Short Fuse
© 1992/2016 by K Pelle
Chapter 17
When Dave turned down my request to pose for me, I was slightly hurt, but more surprised. I was especially surprised that he'd turned me down so pointedly.
"So sketch us with our clothes on. You're pushing again, and I've had enough," he said abruptly and walked away from me.
I realized that he was walking away because he didn't want to get into an argument. Those words and his actions hurt, both because I realized that they were true and because he walked away so soon. It seemed that he already knew me well enough to realize that I would have tried to wheedle him into doing what I wanted.
At least I knew enough not to follow him. I watched him walking away for a few seconds, then sighed and turned toward the cabin.
"Arlene Marie Banks, sometimes you need to wake up to the fact that other people do not think the same way you do," I growled softly to myself. "And you need to think before you push. Dave's right about that. He and Shannon have a world of trouble to wade through and you don't need to add any stumbling blocks for them to trip over, or you'll lose them both."
Saying it aloud, even if it was sotto voce, made it more real. I had to think of others outside of Cindy, Mom, and myself. I wanted Dave and Shannon in my life and if I wasn't careful, little stupidities like pushing too hard would drive them away faster than anything.
I suppose I was still frowning as I walked into the cabin because Cindy looked up at me and I could see her face shift from a wide grin to a show of concern.
"What's wrong Mom?"
"Hmm? Oh, I just annoyed Dave and it was my fault, again," I admitted.
"Are you sure? Daddy is really touchy right now," Shannon looked almost as concerned as Cindy.
"Yeah, I pushed again," I smiled. "Both you and Dave have good reason to be upset and sometimes I forget that the world doesn't always revolve around what I want to do."
"You and Daddy didn't have a fight did you?"
"No, Shannon. We didn't fight. Your dad just walked away as if he was offended," I sighed deeply. "I forget that everyone doesn't think like me."
Both of them just looked at me waiting for more.
"Look, I just thought tonight would be a great night to sketch everyone around the fire and I wanted everyone to be nude. Dave didn't like the idea."
"Oh Mom," Cindy sighed deeply. "Why the heck do you like everyone nude all the time when you draw them? I'd like a drawing or two that I could show others, one that was done when I had some clothes on."
"But, you have such a beautiful body. Besides, I've done lots of drawings of you in clothes."
"Not since I started to get breasts you haven't," she snapped. "You haven't done one in at least two years when I was wearing one stitch of clothing. Sometimes I think you've become a voyeur."
I just stared at her in surprise, unable to think of a thing to refute her argument. To be honest, I did like seeing her and others without clothes. But I liked people to be openly nude, it really wasn't a voyeuristic thrill. Or was it? I was going to have to take the time and really think about that, but right at that moment wasn't the time for deep thoughts on the subject.
"I don't think that's right," Shannon came to my defence. "Your Mom likes nudity and she likes to tease people with her art, but she's careful how much she lets people see. Besides, it's not like she really pushes if people want privacy. She always asks."
"But she does it all the darn time," Cindy protested vehemently.
"Well, you can do like Daddy did and just say no," Shannon snapped back. "It's not like your mom doesn't listen to you or anything."
Then to my surprise, she threw down the towel she was using to dry the last of the dishes and ran into the bathroom.
"Uh oh," Cindy sighed softly. "I think I said the wrong thing."
"It's okay, Honey," I reassured her. "That wasn't really your fault."
"Umm, I know that, but I think I should be a bit more careful of what words I use and maybe try not be so emphatic in the way I use them."
"Honey, on a point like that you could have whispered. She's been comparing the way you and I react to each other to the way she and her mother acted with each other. At the moment that she spoke up she was being envious of you and yet she was hurting from her own loss."
"I know, Mom, but you and I were talking about stuff that was really just between us when she sort of horned in," Cindy protested. "I know it's not fair to her, but I'm kinda jealous too."
"Now why are you jealous? Just because she's here?"
"I guess," she moved over and held out her arms, so I hugged her gently.
"I'm just used to having you to myself," she murmured into my shoulder.
"Well, you're not losing me, think of this as gaining a sister and a . . . well, almost a dad," I hesitated as I spoke.
I really wanted Cindy to accept Dave, but I knew there were bound to be times when she was going to resent letting him show his authority just as Shannon was going to resent me at times. Dave had reminded me of that rather subtly just a while before when he'd said something about mean stepparents.
"That's going to be kind of strange," Cindy whispered as if reading my thoughts. "I don't know if I'm going to like having two parents."
"I don't think Dave is as pushy as I am. Of course I could be wrong, he does feel strongly on some things though, and we don't always agree on everything either. He showed me that tonight," I smiled. "Now, I'd better go see if I can calm Shannon down."
"Should I go see if Dave is still mad at you?"
"Oh, I don't think he let himself get angry, he just sounded a bit annoyed, but he let me know if I pushed him any more he would get angry. If you do run into him, don't be afraid to talk to him. I've been hoping that being here at the cabin would give the two of you a little while to get to know each other better."
"Oh, I really do like him, Mom. He's neat," she surprised me by blushing slightly.
Then before I could say anything, she slipped away from me and out the door. I was left feeling a bit uneasy and I realized that it was her blush that made me feel that way. I suddenly had a suspicion that my daughter had a crush on my man. Just in case she did, I'd better warn Dave at the first opportunity.
