Chapter 4 – The Story with No Name - Changes

George who had been sitting at his camp desk moved onto the love seat with his Queen Amy Jo.  He could tell something was up and assumed she was having a hot flash something that he used to struggle with as during those moments she wanted what many times he had not the energy to give.  Over the years he had adjusted and let her dictate to him his actions based on what she needed.  As he held her she had led him or rather his hand to massage her and in the end the change from hyperactivity to a mellow relaxation came over her.  George thought about this for some time leading him to just consider the idea of change and how early on she had once told him she would not change for any man.  As he looked down at her as she dozed he remembered back to that moment when he realized he was going to be a dad.

George had driven back to his apartment and saved Samson from the primping and pampering he was receiving from several of the young ladies who lived nearby and who, because of his proximity to the back pool which was by unspoken rule set aside as a quiet place for sunbathing and relaxing, were his constant house guests treating his ground level living room as a changing room.  George who had lived with so many different families, some of whom were large and rather free when it came to what some would consider privacy, ignored the women as they made themselves at home and used his shower and at times his apartment for naps, their unspoken clubhouse, reading room and also made use of the fact he was a trained in massage therapy.  When he walked in, two of his closer friends had arrived from the coast and had taken over his bedroom and loft.  Needing some alone time he quickly showered and went about getting dressed but there was no hiding the tattoo. Tiffany who at one time he had hoped to marry was the first to make a comment.  George had ignored her as he headed out to find a quiet place.  A nap did not come as he ended up in the fitness center. Going through his routine of strength training followed by a sauna and then several laps in the pool, he found himself thinking.  He liked Amy Jo and having had sex with her as he had once had with Tiffany he made the decision he was going to love her unconditionally.  With Tiffany it had been hard particularly when she had aborted their child without asking him.  For George it was that simple, love was action and a decision made was a promise kept.  There was no doubt in his mind that Queen Amy Jo was carrying his child and if he was wrong he knew she soon would be.

 As he walked back to his apartment he was stopped by the sound of the three girls who would now be part of his family.  Looking over the brick wall to the pool outside of his apartment they were there in the pool, splashing around wearing bikinis.  Seeing a couple of the young men who lived in the complex entering the pool area he hopped the wall.  When he left he had made sure that every one of those young men knew those were his daughters and were off limits.  In his apartment the Queen had gone about making herself at home.  The fact that Tiffany was helping her move furniture around meant that they had already met.  Gone was his massage table.  Amy Jo had smiled at him when he mentioned he had several clients who liked the informality of coming to his place.  Going upstairs he had to hunt for his clothes. Dressed he whistled to Samson who took his time to get back.  Amy Jo noticed he was not in uniform and asked where it was.  George told her that today he was not working at the resort as he was leading a three day trail ride into the mountains.  The look on her face hurt and he told her she and the girls were welcome to come along.  He was set straight when she said she had to work on Monday and the girls had school.  Before he left he apologized and handed his pocket calendar to her letting her know he had scheduled several jobs over the summer and wanted her to think about a good time for their celebration and where she wanted to go for their honeymoon.

Amy Jo who had been startled after finding his apartment at the numerous young women in various stages of undress had asked which one of them was the woman of the house.  All had looked at Tiffany who shook her head and said there was no woman of this house but her ex allowed them to make use of it when they needed.  Tiffany had studied her for a moment and had asked if she would be the queen who her best friend and one time lover now belonged to? The question had shocked Amy Jo but she had stood straight and said yes and said since she and George were now married she would be sharing his apartment from time to time and right now she needed help reorganizing.  Most of the young women dressed quickly and then left.  Those who remained helped rearrange furniture and the first thing to go was the massage table which thankfully was collapsible and now tucked under their bed.  Tiffany had chuckled and told her George was not going to be too happy as he liked having things his way.  When George had walked in the look on his face was one of bemusement.

When he told her he would be gone for three days after she noted he was not wearing his uniform it had startled her again and had made her angry as she had not been a part of the decision making process.  The fact she had his schedule on a small calendar did not help her mood any, what did help some was that he wanted her to think about planning a wedding celebration.  As she went about making dinner for her family and the friends of George’s who had remained It was Samantha who asked if they could stay in town with George during the school week.  The question was not answered as a couple of men came by to ask to speak to George.  Tiffany said yes they could but they had to go to the Sheriff stables to talk to him.  Neither man seemed in a hurry to leave so Amy Jo said they needed to go.  The look they gave her scared her and made her realize she was only wearing her bikini.  There was hesitancy before they actually got up and left.  Amy who had planned on staying in town that night changed her mind and went home but first went to the stables where she found George’s truck among several law enforcement vehicles. 

Those three days for Amy Jo were not the same as she now had a secret which she realized just coming and saying she and George were married by way of sleeping together was not good public relations.  The fact that several of her work friends could tell she had changed meant that during meal times she was asked about her mountain boy.  It was on Tuesday she wore the ring for the first time.  On Wednesday she stopped by his apartment early and found him sleeping on the floor.  She could not help herself and slipping her suit off crawled under the blanket where he made himself available to her even though he stayed asleep after he acknowledged her arrival by giving her a kiss and mumbling her name.  It was that afternoon when he showed up for work that he helped her out by breaking the news to the secretary in his department that he was engaged but they had not yet come up with where to hold the ceremony.  Two days later without her input the ceremony was planned and the honeymoon set by several key members of the resort staff, and the communication committee took over the planning.  George had smiled as he watched and one night when he came out to her house with Samson who would be going with Tiffany when she moved to Arkansas, Amy Jo complained to him.  He had only smiled and told her to let them plan this party as in reality they were already one and that way she could have two anniversaries one for themselves and one for everyone else.

Oh waking up with him next to her and seeing her off had been nice but having to work was now work, whereas before it was more or less her life.  For the next month being able to see George at work and having him find moments when they could sneak a kiss here and there along with him finding a couple of times for something more brought excitement to what was becoming a rather boring job.  When he left the resort at the end of the season to work on another project she felt lonely during the day.  Amy Jo felt bad about complaining to him about her days but he would let her.  When the doctor told her she had to take a maternity leave she had looked to George and asked what they were going to do, they could not afford both his apartment and her house.  As they pulled out their checkbooks, she realized how much debt she had to his couple of small credit cards and a small school loan.  When he closed his accounts and moved all of his money into hers she had gotten mad telling him those debts were her responsibility.  He had only smiled which had made her angrier. His touch kept her from going ballistic.

