CHAPTER 25

“Well, the game was a good thing, right?” said Abigail, “I mean a good idea?”

“Yes, he told me he really enjoyed it. I guess he did. So, yes, it was a good idea.”

“And the girls having that play next month, at the high school,” she said, “that is another opportunity to get the man to man up as you are always saying.”

“Yes, it is a good deal for us and really more for him, and maybe Lana too if it comes to that,” said Owen.

“You think he’ll move back?” she said. He shrugged.

“He did say he might, but just not right now. I think he’s a bit more amenable with the woman on his arm. She is a good looking gal for sure,” he said.

“Yes, but blind. That’s how he was able to get her. If she could see...” She said.

“I don’t see her as being that shallow. The two of them seem to be simpatico. I think even if she did get her sight back that she’d hang with him,” he said.

“Maybe, but they haven’t married, and the question then becomes why not,” she said. “I’m thinking it might be because he or she or the both of them aren’t sure about things.”

“I see where you’re going, but given what we do know they are getting along very well. At any rate we cannot be getting involved with their relationship, not in any way whatsoever. He would be real upset if he thought that we were,” he said.

“Hmm, yes that’s for sure. But, we do need to keep our eyes out for anything that might be supportive of him moving back here where he belongs. Mia has asked me more than once to help him do so,” she said.

“Mia?” he said.

“Yes, and Sarah has asked if there wasn’t something we could do for him, his face,” she said. “She’s said outright that his face kinda scares her.”

“Hmm, I didn’t know that. Well, we might get him to move back here at some point, but his face? I’ve asked a couple of guys about it, not doctors, but guys in the know about the military, just casually. But the word is that there isn’t anything out there at the moment that can do what the man would need,” he said.

“I just hope she stays with him. He needs a woman in the worst way, any woman. At least his ball sack is likely empty. That might be one reason why he seems a bit more willing to do the right thing now,” she said.

“I couldn’t agree more. Blind or not, she does it for him that’s clear. And he’s not blind. He sees what a looker she is; that has to be added into the mix. A woman like her blind or not is a winner. I mean she really is a good looking babe,” he said. She gave him a look.

“Hmm, yes a babe,” she said, tacitly accusing him of visually cheating on her.

“But not in your league, Darling,” he said, trying to save the situation.

“A weak save, but better than nothing,” she said. He looked properly chastened.

******

“Dad, I mean our other dad is so ugly,” said Sarah.

“Yes, but he didn’t used to be. You’ve seen the pictures. He was hurt in that war thing, in Afghanistan,” said Mia.

“I know. But Daddy should be able to get him fixed. Daddy can do anything,” said Sarah.

“Not anything, but a lot,” said Mia. “Do you think he’s maybe tried already?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to ask him. I gotta ask him. Ronald’s afraid of our dad, our other dad,” said Sarah.

“I know. I think Dad was kinda hurt too when he saw how Ronnie ran away from him after they talked,” said Mia.

“I think you’re right,” said Sarah. “Yeah we gotta talk to Daddy. He’s got lots of friends. Somebody should be able to do something.”

“Maybe,” said Mia.

******

“They offered us the guesthouse to live,” said Lana.

“Yes, I know. He told me the day before yesterday,” I said.

We were headed home away from the hullabaloo. We’d be stopping for lunch along the way. The Cords had offered to take us out to lunch, but we demurred; we’d already had breakfast with them for the fourth day in a row.

“We should consider it,” said Lana.

“Moving in with them?” I said. “You’d be comfortable with that?”

“We wouldn’t be moving in with them. We’d be next door but not in with them,” she said.

“I guess it’s a matter of perspective,” I said.

“We have each other and they have each other, and there wouldn’t be any of that wondering what they were doing next door, because we’d be doing it too,” she said. I laughed.

“I guess that’s so,” I said. “Anyway, we can think about it, consider it, as you say.”

“Yes, we need to. We’ve got enough income; we could afford to pay them rent, pretty good rent,” she said.

“No, if we moved there they would never take any money for it. They’d want to give it to us free. The woman feels guilty about the breakup, and likely him too I think. And, I mean they’d still own it, but we would be getting free rent for as long as we stayed there,” I said. “And I’m not real comfortable with that, but, maybe I could live with it; I just don’t know at this point.”

“You know that for a fact?” she said. “I mean that they’d not accept any rent from us?”

“Yes, the both of them together and separately at different times have made that abundantly clear,” I said.

“Really? Why again?" she said.

“Again, because they are regretful for what they did to me when she dumped me,” I said.

“I guess that makes sense. They want to atone for their cheating ways. Yes, that does make sense. We should let them, atone that is,” she said.

“Hmm maybe,” I said.

******

The senior play had gone well. The girls both had good parts and remembered everything that they were supposed to say. They were at the end of their senior years, and they’d gotten decent roles to play. It was a Cornelia Otis Skinner play: “Our Hearts were Young and Gay”: very suitable for high school students. At least high school students that went to the fancy academy that the Cord girls went to.

“Great job!” I said to the two of them when they came off the stage. They’d come directly to me, not the other guy. Don’t know if that was by design or because they wanted to hear what they thought might be a more objective analysis of their performance. But it felt good them coming up to me first.

We were back at “A Slice of Ice” again. Well, everybody likes ice cream.

