Short Fuse
© 1992/2016 by K Pelle
Chapter 22
When I awoke on Wednesday morning I was in a great mood, and that mood lasted while Dave was driving back to Bayview, but once we got to town we kept running into situations that were quite frustrating for me. Okay, part of my change in moods might have been caused by PMS, but let's face it, I'm a cop, so I'm used to asking questions and getting answers. I'm also accustomed to seeing situations develop and having to make judgement calls on how to handle them. I'm not used to having things happen, then having others make decisions without consulting me and being told about the reasons for those decisions afterward, especially if those happenings will affect me.
For instance when we turned the last corner on our way toward Dave's house, we saw several cop cars, a few workmen's trucks and a whole slew of media vehicles parked on the street near Dave's house. Dave made a snap decision and before I could even say boo, he was parked and telling Dick Fairchild what had to happen before he was about to cooperate in Dick's investigation. I'm not accustomed to civilians giving ultimatums, but Dave simply looked at the situation, made the decision that he felt the circumstances were intolerable and instantly took charge. I admit, his determination of the facts and his actions probably weren't decisions I would have made, but the results met with my approval, so I had to admit to myself that his conclusions were sound.
Then we went to have coffee and doughnuts. Dave excused himself to go to the bank a couple of doors over from the doughnut shop and I expected him to be gone for ten or fifteen minutes. He wasn't gone much longer than that, but it turned out that he did a little more than just go to the bank. It seems that he helped to arrest an embezzler while he was there.
All I really understood about the situation was that Dave somehow ended up with a few gravel abrasions on his arms and a crook ended up in custody. And it wasn't just any crook either, the guy was a wanted felon with a price on his head. Of course I only heard about all of that after Dick showed up and told the rest of us what had happened, but I couldn't help noticing that Dick was treating Dave with a lot of respect as well, much more than he usually showed to any civilian! After Dick assured Dave that there wouldn't be any of the local press at his house, Dave and Shannon agreed to go look over the damage from the break-in to see if they could help with the investigation. Only Dave insisted that he had to take a few minutes to go back to the bank first.
After finishing off his coffee, Dave went back to see the banker, then came out and told Shannon that the bank was going to restore all the money that the embezzler had helped Claire to rip off. Well, everything that they had stolen or accessed illegally, but the part that impressed me is that he wasn't worried about the money Claire had acquired semi-legally. He just wrote it off. Besides that he planned to tell his lawyer that the reward money for catching the embezzler was to go to charity, because he didn't want the publicity associated with accepting the reward. About then I was starting to realise that there was even more depth to Dave's character than I had thought.
I was feeling slightly confused at that point though. Dave was acting differently. He was impressing me with his strength of character and with the sheer speed of his decisions. It wasn't as if he had suddenly become a macho man or anything, it was just that I'd been used to him being hesitant, only suddenly he wasn't hesitating at all. It wasn't as if he was simply taking control either, in fact I could see that he wanted to share control. He was asking for input from others when he felt he could spare the time, but at the same time, he was willing to make quick decisions when they were necessary. By that point of the morning, I was doing a lot of thinking, but also watching closely as things happened around us and I was impressed by what I saw.
Finally we went back to his house to meet with Dick. The moment the front door was opened we all discovered that the place reeked of smoke, paint, solvents, glues and who knows what else. Then as soon as we stepped inside Cindy's stomach acted up and she bolted for the door, which set off my gag reflex as well - okay, that I can definitely blame on PMS, because it hit us both. So Cindy and I were waiting outside a few minutes later when Shannon came running back outside again. She wasn't sick to her tummy though, instead she was crying a bit, but mostly she was mad as a wet hen. She ranted and raved about how the crooks chopped up her almost new mattress and pillows, threw all her clothes on the floor, then stomped all over everything. I managed to get her to talk about something else, which happened to be that her Barbie doll collection seemed to be okay. She told us that Dick was going to help her to salvage them before allowing the insurance agent's cleanup crew into her room, but he wanted the crime scene team to look it over first.
As soon as Dave and Dick came outside, we were off to see Shannon's grandmother's place. As we drove there both Dave and I had to calm Shannon's anger again, because she started ranting about her panties and things being on the floor, then about the fact that people were walking on them.
