In Search of the Final Freedom: Chapter 24

In Search of the Final Freedom

An Erotic Socio-Political Novel:

BOOK TWO: Sexual Freedom, a Revolutionary Ideal

Chapter 24

Poor Choices Make Good Stories: Bonnie and the Builders

Cooper spent the next entire week working all day in his study, researching and writing; Bonnie’s attention shifted onto Lois after the big reveal at their house. Thursday, her friend spent the entire day at the Campbell’s home. Lois had been on an emotional roller coaster since the night of the big reveal. On one hand, she could not believe how easy it had been to just bring her relationship with George out in the open. Yet, on the other, the guilt of how she had mishandled it all in the past was getting to her. And she still had to tell her older daughter before they went up to see her graduate from Duke next week. She was not at all sure how that would go. “It should have all been so easy, but I put everyone through years of pain” She lamented.

Bonnie tried to help dissuade the guilt, but she knew it would take time. To take Lois’s mind off of her issues, Bonnie showed her the photos in the study, then took her up to the guest room where they had a long talk about sex outside of marriage surrounded by photos of her doing just that. Bonnie’s plan seemed to work. Once Lois realized how many men Bonnie had screwed just for fun, it made her relationship with George seem downright conservative.

Both Patty and Denise, it seems, had taken right to the idea their two dads and Lois were a family unit and had been for over two years. Denise in particular wanted to normalize it all. She was right up front suggesting that they all decide on one house and live as one family. Lois was happy to hear the sentiment, but was sure that was not a good idea. Not now, not in Sparta.

After nearly a week of clouds and rain, Saturday the sun came out bright and clear. By noon it was quite warm, bumping up against hot.

Sandra Holland’s heart was beating unusually fast as she listened to the directions to the Campbell home from the GPS app on her phone. It had taken her the longest time to decide what to wear. Why was she so nervous? Sure this was a risk, but given the other things in her life, this risk was a small one. She’d never wanted to be anything but a teacher, and now that was in jeopardy.

Soon she was pulling into the gravel drive of the dated, but good-sized home outside of town. She knocked.

The door swung open and she was greeted by Mrs. Campbell. It was odd to look at this housewife whom she’d only seen in nude photos before this moment. Even if she hadn’t seen the photos, their appearance was so similar she couldn’t miss that this was Misty’s mother. She didn’t know how she’d expected her to be dressed, but she was impressed by the expensive looking white linen sun dress.

“Welcome to our home Ms. Holland, I’m Bonnie” Mrs. Campbell offered warmly.

“Thank you, but please, Sandra is better” she replied.

The mother of her student ushered her in, down the short entry way to what was clearly the living room. She was startled when Mrs. Campbell passed in front of the French door to the back yard. In the bright sun the white dress turned nearly sheer for a moment. It did not look like Mrs. Campbell wore anything underneath.

Bonnie offered her some iced tea and they settled down into the high-end leather sofa. The older woman said “I want to thank you for the support you have given to Misty these past two weeks. It has meant a great deal to her. Other than Marcy Marshal, who is a family friend, and her two publications teachers, she rather feels she’s eyed as a problem by the school faculty and administration.”

Sandra replied “I thought that might be the case. Since that first day, I think there are more and more teachers voicing support, howbeit very quietly and very far away from Dr. Collins’ ears.”

Sandra wasn’t sure how to move to the topic she’d come to discuss. After some other light talk Mrs. Campbell offered an inlet to the issue that was bothering her. The mother made the surprisingly frank statement; “It seems even our fifteen-year-old son has become quite the go-to person to his peers about all things sexual. Last Sunday, after Cooper and I all but made an explicit declaration to the church youth group that we have an open marriage; his friends seem to think he knows, or can get the scoop on, any kind of question about sex. It has been rather comic when Lamar comes to me with the questions that he’s been asked. You would think high school boys would not have to ask if a girl can get pregnant from anal sex.”

The laughter they shared made Sandra feel better. “Open marriage? I thought that was just malicious rumors” Sandra blurted before realizing that her words sounded derogatory.

“Malicious? Hmmmm” Bonnie repeated. “Yes, I could see people trying to be malicious by repeating it, but their efforts to embarrass me will be in vain. Since this began we have been rather open with everyone that Cooper and I have rejected the expectation of monogamy. I love my husband, but even though Rocky Road ice cream is my favorite, I don’t’ want to be limited to one flavor when I go to Baskin-Robins. And there are a lot more flavors of men than thirty-three.”

Sandra couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I can see where Misty gets her gumption. You don’t’ even try to play the game do you?”

Bonnie answered, “I did for a long time. Fact is I was monogamous for twenty years, but Cooper and I realize now that kind of self-denial doesn’t’ make our marriage any better, just less…ummm…..interesting.”

Sandra didn’t know what to say to that and thought it was time to get to her point. “Well Mrs. Campbell, Bonnie, my life has indeed become interesting, but I think I’m over my head and I need some advice from a woman who won’t judge me.”

Bonnie didn’t miss a beat and asked “Is your married lover a he or a she?”

Sandra was glad she didn’t have to explain “It is a he.”

“From the school?”

“Yes, Mr. Carver the Vice Principal.”

“Well, you do have a problem. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

Sandra’s mind went back to the very first day she began working at Jefferson Davis High School. As she began to speak the thoughts flowed. It had not been even two years, but now it seemed so very long ago. It had all begun so innocently. She had just turned twenty-two and was thrilled to begin her teaching career, even if it was in the middle of red-neck nowhere-ville. She had come to Jefferson Davis High School because it fit the criteria of being an underserved rural school that would give her forgiveness for most of her college loans. The teachers were nice enough to her, but it was clear she was an outsider. Nearly all the other faculty had gone to Jeff Davis or the nearby rival school. She wasn’t, God forbid, a Yankee, but she was from suburban Atlanta and that made her a “city” girl to the locals. Even before the school year began, she found that during school faculty meetings, it seemed the most important thing in the world was not education or poverty or even world events, but rather the prospects for the Jeff Davis football team.

