All characters are over the age of eighteen.
Note: Please forgive some continuity errors as you read this. Chapter 6, which should have been the prelude, set the stage for this series and important information was revealed at the end regarding the character Sandra Wainwright. Sandra learns on her wedding day that the rift between her mother and grandmother was caused by Edna's refusal to participate in incest. This information would have provided a lot of background to Sandra's earlier actions, but what's done is done.
Saturday morning found Sandra Wainwright sipping a cup of coffee, dressed in her robe staring out the kitchen window. In the backyard Dave was reading the news on his phone in the cool morning air as he drank from his own cup. As she watched him she recalled her wedding day and how handsome he had looked in his tuxedo. Out of the blue she remembered her grandmother's words and the gleam in her eye as she said, "Oh yes, the Wainwrights knew the Hidden Acres way."
Sandra wondered why she hadn't thought about that conversation with Grandma Ninny in more than eight years. Could it be that it had burrowed into her mind, planting the idea of incest so deeply that she was unaware and then on the day she walked in on her father that it seemed like a wonderful surprise instead of a moment of horror and shame? She knew that the 'normal' reaction would have been to walk out disgusted, embarrassed, anything other than what she had done.
But she hadn't walked out. Seeing her father pleasuring himself had excited her. The porn he was watching was so explicit that she couldn't help but get aroused. And nothing bad had happened to her. She hadn't been filled with crippling guilt, no lightning had struck her, there wasn't a plague of locusts following her around to herald her sin. The more she thought of it, the more she was convinced that she hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, she was happier now than she'd ever felt.
Not that her life was miserable before, far from it. She had a wonderful marriage and sex life with her husband. Her three year old daughter brought her immense joy. It felt like someone had shown her a whole new wing of her home that she never knew existed. A brand new world to fill with love and experiences that would compliment the rest of her life.
Right now, though, she was concentrating on the implication about David's family. As she drank from her cup she wondered if his mother had opted out, as her own had. If so, were there other branches of the Wainwright family who still practiced the old ways? Nervous excitement built inside of her as she played out various scenarios in her imagination. Her daughter was asleep and would be for some time, so she decided on her course of action.
"Darling, I wondered if you could answer something for me," Sandra said as she stepped out on the patio and took a seat next to him. David put his phone down and looked at her. "I've been hearing a phrase a lot lately and I hoped you could explain it to me."
"Anything. What is it?" He asked, taking another sip of his coffee.
"What is 'The Hidden Acres way'?"
David's hand froze with the cup at his lips. She watched as he swallowed deeply and she detected that his face grew a shade red. A moment later he composed himself and set the cup down on the glass table.
"Well, I think that's just a way of saying we're a little backwoods maybe and that we don't mind it. You see it in a lot of the advertisements for the local businesses, right? Hometown pride, maybe?"
Sandra was relatively sure that her husband had never lied to her about anything important in their marriage, but here he was doing it now. His voice had a slight tremor, his eyes were darting away hurriedly when he looked her in the eye, and his face was definitely redder. Why would he lie to her, she wondered.
"Are you sure that's all?" she asked sweetly.
Dave nodded and lifted his cup for another sip of coffee.
"Huh, because my grandmother gave me the impression it was code for families who practice incest."
Dave spat the hot coffee out, a fine spray shooting from his mouth as he coughed and sputtered. "What?" he cried loudly. "Where on earth did she get that idea?"
"Maybe because she practiced it."
"Oh my god, that's crazy!" Dave seemed shocked, but Sandra felt like it was an act. Something about his reaction didn't seem genuine and now she was determined to find out why.
"What's more, she said your family followed 'The Hidden Acres way' as well."
David's face turned white and she could see the fear in his eyes. This reaction was real, she knew. He set his cup down carefully and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure what your grandmother told you-".
""She told me that she followed the ways of the Jocaline Order, that many families in this area did so as well. Did your mother?"
"Well," David stalled. She could see his lawyer mind racing, trying to find the words that would put him in the best light and to explain why he had never mentioned it to her. She knew his answer already, now it was just a matter of how this played out.
Sandra stood up from her chair and approached him, forcing him to push away from the table to make room for her as she settled on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he cradled her body. His eyes were still a bit wild as he chewed on his bottom lip.
"David," she began softly, a softness in her eyes as she looked at him, "I love you. I love you more than anything. You can tell me anything and I'll still love you."
He let out a ragged breath and though he had gathered his wits, he still looked a bit frightened.
"My mother knew that your mother had rejected The Hidden Acres way. Lots of people knew around town. It was assumed that you had rejected it as well or had never been told. Either way, it was one of the reasons you were excluded from certain things."
"Wait a minute, lots of people knew? Like people were talking about me?" Sandra felt anger rising up. All of the slights and whisperings when she was in high school, they all came back as if they were fresh wounds all over again.
"Not as in the whole town was gossiping about you," he tried to explain. "But, my mom cautioned me against dating you, I'm guessing others did as well."
"Your mother told you not to date me?" Sandra leaned back and gave him a steely glare.
"No, not exactly. She said your family didn't follow the old ways and that if I dated you, that would be something I'd have to take into consideration."
"Ok, hold on, I need to get some things straight. Did you have sex with your mother?" David looked everywhere but at her. "David Wainwright, you answer me right now. Did you sleep with your own mother?"
"It wasn't like what you are trying to make it out to be, okay?" She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Okay! I did! I admit it. She came to me after I turned eighteen and told me that she was going to teach me. She said it had been done this way for generations. I wasn't to speak of it to anyone outside the family and I never did."
Sandra looked into his eyes, so earnest and without guile. She knew he was telling her the truth, as she'd already suspected it.