I sighed and moved toward the bathroom. Right then, Shannon needed a friend.
"Shannon, can I come in," I asked as I stood at the bathroom door.
"I guess," she sniffled. "Is Cindy there?"
"No, Honey, I think she went out to find your father before it gets too dark for him to find his way back to the cabin," I smiled at her as I stepped into the bathroom.
She had the lid down on the toilet and was using it as a chair with her feet pulled up so that she was hugging her knees.
"I don't mean to be a little bitch," she whimpered. "I just can't seem to help myself."
"Oh, Love. You aren't being a bitch," I sighed, holding out my arms and offering a hug. "You've been wonderful, especially when I consider everything that you've had happen to you in the last little while."
I hadn't even finished speaking before she was in my arms. I simply held her for a few moments as she cried softly, slowly calming down again.
"Would you like a nice long cuddle in front of the fire?" I whispered, kissing the hair on the top of her head.
"Umm hmm," she managed to mutter.
When we moved out to the living room, I realized that we hadn't lit the fire yet, but that didn't seem to matter to Shannon, she simply wanted a snuggle against me on the old love seat. That's where we were when Cindy came scurrying back. In fact Shannon was almost asleep in my arms, but the noise Cindy made as she opened the door and slammed it closed behind her jerked Shannon wide awake.
"Oops. Sorry, to interrupt," Cindy apologized.
"It's okay," Shannon smiled wanly. "Besides, I'm the one who should be sorry for grouching at you before."
"Oh no, I wasn't thinking," Cindy replied. "Sometimes my mouth just screws up because I don't think first before saying something that sounds dumb. I didn't mean to imply that your mother was a witch."
"No, but she was sure different from most people's Moms," Shannon sighed.
"See. I did it again," Cindy shrugged her shoulders, then came over to hold out her hands to Shannon.
"Could I just shut up and give you a hug, maybe my mouth won't get me into trouble then?" she whispered.
Somehow Shannon slithered out of my lap and into Cindy's arms. Then they managed to squeeze over so we were all sitting on the love seat and I could just manage to slip my arm around both of them.
After a few moments of cuddling, I thought I'd suggest that we could make a fire in the fireplace. To my surprise they seemed lukewarm to the idea. It was only after discussing it for a few minutes that they decided it was a good idea since Cindy wanted to show me that she could light the fire safely.
I was walking slowly back toward the cabin and taking my time when I noticed movements near the edge of clearing and against the trees. I stood for a moment or two and watched a doe and a fawn come out to graze in the clearing, then smiled as I wondered if it was the same two we had seen when we drove in. As I stood there, I realized that it felt so peaceful here that it was settling my mood down tremendously. I was going to have to thank Arlene's mom for suggesting that we come to this place.
The doe and fawn were well out into the clearing before I turned toward the cabin again. Then, just as I was walking up the front steps, my cell phone rang with an annoyingly loud buzz. Needless to say, I jumped because I wasn't used to the idea of carrying a phone. In fact I almost lost my footing on the steps. The phone actually rang a second time before I realized what it was and pulled it out of the holder that hung off my belt.
"Hello," I barked, still reacting to my surprise.
"Dave? It's Dick Fairchild. I tried to call Arlene first, but it seems her cell isn't working. At least she's not answering it."
"That's surprising. It worked before. Give me a few seconds and I can have her on this phone for you."
"Actually, it was you that I wanted to speak to. I was only going to call Arlene and have her to put you on the phone. Instead I had to phone your lawyer to get your number."
"So what did you need to talk to me about?"
"I'm at your house right now. It seems that someone broke in just shortly after the workmen left this evening and before the security people got here. One of your neighbours reported it to us and the security company's report followed hers. I took the call on my way home."
"What? Did you say that someone broke into my house?"
"That's right. We were wondering if there was anything of special value that might have been an enticing target for thieves?"
"Nothing that an ordinary house wouldn't have. I mean, there were stereos, computers, TVs, stuff like that, unless Claire left something hidden somewhere."
"That's just what we were wondering. I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to come down tonight and check through the place with us?"
"Jeez, at this time?" I said, after glancing at my watch after I opened the door to the cabin. "It would be darn late by the time I got there. Won't tomorrow morning do?"
"Okay I suppose. Then I'm going to ask you to be here even earlier tomorrow, if you can make it," he sighed. "By the way, the thieves seem to have concentrated on your daughter's room, so we'd like her to come along too."
"Shannon's room? What in heck would they be looking for in her room?" I stared across the room at Shannon who was squatted beside Cindy near the fireplace and staring back at me.
"That's what we were going to ask you," he sighed again. "Something about this doesn't make any sense to me right now."
"You're telling me," I spat. "Just a second, I'll ask Shannon if she has any idea about what a thief would be after in her room."
"If she's still up that certainly might help."
"She's right here, just a second and I'll get her to talk to you directly" I covered the mouthpiece of the phone with my hand. "Shannon, someone has broken into our house and Detective Fairchild was wondering if you'd know why they would have been looking for something in your bedroom."
"I don't know, Daddy. Do you suppose that it might be something Mommy left behind?" she whispered.