One of the few bright spots had been Jason. He at least was not a Philistine and appreciated Broadway musicals, intelligent conversation and progressive politics. He was her administration mentor and walked her and two other new teachers through the labyrinth of rules and hoops needed to convert her teaching degree into a permanent teaching license. As such she had regular meetings with him; sometimes with the other new teachers, but a good many times the meetings were one-on-one. He was in his early 30’s, married with two kids, handsome and witty. As the year progressed their meetings talked less and less about the teacher certification process and more and more about other things they both enjoyed. She was not naïve, by spring she realized she was overly friendly with her good-looking boss.

She knew she should not look forward to seeing him so much, but she convinced herself she just didn’t have any other friends in the school. The other English teachers were all old enough to be her mother and they were a bunch of self-righteous bitches that lived their life outside of school in kid’s ball leagues and in their conservative churches. The faded "Hillary" bumper sticker on her car isolated her from day one. Besides Jason, the only other bright spot among the faculty was the drama teacher Mrs. Marshal. She was open-minded despite being a local and thankfully they shared the same lunch period.

Her first year was also very taxing with lesson prep and all the other things a new teacher must do. She was relieved when summer came. She determined she would use her summer to fix up the dilapidated portable building which was her assigned classroom. So the third week of June she began work. She was pleased when Jason came to check on her the first day, even more pleased the second day and looking forward to it the third day. By the end of the month late at night she found herself imagining making love to him. She’d not dated at all since she moved to Sparta almost a year before that.

It was not that she had made no friends at all in her new home. Marcy Marshal gave her an entrance to the local community theater where she became the assistant director for a production of As You Like It. The two times she’d had sex with theater people in the last year were both just friendly things. It was no surprise to her that she had fallen for Jason, but she had no idea how he felt. After all he was married.

That unknown changed on July 26th. It was really hot. The air-conditioner in her portable building just couldn’t keep up with 101° F heat as she worked to set up her classroom. Knowing no one but Jason ever came in to see her, and perhaps deep down because she knew he would be coming; she’d worn a loose white tank top under her blouse rather than a bra that morning. At 11:00 AM she was sweating as she pulled off the blouse. She knew full well the thin cotton tank was glued to her breasts. At 12:30 (after Dr. Collins left for the day as always) her door opened. Her flirting had become more pronounced in recent weeks and he seemed to be responding, but still she had no overt sign of interest.

Standing on a chair stapling letters to a bulletin board she turned to look at him as he entered. She felt her nipples harden and push against the damp fabric that clung to them. She knew he was appreciating her long legs, short athletic shorts and rather pronounced breasts under the damp white tank top punctuated by her now erect and visible nipples. She coquettishly asked him to help her down, his hands went to her waist, her pulse began to race. In thirty seconds, they were kissing with passion; in three minutes she was unbuckling his pants and in five her top was pushed up to her chin, her shorts were on the floor and she was laying on her desk with Jason’s penis all the way inside of her. Just that fast, they went from inappropriate flirting to an illicit affair. The fireworks went off for Sandra, this was the moment that women dream all their lives about and Jason did not disappoint. The next day she brought a blanket and pillows. They locked the door and made love for two sweaty hours on her classroom floor.

That was all nearly a year ago. When school started back it was hard to find ways to get together alone, but they initially did at least twice a week. Over Christmas break they spent an entire day in a Macon motel together, but that was the longest they had been together since the summer. She was sure that he loved her as much as she loved him. He told her how much he loved her but what confused her was that he claimed to love his wife as well. She did not know how that could be. Now his wife was pregnant again and she thought he might want to end their relationship but just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

In the Campbell’s living room, her story came flooding out including intimate details of their lovemaking that she could not believe she was telling someone she hardly knew. Twice she dissolved into tears, and Mrs. Campbell was there with a hug and a box of Puffs. “I know it’s wrong, but part of me wants him to leave his wife and kids for me. I love him so much. How can he say he loves me with all his heart and then turn around and say how much he loves her?”

“It’s not wrong to want to be loved” the older woman told her “And yes, he can honestly tell you that he loves both of you deeply. He wants you both. That’s what he is really saying isn’t it?”

Sandra heard what Mrs. Campbell said. Though she didn’t like it being put that way, that was the truth of it. She just nodded and wiped tears from her eyes.

“And...” Mrs. Campbell said “...that would not be a problem if all of you had entered into this knowingly. I know a couple who has a very successful long term triad relationship, but in your case Mrs. Carver didn’t have any say so. I’m guessing that she doesn’t even know. And for that you can be thankful. If word leaked out about this his career would be ruined and yours would be in jeopardy. So, you know the status quo is not sustainable.”

Sandra knew she was right about that too. Especially since Jason’s wife was now pregnant again. She quietly said “I know.”

Bonnie hugged her guest again. She could see the pain in the young woman’s face, but could do nothing to help, other than to offer to be her friend. She said that if Mr. Carver wanted to end the affair, he might be afraid that if he did she would talk and destroy both his marriage and his career.

Bonnie’s words did not surprise Sandra at all. She was already resigned to the affair ending and had just come to Mrs. Campbell to get some reassurance and help with a path forward.

Bonnie suggested that she set a formal meeting in Mr. Carver’s office (which Bonnie knew had a large window to the reception area) so that she would appear to be in a regular teacher's meeting. "Once you are alone tell him you think its best you two end your affair. Let him know that you care about him but do not want to be the woman who puts his job or his marriage at risk for her own wants." Bonnie assured the young woman that she would support her in any way she could.

They sat and Sandra cried again. Once she’d cried it out Bonnie suggested they go sit out at the pool. As they rose Bonnie added one more thing “It’s funny that you mentioned Marcy Marshal, it just so happens she is a close friend of mine. I knew you knew her, and I didn’t know why you were coming by. I took the liberty to invite her over to sun, and be available if you needed support. But, if she doesn’t know already, I would strongly suggest you not tell her you are having a relationship with someone who works at the school. We’ll just tell her you came over to show your support for Misty. In fact, I’d suggest you tell no one about this as long as either of you work for the Hancock County schools. It’s not a matter of being maliciously betrayed, but of accidental slips of the tongue that would have effects just as bad as intentional betrayal.”

