Hearthstone Entertainment

Copyright ©2016, 2021 by Elder Road LLC

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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and highly improbable.

Cover photo by Alenavlad ID 162480920 licensed from Shutterstock.com

Second Edition

ISBN 978-1-939275-36-3

Designed by Nathan Everett
ElderRoadBooks@outlook.com

PART I:
Heaven on Earth

1
Fireworks

“ROAMER,” HANNAH SAID SOFTLY after she’d thrown some switches on the console. “Camera three is located over your left shoulder about thirty feet away. I want you to slowly pan to your left and zoom in on the operator.” Hannah had a finger on the monitor for camera two. The roof was being raised by the crane and we could see the other camera on the far side of it. “Camera one, you are live. Follow the crane and pull back to have the roof in full frame.” Another switch thrown. “Camera two, directly across from you is camera three. Zoom in on the operator.” Suddenly, two monitors were filled with the image of the cameraman on three. He was holding a small 35mm camera to his eye. It was not pointing at the construction. I realized red record lights were on all the cameras. Hannah threw a switch. “Roamer, continue your pan left until you are pointing in the same direction as cameraman three,” she instructed.

I didn’t see anything that he could be taking pictures of until the handheld camera completed its swing. It came to rest on the new porch and upper deck. Six of our younger girls were on lawn chairs in bikinis. The bastard!

“Sam, get me Lonnie,” Hannah commanded. “Roamer, continue your pan until you are back on the house. As soon as Rhiannon can get you inside, get me a picture of the roof locking in place as the crane brings down the second section.” Switches thrown. “Camera three, give me a close-up on the guy hand-signaling the crane operator. He is below and just to your left.” The handheld camera had completed its circuit and was moving with Rhiannon to the open doorway. Camera two was still locked on the camera three operator as he dropped his still camera to his side and focused in on the guy using hand signals.

Hannah stood back and handed her headset to another of the techs watching the monitors. “Bring camera two back into the action, Joyce,” Hannah said. “Let’s see you follow getting the interior wall in place.” The roaming camera was now inside the house and we could see workers deploying the wall in the loft. It was pretty cool. Lonnie followed Samantha into the room. Hannah turned to the professor.

“I want Bill Sharp’s still camera confiscated and I want him escorted off the grounds. He is in violation of our rules and his contract regarding unauthorized photography. He is taking pictures of underage girls sunbathing. I want him off my lot and eliminated from the program,” Hannah snapped.

“Are you sure, Hannah?” Lonnie asked. “I know he’s been a little too much in awe of the beautiful women out here, but surely he wouldn’t be trying to sneak photos.”

“We recorded him and identified his subjects,” she said. “I don’t have any tolerance for this. Sheriff Donaldson is with his daughter over next to the bunkhouse. Brian, please come with us and ask the sheriff to be sure Mr. Sharp leaves the premises without his camera.”

“We’re going to have hell to pay, Hannah. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Everyone was warned and agreed,” Hannah said. “We have way too much at stake to have violations. What’s he going to do when Heaven gets here? Or the governor? Or the IU cheer squad? He’s out. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll do it myself. Right now.” She snatched the headset again and flipped switches. “Camera two, you are live. Come back to focus on camera three and follow the action there until he is out of sight. I want it all recorded.”

Lonnie and I followed her out of the studio and across the lot. I veered off and picked up Sheriff Donaldson and quickly explained what was going on. Hannah and Lonnie were at the truck where the cameraman perched with a much better angle on the deck than what the handheld had from the ground. He came down.

“The hell I will!” he yelled at Hannah. “You can’t take my personal camera. I’ll sue you if you try to kick me out of this class.”

“You’ve violated your contract,” Hannah said angrily. “The terms expressly indicate confiscation of any device used for unauthorized recording. You are terminated.”

“You bitch. You aren’t even a student.”

Then he made his big mistake. He pounded both hands into her shoulders to push her away. Hannah didn’t move. The sheriff and I both started to run toward them but we didn’t get there in time to stop Hannah from landing two solid punches to his stomach and a third to his jaw. The unfortunate cameraman staggered back against the truck and Sheriff Donaldson stepped between them.

“You hit me!”

“A woman being assaulted has the right to protect herself,” the sheriff said. “You are under arrest. Turn around and put your hands on the truck bed.”

“What? But she…”

“You have the right to remain silent,” the sheriff began. We stepped away. There were running footsteps behind us but I turned and held up a hand to keep Whitney, Adam, Warren, and Tim from coming closer. The sheriff had the camera in his hand and led the operator to his patrol car. He didn’t put him in it, but made a radio call and one of the deputies who had been out directing traffic around the construction zone at the road pulled in to take charge of the prisoner. As they drove away, Hannah gripped my hand and led me into Carl’s bunkhouse. It was the closest point to where the action had been. She turned and collapsed into my arms, sobbing.

All I could do was hold her and be a little amazed at how she’d responded to the cameraman and his violence.

“I will not have my people violated!” she screamed. She was shaking her right hand and I was worried that she might have broken it with the force of her blow. It was certainly going to be bruised, at the least.

Once she was settled down, I wiped her eyes and we headed back to the barn. From the outside, nothing much was happening now. I could see that the three stationary cameras were dark and their operators were disconnecting. The handheld operator was coming out of the house with her camera held beside her.

When we got to the barn, Lonnie had the headset on and was directing the camera people to come in. It looked like production was over for today. Sheriff Donaldson was waiting for us.

“How did you get the sound?” the sheriff asked as we were reviewing the tapes. The remaining eleven of the production crew had all gathered to find out what was going on.

“I understood what was happening as soon as Hannah pointed it out,” Joyce, her assistant director for the homebuilding show, said. “We have atmosphere mikes on each of the cameras so we aren’t shooting in silence and a handheld mike with the roaming camera for the conversations. When Bill left his camera, I turned up the audio from it. The camera was pointed at the house, but the sound is synchronized with the other cameras, so the sound came from there while the pictures came from camera two.”

“It’s a clear case if the pictures on his camera verify that he was, indeed taking snapshots. If he was just looking around through the lens, you are going to be in trouble, Hannah. Now tell me about your response when he shoved you.”

“Two years ago, I was beaten by my boyfriend. No, not Brian. I was in Evansville. You can get the police report from them. I was in the hospital for several days and in recovery and therapy for months. I still talk to my therapist regularly. Part of becoming whole again was to learn self-defense. I responded to discourage my attacker from pursuing the attack,” Hannah said flatly.

“Okay,” Sheriff Donaldson said. “You should contact your attorney and brief him about what happened. It will take a couple of days to have the film in the camera processed and we need to have it certified by the court as to chain of custody. There will have to be a court-appointed witness observe the processing. I hope none of the young ladies were nude. I have to say that sunbathing on the deck during construction wasn’t the smartest thing to do even though there was no reason to assume they could be observed. They were certainly blocked from the construction site for the most part.”

“I’ll talk to them, Sheriff,” Rose said. “They just got here this week and I don’t think they’ve fully grasped the responsibilities of their new freedom.”

“And they are all sixteen?”

“No. Only one is sixteen. She’s the youngest in our clan and won’t be seventeen for another five weeks.”

“Brian, as you look at the number of people who will be here at the ranch and the kind of work you will be doing, you should be thinking about security. I’d like to talk to you early in the week about how you are handling that,” he said. “And, as an example, Hannah, you should have waited for me to be with you before you confronted the employee. Even in major corporations, on-the-spot terminations are handled in the company of security. I hope this all blows over and we can negotiate a release with apology from the former employee. You really don’t want to get into a long and involved legal battle.”

Rose took Hannah to Stall One and called Jennifer’s stepmom. They were in there a long time.

It was a somber conclusion to our week and an exciting day. By the end of the day, Rhiannon had accepted the certificate of habitability and Lionel, Sugar, Lamar, and Renee were cleared to move in over the weekend. We had a bonfire in the evening and had the official handing over of the keys and welcoming of the casa to El Rancho del Corazón. We all agreed that we would have another bonfire on Saturday night and would be in the mood for more celebration.

After Sam, Rose, and I had carefully showered Hannah, we had to photograph her upper chest and shoulders. She had two sharp bruises on her upper chest where the guy shoved her. This definitely wasn’t a ‘get out of my way’ shove. He meant to put her on the ground.

“I was a rock,” Hannah whimpered as we applied arnica to her bruises and her hand.

What a day.

2
Adoptions

WE TOOK HANNAH to the clinic Saturday morning and had her bruises checked and verified. The nurse practitioner also took Polaroid photos to put in her file. Hannah explained that she had been pushed violently at her job and might need to file either an assault charge or workers’ compensation. The nurse was very sympathetic and admonished me to do a better job of protecting my girlfriend. Then we helped Casa del Sol move from their apartment to their new home.

Casa del Arco Iris borrowed Doug’s truck to pick up a couple mattresses so they’d have a place to sleep in the lower level. Adam and Warren moved a bed into one of the lower level bedrooms, too. I was just waiting for Monte and Ross to ask, but they seemed to be pretty happy in the dorm and didn’t want to split up their group.

