'That sounds fair enough.'
'I think it is.' She stood up. 'See you at dinner Samantha.'
'Enjoy yourself.'
'I intend to.'
'Did she believe you?' asked Cordova.
They were driving to Martha's club where she was spending a lot of her time lately. Martha worked out there and got a massage and took some sun and did a little swimming.
'I think so.'
'Good. Have you spoken to Caroline?'
'No, that's next.'
'Are you anticipating any trouble?'
'None whatsoever.'
'Think Samantha will fall for the bait?'
'I know she will.'
'It should be very interesting then.'
'Very'
'Now here's what we're going to do,' she said to Caroline that night after dinner.
They were in the kitchen. She didn't know where Cordova was. Samantha was in her room. She wanted to talk to Caroline and set things up.
'Sounds good,' said Caroline after Martha had explained her plan. 'Cordova already knows?'
'Yes.'
'I can hardly wait.'
'I'm surrounded by sluts,' sighed Martha. 'In that case you're the queen of them all.'
'True enough but at least I admit it. See you tomorrow night.'
'I wouldn't miss it for the world.'
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Samantha slowly began to get back in circulation. As she had promised, her mother bought her a car which gave her the freedom to come and go as she more or less pleased.
Her mother also got her a membership in her club. There she could swim, play tennis, have lunch and meet people her own age in a variety of ways.
Of course the fact that she was a Harding didn't hurt her at all. The name was both respected and feared and envied depending upon which person you asked.
Samantha was sought after. There was a certain amount of prestige in being seen with her. She was a prodigal daughter finally come home.
She also was rich. Rich beyond most people's comprehension. The man who married her would be set up financially for the rest of his life. That was no secret at all.
Other women liked her too. She didn't play her hand to hand, lord various things over them and they accepted her as an equal.
In short, she became very popular very quickly. She was asked to sit on various committees of various charity events and while she didn't accept all of the invitations that were offered her she nevertheless accepted enough of them so that her time was precious to her.
She did manage to keep enough spare time for herself, still feeling a little insecure about getting too deeply involved in the social swing of things.
She always held back a little which in turn made her all the more desirable. This was not construed as being snobbish either.
It was looked upon as a natural shyness, a somewhat desirable quality that it was hoped she would grow out of in good time.
Martha was greatly pleased. Her daughter seemed to have a sensible head on her shoulders. She always came home at a decent hour.
Her choice of dates could never be questioned and if she was putting out for them she did it in such a way so that the question was never raised.
Adults liked her too. She was polite and respectful and didn't seem to have some of that youthful fire that so often was self-destructive.
Cordova was happy, too. In spite of the fact that she was a pretty good little piece of ass he nevertheless didn't miss fucking her.
Girls like her were very easy to find and they weren't his thing anyway. He could fool himself into thinking that they were but he could only do it for short periods of time.
After that reality set in and he knew the game was up and he didn't try to delude himself any longer. The more time she spent with her new found friends, the less chance there was of his having to sleep with her again, although he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet.
Caroline was getting impatient. Martha had primed her and after a few days she began to wonder what was going on, if anything at all.
Naturally she couldn't ask Martha about it unless Martha brought up the subject first so she stewed in her juices and waited patiently.
Martha pondered the situation. Maybe she shouldn't meddle any more and interfere. Maybe she should keep her nose out of Samantha's business.
On the other hand maybe the job wasn't done yet. That was the question that nagged at her for weeks and weeks, never giving her any peace.
Summer came to the Bay area and with it a refreshing warmth. Flowers and sun tans proliferated and the gulls screeched happily and tourists thronged the city streets and there were no protests over some social matter. San Francisco was a nice place to live in, things were quiet and vaguely optimistic.
But Martha had no piece. She had never really spoken to her daughter on a woman to woman basis and she knew that she would never be able to do that.
Samantha never came to her for advice and Martha felt awkward about offering it so there was always this uneasy silence that kept on popping up.
They had very little to say to one another actually. They each led their separate lives and every now and then, like at the breakfast or dinner table, they met and chitty chatted about this and that, each one making sure to keep the subjects neutral.
Which would have been fine with both of them except that Martha felt guilty. She never would have admitted it of course but she did.
Insofar as it was possible for her to do so, she felt that she had let Samantha down, that she had failed her and her attempts to educate her in a sexual sense were done so that she could expiate her guilt.
Which was why she couldn't let well enough alone.
She had to do everything she could, had to make sure that at least this once she hadn't let her daughter down, like she did before.
All things considered Samantha was a very lucky girl. Meddling mothers, and father for that matter too, were nothing new.
Everyone wants the best for their sibling and in the course of trying to attain that, many a life has been loused up considerably.
But Martha was more or less unaware of this or even if she was aware of it, was unable to communicate it or even admit it to herself.
So she decided to act.
Cordova was in his room and she found him there.
He knew it was trouble from the minute she walked in, sitting down like she owned the place which she did but still, she at least should have knocked first.