During those months before their marriage celebration as he called it, which was going to be held at another resort where he had helped build a ghost town for parties, she was intrigued with the fact George just went with the flow which with her mood swings kept changing.  When she made the decision to sell her house as the house was too small for two parents four teens and a newborn, moving appeared to be daunting but she watched as George just did it, he arranged for homes for the numerous animals she and the girls had collected and had taken the horses to a ranch in Colorado which was also their summer vacation.  With her truck too small he gave her his truck and sold hers.  By her third trimester none of his friends came around anymore as he had cut himself off from them.  When Amy Jo’s mom asked him if his family was coming to the party George pointed to Amy Jo and the girls and said he hoped so or he would look funny standing alone in front of everyone saying his vows to no one.  That night as they had lay in bed; George rubbed her back, she finally asked when she was going to meet his family.  His reply to her was that she and the girls were now his family.

Amy Jo had said she meant his parents, sisters, brothers. George had not said a word as he rolled away from her.  When he got up she asked where he was going and he told her he wanted to look at the stars.  She had gotten mad at him and told him to take his precious stars and shove them somewhere.  When he came back he sat down and told her he was sorry and he was done looking at stars.  As he had begun taking the girls to school he had managed to get a job coaching the football team and teaching.  When she pointed out he did not have a degree he smiled and said the last fellow did and almost killed someone because he did not think about stuff.  The day in early fall came, she had mellowed as she realized George made his decisions based on what would make her happy.  Her friends which had not quit coming around and many of whom had helped with the costumes and marriage celebration plans were all there.  George was busy putting on the finishing touches to the ghost town.  When her bridesmaids who were more or less dressed like saloon girls joined her she asked where the groomsmen were.  George surprised her when he said this was going to be a shotgun ceremony.

She had not had time to ask why as she was caught up in the excitement of the day.  Even seven months pregnant the dress he had helped design made her look awesome as Amber put it.  Just as George said this was a shotgun wedding and he was brought forward by a couple of managers of the resort he no longer worked at dressed as cavalry officers carrying shotguns.  Instead of a pastor he had arranged for an elderly judge to dress in the period clothes and officiate.   The ceremony over he had taken her to a timeshare condo someone had donated for the night and then to her favorite dance hall where only the wedding party had been invited each one paying their own way.  Once they were back at the condo she asked where his tux was and he smiled and said he had looked at them but did not see paying that much for a pair of pants he was planning on getting out of as soon as possible or a jacket he would only wear once.  She had just sat back and watched as he stripped and then let him help her.  When he had her in the shower she told him she was fat and he had said no she was pregnant, but even if she ever got fat that would not change the fact he loved her.  As he made her comfortable on the big sectional in front of the fireplace and made her up a cup of hot cocoa and served it to her au natural she could not help but stare.

She finally blurted out that he had better not ever cheat on her.  Smiling he told her he had never cheated on her and was not about to start.  When she told him she would not change for a man he had smiled and said no one had asked her to change.  Then he just stopped tilted his head sideways and looked at her with a smile on his face; when she asked what, he told her that for someone not wanting to change for a man she had certainly made some huge changes since they first met.  She started laughing as he tried to mime what he meant.  He finally gave up and helped her to stand up and rubbed her belly and ran a finger around her much enlarged glands.  She had wanted to melt but he had this idea and carried her out to the pool and helped her into the hot tub.  When she told him that they were naked he told her so was Adam and Eve when they first met and if he had to guess even after they were given the boot from their first home when they were alone they were probably dressed the same as the day they were created.  She had told him they were not alone.  Looking around he told her he did not see anyone and anyways it was past pool hours and since they had not yet gotten into the holiday season and summer season was over the villas were more empty than full.  On the way back to the condo they had to duck behind some bushes and then got soaked again when the sprinklers came on.  When they finally made it back to the condo and she into the large whirlpool bath she told him that had been exciting.  He had only looked at her softly.

The next day she found herself in the mountains in a small cabin which he said was an old line shack and since it was not used by cowboys anymore it had been converted into a getaway cabin.  For a week she did absolutely nothing she did not want to do, the cabin though small was quaint and she told him that she liked the old ranch house look.  A month later as they moved into a larger house that was in a nearby town which they had to scrub, her daughters asked why they had to work.  George said since they enjoyed shopping so much he figured he had to save money somewhere and finding a house that needed some cleaning before they could move in was just such an opportunity and the best part was they could decorate their rooms as they saw fit as long as mom said okay.  By that weekend their new house was filled with teen girls helping decorate.  Amy Jo sitting on the back porch watched as George went to work moving rocks.  When he came home with these wooden structures she asked what they were for and he explained they had been a part of a set but were about to get a new lease on life as a fence.

When she had said no he told her to stop him, since she could not she just watched and within a week he had a small yard around the patio with raised gardens complete with seats for her to sit on, a play yard with the softest soil she had ever felt on her feet which he said would be the softest carpet of grass before long.  The fact it was a yard designed with a toddler in mind got her to crying.  Then he set about to the other half of the yard which got a pond big enough for all of them to get in and stand with the water covering everything neck down, a fire pit and three large walk in cages which amazingly did not go above the cinder block wall.  Then came the animals; large iguanas, desert tortoises, flamingos he said were only visiting, two large swans, a dog and birds.  By the time he was done she had this zoo of sorts complete with some awesome foliage including this huge bamboo that blocked the neighbors from seeing into the yard.  With the privacy in place she and the girls along with their friends went to work on their tans.  Amy Jo during the last month of her pregnancy spent more time when it was warm enough during the day tending their garden aunatural and many times was surprised by him and would find him just watching.  When she heard what she thought was him one day she had intended to surprise him by meeting him at the door; thankfully she looked through the peep hole to find those two men standing at the door.  Keeping the door locked she went into the bedroom and called George.  When he got home the men were still waiting and though he did not let them inside he seemed to have a good natured relationship with the men.  When they left she asked exactly who they were.  George said they were just some old acquaintances he had lived with for a time growing up.

