Chapter 5
Ranching is hard work. Raising cows is harder than raising horses, but horses aren't exactly a picnic. Wednesday rolled around again before Maggie realized so many days had passed. She remembered she hadn't called Jake to set up a tryst with him and Debra, and went into the barn to remedy her omission.
"I'm glad you called," Jake said. "I've got some news for you."
"Is this where you ask if I want the good news or bad news first? Let me ask you something first. Can you get away for fun and games any night except Wednesday?"
"See, you do know the difference between first and only," Jake chuckled. "I can probably arrange something. You name the time and I'll name the place."
"It isn't for me," Maggie said, deliberately teasing him. She paused a couple of hard heart beats, then said, "Debra wants to join us."
"Even better. I wondered why you didn't want to meet tonight. She usually attends Karen's affairs, doesn't she?"
"God, is today Wednesday?" Maggie said "Where has the time gone? Yeah, Debra is a regular at Karen's soirees, as she calls them. I'll work out a time with her and let you know. Now, tell me your news."
"Bobby and Sam came to see me last Thursday morning."
"Oh? They left sometime Wednesday night. Debra and I thought they went out of town. They left us notes saying Bobby was going to Denver and Sam was going to Cheyenne. What did they want with you?"
"They came up with a cockamamy scheme to get the portion of your father's will restricting the sale of the ranch set aside and have their names put on the deed."
"I appreciate you telling me this, but aren't you violating some attorney-client privilege? I don't want you to get in trouble with the bar association."
Jake snorted. "I told them I wouldn't touch such a ridiculous case with a ten-foot pole, so there is no attorney-client relationship. Even if I thought they had a case, I wouldn't represent them. An attorney doesn't have to take a case, you know.
"You don't think they have a case?"
"No. Your daddy's will is pretty solid. I drew it up, remember? As to getting their names on the ranch deed, forget it. You and Debra owned it before you married. Did you or Debra sign any loan papers or anything for their business?"
"I didn't," Maggie replied. "I don't know about Debra, but I don't think so. She and I have been supporting them, because they haven't made a penny from their store and someone has to pay the bills."
"Have you paid any bills for the store?"
"Not to my knowledge. Debra and I agreed in the beginning we wouldn't. They had to sink or swim on their own."
"Good. Then I don't think anyone can hold you responsible for their debts. Legal or otherwise. I did a little checking around and found out Bobby and Sam are in Vegas. They sold Sam's pickup in Cheyenne and took the bus from there. Seems they're up to their eyeballs in debt, Maggie. To bookies. They've been betting heavily on sporting events, and usually pick the wrong team. My guess is they high-tailed it to Vegas to try to recoup their loses."
"Well, I'll be damned," Maggie muttered.
"I don't want to stoop to soliciting business, Maggie, but you should hire an attorney, just in case."
"How much of a retainer do you want?" "How about a dollar?"
"I think we can afford such a princely sum," Maggie said with a chuckle.
"You can pay me the next time we meet. I'll draw up the necessary papers and have them ready for you to sign. In the meantime, our verbal agreement is binding."
"I don't know if Debra is going to Karen's party tonight. I'll talk to her and get back to you."
"Done," Jake said. "I look forward to getting together."
"So do we," Maggie assured him.
Maggie found Debra in one of the corrals working with a horse and told her Jake's information.
"Somehow, none of this surprise me," Debra said. "I don't know about you, but I don't intend to let it get me down."
"Neither do I," Maggie replied. She watched her sister for a couple of minutes. "You know, I've been thinking about a way to increase our business. You were a champion barrel racer and I won a few trophies for trick riding."
"I know what you're thinking," Debra said. "We can train horses for both activities, then offer a training program for the people who buy them. Added to our roping and cutting horses, we should increase our income substantially."
"Two great minds think alike," Maggie quipped.
"Well, let's see how far that goes. Want to go to Karen's with me tonight?"
"You'd rather do that than get together with Jake?"
"I promised Karen last week I'd come this week," Debra said. She tried not to stress 'come' too much and give away the real purpose of Karen's get-togethers.
"What kind of party is she having tonight? I play bridge, but it isn't one of my favorite ways to relax."
"One of her girlfriends, who sells plastic wares, is coming up from Laramie." "And you think listening to a sales pitch for plastic bowls and storage containers is more fun than playing with Jake?"
Debra smiled coyly. "Trust me, dear. You won't be disappointed."
"If you say so," Maggie replied doubtfully. "But, if I get bored, I'll leave and find Jake. I have all the plastic bowls I need."
I expect you to get bored, dear sister, but not the way you think! Debra thought.
Karen took both of Maggie's hands in hers and gave the redhead a kiss on each cheek. "Oh, you're so beautiful, darling!" she gushed. "I'm so glad you came. I've been after Debra for weeks to bring you. It's about time we got a lot better acquainted, don't you think?"
Maggie thought she detected a hidden meaning in Karen's words, a subtle reference to Jake, but wasn't sure. She chose the safe course and said, "Thank you, Karen. I don't need any storage containers, but I do want to get to know you better."
Maggie let her eyes rove over the woman's body, just to see how she compared to Jake's wife. Karen wasn't as voluptuous, but she had an openly seductive aura. Maggie understood how a man would find the woman very sexy.
