Barbara Lowe slowed her car and turned onto the Jonston's gravel driveway, fascinated by all the craggy old apple trees nicely lined up in rows. She vaguely remembered when the property was a working orchard, back in her childhood days. She thought maybe her mother had brought her there to buy cider a time or two.
When the old Victorian house came into view, so did two naked women, pulling weeds in the garden. Barbara's foot lifted off the gas pedal. She coasted in, her body frozen except for the necessary steering. It was a sight she wasn't prepared for, and she didn't know what to do.
Kay put down her handful of weeds and waved. Sharron kept at her chore, not sure of what she should do as the stranger pulled in.
"I know her," Kay said to Sharron. "She's one of the school mothers."
Kay walked over to the car. Barbara didn't get out, still trying to put her thoughts together. She was astonished at the body on Kay, and the prominence of her cleanly shaved pussy.
"Hello!" Kay said brightly. "I remember meeting you, but I can't remember your name. I'm sorry."
"That's okay. It was a while back," Barbara said, finally getting out of her car. "I'm Barbara Lowe. Austin's mother."
"Oh, yes!" Kay said, smiling brightly. "We love Austin! He's
such
a nice young man. I'm Kay, and that's Sharron over there.
Sharron
," she yelled. "
It's Austin's mother
."
Sharron smiled and waved, but she sensed awkward moments afoot, so she kept at her weeding.
"You've come at the perfect time," Kay said. "We've been at this all morning. We could use a lemonade break." Kay walked Barbara over to the garden. "You better run in the house and tell Bobby we have a guest," she said to Sharron. "We wouldn't want him to embarrass Barbara."
"Oh. Okay," Sharron said. She was a bit embarrassed herself as she trotted up the front steps in front of Austin's fully clothed mother.
"Let's give him a minute to put something on, unless you like your men naked, the way we do," Kay said. "Kelsey tells me you raised Austin alone. You did a marvelous job."
"Oh. Thank you," Barbara said.
"Let's get that lemonade," Kay said.
She lead Barbara up the steps and into the house. Bobbie came down the stairs while she was pouring four glasses, freshly dressed in shorts and a polo shirt. His feet were bare.
"Well hello!" he said. "It's Barbara, right?"
"Yes, hi," she said.
"You've got a much better memory than me," Kay said to her husband.
"Barbara's a member at the gym. I see her now and then," Bobby said. "I'd forgotten you were Austin's mother."
Sharron came down the stairs in shorts and a blouse. Her feet were bare to.
"Well, I guess I should put something on," Kay said. "I'll just be a minute."
She went to the front closet and pulled on a bathing suit coverup she kept there, for times when she needed a little something quickly. It was fairly see-through, though, and didn't really hide much.
"There," she said. "Let's go out by the pool. It's such a nice day."
As they sat down at the big round table Barbara was in a conundrum. She'd driven over hoping to talk to Kay alone. She was hoping to glean some information about the party Austin had been to, and the goings on in general at the house. Having Bobby and Sharron there made that line of questioning uncomfortable, so she stuck with pleasantries.
"Kelsey and Austin seem to be getting more serious, so I thought I'd say hello and ...I don't know, break the ice I guess. I'm sorry for dropping in unannounced."
"Oh, we love company," Kay said. "We bought this house so we could have lots of parties."
"It's beautiful. So private."
"Well, as you saw when you drove in, we wouldn't really fit in in the suburbs," Kay said.
"I wouldn't mind you next door to me," Barbara said.
"Even when you had a young boy growing up?"
Barbara smiled. "That might have been different. But now, I'm coming to grips with the fact that he's not a boy anymore."
"Oh, I know!" Kay said. "Isn't it an interesting transition?"
"Do you have kids, Sharron?" Barbara asked.
"No, didn't have any. I'm going through a divorce. Kay and Bobby were nice enough to give me lodging, to get me away from my husband while we get through the court proceedings. It's been wonderful getting to know Kelsey and her friends. It gives me a whole new perspective on kids. Not that they're kids, really."
"Yeah, kids are a trip," Barbara said. "I was pretty wild, I don't know about you guys. My parents didn't know what to think."
"What kind of wild?" Kay asked, with a little mischief in her eyes.
"I smoked a ton of pot, and got into some...sexual hijinks."
"Ooo! Do tell!" Kay said.
"Oh. no, I...I don't really know you...that well."
"Well, when we get to know each other better I wanna hear all about it," Kay said.
Barbara smiled. She hadn't had a friend to talk sex with in years.
"So what do you go to the gym for?" Kay asked. "You don't look like you need it."
"It was after the divorce. I just needed to feel good about myself. And then I found out there were men there." Barbara glanced at Bobby, and back down at her lemonade glass.
"Is it a good place for singles?" Kay asked Bobby.
"Sure. Not much clothing, sweaty bodies," he said. "What's not to like?"
"You probably see some of our friends there," Kay said to Barbara. "Rich, Albert, Larry..."
"Johnny and Linda both go," Bobby said. "And Rick and Donna, but I haven't seen them there in a while."
"Rick and Donna Welch?" Barbara asked.
"Do you know them?" Kay asked. "They're dear friends of ours. They've missed our last few parties, though."
Barbara sipped her lemonade, taking a moment to process things. From what she'd heard Kelsey say in Austin's room, she was pretty sure at least some of the parties at the big house were all about sex, maybe even flat-out orgies. Could Rick and Donna be into that kind of thing? They'd been married forever. That would make them...swingers, she guessed, if it was true. Bobby's other male friends at the gym were all married to. Could they all be involved? Is
that
what Austin's been in the middle of?