THE CLUB

Cindy looked at herself in her bathroom mirror and asked how she reached this point in her life. She knew all too well how she got here. She never thought of herself in a situation like she was in now and she had no experience in dealing with it. All she could do was remember back to how it all started and try to figure out how to fix things.

She had certainly never imagined being in a God forsaken place like this, but when she had made the move she was glad to do it. Brad had completely captivated her very soul and she knew she would have followed him anywhere. But the Texas Panhandle was such an extreme for a former California girl. No beaches here, no trees and very little water almost devoid of color and blowing wind constantly. She would certainly have to get used to the winter time with the cold blowing snow. She paused for a moment and took another sip of the coffee she had poured herself in an attempt to get her eyes open for the day as she continued to remember back.

She had noticed Brad’s rugged good looks almost immediately. He was six foot two, with a muscular frame that made all of the other girls in her class swoon. Blonde hair and bright piercing blue eyes helped frame the top of his face while his chiseled jaw framed the bottom. He was a member of the football team, but not the quarterback that most girls go after, he played tight end. A position she thought was aptly named as she watched his muscular cheeks flinch as he walked away from her on many occasions. The team roster listed him as weighing two hundred ten pounds but she could see it was all lean muscle. He usually had a group of girls around him but Cindy managed to talk with him a few times when she was a cheerleader and he was standing on the sidelines. He wasn’t a starter so he spent a lot of time on the sidelines.

She never completely understood why he would come all the way to USC from Amarillo, Texas but as best she could figure it was to get as far away from his parents as was possible. She had spoken to him a few times and smiled, maybe even “accidentally” bent over a table to give him a glimpse of her cleavage but she tried to play it cool. She wanted to date him, not just wind up as another notch in the bedpost.

She considered herself decent looking with her five foot five frame weighing a whopping one hundred ten pounds soaking wet. She had long dark brown hair touching her shoulders which framed her face and made her big brown eyes sparkle. She knew her eyes were big and one of her assets as she accented them with eye makeup to keep their prominent place on her face.

As a lot of girls had done she had tried on his last name a few times to see how it sounded, Cindy Morgan, Mrs. Cindy Morgan. It wasn’t bad she would gladly replace her own last name of Wagner. Her great granddad had emigrated from Austria in the early nineteen hundreds and started a family in the United States after finally getting his citizenship. He worked his way up in a steel mill till the great depression hit when he picked up the family and migrated to California. Cindy had actually been born in Long Beach to Bernard and Lucile Wagner.

Cindy had done fairly well in high school; not straight A’s but she had A’s mixed with high B’s. She managed to make it at USC and that was all she really cared about. As a cheerleader and member of the “Song Girls” she kept busy and was able to meet Brad while he was on the sidelines and at some of the athletic functions. After several casual meetings Brad finally asked her out.

She wanted to make an impression even though this was just a dinner and movie date. She took her time trying to find something exciting to wear, something in between librarian spinster and I’m yours come nail me now. It was a casual date so she didn’t want to go overboard. She did choose a skirt and blouse, she had nice legs and didn’t want to cover those up and the top was tight even with the two buttons she “accidentally” left undone in order to show off her sexy lace push up bra along with the contents inside. She chose heels to elevate her to try to keep up with Brad’s six foot two frame.

Cindy had a lot of dating experience even by this time as a twenty year old sophomore at USC. She had lots of dates in high school losing her virginity at sixteen to Bruce in his den while his mother and father were gone on a business trip. It wasn’t all that romantic and as she figured out later Bruce didn’t much know what he was doing either. But later experiences with newer boyfriends got better and she did have a couple of long relationships that lasted a whole of four to six months.

Brad showed up at her dorm about five minutes early but Cindy was ready, and was walking downstairs when Brad walked through the door. He escorted her out to his car and stopped at a Pizza place on campus. The California Pizza Kitchen was a popular spot for kids and was as well known for their pasta as they were pizza. Cindy struggled now trying to remember what they had but even at her young age of thirty two couldn’t remember the meal she had on her first date with Brad some twelve years ago. Too much time and her current stress levels didn’t help matters either.

Cindy did remember Brad asking if it was alright to skip the movie and just talk and get to know each other. Cindy agreed that sitting in a dark movie theater was anything but conducive to learning about your date. So they just sat and talked. She learned that Brad was from Texas, which would explain that accent, but she had never heard of Amarillo and was glad he didn’t have photos with him or it may have scared her off from the very beginning.

