Rowdy

by Patricia Green

  "It's not him I'm worried about. It's people coming from outside."

  "We can't live in seclusion."

  Melody piped in. "I think it'll be okay," she said to Bob. "And it's good for Amy to experience freedom. She's going to feel confined and start acting out if we go with this for too long."

  "She's a baby; she won't know the difference," Bob muttered.

  "I am not a baby! I am not! I hate you, Bob."

  Gretchen hunkered down next to a red-faced Amy. "You don't hate Bob. You're mad at him, but you can be mad at someone without hating them."

  "He's mean. I wanna ride in the truck!"

  "How about you ride half the trip in the truck and half in the limo?"

  Amy pouted. "I don't wanna ride in the limo."

  "We'll save all the fun parts of the truck with you."

  "Like what?"

  "Like…" she looked at Rowdy for help.

  "Like handing out the food."

  "Food?"

  "Yeah, your mom got all kinds of stuff to eat."

  "Gummy worms?"

  Now it was Gretchen's turn. "Yes, gummy worms. Though I want you to count them carefully before you eat any."

  "Okay!"

  She stood back up and faced Bob. "Okay?"

  He nodded. It was clear he didn't want to resign any more than Gretchen wanted him gone. Bob had no family to speak of and his work was his life. His wife had divorced him when he returned from Afghanistan and his son was an independent teenager with an active stepdad. Gretchen and Amy were the family he had made for himself.

  "Good," Gretchen said, relieved.

  Rowdy was anxious to leave. "Let's get goin'. I still need to pick up my gear from the Wynn."

  The early parts of the trip were smoother than Rowdy might have expected. He hadn't taken a long trip with a child since he was a teenager and his family had traveled places with Lucky when she was a youngster. He remembered a lot of fussing, singing songs off-key, and playing twenty questions. Amy was well-behaved. She read her books and pawed through the snacks her mother had ordered. When it got dark around five o'clock, she fell asleep and Bob carried her from the truck to the limo.

  "Are you excited to be going back home?" Gretchen asked him after Amy got moved.

  "Yes and no," he responded. "I'll be happy to see my family, but there are always questions about everything. Bringing you will start up a barrage, I'm sure."

  "Oh. Well, we don't have to join you. We can fly out of Pocatello and you can come to Reno sometime."

  The whole idea of parting with her with no set plan to get together again was unwelcome. His family would just have to cope. He hadn't brought a girl to meet them since college, so it had been a number of years. The relationship had petered out as he traveled the rodeo circuit and spent less time in Idaho.

  "They'll deal with it. They're good people. You'll see. My ma is a little over-protective is all."

  "I'd want to protect my child too. You have a very dangerous job."

  He glanced at his cast. "Yeah. But I love what I do."

  "I can tell," she said, smiling at him. She had the most beautiful smile. It made his heart light up every time he saw it. Their night together came rushing back and he remembered how their first time was so hurried. The second and third times were much slower and sensual. The memory of taking her from behind as they lay like spoons in a drawer was indelibly etched on his mind. He vowed to do something involving spanking next time. Discovering she liked spanking had been fantastic. She was the girl for him.

  "So, tell me about Reno? You said you grew up on a ranch just outside?"

  "Yes, not far east. I had a good childhood, I guess you'd say. Nothing bad happened to me, anyway. My parents were good parents to me, my brother and my sister. The ranch took up a lot of their time, though, and the three of us kids spent considerable time with each other getting into mischief."

  "I'll bet. Did you leave to go to college?"

  "Um… No. I left because of Amy."

  He felt her withdrawal, so he wasn't sure if he should pry further, but he did want to know her. Rowdy pretty much wanted to gobble her up and was looking to see if she'd leave a bitter taste behind. "What happened?"

  "Well, I was seventeen. I had a boyfriend, Neil. Neil and I were 'in love'," she said, making a wry face and gesturing her quote with her fingers. "We were basically horny teenagers. We weren't careful and bingo, I got pregnant."

