The Woman I Love: Book One (The Woman I Love Series 1)

by G S Binkley

  “The Little Mermaid.” Lacy answered causing Dani to jump up, legs still wrapped in the pillowcase, and hop around at having her partner correctly decipher the clues.

  After several more volleys back and forth between the teams, Dani was upset that her brother’s team was ahead in points. She couldn’t believe it. So, she suggested the movie title, The Poseidon Adventure, which Lacy shot down and provided another one of her own for the other team to guess.

  Lacy helped her son, giving him a small bowl of water so he could give the clue to his partner. Derek carefully carried the bowl from the kitchen to the living room area. His mother whispered in his ear.

  “Hey, don’t help him. Gage has to get it on her own.” Not liking to be behind in points, Dani ordered her partner.

  Happily, Derek slapped his hand in the water again and again, spraying it all over his partner.

  Wiping the flinging water from her face, Gage hurriedly yelled. “Splash. The movie’s Splash.” But her answer didn’t stop the deluge from raining down. Throwing a mock angry look at Lacy who backed up quickly, Gage then jumped up, grabbing her partner in her arms after she whisked the empty bowl from him. “Okay, that’s enough, partner. We got the points.” After she returned the bowl to the kitchen, Gage and Derek rejoined the opposing team.

  “Our turn.” Dani stood, anxiously waiting to get the title of the next movie from Gage.

  “Dani, it’s my turn to give the clue.” Lacy leaned down next to Gage as Dani reluctantly sat back down.

  Dani waited eagerly. They had one last chance to forge ahead in the points and win the game if only her mother would cooperate. According to Dani, Lacy had provided the other team with too many easy movie titles and her team had seriously dropped behind in points after an early start out of the gate. The young girl scrunched her face seriously awaiting her first clue.

  Dani was quick to deduce the movie title had two words and the first word was ‘sling’ after her mother slung her arms back and forth. Now, Lacy was diligently making a yanking motion from her side then waving her arm around in the air. Panic glared on Dani’s face, not having a clue as to what her mother was demonstrating. “Wave?” Lacy shook her head. “Are you making some kind of sign?”

  Lacy rolled her eyes, then quickly started making jabbing motions in the air.

  “Sword. You’ve got a sword.” A smile tickled her face in expected triumph. “Two words and the first word is sling. Sword, sling sword?”

  Lacy then ran her finger along an invisible sword pretending to cut it.

  “Blade. Sling Blade?” Dani quizzed then watched her mother jump in elation. Bolting up, she joined her partner. After a few moments participating in a shared victory dance, Dani approached the lead member of the opposing team. “Pretty good, huh? Especially since I’ve never even seen a movie called ‘Sling Blade’.”

  A short while later, a very tired young boy laid in his mother’s arms. “Guess it’s time for bed, huh?”

  “Good. Now we get to hear the end of the story and find out how Mecca gets out of that cave….” She eyed Gage carefully, before she continued. “With a little help from the Shanglon Master.”

  “Honey, Derek’s asleep. Maybe tomorrow night.” Lacy offered.

  “But….” She turned to Gage.

  “No story tonight.” Gage simply stated, then added after a prominent pout appeared on the disappointed girl’s face. “Would you want me to finish telling the story to Derek if you were sleeping?”

  “No.” Dani admitted. “But we still get to sleep in the big bed, right?” Even without her nightly dose of storytelling, Dani enjoyed the closeness the four of them shared sleeping in the same bed. It gave her a sense of being together as a family something she’d missed in the last several years with both her parents always working. But her hopeful mood dashed when her mother spoke.

  “We really should stay in our own room tonight, I guess.” She spoke the words half-heartedly, hoping her suggestion would fall on deaf ears.

  Misunderstanding Lacy’s concern about intruding further on the hospitality offered, Gage loathed to agree. “Sure. I guess, well, whatever.”

  A rush of disappointment ran through both mother and daughter. Lacy grabbed her daughter’s hand and carried her son into their room when Gage shuffled off silently.

  After Lacy secured the children in bed, she heard a small knock at the door. “Come in.”