She had told him she did not like them and he had smiled and said he had picked up on that and they were not men he really wanted in his house ever. When she asked why he said they were made men and though they were like brothers to him he never wanted them in his house.   That night at the dinner table Amber blurted out a question asking her dad who that woman was who gave him a hug at the school was.  Amy Jo erupted and then ran into the room.  When George got her to calm down enough he said his sister whom he had not seen since he was twelve had dropped by to see him before she left for Florida.  Amy Jo asked George what was in Florida, shrugging he told her he never asked as it was not his business.  With her calmed down enough he told her that at the end of the year he was no longer going to be employed by the school district as apparently they had found a replacement coach with a degree and a new teacher.  She asked what they were going to do and he smiled and said he had already lined up work on a movie set starting the first week of January.  They did not finish the discussion as she had her first contraction.

 A week later they had another girl added to the household.  At Christmas time when it came out George would be taking a new job again her mom asked him why he could not just settle down and keep a job.  George had not gotten mad but did point to the door and told her he would send her a postcard or two from Australia.  The girls had gotten excited but Grandma had flipped her lid and said he could not take her babies to Australia at which point told her she was not in charge and she told him to shut up.  George had told her thanks for stopping by and to not let the door hit in her in the backside on the way out.  When she asked if she was being asked to leave George smiled and said no he was telling her she was not welcome in his house when he was home.  Looking at Amy he apologized and said he needed a walk and when he came back if her mom was still there he was not going to be and would find him up in the mountains at the cabin until his plane left.  Amy’s moms plane was not due to leave until after the New Year and she did not want to make her have to get a hotel room but was also not going to leave her alone with her children after her little eruption so it was George who was out of the house and when she found his plane tickets which were one way to Australia she got mad at him.

Meeting him at the airport she found he had already replaced them and when she asked why they were one way he told her the movie would take over a year to make and there was money set aside for her and the girls to come down as soon as their passports showed up.  When she told him her girls did not have passports he nodded and then told her he had remedied that.  Amy looked at George and asked when he was going to tell her; George asked if she had even bothered to open her presents or look in the stockings.  When she got back to the house she found a picture of the house they would be living in Australia, a set of keys to a new suburban which happened to be parked at the next door neighbors and a calendar outlining a debt repayment plan, which include what he would be making in Australia.  As far as the animals he had made arrangements for them all to go to suitable homes.  When Amy Jo’s mom tried to apologize, Amy told her she was the wrong one to apologize to.  When Amy left her at the airport she had wanted to talk to George but he was in Australia.

When she did talk to him she reminded George she had a job, the girls had school and she had to figure out childcare.  The childcare became easy as two weeks after going back to work and finding she had a new boss who would not work with her she tried to transfer and when she got no reply she quit.  George came home once during that year to a rather cool welcome and when he came back at the end of it he was sad.  Stepping in he helped her by taking over the care of the youngest.  With the cash in the bank and a rather tight budget she had adhered to they were fine and when she had finally asked George what he was going to do next he told her he had already talked to several local companies and would be doing on call work.  Within that first year back that on call work was happening almost every day.  The money coming in was great and she Amy was watching their debt become smaller but was not seeing George as much as she wanted and he was always tired as he was driving all over the southwest.  When her dad died he took time off to watch his daughter but did not go to the funeral.  When her oldest got into trouble at school to the point she was expelled from the district, Amy finally told George she could use some help.  George pointed out her mother was moving back.  Amy said she knew that and asked if he was saying her mother could help.

George broke down and told her he had tried to help but at every point he was told his help was not wanted and the girls had their schedules and she had her work and now he was stuck.  Amy asked what that meant.  George had lowered his head apologizing for being a lousy husband and father.  That had smacked Amy Jo who knew he was doing what he could to keep her and the girls fed and clothed and had given up so much of who he was.  Grabbing his hand she asked what he wanted out of his life.  It took him a long time before he said now he no longer wanted anything for himself accept to see her happy.  Amy smiled and said that was funny because she was not that happy at the moment as she never got to see her husband.  At the moment he got a call for yet another job and he apologized and said no he was not available.  Piling them all into the suburban he drove them to the top of a mountain.  There with only the family he asked what was up with school.  Four girls said school sucked and was boring.  Looking at Amy he said it seemed to him kids were bored when they were not learning something or being challenged and if those who were getting paid to keep them from being bored were failing they should fire them.  When she asked who would teach their children he smiled and said they would.  Taking their toddler by the hand he began walking with the girls dogs tagging along and began teaching the littlest about the plants and animals on that mountain.

As she and the girls tagged along she was surprised how he could incorporate all subjects into one lesson.  In ten minutes she had learned more about her desert home than she had in her, almost forty years in life.  She had asked George again why the school district, fire him.  He said politics and the fact he had no college degree.

Chapter 3 – The Story with No Name – Branding Time

Amy Jo walked down to the beach where she found her King of her Jungle sitting watching the ever changing patterns in the water.  She remembered those early months as if they had happened yesterday and also how scared she was he would leave her for a younger woman.  As he glanced up and smiled at her she could tell that sadness she had seen almost from day one of their marriage had taken hold.  As he stood up to walk toward her he adjusted his shorts so she could see her brand.  Inside she could feel herself melt all over again.  When he stopped to give her a quick kiss before heading into his hideaway she had wanted to go back to that Saturday and throw caution to the wind and ignore the Little Bitty from up the beach who thought the beach in front of their house was hers and show George once again that her passion was not dead.  Following him into his tent she smiled as she knew she had one of a kind.  While all of her friends husbands had spent fortunes on  toys, the only thing her George wanted was this less than two hundred dollar tent which was really a car canopy with a side door that became an awning and screen windows.  As she took a seat on the love seat that had been relegated to his domain she smiled as she was reminded of the numerous nights they never made it to the bedroom and how he had to explain why he was kneeling in front of her to two very young little girls.  His quick reply that he was paying tribute to the queen was now a joke in the family the fact both had remained dressed and she had had a blanket over her, which he had crawled under, had kept those eyes from seeing what was really going on. Laying back and putting her feet up she caught him glancing up from his notebook and when his hand touched her leg she closed her eyes and was taken back.