As Bonnie had planned, Marcy had been out at the pool since before the younger woman had arrived. All the while Bonnie had been talking; her friend had been sunning and reading a book beside the water. Bonnie had invited her over to sun today knowing she’d been a mentor to Sandra and thought her presence might help with whatever had gotten this teacher to come see the Jezebel of Sparta.

They turned the corner of the house to see Marcy stretched out on a lounge chair. Miss Holland didn’t miss a step when she saw her mentor laying out reading a novel, topless.

Marcy hopped up and met Bonnie and Saundra. After some light greetings and chit chat Bonnie offered Miss Holland the use of one of her "loaner" bikinis. “I’m sure they will fit you, though I’ll admit that they likely are rather skimpier than you are used to. You are free to use a complete set, or just the bottoms if you would prefer.”

The young teacher seemed to hesitate then said “Oh, on Spring Break trips when I was at Vanderbilt, I wore thong bikinis more than once.” She paused again before adding “And in the Dominican Republic one summer I wore only the bottoms at the beach for a full week.”

“Oh” Bonnie interrupted. “I went to Vandy too. I loved it. I guess I didn’t mention it, but I have an El. Ed. Degree and taught for a few years before Misty was born. I know exactly what it is like moving to a strange town as a new teacher. But unlike you, I am a country girl. So much so that Sparta looks like a city compared to where I grew up.”

Marcy put in, “Bonnie is a genuine hillbilly. Perhaps you should call her behavior earthy rather than liberal.”

That got a laugh before Marcy added “I am glad to know I haven’t shocked you too much by my attire” as she sat back down on her chaise.

“No, not at all” Sandra replied. “Actually, it is so wonderful to be able to be myself for a change. I have to pretend I am someone different at Jeff Davis. If you hadn’t hooked me up with the Milledgeville Community Theater people, I don’t know what I would have done these past two years.”

Marcy nodded, “I understand how you feel. I had the same transition when I moved here with my husband. And I’d warrant that my transition was even steeper than yours since I came from a far more libertine drama community than you found here. The folks at Milledgeville think they are real Bohemians, but in reality, they are just do the things normal folks do in big cities. I did three seasons of Summer Stock, now those people were real Bohemians.”

Bonnie could tell from Sandra’s eyes she was about to start talking about her own, more recent, libertine activities, so headed it off by suggesting the young woman follow her into the house to change.

As she walked Sandra Holland didn’t know if she should be confused or elated. Sure she’d hoped to get some advice, but it seems that she’d gotten much more. It seemed she had been invited to enter a secret society within this redneck backward town. It was not the first group of supportive people she’d found since arriving in Sparta though. In addition to the friends she’d met at the Community Theater, she had found some comradery with a couple of other young teachers who, like her, had come to this underserved community in order to get student debt forgiven. However, their unity was based in their status as outsiders in a strange place, not necessarily of shared values. Yet, Bonnie and Marcy were not outsiders in this town. She’d been told by more than one faculty member that the Campbells and the Marshals were consummate insider families. It was only by the happenstance of the beach photos finding their way to school had she found herself here with people who did seem to share her values.

Following Mrs. Campbell to her bedroom, Sandra got another dose of this alternative version of Hancock County. Over the bed hung a large paining of her host in the nude. It was stunning and…Sandra had to admit to herself, very sexy. Beyond that, the room was fully decorated with at least a dozen pieces of nude and erotic art. She stopped to take a good look at an amazing underwater photo, likely from the Caribbean, of Mrs. Campbell and a younger woman diving on a reef. Both were nude. Then when she turned all the way around to look back toward the doorway, beside it was a large photo of Mrs. Campbell having sex…anal sex…with some man on a yacht.

Her surprise must have shown because Mrs. Campbell said “Oh, you haven’t met Cooper yet. That one, and the one of me and Heather underwater were taken of us on a nude cruise we took in February.”

Only then did Sandra process that someone had to be watching the Campbell’s having sex in order to take that photo. The look Bonnie was giving the photographer was one of utter confidence and self-assurance. Though it was as explicit as it could get, the woman’s face turned the image from exploitation to a show of strength. Without meaning to she said “Should I assume the young woman from the other photo took this one?”

“No, a guy on the trip named Martin took it. He is quite good with a camera” Mrs. Campbell replied, then added “Oh I’m sorry I forgot you didn’t see the photo in the kid’s game room on the way out. Once you get changed, I’ll show you the house and you will see a few more photos from that trip I’ve put on the walls recently. It really was a trip of a lifetime.”

As Sandra sorted through the pile of very small bikinis, Mrs. Campbell talked about the yacht and all the places they saw and things they had done. She asked about the skinny-dipping photo and Mrs. Campbell finally elaborated on the fact it had been a nude cruise. Sandra certainly did not find that surprising since her nude beach photos were what had led to her coming to the Campbell home in the first place. She thought it was cool that the Campbell’s had actually visited the real Tortuga Island abord what amounted to a real sailing ship. “How romantic is that?” she thought; though she was not sure how to process the idea that everyone went naked while on the boat. She wasn’t offended, but it was beyond her experience and she could not even visualize it. Beyond just going nude around others, the casual way she spoke of that photo of her and her husband appeared to say that not only did they go naked all the time, but sex in front of others was also part of that trip. Again, she wasn’t offended, it was only that she was struggling to place this new information into a framework she could process.

Once she’d donned the smallest bikini she’d ever worn under a lace cover-up Sandra followed Mrs. Campbell for a short house tour. The nude photos in her husband’s study included one taken before they were married and several from the trip in February, and seven more from the intervening time period; a span of over twenty years. This confirmed to Sandra that Mrs. Campbell’s liberal views on sex were not something new. While the large underwater photo was even more impressive than the one in her bedroom, the fully life-sized image of Bonnie in the yacht’s rigging seemed to dominate the room.

Nothing she saw in their home study or the kid’s game room really surprised her; well perhaps the fact there was a photo of Bonnie skinny dipping (howbeit shot from above her back) in the Campbell children’s game room surprised her a little. Yet, she reasoned, by now all of those teenage visitors had seen the nude beach photos; so perhaps it was wise to head off any expectation of shame by visitors. She was still thinking on that as they ascended the stairs; and yet, she simply was not prepared for what she saw at the end of the upstairs hall.