In a way her anger paid off though, she was feeling annnoyed enough to want to catch the crooks, so she was willing to go inside her granny's house with Dick and her dad. Cindy and I didn't plan on going in with them that time, but the others weren't inside very long anyway. After they had come out, we were told that we were driving back to Dave's house to pick up Shannon's darn Barbie dolls. At that point even I was getting a bit exasperated with those darn things, so I was willing to bet that Dick was almost foaming at the mouth at the fuss being made over a few dolls. At least while they were in the Leech house they had found a clue that Shannon's jewels might be hidden inside a bed, which would explain why the burglars chopped up the beds at Dave's house, but it didn't explain the rest of the vandalism.
Then as we were driving back to his house, Dave started to talk about a leak in either the police department or the security company because of the burglary happened while a guard had been changing a flat tire. After that he pointed out that our new cell phones weren't as secure as we had thought that they were. I had to go over his reasoning, but he was absolutely right, since they were really a form of radio telephone, which means crooks could use radio's to listen in. What he said made sense, but it certainly wasn't good news for the local police department.
Back at Dave and Shannon's house, there was a bit of kafuffle as we got the doll thing sorted out and Dave decided to pack them in his car. Then we decided not to meet Jaro and Noreen downtown for lunch, but to invite them up to the cabin instead. At least we managed to get arrangements for that settled before we started the drive back up-island, only we were taking both cars this time.
Then, after we'd only driven about three blocks from Dave's house, I noticed that a car was following us, a little black convertible. As traffic picked up, the little car hung on our tail, but now it settled in at about three cars back, in other words - tailing distance. At one point, we just barely caught a stop light on amber, but the little car didn't make it. In fact they didn't even try to make it, so I put it out of my mind. I decided at that point that I was obsessing about things and that we weren't being followed.
As we drove along, Shannon and I were talking about restaurants, because I hadn't been to the one Dave had suggested we stop at for lunch. Then I happened to glance in my mirror and there was that little black car again, and once again it was three cars behind us. We passed cars, cars passed us, and yet that little black car constantly hung back at almost the same distance. When we did pull off of the road to go into the restaurant, the little black car pulled into the service station next door.
I'm sure that I acted as if I was totally unaware of that little car, yet I at the same time I managed to make note of the license plate number. I even noticed that there were two young Oriental men in the car and made a few mental notes in order to be able to give a rough description of them if it was needed in the future. I waited until we had ordered our lunch and the girls had rushed over to look at the view before I mentioned anything to Dave about the car or that had it been following us.
He never hesitated, he simply said that since I was a trained police officer, if I felt that the car was suspicious I should report it to the local RCMP. However, he did remind me not to use my cell phone. I had to borrow change from him to make the call from a pay phone, but I was relieved when I got through to the Mounties. I found that they not only knew who Dave and I were, but they knew what had been happening to us. The dispatcher explained that Dick had called them and they were actually keeping an eye on the roads near the cabin, just in case. After a short discussion we set up a way for them to drop in behind the little black car if it followed us much further and I felt a lot better when I sat back down to eat with my family.
It suddenly dawned on me as I sat down that I already felt Dave and Shannon to be part of my family. On top of that, I found I was happy that Dave was taking an active part in helping me to raise and protect our two daughters. Now that was a weird feeling for me, since I'd been a single mother for so long, but I have to admit, it felt good.
When we left the restaurant, I took the lead and set the pace, but although I looked for it, I didn't notice the little black car parked near the service station. As I rounded a gentle curve in the road though, I understood why I hadn't see them. They had passed us as we'd sat in the restaurant and had pulled over in a wide spot in the road a short distance up the grade, probably gambling that we would carry on along the highway. When they pulled out behind Dave, I began to increase my speed and moved into the passing lane, and Dave followed hot on my heels. The little black car matched us move for move, but even then weren't getting right behind Dave. However, I don't think they were as familiar with the Malahat drive as Dave and I were, and as a result they got caught in traffic as the roadway narrowed from two lanes down to one.
Since Dave and I were clear of the slower traffic, we were pulling away from them. If they wanted to be sure of following us, they were going to have to take chances in passing the traffic that slowed them, and they did, using the oncoming lane to pass at times that were quite unsafe. Even then they were falling behind, so once they were past that slower traffic, they had to travel at well over the posted speed limit to catch up. However as we all passed the first of the viewpoint pull-offs, a plain clothes RCMP car pulled out to follow.