Even though the chairs had cushions sitting for three hours talking was hard on the posterior and Cindy kept fidgeting trying to alleviate some of the pain she felt creeping up on her from sitting so long. Maybe that is why it didn’t sink in when Bard was talking about the family business and saying his dad traveled a lot because they had business dealings in other states like Oklahoma, Wyoming and even Alaska. It never occurred to Cindy that if Brad joined his father’s business he would travel to those places as well. It should have been obvious she thought as she now sat in her and Brad’s kitchen remembering the details of that first date.

She remembered Brad telling her that his father was in some kind of drilling and exploration business and had branched out into some mining as well. What kind of mining she hadn’t a clue but, she was pretty sure they didn’t have any kind of mining in Amarillo but just figured that was part of the Alaska connection. She mostly remembered Brad telling her his mother and father’s name was William and Elizabeth. Most of those closest to the family shortened Brad’s father’s name to Bill.

Cindy put her memories on hold just long enough to pour another cup of coffee and open a small Greek yogurt and cover it with granola she had made from a recipe online. She had found a lot of things online these days including the reason she was in trouble now. Her memory break didn’t last long however as she finished the last of the yogurt just as her memory of Brad taking her home from that first date came rumbling back.

Brad had delivered her directly to the front door of her dorm where she stayed; he bent over and gave her a quick peck on the lips. Soft but quick and other than that never laid a hand on her. All of those stories she heard from the other girls about fighting him off and how he pawed them danced in her head and filled her with questions. Had all of those stories been exaggerated or worse just a complete fabrication or maybe Brad just wasn’t attracted to her. She couldn’t figure out which it might be. It wasn’t as though she wanted him to rip off her clothes and do her in his car; she just wanted him to want to.

Brad had been a perfect gentleman and that was a bit off putting. Cindy just figured he wasn’t interested and she could stop testing their names together. Brad called after a few days and asked her to attend a banquet with him for the football team. It was the end of the season and this event would be a presentation ceremony. Brad would be receiving one of several awards handed out that night. It was a good opportunity to “dress up” so Cindy said yes. After the banquet Brad again was a perfect gentleman and took Cindy straight home, he did say he had an early day in the morning. His father was flying in and Brad was to accompany him on a business trip. Brad called her a week later and asked if she had any plans for the weekend coming up, she just made up some plans she really didn’t have but said she could break those for a good reason. He then asked her if she had ever been camping. She paused for a minute thinking about where Brad was from and seeing visions of Brad sleeping out on a bed roll by a chuck wagon with cows roaming in the distance. She just answered, “I have been camping down on the beach, sleeping on a cot with a big fire out on the sand.” Brad said “That’s close enough and there aren’t a lot of other choices here anyway,” after a pause he asked “Are you game?” Cindy had replied “Sure, what is the plan?”

Brad explained that he had discovered a secluded cove while with some of his teammates when they were looking for a place to drink beer. Brad said “It’s perfect, it’s quiet and we can talk without interruption.” Cindy had wondered if talking was really what was on his mind or if this is where he would finally make his move. At any rate she said okay and they planned on spending the day Saturday and Saturday night as well.

Just to be prepared Cindy had bought a matching sexy bra and panty set that she could wear under her jeans and tee shirt she was wearing for the campout. She fixed a little travel bag with necessities. She had thrown in her overnight travel makeup bag she used on vacations and just to be a safe girl she had added a few condoms too, in case things got that far. She was on the pill and wasn’t worried about getting pregnant but she really didn’t know Brad that well except by reputation and she didn’t want to take any unnecessary risk. She knew very well that she wasn’t going to resist his advances for very long since she got aroused just thinking about being close to him. If he didn’t make any move on the camping trip she would have to think the girls’ stories she heard were just a pack of lies.

Brad came to her door to pick her up for the trip. She walked out with him to his Chevy Silverado pickup with an extended cab. It was a 2000 model Brad had told her and looked very Texas like. He had a topper on the back with a lift up door. Brad loaded all of Cindy’s in the back of the extended cab and opened the door for Cindy to get in the truck. He told Cindy he had some firewood in the back so they wouldn’t have to go looking for it. He said he had a tent if she thought they needed it but otherwise he had a couple of aluminum cots they could sleep on, outside on the sand.

The drive was fairly long to get to the secluded area but most of the way was ocean view and they had a chance to talk a lot. Evidently Brad had traveled a lot with his dad on business trips and one of his favorite spots was Alaska and he had spent some time in Juneau. He hinted that maybe he could take Cindy with him some day on one of his trips. Cindy didn’t know much about Alaska except what she had seen on television but thought it sounded interesting.