The two signs beside the guest room door should have made it clear the room had been explicitly set aside for sexual liaisons; but Sandra had missed the obvious until she had fully entered the room. Even then it took her a few moments to process what she was seeing.

“Mrs. Campbell…Bonnie I mean…uhhh.” Sandra simply could not find the words. There were half a dozen photos of her student’s mother having sex with as many men and women on the walls. Sure the photos were artistic, but …. “What do your children think of these photos?” she got out just before she realized there was a full frame full frontal nude of Misty on the wall as well. Sandra knew it was just a print of one of the photos from the website, but…

Quite casually Mrs. Campbell replied “They both helped me in setting the room up. You see they were raised to see nudity and sex as just a completely normal part of life. The photos don’t embarrass them at all, or me either for that matter.”

Sandra was still struggling to find words.

Mrs. Campbell added “Now you see why I don’t condemn you for the things you told me. Yes, it is a problem that his wife was not a part, but the love making itself is something beautiful that you should treasure forever. Never let anyone tell you that you should be ashamed.”

Sandra nodded. Slowly she saw the larger idea that Mrs. Campbell, and Misty, were trying to get others to understand. Like so many others, she’d read the article in the “underground” Jefferson Davis website. Before this, she’d wondered if Misty really had been so cavalier about her sexual behaviors. Now she understood.

Once back out at the pool, Mrs. Campbell pulled a chaise over for Sandra to use. It was not at all a surprise when the mother of her student pulled off her linen sundress to reveal she wore nothing on underneath. Sandra had concluded as much when she first arrived. she took off the bikini top, but left on the thong bottoms. She felt a little silly leaving on the tiny bikini since it covered only a few square inches, but she thought it best to follow the older teacher’s example. She stayed another hour sunning. Oddly she felt a tension she did not even know she held disappear.

She found herself disappointed when Marcy Marshal got up saying she had to get home. She felt she had to follow suit even though she did not want to. Perhaps Mrs. Campbell had sensed her reluctance to go, because she took her hands and said “Now Sandra, I want you to know that you are welcome to my home anytime. If you want to talk, or just want to layout and sun you are welcome.”

Marcy added, “I know Bonnie, she means it. You have told me more than once you wished you had a place near by to just be you without fear of jeopardizing your job. Well here you have it. When she showed you the guest room upstairs, she took you into her circle of trust. That works both ways, she has now entrusted you with her life, you can do the same.”

Sandra was feeling very much that she could trust these women and her life would be better for it.

As they started in Mrs. Campbell said “And, Saundra, if you do take me up on my offer, and I hope you do, you can be sure my children will not reveal what you do here either. Last summer Marcy and my friends came over every Wednesday and rarely did anyone wear a top,” She sidetracked to invite Sandra to join them when school lets out, then went on “As you saw there are plenty of windows looking out, so even while I’d told Lamar to stay inside, I did not tell him not to look. So, both my kids saw Marcy sunning topless all summer, yet not a word of that ever made it to Jefferson Davis High. You can be assured your privacy will be held just as tightly.”

Saundra had already wondered about that very thing, and it certainly made the invite more appealing knowing her concerns had been addressed before she even had them.

Before her guests left, Bonnie took the opportunity to ask both Miss Holland and Marcy to write letters of recommendations for the photographic internship for which Mrs. Kimball had suggested that Misty apply. Bonnie was pleased that her openness about sexuality is what had enabled her to help the young woman. She was beginning to see how her open marriage would open doors of service that she'd never imagined.

************

On Sunday the rain returned once again. The planned sunning session with wives and husbands was put off. At church that morning, Bonnie caught several of the elderly women looking at her in a “Scarlet Letter” sort of way. She was sure Margo LeCroix was behind it. That evening, the church teen group was, if anything, larger than it had been the week before, and once again there were more questions stemming from the photos. The most direct question written on the note card was simply: “Is pre-marital teen sex wrong?”

This was a tricky one for Bonnie, since she firmly believed it was not. She was however concerned that it would create another problem if she just said that she and Cooper believed teenage premarital sex was normal and, in most cases, a moral positive. They were quite sure that far from being a sin, or even inappropriate; that teenage sex is an important part of growing up in the modern world, and helpful in eventually finding the right mate. Fortunately, she had been asked the same question more than once in private over the last few years by sexually active girls, and she had anticipated having to address this. Since it was Cooper who had thoroughly researched this, Bonnie asked him to come up to the stage to take the question. He talked about how premarital sex in the Old Testament was a property crime against the father, not a moral transgression. He spent more time discussing all the ways premarital sex could be a sin if it were selfish or manipulative or if the participants did not consider their moral duty to prevent conception of a child which they were not prepared to support. So, though the sum was that he firmly said premarital sex was not wrong in and of itself; he left a litany of reasons why it could be wrong. She was pleased with how Cooper had handled it.

Despite the rain, Sunday was not wasted by Misty. She spent the time making her final preparations for her photographic internship application that had to be emailed before midnight. She made final revisions to the essay and collected her best images; but looking through them she decided she needed something more edgy for this famous photographer. She decided to re-edit a few of the nude sunrise photos she had taken of her mom in Miami. She wanted Ms. Evans to know she was comfortable working with nudes and glamour. She finally settled on one with her mother standing in front of the rising sun. She thought it looked good enough to go in a magazine. But she still had one thing not ready. The application required a self-portrait. She knew that for this internship, a simple passport type photo was not what was expected. She had tried several things over the past week, but nothing was working.

Then she had an idea that she thought would be perfect. She went into the steady rain, and moved one of the big umbrellas off the pool deck, to the grass that ran up to the wood line. Then she set the camera up on the tripod under it. For an hour she used the camera’s autotimer to take nudes of herself standing, sitting and lying in the rain where the back lawn gave way to the woods. Portraits were supposed to show the inner person: who the subject really was. Since her life was about her body and her camera, the self-nude was perfect. Using Photo Shop, she cropped to get the right composition, dodged & burned areas that were too dark or too light and then converted the images to high contrast monochrome. Once done, she had several she thought were great. The one she decided that best showed off her skills was added to the electronic packet, and the application sent.