"I don't know dear, why don't you talk to the detective, maybe you can suggest something. Actually since he's there, perhaps he can see something that's out of place or something that will give you a clue about what they might have been looking for."
"Okay Daddy," she took the phone. "Hello Detective Fairchild, this is Shannon. What would you like me to tell you?"
I glanced at Arlene, then moved over to her so I wouldn't interrupt Shannon's conversation.
"Dick Fairchild said your phone doesn't seem to be working," I said quietly.
"Oh darn," she looked at me almost guiltily. "I shut it off before, when we were together and I didn't want to be disturbed. Then I guess I forgot to turn it back on. I'll get it now."
As she rushed off to the bedroom, I glanced at Cindy who grinned at me and rolled her eyes, then my attention shifted to Shannon who was still talking to Dick Fairchild.
"Oh, I don't care about that. Really, the only thing that I have that's valuable to me is my Barbie Doll collection. They're worth a lot of money even if I'd never sell them."
I grinned, wondering if Dick Fairchild thought she was kidding, then chuckled when she spoke again.
"No really, they are. There are several dolls there that Granny Gamble gave me that are worth four or five hundred dollars each. If you just count them, I can tell you if any are missing," she paused and smiled at me.
"Oh, the best ones are in a display box that's fixed up like a room, and the most special ones are sitting on a home made couch and standing up beside it. They'd be the ones that anyone who knew anything about collecting dolls would take."
"Unh huh, There should be a Barbie in ski clothes and one in a stripped swimsuit standing on either side of the couch and sort of leaning on the wall. Then sitting down, there should be one in a long white dress and one in a blue dress."
She looked at me, then after a few seconds, she sighed.
"They're all there! Oh that's good. I'd have hated to lose those because they mean a lot to me even if they aren't the most valuable dolls of my collection. Thank you very much for looking for me," she was smiling now. "Hmm? Oh sure, Daddy is right here."
She handed me the phone and then plopped down on the floor beside Cindy and started to whisper something to her as I brought the phone to my ear.
"Hello Dick," I said, turning away from the pair of giggling girls and moving away from the heat of the fireplace.
"Dave, Shannon mentioned a jewel box, but we can't seem to find that. Were the jewels in it special in any way?" he said shortly. "She seemed to be more interested in her dolls than it though."
"That's understandable. She has an emotional link to the dolls, the jewels were just pretty baubles to her, or at least I suppose so. I don't really know anything about them, they were gifts from her Granny Leech, which might be part of the reason she's not worried about them. The two of them weren't really all that close."
"I see. Well, could you tell us a little about this jewel box. Shannon's description was a little vague."
"Let's see, just a second, I need to talk to Shannon," I covered the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Shannon, that jewel box, was that the Chinese puzzle box that Granny Leech gave you?"
"Un huh, but it doesn't matter much if anybody stole that thing," she said with a vigorous nod of her head.
"Thank you," I smiled at her, then lifted the phone to my ear again. "Hello Dick."
"Yeah, I'm still here."
"Look, I only looked at that box closely once or twice, but I can describe it. It was less than a foot square and maybe four inches deep. I think the outside was teak, although I'm not too good with Oriental woods. From the outside, it looked like a wooden box with a dragon inlayed on the top, but that outer box was fake. The wood was overlaid on a metal box and that was locked with a special key. The keyhole was hidden under one of those special sliding puzzle things that Chinese boxes have, other than that, there's not much I can tell you."
"Dammit, you don't sound as if you think the jewel box is important either. Don't you realize that your mother-in-law was playing around in the gem smuggling business? Those jewels might be worth thousands of dollars."
"Well, we didn't exactly expect someone to break in and steal it."
"Oh, fuck, I give up. I'll see you tomorrow. Please try to be here at ten."
Then the phone went dead and I suppose I looked surprised.
"What happened?" Arlene asked.
"Well, I think Dick Fairchild is disgusted that we didn't insist that Shannon keep her jewellery in a safety deposit box," I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Shannon. "I remember telling you that we could, but you didn't want to bother, did you Punkin?"
"Unh uh, I liked having them there to look at and play with once in a while, even if Mom didn't want me to wear any of them out of the house," she shrugged. "I'm really not worried if somebody did steal that old jewel box."
"Not even if they got all of the jewellery that you had in there?"
"Daddy, the stuff that Granny Leech bought me is too fancy to wear, so all I can really do is look at it. If I wore it and lost a diamond or something, it would be too much money just to get it fixed again. I liked the fake stuff that I got from other people just as much or even more."
"But honey, those jewels were probably worth thousands of dollars," Arlene said quietly.
"You don't understand. The dolls are worth more to me. They're worth more than any amount of money," Shannon had stood up and had her fists clenched tight as if she was willing to fight.
"Actually, her collection of Barbies probably is worth quite a bit of money," I said quietly. "A torn dress or a scratch on the face of one of those dolls might depreciate its value by several hundred dollars. That's why she has special dust proof cases and boxes to keep some of them in. They're appreciating in value every day too."
"That's not why they're so special to me," Shannon said quietly. "All of them came from Granny Gamble or Aunty Mike and I know that they hunted for them all over. Some of those dolls are almost as old as Daddy is and some of them are dolls that Aunty Mike had when she was a kid. I love those dolls, even if you think it's silly."