“That was nice,” I said, referring to the play. Owen was sitting beside me. This time the ladies, all of them and Ronald, were in a booth together, me Owen and I were on our own. I’d been tipped that that was the plan, engineered by him, before we left the school’s auditorium. He had things he wanted to run by me. I’d looked him askance at the time, but had given in when he said that he’d buy the ice cream this time. Well an ice cream cone was a helluva bribe.

“It was a nice play,” he said, agreeing with me. “Your daughters are very talented.”

“I’d have to agree with that,” I said, and yes I did catch the fact that he had referred to the girls as being my daughters.

“The two of them came to me the other day and sat me down,” he said.

“Okay,” I said. I really had no clue what this was about, but nobody could have claimed that his lead in wasn’t intriguing.

“Yes, but oddly for different reasons. I mean each of them had a different horse in the race,” he said.

“What? Huh!” I said. I had no idea what the man we about, none!

“Understand me. The two of them call me Daddy. And I love it. But, that said, they also refer to you as Dad. I’m Daddy and you’re Dad. What’s the difference? There is no difference. It’s how they separate us when they are talking about us.

“Sam, I’d not want to lose my place with them. And frankly I deserve my place with them. You not so much because of your refusal to be here or even talk about sharing. But that said, the girls are maybe taking it out of our hands in any event,” he said. “They are growing up and they are both smart as whips. I expect that Ronnie will be just like ‘em when he ages a bit more,” he said.

“What are you getting at Owen? What’s going on here?” I said. Confused would have been an understatement for damn sure.

“On the one hand, Mia is demanding that you move back here and that I pay your way. She knows your economic situation and she sure as hell knows mine, well, actually they both do,” he said.

I laughed. “Well, it’s nice to know that the girls care,” I said. “But I pay my own way.”

“You don’t pay it well enough. Mia is adamant. ‘I’ have to do a better job by you. But, that’s only the half of it,” he said.

“What?” I said.

“Sarah says I have to fix your face. To be honest, she says it upsets her to see you like that.

“And in case there is the slightest doubt in your stubborn mind. Both of the girls support each the other in their respective positions. And, if that isn’t enough Abigail is onboard with them too,” he said.

“Well, I can’t say I expected whatever this is. The girls you say. This isn’t just you getting the girls to support your agenda,” I said.

“Yes, the girls, not me. I'm just the messenger this time around,” he said.

He was telling it straight. It was easy to tell. But how was I going to respond to the “girls’” demands if that’s what they were.

I rocked back in my chair.

“My face can’t be fixed,” I said. “As for moving back here, Lana and I have talked about it. She says we should. I’ve been skittish about it. But, now that I have a woman of my own, I’m going to say okay,” I said.

The look on the man’s face wasn’t even surprise, it was dumbfounded stunned disbelief! I actually felt good.

“The guest house?” he said.

“I guess,” I said. He rose from his place in the booth, came around to my side and kissed me on the top of my head. He went back and resumed his seat.

“Thank God!” he said. “I’ll have movers at your place as soon as you give me the high sign. And I’m not giving you a chance to back out.” I snickered. “And, if I don’t get the high sign from you soon; I will hire some ex-Army goons to shanghai your stubborn butt. Okay!”

“Okay,” I said. “Soon, maybe in a month or so. Gotta get some stuff done first.”

“Okay, and Sam, I’m not sure what can be done about your injuries. But sometimes, well, money talks and I’ve got the money.

“Sam, you and your pride just stay the hell outta the way and let me do my thing, okay. I mean really,” he said. “And, yes, I know I’m pushing it here, and I don’t give a rat’s ass if you don’t like it. I’m gonna do what’s right!”

“I didn’t like the way he was presenting his intentions to me, make that “at me”, but I was pretty sure that Lana would override me on it. If it worked, I’d be asking the woman to marry me. If not, well, we were getting along okay as things stood.

******

“He did what! And you said what!” said Abigail.

“He’s moving into the guest house, probably, and fairly soon. And, I will be looking into finding a fix for is face,” said Owen. “As for what he said, it was the fact that it was the girls’ idea. If it had just been you or me he would have turned it down, no doubt about it.”

“Well whaddya think of them apples,” she said.

“Yes, well that’s about right,” he said. “And I like them apples just fine.” She smirked.

“For real,” she said. “What about the other thing.”

“He has no confidence in me checking to see what’s what, but he didn’t tell me not to try. So I guess I’ll try,” he said. She nodded.

“Do, if there is any hope let’s try and find it. Oh, and his legs too. If one doesn’t work, well...” she said.

“Okay, I can do that,” he said.

She’d been sitting at her vanity and looking lost, or, something. He came to her.

He got down on a knee and kissed her knee. “You are a very good person, Abigail. I promise I will do everything I can for the man, and for her too,” he said.

“Her too?” she said. Her tone was questioning or something.

“Yes?” he said. And it was a question.

“Oh,” she said, getting it. “But if she sees his face, I mean if it can’t be fixed...”

“Abigail, I do not think she is that shallow. But, anyway, we may not be able to help her. All I’m going to do for now is check things out, and that for the both of them. I’m not even going to tell them that I’m doing it. Once we know what’s what; we’ll make a decision, or maybe let them make the decision,” he said.

She'd leaned into him and kissed him. His hand lay lightly on her breast and felt the heat of the woman’s desire.

He peeled the spaghetti straps of the slip she was wearing from her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her pink and naked nipples. She shivered.