************************************

The next morning was hectic, even for a Monday. Cooper had finally started his new job at Augusta State University. He wouldn’t start teaching for a couple more weeks but had been asked to start coming in on Monday to acclimatize himself. He, uncharacteristically, was a nervous wreck, and to make it worse the kids were in an unusually grouchy mood. However, by 7:55 AM Cooper, Misty and Lamar were all gone.

“Oh well, the kid's school ends in a few weeks,” Bonnie said to herself out loud “might as well enjoy the quiet”. Since the day was clear and warm, she tried to take a nap next to the pool, nude of course. However, for the past two weeks the Fishers, who lived next door, were in the process of putting up a barn in the space between their house and the Campbell’s fence. Though it initially had seemed odd to build it so close to the property line out in the country, as she thought about it, given the fact there had been a six-foot rail fence along that line since Cooper was a teenager, it did not seem so inappropriate.

Though the fence had been plenty tall enough in the past, from where she lay she could see the top half of a small window in the hayloft. There was no doubt that someone looking out that window would get a fine view of most of the pool deck. But, on the other hand, it was in the hayloft for ventilation, not really for people to look from. It was just a barn after all. It was not like someone would live in there. Still, it had annoyed Cooper they had put it so close. Bonnie’s thought was that the pool had been there first, and if they didn’t’ want to see her naked then the Fishers’ just better not look out of that barn window.

She opened her book and began reading. After about an hour something pressed into her consciousness, she put down the book. It was quiet. No hammering. “The work crew must be on break” she thought. Feeling sweaty, she dove into the pool. Coming out of the water she flung her head back to keep the water out of her eyes. This action brought her vision above the fence line to the open hayloft door. There, quietly eating lunch were three men watching her.

Bonnie liked the privacy her fence gave. Even though she had come to like showing off, she did it on her terms, to people she chose. She did not choose these men. She felt vulnerable. The situation had developed out of her control. Quickly she exited the pool and turned to keep her back to them, and went inside.

Once she was safely in the house, her libido kicked in. First, she fantasized on what she could have done to show off to the young men on the roof. Then she masturbated, and then she thought about what she might want to do tomorrow.

The next day about 10:00 she went out to the pool. “Time for me to be in charge” she said to herself. She had found an old black one-piece swim suit at the back of the drawer that she had bought to wear to church swim events; pretty, but not at all revealing. She deliberately spread her hair over her shoulders. She'd begun growing it out in the fall, and now for the first time since Lamar had been born it was long enough to do that. It made her feel young and pretty. She knew in direct sunlight the red in her hair came out to a golden copper color.

Near 11:00, she noticed that two of the men were brazenly looking at her out the hayloft door. As she had been nude the day before, she was certain they were disappointed today.

Near noon she heard the noise of saws and hammers stop. Once again the men took their lunch in the hayloft door, overlooking the pool. Unlike yesterday, this time it would be her game.

She stood up with her back to the men, slipped out of the suit and carefully laid it across the back of the lounge chair. Then she turned toward the pool giving the men a clear, if brief, frontal view before diving into the water. She swam for about ten minutes. She knew the glare from the mid-day sun would limit their vision of what was under the water’s surface, but still keep them interested. Leaving the pool via the stairs, she had to walk directly toward the fence, and the spectators, before turning back to the house. Slowly, much slower than the day before, she walked back to her chaise lounge. She imagined she looked good walking away from the men. After all she'd gotten more than a few complements about how her backside looked in the nude photos. As she did, she tried to imagine the view the men had from their perch on the roof as she walked. She took the swimsuit from the back of the lounge chair, and continued past the grill to the outdoor cabinet to get a towel. She took her time to dry herself, again with her back to them then went straight into the house via the sliding glass door in the game room. She thought that would be more sexy than turning out of their sight to use the living room door. It was only when she'd gotten back inside she realized how much her heart was racing.

That night over supper she told Cooper, and concurrently the children, about her new admirers. Cooper’s first thought was she was not taking her safety seriously, both kids seconded his concern. At first, she was defensive, but quickly yielded the point. It was actually nice that they were all so concerned about her safety.

Misty, between bites of roasted chicken, asked “So do you plan to have sex with them tomorrow?”

“Well, I’m sure I will tease them again” Bonnie answered as she forked a piece of potato. “But I’m certainly thinking about doing more.”

Misty chewed up her chicken and said “Well, remember how fast you can lose control if you’re not careful. And I think you need to remember that you are all alone out here and would not be in a position to keep yourself safe if things got out of hand.”

Cooper swallowed a mouthful of peas and added “Well it looks like our girl has been well trained. And she is right.”

Feeling pleased with herself Misty added, " You really do have to find a way to resolve the safety issue. If I could do that, if I were you I’d definitely fuck all three of them before they finish the job. But you need to start heeding your own rules and use condoms every time, even if you can’t get pregnant you can catch things.”

Bonnie cut another piece of chicken and looked over to her daughter and said “Yes ma’am” sarcastically. She knew she should not have responded that way. Misty was right. She then added “IF I had sex with them I would, but I have no intention of doing so. And besides, tomorrow I have the church women over.” It was only half a lie, because she hadn’t decided what to do on Thursday about the men.

Cooper put in “And besides all this discussion is moot. From what I can tell the barn is just about finished. I spoke to Mr. Fisher when they started it and he told me there will be some, but not a lot, of interior finishing work. If I were to guess, there is no more than a day or two more of work.”

Her mother added “Well, I have already warned the ladies from the tanning group to wear their regular swim suits over tomorrow since we won’t have privacy so that is probably that.” She looked right at Misty, “So no hot stories from Mom this week.”

Misty’s face betrayed her disappointment.

Cooper told Bonnie, “Even still, I will make sure that fancy new security system you bought last year is up and running for you by Thursday. I want you to leave it on each day until they are done over there. Come to think of it, it wouldn't hurt to just leave it on. It does have motion sensors, so if we have it on stand-by mode it will always turn on when people are at the pool. We paid enough for it, so we might as well actually use it.”