I could see she was close to tears and I held out my arms, then wrapped her in a hug. "It's okay, Honey. Really, we do understand. You value your dolls because they were given to you by people who loved you enough to find dolls you liked, not baubles and things that were worth whole bundles of money."
"Well Dick should know that you're not worried about recovering the jewels," Arlene argued.
"If you think about it, he already knows that the thieves didn't get anything important to us," I answered her. "It sounded to me as if Shannon made that quite clear."
"I still think Dick should know how valuable they are then," Arlene said quietly. "I mean he could put the dolls in his car and store them somewhere safe."
"Sorry, I disagree," I shook my head. "Besides grabbing the dolls in a hurry and perhaps accidentally damaging them while he puts them in a safe place, what else would he do differently than what he's doing now? I'll bet he'd still be hunting for the crooks, now wouldn't he?"
"Well, yeah."
"And I'm willing to bet he'd put a guard on the house for the night, wouldn't he?"
"There should be a security guard there because of the cleanup anyway," she grouched.
"Yes, and I'll bet he gets on the security company's butt about that. If he doesn't, I'll bet Jaro will. Which reminds me, I should phone him, so he can have the fun of calling the insurance rep." I turned away from her and lifted the phone to dial Jaro, thankfull that I recalled his number.
"Hello? he answered almost instantly."
"Hey Jaro, it's me."
"Hello Dave," he answered. "I expected a call from you. Did Fairchild manage to contact you?"
"Yes he did, he's at my house and there's been a break-in there, but I guess you already knew that. Now the strange thing is that the thieves seem to have concentrated on Shannon's room and the only things of real value that she has are a collection of Barbie dolls and some jewels that her grandmother gave her."
"Well, it would be rather hard for a thief to fence Barbie dolls," he laughed. "Since Mrs Leech was involved in a gem smuggling scam, I imagine that's what they were after."
"Well, I think from what the detective said, they might have gotten the fancy jewel box that Granny Leech gave Shannon."
"Oh?"
"Shannon was more worried about the Barbies anyway. She even got Fairchild to assure her that the dolls were okay when she talked to him by making a fuss and having him check that they were still there."
"Oh, wonderful," he laughed loudly. "I'll bet he loved that."
"Jeez, I was right, I always said that you weren't too dumb to pound sand," I ribbed him. "Now I was calling for two reasons. First off, I'll get you to call the insurance agent about the break-in, because if I call I'm going to chew him up for a bedtime snack, so you can tell him I'm pissed with him over his choice of guards. Secondly, I want to ask that we make that lunch date tomorrow for about one in the afternoon. Oh, and you'll have to be on your best behaviour, since we might have the girls along. I'll call you to let you know for sure when we'll be there before we drop by."
"Great, I don't have anything major on for the afternoon and I happen to like being in your daughter's company, she's smart and cute as a button," he answered. "I'll call Fairchild and the insurance agent, but if anything urgent comes up during my talk to them, I'll call you back, okay?"
"Yep, but I doubt if there will be anything you can't handle. We'll see you tomorrow anyway, so don't worry about calling if there;s nothing urgent to tell me."
"Okay, I'll call Fairchild first so I can find out if he's seen anything new. Then I'll call your insurance agent and I think I'll mention your nickname from the old days, then tell him that you're thinking of treating him like you used to treat halfbacks on the football field, he chuckled.
"Oh, great! Goodnight, smartass!" I snorted as I hung up, then looked over at Arlene as I plopped into one of the overstuffed chairs near the fire.
"You really like him, don't you," she smiled.
"Unh huh. I do," I grinned.
"Daddy, I know it's not my business, but why are his face and his body so screwed up?" Shannon asked quietly. "He's so nice otherwise."
"I thought you knew that, but maybe I didn't tell you. It's no secret or anything. Jaro had Poliomyelitis when he was just a kid and spent over a year in a contraption called an iron lung that helped him breathe and kept him alive. Actually he had the rarest form of polio, something called Paralytic Polio and it caused him to have misshapen legs and one twisted arm. Yet he's one of the lucky ones, many Polio patients died before Dr. Salk discovered a vaccine that stopped it. Jaro's legs and one of his arms are misshapen, but his brain certainly wasn't affected in any way," I said bluntly. "He's a great guy and I admire what he's done with his life, especially when you consider the crap he's had to put up with."
"I didn't know that," Arlene almost whispered. "I thought it was genetic and that made him seem creepy to me."
"I'm sorry, I should have let you know why his body is deformed," I said quietly. "I never even thought of explaining because I've known him for so long that I've grown accustomed to his condition, so it seems normal to me. Oh, I guess I should mention that polio wasn't what screwed up his face. I'm not sure just what happened, but I understand that he was burned in some sort of accident when he was very young and his face was badly scarred from that," I shrugged, then continued. "I'll be honest, the way he looks bugged me for a while, but now that I know Jaro well, I'm more interested in him as a person. Of course, since he happens to have an IQ that's out of this world, as well as a fabulous memory, he's also a great lawyer. So I admire him for that and for his friendship more than anything else.
"It's no surprise that you didn't think to mention it, after all you've had a few other things on your mind. I was going to ask, but I didn't think that I should disturb you with things like that at the time," she smiled. "Besides, there's no harm done. I don't think I was rude to him or anything."