He pulled her down on the floor with him. He lay beside her kissing her and letting his hands roam.

This would be a good night, he thought, a very good night.

******

“Dad you gotta fix him up,” said Mia.

“I’m gonna try, Mia, but it’s not me it’s medical science. But we will do the best we can,” he said.

“Okay Daddy. But Dad needs this real bad,” she said.

“I know, Kiddo. I know. We’ll just have to see,” said Owen Cord.

******

The helter skelter of April gave way to the quietude of May. And then we got the visit. The entire clan Cord was at our door.

“Owen!” I said, answering the buzzer, “and the entire east side of Phoenix!”

“Well, not the entire east side,” he said. “And, in point of fact we live quite a ways north of Phoenix proper, not east.”

The children all three of them and Abby and Harriet and Owen—oh, and the dog, a golden retriever—traipsed in.

“Wow!” said Lana, appearing from the back room. “This is a surprise.”

“A Golden?” I said.

“What’s its name?” said Lana.

“Sam,” said Ronald.

“Sam?” I said.

“Yes,” said Ronald. He was smiling, proudly smiling.

“You named your dog after me?” I said. I was kinda miffed. I was looking right at Owen.

“Not me,” he said, “Ronnie.”

I smiled, but I didn’t feel like smiling. I was wondering why none of the adults hadn’t tried to change the child’s mind about him naming the dog after me.

“He insisted,” said Abigail, kinda getting where I was at with the name thing. “He says he wanted to do it ‘for’ you.”

I smiled, I had to. He did it ‘for’ me. Maybe I could find a way to get the dog’s name legally changed at some point.

I patted my son on the head and thanked him for being so thoughtful. I think Owen was trying to stifle a laugh, but maybe it was a sneeze.

Fortunately we had snacks on hand. That with the pizza the Cords brought with them took care of the multitude.

We were outside on our mini-patio, me and Abigail. The kids and the other adults were playing some board game the kids had brought with them in the front room. It was crowded, but noisy, always a sign that the crowd was having a good time.

“So what’s the delay?” she said. I knew what she was talking about.

“No delay really. Just been lazy about giving the man the high sign. We could do it now, but..."

“No buts Owen can have the movers here tomorrow. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Can I tell him we’re a go?” she said. I nodded.

Lana would be happy, I was sure of that much. She liked Casa de Cord. The guest house was like twice the size of our apartment and it had its own garage. And it was in a secure neighborhood. We’d never had a problem, but we were not in a high tone neighborhood. She’d feel better once we’d moved. So okay, we were moving.

“You won’t be sorry,” said Abigail.

CHAPTER 26

The man had gotten no less than twenty men, all experienced movers, to literally disassemble our lives. Not just the apartment and that was no small task in my humble opinion, but our lives. Bank accounts were moved, credit scores upgraded—dramatically—the whole ball of wax. And, no not with my permission! Oh, I did have a heads up that it was all going to happen, but it happened without my damn permission, and yes, that did bug me.

However, it didn’t happen without Lana’s permission. And she gave her permission without stint or prejudice of any kind. And, yes, I was a little peeved by it all, but well it was what it was. Abigail said I wouldn’t be sorry. Well, I’m not sure that I wasn’t, but whatever.

I was very skittish about moving into the guest house of the Casa de Cord. I should mention here that Casa de Cord is the nomenclature of choice of Mister Cord. It was still castle Cord to me. Not only had we been moved by the platoon of movers, but everything had been unpacked and put away by them. And lest I forget, the larder and the frig were full as well. I should also say that how grateful I was that somebody had thought to leave a six pack of IPA in the damn frig. Yes indeed. I was more than appreciative of that!

The man was certainly putting on the dog for us, or, at least for Lana. It was all way over the top as far as I was concerned. I didn’t know how much money the Cords had, but it was clearly way way up there.

******

The plane had delivered him, Owen, in half a day. Herr Schiller was in. He was an old guy, but to Owen Cord that just meant he was experienced. Experience always trumped everything else, well, in Owen Cord’s experience.

“Mister Cord,” said Doctor Herr Schiller, “nice to meet you.”

“You too, sir,” said Owen.

“You have a special case, so your man informed me,” said Herr Schiller.

“Yes, very special. War injuries,” said Owen.

“To the Soldat’s face is my understanding,” said the man.

“Yes, sir,” said Owen.

“Do you have his records with you? Your man said you would,” he said.

He produced a folder from his briefcase, and passed it to the doctor across from him.

The doctor opened the folder and gave a cursory assessment to the contents.

“I see. Very special."

“It is possible to repair. The man is going to be much better after the procedures,” he said. “My assistant will schedule an appointment for the series of operations to begin, and we will go from there,” said Herr Schiller.

“Wonderful,” said Owen.

The flight back to the States was long but not direct to Arizona. There would be another stop in

Maryland. John’s Hopkins had the top eye surgeon in the country: Doctor Cameron Willis.

The meeting with Doctor Willis was successful. Owen Cord had good news all around. Apart from the two principals, Abigail Cord would likely be the happiest individual in the state of Arizona.

******

“I dared not hope. Really, Owen, I dared not hope. But this, this is almost too much. And, you say the German doctor said he’d be able to fix him?” said Abigail.

“He said, he’d be a lot better. Probably not like he was twenty years ago, but significantly improved looks. No more ugly, my words, his meaning,” said Owen.