Though he trusted Bonnie, he knew she had already shown her libido can get the best of her on occasion. To ease his mind, he took a stroll over to the Fisher’s to see how their construction was going. The Fishers were an older couple who had sold their large working farm in the south part of the county to their youngest son and refurbished the long-abandoned home that had once belonged to a distant family member as their retirement place. Mr. Fisher’s little hobby farm progressively had begun to look more and more like a working farm; hence the new barn for his very old tractor.

Elderly Mr. Fisher was warm and friendly and he was more than eager to show off the progress on the new barn. Cooper made a point to go up into the hayloft and look out the door that overlooked their swimming pool. Almost all of the pool was fully visible from there. Progress was proceeding and he could tell that the crew only had a few more days’ work. Cooper asked about the crew saying he was thinking about building a similar kind of building; which was entirely true since he actually did plan to build a garage in the next year. According to Mr. Fisher it wasn’t a large company, it was just Mac Gibson’s two sons doing the work. Mr. Fisher went on to say that as part of the contract they had agreed to hire his grandson to work with them on the project.

Cooper knew Mac, he owned the local lumber yard and it made sense the boys would branch out into doing basic construction like this. Once he thought about it he was sure he’d met them when they worked for their father after school and in the summers some years ago. He didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing that they were local. Well, it was too late to worry if they would talk, since they’d already been watching Bonnie sun naked.

The last thing he asked was their schedule. Mr. Fisher confirmed they would be done no later than mid-day Friday, but they might be able to wrap-up Thursday evening. The painters would be out next week. That made sense that with just three people it would take longer than he had expected; however, he was less concerned about Bonnie’s safety after his little inquiry.

Still, Cooper made good on his promise to back Bonnie up by using their new security system. They had first put in motion detector alarms and camera overlooking the swimming pool when the kids were small, as a safety precaution against accidental drowning. Last fall, a security company sold Bonnie a new, much better high-tech system; however, they had only used it once, the time when they had gone on the cruise. But since they had been out of cell phone contact, they were not able to use the hi-tech remote features. Cooper had always thought it had been a waste of money, but now it gave him peace of mind that he would be able to log on to the system from his iPad, MacBook or iPhone to visually check on Bonnie while she was alone out at the pool. Last fall the technicians had shown him how to command the system with his iPhone and had played with it again the week they had used it in the winter. It still took him an hour to figure out how to do things like to pan and zoom the two cameras with any precision. He had to admit the idea of looking in on Bonnie while she was at the pool was reassuring. On the other hand, it did seem a little pervy knowing he could turn it on without her knowledge, even from work. He did take the time to put up the metal sign he'd been given to warn people the swimming pool was under video surveillance.

The next day the women were over, but it rained on-and-off all day, so they never even went out to the pool. She was sure the men were quite disappointed.

On Thursday, she was ready. Since Monday, she had tried to see clearly what these men looked like without giving away she knew they were there. So far, all she could tell was that one was youngish, under twenty, and the two were older, maybe in their late twenties or early thirties, she couldn’t tell. Most of all she could tell they had the hard bodies of men who work for a living. Since Cooper had told her who they were, she was more comfortable flirting with them. At the same time, as locals she knew she might just run in to them in town. That actually excited her.

She wore her expensive Brazilian swimsuit with the cut-outs because she thought it was her most flattering. She opened and tilted the umbrella that stood at the corner of the swimming pool. Then she arranged the chaise she planned to use so that the umbrella would shield most of her body from the men if they looked out the hay door and even more of her if they were on the roof.

She called up Trish on her cell. She had told her the day before how she planned on teasing the workmen. “No, I’m not quite naked, I have on one of my micro bikini bottoms.”

“No I don’t actually know they have looked out the window, but I’m sure they have.”

“They can’t see all of me. From the hayloft door, I think they can see all of my left side. Perhaps they might catch my left boob, but probably they can only see part of that. I think they will be able to see I'm not naked since I've got on bottoms.”

She talked for about twenty minutes, then opened her new book.

She tried to read, but she was too wound up, or rather, turned on. Contrary to her plan, she pushed her bottoms first to her thighs, and then kicked them off altogether. She knew the men, assuming they looked, would see her bottoms on the ground next to her feet. This was just too much, she began to feed the desire that was rising from her loins.

Not long after her orgasm had come and gone, she once again noticed the sounds of construction had stopped. This time she could just make out masculine voices above her on the barn’s roof. She took in a deep breath and stepped out from behind the umbrella, walked the few feet to the side of the pool, and giving her best form, she dove into the water. As she had on Tuesday, she swam for a while and then went to sit on the steps. This time she was less careful to keep her back to the men looking from the roof. She sat for a while, stretching out with the warm sun on front while her back was still in the cool water. She knew by her position that the men surely had an excellent full-frontal view now. She did not look up, but she was sure their eyes must be glued to her. From the barn’s roof, it had to be a great view.

After a few minutes, she looked up to the hayloft. Two of the three men were just standing, watching. The young guy though had his phone in hand. Clearly he'd been taking photos or video. He quickly put it down. She could hardly blame him. She wondered how many photos Lamar had made last summer of not only the teenage girls, but of the women who had tanned topless.

From her position looking up and slightly to her left, she had a clear view of the men. For the first time she dropped her guise of not knowing they were observing her. She looked directly at them. The one with the phone was not quite a man, he was not much more than a boy. She guessed he was just out of high school and his eyes were wide with wonder looking at her. Sitting with the other two well built men, his youthful frame was even more pronounced, but he was far from scrawny. No, he was nicely built despite his youth.

She had to make contact. She had to show some control over the situation by letting them know she planned for them to see her and that she enjoyed their watching. She slipped off the steps, then under the water. She swam in a full circuit around the pool before walking with a deliberate sway of her hips up the steps which faced the fence (and the new barn). She stepped onto the warm pool deck and lifted her head to look up at the builders. She gave them ample time to take in her unobstructed nudity before she spoke, “How long have you been watching me?”

“What makes you think we are watching you?” the man with a goatee shot back.

“When I looked up a minute ago, I saw your eyes feeling me up.”

'

“It’s not every day we get this kind of show,” said the other grown man. The first guy finished by saying “at least not for free.”

