The Mulberry Tree

With one arm, he pulled her up onto the bed and tucked her under him, then they lay there in a pool of sweat for a moment.

After a while Bailey felt his body stiffen, and she knew that he had something serious to say to her. “You know, don’t you, that you could be . . . ” He trailed off.

“With child?” she said and Matt nodded, smiling at her use of the old-fashioned phrase.

She raised herself on one arm to look down at him. Twenty-four hours after she’d met Jimmie, she’d been married to him, but she’d come to know Matt well before she went to bed with him. She knew what a kind, sweet man he was. She knew that his pride was his downfall, and there were times when she could see that little boy who’d so hungered after all the things he’d missed in life.

“No,” she said. “I couldn’t be.”

“Oh,” he said, and his face fell. “I see. You’re using something.”

She stroked his dark hair away from his sweaty forehead. “I happen to know that the only way to conceive is through oral sex.”

“Yeah?” Matt said, eyes twinkling. “Is that right?”

“Yes. My best friend in high school told me that. She said that as long as a man and woman don’t put their mouths on each other’s ‘things,’ the girl can never get pregnant.”

“I see,” Matt said. “Then we’d better not try that.”

“Certainly not when we’re this dirty,” Bailey said.

“You’re right,” Matt said, then he smacked his forehead. “You know what I forgot to do? The plumber—you remember him?”

“How could I forget? He’s the one who gave me the o

nion-flower cutter.”

Matt laughed. “He told me that I was to check if that big bathtub in your bathroom works. And I never did.”

“That’s horrible of you!” Bailey said. “Really dreadful. What kind of friend are you?”

“The worst,” he said as he ran his mouth along her bare shoulder. “How can I make it up to him?”

“Try the tub out now?” Bailey suggested.

“Mmmm,” Matt said, as he kissed her neck. “But you better stay with me and make sure I do it right.”

“On one condition,” she said.

“And what is that?”

“No oral sex. Absolutely anything on this earth except oral sex.”

“Scout’s honor,” he said, then he picked her up and carried her into the bathroom.

“Matt,” she said, “were you ever a Boy Scout?”

Matt just laughed.

Twenty-three

When Bailey sauntered into the kitchen the next morning, Alex was there, and he had the table filled with food. She stared, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. There were cinnamon rolls hot out of the oven, pancakes, hard-boiled eggs, and little sausages.

“I thought you and the old man might be needing some refreshment this morning,” Alex said in a way that made Bailey blush and turn away to look at the tea-kettle. “Have a good time last night?”

“Watch your mouth, and what time did you get in last night?” Matt said from the doorway.

“Ten,” Alex said.