by Redrae Gunn
“Maybe once we move the cattle to the other pasture for the winter we should consider taking a vacation away from the farm,” Tony said to Jace though he knew that Jenna could hear.
“Yeah because the three of us would be so accepted wherever we went,” Jace scoffed and shook his head. Most people didn’t really accept the fact of two men with one woman.
“There are resorts that have theme weeks,” Jenna offered quietly. “I’ve never been to one but I have done some research.”
“Research?” Tony asked. She had wanted to do this before with other men? Obviously she wasn’t a virgin. She had told them on more than one occasion that this wasn’t her first rodeo but Tony was surprised by the flare of jealousy that crept into his bones.
“Whenever I would get depressed or think that I was never going to find happiness I would dream of my perfect wedding,” Jenna said. She sat down at the kitchen table and the men sat across from her on the couch.
“My dream was to be caught off guard,” Jenna started. “I would be whisked away, not knowing what was going on. The first stop would be at a jewelry store where I would get to choose wedding bands for my men. They would choose wedding rings for me.”
“Two rings,” Jace said and his heart did a flip in his chest.
“Of course,” Jenna said. “One for my left hand and one for my right. The men would wear their rings on the same side as mine.”
“Why?” Tony asked.
“So that we would match.” Jenna blushed. “It’s stupid, I know that, but I also think it’s perfect.”
Jace nodded his head.
“After purchasing the rings we would drive to wherever the connecting flight was, and then we would fly to the resort,” Jenna said. “The resort would be able to do a ceremony. I know that I can’t marry two men but they can do a joining ceremony where the three of us would commit the rest of our lives together. The rest of the time would be committed to worshipping each other’s bodies and having fun without being judged while we planned the rest of our lives.”
Jenna was staring at the ceiling of the camper with the most peaceful expression on her face. It was more than just something that she had researched. It was probably a dream she’d had since she was a little girl.
“In this dream did you want a morning or evening ceremony?” Jace asked. He couldn’t help himself from asking. He had nearly seen the vision as she described it.
“Morning,” Jenna said. “Sunrise.”
“Why?” Tony asked.
“Because I know that it’s the start of a new day and a new life,” Jenna said. “Plus I would have the rest of the day to know I was committed and the anticipation for the night of lovemaking would be so intense. I want to walk around in my wedding dress the entire day because for that one day I want to feel like a princess.”
“Where would you find your dress?” Jace asked.
“I think the dress would find me,” Jenna said. “Some place would have exactly what I wanted.”
Jenna shook her head from the fantasy and smiled at the two men who smiled back at her. “It’s just a dream, but it’s a good one,” Jenna said as she stood up and went to the bedroom to get dressed.
She removed the collars from her ankles and returned to the kitchen area. Both of her men were outside folding up the chairs and taking down the canopy. The dream was even better when she imagined Jace and Tony being the two men that starred in it.
* * * *
Shortly after they returned from the mini-vacation Jenna had insisted that they all go get STD checks. She was tired of using condoms every time as it cut down on being spontaneous and they were spending an atrocious amount on them. Jenna had started ordering them online when the lady at the pharmacy had started to ask her if she had found everything okay when a box of condoms wasn’t included in her purchase.
Aside from the random acts of wild lovemaking, the farm routine resumed. Jenna had repainted her shop white with blue and red racing stripes. She hadn’t managed to get the wind generator working even though she had followed the instructions perfectly. She erected the deer fence around the garden that was producing so much that the men were having troubles eating all of it. She had sent quite a bit of her produce with Miles that last time that he had visited and he had been very thankful.
In return Miles was teaching her how to get Strydor to use a small cart so that she could start clearing the tree line of fallen limbs and dead trees. The chainsaw had been scary to learn but Jenna was learning. Every day for her was something new.
Kira usually came to visit a couple of times a week and then on Saturday nights the five of them would meet somewhere for dinner and a few drinks. Most of the time they just headed to each other’s farms, but last night they had actually gone to restaurant in Watford City. The food had been delicious and the drinks had been fun.
The looks that Jenna received from the other patrons had been more curious than anything. That was something new for her. In New York people minded their own business and didn’t want to know about anyone else. Here people wanted to know about their neighbor’s routine. It was obvious that Jace and Tony knew nearly everyone in the restaurant, but it was equally obvious that their reputation for sharing women preceded them and people were curious about Jenna’s relationship with the men.
Jenna had introduced herself as the newest employee at Antelope Bay Ranch and that seemed to satisfy most of the curious people that had stopped by the table. Tony and Jace had looked pleased at the way that she handled the questions. She had been tempted to roll her eyes at them because she had told them that this wasn’t her first time around the block. She had been there and done this before. She knew how to handle the questions and curious glances. She had wanted to tell them that with age came experience and call them boys but she knew that she probably would’ve ended up naked on the table. Indecent exposure was not something that she wanted to have on her rap sheet.
Jenna smiled about how snuggly they had been with her when they had gotten home. No one had mentioned the word love since the mini-vacation. Jenna often wondered if she had imagined it. Probably not, had been the conclusion she had formed. It just made more sense not to bring it up and into their lives when they were so busy right now.
