As I followed Jan back into the bedroom, my head was spinning from reading Lucy's texts. She never mentioned Megan, so I had to wonder if they were still together or not. My best guess was that they weren't. Why else would Lucy be interested in patching things up with me?

"Baby, come back to bed with me. I need some more of what's between your legs." Jan was sitting on the bed, a glass of wine in her hand. She could tell that something was bothering me, despite my assurances to the contrary. "Where are you, Frank? You look like you're a million miles away. Come sit with me and tell me what's on your mind."

I think Jan surprised herself when we made love. She was unsure of how she would perform with me because it had been so long since she was with anyone. She didn't surprise me, that's for sure. With the right amount of tenderness, her passion bubbled up to the surface and she showed me that she was all woman, more than capable of satisfying me or any man, for what it's worth. Now that her initial fears were proven to be groundless, she was eager for round two. I had a feeling that her inner sexual animal was about to make an appearance.

But before we could make love again, I had a decision to make. I could keep the texts from Lucy to myself, which would be easy enough to do, but it wouldn't seem right to keep it from her. Jan was different from any other woman I've ever known. She had such a high capacity for love, for genuine love. She decided that I was going to be the focus of all her love, and to begin such a promising relationship by holding things back from her would be more than wrong. It would be everything that Jan wasn't.

Many of my troubles in my life were self-inflicted. I know that Susan had cheated on me long before I did the same to her, but now I wonder if things had been different if I were more attentive to her needs. Things might have been different between us, but maybe not. Either way, I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to start something that might be truly wonderful with Jan by lying to her. I had to tell her everything, including the text messages I received just a few minutes ago. It was my only chance to be true to Jan as well as myself. I took a long sip of the wine, hoping that it would help. Then I sat down on the bed next to Jan and took her hands in mine.

"Jan, I have to tell you something," I began. "When I get done you might not want to stay here with me, but that's a chance I have to take. Jan, I'm falling in love with you, but there are some things you need to know. I'm not going to sit here with you and tell you lies. If I did that I wouldn't be worthy of your love."

Jan's eyes filled with tears and her lower lip began to quiver, as if she were aware of bad news to follow. I kissed her hands in order to help put her mind at ease.

Over the next several minutes I told her everything about my relationship with Lucy, from where we met right up to sharing our bed with Megan. She knew about some of it, but I decided to give her all of the details. Finally, I told her about the text messages I received when I went in to get the wine.

"Jan, I'm in love with you. I know that now. What we did tonight was wonderful, but that's only a small part of why I love you. Your thoughtfulness, your devotion to Jennifer and the way you accepted me when I was down are some of the reasons. So is your friendly manner and the way I feel completely at ease when I am with you. You make me laugh and you make me want to be a better man, and I love the way we seem to be so right for each other."

Jan couldn't hold back the tears at this point and they fell down her cheeks as she began to cry.

"I'm going to meet with Lucy sometime in the next few days, Jan. But I'm going to tell her that things are over between us. I'm going to tell her that I have found love with the most wonderful woman I've ever met."

Jan began to sob openly, and she fell into my arms as I tried to console her. I only hoped that she could see that I wanted to be honest with her and show her that I would never hide anything from her. I kissed her tear-stained cheeks as she sobbed in my arms. Finally she was able to pull away from me and speak.

"Oh, Frank, I love you too. I don't care what you did with Lucy and that other woman. All I care about is you, and the fact that you care enough about me to tell me the truth."

"Jan, I've created a lot of my troubles. I know that now. When you agreed to go out with me I told myself that if I had an opportunity to get close to you I wasn't going to do anything to mess it up. I believe with all my heart that I was tested tonight and I'd like to think that I passed the test. I'm not foolish enough to think that this won't be the only test I'll face, but if I can be honest with you and do the right thing I can't lose. You are someone that comes along once in a lifetime, Jan. Why would I want to jeopardize the chance to make a new life with you?"

Jan got up, kissed me and then pushed me back onto the bed. "Why don't you let me show you how much your honesty means to me?"

