Chapter 8

Friday morning, when Becky walked out to get the mail in the ornate little black box at the end of the driveway, she found a plain manila envelope with no return address. It was addressed to Mrs. Becky Finch, Hillside Drive, Pender, Oregon. The street number had been left out.

Once in the house she tossed the other mail on the end table near the phone, where Rudy liked to find it, and quickly opened the rectangular envelope.

Wrapped in plain white paper were several glossy large black-and-white prints-and she gasped when she saw the people who had been photographed.

The first showed a balding middle-aged man with a cute young blonde in his lap, facing him. Both were naked. They were-connected

-and the man's mouth was fastened on a perky nipple. She felt her cheeks turn warm.

The shot was taken in such a way that the viewer could see down between the blonde's outspread thighs, where his manhood penetrated....

She remembered the pictures she had seen as a girl, with the woman on top of her lover. She found herself physically stimulated.

The rest were all of girls, either scantily clad or naked, in various lesbian poses, all beautifully proportioned, generally with the slender ones being the aggressors.

Her fingers trembling, she returned the photos to the manila envelope. No note, no indication of who had sent them, or why. What is somebody trying to prove? she wondered.

She went quickly to the master bedroom, determined to find a place to hide them. Or should she burn them?

She sank down on the edge of the bed, trembling. The envelope had been mailed in Pender the evening or afternoon before, in time to go through the post office before closing hours. She even sniffed the parcel, hoping for a clue, but she could detect nothing.

Was this some new variety of poison-pen communication? Why just the one shot of an older balding man making love to a young blonde? Why were the remaining photos all of girls sprawled in erotic closeness, in poses that made her face turn hot?

She thought immediately of Tina. Was her neighbor trying to prepare her for more girlish fun-sessions? It was possible that Tina knew Rudy's secret, about his hair piece, but why take such a roundabout way of bringing it out?

Then she realized that she was being just a little unfair. She didn't think the young blonde was quite that clever or underhanded.

However, someone had sent the erotic pictures'-but whether as a joke or to make her feel uncomfortable she didn't know. Her name and address were printed in plain blue ballpoint ink. Millions of them around.

Already she was upset enough about Rudy's behavior and her own transgressions. Why this added aggravation?

It's a sneaky evil thing to do, she thought, angrily.

Obsessed with nervous curiosity she took a second look at the girlie pictures. She experienced a naughty twinge in her loins as the remarkable clarity of the poses struck her senses. She had never seen anything so completely abandoned and she realized there would be a horrible scandal if the post-office department ever found out such things had come through the mail....

What twisted mind had dreamed up this sort of communication?

She hid the photos again swiftly. She shook her head, still undecided about the fate of the envelope's contents. She knew a small nudge of fear.

I'm going to find out who did this, she decided. Someone here in Pender wants to give me a bad time.

The telephone rang and she thrust the envelope in a vanity drawer, more upset than she cared to admit.

When she went out into the living room to answer the ringing instrument, she wasn't too surprised to find Gene on the line.

"What're you doing, tall and beautiful?" he said intimately.

Ever since the last party she had been sure he would get in touch with her-and, since Rudy expected her to be modern in her outlook, she decided to let the chips fall where they might. She was afraid now Rudy would never change back to his previous stable self. If she were to continue to share his bed and board, she would have to play along.

Every time she felt her resolve slipping she went out in the kitchen and had a little hooker of vodka and orange juice. It helped chase the guilty twinges that shook her. She hated to give up her marriage, to run out on him. It would be a defeat, an admission of failure. Perhaps her conscience would quit hurting after a while, and when he got the store at Pasco they could change their ways ... start a family, live decently again.

She had even considered ways of getting rid of his hair piece-but he would simply spend money on a new one.

"I'm just fine!" she answered, at last.

"You've got a private line, haven't you?"

"Yes...."

"So is this one, at the office. Listen, sugar, I can't wait to get my hands on you again...." Play up to him? Why not? She laughed, softly. "I can't imagine why, honey!" Then she added, with more verve. "My car's here. Are you alone?"

"I wish the hell I was-too many people around ... Listen-why don't you and Rudy drop over tonight? Hal and Janet are tied up with this Irene-she's at their place now. Didn't get more than shook up, I guess. Tina likes Rudy. I think the four of us could have a swinging ball."

Her heart pounded. Gene wanted the deal clinched. Maybe he can really thrill me! I didn't do so well with Rudy the last time....

"Sounds interesting," she said, flirtily. "Do we wear swim-things?"

"Sure-plenty hot today. Put on your Bikini."

"I don't have a real one, but I'll go down and buy one."

"Great!" His voice lowered. "I was really primed for you Wednesday night."

She laughed. "Maybe tonight's the night!"

"You're sure different, Becky. And I like it...."

She flirted with him a while longer, promising to bring Rudy over, and then she cut it off.

Could he have sent those pictures? she wondered.

She left the phone and picked up her handbag. A drive downtown would do her good. And she would get a Bikini. Tina and Janet wore them. She wasn't going to be outdone. She would be just as zippy and hep as the young blonde. She would show them just how appealing a long-legged sexy brownette could be....

Since downtown parking was at a premium.

Becky pulled into the Crest lot behind the big three-tiered store. They all knew her light Ford. The parking attendant wouldn't give her a warning note. She waved at him and he smiled broadly, his eyes holding on her legs....

The day was hot. She had worn as little as possible. She realized she looked her best in a full-skirted dress that swirled about her bare knees and just a little above. As she crossed the street two teen-age boys in a hot rod tooted a horn and whistled. Feeling a lift she smiled at them.