Robyn joined me in the kitchen to make her grandmother’s fried chicken for our clan picnic as I made deviled eggs. Elaine whipped up potato salad. Hannah baked cookies. It was just too early to have fresh corn from our garden, but Angela promised it would only be two more weeks. Instead, she brought in a ton of lettuce, carrots, radishes, and scallions. She even had a few nice bell peppers. Mary took charge of the garden food as it was brought in and cleaned it up in the prep kitchen behind the wall.

“You know I’m going to be your prep assistant for your show this summer,” she told me. “You’d better teach me how to do all the things you need done.” There was a twinkle in her eye when she flirted with me and I nodded.

“I’ll teach you some new things I need done as soon as we finish prepping dinner,” I said. “We’ll start in the shower.” We kissed tenderly. She’d told me yesterday that she wasn’t sore any longer and was ready for another go. Then all hell broke loose on the production and we weren’t able to connect.

“Yum!”

Carl had come in with a few pounds of pork ribs and said he knew a great barbecue sauce recipe. It was fun to watch him prepare his specialty in our kitchen. They’d go on the grill about an hour before we were ready to eat. I got enthused when I found out his secret ingredient was soy sauce and that he used plain tomato paste for his base rather than the popular way of making home barbecue sauce with ketchup. I told him I wanted him on the show with me for a segment on barbecuing.

Ross had brought an ice cream freezer and after Rose made up the cream mix, he and half a dozen others sat outside the side doors and turned the crank. It only made a half gallon of ice cream at a time, so he had to make four batches.

It takes a lot of food to feed forty-six people. But I was amazed at how much we had left over.

“We have another fire tonight,” Rose announced to the group in the twilight. “There is no limit to how many campfires we can have in the summer. They don’t all have to have a special purpose. But we have some things to celebrate tonight. First, Adam and Warren want to make public to us their relationship. Some of you haven’t been with us very much since we adopted Adam last fall. So, I’ll let him introduce himself and Warren.”

“I’m Adam,” he said. “I want to introduce my compañera, Warren. Just so you know, we aren’t out on campus. I don’t think I’d last if word got out to the football team. I’m on varsity, but will probably never be a starter. I’ve been following a guy who is an incredible running back since I got here a couple of years ago. But I get sent in when he gets tired. My compañera, Warren, is a musician. He plays drums and a bunch of other things. But mostly he likes drums.”

“I’ll try not to keep anyone up at night,” Warren laughed.

“And you’ll get to hear him a lot this summer,” Hannah added. “Warren leads the trio we’ve engaged to provide music for Chick Chat.” Everyone applauded.

“How about you, Sora?” Rose asked next.

“I’m Sora, everybody! You know that. But last winter, Adam introduced me to a friend on the football team and I’ve kind of fallen for him. Right off the balance beam,” our gymnast laughed. “I want you to meet my compañera, Tim.” A few of the kids glanced at me to see that I was smiling and applauding.

“I can only thank my teammate, Adam,” Tim said. “We’re going to have a good season this year.”

“Okay, there is something we’ve all been waiting for a long time,” Rose said. “Josh, Cassie, Mary, and Brian.” Josh nudged Cassie and she did the speaking. The four of us held hands.

“I want you all to meet my novia,” Cassie said. She didn’t get any further. Our casa jumped up to hug all of us and were quickly followed by the rest of the clan. “We haven’t set a date because the four of us have a lot of growing and exploring to do before we make that final commitment, but one thing we know is that we love each other.” Cassie and Mary kissed. Then she turned to Josh as Mary kissed me. The two girls switched places and kissed the guys. I pulled Josh into a hug and the three of them sat down. I stayed with Rose.

“Those who have been here on the ranch for the past few months have known all about the stellar effort Brian made to knock up Doreen,” Rose laughed. “Come here with us, Doreen. Some of you don’t know that he was successful. We’re going to have our first clan baby in six months. He’s due on my birthday, right?” I pulled Doreen in front of me and put my hands over her tummy. “Let’s have all of Casa del Agua come up here with Doreen and all of Casa del Fuego come up here with Brian. We’ve all talked about this and how to describe our family relationship. And we finally decided that we can do whatever we want to. So, Doreen is going to become the first of us who is a full member of two different casas. Doreen, welcome to Casa del Fuego!” We all had a hug fest and Rose tied a red belt around Doreen’s waist with her blue belt. Our two casas were nearly half the clan.

“It is pretty obvious that Brian and Doreen have entered into a long-term intimate relationship. And therefore, it should be no surprise that they have become cónyuge. In our ritual, we wrap this red thread around their wrists to symbolize their commitment. Like all relationships, it is fragile and will break when your hands part. It is your effort, not the outside bonds of thread, that keeps you together. Blessed be.” That was a new line. I wondered if Rose was picking up more new age pagan stuff to put in her rituals.

“I love you, Doreen,” I said as I leaned to kiss her.

“I love you, Brian.” We broke the thread and she caught it to wrap around her wrist.

“Wow! If this keeps up, I’m going to have to buy a new spool of red thread!” Rose laughed. “Brian?”

“Oh, wow. I just want to take her and go to bed now.” I kissed Doreen again while I rubbed her tummy. She sat back down with Doug and Rhiannon. “Okay. You all witnessed a little of what went on yesterday. I want to thank Hannah for spotting the problem and her diligence in protecting our clan. We’re going to have to be very careful when we have strangers and guests on the ranch. This is going to be a very busy summer. We’ll have the television crew from IU here. We’ll have guests for Chick Chat and Young Cooking, as well as audience members for some of the shows. And we’ll have a construction crew preparing the ground and foundation for the new farmhouse. We can expect people to want pictures. And not all of them will be content to have a nice staged photo with a star and leave. When I talked to Heaven last fall, she told me that a tabloid had put out a $10,000 bounty for a nude photo of her. That is a big temptation for a lot of people following her around. While they are at it, I can’t think of a woman in our clan that people wouldn’t like to see nude pictures of. We are a little lax here because we’ve known each other for years in most cases, and we like the freedom of running around with little or nothing on. And let’s face it, we all like seeing each other in that state. But you need to decide if you want pictures of your bare breasts and pussies, or of your cocks and balls, being passed around campus or posted on the Internet. I want Courtney to say something about that.” Courtney stood up beside me.

“Computers are really amazing, and in the past five years there’s been an explosion in their use,” Courtney said. “Many of you can remember when Brian got his Mac as a freshman and was able to print out copies of the agreement for everyone. I built my first PC that year. Geoff is in school learning how to fix them and we’ve had a good time looking at what we can do to connect all our computers in the clan together. And that is part of what is happening in the world. Computers connected together. There’s a new thing we’re learning about in school. A guy in Switzerland has developed a computer language that allows computers like ours to not just get text files but to have pretty cool graphics on the screen, too. I mean graphics like nude pictures. Pornographers have taken advantage of each technological advance in history for the production and distribution of pornography. They have used lithographs, the printing press, camera obscura, photography, film, and video. It’s been a driving force in the development of those technologies. It will be a driving force in the development of what we’ve been told will be called the World Wide Web. When you think about protecting our privacy, it isn’t just whether a print of your picture is being circulated around campus. Think about it coming up on screen every time a computer is turned on. I’m just saying, be careful and be aware.”

“Shit! Okay. That’s not supposed to scare anybody, but just to keep us all aware that not everyone in the world recognizes the things we’ve so carefully nurtured in the clan, like explicit permission and respect for others. I think that one night soon, we’ll invite everyone in the clan who wants to attend and have a nude party in the barn. We’ll just make sure all the cameras are off and that there are drapes over all the windows.”

“Yeah!” Lexi shouted. “We never get to do anything like that back home.”

“Just remember that all our rules are still in effect, even if we’re all nude,” I reminded her. “We’ve also got a lot of jobs on the ranch, and in the production company, for us all to do. We don’t have a lot of cash, so we aren’t paying everyone in the clan a salary this summer. I know some of you had the possibility of summer jobs where you could have earned some cash. Being here on the ranch isn’t one of them. However, Hannah and Louise have worked out a system whereby everyone in the clan will share in the revenue from the productions. We don’t know exactly how much that will be, but you’ll get something for your summer work. The job board has been added to the wall in the studio. Be sure you check it every day to make sure you are taking care of your responsibilities,” I said.

“In keeping with that, many of you met Theresa and Larry when they came out to ride and take care of their horses this morning. We are discussing with them the possibility of living here on the ranch this fall as our ranch managers. Carl and Doug, you’ve been taking care of managing all the construction and all the grounds care. Jennifer, you’ve managed to keep the horses cared for every day. But when we start school again this fall, it will be really hard to maintain that. It was hard last year and we didn’t have as many people or as much livestock. When you see them out here, get to know Theresa and Larry. They’re cool people and know an incredible amount about ranch management.”

I didn’t have any notes and I stopped to think if I missed anything. “Anything else?” I asked. Rose shook her head. “We need to designate a fireman when we have a campfire. Remember, every fire must be dead out before we go to bed.”