Jan began kissing me along my face and down my chest, stopping to suck and bite on my nipples. I tried to play with her tits, but she pushed my hands away and continued tracing kisses down my stomach. I was already getting quite hard, and when Jan got to my cock I was rock hard. She softly stroked me, feeling my hardness. She used one hand to work the shaft, while she gently scraped her nails along it with the other. The feeling was unbearable, and it only got better when she took me into her mouth, her tongue massaging the head as she sucked hard on my prick. She allowed me to escape only long enough to speak. "Do you like it so far, baby? This time I want all of your cum in my mouth, but not before I ride you like the bull you are."

I was right about Jan getting aggressive the second time around. She resumed sucking my cock, but only to drive me crazy. Once she was ready she rose to her knees and straddled my throbbing dick, easing down on it slowly as I watched it disappear inside her warm, wet pussy.

Jan was in total control, riding my long, hard cock as she played with her tits, squeezing her nipples as she moaned her approval. "Oh, Frank, I think I like it with me on top. You are so deep inside me this way. I love how you fill my pussy, baby. I'm cumming already!'

She may be cumming, but she didn't stop gyrating atop my pole, bobbing up and down as if she had an itch and fucking me was the only relief. Faster and faster she moved, her muscles gripping my cock as she began to pant and grunt. "I'm cumming again, love. You are so good, so good and hard."

Watching her ride my cock, her hands on her breasts, her head thrown back in ecstacy, only hurried my own orgasm. I wouldn't be able to keep from cumming very much longer. "Baby, you're making me too hot! I'm ready to fill you with cum, honey!"

Jan quickly got off my cock and began to suck it, stroking me with one hand as she prepared to take my cum in her mouth. Just as she backed off to catch her breath I began to spurt hot cum. Jan took a shot in the lips, but opened up and gobbled me down her throat, my cum painting her tonsils with its stickiness. Jan's eyes widened at the amount of my juice she was taking, and she fought to keep it all in. Some of it leaked out the sides of her mouth, but she held tight to my cock until I was empty.

She looked at me right in the eyes and swallowed all that I had given her, smiling as she did so. After that little display she cleaned the rest of my cum from my dick, taking huge globs of it onto her tongue. As she finished, she bent down and kissed me so that she could share what she still had with me. Her lips and tongue were coated with my sticky seed and I could taste myself on her. Finally, she collapsed into my arms, completely spent from our lovemaking.

As we lay there comforting each other, I asked her if she was going to spend the night.

"I want to," she said, "but I don't know if I should. I know Jennifer is probably still up and will understand if I stay, but I want to wait before I stay the night. Maybe you could stay with me next time."

"That's alright, Jan," I told her. "Jennifer will want to hear all about your evening. I'll drive you back in a little bit. That way I get to kiss you goodnight at your front door. That seems appropriate right now, don't you think?"

"I think it's old fashioned, and I love the idea. You won't mind if I give Jennifer the lowdown on our evening, will you?"

"Of course not. I think Jennifer will be upset if you don't tell her about it."

We lay there for another 15 minutes or so, and then we got ourselves cleaned up and dressed. Jan was beaming as I opened her door to help her get in my car. I was happy myself. I had done the right thing tonight, and it made me feel good.

When we arrived at Jan's house there was a light on in the living room and a small light was on near the porch. I opened Jan's door and helped her from the car. I held her hand as we walked up the sidewalk to her porch. Jan stopped and turned to me.

"I can't tell you what this evening meant to me, Frank. I feel like a woman again, thanks to you. You know, I meant what I said earlier. I do love you. It's been a long time since anyone has meant enough to me to say those words, so you'd better believe it when I say it to you."

"And I love you, Jan. You are one in a million and I'm the one you want. How do you think that makes me feel?"

We stood near the door and embraced. I tilted Jan's head up toward me and kissed her. Not a smoldering, passionate kiss, but one that told her that I would be there for her. Strong enough to get her attention, yet tender enough to let her know that I would treat her the way a woman should be treated.

We broke the kiss and said goodnight to each other. I stood there until she was safely inside before I walked to my car.

It was a special evening indeed.

After a very peaceful night of sleep I woke up on Sunday morning totally refreshed. The sun was shining and it reflected my disposition. For the first time in a very long time I had good reason for optimism. I had the love of a good woman, my sham of a marriage was one step closer to ending and the future was free of uncertainty.