  Gage offered a couple of blankets. “It’s chilly out tonight. That rain brought in a cold front, I guess.”

  Taking the blankets, Lacy thanked her. A deafening silence fell as they stood still both waiting, hoping for the other to propose a way to move back the hands of time and lead them into the direction they both desired. Each momentarily contemplated the last three nights when they had all slept together, safe, secure and at peace.

  Clearing her throat, Gage broke the silence. “If you need anything, anything at all, I’ll be…”

  “Right down the hall.” Lacy smiled at her.

  “Yeah.”

  Both retreated into their own respective bedrooms, unhappy with the turn of events.

  ***********************

  Gage wrapped herself in the covers, twisting and turning trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. It was funny, all her life she’d slept alone, but in the course of three nights, for the first time, Gage felt lonely. She missed the warm bodies crowded around her that provided a calming comfort, lulling her to sleep.

  She was still awake when the small knock at the door came. “Yes.” Seeing Lacy enter with both her children, a smile jumped onto her face and refused to go away. Silently, she prayed neither would her new friends.

  “The heater must be out in our bedroom. It’s pretty cold in there.” Lacy explained.

  Jumping out of bed, Gage raced toward them. “Okay, I’ll see if I can fix it.”

  Stopping the writer from leaving the room, Lacy suggested. “I thought maybe we could, you know, spend the night in here. Then tomorrow you could find the problem.”

  Seizing the unexpected opportunity, Gage hastily agreed. “Yeah, that’s a better idea. Come on.” Gage took Derek from Lacy and headed to bed.

  Once they were all snuggled down, Gage whispered. “Yeah, this is definitely a better idea. Glad you came up with it.”

  “Me too.” Content, Lacy fell asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  Late the next morning after breakfast while Lacy cleaned the kitchen, Dani helped Gage fix the heater problem.

  “We going to the cave today?” Dani asked hopefully, doing everything she could to get on the writer’s good side.

  “Yeah. Thought we’d go out on the lake and check it out again.” Gage answered, cognizant of Lacy’s reluctance to allow her daughter to explore it.

  The idea didn’t suit Dani entirely, but driving the boat again appealed to her so she figured she’d let Gage off the hook again. But I will get to the bottom of this and explore that cave.

  Twisting a new fuse in the electrical box, Gage declared. “There. That should do it.”

  “It’s fixed now, huh?” Dani asked.

  “Should be. This place is heated by electric and the fuse was bad.”

  “That means tonight the bedroom will have heat.” Dani stated, lost in her own thoughts.

  Dani’s words raised their ugly head, reminding Gage of the fact that fixing the heater gave them one less excuse to share the same bed again. Great. That was smart. Well, at least I can use the excuse of finishing my story.

  ************************

  With the boat anchored just outside the cave’s water entranceway, Gage and the kids swam around exploring it as Lacy soaked up the sun. The weather turned quite warm by mid-afternoon and they were making the best of it.

  Holding Derek next to her, Gage yelled at Dani. “Don’t go in too far.”

  Dani’s voice echoed back from under the cave’s ceiling with the expected response. “I won’t.”

  Gage wasn’t to
o worried the cave’s recess extended only about fifteen feet. That thought caused her to consider that the only person she ever had to be responsible for her whole life was herself. Now, watching the kids as they swam around in the water shed new light on what a huge responsibility laid on the shoulders of parents. It was quite an undertaking.

  Green eyes darted back and forth between the two children. Both in their own ways were adventurous. Derek enjoyed floating in his lifejacket, mercilessly splashing Gage as Dani edged her way further in the cave.

  Several hours later, waterlogged and pruned, Gage persuaded both kids to climb back into the boat. Dani wrapped a beach towel around her and parked herself in the captain’s chair while Derek decided his mother needed company and attempted to climb on her.

  “Ohhh…” Lacy yelped as her son touched her sunburned back. Her sudden reaction caused Derek to whimper and retreat toward Gage who was pulling up the anchor.

  Lacy hurried to wrap her arms around Derek. “I’m sorry, honey.”

