So, much love to those of you who are still reading my stuff. I'm going off to the land of chocolate for the week, so I will be posting Sunday's chapter on Saturday. Thursday's chapter will be late or early Friday morning.

A WORKING RELATIONSHIP

06/04/2002 – I'm pretty sure I've lost my mind. Tonight, I broke a promise because I listened to the wrong head. The sad thing is I enjoyed it, and I'm afraid that if given the chance, I'd do it again. At least, I'm not pining over Wanda and Gina. Instead, I'm plotting when I can do the deed with Rachel again. She's like a fucking goddess. The year I spent sneaking around with her made living on this mountain bearable after my mother died. She made no demands, never asked me for more than I could give, and she absolutely didn't want anyone to know. She could be the one to help me forget Wanda.

Speaking of Wanda, her gift was awesome. She bought a pool table. Beating the Neanderthal was one of the highlights of my day, second only to playing strip pool as foreplay to my night of debauchery.

Rachel is tucked away in the spare bedroom that Wanda and Ian have claimed for the time being. I have half a mind to go in there and stick it to her again.

I heard the back door slam.

"Nate! Where is she?"

I popped my head up from my pillow as Rob approached me. He looked crazed. "What?" I said yawning.

"Where's Rachel?"

"Oh…she's in the bedroom. It was late when we finished playing pool, so I told her she could sleep in Ian and Wanda's room since they are gone."

He headed for Burns's room.

"Hey!" I barked. "Jamie's in there. She's in the other bedroom. Come here. I want to talk to you."

He turned and stared at me. "Did you sleep with her?"

Uh oh. "No, but we did talk." I had to veer the topic away from me and onto him.

"About what?"

"She's upset with you."

"Why would she be upset with me?"

"She said she got a new bikini. She said when she put it on, she was hoping to get a rise out of you, and she didn't. She said you didn't say a damn thing about it. She thinks you don't find her sexy."

"That's ridiculous."

I shrugged my shoulders as I sat up. "That's what she said."

"I was on my way out to go fishing. What? Was I supposed to drop everything and jump on her?"

I would have. "Are you bored with her, man?"

"No!"

"Then, maybe you should do something special for her."

"Like what?"

Jesus! Do I have to spell it out for you? "I don't know. Why don't you set up a picnic in the woods? Pick a bouquet of wildflowers. Romance her."

"You're crazy."

"You know what I think?"

"What do you think?" he said sitting on the chair across from the couch.

"I think you have become complacent because, in your eyes, there aren't any guys on the mountain that measure up to you."

"What are you saying?"

I stared at him hard. "What do you think I'm saying?"

"Oh, no. You stay away from her!" He jumped off the couch.

"Just make her happy."

Either I'm feeling really guilty, or I'm a fucking idiot…probably a little of both.

I rolled off the couch, grabbed my jeans off the coffee table, and headed for the bathroom. Rob took off for the bedroom. I took a nice, long, hot shower.

I didn't see Rob or Rachel for the rest of the morning. Maybe he took my advice, and he was 'romancing' her.

Ian and Wanda returned to the mountain in the early afternoon with a truck full of supplies. Almost every male member of the family helped to unload the truck. The wood was tough enough. The bags of concrete were the killer. I think everyone slept like a rock and woke up with sore muscles the next morning.

The next hurdle was to clear the land and lay the foundations for the buildings. It took a lot of brute strength. It was the one time I had to admit having the Neanderthal was a good thing. Ian possessed the strength of two men. We spent the next two weeks using the truck and a chain to pull stumps out of the ground and digging a trench one foot deep for the purpose of eventually pouring the concrete. We would need a backhoe when it was time to dig the hole for the septic tank. We would have to wait for Burns to return, so he could rent one. In the meantime, we concentrated on the foundation. I could only assume that every man working towards this goal was probably too tired to have sexual relations with his woman, which was a plus for me, since technically, I didn't have a woman.

The pool table became a place of instant memory for me. Most nights, Rachel and I played against each other, and we shot each other knowing glances, but we were very careful not to expose our secret.

Gina and Evan remained close. Most nights, they turned in early—in the same room. Evan was one of the crew. He showed every day, on time, ready to work.

It had been two weeks, since we had begun our crusade. No one worked harder than Ian. We had just pulled a large stump from the ground when Ian's foot got caught under it, and it dragged across his foot and ankle.

"God Dammit!" he exploded.

"Hey, you all right, man?"

"No! I'm not all right!"

"I'll get the 'No Pain'"

"DAMMIT! It's not my foot." He stood hands on hips staring at the ground. "Wanderer's leaving."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What?"

"Wanderer's going back to the caverns."

"Why? Did you two have a fight?"