"I don't think so either, Jaro sure seems to want me to make sure you're there for lunch tomorrow," I smiled.
"Why do you call him Yarrow?" Cindy asked. "That's some kind of weed isn't it?"
"Oh my, I guess when I say it, it does sound like yarrow doesn't it," I snorted. "It's spelled J-A-R-O and it's the first part of his last name; Jarosynski. It just sounds like it starts with a 'Y' because his family was from Eastern Europe and they usually pronounce a 'J' as 'Y' over there. Actually, his family fled from Hungary in 1956, during the rebellion."
"But why don't you use his first name, Daddy?" Shannon chipped in.
"Santos? Well, as far as I know, Santos means saint and Jaro is anything but saintly," I chuckled. "Besides, it's a habit, left over from when we roomed together at the University."
"Oh, okay," she smiled. "It's your special nickname for him then?"
"Yes, I suppose it is, now. It was a silly attempt to be funny at first and I used it instead of his first name for some stupid reason, probably to annoy him. You see when we roomed together at the start of that first year at the university, we fought like cats and dogs, so that name started out by being almost a slur."
"Daddy! You fought with a guy in a wheelchair?" Shannon protested.
"Oh, we fought verbally, not physically," I smiled. "He was an ultra liberal with socialist tendencies and I was more the staid conservative type. Over the years both of us have moved toward the center, so we get along a lot better now than we ever did then."
"But you were a jock, weren't you, Daddy? I thought you played football and stuff at the university, and I know people who become lawyers have to study a lot, so how did you two end up being friends?"
"Oh yeah, he was as far from a jock as he could be when I met him. Eventually I got mad at him for sitting around the room all the time, then bitching at me about having nothing to do except study, so I dragged him out to the practises and games with me. Since I always got there early to dress, I used to push his wheelchair right into the locker room with me and the rest of the team," I laughed softly. "Luckily he turned out to be a very good strategist, so in a few weeks he became almost a mascot for the team. Actually he used to sit near the coaches and had an unofficial position on the coaching squad."
"If you were such good friends, how come he never came over to the house, Daddy?"
"That's an easy question to answer. He and your mother didn't get along at all. He really likes you though, so we might see more of him now."
"Oh," she sighed heavily and I imagined she was thinking of her mother. "Daddy, do I need to go to town with you tomorrow? Detective Fairchild seemed to think I should."
"Well, I think it would be a good idea. Mostly I think it would be a good idea for you to go to our house. You don't have to go over to Granny Leech's house if you really don't want to."
"It might help the detective find out what really happened if I went there wouldn't it?"
"I don't know, but I don't think it would hurt," I sighed again. "The thing is I don't know much about Granny Leech's house at all, so I wouldn't know if anything was out of place, or if something had been stolen, or anything like that. That means you might be able to help a lot."
"Mom and I can go with you, Shannon," Cindy offered. "If you want us along that is."
"Now Cindy, there really shouldn't be a whole crowd of people there," Arlene spoke authoritatively.
"Well, there won't be," Cindy snapped back. "You can be there as one of the cops and I can be there as Shannon's support."
"Hey now, let's not have an argument," I said sharply. "Arlene, if the police need our help, they can darn well take it on a basis that we'll help, but we'll do it when we're comfortable. And Cindy, there's no reason for you to feel that we're going to be leaving you out of things. We wouldn't do that."
That left both of them staring at me.
"I'm not kidding," I said firmly. "I'll cooperate, but I'll be darned if I'm going to put pressure on anyone to do something they don't want to do. Shannon, you don't have to go into Granny Leech's house at all, not if you don't want to, but if you want help and support, you get to choose who you want along, okay? I'll back up your decision. That goes for you too, Cindy, maybe it doesn't apply so much in this case, but it will in the future. I'll back either one of you if you ever need my help."
That left everyone quiet, so I stood up and stretched.
"Okay, since we have to go back to town and since it might be a long day, I think an early bedtime is in order. I'm going to make some hot chocolate before I go to bed, who else wants one?" I asked.
"Oh no you don't, Daddy. I'll make the hot chocolate or someone else can, but not you," Shannon jumped up.
"What's wrong with my hot chocolate?" I grinned at her.
"Your hot chocolate tastes great, but you're the only guy I know of who can dirty every pot in the kitchen when you're cooking anything more complicated than a TV dinner. Since Cindy and I are supposed to do the dishes tomorrow, I don't want to start out washing whole bunches of pots and pans just so we can make breakfast," she smiled and winked at me. "Come on Cindy, let's leave my Dad and your Mom to talk, while we make a cup of hot chocolate for everyone."
As the girls move to the kitchen area and I sat back down, Arlene got to her feet and walked over to stand in front of me.
"Can I borrow that lap?" she smiled.
I just held out my arms and she slid into them. Then she leaned down and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Did you notice Cindy's mood is shifting around and she's acting a bit short with people?" she whispered.
"I guess. Maybe a bit,"
"Well, be prepared. She and I are on the same monthly schedule and it's coming up to PMS time," she said so quietly that I could hardly hear her.
"Ahhh," I sighed softly.
"Unh huh. Fun and games for everyone."
"Great, do you get moody too," I whispered.
"Only one mood mainly," she chuckled. "Horny."
"What?"
"You heard me," she laughed.