When I signalled that I was going to pull off the highway at the second viewpoint, the Mountie in the following car flicked on his lights and siren. The driver of the little black car panicked. He sped past us with the Mountie following closely, almost on his rear bumper, and I automatically swung back into traffic behind the Mountie in order to assist in the chase. Then I it dawned on me that I'd told Dave to follow my lead, so we were trying to horn in on a police chase with civilian cars and two underage passengers. I sighed as I eased off the gas and slowed down. The cop in me didn't want to give up, but under the circumstances it was the safe and sane thing to do.
Only a short distance further up the road, we rounded a curve to see the police car parked on the verge with his four-way flashers and chase lights working. One glance showed me that there were fresh skid marks going off the road and I was certain those two kids must have lost control at high speed and gone over the cliff at that point. As I slowed, I caught a glimpse of the black car hung up in the trees. Maybe the cop or the fugitives needed help and perhaps we could assist, so I skidded to a stop a little further along the verge of the road in front of the cop car.
By the time I got stopped, then got out of my car, Dave had pulled up behind me and was already hurrying back toward the RCMP officer. I grabbed my flares and a traffic vest out of the trunk of my car. Then I chased Cindy out of Dave's car to go sit in mine, since it was furthest from the accident and probably safer, besides that way she and Shannon could keep each other company.
Then I headed back along the road to set out traffic flares and flag oncoming vehicles to keep traffic moving and prevent a secondary accident. Just as I went hurrying past Dave and the RCMP officer, I heard Dave shouting in Chinese. I actually stopped to stare at him in astonishment. The pair in the black car had been bouncing around and shifting the little car dangerously, but as soon as Dave shouted, they stopped moving and stared at him, seemingly as astonished as I was. He hollered in English then, telling them to quit shifting their weight around or the car would fall and that would probably kill them. They seemed to listen to him, at least they quit rocking the car so dangerously and started to ask for help in broken English.
At that point I realised I wasn't accomplishing anything, but I knew that there was heavy traffic coming behind us, so I hurried back with the flares. As soon as I had the flares set out, I began waving the traffic past, doing my best to prevent gawkers from causing another accident. Although time seemed to crawl, it really wasn't all that long before another squad car raced up and a Mountie relieved me. Then as I got back to the first squad car, the Mountie who had been in pursuit of the little black car, stopped me.
"Thanks for stopping to help. By the way, who the hell is the big guy?" he demanded, shaking his head slightly. "I simply can't place him."
"My fiancé," I grinned with pride.
"Well, I'm sure glad you two stopped to help," he smiled. "Your guy cursed those young bucks out in Chinese and told them to sit still. I figure he saved their stupid lives, so I think he deserves a commendation. What department is he with?"
"Oh, he's not a cop. He's a University professor," I couldn't help grinning again. "He's the guy that you folks got the notice about, the one you're suppose to be protecting."
"He's a University professor? No way! You're shitting me. That's the guy who is in the midst of that mess with a double suicide and possible smuggling?"
"Yep, he really is. And, none of it's his fault," I smiled, then saw Dick pulling up behind a fire engine and a tow truck. "Ask Detective Fairchild. He'll tell you."
The Mountie looked at me, then at Dave, shaking his head before walking over to see Dick. I walked slowly back to my car, looking over at Dave who was still calming down the two punks and I had to grin again. Part of that grin was pride in my new man, but part of it was surprise and relief too. This was the guy who had virtually been a basket case after he'd heard that his wife had killed herself, yet today he had seen a need to help and stepped in voluntarily.
Sure he was a civilian, momentarily doing a cop's job, but I don't think I knew a cop who could have done it any better. Those two punk kids hadn't died and that was only because of his actions. I was damn proud of my man. As I was standing by the girls, talking calmly to them, I saw Dick approach him and then saw Dave head our way. It was time for us to get out of there before some regulation happy Mountie came along and made trouble for Dave just because he'd voluntarily become involved.
It didn't take much to convince Dave to leave either. Of course Cindy jumped at the chance to ride with him again. As we pulled back into traffic, I looked at Shannon and saw her smile.
"You look quite happy," I smiled.
"Oh yeah. You and Daddy saved those two idiots from killing themselves or anyone else. Besides, I got to ride in a cop chase, sort of, for a short time anyway."