"No," he said still blindly staring at the ground as he kicked the stump. "She's bored, and she misses her friends."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. We had a ton of work to do and without Ian, it would be slow going.

"Are you going with her?"

"I can't—not if I want to get the buildings done in time for the wedding."

"How long is she going for?"

"She didn't say. She only said she could come back anytime she wants. There's no set time."

"She'll be back in a week. You'll see."

"You need to call Burns. Get him back here. We are going to need that backhoe real soon."

"Okay. He's supposed to call tonight. When is she leaving?"

"Soon. I need a favor."

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

"Would you let me and Wanderer have the house to ourselves tonight?"

"Absolutely."

"There's something else."

"What?"

"I'm hoping that tonight, I can convince her to stay. I want to make it really special."

"You want me to sleep with her? I'm pretty special." I couldn't help but flash him a huge smile."

His ire immediately surfaced. "No, I don't want you to sleep with her!"

"Chill, Conan! I was kidding!"

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Conan?"

"What did you want?"

"I wanted you to serve us breakfast—in bed."

"You do remember that I have a thing for her, right?"

He looked up at me with anguish in his eyes.

"I can't let her go back to Kyle."

"Ian, he has a girlfriend."

"I've seen the way he looks at her. I can't say anything to her. She'll think I'm being stupid."

"Gee, she doesn't let anything get past her, does she?"

"Come on, man."

"Fine! I'll do it, but you owe me!"

"Thank you."

That afternoon, I took a bathroom break with the ulterior motive of stopping in to see Wanda. She was vegetating on the couch watching a soap opera when I entered through the back door. I sat next to her on the couch. She got up immediately and went to the kitchen. I was worried that she didn't want to talk to me when she returned with a bottle of flavored water. She handed it to me.

"Thanks." I opened the bottle and took a long pull. It cooled my parched throat. "What's this I hear that you are going back to the caverns?"

"Yes. I can't stay here. There's nothing for me to do. Ian is working himself into a coma every day."

"Well, I could come visit you if that's all you need." I joked and shot her an evil smile.

"Very funny."

I reeled in my smile. "I wish you wouldn't go."

"I know. It's not forever. I'll be back before you know it."

"Well, Ian wants to have you to himself tonight. Do you mind if Jamie sleeps with me in my room? I'll grab one of the mattresses from the main cave, and I'll sleep on the floor."

"That would be great. I would love to spend some time alone with Ian before I leave."

"I think he's hoping he will be able to change your mind."

"Well, I'm just hoping to leave him with an awesome memory."

"Damn girl. You're gonna make me cry."

"Stop it, Nate!" She smacked me on the shoulder.

"Seriously, have fun." I kissed her on the cheek and left.

I felt bad for Ian. He and Wanda had been very close these last few weeks. I was alone, but I was too exhausted to care right now.

Ian canceled baseball practice. I let everyone know that the house was off limits. The party moved to the root cellar. I stayed only until Burns called. He said he was going to come home anyway, so it was good timing. After the call, I retired to my room and settled down to read my book. I was about twenty minutes away from crashing when there was a light knock on my door.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened, and Gina stepped inside. "Hi," she said meekly.

"Hey, angel." I closed my book.

She had a book in her hand. "I finished To Kill a Mockingbird. You said you wanted you to read it." She remained fixed at the door.

"Come, sit with me."

"Evan's waiting for me," she said cautiously.

"We haven't talked in a long time." I tapped the bed gently.

Gina slowly approached me and carefully climbed on the bed keeping distance between us.

"How are things with you and Evan?"

"Good," she said quietly.

She stared at the bed. I hooked my finger under her chin and pulled her to face me. "I'm not going to bite, you know."

"I know." She still didn't want to look directly at me.

"Hey, he didn't tell you not to talk to me, did he?"

"No." She didn't sound very convincing. Hearing her lie upset me.

"Go. He's probably timing you," I said sarcastically.

"Nate, he's jealous of you."

"Why? What did you tell him about us?"

"Nothing! I swear!"

"Then why would he be jealous?"

"He said he sees me watching you. He said I have a thing for you."

I couldn't hold back the smile. "You watch me?"

"Sometimes…" she looked coyly at me. "Okay, it's more like a lot."

"I still think about you, too." I bumped her with my shoulder.

She smiled.

I kissed her gently on the lips. "Thanks for the book, angel."

She swung around and hugged me tightly for a long minute before she slid off the bed. At the door, she turned. "Bye."

I drew in a deep breath as the door closed behind her.

I laid the book on the nightstand and was about to undress when I remembered that I was in charge of Jaime. Shit. I would have to go look for him, or he'd probably stay up all night in Megan's room. Not on my watch.