3
Testimony

WE GOT A CALL from Sheriff Donaldson and he asked me to bring Hannah, Rose, Whitney, and our attorney to the county office building to talk about the incident on Friday. We set a time of three o’clock to give Jennifer’s stepmom, Teri, time to get there from Indianapolis. She’d come down Sunday afternoon to review our tapes and look at the pictures. I couldn’t understand why he wanted Rose and Whitney, but he just said that he thought it was important. When we got there, he brought us right into his office. Another guy was there as well and he was introduced as the Prosecuting Attorney for Monroe County, Dan Atchison.

“First off, I’ve gone over the evidence with Attorney Atchison,” the sheriff started, after we’d all been introduced. “The fact that everything was taped is helpful. The fact that the developed film from Mr. Sharp contained not only photos of the girls sunning on the deck, but also some intimate photos of other people in your clan supports your assertion that he was in violation of his contract and should have forfeited his camera and left without incident. We could press charges of aggravated assault.”

“He’s going to jail?” I asked.

“Not exactly,” Mr. Atchison said. “This is a tricky area of what to do. The question is ‘do you want to press charges?’ This is the kind of situation that is a little hazy for us. We could pursue it, but if you aren’t willing to press the case, we wouldn’t stand a chance of convicting without a long and expensive prosecution. Before you answer, let me say that you should discuss this with your attorney. Ms. Pratt, it is good to meet you on the same side of the case.”

“Thank you, Mr. Atchison,” Teri said. “Here’s the thing. When we reviewed the tape yesterday, he pushed you. You didn’t even move back a step, Hannah. You just responded with a flurry of punches. The tape would suggest an aggressive over-response. Now, what Mr. Atchison has not seen, and with your permission, Hannah, I’ll show him the photos and nurse’s report from the clinic.” Hannah nodded.

“How could he hit you hard enough to bruise and you not move?” Atchison asked. “This is not evident from the videotape.”

“I was a rock,” Hannah said softly.

“I… uh… you didn’t tell me about this on Friday,” Sheriff Donaldson said. “Is it still evident?” Hannah unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off one shoulder. The bruises were still yellow, even though the arnica was helping fade them.

“Ms. Pratt? Do you want to consult with your client? If you wish to pursue this, we should have a pathologist report and x-rays before this fades any further,” Mr. Atchison said.

“I had a long talk with Hannah yesterday,” Teri said, looking at Hannah. Hannah nodded to her. “Ms. Gordon does not wish to press charges. She does want an apology from Mr. Sharp and support for dismissing him from the production, which, by the way, means that he will be dismissed without credit for the class, as well.”

“I suggest, then, that we call Mr. Sharp and his attorney in to negotiate that settlement,” Mr. Atchison said. “I know George Brown and he is not likely to recommend that his client press any suit against Ms. Gordon or her production company. Let’s get this settled before the holiday if we can.” The attorneys stood and shook hands. Mr. Atchison left. It was clear, however, that we weren’t dismissed.

“Okay,” Sheriff Donaldson said. “You kids have created quite a stir in the county. You have a huge amount of traffic in and out of your ranch. You have forty-some people living out there. You need to do something about security. My department can’t be the place you run to every time there is a problem, though we certainly do expect you to report any criminal activity and you know I’ll personally respond. You have my daughter captive out there,” he chuckled. “But you need security. That’s why I asked Rose and Whitney to join you. Rose, you and Brian are listed as the managing members of Clan of the Heart, LLC. Whitney, I asked you because you are capable and yet restrained in your response. I’m going to suggest that you have an official corporate security team, uniformed and in place during all your business activities.”

“I talked to Jean Duval,” Teri said. “He agrees that your charter was drawn up in such a way that we can quickly convert it to a corporation instead of an LLC. We believe that you can then designate an actual security officer in your clan. It is evident that you are all capable of defending yourselves, but having a point person responsible and a team is a good move.”

“Later this summer,” Sandy’s dad said, “I want to arrange a meeting between you and the county commissioners. You’ve pushed the boundaries regarding what is technically allowed on private property. I’ve put out some feelers and Judge Smith is of the opinion that you could form a legal community if the commissioners and the Sheriff’s Department agree. That means you would be an unincorporated town in the county. At some point, you would be able to incorporate if that was on your agenda. I’ll have to say, though, that forty acres is a little small for an incorporated town. Still, your population suggests that it would be possible. Just be aware that there will be some resistance to that. You should start a campaign among your neighbors to get them ready. Marshall Jacobs is already in your court. You need to line up the rest.”

Wow! Become a town?

“Cameras.”

“Rolling.”

“Action in three…” Hannah counted down two and one on her fingers. Elaine entered from the curtains on our left and we applauded politely. This was it. We were doing our first recording as if it were a live performance in front of twelve volunteers from the clan as a studio audience. I was the only male.

“Thank you. Hello! I’m Elaine Frost. Welcome to Chick Chat, the show where girls talk.” She turned toward the left. All three cameras were live and Hannah was working her magic on a small platform in the center of the room where all three stage areas could be seen. It was a brilliant solution on the part of Doug and Carl who created the central command center so that at least all the monitors and controls didn’t have to be moved between shows.

ELAINE: Let’s talk about the law. The speed limit is 55.

It’s posted on a sign right beside the highway:

“SPEED LIMIT 55”.

But you need to read the fine print.

Speed limit 55

Unless you are in a hurry;

Unless you are late;

Unless it’s an emergency.

Speed limit 55

Unless you only push it a little;

Unless you are a better driver than most people;

Unless other drivers are really idiots.

Speed limit 55

Unless you drive a sports car;

Unless you used to drive a sports car;

Unless you want to drive a sports car.

Speed limit 55

Unless they don’t ticket until you are ten over;

Unless it’s late at night;

Unless no one else is around.

Speed limit 55

Unless it’s a dumb law;

Unless it’s really just a suggestion;

Unless the DOT made a mistake.

Unless you are going downhill;

Unless there is a car right in front of you and you just don’t like following someone;

Unless you are in the FAST LANE.

Speed limit 55

Unless you’re nearly out of gas and need to get home before you run out;

Unless you’re thinking about something else;

Unless you are angry, sad, upset, happy, celebrating, or drunk.

Unless you can afford it;

Unless you know someone who can fix it;

Unless you have a really good lawyer.

Speed limit 55

Unless you have to pee;

Unless there’s a storm coming;

Unless your time is more important than speed limits.

Speed limit 55

Unless everybody goes faster;

Unless you’re just sticking with traffic;

Unless you just want to get there.

Unless you drive for a living;

Unless you don’t drive for a living;

Unless they’re not serious;

Unless your wife made you do it;

Unless your speedometer is broken;

Unless it’s not criminal and you wouldn’t break an IMPORTANT law;

Unless going faster sticks it to the man;

Unless you really just don’t care.

SPEED LIMIT 55

Unless you read the fine print.

[Pause as we applaud. Turn slowly toward Camera two. Little nose wrinkle.]

We’ve got a great show lined up today. What could be better than a man in uniform? Shh shh shh. Ladies! Other than men in kilts. Our special guest today is Monroe County Sheriff Jim Donaldson and we are going to talk about the law. Let’s have a warm welcome for Sheriff Donaldson.

[Applause. Sheriff Donaldson enters from our right. Elaine turns to welcome him and shake hands.]

“Cut!” Hannah called out. She jumped down from her control platform and got in front of us all. “You all are the lucky audience. We decided before we started that we would shoot the monologue twice, you all get to hear Elaine punch out those words one after another again. Girl! How do you talk so fast? We missed a critical cut when you went into the long stream at the end. You started to back up when the cameras closed in on you. Don’t. Cameras, we’ll draw a new line on that two feet back. From then on, camera one zoom in slowly and time it until you are tight on her mouth at ‘Going faster sticks it to the man“. Camera three hold rock steady. Camera two reverse and roll back to full body shot so that when she turns to you to introduce the guest we have the whole set. Elaine, don’t forget that April here is your target for the introduction. Sound, fix that scrape on the sheriff’s microphone. We can hear it as soon as he starts moving. Five minutes till live. Sam, Elaine needs water. Liz, touch up her lipstick after she has a drink.”

We scuffled around and chatted among ourselves. My motormouth girlfriend was incredible. So was her producer/director.

“Places, everyone,” Sam called. “Live in fifteen seconds.” We turned and stopped scuffing our feet.

“Cameras.”

“Rolling.”

“Action in three…” and we were off again. I couldn’t believe how Elaine could rattle that whole thing off so perfectly a second time. And then she and Sandy’s father, Sheriff Donaldson, sat in the big leather chairs.

“Aren’t these chairs luscious?” Elaine asked him.

SHERIFF: Very comfortable.

ELAINE: Sometimes I just fall asleep in them.

SHERIFF: Should I nudge you?

ELAINE: It’s never happened with a guest. Yet. [Laughter.]

SHERIFF: There’s a first time for everything.

ELAINE: Let’s hope not. Sheriff, there is a burning question on every woman’s mind that none of us have ever had the courage to ask. [Lean forward and slowly unbutton top two buttons on blouse.] Can a woman really get out of a ticket by showing a little cleavage?