Karen turned to Debra and whispered, "You little devil. You didn't tell her, did you?" She kissed Debra on the lips, quickly, lightly, then said to Maggie, "Let me introduce you to our hostess for the evening, darling. I think you know the other ladies."
Maggie looked around the room at Marie, the banker's wife, a pretty brunette in her mid-forties, but didn't look it; Barb, a young blonde with tits so big Maggie didn't see how she could open a door, whose husband moved to town a couple of years earlier and bought the hardware store; and Jessie, a young brunette rancher's wife. Just the type of women she expected to see at a plastic-ware party.
"Yes, at least casually," she said. "I don't get away from the ranch as much as I should."
"You should come to my little get-togethers every Wednesday, darling. The composition of the group changes some from week to week, so you'll have the opportunity to meet most of the more liberated women in town."
Again, Maggie thought she detected a hidden meaning in Karen's comment. "I'll try to come," she replied noncommittally.
Karen smiled innocently. "I doubt you'll have any trouble doing so, darling. Ruth, darling, come and meet a tenderfoot. We hope she finds our Wednesday activities to her liking and becomes a regular to our little group."
A svelte woman wearing a red miniskirt, with a slit in each side that reached almost to the waist, a sheer white blouse and no bra turned to face Karen. The stiff nipples topping her plainly visible, medium-size tits created little hillocks in her blouse. Her lustrous, raven-black hair brushed the cheeks of her ass.
Karen said, "Ruth, this is Maggie, Debra's sister. Ruth visits us quite often, Maggie, and always brings a nice surprise with her."
Ruth held out her hand and smiled. "Hello, Maggie. I hope you enjoy my presentation tonight. It isn't what you think. You can use them in any room of the house, not just the kitchen."
Maggie shook Ruth's hand and said simply, "Hello, Ruth. My pleasure."
Karen said, "Ladies, if you'll have a seat, Ruth will start." She indicated a semicircle of chairs facing a card table set up in the middle of the living room.
In spite of Ruth's certainty she would enjoy Ruth's presentation, Maggie expected a tiresome evening of listening to the woman go on and on about the nonexistent advantages of owning a set of worthless plastic gadgets. She sat in the middle of the semicircle, between Debra and Marie, and gave her sister a look of obvious boredom.
"Patience, dear," Debra whispered. "Wait and see what she has to offer before you make up your mind."
Ruth set a large shoulder bag on the table reached and inside. She removed a couple of jars and handed one to Maggie and one to Marie. "Pass them around, please."
Maggie read the label on her jar and snickered. "Well, this certainly doesn't have anything to do with plastic bowls," she whispered to Debra.
"I know," Debra said smugly.
"Trouble is, I don't know a man who needs something to keep his cock hard," Maggie said. She forgot to whisper and everyone heard her. "If he can't keep it up with me, I'm losing my touch."
"Some of us don't have your assets, dear," Marie said. "You and Debra got some pretty good genes."
"You can do more with less with a modicum of lust and the right mind-set," Karen said softly. "Barb is the only one here tonight with genetic attributes that rival Maggie and Debra's. As for me, however, I doubt either one of them can outdo me. Spirit and expertise are more important than physical appearance when you get down to the nitty-gritty."
"Hear, hear," Debra said. "Looks certainly aren't everything. A passive beauty queen can't please a man half as well as a plain woman with zest. The right make-up, some sexy clothes, and any woman looks seductive."
Maggie blushed and quickly handed the jar to Debra. Unquestionably, whatever plastic utensils Ruth had in her bag of tricks had nothing to do with storing food in the refrigerator! She had heard about home parties for sexy undies and such, but had never attended one.
Marie handed Maggie a jar of flavored gel, concocted to both add lubrication to a pussy and give it a specific flavor. She supposed a woman might use a flavoring to give her man a special treat. And she could understand the need for lubrication with a vibrator. But who needed lubrication for a cock?
What flavor went best with the natural taste of a pussy anyway? Did a woman choose a flavor for her pussy the way she chose a wine to serve with meat at dinner? She sniffed the contents of the jar, couldn't identify the flavor, and handed it to Debra.
After the jars made their rounds, Ruth removed an ivory-colored vibrator from her bag. The tool was easily a foot long and about two-and-a-half inches thick. She laid it on the table and removed two harnesses from the bag, one flesh-colored and one black. Each harness had a stud to hold a dildo. Next, she removed the dildos, one flesh-colored and one black, and put them beside the harnesses.
Boy, look at that vibrator, Maggie thought. Talk about a foot-long hot dog! Makes my pussy tingle. I've got a bun that will hold that doohickey to perfection. Maybe this party isn't going to be a total waste after all. I just might buy one of those before I cut out of here. I'll bet Jake is sitting in the saloon, easy prey to some woman on the make. He'd better not leave me high and dry tonight! I need his big beautiful cock.
"Good God," exclaimed Marie. "That thing would tear a woman apart!"
"Speak for yourself," Jessie responded. "It looks just about right to me."
"Oh, come on, Jessie," Barb teased. "Are you trying to tell us that George has one that big?"
"Well, no, not necessarily, but that doesn't mean I don't find this one just about right."
"Dreamer!" Marie hooted. "You don't have any more at home then the rest of us do."
Maggie leaned over and whispered in Debra's ear, "Karen has a hell of lot more!"
Debra whispered back, "You and Karen know that firsthand. I doubt the others do."
"You could have found out tonight," Maggie said, still whispering.