There was always a field that need to be hayed or bales to pick up. The men were constantly working. They had fields to spray and the winter wheat had been ready to combine. Jenna had gotten to ride in the grain truck when the men took their first load of grain to the elevator in New Town. As always Jace had been patient in answering all of her questions. When some of the grain had been stored in one of the large silos on the property, Jenna had asked more questions. Again, Jace had been kind.
Jenna thought about how she could probably spend all night just listening to Jace talk, with his slow steady speech and his deep voice. The way his icy eyes searched hers to make sure that she understood what he was explaining was intensely sexy. If he would’ve been a teacher the females in the class would’ve definitely stayed focused on the lecture.
Tony didn’t mind answering her questions. He just didn’t explain it well enough that Jenna could understand and see the whole picture. He got frustrated with himself way before Jenna was frustrated and then usually ended up telling her to ask Jace.
Tony was more sympathetic, though. He could always tell when Jenna was tired or hurt. He knew when she felt sad or lonely. It had been his suggestion that she ride with them into town to deliver the grain and just that little trip had pulled her out of a funk that she hadn’t known she’d been feeling.
Jace always seemed confused when Tony asked how she hurt herself, like when she had twisted her ankle and had a faint limp. Tony noticed pain. He probably smelled it. The physical and emotional kind.
Jenna pulled herself from her memories as she glanced through the living room and watched the men on the porch. It was the morning manly mind meeting. Jenna had called it the triple M meeting. She had explained the meaning to them and had receive
d a double pounding right on the kitchen table. She wasn’t sure how they figured it had been a punishment, since she had gotten off several times.
Jenna quickly dished up their plates. She had made waffles and crepes. Jace loved the chocolate crepes. At first he had said that chocolate wasn’t for breakfast but after his first bite he had retracted his statement and now asked for them often. He had even started to put chocolate syrup and whipped cream on his waffles. It was quite a stretch from the man who had only used minimal butter and maple syrup when she had first arrived.
“Kira wants to know if we want to go in on a pig and some chickens,” Jenna said when the men were at the table.
Jace glanced at Tony and frowned.
“We butcher the chickens in the fall, Jenna,” Jace said softly. Maybe it had been a mistake giving Jenna the chore of feeding the chickens.
“You don’t keep any?” Jenna whispered. She knew this. She knew that this would happen but she thought that maybe some of the hens would be spared for the eggs. Her eyes started to fill with tears. She cursed herself for being stupid and feeling this way.
“Jenna are there some hens that produce eggs more often than the others?” Tony asked. He hated the tears that he had seen in her eyes, since they hadn’t come from sexual pain. They could accommodate a little. They didn’t have to be such hard asses all the time.
“Molly, Mindy, Mandy, Martha, and Mary,” Jenna said. “They lay eggs every day. The other ones don’t.”
“Did you name all of them?” Tony asked.
Jenna shook her head. “Just the good ones.”
“We can set those five up for the winter I suppose,” Tony said slowly. He knew that Jace had just crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. Tony waited for Jenna’s response. He was sure that she had read all about chickens on the Internet. She probably knew that during the winter the chickens would produce less eggs and that the most productive egg layers were under a year old.
“Next year when we get more chickens, if there are good ones, then I will replace the five and you can butcher them,” Jenna said. She didn’t like it but if Tony was willing to compromise, she would too. She knew that the farm had to be cost efficient and they couldn’t have a bunch of old chickens running around.
“What if you can always keep five?” Tony suggested. “The five best producers. The good ones, as you called them. Then when you find your next five we’ll take the other five to the butcher and sell them.”
“We won’t have to eat them?” Jenna asked. That was a relief. “I don’t care if we eat the others. They are peckers.”
Jace nearly fell out of his chair as he tried not to laugh. Finally he couldn’t hold it back and he tilted his head back and laughed hard. The cupboard doors rattled under the assault of his bass voice. It was the closest that Jenna had ever come to swearing or calling something a name.
“I mean that they peck at me,” Jenna said as she covered her mouth. “I didn’t mean that they were peckers. Like dicks. They are peckers because they peck.”
This time even Tony couldn’t contain his laughter. Jace nearly howled at the ceiling as he rubbed the rippled muscles under his thin shirt. Laughing like this was definitely more of a work out than moving any bales. Jenna was so innocently honest with her assessments of everything.
“Fine,” Tony said through his laughter. “Every summer the new Molly, Mindy, and whoever takes over for the old ones and we will sell the old ones to the butcher so we don’t have to eat them. We will eat the peckers.”
Jace groaned and laughed again. “Dude, I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“Fuck you,” Tony said to Jace and then he looked at Jenna and apologized.
“You weren’t swearing at me.” Jenna huffed at Jace, who was still laughing. “Swear all you want at him.”
This caused another eruption of laughter from Jace as he tried to resume eating breakfast. Every now and again he started laughing.
Jenna was clearing the table when she heard her cell phone ring. She froze and then sighed. It was her mom calling. This couldn’t be good. She stopped what she was doing and went to her room.