SHERIFF: I think if you show any more, Elaine, I might have to write a ticket. [Laughter.] Our responsibility as officers of the law is to enforce the law equally, no matter what. Except…

ELAINE: You’re human?

SHERIFF: That certainly comes into the equation. Not just in terms of women and traffic tickets, but in understanding the dynamics of whatever the situation happens to be at the time. It’s important that we realize that not only are we human, but that you are, too.

Twenty minutes later, we all applauded as Elaine and Sheriff Donaldson shook hands again.

[Camera tight on Elaine.]

ELAINE: Join me again, won’t you? This is Chick Chat, where girls talk.

4
Hacked

BY THE TIME we were finished for the day, we were exhausted. I felt bad for Brenda, Sora, and Rose. I stood back and tried to do their second workout with them. I couldn’t do the first one because I’d get all sweaty just before they turned the cameras around to the kitchen set and started Young Cooking. I was ready to drop when they finished their twenty-seven-minute aerobic workout. They were awesome!

We filmed Elaine’s first show, swung around to Sora’s first workout show, and took a break so all the showers in the house could run. By that time, I was ready to start the cooking show and Mary had all my ingredients prepped and ready. She was working with Susan and Pam in the kitchen and for today. Since it was the first episode to be filmed in our studio, Lexi and Judy were my girlfriends of the day and Rhiannon, Nancy, and Robyn were our guest audience. Then we started the cycle over again. Elaine started her afternoon show with a monologue about drama queens and how they weren’t doing it right. It consisted of multiple flips of the hair, exasperated sighs and looks of disbelief, and a hand thrown back against her forehead. Her guest was her former theater director from UIndy. She’d chosen guests with whom she was familiar and could banter for her first day of filming. And both were good shows. We all knew these wouldn’t be the first ones released, but they served to relax her and the second session of the day went smoother than the first. The second exercise session had eight women in it with Rose, Sora, and Brenda. I couldn’t keep up. They were combining the whole thing with dance moves and all the girls seemed to just fall right into them. Several of us guys tried to keep up and swore that we were going to treat our women especially nicely that night.

Then they taped an interview with Rhiannon in Stall One, so we still couldn’t make any noise. I went out and played cowboy for a while. I just jumped up on Jingo out in the pasture and rode around with the other horses. Queenie and Lady acted like they were attached to Jingo’s rear and just followed him wherever we rode. For all his name made him sound evil, Larry’s horse, Diablo, was a sweetie, although a little standoffish. I was surprised that the mule pretty much ruled the rest of the herd. It wasn’t that he was dominating anyone. When you watched him move to a different part of the pasture to graze, pretty soon all the other horses were in that part of the pasture, too. They say mules are smarter than horses.

Mr. Jacobs from next door had mowed the pasture after Larry told me I should do it. Pasture grass should be kept six to eight inches long, not like the knee-length grasses we had last year.

“Are you planning to get more horses, Brian?” Mr. Jacobs asked.

“I don’t think we have room for any more.”

“Well, we could open that northeast quarter of my fields. I’m getting too old and tired to plant a hundred acres of hay and then try to get rid of it all,” he said.

“That would be great, even if we didn’t expand the herd any further. We should talk about what it would cost to rent that pasture as you shut down this year’s hay crop.”

“First cutting’s in,” he continued to jaw. “We need to figure the balance between what you need for your horses and how much to put in pasture. I see you’ve got the remainder of last year’s crop under a tarp. Don’t like to see that, myself. Holds in too much moisture. We’ll just keep your hay in my barn and you or your boys or your girls can come get a load when you need it.”

I reviewed what Mr. Jacobs had said in light of the sheriff’s suggestions and decided that I should carve out time to go talk to him soon.

About ten minutes after I got back in the house, I heard a cowbell being clanged outside. It was faint until the front door opened and Hannah came in, closely followed by Whitney, Adam, Tim, and Judy.

“The ranch is secure and cleared of guests!” Hannah announced. “Repeat, there are no longer non-clan-members on the grounds.” She set the bell on the kitchen counter and started stripping off her clothes. Before the last piece of clothing hit the floor, you could see her shoulders sagging. “I am so tired!” I started to protest getting naked with the younger clan members present and not just our casa, but Judy, Lexi, TK, Monte, and Ross were already naked.

“Do we have food?” Whitney whined.

“It’s ready,” Mary said. “We’ve got a Mexican casserole of some kind. Let me get the trays out of the oven.”

“Some kind?” I asked as I helped get the casseroles out of the oven.

“I just followed the recipe Sarah gave me,” Mary laughed. “She can explain.”

“It’s a tortilla layer casserole,” Sarah said. “The two in square dishes are vegetarian. The big ones are ground beef.”

“Mmm. I love you, honey,” I said. I kissed Sarah soundly. “Thanks for taking up the responsibility of planning dinners for us.”

“Well, as long as I’m going to be here for the summer, I figured this was a job I could do,” Sarah said. She kissed me again. “Yum. We could do this a lot more, you know. Anyway, I’m planning to spend the day cooking on Saturday so the entire next week’s meals are ready to put in the oven as soon as your show is over. Sunday, I belong to Heaven.”

“She’s really going to be here, isn’t she,” I said. Sarah looked around.

“Get a plate of food and let’s find a place to eat outside.” I did as directed and grabbed a can of pop. When we were parked at one of our picnic tables, Sarah started to talk.

“I’m worried about her, Brian. We’re fulfilling all the terms she set for coming here, but she’s getting paranoid. Adam is going to pick her up in Chicago. She said it had to be him and no one else. He is functioning as her ranch security and will be present any time she is not in her motorhome. She rented a huge thing for her and her chaperone. I understand her chaperone is security, too. She wants me to stay in the motorhome with her, and Adam nearby.”

“Damn. I hope everything will work out okay. How long is she staying?”

“She’s agreed to film two segments for Elaine and one with you. Elaine doesn’t want to start on Monday because she wants some time to get to know Jessica again before they start talking on camera. Hannah plans to have her film Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We’re being very selective in terms of our audiences for her segments. A few of our moms are coming down and the rest will all be members of the clan. She has specifically stated that the only men that are to be present during the sessions are the crew plus you and Adam.”

“It’s like she’s going completely off the deep end. I mean, when I saw her in September, she was really cautious. She searched the bedroom and bathroom for hidden cameras and to be sure no one could see through any of the blinds.” It hardly even sounded like the Jessica I knew.

“It’s getting worse. Not only have the tabloids put out a bounty for nude photos of her, but now Housepet has joined the hunt, too. The problem is that the designers she represents have it stipulated that nude photos are cause for termination of their contracts. Otherwise, I think she’d just do a nude photoshoot and be done with it,” Sarah said.

I was worried about what next week would bring.

“This is stupid!” Courtney ranted at the kitchen counter. “I got an A in that class!” Sarah and I had just walked back in and people were cleaning up dishes. Courtney had a letter in her hands. I kissed Sarah and sat down next to Court and opposite Jennifer.

“What is it, my courtesan?” I asked softly.

“A letter from the office of the registrar stating that my registration in level two programming was declined by the professor because I failed to fulfill the required prerequisite. The prereq was the course I just finished. I got an A in it. This is stupid!” she continued. She was building up a head of steam.

“Can you get an appointment to go talk to him?” I asked.

“Not tonight!”

“I meant as soon as possible. Does he have open office hours during summer term?”

“I’ll send him an email. If he’s being this way about it, he probably blocked me.”

“Call and leave a phone message.”

“I have to cool down a little first or I’d scream at him. They are all a bunch of misogynistic pigs who can’t imagine a ‘girl’ programming,” Courtney pouted. “Computer Science, where the odds are good but the goods are odd,” she quipped putting both hands under her breasts and thrusting them forward. “Hold me?”

“Let’s go up to the big chair.” We’d moved the throne chair and, indeed, our other living room furniture upstairs. The fireplace area was now a set and it had Elaine’s two big leather chairs and a table in front of it. We’d decided not to film in front of a fire because it was just too hot in July, especially with all the studio lighting we had. The move made it a little more crowded upstairs, but it was a big room that we scarcely used all of.

Courtney got me undressed and settled in my lap.

“Will you go with me to see him?” she asked in a very small voice.

“It will depend on when you can get an appointment. As long as it doesn’t conflict with when I am supposed to be filming, I’ll be happy to,” I said. “Why do you want me along? I’m sure Jen would go with you.”

“It’s stupid,” she said. That was becoming a favorite phrase. “You know how much trouble Hannah had last summer with the delivery guys? It’s like that in computer science. Unless there is a man present, it’s like you don’t exist. You could cut off my head, my legs, and my arms and they’d still let me in most classes because I have tits and a pussy. But I’m just decoration.”

“Your professor is like that?”

“I didn’t think so. It seemed like he liked me okay. I just want a witness.”

“Is there anything else you want?” I asked. Court had been squirming in my lap and had my cock in her hand. I was petting her breasts with one hand and her butt with the other. She nodded against my chest and spread her legs open.

“I’m not quite ready down there yet, but if you kiss me and tell me you love me, I think that might do the trick.”