Sure enough, I found him making out with Megan on her bed. Sarah was either asleep or pretending to be. I cleared my throat loudly.

Jamie looked up at me. "Nate! I was just saying good night."

"Uh huh." I stood with my arms folded across my chest.

Jamie did a push up off the mattress. He strutted towards the door and turned to Megan. "See you in the morning, babe."

"Babe? Seriously?" I shook my head in disbelief. "Come on, we need to get you a mattress out of the main cave."

I woke early. Serving breakfast included preparing breakfast. I could have asked Maria to do it, but she would have given me a lecture about helping the man who tried to kill me. Truth was Ian and I had gotten along pretty well these last few weeks. Wanda and I were talking again, but like Gina, she was careful not to spend too much time with me. She didn't want to upset the delicate balance that allowed me and Ian to forge our tenuous friendship.

I entered the house and I was surprised to find bits of clothing tossed about the living room. The first thing I noticed was the blanket draped over the pool table. I guess I wasn't the only one to christen the pool table. I found a pair of stockings thrown willie nillie and a corset. My dick perked up at the thought of Wanda in the outfit. Then, I saw the heels. That was it. I was sporting a full blown hard-on. Shit. Bathroom, now. Ten minutes later, I left the bathroom with Wanda's string bikini panties still clutched in my hand.

I was relaxed now. Time to turn my attention to the task at hand—breakfast. I figured the best thing to make was bacon and eggs. No one would turn down bacon and eggs. And coffee. They would definitely need coffee. I found grapes, watermelon, and cantaloupe. Add toast and orange juice, and voila! Breakfast.

I placed everything on the tray. I had folded the stray clothes and blanket and laid the tray on top. I slung the bathrobe over the crook of my arm and sauntered down the hall to the bedroom door. I knocked lightly.

"Who is it?" Ian called out.

"Room service."

After a minute, Wanda opened the door. She was wearing an identical robe to the one I carried.

"Good morning," I said as I walked to the dresser and put the tray down. I raised my finger and rushed back out of the room to grab the spike heels that I had placed just outside the door.

I raised the heels to Ian. "You are a lucky man."

Ian smiled. "You have no idea."

I tapped my finger to my temple. "I have a great imagination."

Ian replied. "Seriously, you have no idea."

Wanda nudged Ian and looked at him as if to convey the message of 'shut up' without saying it.

I went about my business, separating the two trays and rearranging the plates, so each tray was the same. Wanda was sitting next to Ian, who was still lounging on his back in the bed. I turned to Wanda. "We have coffee, orange juice, bacon, eggs over easy, toast, and a little fresh fruit."

"Thank you, Nate. This is wonderful!"

"Yeah, Ian promised me one last kiss before you marry him."

"Like hell I did!" Ian snapped.

"Joking! Sit up there, big fella, so I can give you your breakfast."

Ian sat up and his shoulders, chest, and stomach were covered in bruises from what looked to be bite marks.

My eyes just about bugged out of my head. "Holy crap! She did that to you?"

"I told you. Wanderer is definitely no child anymore." Ian was bragging.

"Hey! You started it." Wanda said in her defense.

Damn, if it's biting she wants I've got something for her to bite right here. Fuck! Focus, Nate. I shook my head in an effort to regain my composure. "I'll run a bath for you and then be on my way. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day."

Ian reached out to slap my hand. It wasn't a high five, and it wasn't a handshake. The meaning was more like a friendly pat on the back. "Thanks, man. I owe you."

I avoided them for the rest of the day, but Ian caught up to me at the ball field. I came in to watch practice, and he encouraged me to join them. I thought it odd since he never asked me to join them before. What the hell, couldn't hurt, right?

Ian seemed on edge. Wanda was barely holding it together. She berated herself if she made a bad throw, and she'd send herself to run. The third time it happened, I ran with her.

"So, I gather from Ian's mood that you haven't changed your mind." I said as I kept stride with her.

"I can't. It's not that I want to leave him—or you," she said flashing a quick smile my way, "But I have a lot to do for this wedding, too. All my bridesmaids are back at the caverns, and Sunny can go with me on the road trips. I told Ian I'd come back in a month."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "A month!"

She realized that I wasn't running and stopped. She turned to me. "Nate, don't you start on me, too. It's four lousy weeks!"

I drew in a deep breath and blew it out. Shit. Cover your tracks, boy. "Four weeks of Ian without you could be gruesome."

"The two of you have been getting along so well together."

"That's because we are both working for the same cause. He wants those houses built for the wedding, and I want them built for all the right reasons."

"You're not working towards the wedding?"

I raised my eyebrow to her. "Let's run before Ian has a cow."

