* * * *
They were just finishing up late in the afternoon when Toby and Logan returned home from work. Rebecca had signed all the contracts on Josh’s iPad and he’d e-mailed her copies to her. They’d have an initial crew come out tomorrow, Dumpsters would be delivered, as would a couple of storage units.
It was a lot to absorb.
Toby and Logan walked over to say hello, and yes, Josh knew them, too. The men shook hands in greeting.
“This is like old home week or something,” Ed joked.
“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about how we act around you,” Josh said. “My two brothers and I, we’re poly with our wife, Essie. We bought her one of your bracelets. You do gorgeous work.”
“Thank you.” She again fought the urge to blush. It was one thing to be showing her wares at an event and another for people to heap praise upon her when she wasn’t trying to make a sale.
“You know,” Logan said, “you should sell project patterns on your website. Or maybe even the patterns and kits to make them.”
“I really don’t have time to make patterns,” she said. “I’m too busy keeping up my inventory.”
Then again, her financial luck had just changed. Maybe it was something she could do now.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, Eliza calling.
“Where are you?” Eliza asked by way of greeting.
“We’re still at the house. We—”
“Good, stay put. We’ll be there to pick you up. The Barbarian got off work early. We’ll come to you.”
“But Ed’s my ride and—”
“Don’t worry about it. And I’ve already walked and fed the Chewster. He’s all happy and curled up with Booger. See you shortly.”
Eliza hung up on her before Rebecca could respond.
“What?” Ed asked.
“Well, I guess I’m waiting here for Eliza and Rusty,” she said. “I’ve been given marching orders that they’re coming to get me.”
“I should have mentioned,” Toby said, “that you three are coming over to our house for dinner.” His playful smile looked sexy, inviting.
“What?”
“Eliza texted me at lunchtime about getting together again tonight for dinner, and we invited you all over.”
“Ah.” She didn’t know whether to hug or pound her meddling friend. “Okay, then.” She turned to Ed. “Thank you for everything you’ve done so far.” No, he wasn’t working for free, nor did she expect him to, but the two-hundred-dollar fee he quoted her for handling everything so far, in addition to court costs, she suspected was a kinky friends and family discount his average client didn’t get.
“You’re welcome. I’ll keep you posted on the probate issues, and if you need anything, you’ve got my personal cell and my office number.”
She gathered her things from his car before he and Josh Collins both left.
She followed the men down the driveway and around the fence and up their driveway. “I’m sorry Eliza’s getting pushy,” she said. “Fair warning, I think she’s trying to play matchmaker.”
Both men stopped and turned. “Really?” they asked.
She couldn’t tell if their tone was a good one or a bad one. “Really. Again, apologies. I can’t control her. She’s got it into her head that I need a play-partner just because I’m single.”
The men studied each other for a moment before they continued their trek up the yard.
* * * *
Yes, Toby was attracted to Rebecca. Who wouldn’t be, with that gorgeous long, curly brown hair and those beautiful green eyes?
And yes, Toby wouldn’t deny he’d fantasized about her the night before when he and Logan were making love.
He honestly hadn’t given much thought to her being single, though. Although it made sense now, in retrospect, looking back on their dinner conversation the evening before.
Hmm.
He and Logan had been together eight years. In that time, yes, they’d played with women, and slept with some of them. They both loved women. They’d actually met over a woman, ironically. She’d been dating both of them, and they found out about it, and when each figured out the other was bi, they ended up dating each other instead of her.
Then Hurricane Julie took the wind out of their sails.
Hmm.
He’d seen the look on Logan’s face. He knew that look.
Intrigued.
Hmm.
* * * *
The men’s house was nice. Homey, not stuffy or perfect, but the right mix of lived in and comfortable along with casual style to put her at ease as they showed her around.
“We spent a lot of time on remodeling,” Logan said. “Did a lot of the work ourselves.”
“It’s very nice. I might be asking you two for advice when I get to that stage.”
“Thinking about keeping the house?”
“I don’t know yet. Part of me wants to, and part of me says no, sell it and bank the cash. I don’t know what I’d do with a house if I keep it.”
“Maybe live in it?” Toby playfully suggested.
“I spend my life on the road,” she said. “I mean, yeah, I could drive back here between events. If I have over a week of downtime, depending on where I’m at and where I’m going, I’ll either stay over, or move on to the next town and stay there ahead of the event. It’s a regular route, now. I know the good parks, the ones to stay away from, and I don’t like to boondock at the events if I don’t have to.”
“Must be cramped living in an RV,” Logan said.
“Not really. Me and Chewi get along just fine.”
“Chewi?” Logan asked.
“My dog. I named him after the website. He’s got delusions of grandeur.” She blushed. “Sorry. I forget everyone else thinks I’m crazy that my dog has stories.”
“No, I think it’s adorable,” Logan said. “We did that growing up with our pets, too. We had a cat who thought aliens were going to come take him away to his real people.”
Behind him, Toby was smiling, circling his index finger around his temple. Crazy.
“Don’t give Chewi that idea,” she said. “He might run with it.”
Toby brought her a glass of iced tea. “So how did you end up living in an RV? Was it planned, or did you just quit going home?”
She’d managed to go all day without thinking about Sam Edsel. “I didn’t really have a home to go to,” she said. “I divorced my ex, who was also my Dom, unfortunately, and boogied.”
Toby frowned. “Is he local?”
“I don’t know. As of a couple of years ago, yes. He’s…” She thought about it. She didn’t know if they knew Sam or not. Best not to run her mouth about him. “Not inclined to find out where he’s at now, actually. I think it’s best for everyone if we don’t ever see each other again.”
“Sounds like it wasn’t a good divorce,” Logan noted.
“The divorce was better than the marriage.” She winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t talk about that.”
“Was he abusive?” Toby asked.
“Let’s just say the man who coaxed me into marriage isn’t the man I ended up marrying.”
“Yowch,” Toby said. “That bad, huh?”
“Yep.”
“What’s his name?” Logan asked.
“If you know him and are friends with him, that’s going to make the rest of this evening really awkward for everyone involved,” she said. “You realize that, right?”
“Seriously,” Toby said. “We’d like to know.”
Thinking this was probably a bad idea, she said it. “Sam Edsel.”
Logan frowned and turned to Toby. “Isn’t that the name of that douchenozzle who Tilly said—”
“Yes,” Toby said, looking angry. “And the one who Loren told us—”
“Right,” Logan said, also now looking angry.
“What?”
“Your ex has a quiet but negative rep,” Toby said. “I know of at least two instances where the women didn’t want a big deal made over it, but he violated consent after he collared them, and they left him. Then he’d harass them until they disappeared from the local community.”