It was Thursday before she could get an appointment when I could be there. I was glad to be out of the studio. Maggie was still on edge about doing our first garden scene shoot on Friday. Actually, everyone was on edge. It was going to make the shooting schedule tighter for all the shows since we’d essentially be on two different sets and would have to set up between. We finally decided to shoot the garden scene between Elaine’s first show and Sora’s first show. That way we could prep the kitchen and the things we brought in from the garden while the girls were doing their aerobic dancing. Regardless, I was glad to leave with Courtney. Promptly at three o’clock, she knocked on the professor’s door. He looked up.

“Courtney! How is my favorite student today?” he beamed. Huh?

“Professor Hanratty, if I’m your favorite student, why did you deny me admission to your advanced course?” Courtney responded. She was wasting no time getting to the point. She pulled out the letter and put it on his desk.

“What?” He looked down at the letter and scanned through it. “This must be an administrative error. Let’s take a look at your records. Uh… Who is this with you?”

“My friend, Brian Frost. He’s merely here as a witness.”

“I hope you don’t need a witness for anything,” Professor Hanratty said. “Oh. I forgot. You need to log into your academic record so I can see it. Come around and I’ll give you room.” Professor Hanratty moved to the side of his desk and turned to me. “It’s great that we have access to all the records on the network now. I’m betting some student typist in the registrar’s office pulled up the wrong record.”

“Fuck!” Courtney said. “This can’t be!” The professor and I both rounded the desk from opposite sides to look over Court’s shoulder. “Not only do I have an F for your class, I have Cs for the classes I took at IUSB! Someone’s changed my records.”

“I assume you had As in those classes, too,” the prof said. “Let me pull up my class records and resubmit them. I’m sorry, this time you will have to go to the opposite side so I can log in.” Court and I went to the other side of his desk as he logged in and started navigating through his records. His hands flew on the keyboard. “I’ll be damned. According to this you failed every assignment since ‘hello world’. This can’t be. There has to be a bug.”

“You can re-enter her proper grades from your gradebook, can’t you?” I asked naively. He looked at me with one eyebrow raised. Long hair and a big beard. He had a pretty good stomach going, too—like a Santa in training.

“My dear boy, we have entered the age of the paperless office. I don’t keep paper records. They are all on the computer. We would scarcely be able to get the luddites teaching here to use the system if I didn’t use it myself. We were the first to adopt the new system,” he said. His fingers continued to fly and he mumbled while he was working. Something about backups and troubleshooting. This kept up for several minutes and he pulled a floppy disk out of his desk drawer and inserted it in the computer. “I’ll just restore everything from my backup,” he said.

“Wait, professor,” Courtney said. “Has anyone else’s grades been changed?” He looked at her with the same expression he’d given me.

“I don’t see how anyone could have changed the records. I’m sure it was just a bug. But, I’ll run a quick compare with the backup.” He inserted the disk and his fingers flew on the keyboard again. “Hmm. Oh my. Before we go any further, I need to call security and administration. Please have a seat.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening sitting in his office. It turned out that all the grades in his class had been altered—some up and some down. None quite as much as Courtney’s. We were questioned by security. Three people from the registrar’s office came in to discuss the problem with Professor Hanratty. They questioned us. Mostly they questioned Courtney. It went on until after seven.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” the prof sighed. “We’ve been hacked. Now every grade in the system is suspect. We have to launch an investigation through the whole university. It might not even have originated here. I’m of the opinion that it was an attack specifically on this class because of the apparent randomness of the grade adjustments.”

“Is it possible that there was a formula applied to the grades?” Courtney asked. “If so, they might have applied the same one across the board to the whole school. Is anyone else suddenly being blocked from registering? For anything?”

“There have been a couple complaints a day from people, but that’s not so unusual,” the registrar said. “You wouldn’t believe the number of people who try to make us think there was a mistake. Of course, there never is.”

“Until today.”

“Yes. Until today.” He scowled at Professor Hanratty and left.

“We’ve spent enough time here today,” the prof said. “Courtney, when you get home, cross-check the records for all your other classes. That should let you know whether there has been a uniform attack across the university. If you know other students—like you, Brian—get everyone to check their grades. You were still mailed a paper transcript at the end of the term, weren’t you?”

We nodded and left.

5
Homelife

SARAH, TK, AND MONTE were in the kitchen when we arrived. Everyone else had gone to their dorms or outside. We didn’t have a common area where we could gather in what was now clearly our studio. The three were our dinner crew. I heard pans clattering behind in the prep kitchen and found Kevin, Robyn, and Geoff.

“We’re eating all our meals with your casa,” Geoff said when I asked him what was up. “We’re really not furnishing the other unit with any more than we need to sleep. We figured we’d take on the evening cleaning crew job. Not to worry. Everyone pitched in with general clean-up. We’re just doing all the cooking dishes and cleaning the kitchen so it’s ready for tomorrow.”

“Thanks, you guys. I haven’t told you emphatically enough how glad we are to have you home for the summer.”

“We’re glad to be here, too, Brian,” Kevin said. “As cold as Pullman is in the winter, it’s just as hot in the summer. And we don’t have the trees and nice breeze you have here in Bloomington. We get a hot wind or it’s deathly still. I love these hills.”

“Are you planning to visit your folks while you’re back?” I asked. There was a collective sigh.

“Is it okay if Mom, Dad, and John come down to visit for a couple days?” Geoff said. “You know Kevin’s parents have never been very happy with him. What they call his lifestyle choices. They sent him a check and said they’d be traveling out of town this summer.”

“And you know my parents,” Robyn said. “My mother believes I was kidnapped by aliens—these two—and that I’ve been replaced with a robot. I think she got that message from a crossword puzzle. I’m planning to meet Dad in neutral territory later in the summer.”

“Well, you know he’d be welcome here, just as your parents and brother are, Geoff. I’d recommend not next week while Jessica’s here, though. We’re trying to keep everyone non-essential off the premises next week,” I said.

I went back into the main part of the kitchen where Courtney had pulled together a couple plates of food for us and I sat to eat and chat with the crew.

Pam was sitting on the steps when I went up to bed.

“Brian?” she whispered. “I haven’t gone into your private quarters, but they said the big chair was up there. Will you hold me for a while?” I looked at our youngest clan member. She was stark naked, and it was really something to look at. Damn! At least I was still dressed.

“Sure, Pam. Let me run up and check.”

“I already spoke to Rose. She said they were okay with it but the decision was yours. I’ll leave and go back to the dorm in an hour. I promise.”

“Okay, Pam. I can see when I’ve been outvoted.” I led her to the big chair, but before I could sit down, she started unzipping my pants and pulling my polo shirt off.

“Get comfortable, Patrón. You can’t put anything in me, but I want to feel your skin when you are holding me.” My clothes were in a pile on the floor and I sank back in the chair. I noted it had clean towels spread over the blanket. Rose came over and picked up my clothes.

“I’ll take these for you, cónyuge,” she said. She leaned across Pam and kissed me. “You behave yourself, miss. He agreed to hold you. Nothing else.”

“Yes, Matrón,” Pam squeaked. Rose kissed her and smiled at us. Then she took my clothes to hang up.

All Pam really wanted was to be held. She wiggled a little and got solid contact with the results of her squirming, but then she just wrapped her arms around my neck and let me hold her. I didn’t try to touch her or make any passes. It was actually a really nice little cuddle. I felt almost like I was holding a child.

“I’m a little sad,” Pam whispered. “I try not to be homesick for my mommy. And I try not to be dependent on George. We broke up, you know. He’s really ready for a lot more than I am. We had such a good time this year. I love him. I think Dawn is falling for him. And she has enough experience that I think she’ll be good for him. We talked. I’m not jealous. At least not much. But he was so nice to hug. He’s a big teddy bear. I mean, we never did this. I let him touch me a little. I mean my breasts. But only a little when we were kissing goodnight. Then he had to leave. I’m glad he’s not going to be there this year. I like him and all, but if we were dating and I was seventeen, I would probably lose control and do something wild.”

I found myself rocking my little clan cousin. Well, it’s not that she was so little. She was quite a handful. Not that I was filling my hands, exactly. Damn. It’s just that she reminded me of what it was like to be sixteen and have so much sexuality all around me and girlfriends who wanted to push the limits, but not really being ready for what we all knew we wanted to do. I just held her and petted her dark blonde and light brown hair. It was kind of streaky, short, and silky. It reminded me of what Sandy’s would be like if she cut it.

“I think I’m going to be wild when I get to college. Mom keeps saying that she’ll get a hose and spray me down. You know, she did once. I got a new bikini and was prancing all around while I got ready to go lay out in the yard. My brother kept staring at me and Mom shooed him away. When I was all ready and had my towel laid out, she came around the house with the garden hose on full force. I got a stern lecture. I was being pretty brazen and proud of myself. I guess I deserved it.”

I chuckled and she squirmed some more. I didn’t say anything. I just held her and let her talk.

“I’m not being brazen now, am I? I know I’m sitting on your lap all naked and everything, but you are… You’re better than a dad. I’d never do this with my dad! But I’m not holding a boy who’s going to be my lover and thinking that because I’m naked, he owns me. Thank you for holding me. Thank you for being my Patrón.”