For years Amarinda Josephine had always worn conservative suits cut to accentuate her figure.  She changed that when she realized our George liked her legs and she began including skirts in her attire.  It was in a chance moment in time when he happened to come into the staff dining hall when she was working late and getting ready to enjoy a late snack that she waved him over.  As he joined her she knew he had noticed her legs but did not let his eyes linger there. As others would come up to him she noticed especially with the girls who worked the nightclub coming in for dinner, though he noticed the skimpy outfits and even complimented a few he did not let his eyes linger or stare;  when he talked to others he looked them in the eye, both men and women.  She hardly even got a chance to talk to him as it seemed every swing shift employee had something they needed advice on including the manager on duty who had come in and asked what he would do in a certain situation and her mountain man must of known what guest was complaining as he told the manager to tell Mrs. Jones that he would take her to the waterfall in the morning.

Our queen had stopped him when he had a break and asked why he was taking Mrs. Jones to the waterfall.  He had looked up startled by the question and she realized she had sounded accusatory.  Almost instantly he told her she was welcome to come along as he was leading a group up to see the upper falls, looking down at her feet he told her that she would need to wear comfortable hiking shoes.  Looking down at his shoes she noticed the cowboy boots and mentioned they were not part of his uniform.  Apologizing he said at the moment they were what he had to wear so unless she wanted him to go around in his socks or barefoot she would have to deal with it.  When the General Manager walked in as he was preparing to go back to work, the Queen mistakenly thought he was there to see her and when he walked over to her George and then walked out with him laughing at something George said in reply to a question, the soon to be Amy Jo made the decision they needed to talk.

She missed the hike he lead for a convention group but heard the stories told by both guests and employees who had gone on the hike and how he stopped someone from stepping on a rattle snake which he picked up and moved and then when they encountered a cougar getting a drink how he kept everyone calm by talking quietly to the cougar; according to everyone she heard tell the story the cat seemed to understand what he was saying.  She did not see her jungle man for almost a week and when he came in next he was showing a deeper tan and a haircut well actually his hair had been shaved and she saw the scar.  She asked if he was okay, before he could answer one of the younger members of the communication committee came in, and having been out on maternity leave had not met George, and asked who he was.  George who had taken to sitting next to her majesty when he showed up to the weekly meetings raised an eyebrow when our Queen said he was spoken for. 

After that weekly meeting they walked back across the resort grounds; he asked what she liked to do, when she said she liked to go dancing, he nodded and asked where and when.  That was it and when he went to talk to the chef at the Japanese Steak and Sushi House it was settled he would meet her on Thursday for dinner at her favorite dance hall.  She had smiled to herself as she thought at least he would not need to buy new shoes.  What she had not told him was that Thursday was family night and she and the girls went every Thursday.  She hardly noticed those two days but did finally ask what he did for the resort.   Her boss said whatever was needed to be done he helped out in getting it done, but was sad to say he was leaving at the end of the season. 

As always she joined her friends for their night of line dancing with their daughters.  George was already waiting sitting on the tailgate of his truck.  As he dropped down from the huge crew cab, she inhaled as she knew what those cost and there was no way an employee of the resort could afford anything half the price on what they were paid.  Once they were settled for dinner her best friend asked George where he was from, smiling George said here and when the woman asked what he meant by here, George smiled and said at the moment he lived here so this is where he was from.  One of the other gals asked where he was from before he was from here and he shrugged and said he had been around.  Amy put her hand on his arm and asked him to play nice.  Raising his eyebrow he smiled and said he had been in the mountains before coming to the desert to look at the stars.  When he was asked how many he had met he laughed and said since he was stuck on the earth and had no interest in breathing air out of a can he had not met any stars and was not all positive he would want to as they were filled with way too much gas and hot air for his taste.  Several of the teen girls spewed their sodas when they started laughing at his dead pan answer.  When Amy Jo told him she thought maybe there was difference of definition he smiled and winked and said as for those actor types that lead pretend lives he knew plenty of them.  She had looked at him and asked when he had met them.   Shrugging he said he met them in different places, some here in the desert, some in the mountains, some on planes, others in the cities.

Raising his hand he said he thought they had come to do some dancing and getting up grabbed Amy Jo’s oldest daughter’s hand and took her out onto the dance floor.  Walking over to the DJ booth he put on some old beach music and had the teen girls doing some squirmy dance.  That came to a halt when the line dance instructor, who was another good friend of Amy Jo’s,  took over.  As the woman tried to teach a new dance George kept everyone laughing as he did his own thing.  As the night wore on and two of the moms took the girls home Amy Jo’s best friend Emily asked how old George was and what she knew about him.  Amy Jo shrugged and said he was old enough to own a really big pickup and have a job.  She was asked what exactly his job was and Amy shrugged.  One of the secretaries spoke up as she sat down and said at the end of the season he was leaving the resort, to do what she did not know but the upper management of the company was not very happy and had offered him really huge salaries to stay with the company.  Their conversation was stopped as George pulled her onto the dance floor and showed he did know how to dance.  By the time they were done she wanted him to ask her to go home with him.

That night as they left she knew he had had a couple of drinks put in front of him early on but had not seen him touch a single one since the dancing started, that had intrigued her.  When he got her away from her friends she saw something almost wild and when he had her up against his truck and kissed her Amy felt a shock like none other and knew no matter what, this was the one for her.  As he pulled back and walked her to her truck he made sure she could walk straight.  Helping her in he asked if she wanted to go with him on Saturday.  When she said yes, he smiled tipped his hat she did not remember seeing and walked off.  Friday she took off to attend one of her daughter Jenny’s softball games.  Her other three girls harangued her the entire time asking if she had kissed him and if they were boyfriend and girlfriend.  Over ice cream and pizza she finally admitted he had kissed her and that yes he was taking her out on Saturday so they needed to get up early and clean the house.  Saturday came and they found when they woke up George already at the house working on their yard.  When she asked how long he had been there he said he could not sleep so when it became Saturday he came over and started helping out and had fixed her broken sprinkler, cleaned the pool, fixed her barn door and cleaned the barn, but left the outside paddocks for the girls who might want to be careful as he had fixed the electric fence.

