Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (59 page)

He
chuckled. “Simple? I don’t think so.”

“Jeff,
Abby has enjoyed the pleasure of your company and, if my guess is correct, Gabe
will, for many, many years to come. But right here, right now, it’s my turn.”

He
glanced away from her and sighed. “I’ve really managed to make a mess of this,
haven’t I?”

She
gently placed her hand on his cheek and turned his head back to face her. “I
don’t see it that way.”

He cocked
his head to one side, leaned over, parted his lips, and kissed her,
passionately.

Susan
wrapped her arms around his neck and clutched him tight, almost desperately.

Jeff reached behind her, grasping her firmly in a
hug, nearly lifting her off the floor.

After a
minute, their lips parted and they stood, breathless, staring into one
another’s eyes. Susan smiled. “I guess I need something to stand on, or very
high heels.”

Jeff
grinned. “I have a better idea. Why don’t we go upstairs, and get more
comfortable.”

She
nodded.

In Jeff’s
bed, they made love, repeatedly, at times gently, at times with ferocity, until
the wee hours of the morning, and both were utterly exhausted. And then they
slept, tightly wrapped in one another’s arms.

In the
morning Jeff awoke to the excruciatingly delicious sensation of Susan still
curled in his arms. He barely dared breathe for fear of disturbing her. The
sensuous scent of Opium still lingered in her mass of jet-black hair pressed
between them and fanned over her shoulder and back. After a time he was
compelled to stretch and yawn.

That was
all it took to cause Susan to stir. She moaned softly, snuggled more tightly,
and reached behind Jeff to pull him close.

Jeff
nuzzled her hair, kissed the back of her head, and whispered, “Good morning.”

She took
a deep breath and sighed, “Is it morning?”

“Yeah,
pretty sure.”

“That’s too bad. I don’t want it to be morning…
ever.” She rolled over, facing him, snuggled down in the bed a little, and
rested her head under his chin. She rubbed her cheek against his chest and
spoke softly. “That was the most wonderful evening I have ever had. Thank you.
Thank you very much.”

“Um, to
say the pleasure was all mine would probably be trite beyond description.”

She
wrapped a leg over him, pressing her body against his, giggling softly. “And
inaccurate.”

Jeff
wrapped his arms around her then rolled on his back, bringing Susan with him,
to lie atop him. “Hmmm, that feels good.”

“I’m not
squashing you?”

He
chuckled. “Hardly.”

She
scooted up a bit, took his face in her hands and kissed him. “I don’t care what
it’s like outside, I don’t want this night to end.”

“Well,
then let’s ignore the sun.” He rolled them over and, resting on his elbows,
spread her legs with his, and kissed her lips, and cheeks, and neck. Then
worked slowly down to her breasts, down across her belly, through her luscious
patch of black hair, and beyond.

Susan
lurched up, grabbed the top of the headboard with both hands, and gasped. “Oh
god!”

Friday, June 12, 2015
(T minus 284 days)

Abby
called from the hall. “Boss, you around here somewhere?”

“Yeah
Abby, in the bedroom.”

She
knocked at the door. “You decent?”

“You
care?”

“No.”

“Well,
then come on in.”

She
stepped into the room, then glanced at him, looking a bit disappointed. “Oh,
you’re no fun, you’re all dressed.”

He
smiled. “Yeah. What is it?”

“I wanted
to ask…” She paused and sniffed the air.

“What?”

She
sniffed again, then smiled softly. “Well, you and Sue found a way to pass the
time while we were gone, did you?”

Jeff
coughed, cleared his throat, and frowned. “Um, what are you talking about?”

She
sniffed the air once more. “Can’t you smell it?”

Jeff
sniffed. “No. Smell what?”

“Opium.
You must be desensitized from overexposure.”

Jeff
curled his lip and groaned. “Um…”

Abby
grinned. “It’s alright, I approve. It’s about time. In fact, long overdue.”