  "Wow. Must have been quite a surprise." It would explain where Amy had come from, though. Rowdy knew Gretchen was only twenty-two and Amy was five. It didn't take a supercomputer to do the math. "What happened when you found out? Did you plan to get married?"

  "I didn't have a plan. And Neil definitely was not the marrying type. He was a football star and pretty full of himself. When I started going out with him, I thought he was all that and counted myself lucky to have him chasing me."

  There was a long pause. As he glanced at her from his place behind the steering wheel, he saw she was lost in her memories. Unpleasant memories, judging by the turned-down corners of her mouth. "What happened?"

  "I told my parents. My mother was unhappy but accepted it. My father, on the other hand, was livid. To hear him, it was all my fault. Eventually it got to the point where he was calling me names."

  "Your mother didn't stop him?"

  "My mother is conflict-averse. She doesn't know how to argue. Father was the head of the household and mother was his worker all over the ranch. To be fair, they both worked hard. He was not a slacker, but I think he was angry I'd painted myself into a corner." She played with her empty hands in her lap. "He was angry with himself for not having an easy answer to my problem."

  "But he took his anger out on you. Did he hurt you?"

  "Oh no. He'd never hit me or anything. He's not a violent kind of man. His anger was a lot of shouting, and when I'd lost all my gumption to shout back, he took to calling me names like, slut, and whore."

  Rowdy clutched the steering wheel harder, wanting to smack the man who'd hurt his girl. "Abortion was never considered?" He knew she was a good Christian girl and yet, even good Christian girls sometimes made bad decisions when faced with monumental challenges.

  "Oh, no. Definitely not. Even though I was only seventeen, I knew I'd gotten myself into a pickle and I'd have to deal with it." She sipped on a bottle of water. "So, I ran away, straight to Reno. I had no one there to turn to, nowhere to go. I stayed in a shelter for homeless women and children. They were good to me, but I was still destitute. Amy was three months old before I could get out of there. I worked as a waitress at the Sportsman Bar and Grill."

  "It must have been hard juggling a new baby and a job."

  "I got help from the government, but times were lean for me. Had I not worked in a restaurant, Amy and I would have had a hard time eating. It's why I give so much to food banks, since now I can afford it. Food banks are the last line of defense for so many people."

  "And then you won the lottery?"

  She nodded. He caught it out of the corner of his eye. "There was a regular at the Sportsman who always sat in my section. It had nothing to do with me—he just liked sitting in the section by the biggest TV. He wasn't a great tipper, but he was a nice guy and always left me a few dollars. One day, he didn't have any cash to leave a tip and so he gave me a lottery ticket. He'd picked the numbers himself, but you know how astronomical the odds are of winning the lottery. I'm sure he thought he was leaving me a chance to dream of what-ifs rather than nine-hundred-million dollars. I'm thinking winning the big prize might have been more than the five-dollar ticket he intended. I gave him a million dollars when I got my first check."

  "Wow. You literally went from rags to riches overnight."

  "I did," she replied. Her voice was excited as though it happened only days ago, rather than a year. "My financial problems were solved immediately."

  "Happy ending."

  "Just the beginning. Then came Harry—my business manager and la
wyer. And Bob and Melody. The limo. A big house in Reno. It kind of snowballed."

  He thought about it for a few minutes. "Is it out of control now?"

  "I think maybe it is."

  "What about your family? Won't they help? You said you had a brother and sister. Where were they during all of this?"

  "My sister was in college in L.A. and my brother had just begun a small business in Spanish Springs, not far from home. They were kind but had their own problems. My mother was good to me throughout, though. She was supportive."

  "You learned to be a good mother from her, hmm? Because Amy is lucky to have you."

  She smiled a gentle smile. "Thank you." Another sip of water and then, "I give her some money to take care of herself and my dad. They lost the farm not too long after I left. My dad got sick and they couldn't afford the upkeep so it went to the bank."

  "What a shame."

  "Yes. I've seen my mom since I left home, but not my dad. I don't want to see him."

  "I can understand your point of view. Forgiveness is sometimes difficult to give."