Going to his truck he pulled out two heavy duffels and said now that they were up he would do the horses hooves.  Forgetting she was still in her robe she followed him to the barn where he already had an anvil set up along with a small furnace and a bucket of water.  She and the girls watched with awe as he wrangled the grumpy old mare talking quietly to her, in less than ten minutes he had her old shoes off and her feet trimmed and looking up he said she really had hard enough hooves that she did not need shoes.  Amber the youngest asked if was raised on a ranch.  Shaking his head he said no but he had spent a couple of years helping out an old vet and farrier.  Samantha the outgoing half of the twins asked if he had a girlfriend.  Without missing a beat he said he had hundreds of girls that were friends maybe even thousands.  Amber asked if he kissed them all and standing up he shook his head and said that she was a little young but since she asked he could count the number of women he kissed on one hand without needing to use a single finger.  Amy knew he meant she was the only one and could not believe she was the only one he had ever kissed and had put her hands on her hips letting her robe slip open.  How he managed to make it look like he had not even noticed when he led the mare out and whispered to her that she might want to get ready for the day caused her to take a good long look at him as he walked out to the pasture and caught the next horse with an easy flick of a rope.

On the way into the house she jumped into the pool and swam several laps before walking into the house as bare as she always did after swimming.  By the time she was dressed with a bikini on under her sun dress her daughters had come in, gotten dressed and cleaned the kitchen; he was mostly cleaned up from the waist up and cooking breakfast.  After breakfast he went back to the barn and used the muck room shower.   When he came up wearing only a pair of jeans he asked if it was okay if he left his stuff in the tack room as it took up too much space in his apartment.  Amy nodded and said only if he made her breakfast every Saturday.  Shrugging he said he would try.  As she followed him out to his truck she watched as he walked and realized he reminded her of a cat.  Looking back he grabbed a shirt out of his truck and slipped it on.  The sleeves were missing and the buttons went only half way up leaving his chest exposed.  All four of her daughters whispered to her they wanted him as their new dad.  Her oldest told Amy if she did not want him she would take him.

Amy Jo gave her daughter that look and Sabrina said he was not that much older than they were.  Amy said she did not believe she was hearing her right.  Amber said he was only like twenty one.   Amy rolled her eyes and said they did not know his age.  When he came back up with a smile he said he was ready.  Looking down at his feet she saw he had a pair of ninety-nine cent flip-flops on.  She looked at him and he shrugged saying he was at the store last night and realized boots at the pool looked funny.  Amy asked whose pool and he said his apartment complex had five of them and now that it was getting warmer the cement might not be so pleasant to walk on.  Amy caught all four of her daughters looking him up and down and then settled on his chest.  Amber asked where they were going, George looking at their mom said she looked like she wanted to go swimming somewhere so he was thinking the beach and asked if she had ever gone surfing.

The girls had all wanted to go but Amy was glad that George said it seemed to him on a date it should be one on one time.  The drive to the coast was quiet as he let her drive part way while he napped.  When he took over and stopped in front of a house he smiled and said he needed to get something.  Walking back out with two surfboards and four young women in tow he smiled and Amy gave a halfhearted smile, when he climbed in one of the girls told him where the swell was best that day.  Amy asked if those were some of his girlfriends.  As he drove down the coast he told her two were his cousins and two were friends and he had held hands with both of them when he was little and was forced to when they went somewhere.   Amy asked if he really had never kissed a girl.  Smiling he said not like he kissed some pretty thing he had met at the honky tonk the other night, but he forgot to get her name and only knew her as Ma’am.  Amy said she knew his name, smiling he said it was kind of hard to miss since he had to wear a name tag like he was in kindergarten and the royalty did not.  Amy asked who was royalty and he said all those who did not have to wear name tags were royalty.  Looking in his console she found some individual icing tubes and he said he had decorated a birthday cake the other day and those were left over.  Amy took one and used it to write her name on her cleavage which in a moving truck and backwards was kind of hard to do.

When they stopped at the beach under the nuclear power plant they received waves from many of the other beach goers.  Before she could ask two more young women came running over and jumped on his running boards.  One of them looked at Amy and started giggling and asked George if he could not remember who his current girlfriends name was.  Taking the tube he smiled and looking at the horrid attempt he wiped it off with his fingers and licked his fingers before writing Queen Amy Jo in icing.  Looking at Amy Jo he said they had better behave as they were in the presence of a queen and he would hate to be forced to spank them in public.  As they opened the door for her she could not help laughing as the two gals bowed to her and then helped her take off her sun dress.  She caught George glancing sideways at her before focusing on changing under an Indian blanket.  Half a day she watched and was made to feel at home by the mostly younger crowd all of whom would bow to her when they addressed her.  It was from these young people that she found out he had been raised by a whole mess of people some state agency foster parents like some of them and some family members and when he would wander off he would be taken in by someone until he was found and brought back to southern California.

Amy asked what they meant by wander off, one of the older men, who said he had once been one of George’s pseudo daddies, told her he and his wife woke up one day and found him gone and a note saying he was going to go fishing.  A year later the authorities found him helping an Inuit family bringing in their catch. That was after he had been found to be underage aboard a large commercial boat and been put ashore with his pay.  When George came out of the water he was asked when he took off to go to Alaska.   He smiled and said it was just before he turned ten.  Amy shook her head and asked how he got to Alaska.  George told her that he had bought a plane ticket so he flew to Alaska and had to ask this old fella he knew from the beach to pretend to be his grandpa and buy him a ticket as well.  Amy shook her head and asked why some old guy would just up and go to Alaska, George shrugged and said the ticket was free and he had never been to see his grandson who lived in Anchorage.  Amy asked why he went since he could fish here.  George smiled and asked if she knew how much a fella could make in one season in Alaska.  Queen Amy Jo said that was hard to believe they would let a ten year old just up and start working on a fishing boat. With a frown he said he had been as tall as the Japanese crew or most of them at least. 