  A few tears wet his face. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” She kissed him lightly. “You just startled me.” Looking at Gage, Lacy added. “Guess I over did it.”

  “Here.” Gage offered her a soft towel to cover her sunburned shoulders. “We’ll head back and put something on that.” Turning to Dani, she asked. “You ready, Captain?”

  *************************

  While Derek took a nap and Lacy struggled with a cold shower pelting her super sensitive skin, trying to wash off the apparently ineffectual sun tanning lotion, Dani practiced some of her rope tying skills.

  Stiffly, Lacy walked into the living room after her shower wearing a white v-neck tee shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. She eased herself down on the couch and squirted some lotion in her hand. Delicately applying it to her arms and upper legs, she tensed at the contact. “I should have known better.”

  Concerned for her mother and her own plans, Dani asked. “You’ll be better by the weekend, right?”

  “Yes, I think so. Why?”

  “The fair’s this weekend. Jeez, mom, you promised.”

  Struggling to apply the lotion to her back, Lacy absent-mindedly agreed. “Hmmm.”

  From the kitchen, Gage watched Lacy smooth the lotion over her long arms and legs. Dropping the unpeeled potato on the counter, Gage dashed over to where Lacy was in need of some assistance. “Here let me.” Gage procured the lotion from her. “Go ahead lay on your stomach.”

  Lacy lifted up and turned over, lying down. Gage hesitantly lifted the white tee shirt up to the top of the star’s shoulders. My God, she is beautiful. The soft, supple and sexy skin screamed to her and Gage didn’t resist the temptation.

  Lacy basked in the soothing feel of pliant hands gliding over her sensitive skin. She allowed her mind to drift in the pleasure she was experiencing until the insistent sound of her daughter’s voice brought her abruptly back.

  “We are going to the fair, right?” Dani demanded an answer.

  Noting the tension sear through Lacy’s back muscles at the question, Gage interceded. “Absolutely.” Poignantly looking at the young girl. “That’s a promise.”

  After securing the guarantee and having no interest in watching her mother and Gage, Dani returned to her knot tying.

  Gage immediately felt the muscles under her hands relax so she lavishly continued her gentle, soothing massage. For long moments, both enjoyed the healing touch that passed between them. Stretching the enjoyable session out for as long as she could, Gage reluctantly pulled her hands away from the soft skin of the beautiful woman. “I’m done.”

  ***********************

  Readied for bed, Gage herded both kids to her bedroom and piled them up on it. “I’ll be right back.” She met Lacy in the hallway just outside the door.

  “You sure you don’t mind.” Lacy asked.

  “No, not at all. Besides, I’ve got to finish the story or I may not live another day.” Looking the beautiful woman up and down, Gage asked. “What about you? You gonna be okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. I guess it’s really best if I sleep alone with this sunburn and all.” Lacy said. “Though I hate to miss the end of the story.”

  Gage laughed. “Well, I’ll make it up to you later. Give you your own personal story time.” With that pledge, both Lacy and Gage returned to their respective bedrooms. My God, I am flirting dangerously close to the edge.

  ***********************

  “With Quint hovering close behind, Geoff entered the cave with only a small torch and sword strapped to his side. Silently, they explored every entryway leading deeper inside the dark corridors. Geoff could sense Mecca’s closeness, sending her reassurance that he was coming for her.

  “Mecca waited patiently for two days hoping for someone to rescue her. Feeling desolate, the evil Robida didn’t help matters by taunting her, describing in detail how she was going to rot in the dungeon because her future husband wouldn’t come and save her. So Mecca determined to save herself.

  “Just then, Quint and Geoff peeked their heads around the cave’s wall, having infiltrated the interior dungeon. Watching from a distance, Geoff tried to get Mecca’s attention, pitching small pebbles near her, as the evil Robida swiped a sharp blade very close along her delicate neck. The evil Robida noticed the flicker of her blue eyes and turned to see Geoff step out from behind a cave wall with Quint buzzing in the air behind him.