Then suddenly she moved off my lap and walked toward the girls. I'd never seen her hips swivel like that before. Cindy happened to turn and her face fell.
"Oh no!" Cindy said loudly.
"What's wrong?" Shannon looked up from stirring the milk she was heating on the stove.
"Mom's got her advertising walk on. That means I'm in for hell for two or three days," Cindy sighed heavily, then she looked at me and blushed.
"It's okay Cindy," I grinned at her. "I've been around women all my life. It's natural. You don't have to be embarrassed."
"Dad, what are you talking about?" Shannon demanded.
Cindy blushed even more, then bent toward her and whispered in her ear. All this time Arlene's head was swivelling from side to side, alternately staring at the rest of us as if she were in a trance.
"Oh, is that it," Shannon sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I get grumpy moods too."
"You don't mind that your Dad knows?" Arlene blurted.
"No, my Aunt Michelle told me it was only decent to warn any guy when you're near. That way he can get ready to duck and cover," Shannon smiled slowly. "Mom didn't, but I used to know when it was coming and I'd warn Daddy. Well at least for the last couple of years anyway, since my periods started."
"You've been menstruating for two years and the other day was the first time you had a gynecological exam?" Arlene simply stared at her.
"Yeah, I don't think Mom even thought about it until the other day," Shannon shrugged, then quickly changed the subject. "Cindy have you got the cocoa ready? The milk is hot."
Arlene turned and stared at me, then back at Shannon, finally she wandered back to where I was sitting. Crossing her arms below her breasts, she stared into my eyes.
"What other surprises do you and Shannon have in store for me?" she almost growled.
"Now what did I do?"
"Well, to start with, you never talked to your daughter about sex, but she freely admits to having PMS and warns you when it's about to start?"
"That's one reason why I never talked to her about sex," I admitted flatly. "She was so open about warning me when she and her Mom were going to be moody that I thought Claire had taught her all about it."
"Men!" Arlene snapped, throwing her hands in the air in disgust. "Shannon, your father is exasperatingly logical."
"Yep. That's why I love him," Shannon giggled. "Oh and I notice that Cindy isn't the only one whose moods get touchy."
Arlene drew in a deep breath and then broke into laughter.
"Mom, are you sure we want these two around us all the time?" Cindy grinned at her.
"That goes two ways, doesn't it, Dad?" Shannon countered. "Now, who wants hot chocolate, 'cause it's ready?"
"I think everyone does, Punkin," I answered her. "Do you want us to come over there to get it?"
"Just stay there," Cindy grinned at me. "I'll deliver."
"You handle your own cup, Missy," Arlene walked over and took two cups in hand. "He's mine, at least for now."
"Eeew, poor you, Mr Gamble," Cindy giggled. "While I get moody, she gets all gooey and lovey dovey as well."
"I know. She already warned me," I grinned at her and winked. "I'm looking forward to it."
I'll swear all three of them blushed and I probably made it worse by chuckling since I was trying to act comfortable in a strange situation. Really I was totally surprised by the way everyone was acting, both Cindy and Shannon were acting like they were five years older than they were and Arlene was acting like she was their age.
I felt lost.
I expected Arlene to crawl into my lap again, but she didn't, instead she handed me one cup of cocoa, then sat on the floor at my feet, staring into the fire.
Cindy set her cup down near Shannon who had squatted on the floor, then went and shut off the main lights. When everyone was comfortable and we were all staring at the fire, Arlene cleared her throat.
"I think it's time for all of us to put our cards on the table as a family," she said in a low voice. "For instance, you two know that Dave and I are having sex, don't you?"
"Well, yeah," Cindy whispered.
"Well, dear daughter, you should also know that I'm sure I love him and I'm sure he loves me."
"We had figured that one out too," Shannon answered this time. "And no matter what anyone else in the whole world thinks, I like the idea."
"There will be problems," I said quietly. "Perhaps some of those problems will be caused by nosey people who would like to tell us what to do and how to act, but it's almost inevitable that we'll have family squabbles as well."
"Problems and squabbles happen in all families," Arlene sighed. "I think the four of us can work our way through them, just as long as we are honest with each other."
All of us nodded our heads, then Arlene carried on. "One thing you girls should keep in mind is that Dave and I intend to try to have at least one baby and maybe more, but we hope to hold off until we're married."
"So are you going on the pill for now?" Cindy asked.
"No, I decided not to, that's because it affects me badly. I get pimples and rashes, plus it affects my moods even more than PMS does," Arlene gave a short laugh. "We've decided to gamble that I won't get pregnant before we have a chance to get married."
"I want you to know that it wasn't my decision," I said softly. "Arlene out and out told me what she wanted to do, but I did have the opportunity to tell her no."
"Well, that's something anyway," Cindy sighed. "At least we'll get a baby to play with, hey Shannon."
Shannon looked a bit sad at first, then she smiled slowly. "Yeah, we will, but will Cindy and Ms. Banks be moving to our house?"
"Perhaps, but not for a while," Arlene said quickly. "It wouldn't look good for either your dad or for me if we moved too soon."
She sighed, then leaned back against my legs. "I'm not sure how the University would react, but I know that the Police Department would ask a lot of questions if it happened soon, even if it's really none of their business."