Looking around, he said some of them folks who had helped raise him did so out of kindness but he heard the arguments over money and could tell their children had to sacrifice so when he found something that he could do to help he did.  Amy asked about school;   George shrugged and said he knew how to read and since mostly teachers told you what you could read on your own or worse not even that as some told you what they wanted you to believe well he could do just fine reading and thinking for himself or asking someone who knew about what you wanted to learn to teach you and if there is a problem you need an answer to, if you studied the problem long enough most of the time you could figure it out.  Amy let it go at the signal from one of the older women who came over to let everyone know the food was on.

Sitting by the fire while George went around the group like the host of some grand party until he ended up in a pickup volleyball game, she watched as he was personable but kept an invisible boundary between him and others.  When the game was over she helped wipe the sand off him and asked if he was going to introduce her to these friends.  Smiling he looked at the players and apologized and putting his hand out he said he was George sometimes the curious one and sometimes the one from the jungle.  One of the girls smiled and said anytime he wanted to play he could come to her jungle better known as Santa Monica and her name was Brie.  The young man shook George’s hand introducing himself as Cody and said if he ever needed a partner when he went pro to look him up and he would drop his current partner, the last girl told George, after telling him her name was Simone, he could call her anytime and then wrote her phone number on his hand said they were all playing in Huntington Beach the coming week. George smiled and said he would have to check with his queen as he put his arm around Amy.

Later in the late afternoon as they said good bye to his friends she drove over the mountains and when she came down into the desert he woke up and told where to go.  They ended up way out in the high desert far from any man made lights.  She realized they were next to some huge sand dunes.   As he led her up them to the top he had removed her and his shoes.  Even though the night was cooling off the sand was still warm.  Putting a blanket down he helped her sit down and then lay next to her.  As she watched him look at the stars she was mesmerized. Looking down she saw she still had some of the gel frosting on her chest.  She could not help herself.  When they were both spent and she was listening to his chest and the wind he told her then that this was for life.  She had sat up and asked if he was asking her to marry him.  George had sat up and told her it seemed that they were a little late for that as according to the Good Book, becoming one flesh kind of seals the deal. 

Amy asked what if she was pregnant; with a smile he said that he would be there to catch.  Amy smiled and said that was being romantic, as he chuckled she could not help herself and tackled him. When they were done again with him holding her down albeit not very forcefully they both knew she was pregnant and all of those questions went by the way side as they now had to face the joining of two households.  As he had carried her back down to the truck and then made another trip as naked as the day he was born to gather their clothes she could not help but smile and then it hit her she did not know his age if he had children, really other than where he worked and that he had had an unusual childhood she did not know much about him.   When he got into the truck she blurted out asking him how old he was and he told her he was twenty three but not to worry most people thought he was ten years older.  Amy Jo said she felt like she was going to be sick.   She had never felt such gentle hands and as the feeling passed she took out another tube of gel icing and used it to brand him.  Smiling as he looked down he said he had an idea.  Helping her get dressed and then throwing on his jeans he had shoved everything in the back seat and then drove like a mad man half the time across the desert without his lights on.  When she realized there were tanks all around them she asked where were they.  He had said they were with the good guys.  Pulling up to a small encampment of what she realized were Marines from the high desert base he jumped out and went over to an older marine and when they walked back George told her to meet one of his daddies, Colonel Sparks.  The old black colonel smiled in the night and told her congratulations on taming down those most wandering feet ever made and hooking herself a prize specimen if he said so himself.

Amy had to shake her head at the forthrightness when he asked her if she was okay with George getting branded permanently.  When she looked at George he pointed to the words she wrote and then said he wanted to tattoo it on his hip.  Amy asked when, George said right now.  Looking at George she said he was crazy and then nodded.  A large jacket was brought for her as George lowered his pants slightly as a young marine wearing her hair up stepped forward and told the colonel he was not supposed to know she was the artist in the bunch.  Looking at George just standing there waiting the sergeant shook her head said for this she would walk to hell and back.  Thirty minutes later George had his pants pulled back up and a fresh brand on his right hip that read Property of the Queen.  How he managed to make it home before dawn and get her into bed before her girls woke up she did not know but as she lay there recalling last night she smiled and cried as she realized that tattoo was her wedding ring.  Then it hit her what did she tell her girls, her parents, her friends,  she had accepted George’s argument as it actually made sense to her.  She fell asleep crying asking herself what she had done.   George was there when she woke up and it seemed he had spilled the beans to her daughters who would have figured it out anyway.  As a family they formulated a plan as not everyone would understand the concept or rather his concept of how marriage started.  When George pulled out rings she started crying again.  She then asked how he paid for it.  George said with money of course. 

She then looked at him and told him she had an idea what he made at the resort.  George said that pay covered his current bills as he had stopped to breathe for a while as he looked at the stars but he had never intended that as a career just something to keep him from spending his savings or using credit cards.  As she sat down he asked how much debt she had.  She looked up and said she still owed twenty more years of payments on the place and her truck she had another year and the horse trailer another three.  Amy sensed an argument was coming but then she saw George stop before his next sentence a sad look came to his eyes and he said as he held out the rings If they were too much he would take them back.  She told him she liked them but.., before she could continue he said he had to get home and check on his dog that was not used to binge left in the care of neighbors. That brought up the question of where he lived and when she found he lived practically next door to the resort she said that was convenient.  He happened to mention that so was having five pools to choose from and the store two blocks down.

Before she could continue he kissed her and then hugged the girls, Jenny her oldest said she would be glad to stay with him to take care of his dog.  George quietly told her that was up to his Queen and her mom.  Amy Jo was not sure how to answer as all four girls looked to her.  George said for the moment it was okay as he could deal with Sampson all alone and mostly they would be napping and then he had to work that night.  As he drove off Amy cried again but refrained from chasing after him for the first two hours.