I held her for another half hour and realized she’d gone to sleep. I saw Rose, still sitting up and watching us. I nodded my head toward the door to the dormitories and she got up to open it. She went to the girls’ dorm and went in before I got there, carrying Pam in my arms. When I walked in, Dawn waved me to the bed she shared with Pam. I laid her down and kissed her forehead. Rose covered her up. Dawn tilted her head and kissed me softly.

“You are such a good man.” I hugged her and left with Rose.

“One more,” Rose whispered.

Angela was in the middle of the bed Rose led me to.

“Hi, Angela,” I said. “Do you want to cuddle tonight?” Rose lay near at the edge of the bed.

“I’m nervous,” Angela said. “Tomorrow is the first time I’ve ever been on television and that producer doesn’t like me much. Will you help me relax, Brian?”

“Don’t worry about the producer,” I said. “April likes you and she’s the director. She and I are the only ones who have to deal with Maggie. What would you like, my compañera?”

“Maybe a nice orgasm would help me sleep. And after your little cuddle in the big chair, I think you could use one, too,” she giggled. We kissed for a while and I marveled at her thick, luscious lips and her active tongue. There was no question that we were both aroused as I pressed against her tummy. Shortly, though, she began to squirm around and we ended up in a sixty-nine on our sides. I tried desperately to remember everything she’d taught me while she engulfed my cock in her mouth. I felt Rose shift, too, and then heard her whispers.

“It’s different from a girl, but the same, too. Don’t focus on the tip until you are really ready for him to come. Then it’s the part on the underside that really gets him going. Think about how long he is. You are right that there is a lot more to our clits than the little man in a boat. But there still isn’t as much area to cover as a boy’s cock. Play with his balls. Gently. Sometimes, he’ll kiss you right over your ovaries and you’ll get incredibly squishy. But his balls are right out there where you can see them. That’s right. Lots of licking.”

Between Angela’s tongue and Rose’s narration, I neared my peak pretty quickly. But it was having the same effect on Angela. I felt her hood swell to cover the little hard clit and shifted my focus to squeeze against the sides. I started a few seconds before she did, but she still had me in her mouth when she started to come.

6
Angel Home

NOBODY COULD SIT STILL on Saturday. Even Theresa and Larry were buzzing when they came out to see their horses. Sarah had her crew cooking from right after we finished forms. I’d never been so thankful that we’d put in a separate twenty-eight cubic foot freezer. She was filling it with everything we would need to eat for the next week while she was with Heaven. Everyone else from all casas were cleaning, mowing, policing the grounds, and trimming bushes.

The new gate and entryway to the ranch were beautiful. Lionel and Lamar would be joining Whitney, Adam, Tim, and Judy on security detail this week. There would be no construction crews. They’d start surveying the ground for the new house next week. Rhiannon had the plans finished and they were making the rounds for approval. We’d added a second gate farther up the driveway so that we could effectively route cars of our guests and crew into the parking area we’d created in front of the barn. Only family passed through the second gate and on rare occasions, a delivery person. We’d already had our propane and fuel tanks filled in May and were expecting no large deliveries until fall.

Every car or truck entering the first gate was stopped and the occupants verified according to our list of expected guests and crew for the day. The garden had been perfectly weeded yesterday for our show, but Brenda, Angela, and Ross were out there patrolling for weeds and harvesting things Sarah needed for cooking. The duplex where Casa del Sol lived had new sod around it and looked like a million bucks. You really had to look twice before you figured out if it was a house or a barn from the outside. On the inside, it was truly a showcase of a home.

About two o’clock the CB base station crackled to life.

“KCB-1968 base, this is Angel Home. Kitchen Chef Brian one niner six eight, this is Angel Home mobile. Are you there, base?”

“We’re here, Angel Home. What’s your twenty?”

“We are two miles out and headed home. Please prepare for docking.”

“Ten-four, Angel Home. Welcome to the ranch.”

Hannah stepped outside the side doors of the barn and clanged on her cowbell.

“Incoming!” she yelled.

We’d been waiting for fifteen minutes to get that call and everyone was in house gis and at our stations. I had a little pang of pride when I saw Josh, Mary, and Cassie dressed in the green of novia. Whitney and Lamar were at the front gate. Judy and Lionel were at the mid-gate. Tim faced the drive near the back doors and was in charge of directing the bus to the parking pad we’d prepared behind the barn. That’s where Carl, Doug, and Josh waited to make connections.

When Adam approached the gate driving the bus, he ended up having to back up and make a wider swing. It was pretty tight. Damn! That thing is huge! He rolled down the lane slowly and Judy and Lionel had the double gate open for his arrival. There was some chatter between Tim and Adam on Tim’s handheld as Adam slowed even more. He was concerned about making the turn. Tim directed him on a wide arc that took the bus almost over to the new duplex before turning behind the barn. Tim walked backward leading the bus and watching for obstacles. Adam did have to back it up some and change his angle of approach in order to get squared with the building and the right distance away. As soon as the back bumper was even with the corner of the barn, Tim signaled a stop and the big RV sat and idled. Carl and Doug connected water and electric lines. Josh rolled a stair unit up to the side door of the vehicle. It was about three feet off the ground.

I heard a hum as we watched leveling jacks descend from the body and touch the ground. You could see the bus shift its position. A second hum indicated two slide-outs extending from the far side of the bus. Josh and Carl examined the mechanism on the side of the bus and figured out how to extend the awning that came out to create a completely covered entrance between the RV and the back door of the barn.

Adam finally stepped out of the driver’s door and came around the front of the bus.

“Well, here goes,” he said. I stood beside the steps and watched as he unlocked the door. When it was opened, there was a pause before Warren filled the door and took my hand as he came down the steps.

“Thank you, darling,” he said as he kissed my cheek. He went through the open door into the barn. Everyone cheered.

Our test run was a success.

“I’m nervous. Will you sort of help settle me down? Like you did Angela?” Sarah whispered as she wiggled up next to me.

“Of course I will, sweetheart. Maybe you can help settle my nerves a little, too. I can’t believe we’re all nervous about seeing Jessica. Has she really changed that much?” Sarah got lost in a kiss before she could answer. I felt arms wrap around from behind me and hug the two of us.

“My naughty sister is going to have sex with our boyfriend,” Hannah whispered. “Can I play, too?”

“You just want to hold Brian as he puts his hard cock in my little pussy,” Sarah giggled. She leaned across me and kissed her sister. For a long time. I didn’t mind. I could be the meat in this sandwich any time they’d like. “I bet he’d lick you while he makes love to me. Then we could kiss all we want.”

“Yeah. And I’m nervous, too. What if she doesn’t like our show? She’s like a professional and we’re all just us,” Hannah said.

“Honey, the way you manage this production, no one doubts that you are a professional. And other honey, you are still her best friend ever. It will all be fine,” I said confidently as I kissed one and then the other and went back for another round. I wasn’t sure whose hand was rolling a condom on my cock, but I tried to make sure she had room.

“Will it be as fine as sex with two hot sisters who adore you?” Sarah whispered.

“Two sisters who are always available and would have sex with you any time?” Hannah added.

“Two hot sisters who are kissing each other and touching each other’s pussy?” Sarah continued.

“And who want their hot sister pussies on your cock and mouth?” Hannah finished. Sarah pushed me onto my back and threw a leg over me. Hannah held my erection and wiped it through her sister’s slit before Sarah sank down on it. I was still sighing with pleasure when Hannah settled down onto my mouth. The last thing I saw was the two girls leaning forward to kiss before my view was blocked by my pixie lover’s pussy.

Heaven might be Jessica’s name, but I was in it.

Everyone just focused on having a relaxing day on Sunday while we waited for Jessica’s arrival. That meant there were a lot of people running around naked at the ranch. This might be the last opportunity they got for quite a while. The younger girls, who would be seniors in high school next year, seemed to take great pleasure in politely knocking at our connecting door to ask permission to go through to the deck. We’d have to see if we could figure out a deck for the back, too. Then they paraded naked through our bedroom, each stopping for a kiss and fondle as they passed. TK stopped and plopped down on my lap in the big chair as the other girls giggled and went out to sunbathe in the nude.

“A bunch of beautiful, mostly seventeen-year-old virgins just teased you unmercifully,” she whispered as she cuddled up. “You are hard as a rock. I never got a chance to repay you for a fast and intense orgasm in the closet. Can I do it now?”

“Theresa? You really want to do that or do you think you just owe it to me?”

“Are you kidding? May I kiss you, Brian? That will show you what my intent is.” I welcomed her lips to mine and her tongue into my mouth. I was almost unconscious by the time she let me breathe again. She looked at me with one eyebrow raised and I just nodded my head. I wasn’t sure who she’d been practicing on, but she sure knew what she was doing. She stopped on the way down to kiss and lick my nipples as she stroked my cock. Then she kissed her way down my stomach and gave me a long lick from balls to tip. “Don’t even bother to warn me when you are about to come,” she whispered. “It won’t make a difference.” Her lips slid over my cock and I was a goner.

