Love Refound

By E. Walk

(Copyrighted by the Author)

Edited by Radio Rancher

Chapter 3 - Lenora's Story

After George suggested that we go back to his and Michael's house, Trevor responded. "Thanks for the invitation Mr. George, but I think I need to go home. It has been a long day. Perhaps, Ms. Spring and Ms. Autumn will give us a ride home. You older gentlemen can visit. Mr. George and Mr. Michael, maybe you could tell Dad and Mr. Willingham what it's like to be in a male/male relationship in this red neck area of the country."

George was laughing, "Trevor, if this were a redneck area, we would have been tarred and feathered a long time ago. I think it would be better to refer to our neighbors as sexually blind people. We had some problems when we first moved here, but once people realized we weren't going to go around telling everyone that they needed to be gay, and that we weren't going to do anything to embarrass anyone, they have left us alone."

Michael added, "Oh, people say things from time to time to show how religious or how macho they are, but words don't hurt. We just look at the source. Guys and gals, you were wonderful today, You should make a team and perform together. I can see it now the Four Red Necks will be performing in the jumping arena today. Just make sure you leave Mr. Willingham home. We wouldn't want him to hurt himself."

Trev and Trent hugged the four gentlemen. Trevor laughed, "You guys be good and we'll talk to you later. Come on Ms. Autumn, take us home please, since it's on the way to your house."

We crawled into my truck and I thought to myself, `It's a good thing that it has an extended cab. As soon as I pulled away from the restaurant, Trevor started, "Ms Autumn and Ms. Spring, I hope you weren't offended by anything that was said tonight. I didn't think the conversation would go where it did. I can't believe how open Dad and Mr. Willingham were. It was as if they wanted to tell us what had happened."

Spring turned to Trevor and Trent, "Guys, your Father must have had very strong feelings for Mr. Willingham at one time. He must still have some feelings, or why else would he have talked to your Mother and your Grandfather last night? I am just amazed that he would have shared his thoughts with us tonight. I have always envisioned your Father as being the strong macho type who would never let anyone know what is happening. I guess I'll need to find someone else to fill that role."

Trenton started to snicker, "Ms. Spring, don't look at us. We aren't the strong macho type. We say what we think, and let people know how we feel."

I looked in the rear view mirror, "Trevor and Trent, how do you really feel?" **(Dear Reader, you need to remember that I'm a school psychologist.)

Trevor answered immediately, "Tonight, I was crushed at first by the way the conversation was going. But as the evening progressed, I realized that what was happening was for the best, especially for Dad. I'm still worried about Mother, but she's a very strong person. Trenton and I will be fine because we have each other, and I can't foresee either our Dad or Mother abandoning us. We may get an extra Dad out of this mess."

I continued to push, "Trevor and Trent, if your Father and Mr. Willingham would start to live together, what would you tell your friends if they asked about it?"

Trenton answered, "Ms. Autumn, we would explain that they live together like you and Ms. Spring live together. Everyone knows that Ms. Spring is going to get married when Capt. Pearson gets back from Iraq."

That caught Spring's attention, "Wait a minute. How did you know about Adrian and me? You've never met him."

Trenton was smirking, "No, but Cindi was working at her Father's flower shop when the two of you were in, talking about the kind of wedding you wanted and what kind of flowers you wanted."

The discussion of Spring's wedding plans were interrupted when I pulled in front of the Nixon house. Lenora was sitting on the swing on the porch.

When Trevor and Trenton climbed out of the truck Leonora yelled, "Autumn and Spring, come sit for a while. Trev and Trent, you need to check the stables to make sure the horses are okay."

Trevor looked at his Mother, "Mom, we know when we've been told to disappear."

Leonora didn't waste any time, "Ladies, I know that you were having dinner with the two boys, Mr. Willingham and Robert. They asked me to accompany them, but I chose not to. I'm sure that I would have felt very uncomfortable."

"By the way, you both really did well today, especially you Autumn. I thought you said you would never be able to beat Spring. See what happens when you put your mind to something. Maybe you should arrange to be the last person to compete in the competitions more often."

Spring started to laugh, "Leonora, Autumn just wanted to make sure that she didn't have to pay for dinner. I didn't realize that you were there today. You usually visit with Trevor and Trent before they ride."

Leonora nodded, "I started to come into the stable and saw the four of you talking to Mr. Willingham and decided not to make my presence known. I decided to play it low key, because I didn't want to upset the boys."

The discussion was interrupted by Trent and Trevor. Trevor started, "Mother, the horses are fine. What is it that you ladies are talking about that you don't want us to hear. Dad and Mr. Willingham very open and pretty much told us what had and was happening. We're concerned about what's going to happen to us. Dad said he had talked with you last night and that Fairacres will be continue run as it has in the past."

Trenton took over, "Mother, both Trevor and I have realized for some time now that you and Dad haven't loved each other. We were afraid it was because of something that we had done. We were confused."

Trevor hugged Leonora, "Mom, maybe if you would talk about it with us, Ms. Spring and Ms. Autumn, you will feel better. The two ladies heard what Dad and Mr. Willingham shared tonight at dinner. They aren't going to tell anyone what was said, because they know that we will torch their house where they`re shacking up."

Leonora had this scowl on her face, "Trevor Nixon, talk like that isn't acceptable and you know it. Apologize to the two ladies."

I held up my hand, "Leonora, we realize that Trevor was giving us a hard time, because we already discussed Spring's upcoming wedding."

Trevor apologized anyway, "Ladies, I'm sorry if I seemed to be obnoxious. Mother, Dad and Mr. Willingham were going to Mr. George and Mr. Michael's house for an after dinner drink. They invited us to join them but we thought we had better come home and check on you, so we asked Ms. Autumn to drop us off. We don't know when Dad will be returning. So why not talk to us? You will feel better. We know that you are a very private person, but you need to talk to someone."