Jace was ready to go but Tony held back.
“Just wait,” Tony said to Jace. “We’ll grab another cup of coffee and wait. I’d rather be a little late getting home than worried all day that she was upset. She looked upset when she heard that ringtone.”
“I guess I could do the dishes,” Jace said as he looked into the sink.
“I’ll help,” Tony said as they tried to catch the fragments of Jenna’s conversation.
Jenna hung up the phone and looked at the ceiling of her room. Fantastic. Just fantastic. She would’ve added some other F words to her thoughts, but she didn’t like to swear. She didn’t like to hear swearing at all usually unless Tony was telling her to fuck Jace. Then she loved it. Now was not the time to be thinking about sex.
Jenna came into the kitchen and smiled a small smile at the two men who were doing the dishes. They never did the dishes. Ever.
“My parents are coming to visit,” Jenna said. “You’ll love Dad, but Mom might be a little tough to take. Just know that she is probably the sadistic person in the relationship and for some odd reason my dad loves her.”
“Maybe he’s a masochist,” Tony offered.
Jenna smirked and then laughed. Tony’s humor always helped her. “You have no idea how much I have wondered that myself.”
“When are they coming?” Jace asked.
“In five days,” Jenna replied.
“How long will they be here?” Tony asked.
“They are just passing through as they head to Washington.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “They have this RV. I’ve told you about it. But they figured that they would check on their little girl while they were in the area.”
“It’ll be fine, Jenna,” Tony said as he dried his hands and came over to rub her upper arms. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I’ve been honest with them about my lifestyle,” Jenna said. Her voice held warning and she shook her head back and forth. “I have never told them something that wasn’t untrue. So if they ask I will tell them that we are sleeping with each other. My dad will ask because he knows about me needing more. He’s a very open person. My dad will be happy for me and my mom will give me a sermon. I just don’t want her to start preaching to you or condemning you.”
The kitchen was silent. “I will lie if you want me to,” Jenna said.
“No, you won’t, Jenna,” Tony said fiercely. “You will tell the truth.”
Tony knew that Jenna was sweet. She didn’t swear, she didn’t judge people, she didn’t lie, she didn’t cheat, and she didn’t steal. The only sin that she committed, in her eyes, was needing two men. She needed him and she needed Jace. How could that one need condemn her to the depths of hell? It was ridiculous. Jenna knew it, too. He just couldn’t ask her to lie to her parents.
Jenna nodded. “Thank you for understanding.”
“What was that phrase?” Jace asked. “We’ll be holding open the door for you?”
Jenna nodded and smiled. “Sometimes I think that listening to my mom preach is the purest form of hell.”
Tony pointed to himself and Jace and smirked. “We will hold open the door for her, too.”
Chapter 12
Jenna was clearing the tree line. She had already stripped the guest bedroom and washed the bedding just in case her parents wanted to stay the night in the farm house. She doubted that they would. The countdown had begun. It was T-minus four days until hell descended onto the farm that she had grown to love in the past three months.
Jenna was nearly finished for the day. She had heard Jace and Tony come into the driveway. They were unloading bales in the big barn in the corral. Strydor must’ve been acting up because Tony kept telling him that he was the one fucking Jenna and to get over it. Jenna giggled as she finished loading the cart and placed the chainsaw in the back of it. She bent over
to grab one more log and then stepped back from the black and white animal that was behind it.
Jenna covered her face and tried to breathe through her mouth. The smell was ghastly. She stumbled backward, hit the cart, and ran from the animal. She tried to catch her breath. That smell was absolutely disgusting. She had smelled some horrific smells on the streets of New York, especially when it was trash day in the summer heat, but nothing had ever smelled like this.
Jenna headed to the farmhouse. She knew that it was a skunk. She didn’t know how to get rid of the smell. She needed her computer. She needed some information. She needed it now.
She quickly started to research how to get rid of the smell when she heard Jace and Tony come into the house. Jace was swearing so badly that Jenna tried to cover her ears as she read more. She was nearing the point of how to get rid of the smell when Jace grabbed her from behind and dragged her outside.
“Strip,” Jace commanded and Jenna did.
“Throw those in the burn barrel,” Jace said as he pointed at her pile of clothes. “Everything except for the shoes. Those can be your shit shoes for mowing.”
Jenna did as Jace said. He was too pissed off to argue with. She stood naked on the lawn and waited. He told her to stay there and then he went to the tack shed and came back with some horse shampoo. He also had the soft bristled brush and a rope that was used to lead the horses.
Jenna backed away from him. He looked so upset.
“Come wash off,” Jace said.
Jenna followed him even though every instinct in her body told her to flee. The smell though, was too horrific. It had gone through her clothes and was on her skin. She’d face Jace’s anger any day to get rid of the smell.
Tony watched from the kitchen window as Jace tied the lead rope around Jenna’s wrists and secured her arms above her head to the pole at one end of the clothesline. Jace pulled out the garden hose and doused the screaming and shrieking woman with what could only be fairly cold well water.