“I almost don’t want to be there when you tell him, them,” said Abigail. “It’s going to be a very emotional moment.”

“You are sure right about that,” he said.

******

The couple in the Casa had not bothered us since we’d moved in some three weeks gone. We’d all been around each other, but it was always either at the big house or in the mini-park that was technically their back yard.

But someone was knocking on our door now and I was betting it had to be one of them. I wheeled over to it, and opened it. I was right.

“Owen. Come in,” I said.

“Thanks,” he said.

“So what’s going on?” I said.

“I have news, and rather than beat around the bush I’m just going to say it. Your face can be fixed and an appointment for the initial procedures to begin—there will be several—has already been made,” he said. “You’ll be travelling to Germany in three weeks.”

“My face? My face is going to be fixed?” I said. My response was almost a question. I’ been told that there was no way it could be fixed.

“Yes, there’s this doctor in Germany. He’s apparently not just your average plastic surgeon. This guy’s an artist, and has very special techniques that he employs for operations of this sort. He’s costly, and there are risks, but in your case that should not be a problem. Sam, this one’s on me for all of the problems and miscues that Abigail and I have been guilty of in dealing with you. Like I said before, just let me do my thing here. Maybe this will allow you to have a seriously improved life,” he said.

“Oh my,” I said. At least I was sitting down, well, I was always sitting down. But if I had been standing; I would have had to take a seat for damn sure. I had a thought?”

“I just wish Lana could see me, but not till after the operations obviously.” And I started to laugh—hysterically.

“Yes, well she is going to be having her eyes fixed too. But she will be getting hers done before you begin your procedures. It was a matter of scheduling. But you’ll be in Germany before she’s finished, so she likely won’t be seeing you until after the fact. But Sam, I wasn't able to find a way to fix your legs. Maybe someday but..." he said.

“It’s okay, but my face...” I said.

“The doctor didn’t bat an eyelash. He saw your records and he just announced that you’d be a lot better looking after the procedures. It’s a question of how much better, but a lot better were his exact words,” said Owen.

“Thank God!” I said. “And Lana is going to be good afterwards too?” I said.

“Yes. And her procedures will be here in the States not Germany. At Johns Hopkins actually. It turns out that her particular situation was a matter of timing. The news for her would have been bad, but a new procedure that has finally been cleared for application in the United States can do for her what needs to be done,” he said. “Which begs the question, where is Lana?”

“She’s in the shower. Might be a bit before she traipses out here. I almost wanna join her to tell her right now. But I’ll wait a bit before I, we, do,” I said.

My cuckolder laughed. He was happy. Seemingly almost as happy as me. I would sure have felt a bit better if my legs could’ve been fixed too, but my face was the biggee. No more ugly Sam. My kids would be able to stand being around me. Man this was a day. It literally made up for all of the bad that the two people in the big house had heaped on me. His money was doing it. But, the way I saw things his money was just an extension of him.

There was the sound of a door slamming down the hall. The woman of the house was about to be made to feel real good.

“Owen!” she exclaimed. Her hair was still wrapped in a turban, and her robe was only loosely tied. She was naked underneath.

“Yes,” he said. “But...”

“We blind people can’t see but we can hear and smell better than most. I knew you were here the minute I walked in the room,” she said.

“Lana, Owen has something to tell you,” I said.

“Okay?” she said.

“Lana, you will be getting your sight back,” he said.

“Huh?” she said.

“Yes, you will be flying back East to Maryland, Johns Hopkins, for the procedure,” he said.

“But, I was told that I could never be fixed,” she said.

“There’s a new technique or tools or what all. You’ll be fixable now,” he said.

“Oh my God!” she screamed. She suddenly stopped. “But..."

“And Sam is going to be fixed up too,” he said.

“His face?” she said.

“Yes,” he said. “At any rate, Sam can fill you in. I know the two of you have things to talk about. So I’ll be going. But we’ll be getting together for dinner tonight. That good for the two of you?”

“For sure,” I said. “We’ll be there.”

“Yes,” said Lana, “of course.”

******

Lana had been gone for almost two weeks. She’d be home in one more. I was flying out in 24 hours, so she wouldn’t see me because I would already be in Germany beginning the treatments that would restore me to acceptable good looks. I had my fingers crossed real tight hoping that there would be no snafus.

******

She watched as the man hung up. His look was one of horror. “Owen?” she said.

“That was the institute, in Germany. Doctor Schiller has died,” he said.

“Oh my God!” she said. “What's are we going to do? Is there anyone else, I mean his assistant or something?”

“No, he’s, was, evidently the only one in the world. That’s why the two million dollar tab for the procedure. The man only did two or three procedures a year. His records and notes and what all are being made available to me, but . . .” He said.

“No one else can do it, at least not now,” said Abigail, anticipating his response.

“No,” he said.

“We need to tell him right now,” he said. “You and I together need to tell him.” She nodded, but her nod had never been more reluctantly given.

*****

The knock on my door was weak, but I heard it. I answered the door.

“Owen, Abby, come in, come in,” I said.

They passed me on the way in. I closed the door behind them and turned to see two very somber persons.

“Owen?” I said.

“Sam, I have some news, bad news,” he said.

“Is it Lana?” I said. “Something went wrong with her...”

“No, no, not Lana,” he said. He went silent.

“I see,” I said. “I won’t be flying out in the morning.” The two of them remained silent.