"It is their business in a way, since our behaviour reflects on them," I shrugged. "That reminds me, I have to go to the University sometime soon to straighten out the paper work about all this."
"Not about Cindy and me," Arlene said quickly.
"No, not yet," I agreed. "But I have to have them take Claire's name off of a lot of things."
Shannon looked like she was wilting and Cindy slid over to put her arm around her shoulders. To my surprise, Shannon pushed her away, then glared at her.
"I don't want a hug right now, I'm angry, but it's not at any of you. I'm mad because Mom was so damn stupid."
"Now Shannon . . ." I started to say, but she leaped to her feet interrupting me.
"Dad, what I didn't tell you before was that on the way back home after that stupid doctor thing, she was ranting about how all men were rotten shits and that she should never have trapped you into marrying her. She said she really didn't want any kids, but that she intentionally got pregnant. She knew you would be a gentleman and marry her, so she thought she'd never have to worry about money again. Then she jabbered about the fact that Granny Gamble and Aunty Mike blocked ever effort she made to get her hands on enough money to live decently."
"Did she say what she thought was wrong with the way we were living?" I asked, staring at her in surprise.
"Oh she was screaming about the fact that we lived in a crappy old house with crappy old furniture and she was stuck living in a crappy town with a crappy husband and a crappy daughter. She was so loud and so weird that I didn't dare say anything. I think she'd have hit me or thrown me out of the car."
"Oh Honey, you should have told us," Arlene said quietly. "If you'd told me that the day when I came there with Dick Fairchild, things might have been a lot different. We might have interfered some way."
"What could you do?" Shannon whimpered. "Mom often said stuff like that and then changed her story the next day. I thought she'd calm down and be reasonable like she always had before. I didn't know she'd go bonkers."
"It wasn't your fault," I stood up.
"Daddy, don't! I'm going to go outside and be by myself for a few minutes. Everybody just leave me alone until I cool down. I'm not mad at any of you, but I am mad about what Mom was like and what she did to us."
She had surprised all three of us so much that we simply stared at her when she walked to the door and went outside, slamming the door behind her.
"Being angry with the deceased is part of the grieving process," Arlene said softly. "Especially when the deceased committed suicide."
"Is that part of some course you took, Mom," Cindy said sharply. "That's my best buddy and she's hurting like hell. I want to help her, but I don't know what to do."
"Honey, we're not sure what to do either. This is a case where you play things by ear and hope you react the right way to each situation," Arlene answered. "What do you think Dave?"
"I think you and Cindy should stay inside, maybe even get ready for bed. I'm going to wait a few minutes, then I plan on going out and try to talk to her. If she's going to get angry with someone for following her, it should be me."
"Yeah, I suppose so," Arlene said quietly.
"Hey, from what she just told us, she's been the butt of her mother's anger for a long time, and I didn't really see it. I was too damn busy being a professor, a coach and a published author who was busy all the time. I didn't even realize that my wife was being such a bitch to my own daughter."
"Now Dave, don't blame yourself, you . . ."
"Arlene, I don't have anyone else to blame," I growled. "Now you two might want to go to bed and plug your ears, because I'm going to go outside and let my daughter scream at me as loudly and as long as she wants to, so she can get it out of her system."
I'm not sure what either Arlene or Cindy thought, but I could feel their eyes watching me as I walked to the door and stepped outside. As I closed the door behind me, I paused, wondering where Shannon would have gone, then I saw her shape at the end of the porch.
"Shh," she hissed, then whispered. "Please be quiet Daddy. I don't want to scare the deer."
She was staring out into the little meadow in front of the cabin and even at a quick glance, I could see that she was fascinated by a small herd of deer that were grazing the short grass of the meadow in the moonlight. Tiptoeing over to her, I slipped an arm around her shoulder to hug her gently. Then for several minutes we stood there quietly watching the deer.
"Daddy, are you annoyed with me?" she whispered softly.
"No Shannon, I'm annoyed with me. I should have seen what was going on and put a stop to it long ago," I sighed.
"But I'm the one who made Mom so angry, at least the last few times."
"I don't think your mother had any real reasons to be angry," I almost growled. "It's natural for you to become interested in boys like you did and the thing with that fake doctor was more your mother's fault than yours. You didn't really cause either one of those problems. Your mother was being unreasonable and I was blind to the problem until it was too late. I was more at fault than you were."
"Oh, Daddy, it was not your fault."
"Yes, Punkin, it was! I was so wound up in teaching and coaching at the University, as well as trying to be a big wheel author, that I didn't pay enough attention to my family. I just hope I can do better from now on."
"Oh, Daddy," she hugged me tightly. "It really wasn't just your fault. I should have come to you before things got so bad between me and Mom. Mostly though, I think Mom should have seen a shrink."
I couldn't help chuckling. "Your mother hated both psychiatrists and psychologists, in fact she hated counsellors of any kind. I did get her to go with me to a marriage counsellor for a while, but I think she just faked getting better so I'd quit making her come with me to see him. I'm afraid she wouldn't have gone to see a doctor, even if I'd insisted. She was certain that she was perfectly sane and that I was the one who was nuts."
"You were nuts, Daddy, at least you were nuts to live with her for so long. But then I guess I'm nuts too, because I didn't do or say anything either," she snuggled a bit, then she pulled away. "I guess if we're going to town early tomorrow we'd better get to bed, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so,"
"Daddy?"