The only thing that needed to be done was arranging a meeting with Lucy. I had to let her know that it was over between us, and I had to do it as soon as possible. I reached for my phone, only to realize that I never turned it on after getting all of those text messages from Lucy last night.

Once it powered on I was stunned to find that there were at least 20 more texts from Lucy. She seemed very desperate to speak with me, so I called her number. She must have had it in her hand, because she answered it immediately.

"Frank, thank God you called. I'm so sorry for what I did. Please forgive me!"

Dear God, she was nearly hysterical. I had to project calm so that she wouldn't get her hopes up. "Hello, Lucy," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't return your texts, but it was very late and I was busy. I would really like to see you, though. What do you say we meet at Dobby's Place around noon? We need to have a long talk about everything."

"Of course, Frank. Oh, I'm so happy you called me. I'll be there, don't you worry about it. Thank you, Frank. You won't regret this, I promise you."

"Okay, Lucy, I'll see you then. Bye, bye."

I clicked the red button, ending the call. The poor woman thought that there was still a chance. I would have to give serious thought about what I would say to her. Her spirits were so high that any rejection might throw her into a rage.

Now it was time for a good phone call. I needed to talk to Jan and tell her what a wonderful evening it was. Her phone rang two or three times and Jennifer answered it. "Hello Mr. Beddoes, how are you doing today?"

"Now Jennifer, what did I tell you to call me yesterday?"

"I'm sorry," she giggled. "How are you Frank? I hope you're in as good a mood as Mom is. Whatever you two did last night has her on cloud nine. I've only seen Mom this happy once, when I graduated high school."

"Well, I want you to know that I'm just as happy as she is. We had a delightful evening and I just wanted to see how she was doing today. I didn't wait too long to call, did I?"

"No, this is perfect timing. I'm so glad you did call, though. It will mean everything to her that you took the time. Let me go get her."

Within seconds Jan was on the phone. "Hello, Frank. What a pleasant surprise hearing from you. Thank you for everything last night, and I do mean everything. I floated on my pillow as soon as I got into bed. I just wish you were here to share my bed with me."

"Hi, Jan. Did you think that I wouldn't call the woman I love after she made me the happiest man in the world last night? You were everything I expected and more. It's only right that the sun is shining so brightly today. It reflects my mood."

"Frank, you say the nicest things. Hey, I gave Jennifer a rough outline of what we did, but left out some of the, er, intimate details. She begged me for more, but there are some things a mother doesn't tell her daughter."

"That's fine, Jan. Listen, I wanted you to know that I called Lucy first thing this morning and set up a meeting at Dobby's at noon. I'm going to tell her that it's over between us. I hope she understands, but I have to make a clean break with her. I don't want her thinking for even a second that there is a chance for us. I hope that's okay with you."

"No, that's fine. In fact, it's something that a gentleman would do and I love you for doing this. It's better to be up front with her and let her know."

"Jan, do you and Jennifer have any plans for dinner? I'd like it very much if you would allow me to take the two of you out. There's a place near here called Leroy's Coop. I hear they have pretty good southern fried chicken. Have you heard of it?"

"Oh, yes, it's very good. Jennifer was asking me if I would go with her today, but I thought that someone special might call today, so I didn't make any plans."

"Then let me take both of you. I really enjoyed sitting with you two the other night. How about we make it a date, say, around 5:30?"

"You're on. Jennifer will be so happy!"

"I'll see you then, Jan. Have a nice day."

"You too, Frank. Good luck with Lucy today. Bye, bye."

Just around noon I walked into Dobby's Place to see Lucy. She was sitting near the back in a booth, just like we used to do. She really looked good, obviously from her time in Palm Springs. I sat down next to her in the booth. If I were playing poker, my face was a big, fat tell. I must have looked like I was attending a wake, such was my somber mood. Lucy picked up on it right away.

"Hello Frank," she said. All of the enthusiasm she showed on the phone was gone. "Let me guess, it's bad news, isn't it?"

"Lucy, it's not what you were expecting to hear. I'm sorry, but there's just no way I can continue with you after what you did to me."