“It was Doctor Schiller. He died, last night he died,” said Owen. I just got the call from his office. I nodded.

“And now, Lana will be able to see me, see what I am. She’ll leave me. I know she’ll leave me,” I said.

“Sam,” said Abigail, “give the girl some credit. She loves you. She won’t leave you. I’m sure of that much. But, she will be able to see you. It is going to be a bit of a shock.”

“Not leave me? You’re kidding right. I mean I make even your skin crawl and the woman isn’t going to leave me?” I said.

“Sam, I was a shit when I said those words. And there are no words that can ever adequately express my regret for having uttered them. Please forgive me and give your new woman a chance. Please,” said Abigail. I shrugged.

“Whatever,” I said. “But, could the two of you give me a little time alone. I need to be alone.”

“Sam, sure. But, we are here for you. Please call me or Abby and we’ll be here on a moment’s notice,” he said.

“Sure, sure,” I said. “But, please keep the kids from coming over today. I really do need a little time alone.”

“Sam, I intend to keep on searching for someone who can do the job. I will,” he said.

“Sure, sure,” I said. And, I wheeled myself into the back room. I heard the front door close behind them.

******

“I feel worse than he does,” said Abigail. “That man has to be as close to total despair as it is possible to get.”

“I figure that that’s about right,” he said. “I was telling him straight. I will keep looking for an answer, but that is going to be of little solace to him.

“Do you think she will stay with him?” He said. She shook her head.

“No. I don’t. But we can hope. He can hope.” She said.

“I don’t think so either. She’s going to be able to live a normal life now. And, she’s still barely forty. She’s going to want someone who looks normal and who isn’t in a wheelchair. The face thing is just going to push things to the limit and that almost immediately,” he said. She nodded.

The children have been told he was going to be getting his face fixed. That’s another problem we are forced to face here,” she said. He nodded.

“Yes, I know, and you’re right,” he said.

“I’m not going to tell the woman until she gets here. We do have to give her a chance to be the woman we hope she’ll be, our doubts notwithstanding,” he said

“Yes, I think that’s best,” she said.

******

He was waiting in baggage claim as she came down the escalator. She would be picking up her single bag at turntable 16A.

The woman looked absolutely normal. She could clearly see. She didn’t recognize him of course having never seen him before. He waited for her to get nearer. He came to her and reintroduced himself.

“Oh, Owen. It is so good to finally actually see you. I can’t wait for Sam to get back from Germany so I can finally see my man,” she said.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Owen, ignoring her opening words.

The ride back was quiet for the first few miles. She sensed something was amiss. “Owen, is something wrong?” She said.

“He’s not in Germany. He’s still here. The doctor that was supposed do the operations died, just a few days ago. He’s not going to be getting fixed up,” he said. She woman’s face paled.

“Oh my God!” She said. “He must be devastated!”

“Yes,” he said.

The rest of the ride was dead silent.

******

She just stared at the man. The man that was her man.

Owen had left the two of us alone to talk. That had been at her request. To talk, but neither of us was speaking, not immediately; then, I did.

“Pretty bad, huh?” I said.

“Sam I...” she said, but stopped . . .

“Yeah, I know. Abigail said that looking at me made her skin crawl,” I said. “She didn’t know I’d heard her till after the fact.”

“Sam! I will never say anything like that to or about you,” said Lana. “You and Owen rescued me. I love you, the both of you.”

“Well, lunch is ready. Let’s eat,” I said.

While we ate, I could see she was doing her best not to notice, or rather react to noticing, the way I looked. But, so far she hadn’t indicated that she was going to dump me.

The day went kinda normal for us. Well, what had been normal in the past. It was time for bed.

“I’ll be in in a little while,” she said. “I need to decompress.”

“Okay,” I said. Clearly being with me was one thing, but sleeping next to me? That was going to be something else; well, that’s what I was thinking. She needed to get her nerve up to come in to me. She knew I was likely horny. The fact was I was and I wasn’t. It would depend on how she reacted once she slid in beside me.

She was maybe 45 minutes behind me coming to bed. She slid in and immediately went for my cock. I was so relieved that I almost fainted from the joy of it. We kissed for some time, felt each other up like teenagers needing a road map, and finally she mounted me and slowly oh so slowly began sliding up and down on my now totally stone hard penis. I came in a gusher.

She rolled off to the left of me. I reached for her tit and began sucking on it like a starving baby. It looked like we might make it after all. I was going to do whatever I needed to do to make this woman happy. I would shamelessly bring Owen onboard too when money was an object. My pride was going to die the death it deserved to die.

I was so happy. I didn’t deserve this woman. I could not imagine that any man did.

******

The morning after our first night back together was good. We had breakfast and talked. We made plans to take the Cords out to dinner the next night. The kids would be by later in the day. It was a school day so we wouldn’t be seeing them till after classes were over.

“Sam, I’m going shopping, and yes I can drive. I don’t have my license back yet, but I will be stopping at DMV on the way back to take care of that today, okay?” She said.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll maybe be up at the big house when you get back, so come up there. Okay?” I said.

“Okay,” she said.

She was gone maybe an hour; she was using my truck, and I could tell when she left that she could indeed drive. Well, she used to be a chopper driver, so no big surprise there.

I went into the bedroom and saw an envelope on the bed. I picked it up. My name was on the front. I had a very bad feeling. I read the contents. It was deja vu all over again. But, the message was short; I actually appreciated that.

