.”

  “Leeanne, I can barely remember to put my shoes on.”

  “And who is this charmer?” She directed her gaze at me.

  “Leeanne, meet Evan, my significant other. You seem to keep missing him when he shows up at work.”

  “What a pleasure to meet you, Evan.”

  “Likewise.” I shook her hand.

  “You must make sure Sylvie wears her essential oil medallion. It will calm her and keep her on an even keel.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I certainly will.” I’d do anything to help her emotional state.

  Then she put an arm around my girl, and said, “Sylvie, I believe you should take two weeks leave. This has been an utterly difficult time for you. Rose has kept me up to date and I don’t want you to get overly stressed, as though you aren’t already. But the two weeks should help somewhat. We both know it will take a long time before your heart will begin to heal, but at least you won’t have to counsel others while you need it yourself.”

  “That’s very thoughtful of you. I appreciate it Leeanne.”

  “And Evan, will you please make sure she is well pampered?”

  “I will do my best, ma’am.” She was a take-charge woman. But I liked that she thought of Sylvie and not just of her business.

  “Well, now that we have that settled, I’m going to find your father and give him my regards before I leave. Please call me if you need anything at all.” She hugged Sylvie again and was off.

  Rose took Sylvie’s hand and said, “She’s been so worried about you.”

  “That’s very kind of her,” Sylvie answered.

  The two women chatted while I wandered off to look for Pearson. He was with Grey so we talked for a while. Then I found Mom and thanked her and Paige again for all their help. It was a good thing we put them in charge of the food because by the time everyone left, mostly everything was gone. Paige had called it right.

  It was around three when we were able to leave, and a suggestion was made that we all go out to lunch. I was hungry and bet Sylvie was too. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast because we talked the entire time during the reception. Everyone agreed, so Sylvie’s family, my parents, along with Rick, Paige, and the entire West clan went to eat. There were fifteen of us, so we called around for a quick reservation and were lucky to get one at a nearby restaurant.

  We’d driven Sylvie’s SUV over to the church, so her family piled into our car and we drove over together.

  I was driving when Piper said, “I love your car, Evan.”

  Sylvie half-smiled and said, “Thank you.”

  “This is yours?”

  “It was my Christmas present from Evan.”

  Her dad whistled. “Nice gift.”

  “Isn’t it, Dad?”

  “It sure is.”

  “You’ll have to test drive it.”

  “Gah, I wish I could find an Evan,” Piper said.

  “Too bad he doesn’t have two brothers,” Reynolds added.

  “Guys, I’m right here,” I reminded them.

  They didn’t care.

  “We know. We’d still like it if you came from a bigger family.” It was Reynolds who spoke.

  “Tell that to my mom when we get to the restaurant.”

  “Nah, it’s too late now.”

  We pulled in, they got out, and Reynolds said, “When we drove this car home from the hospital that night, we were talking about how much we liked it, but damn, Sylvie, we didn’t know it was yours.”

  “Yeah. Had we known, we’d have kept it a few days,” Piper said.

  “All right, you two. Enough lusting over my car.”

  “What else can we lust over? Men are in short supply these days.”

  “You won’t find one until you stop looking. That’s your big sister’s advice.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” The two girls wandered ahead of us.

  “Is that true?” I asked Sylvie.

  “Sure is. I figured I’d never find anyone, until that night. Or should I say the morning I woke up with you, embarrassed out of my mind.”

  “Best night ever.”

  “Most indecent night ever.”

  “How would you know? You can’t remember it.”

  “I sure felt the effects of it though.”

  Her grin got to me and had my cock trying to burst out of my pants. Good thing I had on a suit coat and an overcoat since it was cold outside.

  What a woman she was.

  Fifty-Six

  Sylvie

  The following Friday evening, Piper, Reynolds, D
ad, Rose, Pearson, Evan, and I boarded his private jet and headed to Vail for our getaway. Once we stepped aboard, Piper and Reynolds went crazy. They started in again on how they wished Evan had two brothers.

  “If you two keep going on about this the whole trip, we’re leaving you here,” Dad said. “You girls are too boy crazy. Your mother worried that Sylvie didn’t care enough about them and I worry that you two are too fixated on them.”

