That’s when I realized how this must look. Two guys coming over for dinner, and still being here in the morning…
“Howdy,” she said as she approached. She paused to greet all the dogs, then casually said, “Y’all have fun last night?”
“No. I mean yes!” I said awkwardly. “We finished the wine, and I didn’t want them to drive home so I fixed up the guest bedroom.”
“Much better than driving buzzed,” Riley said while scratching the back of his head.
“Mmm hmm,” Bonny said while rubbing the German Shepherd’s belly.
“We should get going. It’s an hour back to the canyon, and we’ll need to get ready before work. I have to hike down to the river this afternoon,” Riley said. “Thanks again for… dinner, Christie.”
“We’ll see you Sunday. For volunteering again,” Harper said.
I waved as they both walked back to their car. Bonny was silent until they had driven away, and then she gave me a sidelong look.
“When I said to enjoy yourself last night, this wasn’t exactly what I meant.”
“It’s not what you think!” I protested. “I didn’t want them to drive, so I invited them to stay in the guest bedroom.”
And then they came into my bedroom and fucked my brains out.
“And if I go look at the guest bedroom?” she said with a smirk. “Will it look like two strapping men slept in them last night?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.
Bonny surprised me by busting out laughing. “Oh my, that was fun. Teasing you like that. Don’t glare at me! You should have seen your face.”
“You mean you’re not… judging me?” I asked.
She waved a hand at me. “Judge? Please. Wish I had been so lucky back when I was single. Those two young men are fine. I’d be more judgmental if they slept at your house and you didn’t have some fun with them. The next time you come over for dinner I’m going to get a few glasses of wine in you and hear all about it.” She fixed me with a look. “And I mean all.”
I giggled, then sighed. “You don’t think it’s weird? Since they work for me?”
“Why should it be weird? They’re volunteers. It’s not like they’re on the payroll.”
The Black Lab was whining at me, so I picked up the frisbee and hurled it across the field. “They still work for me. If roles were reversed and I was a man sleeping with my younger female volunteers…”
“Nonsense. You know how I met my husband? We were both volunteers for Habitat for Humanity back in the seventies. He was sort of my supervisor too. Complimented me on my skill with a hammer, then took me to dinner that night. Two kids, six grandkids, and forty years later and we’re happier than ever.”
“I don’t know. It feels sort of…” I lowered my voice. “Dirty.”
Bonny laughed. “Dirty’s the best kind. Now listen to me. I don’t know exactly what y’all did last night, but on the face of things it seems like you got to fulfill a fantasy that most women have. One I’ve had myself, in fact. Are you going to mope about it, or start planning the next time you get together with those two fine men?”
She patted me on the arm and walked to the barn, with the pack of big dogs on her heels.
12
Christie
After letting the small dogs out and feeding them, I got in my truck and drove into town. Today I had two volunteers running gift-wrapping tables at the mall, and I needed to pick up more supplies first. As I bought ten new rolls of wrapping paper I thought about what Bonny had said. I had always considered her to be a conservative, church-going woman, yet she was more encouraging about last night’s events than I felt myself!
“How’re you feeling?” I asked one of my volunteers at the mall parking lot. “Food poisoning all better?”
He grimaced and touched his belly. “Oh yeah, much better. Just a twenty-four hour bug.”
“That’s good. And I guess it stopped bothering you in time to swing by Best Buy and pick up a new flatscreen TV, huh?”
He blinked, and then gave me an awkward smile. “Oh, I, uhh…”
“I’m not mad,” I said. “Yesterday actually went great with the replacement volunteers who came. I should be thanking you for bailing on your shift.”
“Oh, uh, haha,” he said as if it was a trap. “Like I said, I’m feeling a lot better now. I’ll grab