“I am so sorry, Sam, but I just can’t do it. I wanted to try, but it’s just not in me.

Love, Lana.”

CHAPTER 27

The kids came to the door, all three of them, around 5:00 to invite me and Lana to dinner. I didn’t answer the door.

The woman had taken my truck. I wondered where it was. I wondered if I get it back or if she’d actually stolen it. That one I couldn’t believe. She’d find a way to get it back to me. I just didn’t know when or how—yet.

I guessed that not opening the door cued the man. He was knocking on it at 5:31.

“Sam, what’s going on? I just got home and saw your truck parked around the corner,” said Owen.

“She went shopping,” I said, quietly said.

“Huh?” he said.

I nodded toward the note she’d left me. It was on the table.

He picked it up and read it.

“Sam, this is not the end for you. Just another blip on the radar. Trust me on that,” said Owen.

I didn’t answer him with words. I just looked at him and sighed.

“Sam?” he said.

“I’ll be okay. I kinda expected it. I’ll be okay,” I said.

“Sam come up to the house. I know you’re probably not hungry. But, maybe a bite to eat, and a little conversation. Please, okay?” He said.

“Sure, not much else to do, I said.

He seemed surprised that I wasn’t breaking down in front of him. I guess when one got right down to it, I was surprised too. But I’d told him the straight of it. Even if my face had been fixed, and boy had I hoped against hope that it would be, I figured with her sight fixed that she’d get real tired of living with a paraplegic soon enough. No, I wasn’t surprised, sad, but not surprised.

Lana was still young enough to have a real life with a whole man. She would never have had that with me. That was just the reality. So be angry with her? No. A little upset that all I got was a short note, but again, maybe that was better than some long melodramatic and ultimately meaningless narrative.

We went into the house. I could smell something good cooking.

“Beef stew,” called out Abigail, she’d heard us come in even from the kitchen. Well, and she clearly didn’t know the big news, not yet.

I turned to the big man. “Owen, please, don’t make a big deal out of this. I don’t want to be talking about it endlessly. Please,” I said.

“Okay, but we’ve got to clue Abby, okay,” he said. This one we do together, you and me.” I looked him askance but shook my head.

“Please, just you tell her and let it go at that,” I said. He nodded.

I watched him go into the kitchen. “What!” Well, he’d told her that was clear.

It was a couple of more minutes before they came out. She came to me. Put her hand on my shoulder, looked into my eyes, and shook her head slightly. I nodded.

That we’d be talking sooner or later I was certain. But just not today.

******

Dinner had been good. Nothing was said about my latest personal disaster. And then it was time for me to go back to my crib, the guest house. It would be kind of lonely in there now. The bed we’d done the deed in the night before still smelled of her, of woman. Man I needed that woman. She’d been enough for me. Now I didn’t have her. I wonder if she was thinking of me. I had to think she was, but who knew.

Abigail decided to walk me back to my place. Strange, I thought of the house, the guest house as my place. A year earlier I wouldn’t even have considered such a thing, but I did now, and not in a bad way. I guess I was getting over my anger about Abby’s betrayal of me. The two of them had done so much to help me. I was in the throes of not only forgiving, but also forgetting all of the bad. Well hope springs eternal as the saying goes.

“I’m not going to ask you if you’re all right, Sam, because I know you’re not. How could you be. But, I am so sorry that this has happened to you. So much has happened to you: you were seriously wounded in the war, Owen and I screwed you over, now Lana dumps you because of your injuries. Sam, you deserve better. Let Owen and me do what we can to help you. Don’t go back to how things were before. Please,” she said.

“I won’t,” I said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, but my days of bitterness are pretty much behind me. Pretty much.”

“Okay Sam, I understand. Sam you do deserve a better life. Like I say, let us help you. And really, I am glad some of the bitterness you’ve had to deal with is behind you. My God I am,” she said.

“Okay, thank you for that. I’ll be okay. I need to think about things. Maybe see about making a few friends if I can, like when I was in Tucson. Anyway, I will be thinking about things,” I said. She nodded.

“Okay, I hope you can. And anything we can do, Sam, consider it done. I mean it,” said Abigail.

******

I had to think it was the two of them because I was almost overwhelmed with attention by the children. Even Ronald, who always seemed the least interested in being around me, was all of a sudden hanging out at the guest house. I actually taught him how to play fish. Well everybody had to learn at least one card game and fish was easy.

The twins were around a lot too over the next days. If there actually is an upside to everything I was getting to experience an example of that great truth for sure. The kids were great.

******

I decided to stay at their guest house until, well, until. I didn’t know when until would happen, but seemingly overnight it was five months later. Five months after having been abandoned by Lana Meacham. I’d never gotten another word from the woman after she’d left me. Better that way I supposed. Hearing from her would have just exacerbated the state of loneliness that I was beset with.

A side issue of being so close to the Cord family was that bits and pieces of my history became better known to the girls. I didn’t exactly say anything to them, but being intelligent—well they were my children—they began to put things together. They learned, or figured out might be a better way to phrase it, how I was dumped by their mother and why. They became somewhat knowledgeable of the Afghan war and how I got my ass involved in it.

Mia, at one point, actually pinned her momma for all but forcing me to join up. That particular set-to had ended in a sea of salt-water tears on the part of both of them. Learning of it, their battle, the next day, I put an end to it forthwith. I made damn sure that my daughters, both of them, realized, that I was always my own man and that although their mother wanted me to join up for financial reasons; it had in the end been my decision not hers. I got a couple of extra tacos that night for my defense of her, Abigail.