  “Don’t worry, Dad, they’ll grow out of it. I did.”

  “It can’t happen fast enough for me,” he said.

  Piper and Reynolds took their seats and pouted, both appropriately chastised. Rose and I chuckled behind their backs.

  “Remember when we were like that a couple of years ago?”

  “You mean you,” Rose said. “After my ex, I was never man-crazy. In fact, I thought about women for a while, but then realized that would never happen. Thank God for Pearson. Too bad he had to be an addict for us to meet, though.”

  “God has strange ways sometimes. It actually brought Evan and me together.”

  Rose took my hand and said, “I’m so happy for you two. Even Pearson notices a huge difference in Evan.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  Then I told her about the way Evan’s Dad reacted to the pregnancy and about the prenup.

  “That isn’t surprising. If he were my son, I’d do the same,” she said.

  “So would I and the money isn’t what interested me in him anyway. I had no idea he even had any.”

  Rose laughed. “To think we’d be flying out to Vail in his plane, right?”

  “I know. I can’t wait to see his place. But I’m a little worried about my skiing.”

  “Hey, I’m there with you. We’ll be bunny hopping.”

  Evan and Pearson took their seats across from us and Evan asked, “What are you two gossiping about?”

  “Rose and I were just discussing the probability of us crashing on the slopes.”

  “You’d better not. No crashing for you or the button.”

  “Button?” Pearson asked.

  “That’s what we call the baby,” Evan said.

  Pearson gave him one of those man-to-man looks that said, you are totally whipped, dude.

  “Hey, just wait until Rose gets pregnant,” Evan said.

  “Yeah, okay,” Pearson said.

  The pilot came out and introduced himself to us, greeted me again, and then told us all to buckle up for takeoff. Our flight attendant this time was Libby, who was maybe in her mid-forties. She’d already handed out drinks and said as soon as we were airborne, she’d serve our dinner.

  It was a smooth flight and after we ate a delicious dinner of chicken or seafood fettuccine Alfredo, salad, bread, cheese, fruit, and dessert, we all crashed.

  It was close to midnight when we landed, but we gained two hours, so it was only ten o’clock. The nap helped. I’d actually went back to the bed to sleep, much to the jealousy of the others.

  There was a large van waiting to pick us up and drive us to Evan’s house, which was a forty-minute ride away. When we arrived, the housekeepers, a husband and wife team, were up and waiting for us. They welcomed us with a light snack and beverages, and Evan spoke to them awhile. They lived on the property in the caretaker’s house, so they left shortly after.

  Evan gave us a tour, and the house was amazing. In the center of it was a gigantic living area that had a large stone fireplace. There were four couches placed around it and a huge—I mean huge—flat screen above the fireplace. Off the living area was the kitchen and then down a hall was the master suite. It was unbelievable, with one wall being entirely glass. Evan explained that it overlooked the mountains, but you couldn’t see now since it was dark.

  The living room also had a glass wall, only it was broken up because it was made entirely of French doors that opened out onto a massive deck, with a round fireplace and a gigantic hot tub. Again, we’d be able to see it in the morning.

  Upstairs were all the ensuite guest rooms, all eight of them. The house was awesome.

  There was also a really cool room above the garage that had been transformed into a media room. It held a screen, and twenty-four recliner seats to watch your favorite movie on the big screen. There was even a genuine popcorn machine in there.

  “I’m not sure I’ll even want to ski,” I said.

  “Babe, you can do anything you want.”

  My dad just kept spinning around, staring at everything in awe. I was happy he was here.

  “Guys, as much as I’d like to hang out, I’m hitting the sack. The button is still draining my energy and if I’m going to do any skiing tomorrow, I need my rest.”

  Evan walked me to our room and tucked me in after I brushed my teeth and washed my face.

  “I’ll be in as soon as everyone’s settled.”

  “You don’t have to. Enjoy your time with Pearson and my dad. This is your vacation too.”

  “I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  I didn’t even hear him come to bed, When I woke up, I was lying across his chest, and he was sound asleep. The sun was up, but I only knew because the room was a bit lighter. I had to use the bathroom, so I crept out of bed, but when I got back, Evan was awake.

  “Good morning, sexy,” he said.

  I was naked and looked a mess. “Good morning to you. Can I look out the window? Will it bother you?”