"Yeah, what would you like?"
"Umm, there's something you might like to know."
"What's that?"
"I just wanted you to know that both Cindy and I really do like guys more than girls, but is it still okay if we snuggle with each other if no one else sees us?"
"Who you snuggle with is your business," I said firmly but quietly. "However, like you said, it might be better if no one but the person you're snuggling with knows. Now that's snuggling and kissing, not sex. I think you should try to hold off on that for a while since you're still quite young."
"Can I tell you a secret?"
"Okay, but I'll only keep it a secret if it doesn't hurt anyone else."
"That's okay," she drew a deep breath. "Since Cindy is going to be your step daughter . . ."
"Whoa, this sounds like Cindy's secret, not yours," I interrupted. "Cindy can tell me her own secrets."
"Umm," she paused. "I like that and you're right, Cindy can tell you her own secrets."
She drew another deep breath, then sighed softly. "Okay, I'll just say that someone else wanted me to have sex with them, but I've decided I'm not ready yet."
"I think that's very wise,"
"Daddy? Can I ask another question?"
"You can ask, but I might not be able to answer."
"Umm, okay, but I'm sure you can if you want to. I was wondering if guys get sorta wound up if you touch them in certain places in the same way that girls do?"
"Oh yeah," I laughed softly. "Guys get wound up even more and probably much faster than girls do."
"Oh wow," she sighed again. "Umm, both places?"
"Now you've lost me, which two places?" I said slowly. "The uh, well, the lower belly is really the place that winds most guys up fastest and the most."
"You mean a guy's penis?"
"Yes, I do," I felt myself blushing, but hoped it was dark enough that she wouldn't notice.
"So if I want to be safe with a boy, it's hands off down there, huh?"
"Yes, definitely, in fact you might want to make sure your hands never wander lower than his belt, but if he ignores your wishes and starts to do something you don't want to do, kneeing him there will almost always discourage a guy."
I couldn't help feeling that I was going to be out of my depth soon, but she didn't speak for a minute or two, then she astounded me.
"All guys don't get as big as you do, down there, do they?"
"I don't know, but then I don't really go around looking at other guys to check out how big they are," I managed to mutter, mostly because her question had reminded me of Arlene and Noreen's comments, then I decided I had to ask. "And when did you see how big I am?"
"Well . . . never really, it's just that you get a big lump in your shorts and . . ." she broke into a giggle. ". . . and then you walk all funny and you do your best to hide it from Cindy and me."
I had to take a deep breath myself before I could say anything.
"Oh boy, I'm not sure how to answer this," I sighed.
"It is okay Daddy. It's natural for your body to react. That's just a biological function of racial preservation."
"Just who are you quoting," I asked, actually, I literally demanded an answer.
"Aunty Mike, I guess. She had a film she showed me and then, we sorta talked about it," Shannon giggled. "She said you were a hunk and if it wasn't illegal, immoral and incestual, she'd have asked you to be the father of her kids."
"What!"
"Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that."
"There's no maybe about it, that's a case of giving away someone else's secret."
"Uh oh, you won't tell her will you?"
"I'll try not to," I sighed. "Unfortunately, I'll never be able to look at her quite the same way again. You see that's another biological function, when a man knows a woman is interested, he acts differently toward her. It's the same the other way around too, to a certain extent anyway. Not only that, but I'm not comfortable with the idea of incest."
"Oh, I never thought of that."
"Actually, you didn't think about anything like that. You were just gossiping, which I don't really care for either. And on that note, it's bed time," I said firmly, deciding to cut off further discussion. "We're going to have a long and possibly a very uncomfortable day tomorrow."
"Okay Daddy. But, thank you for talking to me about sex and stuff."
She suddenly leaped up and threw her arms around my neck to hug me tightly. Then the teasing little wench grinned and giggled because she had managed to press her groin against mine for an instant before she pulled away and ran inside. In that instant I grew to be so hard that I didn't even try to follow her and tell her off, because it would have hurt. Instead I pressed my hands on the porch railing and leaned there for a few moments, not really seeing the field before me, even though I was looking directly at it.
I realized that I was upset with Shannon for what she had done, but I was even more upset with myself because of my reaction. I knew that there was no way I was going to allow myself to even consider being involved in father/daughter incest and yet it seemed that my body was not driven by the same moral code that my mind insisted I needed to follow.
For several minutes, I fought my reaction. Just as I seemed to be getting that it under control, my thoughts drifted to Shannon's mention of Michelle and her supposed desire to have had me as the father of her children. Once more, my body reacted and I had to fight a battle with myself on another front, this time confronting my body's desire to engage in sibling incest.
I forced myself to think of something else and it seemed natural that suddenly I was thinking of Arlene. I found myself smiling, thinking of Arlene and glorying in the sight of her nude body and smiling face. Oh yeah, that was much better. I relaxed and daydreamed of holding her, kissing her, making love to her. I hoped fervently that she wasn't going to mind, but I knew then that I could use my thoughts of Arlene as my safety valve.
Hadn't she said earlier that her PMS made her horny? I smiled in satisfaction, then grinned as I thought about it even more.
Tonight I just might manage to arrange a surprise for Ms. Arlene Banks.