And then serendipity made its fortuitous presence felt. I got a visit.

******

For the first time in a few days I had been left alone. That was both a good and a not so good thing. I liked it better when the children were around, but them leaving me alone for a bit was giving me a chance to kind of relax and catch my figurative breath, as the saying might have gone.

It was Saturday. I could hear the kids involved with something out on the sward—that’s what I was calling the expansive front grassy area in front of the house. It sounded more appropriate than yard when dealing with a castle like the Cord residence.

I was out on my porch, the guest house porch, smoking a pipe. I’d taken up pipe smoking as kind of an alternative to drinking my second twenty-five cups of coffee a day. A car, a new car, a Nissan pulled up into the driveway that led to the garage in which my truck was parked. Two people got out and came toward me, two people I knew and loved: Lieutenant Claire Cunningham and Sergeant Jeffrey Michaels, 4th brigade, 3rd division, USA. They’d, the both of them, been there the day the shit had hit the fan.

“Corporal,” said Claire, approaching and smiling broadly.

“Sergeant to you lady; I was promoted,” I said, also smiling broadly.

“Well, excuse the hell outta me,” she said, laughing full out now.

“Hey, Sam,” said Jeff, coming up behind Claire. “Thought we’d come by. Been a while. But now you’ve moved up here, well . . .”

“Come in, come in,” I said. I turned and wheeled myself into the front room of the house. They trailed in behind me.

Apart from holidays, I hadn’t seen much of Jeff for quite a while, or anyone else from the old unit either if it came to that. I was very glad to see them. Jeff I knew had had a few dates with Harriet Bridger, Abigail’s childhood friend, though of necessity it was kind of a long range thing: him still living in Tucson and her in Phoenix. His liaison with Velma Reason and ended amicably some time before. I wondered how his new relationship was going or if it was going. I’d be finding out today, I supposed.

“And to what do I owe this very welcome visit to the backside of castle Cord?” I said.

“Hardly the backside of anything,” said Jeff.

“No hardly anything,” I said, “you’re right.”

“Well it sure is better than anything we had over there,” said Claire, referring to the Hindu Kush.

We’d no more than greeted each other and settled in when there was a knock on the door. I wheeled over to it to answer it.

“Mia. Sarah,” I said. “Come in.”

I turned and headed back in the girls trailing behind me.

“Lieutenant Claire Cunningham, you remember Mia and Sarah my daughters,” I said. “You girls I’m sure remember Sergeant Jeff of course.” The girls nodded.

“Nice to see you Miss,” said Mia.

“Yes,” repeated Sarah. “You were in the Army too, Miss Cunningham, right?”

“Yes, I was, with your hero Dad,” she said.

“Hero?” said Mia.

“Yes, when you get the Silver Star, you are very definitely a designated hero,” said Claire, laughing. I gave Claire a look that literally screamed for her to not make a big deal out of stuff.

“Silver Star? What’s that?” said Sarah.

“Wait, wait, you girls are how old?” said Claire.

“Nineteen,” chorused the twins. They were always doing that.

“Nineteen! And you don’t know what your Daddy did?” said Claire.

“Claire! That was all a long time ago. I don’t think,” I started.

“Really, Sergeant Bradshaw! They don’t know!” said Claire. “They still don’t know after all this time!”

“Claire,” I started.

“I outrank you, Sergeant Bradshaw. These girls need to know. Is everyone else up there,” she nodded toward the big house across from where we were,” also ignorant of what you did?” said Claire.

“Claire, it doesn’t matter,” I said. Jeff came up behind me and put his hand lightly on my shoulder. His message was clear. I was to let the lieutenant speak.

“Miss Cunningham?” said Mia, suddenly very interested in the goings on.

“Your dad was wounded in the Hindu Kush mountains. We were attacked by the Taliban, the bad guys. He ran up the hill, guns blazing his and theirs, and killed the whole lot of the bastards; but he took some of the blast from a grenade which wounded him very badly as you see. Oh, and by the way, didn’t I say, your dad saved the lives of nine GIs including me in the doing of it. For heroism in battle he was awarded the Silver Star. He should’ve gotten the DSC as far as the rest us were concerned,” she said.

“Daddy, why didn’t you ever tell us,” said Sarah.

“Yeah,” said Mia.

“I don’t like to talk about it. A lot of guys didn’t come back at all from that war. Yeah I was wounded. So were other guys that day. And many men and women were killed in the course of the war. It’s their story that matters, not mine,” I said.

“Your dad is a major hero. Get that, you girls. You can be very proud of him; we sure the hell are,” said Claire. “We’re proud to be his friend. He was certain to be killed when he ran up that hill. That he wasn’t was a very large miracle. Three other troopers were wounded, but none so badly as your daddy. It was a bad time.”

“Daddy, you’re so bad not telling us after all of this time,” said Sarah.

“Yeah,” said Mia. I snickered.

“Lunch anyone?” said Jeff. “We came here to get a free lunch.”

The lunch was at my place, but the girls who would usually have stayed to eat, left. They had something important to do. Claire and Jeff had a lot of stuff to talk about and to hear me talk about.

******

“Mom, Dad got a Silver Star,” said Mia. “He’s a real hero.”