A week ago I wouldn't have done that, she thought. And I would have put on a more conservative frock, worn a girdle. I'm changing, too.

She didn't enter the Crest store, though. Earlier in the month she had seen swim suits in one of the women's shops further up the street.

As she was leaving the shop a rather tall man who looked vaguely familiar approached and smiled. He was slim, handsome, bareheaded, deeply tanned. Flattered, she paused and smiled back uncertainly.

"You must be Becky Finch," he said, his gray eyes full of admiration.

"I am...."

"I'm Zane Finch-Rudy's brother. I hope you don't think I'm too forward. I saw you walk up the street a while ago and thought I'd make myself known."

She noted instantly that he wasn't bald, that he had the Finch aura of masculine appeal ... then she remembered that the brothers were bitter enemies. She had seen him before only in one photograph which Rudy had destroyed on sight. His action had seemed to her extremely petty and childish.

The glimpse of the photo and the family resemblance reassured her. There was a quiet strength about him that Rudy had possessed in some measure and now seemed to have lost.

"I'm very glad to know you," she said, smiling again.

"I don't want to intrude, Becky ... Like a coke or something?"

"Yes. It is awfully hot!"

They entered a nearby fountain, and he led her to a booth. A waitress in a crisp white uniform took their order. She experienced a liking for him and her memory became active again. Zane had been in construction a while and now owned several large motels at Spokane. He was quite well fixed. She had found this out from friends of Rudy's at Spokane-she wondered if Zane's success was part of her husband's reasons for never mentioning his name.

"Years ago I teased Rudy about losing his hair and he never got over it," Zane said, a wry smile on his lips. "Shouldn't have done it...."

"Sometimes brothers don't hit it off," she put in. "Did you know Rudy wears a hair piece?"

"Really?"

And I hate it, she wanted to add.

He seemed to sense her thought. His eyes seemed to be probing inside hers and she felt a little shiver of excitement. She remembered that Zane was two years older than Rudy, but he didn't look it. There was a strong assurance about him-powerfully masculine appeal-and she experienced a tightening of her throat, a tiny twinge of desire in her loins. This was crazy....

He would be married, of course. All the really good-looking virile men were. "Where's your wife?" she asked, boldly. "She left me. We're divorced."

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

He sipped his cola. His eyes caught hers again and a stab of remorse hit her. He actually seemed to be lonely.

"I envy my brother," he said quietly.

She blushed, but she wasn't ashamed of it. His eyes coursed over her in thoroughly flattering manner and she was aware of a tingle in her breasts, where her thin bra and bodice shaped her charms....

"I wish you could come to our house and visit," she said.

The wry smile returned. "I may drop by to see him. I'm on my way to Portland ... I had it in mind, but we'd be at each other's throats again. How is he doing, really?"

She told him about the possible advancement to the new Pasco store-if he succeeded in Pender. He appeared genuinely interested. When she finished talking he looked at her again in his penetrating manner.

"Aren't you two getting along?"

She shrugged. "Married couples fight once in a while, I guess...."

He looked down at his empty cola glass. Muscles played in his lean face. "If he ever mistreated a fine girl like you I think I'd tear him apart!"

She trembled. How "fine" am I, really? I just bought an almost-nothing Bikini so a man named Gene Walters and his wife Tina can see every inch of my figure-I've let them both play with my body. I may be part lesbian....

"Don't, Zane." She liked the sound of his name on her lips, in her thoughts.

"Sorry, Becky-I shouldn't trouble you with family feuds. I had an idea you and Rudy were planning a family."

She bit her lip. He had a way of striking her right in the middle. "He wants to wait a while."

He rattled the ice in his glass. "I have to go. Rudy would flip if he knew we were talking like this. I know some people. Don't ever tell him, but maybe I can help him get that store in Pasco."

"That would be wonderful of you."

He smiled. "I shouldn't say this, Becky, but I wish I could run into a girl exactly like you."

Her heart pounded. "That's the nicest compliment I've had in ages!" Impulsively she reached out and squeezed his hand. An electric charge seemed to shoot up her arm to her heart. She trembled. His tanned masculine appeal seemed to envelop her. She imagined his mouth on hers, his strong fingers on her breasts ... and it wasn't the kind of emotion she felt around Gene or Hal either. Mainly because he was so much more real man than anyone she had ever met.

"I'd better go, too," she said, regretfully.

"I hope to see you again, Becky."

She smiled. Oh, so do I! Or maybe I shouldn't. I'm really mixed up now. Why couldn't I have met him before I fell for Rudy? But he was married then....

All the way home, long after she got there, she kept thinking about Zane. She remembered the pressure of his hand on hers when they parted in front of the soda fountain, seeing his athletic stride as he walked to his car and her disappointment in Rudy with his new flashy manner, his sporty attitude, hit her more acutely than they ever had.

Zane was so much more mature. He didn't brag. He was successful and it showed in his every gesture, every move. Where Rudy seemed at times insecure and flighty under pressure, Zane packed assurance and quiet drive.

She was quite sure that if his hair ever thinned or came out he wouldn't cover his head with a ridicuolus patch of thatch.

She tossed the little package containing her Bikini on the bed. Time to resume her role of a giddy party wife again ... time to start worrying again about dirty pictures, anonymously sent, and deals that included going the route with a girlfriend's husband....

She was sure she would never see Zane again. He would find another girl soon enough. Perhaps he preferred someone older....

I need a drink, she thought. I have quite a few things I would like to forget....