  “Of course not.”

  I rushed over to peek out and sucked in my breath at the view. Jagged mountains rose up before me and their majestic beauty nearly overwhelmed me.

  “Oh, Evan! This is fantastic. Let’s get married here.”

  “Now?”

  I laughed. “No, not now. When the snow melts and we can do it on the deck.”

  He was behind me and said, “You surprise me.”

  “Why?”

  “I thought you’d want to get married on the beach at Canouan.”

  “So did I, until I saw this. This magnificence can’t be outdone. And I remember you said something about selling so let’s do it before then.”

  “Sylvie, I’ll keep this place forever if you love it this much.”

  I faced him, saying, “Your generosity, your kindness is extraordinary. But as much as I love this, I also want your place to be something you love too. Skiing is a passion of yours so you should have a place somewhere that you love. And you can get one with views that are like this, can’t you?”

  “I suppose. But your happiness means more than anything to me. I can always buy another place and if you’re not happy, we’ll keep both. I can rent this one in the winter, and we’ll come here in the summer.”

  “You’re crazy, but I love crazy.”

  We dressed and went to the kitchen to get the coffee on. Sam and Patty Garrett—the caretakers— would be in shortly. Patty would make breakfast for us before we headed for the slopes.

  Everyone trickled into the kitchen for coffee and Patty was cooking up a storm. Sam had started a roaring fire and we’d opened the curtains to see a perfect blue sky day for the skiing.

  The ski rental company had dropped everyone’s skis and boots off the day before and our lift tickets had been purchased so all we had to do was show up.

  The plan was to eat, get dressed, and go. Sam dropped us off near the bridge in Vail village, closest to the lifts with the most green runs for beginners. You couldn’t drive in the actual village, so we’d have to do a bit of walking. Evan carried my skis. We would leave them in a locker tonight so we wouldn’t have to carry them back and forth. Walking in the ski boots wasn’t the greatest, but it wasn’t that bad, either.

  Piper and Reynolds were hilarious as they did dances on the street, and then Reynolds busted her ass. I had it on video.

  “Don’t you dare post that, Syll.”

  “Oh, it’s going straight to Instagram. This is priceless.”

  “Pleeeasssse,” she begged.

  “Ok. I won’t, u
nder one condition. You stop talking about men.”

  “Yes, I promise.”

  Evan said, “Excellent move, wise one.”

  “Thanks.”

  We got to the gondola, which we rode and then transferred to another lift. “Are you sure you’re not taking me on a difficult run?”

  “I would never do that to you. These are the runs the instructors use.”

  “Okay.” I looked a bit leery, until I saw all the green run signs.

  We skied down to signs and he let me choose which run to do. Then off we went with the others behind us. It was a blast. The skiing out here was so much better than where I had learned, that I was actually a much better skier than I’d thought.

  We stopped at the bottom and Evan said, “You did great. I think a couple more on this and you could easily handle a blue.”

  “You think?”

  “Sure. The groomed blues are great. We can try. If you’re not comfortable, we can stay on the greens.”

  “Fine, but I want you to do whatever you want. You don’t have to stay with me all day.”

  “Today, I’m yours. Tomorrow, Pearson and I will go off on our own.”

  The day ended for me around one. I was worn out. My muscles weren’t used to this, so Evan was the one who suggested I call it a day, because he said that’s when injuries occur. All the girls went in. Dad stayed and skied the blues, while Evan and Pearson did the expert runs.

  Sam drove us home and I stared at the steam rising out of the hot tub. I gazed at it longingly, wanting to get in.

  “Ma’am, you can get in. I’ve turned it on and it’s ready.” Patty must’ve noticed me eyeing the thing.

  “Thank you, but I can’t. I don’t know if Evan has told you, but I’m pregnant and you’re not supposed to use hot tubs during your early stages.”

  “Yes, he did, and I was unaware of that. I guess a hot shower will have to suffice. How about a nice cup of tea then?”

  “That would be nice. Not the hot tub though.” I snorted.

  She looked at me, her eyes popping out. “No, I suppose not.”

  “Sorry, I snort when I laugh. It’s kind of a family trait. I’m going to take that shower now.” She probably thinks I’m a ding-a-ling.