“A Silver Star? What’s that?” said Abigail.

“He saved people’s lives and won a battle and stuff,” said Sarah.

“He got a Purple Heart, dear. I told you about that a long time ago. He got it because he was hurt in Afghanistan,” said Abigail.

“Yes, but he got something else,” said Sarah, “a Silver Star. It means he was a hero, a big one.”

Their mother was looking kind of, something, questioning maybe.

“How do you know about this Silver Star thing?” said Abigail.

“Dad has visitors. They were in the Army with him. One is Sergeant Jeff, but there’s a lady there to. She was in the Army with Dad and Sergeant Jeff. She told us about Dad doing stuff. Dad killed a lot of bad guys and saved soldiers, our soldiers,” said Mia.

“We’re going to tell Daddy about Dad,” said Sarah. Their mother smiled. “That would be good, girls. Be sure to do that.”

She didn’t say anything to the girls, but it sounded like Sam’s friends were trying to make Sam look good to his daughters, kind of building him up to them. She would have heard, after all of these years, about anything extraordinary that her used to be man had done. She would ask her now man about it, but she was pretty sure he would ditto her thinking on the matter.

The three women turned at the sound of the door opening and closing.

“Owen!” said Abigail.

“Daddy,” chorused the twins.

“We thought you’d be gone all day,” said Abigail. “Didn’t you have a meeting?”

“Did and done,” he said.

“Daddy, Dad is a hero!” said Mia.

“Oh,” said Owen Cord.

“Yes, Dad had some visitors and the lady told us,” said Sarah.

“Yes, the girls say Sam got a Silver medal,” said Abigail.

“A Silver Star!” said Mia. “It’s very important.”

“A Silver Star? Did you hear about that; I mean before?” said Owen, he was looking at his wife.

“No,” said Abigail.

“Who is the lady?” said Owen looking toward the girls.

“Miss Cunningham,” said Mia.

“Well if he did he is indeed a hero,” said Owen. He looked over at his wife who had a dubious look on her face.

“Abbs,” he said.

“I think if something like the girls are talking about is true, well . . .” She said.

“It is mom. Dad just doesn’t want to talk about it. He says too many didn’t come back who were killed for him to think about telling us or anybody,” said Sarah.

“Well okay then,” said Abigail. She was smiling, and her smile was indulgent.

“A Silver Star is a medal for heroism, Abbs. It sounds like it might be a very serious thing the girls have got here.”

“Mom, Dad killed a lot of bad guys and saved nine soldiers including Miss Cunningham,” said Sarah.

“That is wonderful,” said Abigail.

******

“So what do you think?” said Abigail.

“I think it’s for real. He just isn’t one of those guys who brags. Besides he’s more into being creatively depressed than reliving his days in the military,” said Owen.

“Owen, that man, if he really is a hero ...” said Abigail.

“I know, I know, he is a good guy and a real man’s man,” he said. “I have an idea. It’s not a new idea, but it’s one I’m resurrecting.”

“Okay?” she said.

“I'm going to find him a woman. And I am specifically going to look for one who is in the same boat as him or close to it,” he said.

“You mean his face?” she said.

“Yes,” he said. “And yes, I know he will be settling for a woman who is way below you in terms of looks and sex appeal, but it would be someone who would likely stay with him instead of dumping on him like Lana did.”

“And me,” she said, looking down.

“It might take a bit of time, but there just has to be someone out there who needs a guy like him, disabilities notwithstanding,” he said.

“I hope so,” she said. “He does need a woman. That has long been his greatest challenge.”

“For damn sure,” he said.

******

The place was busy. He’d come to make a donation. He’d been planning to for forever, but now he also had a second motive: he was on the hunt for the right woman to be a mate for a special guy—the guy whose wife he’d stolen.

“Mister Cord,” said the woman behind the receptionist’s desk, “Mister Humphries will see you now,” he said. Owen Cord stood and headed for the indicated doorway.

“Mister Cord,” said the man in the expensive blue suit. “I can’t tell you how glad we here at Glades Rehab were to get your call and the reason for it.”

“Yes, and I am glad to be of help,” said Owen. He took the seat the man pointed to, leaned over the desk, and handed him the envelope.

The man looked at it questioningly, and opened it. The man paled. “Mister Cord, this is very generous of you,” he said. “I mean we’ve never gotten a donation this large before. I mean ten million dollars!”

“It’s not a problem, Mister Humphries, but I do have two requests,” said Owen.

“Requests?” the man said.

“Yes,” he said. “One, it’s anonymous. No one gets wind of this no matter what. Okay?” he said.

“Okay, sure,” said the administrator, “we can do that.”

“And two, I need a name. I have a kind of in-law who needs to meet a lady. The man, my faux in-law, is a war hero who is in real tough with his battle injuries. Frankly, because of his face, the damage to it, he will never get a woman to look at him who is not herself in similar straights. So, I guess you could say I’m kind of on a match making mission here,” said Owen.

The man across from him smiled. “Mister Cord, of course I can’t speak for any of the ladies here, but candidates? Oh my, we do indeed have candidates for what you are looking for,” said Mister Humphries.

Owen Cord smiled. “Glades Rehab has hundreds of seriously in tough victims of fires, explosions, auto crashes and almost anything else that a human being might require rehab for, yes indeed,” said Mister Humphreys.

His visitor smiled; his mission was all but certain to be successful.