“Of course you wouldn’t have known that, sweetheart. You’re not from Wilde.” Jack kissed her on the cheek.
“How did this all get started? This is so unusual.”
Tom began the tale in his typical serious manner. “Our family came here in the eighteen hundreds and discovered the silver mine. The town grew up around it. Our ancestors had seen so many towns go bust when a local mine was divided between heirs and didn’t want the same thing to happen to our town.”
“So, they didn’t want to split the ownership of the mine up?” Glad to learn more about her new home, she asked, “That’s how the plural marriage thing got started?”
Tom sounded like a professor to her as he continued to recount the history of Wilde. “That and there were few women around. From the beginning, living in plural marriages has been the standard for our family. The citizens supported our practice, since it kept the town and the mine thriving. Though not everyone, more and more, there are other families in Wilde choosing our way.”
She nodded. “I can understand why.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up. “You can?”
“Oh yes, Jack. I’m one woman who has three wonderful husbands who love me and I love them. Though I was confused about things last night, I’m clear as can be today. I choose all three of you, now and for the rest of my life.”
“Sweetheart, you’ve made us all so very happy,” Jack said.
“One more question.”
Her guys leaned forward, apparently hanging on her every word.
She smiled and said, “I want to teach. There is a high school in Wilde?”
They all nodded.
Together, her husbands lifted her up and took her back into the cabin. Her insides began to tingle, as anticipation for more of their lovemaking filled her with excitement.
* * * *
Wilde, Nevada – 1981
Carol Wilde sat at her kitchen table in her home, the house her three wonderful husbands had built for her nearly thirty years ago, enjoying the company of Mary, her beautiful daughter-in-law. Like her, Mary had come to Wilde with no idea how things worked in the tiny mining town. She’d tried to be there for the young woman just like her own mother-in-law, Ida, had been for her all those years ago.
God, she missed Ida.
Her mother-in-law had outlived Dad Bill and Dad Abe, her two husbands, by a couple of years. There had been sadness in Momma Ida’s eyes that Carol had spotted from time to time after their deaths, but the amazing woman had never let on to anyone, especially her sons. Momma Ida had never failed to tell Carol how fulfilled life had been for her in Wilde.
Last spring, Momma Ida had died peacefully in her sleep with Carol at her bedside. She’d been a friend, a confidant, and a mother to Carol until her very last breath.
Carol’s new grandson began to stir in Mary’s arms.
Anxiously, Mary said, “I think he might be hungry, or dirty. I just don’t know, Mom.”
“Give Austin to me, hun.” Pushing her students’ yet-to-be-graded homework to the side, Carol reached for the bundle of joy that had come into her family just three days ago. “You’ll get the hang of this fast. You still have your training wheels on. I know I had my hands full with Daniel those first few days. By this time next week, you’ll be a pro.”
The baby settled down and closed his eyes, which pleased her very much. In another month, she would say good-bye to her last class at Wilde High School. Teaching biology for all these years had been amazing, but it was time to retire.
“What about Craig and Dillon?” Mary asked. “I bet they were trouble.”
“They’re your husbands, child. You ought to know.”
“Speaking of your sons, I have a problem, Mom. I can’t walk into a room without one or all of them slapping me on my butt. I know they’re only playing but sometimes it really smarts.”
Carol laughed as old memories bubbled up in her. “Hun, there’s something about these Wilde men that a woman has to stay a couple of steps ahead of them. Tom, Will, and Jack did the same thing to me for nearly an entire year after we moved into this house. They’d come in from work and I’d have dinner on the table and they would each slap my ass. This happened every night. I wouldn’t have minded if they would’ve kept that kind of thing for the bedroom instead of the kitchen.”
“Mom, you naughty girl.”
Carol smiled, and said teasingly, “Naughty and nice, child. Just like you.”