The following morning, we all gathered to say good-bye to Wanderer and Jamie. She had wanted to leave during the daylight hours, so she could stop in and see Fluttering in the Wind. Fluttering was a nosy soul. If she knew that 'Ashley' was leaving, she wouldn't have a reason to come snooping around. I waited patiently for her to give me a hug good-bye. She had been giving Ian scads of attention in an effort to reassure him that the time would pass quickly, and she would be back in his arms before he knew it. When she turned her attention to me, I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly. I buried my face in her hair.

"I'll miss you," she whispered.

"Not as much as I'll miss you."

I didn't want to let go. I could feel Ian's presence behind me. She finally pulled back.

"You two be good. No fighting."

"You don't have to worry about me. My best shot at beating him is on the pool table," I said with a sad smile.

Her body hiccupped. The tears were pooling in her eyes. "Oh Nate!" she croaked as she stroked my face. I pulled her hand from my cheek and kissed her palm. Her eyes left mine, and she rushed into Ian's arms. She was bawling. It took Ian several minutes to get her back in control. After she drove away, Ian and I both silently turned and walked towards the new buildings. It was time to pour the concrete foundation on the second building. Again, this was a chore that required lots of brute strength and speed. We had boxed of the foundation in sections, since we didn't have a cement truck, which would have made this process a whole lot easier. It was a hot day, and although the others took breaks often, Ian and I both worked at a frantic pace. I could only assume that, like me, he was trying desperately not to think about Wanda. He and I ate lunch quickly and got right back to work. By dinner, you could have stuck a fork in me. There was line for the shower. Every guy involved was waiting to clean up before dinner was served. I went to the root cellar and plopped on one of the cots. I figured a little nap…

It was dark when I woke. When I entered the house, it was pretty quiet. A few kids were watching TV, but the adults were off spending quality time with each other before exhaustion took them to la-la land. I went to the kitchen to forage for food. There was a note on the fridge for me. It was from Maria. It said: 'I saved you dinner. It's in the microwave. Love, Maria'. I smiled. After I ate, I retrieved the clothing I had stored in Burns's room and took a nice long hot shower. My muscles were sore, and I wanted to relax in the Jacuzzi, but I was afraid I might fall asleep and drown. I was looking forward to going to bed when my phone rang. It was Burns. He was on his way home. He said he wasn't going to stop, so he would hopefully arrive tomorrow night some time.

A good night's sleep brought no relief to my sore, aching muscles. I dragged my ass to the worksite. Ian didn't look to be in much better shape, although I think his funk was more emotional than physical. At least, the foundation for the first building was complete, and we were able to walk on it so, that was the building we were going to work on. Ian announced that we would wait another day before pouring more of the foundation for the second building since we all looked tired and bedraggled. Okay, he didn't say bedraggled. I don't think Conan's vocabulary included words with more than five letters. He said we all looked like shit.

The mission for the day was to construct the frame. We had a blueprint that Ian and I had created last week, so the guys would know what they needed to do. Ian took one team, and I took the other. My team included me, Evan, my brother-in-law Tom, and Hector. Ian had Rob and Carl. The construction went surprisingly well. After lunch Carlos and Blake joined us, and I encouraged Hector to take the rest of the day off. He was the oldest and didn't have the stamina that the rest of us had. It was not as hot as yesterday, so we weren't completely exhausted by the time we quit for the day. I decided to take another nap, like yesterday, since I knew Burns would be returning tonight, and once again, the line for the shower gave me a few hours to kill if I wanted t take a hot shower.

By eight o-clock, I was settled in the kitchen playing a game of chess with Uncle George. Ian was holding baseball practice. He returned at nine and went straight to bed. At nine thirty, Uncle George played his final move, and I announced 'check mate'. He went to bed leaving me with the youngsters in the living room. They were watching a comedy show on TV. I decided to set up difficult shots on the pool table and see if I could figure the angles needed to sink the shot.

Burns arrived at eleven thirty.

I greeted him as soon as he exited the truck. "Hey, buddy. Good to have you back." I gave him a guy hug complete with a pat on the back.

"Good to be back." He took a long look at me. "I see Ian hasn't impaired you in any way."

"Well, not unless you count working every day until I drop."

He laughed. "A little hard work is good for you! You were startin' to look a little soft."

"Hey! There isn't anything soft about me!"

"I'll bet. Is there anything leftover from dinner? I haven't eaten."

While we were rummaging through the kitchen, Burns's phone rang. It was Lily, and she had Wanda with her. I heard Burns tell Lily that he would tell Ian in the morning that Wanda had called. I knew Ian would pitch a fit if he knew we didn't wake him for the call. It took some doing to rouse Ian from his coma, but he was happy that I did. I didn't get to speak to her before Ian commandeered the phone. I went to bed. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.