It wasn’t that TK deep throated or anything. Brenda could take me all the way to my balls. But TK had a very active mouth. And she wasn’t necessarily the prettiest girl in her class. I mean, there was Lexi, for example. And Pam. But while she was bathing my cock with her tongue, she was also pulling my hand to her breasts and showing me how she wanted her nipples played with. I was approaching my climax when she pulled back a little and let it subside. Then she went back to work, building me up again. She didn’t keep teasing like that, though. When I started to come, she applied just enough suction to be sure that every drop was drawn out of my cock and down her throat.

She didn’t jump up and leave then. Her strokes and tongue action calmed down or I’d have bolted. But she kept me in her mouth as I began to soften and then started to be more active until I was fully hard. When she was satisfied that I was at full attention, she pulled off and curled up in my lap again.

“I promised your cónyuge that I wouldn’t break you,” she whispered. “Would you touch my clit now and make me come?” I willingly complied with her wishes and we kissed deeply as she writhed on my fingers.

“You are a real spitfire,” I sighed as we were coming down. Well, she was coming down. There was no chance I was going to soften soon.

“I’m different than the other girls,” TK said. “I didn’t know I was going to be until about mid-year. I turned seventeen the fifth of November—the first in my class. By January I was going crazy to get a cock in my pussy. By February I succeeded. You should know that I’m really careful. Protection. Privacy. Confidentiality. And then I go a little crazy. There is not one boy in our clan that I wouldn’t screw this summer. I won’t infringe on anyone else’s territory. I know Sora and Tim are exclusive now. I know that Sugar and Lionel are completely off limits as are Josh and Cassie. But I’m ready for you. For Lamar. For Doug and Carl. Yes, even for George. He was the first one I let touch me before we had that stupid breakup. I’ve always wanted to feel him in my pussy. I don’t expect to pair up again for a long time. When I get down here full-time next year, I expect to be as available to any man in our clan as I am this summer.”

“Wow, Theresa. That’s really pushing your sexuality.”

“I’m most like Liz, except that I don’t have a one true love and some extra on the side. I’ve just got extra. And I like it. I hope you’ll get your dick in me sometime this summer. I really, really like sex.” TK kissed me another scorcher and then went out to join the other girls on the deck.

“It looks like you were… um… approached by our new resident sexpot,” Rose said. I jerked myself awake to find her curled in my lap. When did that happen? I was still hard and pressed against Rose’s left thigh.

“I sure never expected that,” I said. “Not here or back at Brenda’s in the closet. She’s pretty overwhelming.” I was still a bit groggy from my little nap. I must have passed out as soon as TK left me.

“Don’t worry. I’ve had a little talk with her. She won’t press anyone. But she will certainly let it be known that she’s available. It’s like she just discovered her pussy and wants to put everything in it,” Rose laughed.

“Well, that doesn’t exactly make it high on my list of things I want to stick anything in,” I sighed. “Damn!”

“Treat her kindly and playfully, darling. If this happens to get stuck in there, just go with it and tell her how much you enjoyed it.” Rose stroked my cock. “Of course, if you aren’t doing anything with it right at the moment, I have a place for it.” Rose and I kissed. I picked her up in my arms and carried her to the bed where we made slow, gentle, and intense love.

“Rose, you capture every ounce of my energy when I’m with you. I love you so much I can’t see straight,” I said. “I want to hold you and never let you go.”

“Oh, my love. What a strange life and a strange family we have. I know we have our little problems, but we all want this family to work. People are beginning to identify as part of the clan. Oh! Do that again. Yes! Mmm.” Rose panted, holding us both on the very edge of orgasm, squeezing me rhythmically. “Some of them have begun calling us all ‘Hearthers.’ I heard Lexi and Pam talking about a girl named Amber who wants to become a Hearther.”

“I know Amber. She’s very sweet. Rich’s girlfriend, I think—at least they went to prom together. But geez. Do we really want to be known as Hearthers? If they really want something like that, we should get a group together and talk about terms. I know these things arise organically, but maybe it’s not too late to guide it a little.”

“You’ve lost focus, Brian. It’s me you’ve got your cock in. Move it again. Yes. Come back to me, lover. Let the terms evolve as they may.” It wasn’t that difficult to return my focus to Rose. I loved her with all my heart. Just sliding in and out of her hot, wet center absorbed my brain. I was able to bend my head enough to capture her nipple and with two hard thrusts, she was over the edge. I continued to thrust through her spasming and in a minute, my release arrived as well.

The cowbell clanged.

“ETA thirty minutes!” Hannah yelled from the foot of the stairs. “Prepare for incoming!”

“That means we need to take a shower and get dressed,” Rose sighed. “Oh, Brian. I love you.”

“I love you, Rose. I’m tempted to ignore the incoming and just stay here in bed with you.”

“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” Rose whispered. “We still have a few minutes together in the shower.”

7
Arrival

ADAM SWUNG DOWN from the driver’s door of the bus and came around the front. The ‘docking procedure’ had gone flawlessly after yesterday’s rehearsal. It was a partly cloudy day with no sign of rain, but the awning of the motor home extended to above the door of the barn. It even made the space a little cooler. It hadn’t quite reached eighty today, but the rest of the week was supposed to get progressively hotter into the nineties.

“Patrón,” Adam said, formally. He was still in his official driver’s uniform. Elaine had managed to borrow one from a local theater.

“Heaven isn’t feeling well. She’s asked to be excused from coming in for a while. She’d like you and Sarah to join her in the bus, though,” he said. I was a little sad. The whole clan looked its best and was looking forward to meeting our own supermodel this evening. But if she wasn’t feeling well… “The truth is that she’s scared, Brian. There was an incident in Chicago. I think you and Sarah are the only ones that can ease her right now.”

“Oh, shit,” I said. I turned to Rose and Hannah.

“Don’t worry, darling. We’ll take care of it,” Rose said. Hannah looked at me with her producer face.

“Get her healthy and ready to work, Brian. I don’t care if you have to fuck her into oblivion. Make sure she’s ready.”

“Shh. Shh,” Elaine said, putting an arm around Hannah. ’She“s a professional. She might be temperamental before the shoot, but she’ll be perfect during. Let’s go in and work on the intro again. I could use your help and Nikki is going crazy over the ‘Love’ monologue. Okay?”

Hannah giggled. “The director is supposed to comfort the star, not the other way around,” she said. “Come on, Miss Frost. Let me get you a cold drink and go over the first monologue with you. We can’t have you upset.” The two turned and walked arm in arm into the barn. Rose had circled around to the outside and other door to alert everyone else to the situation. Adam unlocked the door and knocked. A woman I didn’t recognize opened the door a crack.

“It is only the two she requested,” he said. “I need to show Brian the radio.” The woman nodded and let the three of us enter. Sarah was gripping my arm tightly enough to cut off the blood circulation. Adam gave us instructions on the radio quickly so we could call into the house when we were ready to move. Then he turned to introduce the other woman who hovered nearby. “Brian and Sarah, I’d like you to meet Amy Ward. Amy is Heaven’s personal assistant and chaperone.”

I finally had the opportunity to look at the woman. She was a bit older than Jessica—I’d say late twenties. She had a hard look and didn’t accept my offered hand.

“Go ahead with Adam,” Jessica said from the doorway in the back of the coach. “These are my best friends, Amy. And Brian is like Adam.” What? She was telling her chaperone I was gay?

“Yes, Miss Barnes. If you are certain.”

“Adam, there’s food ready in the kitchen and the casa will all be in there. Please make Ms. Ward comfortable. Mi casa es su casa,” I said. She finally acknowledged me with a faint smile and accompanied Adam out of the motorhome.

Jessica rushed to Sarah and me and wrapped her arms around the two of us. She dragged us to the sofa and we held her as she cried.

“They’ve upped the bounty again. That damned magazine. A photographer followed me into a restroom in O’Hare.”

“A guy walked into the women’s room?” I practically shouted. “Did you call the police?”

“Women take pictures, too. I can’t trust anyone. That’s why Amy is so protective. I’m sorry she wasn’t friendlier. She wasn’t exactly enthused about us coming here.”

“Is that why you told her I was gay?” I asked.

“Oh. That’s not what I meant. I meant you were trained. Amy is also a black belt. I suppose she might have assumed you were gay, though. I’ll tell her different,” Jessica mumbled.

“Don’t bother,” I said. “What she thinks doesn’t concern me. What can we do to help you, Jessica? You look a wreck.”

“Gee, thanks. I knew I could depend on you,” she snickered. “I wanted you here with me, but will you let me have a few minutes with my bestie? Sarah, I’ve missed you so much!”

“Let’s get you cleaned up and ready to meet the world,” Sarah said, hugging her friend. “If I can’t do it with makeup, Brian can do it with orgasms.”

“You’re so bad!” Jessica let Sarah lead her into the back that I assumed was the bedroom. I looked in the fridge and grabbed a Coke. We’d stocked it yesterday, so I knew there were some there. I plopped down on the couch again and waited.

Jessica was nothing like I remembered. Nothing like the last time we’d been together and spent the night pleasuring each other in bed. Certainly, she’d shown signs of increasing concern—checking the curtains and blinds, looking for cameras in lights, the closet, and behind mirrors. But she was safe here. She was with us.