They finally arrived at the area Brad had pre-selected for them, at least that is how he referred to it. Pre-selected sounded like a credit card offer. Brad walked around and opened up the door and helped Cindy out. The distance from the cab of the pickup to the ground below was a lot farther than Cindy was used to on her car, but Brad had reached up and offered his hand to help her down. He had brushed his hand against her left breast on the way up to help. She didn’t know for sure if it was an accident or if it was his way of testing the waters so to speak. She didn’t press the issue and just acted like it never happened.

Once Cindy was down standing on the ground Brad had started the job of unloading. He handed Cindy her bag and then went around to the other side and unloaded the food and camp items he had loaded. Once that was out he went to the back and opened the topper and let the tailgate down. He took out the cots and firewood and some poles and a tarp. He told Cindy he used the poles and tarp to hide the port-a-potty so they would have bathroom facilities. He had some bottles of water with one glass container he could set close to the fire he would build so they could have some resemblance of hot water.

Brad said “I better get a fire started before it starts getting cooler.” Then he took some of the fire wood he had unloaded and carried it to the spot he decided would work for the fire. Brad had packed one of those wand lighters with a trigger. He told Cindy “I can start a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together as long as one is a match.” Brad got the fire going and started setting up everything else. He just took charge and got everything done. Set up cots away from the fire but set up a couple of folding chairs up close to the fire. He set up the poles with the tarp stretched around them away from the camp area and put the port-a-potty inside.

After setting up camp Brad took out a small ice chest he had with him, opened a package of Beef Franks and asked Cindy if she liked hot dogs. She nodded yes and Brad brought out a couple of wire hangers with a handle made on the end by creating a loop and covering around it with duct tape. He said that was for cooking the hot dogs later and then he took out a big package of foil with something wrapped inside. Brad told Cindy it was a “Brad Special.” It was actually potatoes cut up with onions and cheese with Garlic salt and olive oil with butter. It was sealed in multiple layers of foil and Brad just placed it on some of the coals that had now formed from the fire. Brad then got things ready for the hot dogs. He had hot dog buns and mustard. He asked Cindy if she liked chili on her hot dog and said he brought a can, but said they usually made their own back home. Brad had a throw away aluminum pan he poured the chili into after opening the can with his pocket knife. Cindy could tell this wasn’t Brad’s first time to camp.

Brad held the pan with the chili in it with a pair of long pliers. Brad had put on a pair of work gloves apparently used in place of a hot pad but she could tell his hands still burned a little when he grabbed something hot. After the chili started boiling Brad moved it away from the fire but close enough to keep warm. He then turned the package containing the potatoes to make sure to cook both sides. After talking for a few minutes Brad said “It’s about time to cook the dogs.” He took the wire hangers and handed one to Cindy, he pushed a hotdog on his hanger making sure Cindy knew how it was supposed to be done. Then he held the hanger with the hotdog out over the fire keeping a close eye on it while he rotated it to cook all the way around. When he pulled it back he grabbed it with the bun that he had sitting on a paper plate and then he layered chili over it with a plastic spoon while attempting to demonstrate to Cindy the technique.

After getting the dogs ready Brad pulled the potato package out and cut the foil again using his pocket knife, spreading the foil apart and making room to dip out the potatoes and he then dipped some out for Cindy and then some for him. Cindy could smell the aroma of the potatoes and they smelled good and she was aptly impressed. Brad then took out a bottle of sparkling wine from the ice chest and after opening the bottle he poured some into two plastic wine glasses. “Pretty impressive for a camp meal,” Cindy thought. The potatoes were as good as they smelled and Cindy was quite content.

Brad then said “I have some dessert if you are interested”.

Cindy answered that the meal would be hard to beat. Brad took out a package of marshmallows, some graham crackers and a few chocolate bars and began sliding the wire hanger through the marshmallows then handed one to Cindy and held his marshmallow out over the fire and motioned for Cindy to do the same. She knew what this was going to be, because she had experienced Smores before.

After getting the marshmallows toasted Brad began assembling the other ingredients by placing the marshmallows right on top of the chocolate bar resting on top of the graham cracker and then he placed a graham cracker on top completing the Smores. This was turning into a pretty good date. Feeling the warmth of the fire while hearing the crackling and smelling the smoke just gave Cindy a feeling of comfort and talking with Brad seemed to be real easy as they stayed close by the fire. As they sat there Brad had eased an arm around Cindy which gave her a comfortable feeling too. Maybe he was interested after all. He told her a lot about Texas and they talked for quite a while enjoying the rest of the wine in the process.