  She nodded and changed the subject. "Do you think we should stop in Ely? It's a decent-sized town. Should have motels."

  Chapter 7

  Ely was a good-sized town. A good-sized town full of conventioneers from the Deaf Bowlers of America Society. Gretchen could hardly believe it when they got to their third motel and found it, too, was full. Finally, they did find one more motel on the outskirts of town which had three rooms. Bob and the limo driver, Jeff, would occupy one, Gretchen and Rowdy another, and Melody and Amy the third. Steve, the night guard, had slept in the limo all day and would be on duty through the night.

  Gretchen made an attempt to keep Rowdy's status with her obscured from Amy but wasn't sure she was having much success. Fortunately, the little girl was sound asleep when they all got settled into their rooms.

  Gretchen flopped on the bed, which creaked with her weight, slight though she was. Bob and their driver were in the room next door, so Gretchen was unsure how or if she could make love with Rowdy on the creaky bed. It was one thing for Bob to know intellectually she and Rowdy were lovers, it was another thing altogether to provide proof.

  Rowdy sat on the edge of the bed to take off his boots and the bed groaned. Noise aside, Gretchen began to wonder if the bed would support the both of them without collapsing.

  "Not exactly plush, is it?" he asked.

  "Not exactly."

  "Any place where you are, princess, is a palace to me."

  "Aww. You're the darlingest man in the world."

  "Is darlingest a word?"

  "It is now."

  They laughed for a moment or two.

  "I need a shower," he said. "Join me?"

  She got up and peered into the bathroom where there was a four-by-four shower stall. The two of them would be significantly crowded in there. "I'll wait my turn."

  He bounced on the bed a bit and it made noises like an aging hippo with arthritis. "I think you want to join me."

  Catching on, Gretchen smiled and began to shuck her clothes. "Last one in is a one-horned bull!"

  "I think you mean rotten egg."

  "Whatever!" She turned on the shower. "I win!"

  Rowdy smacked her bare bottom as she stepped into the shower. The water was lukewarm, hot, then cold and back again, but it didn't matter with her body pressed up against Rowdy's. Gretchen loved the feel of his sleek muscles against her. She grabbed the soap and started washing him, knowing luxuriating in the unpredictable water wasn't going to be possible. He appeared to enjoy it, turning this way and that while she soaped and rinsed. His penis was hard by the time she was done rubbing herself against his soapy body. He took the soap from her hand and soaped her down with his free hand, keeping his cast out of the water for the most part so it wouldn't become completely saturated and soak the bed when they went to sleep.

  His fingers found her most tender places and cleaned them, making them wet in a whole different way. When he was done and she was rinsed, he pressed her against the wall–not a difficult feat as they were jammed into the tiny stall. He grabbed her hips and bounced her up onto his thighs.

  "Your arm!"

  "Don't you worry. Pain is the least thing on my mind, I assure you."

  She giggled, wrapping her legs around his middle. At first he prodded, then he thrust, filling her vagina full.

  "There now," he said with a soft groan.

  "Mmm. You can do it a few more times," she said on a sigh.

  "Like this?"

  "Yes, just like that."

  "And like this?" he said, thrusting harder.

  "Definitely."

  He stopped asking questions and they both focused on reaching the ultimate goal together. When she came, she called out his name softly. But it didn't stop there. He continued, keeping their bodies locked together as he moved his hips against her. She came a second time, this one gentler than the first, but no less enjoyable. After that, he let himself go, buried himself deep, and filled her with liquid pleasure.

  "The water is cold," he said after he caught his breath and let her down.

  "Is it? I hadn't noticed."

  "You were a bit occupied," he pointed out.

  "Distracted even."

  "I'm glad I could prove to be an adequate distraction," he said, using his lofty professor voice.

  "You were, Mr. Jackson. Shall we retire?"

  He turned off the water and reached for the towels. "Yes, indeed, Miss Nelson. After you." He made a small bow and handed her a towel. She giggled the whole time she dried off.

  They slipped into bed, moist and naked, and the bed shifted beneath them. Gingerly, Gretchen curled up against Rowdy's side and, despite the lumpy mattress, fell asleep.