He took a
deep breath, sighed in resignation, and gave her a sheepish smile. “Uh… yeah.”

She
nodded. “Uh huh, I thought there was something a little different about her.
But, Jeff, you need to air bedding before Gabe comes in here. She has a very
acute sense of smell.”

“I
already did. Changed the sheets, pillow cases, towels… everything.”

“Open the
windows, and leave them open.”

“Ahem, right.”
He glared at her. “Did you want something?”

“Oh,
yeah. Um… I forgot what it was.”

“Great.
Then go away.”

She
started to turn for the door and stopped. “Jeff, can I ask you something?”

“What?”

She bit
her lip. “How come you haven’t slept with Gabe?”

His
eyebrows went up. “Um, who says I haven’t?”

She
grinned and shook her head. “Jeffrey, don’t be silly. If you had, it would have
been written all over her face for weeks. She’s head over heels in love with
you, and there are some things that girl just can’t keep secret.”

“Yeah,
alright. Well, not to put too fine a point on it, Abigail, Gabe appears to have
more self-control than you and Sue. To date, she has, uh, declined to seduce
me.”

Abby
chuckled. “Seduce you? Is that what Sue did? Damn, sorry I missed it. I’ll bet
that was entertaining.”

“Abby, go
away.”

“Okay.”
At the door she stopped, turned back to him, smiled, and said softly. “Open the
windows, now.”

Jeff
chuckled. “Yeah, okay. And,” he smiled and nodded at her, “thanks.”

“You’re
welcome.”

Friday, July 3, 2015
(T minus 263 days)

Jeff stared at the image on the computer screen. “Jeez,
it’s not much of a crack.”

Heidi’s
voice came over the speakerphone. “No, it’s not. It’d probably survive the burn
just fine, but why take the chance? Let’s get it fixed or replaced.”

“Oh yeah,
I agree.”

“Now,
I’ve already talked to Jim Davis about it, but he couldn’t give me a prognosis
until Rocketdyne has a look at it. They’ll be here Monday.”

“Okay.
Well, one more glitch.”

“Yep.”

Chrissie’s
voice came over the intercom. “We’re back.”

Jeff
nodded at Gabe, who got up and keyed the intercom. “Okay. We’re just finishing
up. Be there in a minute.”

“Heidi,”
said Jeff, “our guests have arrived. You’ll be here tomorrow?”

“Yeah,
arrive Providence at ten.”

“Alright,
Chrissie will be there to pick you up. Looking forward to seeing you.”

“Thanks.
Yeah I’m looking forward to seeing all of you too.”

“Okay,
then we’ll see you tomorrow. And, Heidi, thanks, nice catch.”

“No
problem, boss. See you tomorrow.” And she hung up.

Gabe came
back to the desk and stood staring at the J-2 engine nozzle image with Jeff.

“Son of a
bitch,” he groaned.

Gabe put
her hand on his shoulder. “We’ve got time, and they have more nozzles.”

“Yeah, I
know, but jeez, these things are 50 years old, and these were supposed to be
the good ones. What kind of shape are the others in?”

“Jeff, if
they can’t replace or repair it, are we done?”

He
shrugged. “I dunno. But if they can’t, well, we’re all gonna have to sit down
and have long talk, that’s for sure.” He took a deep breath and sighed. “Well,
let’s not worry about it now, we’ve got company.” He got up. “Come on, let’s go
meet Abby’s parents.”

At the
top of the stairs in the entry hall, Jeff, Gabe and Susan were met by Abby,
Chrissie, a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman of about Jeff’s height and
build, and the most stunningly beautiful woman Jeff had ever laid eyes on.
She
was maybe five foot eight; wearing exquisitely tailored gray herringbone slacks
and dark green, sleeveless silk blouse, unbuttoned far enough to show a hint of
cleavage. Slender, soft round curves in all the right places, a mildly athletic
build, looking like she might play tennis, chestnut hair that flashed with
hints of copper when she turned her head and cascaded over her shoulders
tumbling in soft waves nearly to her waist, and sparkling hazel eyes that
glistened behind delicate gold-rimmed glasses. Mercy!