Cindy began to feel the need to try out Brad’s makeshift bathroom so she excused herself and headed that way. He had stuck the four poles into the ground and stretched the tarp all the way around with the front open to enter but with loops by the pole where the flap ended up so you could enter and tie the flap through the loops and have privacy. Brad had made a roll holder out of wire to hang up toilet paper with, so it hung down right beside you. She thought it was a nice touch. When she came back over to the campsite Brad had the container of water that had been heated by the fire up on a rock and was able to offer her a place to wash her hands. He only had paper towels for drying but that worked out nicely.

As they stood there together Brad reached out and pulled Cindy closer to him. He raised her head up and gently gave her a soft kiss. Then finally a little harder longer kiss as he held her tight into him. As things started to heat up Brad slipped his hands under her top and began massaging her breast and lingering his fingers on her nipples. Her daydream of dating past was interrupted by the sound of her daughter Zoey going in and slamming the bathroom door, which started her and broke into her memory replay and brought her back to reality.

She didn’t have time for trips down memory lane right now she had to get Billy and Zoey ready for school. Billy was her oldest at eight and Zoey was just behind him at six. Both were quite a handful and kept her on the run. Brad had insisted on naming Billy after his father Bill or William or whatever you would shorten it to so Billy was a compromise. She wasn’t sure how they came up with Zoey, there was no one in the family with that name but she had seen it in a movie once, so Zoey was it. Cindy made breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and one thin slice of bacon. Cindy wanted to limit the meat a little so one slice was it. She had toast and orange juice to round things out. Billy tried to do things just like his father did and added salsa to his eggs. Brad always spiced up anything he ate with salsa, or jalapeno or Pico de Gallo, anything to add a little spice. She figured it must be a Texas thing.

She herded the kids back to their room to get dressed while she put something on good enough to take kids to school. Cindy put a scarf over her head to cover up the fact that she hadn’t done anything to her hair yet, hell she had been so busy daydreaming she hadn’t even got a shower yet but it would wait now till she got back from the school. She took the kids out and loaded them into the Suburban that Brad just bought her. Brad wanted to get her a new one but the dealer had a year older demo that Cindy said would be just fine. She made it to the school with time to spare but not much. The school had a drop off place that was meant only for student drop off and pick up. The kids got out and Cindy headed back to the house.

Brad’s parents had a large tract of land nearby their house in a private gated community with enough room to build another house, which was what Brad decided to do. He didn’t really consult Cindy on the matter; it was just assumed that was what would happen. The land was available and Brad was one of those guys who didn’t waste things and always would go for what was available.

Brad did consult Cindy on the house layout and about decorating and she was glad she at least had that input. They built a four bedroom and 3 bath homes with living room and den. One bathroom was an on-suite in the master suite, one was for the kids to share and one was for guests, but Billy used it when no one was there because as he says “then he will get a bathroom,” claiming that Zoey stayed in there and he couldn’t get in till all the hot water was gone. The house was pretty nice and was located in a gated community with a pond in the center when it actually had water in it, which it didn’t of late. Water in this area was “scarcer than an honest politician” in the words of Brad. Brad’s parents had a house nearby in the same community and Brad’s sister Samantha had a house in the same community as well just across the pond. It wasn’t too close but certainly within viewing distance. She remembered when she first came out here from California she couldn’t believe how dry it was here. It was drier than Death Valley in California and at times she felt like maybe even as hot.

She arrived back home and felt how fortunate she was. Brad had provided for her well and she knew there were a lot of women who would love nothing better than to take it all away from her. She got out of the Suburban and went inside. She decided she better get that shower and afterwards she would finally get that hair fixed. She wrapped in a towel and headed back to the kitchen to pour her fourth cup of coffee. Brad had always said she drank too much coffee but she thought there were certainly other vices that would have been worse. Unfortunately she had participated in some of those as well.

When Brad was home, which wasn’t very much these days, this would be the time of day when they would talk about their day and the kids and whatever else needed discussing. Cindy really enjoyed this time of day and could hardly bear it when Brad was gone. It was so quiet and lonely when she was alone in this big ole house. When the wind blew, which was generally most of the time you could hear noises. There would be branches from trees outside that would scrape against the roof or the side of the house. She often heard creaking sounds and she didn’t know where those came from. None of the sounds bothered her when Brad was home but when she was by herself they seemed a bit spooky.

Brad had only been gone for two weeks this time and was due back in a couple of days but it just seemed to all add up. Cindy remembered their wedding. Brad’s parents had arranged for most of it. They rented a large banquet room at the local civic center in Amarillo. There were several sizes of rooms on the north end of the civic center and Brad’s parents had rented the Heritage room. Brad looked so good in his tuxedo. Cindy had opted for a shorter gown because she intended to dance and didn’t want to trip on the damn thing. She didn’t plan on letting the DJ they had hired go to waste.