Bonnie put on a false angry face “Don’t flatter yourselves; what I do I do for my pleasure not yours.” Then breaking into a smile, she added, “If I can spread a little happiness, so much the better.” And she struck a pose before saying “But, I’d better go in, the Fisher’s would not be happy if I caused a delay in their construction.” She turned to leave.

“Hey lady!” the man with the goatee called.

She turned her head back to show she was listening.

“Have you ever been to Miami’s South Beach?”

Now they had her attention. She inquired “Yes, why are you asking?”

“I saw your pics” he answered.

“What pics?” she said coyly.

“You and your daughter topless in a set of beach photos; I saw them on BeachHunters.com a few months ago. I have a really good eye for people, and thought I recognized you but only when I saw your daughter this morning leaving for school, I was sure. I remember the pictures because they were really good and mother-daughter pics are so rare.”

Bonnie suddenly didn’t feel in charge anymore. But they were not talking about the Haulover photos, so she was intrigued. “I don’t know what pictures you are talking about. What was on them?”

“There were two sets, I guess from two different days. You and your daughter out on the beach just wearing a thong. Real nice pics. Like I said, I saw them months ago and still recognized you.”

All she could say was "Well I'm glad you liked them. We had fun on the beach." None of the pics on the site she knew about had them in thongs, they were certainly talking about another site…and months ago. Yes, Misty had said she’d heard of other photos of them, but she said none were very good. Perhaps they were talking about some she had not seen. She turned back and walked toward the house as the men whistled and made comments about her ass as she left. She did not get mad, after all she was deliberately making a show for them. No matter how much she tried to tell herself otherwise, she knew they knew she was doing it on purpose.

She went to the study computer and looked up the address and began searching the site. It took a while but she found a photo set labeled MILF and her Daughter Topless on Miami Beach. She knew right off the photo was of her and Misty. But it was taken from too far to make out their faces. She only identified it because it had been shot directly in front of their condo building. From there she also found the links to a two part set of “MILF and Her Hotter Daughter part 1” and another for "part 2". She had to pay $12.95 to get past the previews. The text said there were over two dozen more photos. Like the other site, the fact she had to pay money to get access to anything but teaser photos must be why she'd never heard of these pictures before.

Unlike the site of she and Misty at the nude beach, this was not at all devoted to them, but rather, it was a site that posted nude and topless beach photos from around the world. In the first entry were a dozen photos, taken from a telephoto lens of her and Misty near the condo. They were from that first day she and Misty had gone way down the beach topless. They were clearly of inferior quality than the ones they already had from Haulover. She looked further and found the pair of posts labeled parts one and two. They were much better and seemed to have been shot from closer up. Part One was ten, very sharp high-resolution photos of her and Misty walking and talking together on the beach from that same day. Bonnie wondered how she'd not seen the person taking the photos, they seemed to have been taken from up close. In several their upper body's fully filled the frame and were crystal clear. These must be the one's that the builder had used to identify her. Bonnie first suspected Lamar had taken them, but later on it become obvious to her that he had not. She was relieved at that.

Part Two had nineteen photos of her and/or Misty. They were from the condo's swimming pool on the 4th of July. That set was linked to three other sets of photos apparently from the same day at the condo. Two were targeted sets of other mother-daughter pairs; but the last, over fifty images, were more general shots of the topless condo pool from that day. It was these photos, with Lamar in the background of many of them, that made it clear he was not the photographer. She wondered if it was vain that she thought she and Misty looked a good sight better than any of the other mother/daughter pairs. She decided it was, but she didn’t care. She was glad they were the nicest looking ones there.

Other than the fact they were neither their family's photos nor the photos from the nude beach, they were nothing new. In all there were over a hundred fifty images on the site from that one day.

Someone had been busy. As she looked them over, she felt pretty good about how she looked, even though the quality was not as good as the family photos Misty and Cooper had taken, nor were they as good as the ones from Haulover. But, in her second run through, it occurred to her that in these photos she had something she never expected: candid pictures of the whole family.

Normally the only photos of all four of them were carefully posed, but a good many of these casual photos had all four of them somewhere in the frame. Dozens more had her and/or Misty with either Lamar or Dad somewhere. Then she went back and looked at the other two mother-daughter sets. Once she looked for them, she found at least one of their family members in a good many of those photos too. She was quite happy she'd been clued in on this site.

Had it not been for those few photos taken much closer up, she might never have been recognized at all. No wonder they’d not come to light, even though the site indicated that they were first posted last July, within weeks of when they had been taken. She downloaded all the photos. Next she began following the links and found many pages of comments. Though the comments talking about doing a mother-daughter threesome were all too common and made her uncomfortable and a disturbing number called her and misty sluts (or other derogatory names); the comments praising her body made her feel great. Far from being offended the guys had seen her on the net, she now felt even more sexy and began fantasizing about the next day.

Misty was home at 4:15. Right off she asked Mom if she had done it with the men. She seemed a bit disappointed when Bonnie said no. However, her mother wasted no time in telling her about her new find, which of course, led to her telling how she had teased the builders. Once Bonnie had showed her the photos, Misty asked “So, are we going out to get some sun now?”

Bonnie should have seen this coming. The sounds of the builders were still going strong. Bonnie hesitated. It was one thing for them to jointly tease men a thousand miles from home, but to do it here…? “I don’t know” Bonnie began.

Misty looked at her sternly, “Don’t tell me you’d rather me go out there and tan all by myself?”

That was a trump card. Ten minutes later, mother and daughter exited the living room door wearing only their towels. Bonnie found herself disappointed when the workmen were nowhere to be seen, though they could still be heard. That did not stop the two from turning the two lounges toward the afternoon sun, and stretching out to get some rays, a’natural.

“So, how are things going at school now?” Mom asked.”Have things settled down?”

“Yes, and no” Misty said. “I will never be the nobody I was before.”

“So do you like the new you?”

“Oh, most definitely” the daughter answered “How could I not like being the most popular and most despised girl at school. People, both girls and guys, hang on my every word, especially about sex.”

“Sounds like that would be a bit stressful to me” her mother replied.