Gabe
gasped softly, “That’s Abby’s mother? Looks like she should be her sister.”

Jeff
nodded and whispered, “Yeah. And she’s a year older than me. Wow.” He walked
quickly down the hall and held out his hand. “Brad, Diane… Jeff Grey, it is so
nice to finally meet you!”

Brad took
Jeff’s hand. “It’s a pleasure, Jeff. Abby has told us so much about you.”

Diane
also shook his hand. “Yes. Oh, this is such a delight.” She glanced around.
“Your home is exquisite, it’s so very nice to be here. It’s embarrassing that
it’s taken three years for us to finally get together.”

Jeff
nodded. “Yeah, well I guess we’re all pretty busy. Anyway, we’re delighted you
could finally make it, and honored to have you.” He motioned to Gabe and Susan.
“May I present Dr. Gabriel Frederick, Gabe, and Dr. Susan L
ú
.”

They all
shook hands and exchanged greetings. Brad looked Gabe up and down. “Abby told
us you were tall but, wow.”

Gabe
grinned sheepishly.

Jeff
looked Diane over. “Well, now I know where Abby got her looks.”

Diane
blushed. “Thank you.”

Abby
rolled her eyes.

Jeff
motioned toward the great room. “You arrived at just the appropriate moment,
Abby’s and my favorite time of the day.”

Diane
smiled. “Oh? What’s that?”

Abby
grinned. “Cocktail hour.”

Jeff made
drinks for all, and they took seats in the great room. “You had a good flight?”

Diane
nodded. “Yes, it was wonderful. I love your plane.”

“Thanks,
we like it too.”

“I flew
with Abby several times when she was flying charter jets but never got to sit
up front because of their rules. Sitting in the cockpit and seeing what she
actually does was quite an experience.”

Jeff
grinned. “Yeah, I remember well when Abby and I picked up that plane in
Wichita, and flew here. I’d never flown a plane at that point but knew I was
going to have to learn. Watching her fly was a mistake. It looked way too
easy.” He laughed. “I soon learned it’s not.”

“So you
fly too?” said Brad.

“Yeah,
all of us do.”

“That
plane?”

“Uh huh.
From first lesson in a single-engine Cessna to a Citation type rating was about
a two-year crash course.”

Gabe
elbowed his ribs and frowned. “Don’t say that.”

“What are
you complaining about? You’ve walked away from every one of your landings.”

“So far.”

Jeff
grinned, then glanced at Abby. “You didn’t take them out over the ocean and fly
elliptics, did you?”

Abby
rolled her eyes. “God, no. I’m tired of having to steam clean the interior.”

Diane gave
her a questioning look. “Elliptics?”

Abby made
a wave motion with her hand. “Yeah, going weightless.”

Diane
grabbed her stomach. “Oh my god! The mere thought makes me nauseas. You’ve
actually done that?”

Jeff
nodded. “Many, many times. That’s part of our weightless training regimen.
Between the trips out and back, we’ll be weightless for a total of about
fourteen months. We need to get used to doing things in that environment.”

Diane
gasped. “Oh, good god. Is it hard?”

“No, it’s
just different. It takes a bit of getting used to. But once you get the hang of
it…” He shrugged.

“Oh, god,
I think I’d be barfing my guts out.”

Gabe
shook her head and groaned. “Oh please, don’t remind me.”

Jeff
smiled. “Yeah, well, I think all of us lost our cookies a few times at first.
Well, all except Abby, who seems to have a cast-iron stomach. But, you get used
to it.”

“I would
love to try that,” said Brad.

Abby
pointed at Brad and gave him an impish grin. “Be careful what you ask for.”

Diane
shook her head and cringed. “Not while I’m along.” She glanced at Jeff. “Can’t
you do that in water?”