Chapter 2 – The Story with No Name – Queen Amy Jo

I suppose having met George the husband in this story it is only right we meet the woman who holds his heart and therefore keeps his wanderlust in check.  She is the queen of his home and heart; over the years as a term of endearment he began calling her Queen Amy Jo actually he started calling her that even before he married her but she never knew that.  Later after they became an item her daughters picked it up, so now she is just Queen Amy Jo.  Her real name is Amarinda Josephine.  For her I need to start at her beginning.

She was born in the elite communities of the American Southwest and was raised in a world of privilege and some would say she had silver spoon in her mouth as she grew up.  The truth was that her parents loved their only daughter and did tend to overindulge but did make her toe the line and work hard, this showed as she was not only captain of her cheer squad but also the softball and volleyball team.  Something most missed was that she was also a member of the Math club and Debate team and as a teen she was not afraid to use her looks to better her position and since her dad would not just fork over her his money she had to earn her way which meant working.

At sixteen she began modeling and by the time it was time for college she had earned her own way but still took the scholarships.  She was asked to join several sororities and picked one that was not necessarily the most popular with the boys as it was made up of young women who knew what they wanted most from a background of privilege and good finances.  The fact that all the girls were athletic and looked good in bikinis around their pool meant they all had suitors.  Their house mother meant there would be no wild parties and any physical relations would be done in a respectful manner.  By her junior year our Queen had honed in on her choice for a life partner and after test driving him for several months found herself pregnant.  The young man also from a background of privilege accepted the responsibility and before the school year was out they were married.

Two things happened her senior year, that would alter the course of her life albeit only slightly at first but over the years they would be greater alterations.  Yes having a daughter as a senior in college was a life altering challenge but more than this was the loss of his parents when the private plane they were returning from Europe on crashed.  Second was the downturn in the economy which wiped out much of what would have been hers when she inherited her parents’ estate.  Her parents sold their multimillion dollar home and after paying off their creditors moved back to her mom’s home in Missouri.  At first all seemed well as both graduated and they moved to the elite coastal communities north of San Diego where because of his small inheritance and her savings they were able to as a young family actually afford to buy a repossessed estate overlooking the Pacific from atop a cliff.  The twins by that time were well on their way to joining the household.   Both our queen and her husband fit well into this community of well to do families and were sought after for all the parties, where he made the right connections and his career in the world of finance and real estate took off. 

Living above the beach was a good thing even if it was a clothing optional beach; it was not until she was pregnant with her fourth that our queen realized there was a growing problem.  It was that little gift he gave her during an intimate moment that could have been devastating to her and the child if not caught in time that should have woken her up.  When they began to throw the parties and she noticed his interactions with several of the gals who lived on the beach it should have sent up a flare but it was not until the fourth daughter was born and he came home to tell her that he had been seeing other women that it slapped her hard.  The fight had been physical and when it was done he had been arrested, released on his own recognizance and she had taken the girls and moved to her home community where she through her contacts took a job managing a health club.   Again she made use of her body to model and when she was offered to be the centerfold for the epitome of gentleman’s magazines she took the offer and would have run with that until she found her ex and his lover used it against her in an attempt to take custody of the girls and therefore her earnings.

Flying out to her parents she went with them to the little Baptist church.  Something changed in her and when she and the girls flew home she made the decision she was going to be their mom.  Leaving the health spa she took a job at a major resort as a concierge and soon found herself on the sales and marketing team where she became a leader and could have moved up the ladder if she had been willing to relocate.  From time to time she had gone on dates but kept men at a distance.  As her daughters grew up she was more than a mom but also a friend to them and because none of them had ever had any contact with their dad since the finalization of the divorce life was fun as they could pursue girl things with mom as the leader.

Then it happened, the day came when our queen was walking down the main service corridor in the underground complex where the needs of the guests are really taken care of when she spied this man who though apparently lost had an aura if you could call it which spoke of an assuredness that lost people do not have.  Shaking her hair, straightening her clothes and checking her makeup she walked up to him and asked if she could help.  She had always been able to hold a man’s attention but with this fine specimen she did not and he hardly noticed her as he said he was just getting his bearings as this was his first day.  A few other women had joined her to watch him walk down the corridor.  None knew who he was, and when they checked with human resources all they could find out was he walked into the hiring center the day before and without ever filling out an application was hired to assist in their conference support department even though he looked like he just stepped out of the mountains.  Our Queen was hooked as were several others and as she could she tried to find more about him.

When the day came he showed up at a communications committee meeting as the representative of the technicians all the women stopped as not only was he a man but he was most definitely straight.  At that moment for the men and women of the communication committee for the resort, most of whom were just trying to hold onto what they had had during their school years in the numerous glee and cheer clubs this quiet man who walked with a self-assuredness that not even the CEO of the company had, life changed as when something of substance did come up he spoke.  His words were few but always were to the point as he was serious that none should be left out or forgotten.  When some of the exotic animals which were under the care of the Marketing department needed to be moved one afternoon he had volunteered and needing to get wet did not hesitate to strip down to his shorts which caused quite a stir among the guests as the pool where quite a few women and their daughters enjoyed the show while the husbands and dads sat in meetings in chilled ballrooms was just across the narrow part of the man-made lake.  The fact that this Tarzan like man was photographed carrying an injured fawn he had found in the foliage on the backside of the pool meant that he was a local hero among the school age children and for a moment the save the world and animals are people too types.

The latter changed when during a brief interview he made a comment about as a steward of nature it was his duty to give the animals that would one day sustain them the best life they could possibly have.  That event with all the children our queen noticed how well he dealt with children.  About a week later during an Easter open house for the employee’s families  where her daughters every year ran a petting zoo with their numerous critters he helped them and as she backed the pickup and stepped out wearing shorts, sandals and a tank top she had seen him take a deep breath.  As he made the correlation between her and her daughters he complimented her at doing an excellent job raising four girls on her own.  She had wanted to ask how he knew she was single but missed the opportunity when his manager a very well-endowed woman came out and borrowed him.  As she watched them walk and heard him laughing she got jealous.  Apparently she also blushed at the thoughts running in her head that were stirred by remembering the look he had on his face when she climbed out of her truck.