Again I intervened, "Leonora, I couldn't agree more with Trevor on this matter. I think everything will seem better if you share your perception of what has happened. Remember, I am a trained clinical psychologist. It is my personal opinion that if you don't talk to someone, it could well fester away until it leads to hate and distrust. It could even turn you against your two sons."

Leonora was as close to losing her composure as I have ever seen her. She started, "Sons, I was your father's second wife. When I first met him he had just married his first wife."

Trenton nodded, "Mother, we know about the wedding that Grandfather Nixon arranged with Miss Deveneaux of New Orleans and the subsequent annulment. Dad told us about that at dinner."

Leonora continued, "Your Dad's marriage had only been annulled approximately a week when your Grandfather approached my parents and suggested that your Father and I get married. My parents were thrilled. I wasn't getting any younger, so I had no problem with the idea. I had always loved horses, so I was going to be able to continue to be around them."

"At first everything seemed to be fine and it almost seemed like we might be falling in love. When Trenton was born, Robert finally began to act like a man and stopped his father from always pulling the strings. Fairacres was starting to thrive and everything seemed to be wonderful. It wasn't until the night that Trevor was conceived that things began to change."

"We didn't know that Trevor had been conceived, of course, but that was the last time we slept together and Trevor was born almost exactly nine months later. It was during that night when your Dad started to moan, "Oh, Howie, why couldn't that have been you?"

"That caught my attention. The next morning I confronted your Father and he told me what had happened. After he explained his comment, I informed him that I would never sleep with him again. If it hadn't been for Trent, I would have probably left. Later we sat down and agreed to be friends and business associates. He would operate the financial side of the business and I would run the day to day operations. We decided that we would continue to socialize so that no one would suspect what had happened."

"We were both concerned about what your Granddad would try to do. When Robert talked to his Father this morning, he laid it on the line and warned his Father to stay out of the affair because it was between me and him and you two boys. Your Granddad went into a frenzy and that's when he announced he was moving to Tallahassee to live with your Aunt Louisa."

"I don't know where your Grandfather is now. He left right after dinner saying that he had some business to take care of. I'm sure that we haven't heard the last of him yet."

I stood, "Leonora, we're going to go. Call us if there is anything that we can help you with. We don't have sons at home to check our stables like you have here."

We were getting ready to leave when Mr. Nixon the Second, pulled up in his Cadillac. He had hardly even got out of the car, "What do we have here? Can't you middle aged ladies find any men your own age, so you're chasing around after two young teenagers or are you using them to cover up that the two of you shacking up together? It`s like the whole world is turning homosexual."

Trent jumped up. "Granddad, shut your mouth. It seems like all that comes out of it anymore is filth. Ms. Autumn and Ms. Spring brought us home from our dinner."

Mr. Nixon wasn't stopped by Trenton's comment, "Did your Queer Daddy leave you stranded and run off after that Willingham person. I can't even call him a man. I'm going to get this mess straightened out if it's the last thing I do."

Trevor stood in Mr. Nixon's face, "Mr. Nixon, Trent told you to shut up. You are a guest in this house and you have just called these two gracious ladies names. If anyone around here is queer, it's you because you are behaving as if you had some loose nuts running around in your squirrelly head. I think that you should plan to leave for Tallahassee in the morning. The sooner the better."

"Our Father is not your problem. He is 43 years old. He and Mother have built a very successful operation here at Fairacres, You proclaim to have all sorts of money but you keep trying to impress everyone with it."

Lenora stepped in, "Trevor, that's enough. You're talking about things that don't concern you."

Trevor started to argue, "He started it. He's talking about things that do not concern him."

"Trevor, I said, that was enough."

Trevor realized he had been pushing the limit when he heard his Mother's tone of voice.

The discussion was interrupted by the arrival of two more trucks. We watched as the boys' father, Robert and Howie Willingham approached the porch.

Robert started, "Good, you're all here. Howard has asked us to his spread for dinner tomorrow evening. Leonora, he has questions that he needs your help with concerning his horses."

Howie took over, "I thought maybe you could come over about 4:30 and we could visit and eat about six after Trent and Trevor cook the steaks and burn them."

Trent shook his head, "I have a date tomorrow afternoon. I asked Cindi to go to a show."

Howie laughed, "Why don't you bring her along to the spread and it will be more fun than any old show. Trevor, why don't you bring your girlfriend, too? The more the merrier."

Trev looked at Spring and me, "I'll bring Ms. Autumn and Ms. Spring. Maybe they'll make those wicked brownies with the pecans."

Spring laughed, "We'll bring the brownies and make a macaroni salad. It's the least we can do after being invited out to dinner three nights in a row. We'll see you about 4:30. We really do need to go check on the horses."

Trevor and Trent walked us to my truck. They hugged us and Trevor whispered, "I hope you don't think I was too obnoxious."

I winked, "Trevor, actually you were rather brutal, but I happen to approve of what you did. Goodnight guys, see you tomorrow."

As we were driving home, I challenged Spring, "Spring, I bet you a $100.00 that Mr. Nixon, the Second, finds some reason to not go to Tallahassee. He doesn't have any friends down there. I think the boys and their parents have served notice that he is not going to control them."

"Autumn, I agree. I am just astounded by what happened tonight. The Nixons were so open and shared so freely. That would never have happened in my family. Everything would have happened behind closed doors. I think Mr. Nixon, the Second's, attitude caused the door to be opened and we just happen to be caught in the crosswinds."

As I was getting ready for bed I kept asking myself, `Will that horrible man leave or won't he?'