The actual ceremony was at a large Baptist church in Amarillo and went off pretty much without a hitch. Cindy had a couple of college roommates, Christina and Julie, that came out to be bridesmaids and Brad’s sister Samantha was Maid of Honor. Brad’s brother Tom was his best man and a couple of guys Cindy didn’t know were groomsmen. They were guys Brad worked with in his father’s business.

Cindy was still trying to get used to her surroundings and Brad kept telling her she would be a real Texan soon enough. Brad always told her “You know you look good in a tight pair of jeans.” Cindy just took it in stride along with Brad’s promise that someday he would be in a position to stay home more.

The reception lasted till about midnight and by then they had lost most of their crowd. They had a room at the local Ambassador Inn to spend the night and prepare for their honeymoon trip in the morning. Since the wedding was at the end of June Brad had suggested going to Alaska for a honeymoon. Cindy didn’t object, she knew very little about Alaska but she knew Brad had connections up there because of work and photos she had seen of the area were beautiful.

The wedding night had gone well except Cindy had a little too much wine. Now that she was awake she had a headache that would plague her on her trip to Juneau. Their flight left at ten am which didn’t leave a lot of time to recuperate from the hangover that she was nursing. The first layover was in Dallas which was common for almost any flight leaving Amarillo. Then they had a layover in Seattle and a short touchdown in Ketchikan before landing in Juneau.

Juneau was an impressive area, except for continual rain. The locals say there are three stages of weather in Juneau. It’s either raining, just about to rain or just finished raining. Brad took Cindy around to all of the touristy places. She saw the Mendenhall Glacier, they went on a day boat cruise to see the Sawyer Glacier and whales and seals and so forth. Brad took her to the Hanger which was a restaurant right on the water’s edge. In fact they sat out on the patio outside which was actually a dock. There were a lot of boats tied up to it and you might see a seaplane once in a while.

The company Brad worked for with his dad had an office in downtown Juneau and they had built a living space right inside the office in the back. That was done because company executives were always coming through and places to stay were at a premium in Juneau. The living area had a bed of course, shower facilities and a small refrigerator. Since it was in the back it was out of sight in case a client came in. Brad took Cindy to The Island Pub for Pizza. It is located right across the bridge from Juneau in Douglas. Since Pizza was their first date Cindy thought that was romantic.

There was a car that belonged to the company that had to be brought over on a ferry from Bellingham, Washington, to Juneau. Brad had actually been the one who had ridden with the car and unloaded it in Juneau then he flew back to Texas. Brad had shown Cindy the ferry and told her about the three day journey. He had just stayed in the lounge area and slept in one of the lounge chairs instead of getting a cabin to save the company some money but he told Cindy that was the worst experience he can remember.

For an afternoon break Brad took Cindy to the Red Dog Saloon. They just had a beer together but it was so crowded and loud they couldn’t hear themselves think so they didn’t stay long. This stop gave Cindy a chance to experience a local favorite brew. Alaskan Brewing Company is located in Juneau and Alaskan Amber is their biggest seller. Brad decided Cindy had to have a tour to make her trip to Juneau complete so they did have a stop off for that.

Brad had also made arrangements for a helicopter the company used, to take Him and Cindy to Skagway to take the train ride through some of the old mining trails. The view was spectacular with scenes Cindy had never experienced.

Cindy’s trip down memory lane was suddenly interrupted by the chiming of the clock in her den. She had been daydreaming all day and for some reason a lot of it was her and Brad’s life together. Some of the recent events had caused that, she was sure. She thought that maybe she needed to get some things done. Brad had hired a Hispanic girl to help in the house a couple days a week and she took care of most of the heavy cleaning so Cindy could just keep things picked up and cook the meals and things worked pretty well.

Juanita wouldn’t be coming in today but would be in tomorrow. Juanita’s brother Ricky took care of the yard so they rode to work together.

Cindy noticed by the clock on the microwave in the kitchen, she only had an hour before it would be time to pick the kids up from school. Most of her day was wasted, she thought, spent on memories and daydreams. She remembered her talks with Brad when they first came here about how lonely and quiet it seemed. Brad had just said that she would make new friends and maybe she should join some women’s group or something like that. Cindy had half laughed to herself thinking that was exactly what created her current problems.

All of the insistence from Brad to meet local people and join some groups had made an impression on Cindy. She had talked to a few mothers when she dropped kids off at school and there was a couple whom she got along with fairly well. Cindy figured she could start there. Her memories of that were still vivid.