  Rowdy woke to a spear of streetlamp light through the partly opened curtain on the small room's window. He'd been sleeping soundly, and it was now three-thirty. He didn't feel Gretchen's warmth against him, so he turned and reached out. The bed groaned under his weight. Maybe she was in the bathroom?

  "Gretchen?"

  No answer.

  He called a little louder. "Gretchen?"

  Finally, he got up and went into the dark bathroom, wondering if she'd gotten hurt or something. She wasn't there. In fact, she wasn't anywhere in the room. There just weren't so many corners to hide in.

  "Where could she have got to?" he murmured as he dressed in jeans, socks and boots. Getting a shirt on over his cast was just too much to think about when it appeared Gretchen was gone. Thinking maybe she'd gone to see to Amy for some reason, he went downstairs and around the corner to Amy and Melody's room. Melody answered his knock on the door. She wore sweatpants and a faded t-shirt, but the super-casual look made her look younger and prettier. It was a shame she dressed like an accountant all the time.

  "Is Gretchen here with you?"

  "Gretchen?" she pushed some short hair away from her forehead. "No. Should she be?"

  "No. She should be upstairs sleeping. When I woke and found her gone, I came directly here, thinking this might have something to do with Amy."

  "No, we're alone. You should ask Bob. I'll get dressed."

  "Okay." He didn't wait for her to shut the door but hurried back up the stairs and directly to the room next to his, Bob's room.

  Bob answered the knock immediately. He had on pajama bottoms but no top. Rowdy noticed then just how muscular the older man was. He knew Bob worked out during his lunch breaks, but he didn't know just how much. Judging from his physique, he was just as fit as athletic Rowdy, and maybe ten pounds heavier with muscle.

  "Is Gretchen here with you?"

  "No. What's wrong?"

  "She's missing. I woke up and she was gone."

  "Go ask Steve. I'll be right there."

  Rowdy searched around for Steve, and finally found him walking the perimeter of the parking lot, where he could get a good view of the building.

  "Rowdy? What’s up?"

  Steve wa
s a tall, thin man, who carried his gun casually in a visible holster. His shaggy brown hair was clean and his dress shirt and slacks were well cared for. His features were a bit saggy. He was not a handsome man, but his brown eyes were kind and he was good at his job.

  So far.

  "Have you seen Gretchen?"

  Steve stiffened. "No. Is she missing?"

  "Yeah. I woke and she was gone. You didn't notice anything wrong?"

  "Nothing has moved except for a large number of moths around the parking lot lights and the ever-present crickets. Did you talk to Bob? Could she be with Amy?"

  "Been there. She's nowhere."

  "Time to mount a search, I think."

  Bob approached, wearing his jeans and a hoodie. "No luck with you, Steve?"

  "No. Sorry. I didn't see anything."

  "You take the backside of the building," he told Steve. "I'll go east toward the Dairy Queen next door."

  Melody came up, dressed for business in jeans and a long-sleeved Aggies t-shirt. "I left Amy with Jeff."

  "Good thinking," Bob told her. "You head out west toward the Spark Plugs Auto Repair, and, Rowdy, you go search the building. Look in all the linen closets, the ice room, vending machine cubbies, you get it. You might ask the night desk person as well. I'm going to search the limo as I head east." They all nodded. "I'll meet you back here in ten minutes."

  Rowdy went to the motel building and combed every corner, nook and cranny. He stopped just short of knocking on doors. If push came to shove, he'd do that, too. After ten minutes of futile searching, he headed back out to the parking lot and met the others. He was shaking his head as he approached.

  "Okay," Bob said. "We'll call the authorities."

  "Why?" Gretchen asked from about ten feet away. She sauntered up and stopped as they all glared at her. "What?"

  "Where have you been?" Melody asked.

  "I was taking a walk." Gretchen turned to Steve. "Sorry, I slipped you. I wanted to be alone."

  "Totally unacceptable," Bob told her. "There is no point in having a security team if you're just going to 'slip' them on a whim."