“Yea, but it’s well worth it.”

The shadow from the house had caught them, and they got up to find, to the pleasure of both the Campbell women, they had a pair of admirers watching from the hayloft. Bonnie was impressed with her daughter’s collected response when she just looked up, waved and said “Good night.”

Bonnie had seen the phone in one of the guy’s hand as they were standing. For sure he was taking photos of the two of them. She didn’t say anything about it though.

The rest of the night Bonnie was consumed with anticipation and anxiety about the coming day. On one hand, she was sure Cooper had been right and they would be done by afternoon. So she might not see them as they rushed to finish; but what if they did see her, and she carried through with her idea. “What if they over power me? What if they hurt me? What if... what if... what if...” She had a hundred reasons why this was a bad idea.

That night, though they didn’t have a sit-down dinner, the topic of conversation in the living room was dad’s new job and the new photos. Not that anyone forgot Mom’s (and Misty’s) new admirers. In bed Cooper asked about her plan and they made love as she told him what she planned for the next day. It had been months since she had done it with any man but Cooper. She still was not sure she would follow through though. As they talked it occurred to her that she could hedge her safety and give her husband a part in the plan at the same time. She asked him to keep an eye on her as much as he could via the security system.

Without waiting to finish their love making, together they worked on his iPhone to position the cameras. The app allowed them to remotely turned on the outdoor lights so that they could turned all four cameras to the chaise lounge she planned to use tomorrow. Due to the fact the patio & pool deck was "L" shaped and the view blocked by the house, the security people had insisted the use of four cameras to give complete coverage of the entire back yard, all the way to the wood line. Only after that was done, they resumed and completed their erotic pleasures for the night.

The next morning, as soon as he got to his new office, Associate Professor Campbell began the feed to his tablet. He set all four cameras to motion sensor mode and maximum video quality. He also remotely set the system to record the feed for any motion from each of the four cameras onto the study PC all day. He knew he had two meetings during mid-afternoon, so he could not be sure how much he would be able to monitor. He only wondered how he would get anything productive done.

Several hours later, as she looked out to the pool from the dining room, Bonnie said out loud. “Giving myself to three strangers at once, what am I thinking?” Yet, she knew what she was doing. She'd even made a trip earlier in the day to the drugstore to get supplies. She looked out from the kitchen window, the sun was shining brightly on the water. A few minutes later, when she opened the French door from the living room, a blast of heat buffeted her almost naked body. The hot air felt good on her skin, cold from the air-conditioned house.

She held the door open but did not step out. “Going out doesn’t commit me to inviting them over, and besides Cooper is watching out for me” she rationalized to herself. But she knew it was a lie. She'd not only bought flavored condoms just for her to use today, but she'd for the first time ever, made physical preparation for anal sex. It had been a learning experience giving herself an enema for the first time. So though she kept telling herself she would just see what happened, she knew once they started exciting her by their stares, she would ask them over and she would have their dicks in her mouth, pussy and ass. She knew all this but allowed her self-delusion to persist. “Why not? They’ve already seen me naked” she said to herself and stepped out of the house.

She knew Cooper was supposed to be in a meeting but he would feel the phone vibrate in the pre-set pattern to tell him there was someone in the back yard.

She laid on the chaise for what seemed to be hours. It was early in the season and she was still not yet deeply tanned. The coconut oil with which she had doused herself would not protect her from the sun, but it would make her look sexy. She hoped they would break for lunch before she burned. And it was hot. The first day of the year to be truly hot, not just warm. She couldn’t remember a time she couldn’t relax by laying out, but she couldn’t today. Not while she waited so intently for something to happen. The sounds were almost non-existent: no sawing and no hammering. She thought how her husband had been right, the work was done, and they were cleaning up. She’d seen the work truck when she’d looked out the study window, but had not seen the men all day.

Cooper had gotten out of his meeting and used his MacBook to access the security system. He saw that Bonnie had moved the lounge chair. Bonnie would not have seen the #1 camera move. It was mounted on the house outside of their bedroom. He was adjusting the #4 camera which was mounted on the fence nearest the road, when he saw his wife stand up. Looking from that camera at the far end of the pool he was impressed how far the camera could zoom across the whole length of the pool to where she stood, yet the picture was still razor sharp. He guessed that was why the system costs so much.

He watched, and the computer recorded, as she pulled on her short mesh cover-up and made several trips into the house to get things ready as she had told him she would do.

This process gave Cooper some practice in tracking her motion with the #3 camera mounted above the game room sliding glass door.

Once Bonnie was pleased with her set up, she opened the gate; a bold, or foolish, move. Anyone who gave her more than a passing glance could see right through the mesh, and underneath the cover-up she wore nothing. Granted, no more than a dozen cars per day normally traveled past their rural house, but still it was daring. She stepped out from the gate and walked the forty yards to the gravel drive that led to the Fisher’s new barn. Standing by their truck were the two men and the teenager, eating from sack lunches.

In his office, Cooper was pleased how he’d gotten the #2 camera (mounted on the fence right across from the new barn) to smoothly un-zoom as she walked to the gate, though she was out of the view of all four cameras once she left the confines of their back yard.

When she walked up to the workmen, Bonnie forced herself to be casually sociable. “There’s no sense you guys eating out on the driveway, it’s much cooler by my pool.” This invitation even surprised the brash one with the goatee who seemed to be the boss. “Come on, I don’t bite, and I’ve brought out a pitcher of iced tea.”

She walked back to the gate and held it open. A short moment later, the two men stood before her. They were fairly average in size but well built. Up close, she confirmed her earlier estimate that they were likely in their early 30’s. They looked remarkably similar, but that was no surprise since Cooper had told her they were brothers. The older guy, whom she thought to be the leader, had a goatee and long hair. The other one had shorter hair, was clean shaven but had earrings and tattoos on his arms and one leg. She motioned them to the glass table where, in the shade of the big umbrella, were four tall glasses filled with ice. Her chaise lounge held her bikini (that she had not actually put on today), a bottle of coconut oil and a box of Durex condoms sat on the small table by her lotion. The older guy didn’t seem to notice the contents of the table and its significance, but the younger brother did.