Lucy's eyes began to water over. Her worst fears were materializing and I expected nothing short of hysteria from her. "Frank, I was hoping beyond hope that you would forgive me and we could start over, but in my heart of hearts I knew that you could never do that. It would have been one thing if I just went away for a while by myself, but taking Megan with me was too much, wasn't it?" One lonely tear escaped her eye and rolled slowly down her cheek. I took a handkerchief from my pocket and dabbed at it, then gave it to her.

"Yes, Lucy, not standing beside me was one thing, but to run off with another woman was too much to forgive. I can't understand why you did it. Could you please tell me why?"

"Megan said you didn't love me the way she did. She was very persuasive, and what she did to me in bed was enough to turn my head. I was weak and she took advantage of my weakness. But then she started telling me all of the things she had done."

"What things, Lucy? What did she do? I have an idea she took money from a private investigator for information about us."

"She did, Frank. She told me that she had been approached by someone who wanted to find out what kind of dirt was out there on you. She said he paid very well and, besides, she figured that if you were out of the picture she could make a play for me."

"That's what I thought as well. Lucy, didn't you trust me enough? Didn't I tell you that I would do anything to protect you? When you left me that note my whole world crumbled around me. There is no way that I could ever forgive you for running off with her." I got up to leave, but Lucy put her hand on my arm to stop me.

"Frank, I'm so sorry. I wish I could go back in time to stop myself, but I can't. You were so good to me. I should have trusted you, but I listened to Megan instead. When we got to Palm Springs she changed. She told me something else, something she thinks could be worth a lot of money for her."

"What was it?" I asked. " What could she possibly have told you that would be worth anything? She lied to get you away from me, so what could she possibly know that could be true, much less worth money?"

Lucy looked down at the floor, as if she were ashamed of something.

"Lucy, c'mon, I think I deserve that much from you."

She looked up. Her lower lip was quivering and the tears returned to her eyes. "Frank, when she told me this I kicked her out of our suite. It was so despicable I couldn't stand to see her anymore. Oh, Frank, I'm so sorry."

"Lucy. Please tell me. What was it?"

"She told me that she was pregnant."

"What? That's preposterous, Lucy. How could she be pregnant?"

Lucy looked at me with a sense of dread. Suddenly it hit me. I knew what she was going to say.

"Frank, she says it's your baby. She said she hadn't been with any man but you, when the three of us were together. You didn't wear a condom and she says that you are the father."

I was stunned. I couldn't believe what Lucy was saying. I pulled my arm away from Lucy and looked her in the eye. "You can tell Megan that she can go to hell. She's just out to make a buck and now she thinks that she can blackmail me into a big payday. Well, you tell her she's got another thing coming."

"Frank, I don't know where she is. When I kicked her out of the suite in Palm Springs I assumed she came back here. I haven't heard from her since."

I just shook my head and turned to leave. I stopped and looked at Lucy. She was upset that I wouldn't forgive her, but she knew that it was coming. I'll give her credit for taking it as well as she did. I couldn't just leave her like this, though.

"Lucy, just so you'll know, when we were together it was good. I thought you were the one, but I guess I was wrong. Please tell me you'll be okay."

Lucy's eyes filled with tears once again, but she managed to speak without breaking down. "Just so you'll know, you were the one for me. The only problem was that I didn't listen to my heart. If I had, we might still be together. But I'll never know that, will I?" She got up and handed me my handkerchief back. "You take care, Frank. Maybe I'll see you around."

And, with that, she walked past me and out the front door. She strode purposefully, never breaking stride and never looking back. There was no doubt that she would be just fine.

When I got home I took a hot shower. Somehow I thought that the water would help wash away the thought of Megan and what she would do next. I would have to call Rocco in the morning and see if he could locate her. I needed to meet with her and find out what she wanted from me.

And tonight at dinner I would have to have another truth-telling session with Jan. She wouldn't like what I would tell her, but she needed to hear the truth from me. My only fear is that she would grow tired of the revelations in my life and decide that maybe I wasn't worth the risk.

It seems that every time I'm on the cusp of true happiness, something comes along to either upset the old apple cart or blow it up. I could only hope that the cart could survive another painful hit to it. One thing I was determined to do was to tell Jan the truth. I promised to do that much for her, no matter how painful.

I'm hoping that love will win the day once more.