Four Flames for Angela

Rock strode back to the door she was peeking out of. “No one will know but you and us. I think I’ll keep them as a memory of this afternoon.” And then he walked away.

Angie didn’t know whether to be infuriated, laugh, or smile because he wanted to keep them. A part of her wondered how much further things would have gone if they hadn’t been interrupted. She found a hairbrush and ran it through her hair and held a cold wet cloth to her face for a minute until she felt a little calmer. One final check in the mirror and things looked as good as they could. She still had the look of a well-fucked woman, but she couldn’t do anything to change that or the smile that came to her face as she thought about what had just happened.

She was sure everyone would know what had been happening and was embarrassed but needed to get to Todd. He had panic attacks, and sometimes it was hard to calm him down.

She opened the door and stepped out into the main room. “I’m ready.”

Rock walked up to her first and pulled her into his arms. “Hold up a minute. We all want to talk. Are you okay with what was happening here?”

“I liked it,” Angela answered shyly.

“Would you be comfortable maybe going further another time?” Hunter had walked over and joined them, and began trailing his fingers over the bare skin of her back.

“Yeah, I would. I’d like that,” Angela answered with a blush. She really wasn’t comfortable talking about things like that.

“Good. River and Sawyer went on out to the barn to check on Todd. Let’s go join them.” Rock took her hand and led her out of the building.

Angela expected to see some of the family standing outside the door waiting for them, but there was no one around. There was a group of children playing in the yard and a few people sitting and watching them. Rock continued to hold her hand and led her around another building.

“Todd’s in here.” He led her into a huge building. It wasn’t what Angela expected a barn to be. It was more like an indoor playground. There were several areas filled with toys, swings, a climbing wall that led to the loft, and several other things for the children to play with.

“Mom and Dad set this up when we were younger. They keep it updated and add more every time a grandchild is born. It’s a great place for the kids to play. They make it as safe as they can.”

She saw a couple of women kneeling on the ground. She’d seen them earlier, but there were so many people she didn’t remember their names.

“This is Felicia and Evelyn,” River said. Rock and Hunter were standing with them.

Evelyn stood and pulled Angie in for a hug. “He was on the climbing wall and did great. When he got to the top he lost his balance while he was standing in the loft. He landed in this pile of hay. Dad has a six-inch foam cushion under the layer of hay, so he didn’t get hurt, just scared. My Dustin was the same way the first time he fell. Now he jumps off.” She let Angie go and turned her to Todd.

“Angie,” Todd cried, his voice breaking.

Angie ran the few steps between her and the young boy. “I’m here, honey.” She dropped to her knees and pulled Todd into her arms. “Tell me what happened.”

Felicia and Evelyn moved away and were talking softly to River, Rock, Hunter, and Sawyer. They all moved a few steps farther away but stayed close enough that if Angela or Todd needed them they would hear them.

“Angie, I fell.” Todd was still sniffling, and his face was covered with tears. A wad of tissues was pressed into her hand, and she wiped his face.

“I heard. Does anything hurt, honey?” Angela was running her hands over Todd’s little body.

“Not really. I was more scared than anything.” Todd was starting to calm down. As his panic attacks went, this had been a mild one.

“Here,” a voice said over her shoulder, and a bottle of water appeared in her vision.

“Thank you,” Angie said. She took the pre-loosened lid off the bottle and held it to Todd’s mouth, letting him drink some. Then she poured a little on the wad of tissues and cleansed his face and hands. “Does that feel better, honey?”

“Uhuh,” Todd answered and nodded his little head yes.

“Good. Do you want to stay and play some more, or would you like to go home?” Angela asked, holding him tight on her lap and rocking him.

Someone had brought the puppies into the area, and they were crawling all over her and Todd, licking his face and making him smile.

“Can we go home?” he asked his voice very quiet.

“Yes. We can go home.” Angie pulled him closer and tried to stand while holding him.

“Here, let me help. Okay if I hold you while Angela gets up?” Rock asked, reaching his arms for Todd.

Todd looked at Angie and nodded then put his arms around Rock’s neck. “Can I come back another day?”