  “Drawing a sword, Geoff approached Robida, ready for battle. While the evil Robida had diverted his attention from Mecca, she quickly scrapped the sharp rock she found on the ground against the rope tied around her hands.

  “Quint warned Geoff that some of Robida’s henchmen were approaching from behind. Having to turn his attention to them, he had provided Mecca with the time needed to free herself. Untying the rope around her ankles, she formulated an idea as the evil Robida returned his attention to her.

  “Quint and Geoff were engaged in an all out battle with the twenty henchmen. As Robida descended on Mecca, she pretended to be restrained by the ropes until he edged closer and closer…..”

  Lacy stepped inside and quietly announced. “I can’t sleep.”

  “Come on, mom. We’re just getting to the good part.” Looking at the storyteller for assurance. “Right?”

  Lacy slipped into bed next to Gage who only nodded in agreement. “Don’t let me stop you. Go on.” Encouraging Gage to continue.

  “Just as the evil Robida was about to slice Mecca’s neck she leaned back, kicking him right in the…..” Gage corrected herself. “Face. Stunned, he fell back temporarily, losing his balance. Scooping some dirt in her hand she quickly got up. As he was about to strike again, Mecca blew the handful of dirt in his face. In his confused state, Mecca took the opportunity that presented itself.

  “Just as Quint and Geoff finished off the last of the henchmen they turned around ready to help free Mecca only to find she had bound the evil Robida securely with the rope that had previously held her feet. Geoff rushed to his love, wrapping her in his arms.

  “The next day, the celebration continued throughout the land with the formal announcement of their marriage and all were relieved to hear that the evil Robida was transported in a capsule far away into the future.”

  Sensing the ending of the story, Dani concluded. “And they lived happily ever after.” A short pause. “I knew she’d get out of it on her own.”

  “So you liked it, huh?”

  “Oh, yes, I did. Very good story there, Gage. Perhaps I’ll let you tell me another.” Dani yawned, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  Smiling at Lacy, Gage said. “That’s the highest praise I’ve ever gotten for one of my stories.”

  “Me too. Jage, I like… like story, too.” Derek supplied his input.

  Gage brushed her lips in a light kiss across his forehead as Lacy watched the sweet scene unfold. Derek laid his head down on her chest, closed his eyes and fell to sleep.

  “That was nice.”
Lacy stated simply. She snuggled closer as near as her sun burnt body would allow and still be comfortable, shut her eyes and fell asleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gage contorted her face in disgust as she slipped the slimy, wiggling worm on Derek’s fishing hook. The young boy giggled. “Fishy food.”

  “Yeah, fishy food. Yuk!” Gage spit out, dropping the line.

  Screwing up his face to mimic the expression Gage displayed, Derek echoed. “Yuk!” Then dropped the baited line in the water off the dock. Dropping down on the edge of the dock, Derek settled between her legs as she sat on a lawn chair.

  Lacy sat next to her in a matched chair. She watched her daughter cast her line from the edge of the dock a few feet away. Dani, a serious fisherman, fished standing just in case she needed the extra leverage when she snagged a big fish while Derek enjoyed watching his cork bob up and down in the water unconcerned that a fish was nibbling on it. He’d splash the tip of his pole in and out of the water, effectively scaring them away.

  “You don’t fish much, do you?” Lacy smirked at Gage’s reluctant assistance.

  Wiping the slime from the worm on her blue jeans, Gage replied. “How’d you guess?” Sparing a glance to Lacy. “Not one of my skills. I guess you’re an expert fisherman though.”

  “I can hold my own. It’s been a long time….too long.” Thinking back, Lacy continued. “Some of the best fishing I ever did was right here on this lake. My grandparents had a cabin up here years ago.” Waving her arm out across the lake. “Things have changed in the last fifteen years. Back then, there was only about a third maybe less cabins here.”

  “Mark, my friend, has had his cabin for, gosh, I think he said forty, forty-five years. He’s remodeled some. Actually, it belonged to his mother’s family. Mark inherited.” Gage offered.

  “The two of you, you’re close?” Lacy hesitantly asked, intently studying Gage as she answered.