Chapter 1 - A Story With No Name - Sadness

Where to start is a question one needs to think about when telling a story.  Do you start at,"In the beginning," or take the ridiculous approach that there was no beginning as many have foolishly fallen into believing based on no real facts just the constant changing of unrealized drivel of well spoken morons who point to their numerous degrees given to them by other degree bearing morons as claim of proof they actually know what they are talking about. I suppose I could start at the beginning but I won't for the sake of brevity. I will start with the now and as necessity requires pull from the past.

 

The present is a time where mankind finds itself on a precipice and needing to make a decision, do they continue listening to the constant drivel from the never ending stream of what can only be described as verbal diarrhea or slow down and go back to the truth and the understanding they are not the creator.  With that said let us now look at one man.

 

I will call him George as his only real desire is to walk away into some jungle and just live, where no one would judge him by the color of his skin, the mode of transportation he chooses or the size of his house or how much crap he owns to fill that house with.  George would have done just that years ago, accept for one thing, he loved his wife and daughters more than words were ever adequate to explain.

 

George as we meet him today is a man with six daughters ages thirty to ten and he is only forty three and has only been married to his only wife for thirteen years.  As you guessed he married a woman who had been married before.  For him it was not love at first sight though he did lust after her the third time he had seen her and had noticed her tan legs. Then a few weeks later when this pretty little thing asked who he was and his wife said he was spoken for when he had never even known they were an item as he had never asked her out or even had lunch with her at work.  Not long after that he did and as she liked to go dancing he took her and after a couple of beers had been relaxed enough to kiss her when they parted ways.  Like so many others he had taken her out to the desert to look at stars, he was not trying to be romantic that night as he just liked to look at stars but she had other thoughts on the subject and the opportunity for sex came up and he told her he was of the notion only if she married him would he take from her what she had wanted to give.  She had agreed and that night they had become one flesh and in his way of thinking and of course according to the Good Book they were one before the Maker.  Working out the details of their living arrangements as she had four daughters who he pretended he did not know had taken their own liking to, and he had taken up residence in a much too small an apartment that was convenient for his then current employment.

 

As soon as his lease had been up they moved into a house and with a yard much smaller than he cared for but which was large enough to allow a menagerie of critters, a camp fire and small pond where he let one of the dogs fish for what turned about to be prized exotic fish.  He had had to pretend to speak harsh to that dog but never took the fish away when she caught them, which meant the dog knew it was okay to keep fishing for those treats. It was after his second daughter was born and the struggle his wife had gone through that he had made the decision to never put her through that again.  For him the decision to be recalibrated for her entertainment was an easy one and one that he had been happy to make.

 

Now though we find George sitting looking out over the water from what  was the twelfth house they were living in.  Like all the rest they did not own this house but they were out of debt completely and his wife had made a good deal with one of his friends whose family had owned the property for almost two hundred years.

 

George at forty five had begun to notice the changes which befall a man and though on the outside people still saw a strong man he knew that his body had begun the downhill slide to his entrance into eternity.  His wife who for some reason had gotten more feisty in certain areas of life did not seem to understand his drive to make certain changes one of which was starting yet another business or rather five businesses simultaneously and his drive to leave the rainforests and return to the deserts which she called home, and some place she had longed to return to for most of their life away.  For George it was simple he wanted her to have her own home that she could call hers and a place for her grandchildren to come visit her and hopefully a place where she would be comfortable enough to let him pursuit being fruitful and multiplying in other areas of his life since he could no longer father children at least not without another surgery and well another wife as his wife was past her childbearing years.

 

Over the past couple of years she had seen the sadness in him and had at times harangued him thinking he was no longer interested in her; he would prove otherwise and for a time hide the sadness but more and more as she had accepted the fact there were no other women and though she did not understand she tried to empathize with him.  That was not what George wanted and it only made him sadder as he thought about the son he would never have or all the times when he could have stayed somewhere and given her the house she deserved of her own.  George looked back and knew the journey was what had bonded them but at times wondered what would have happened if he had not left her home, would he be the man he was today.

 

George knew the answer and at times as he considered his life he thought of the what if's and as one of his elders had once told him he could do anything he put his mind too as learning to him was like breathing it just happened.  The life he chose was one of simplicity and though over the years he had earned millions it had to cover the hobbies of his wife and children and even now as his health had changed in such a way he was being forced to start another company if he wanted to keep working he found his only hobby was collecting paychecks.  This only deepened his sadness which was effecting his relations with his children and to some extent with his wife.  By morning he knew he would push it back far enough to be able to laugh for awhile he also knew that before the next week started that perpetual sadness which sat right next to his chosen contentment and even the joy he felt at watching the small details of life would stand up and cause him to need to sit once again.

 

How do you tell the wife of your youth and the mother of your children that you would really like to have a son; George knew he could not and would not as it would get her to crying, so he had made up his mind to go to his grave with his sadness and to never tell a soul about his desire to have a son, not so much to carry on the family name which would now die with him but because he wanted to teach what he had learned about being a man to a son, how he should love the wife of his youth and lay down his life for hers no matter the cost.  George wanted to teach a son how to take a stand for what is right and good, no matter how much ridicule you get and how many jobs you lose.  More than that though George wanted to teach a son his love for the outdoors. 

 

His wife and daughters did love the country life but only the youngest had taken real pleasure in sitting up all night shivering as they listened to the coyotes, the owls and the numerous scampering critters.  She was the one who like him would pick up a snake to see what kind it was and to study it.  All her young life she had caused her mom and sisters to roll her eyes as she traipsed after him to see where the trail led but now that was changing as she had learned from her sisters that some boys were cute and well in the last year he no longer had the time or the energy to traipse like he used to.  The energy he knew would come back if and when he could cut back his hours but if he wanted to buy his wife a house and feed her when they were old he had to work not that he had ever planned on not working as the Good Book did say a man would till his fields six days a week all the days of his life in order to feed his family he had not counted on the days away from home or even the weeks sometimes.

 

 

For now though he was home and content to sit and watch the water come and go with the tide and let the sadness engulf him as he mourned the loss of a son he would never have.