She looked almost haunted. Well—hunted. I guess she was. We worked in media, but none of us had really been bothered by our popularity. I was popular among thirty-something housewives. No one was out to get naked pictures of me. Jessica had been on the cover of every major fashion magazine in the world. And she’d just turned twenty-one a couple months ago.

Damn! We’re leaving our teens. Granted, Hannah just turned nineteen, but Courtney just turned twenty. We were a month away from Jennifer’s twentieth. Mine was in October. I wondered if I needed to start acting like an adult now. Nah! That can wait till I’m twenty-one.

I dozed off. I had no idea what was taking them so long back there, but having so much tension built up around having her arrive and then having to wait so long just drained me. I had flitting dreams of cameras and flashbulbs—the life of a celebrity.

“Hey, Prince Charming. Time to wake up,” Sarah whispered in my ear. Mmm. That was twice in one day that I’d fallen asleep where I was sitting. “Your princess is here.”

I opened my eyes and Jessica stood in front of me. Holy shit! She’s beautiful. She wore a pair of black form-fitting slacks and a sleeveless pink blouse with a cami under it. I just stared at her.

“Is it okay?” she asked. She looked a little worried.

“Okay? Of course, it’s okay. You are stunning.” I stood and held out my arms to her. She hesitated but gave me a light hug and pulled away.

“You’d better call Adam and Amy. I’m ready to meet your family.”

“What do the colors mean?” Jessica asked almost as soon as we were inside. Only our casa was there to meet her when we started. That was almost overwhelming. Adam was with us, too, and had switched to his gi.

“The belts show which casa we belong to,” Rose said. “Red is Casa del Fuego. White are clan members without a casa. That’s Adam. I’ll introduce the other casa by name when we have them in. We didn’t want to overwhelm you. There are forty-six in the clan who are here on the ranch. Only sixteen of us in Casa del Fuego.”

“What about the colors of the outfits?”

“Red is the color of a person who is cónyuge with at least one other person in our casa. All of us in red are cónyuge with Brian.”

“Mates,” Jessica said. “Isn’t that what you called it, Sarah?”

“Yes. Those who have a long-term intimate commitment to each other,” Sarah said.

“But not you.”

“I keep getting closer, but I live five hundred miles away most of the year. We’ll see what happens after graduation.”

“Your producer, whom you have met before, is also cónyuge with Samantha. Jennifer and Courtney are also cónyuge with each other.”

“And the green? I don’t know any of you three.”

“This is Josh, Cassie, and Mary. Green is the color of a novia or fiancé. Mary and Cassie are novia of both Brian and Josh,” Rose said as they each greeted Jessica. “And that brings us to your friend Sarah, and I think you know Sora. This is Nikki, who goes to Brown and can’t be with us most of the winter, and our newest member of the casa, Angela.”

“I’m amazed. You are all so incredible,” Jessica said. “I mean, Sarah has described things before and I’ve talked to Brian, but to see you all in action. You really have quite a harem, Brian.”

“It’s not like I have sex with everyone!” I hastily jumped in. That started laughter. Well, the only ones I didn’t have all out sex with were Angela, Cassie, and Josh. And two of those liked to play around with me. Shit!

“You started this, Jessica,” Whitney declared. “You sat down with five girls who were already in awe of you and filled their little fifth grade brains with the story of a prince who would choose his court in the fall. He was enchanted and would never acknowledge that he was a prince. But we would know him by his guards. Then in walks Brian with Carl and Doug towering over him on either side. We fell over each other wanting to be the consort of the prince.”

“But there are only three of you!” Jessica said. “What happened to Brenda and Rhiannon? I thought sure that Brenda would pounce on him.”

“Oh, she did. Does,” Liz amended. “Brenda and Rhiannon sacrificed themselves to his bodyguards. In order to keep them around, you know.”

With introductions out of the way, we sat at the table and had dinner. It was light, with lots of fresh vegetables from the garden. Elaine had made up a batch of my gazpacho while I was waiting in the motorhome. It was our first batch of tomatoes from the garden. I noticed that Jessica was polite, but didn’t eat much. There were boiled eggs sliced up for addition to our salads. She separated out the yolks and only ate the whites.

After we’d eaten, Hannah and Elaine took charge of Jessica to introduce her to the sets and arrangements. I noticed that Amy was right beside Jessica with a notebook, just like Samantha was off the shoulder of Hannah with her clipboard. While they were engaged, I went around to every one of the rest of my hearthmates and gave them a hug and a kiss—well, Josh just got the hug—and thanked them for how considerate they were being.

“I’m jealous,” Nikki whispered in my ear.

“Oh, honey, no one is comparing you.”

“She’s more fucked up than I am,” Nikki giggled. “It’s not fair. I’m supposed to be the crazy one!” That set us both to laughing and I ended up in a considerably more intense kiss with Nikki than I’d intended.

8
Integration

WE ELECTED to bring the casas in one at a time, give them time to get acquainted a little and then leave while the next one came in. Rose, Adam, Amy, and I stayed with Jessica. There were some happy reunions as Jessica met with Brenda, Rhiannon, Renee, and Lamar. I thought she was making an awfully big fuss over the inclusion of gays in our clan, but she really liked Adam and was thrilled to meet Warren. They spent some time together when Geoff, Kevin, and Robyn came in. And, of course, there were a few who were predictably in awe, most notably Cathy and Dawn. They seemed to have the highest pop culture quotient of anyone in our clan.

“Rose, is it possible for me to get one of the house uniforms to wear while I’m here?” Jessica asked. “I feel like I’d blend in better.”

“We don’t always wear them, but I think we’ll make it an afterhours practice this week. It will keep people from forgetting and running around naked. Leonard whips these up in ten minutes now. I’ll get one from him. You might want to talk to him about some of his fashion designs, too. He’s really getting good,” Rose said.

“You should have seen his prom tux and his date’s gown. They were the best dressed at the prom.”

“You all run around naked?” Jessica asked nervously.

“We’re often casual about clothes,” Rose explained. “Or the lack of them. We don’t flaunt that when we have a guest, though. I’ll remind the girls to keep their clothes on in the evening. The younger clan members are like having a bunch of two-year-olds running around, as hard as it is to keep clothes on them.”

“Don’t worry, Jessica. No one is going to stare at you with or without clothes. At least not too much. It’s one of the many reasons cameras are banned on the ranch except those used for the production. And believe me, both our crew and our security team enforce that rigidly.”

Jessica declined to join us for forms in the pasture on Monday morning. That gave us a chance to reinforce to everyone to be cautious of how they dress and to be watchful for strangers around the ranch. When our crew arrived at seven-thirty, Hannah made sure they were aware of the rules and Whitney and Tim checked everyone’s ID as Elaine’s audience and guests arrived. Her guest for the morning show was a musician who was popular around campus and the audience comprised five of Tim and Adam’s football teammates and their dates. Adam and Jessica would sit with them.

It was carefully orchestrated and Jessica had agreed to it in advance. She was Adam’s girlfriend. There would be no more questions from teammates about why he didn’t go out with anyone. Jessica felt it would be good for her image as well. We were actually going to flash a picture of the two of them together during Thursday’s filming. Jessica sat at the end closest to the kitchen and her assistant, Amy, stood just behind her through the entire taping.

Elaine’s monologue was all about music and how to tell what was popular. “Boys with high voices,” she said. “We could have the Vienna Boys’ Choir on and make them into a smash hit sensation.” Her musician guest was one of those who sang in a high voice. “So tell, me, Terry,” Elaine said confidentially to start the interview. “Are you a castrato or have you just not gone through puberty yet?”

After the interview, which had plenty for the football guys to laugh at while their girlfriends swooned over Terry, there was a five-minute social break during which Adam introduced his ‘girlfriend’ to the team and their girlfriends. But then Hannah stepped in and hustled them all out of the studio and thanked them for participating. We had to pull the dance platforms out for Sora, Rose, and Brenda. Hannah, Elaine, and Jessica headed for the motorhome with Amy running interference and checking outside before she unlocked the bus and opened the door for them. That was the last I saw of any of them until Hannah and Elaine came back for their afternoon show after I finished mine.

Judy sounded the all-clear cowbell when security had checked the premises inside and out to be sure that all guests and crew were gone. After Sunday’s rehearsal, Hannah had surrendered the cowbell to Whitney and security was now in charge of announcing when there were non-clan members at the ranch. We’d had a long debate about whether we should lock the front gate. Finally, we decided that was too dangerous. Monte had actually come up with an alarm system. It took about a mile of bell wire, but he set up a simple doorbell that would ring when the circuit was broken. It was pretty ingenious. The dinner crew had pulled massive amounts of food from the freezer for dinner and it all went into the ovens as soon as my show was over. Tonight, we were having all the clan together and everyone would fill plates at the buffet before we went outside to eat. True to predictions, after morning fog, the temperature rose to the mid-80s. Now, as evening settled in, it was comfortable to be outside in our gis.

That was a preview of Hearthstone Entertainment. To read the rest purchase the book.

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