"That part you'd better keep in the family," I snorted with laughter. "Both you dad and I could be in real trouble over that deal."
"But why?"
"Well, we broke all sorts of rules and regulations. I reacted automatically, because I'm a cop and your Dad reacted as a father, ready to help you and I in case we got into trouble. Chasing a cop car that's racing after fugitives is illegal."
"Huh. Daddy says some rules need to be broken when the situation calls for it."
"Yes, but your father has exceptional judgement," I smiled. "Do you know how he got those two young men's attention?"
"He shouted at them."
"Actually he not only shouted, but he swore at them, probably a huge insult, and he did it in their own language. Then when he had their attention, he told them we'd help them just as quickly as we could."
"So what law did he break doing that?" she grinned. "Is it illegal to swear at someone?"
"No, but it is frowned on and besides that, a civilian isn't supposed to take over from a police officer who is doing his duty," I laughed. "Your Dad walked over there and stepped into the situation with so much authority that the Mountie actually thought Dave was another cop. A brass hat of some sort."
"A brass hat?"
"Yeah, one of the bosses," I grinned. "Your dad has been acting more like a cop than I have today."
"Doesn't that annoy you a bit?"
"It did at first, then I realized that his instincts are very good and he thinks very, very fast. Besides, his moral code is probably higher than almost any cop I know. I'm learning to trust his judgement."
"That's good. A man and wife should trust each other, shouldn't they?"
"Well, we're not man and wife yet."
"Huh, you just haven't been churched," she snorted. "You two are already more married than Mom and Daddy ever were."
I didn't know what to say to that, in fact it made me pause and think about the big galoot. As I thought about it, I realized that I'd even told the Mountie that Dave was my fiancé. Wait until Dick heard about that through the LEO's unofficial grapevine.
I'd told Cindy that I was going to stop in Mill Bay to pick up a few supplies, and as I pulled over on the turn off, Dave passed with a wave of his hand. Shannon snorted at that, but I was busy in traffic, so I couldn't turn to look at her.
"What's funny?" I asked instead.
"Oh, it's just the way Cindy is acting around Daddy. She's trying to decide just where she stands with him."
"And what do you think?"
"Oh, I think she's going to tease him a lot and eventually he's going to have to do something about it," she suddenly sounded serious, so I risked taking my eyes off of parking lot traffic for a second to get a glance at her and saw that she was frowning. "I think you and I need to talk."
"Just a second and we'll be parked, then I can pay attention," I said quietly, knowing that she was quite serious.
She waited until we were parked and I had turned to face her.
"Cindy has a crush on Daddy," she said flatly. "A serious one and I'm sure Daddy can handle it, but I don't want to see you get hurt. I like you too much to let that happen if I can help it."
"Did she tell you that she liked your dad that way?"
"Sort of, but I saw it before she said anything. If she thought he'd do it, she'd try to sleep with Daddy."
"And that bothers you, doesn't it?"
"I guess, but then every girl I know likes him. It's just that Cindy is my buddy and she could hurt what you and Daddy have going between you. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't say a word."
I sighed and reached out to take her hand.
"Shannon, your father and I both know about Cindy's fascination with the idea of having sex with him. She actually told him how she felt and he admitted it to me, so it's not a secret," I smiled and gently squeezed her hand in mine. "I think your father discounts it, but I don't, not really. Cindy is a very determined young woman. Both you and I know that she's going to tease him just to see how far she can take the whole thing."
"But aren't you going to do something to stop it?"
"What could I do? She's a very individualist person, but, so is your dad. What they do between themselves is their business."
"But she wants to . . . well, to screw him or rather she wants to get him to . . . to fuck her," Shannon flushed at using the word.
"So? Do you think your father wants to have sex with her too?"
"I don't think so, but maybe he would like to. Maybe he has a teenage fantasy that he wants to live out," she was almost in tears. "I love Daddy, a whole lot, and I really like you. If Cindy screws around with Daddy, it's going to ruin everything."
"Honey, that's where you're wrong. I love your dad and I trust him, so I don't think he would screw around with Cindy or anyone else," I sighed. "However he is a man and Cindy is an extremely desirable little whelp, maybe she will eventually trip him. But, even if she did manage to trip him, it wouldn't be the end of the world."
She stared at me like I was an alien and I knew that I had to explain myself better because she didn't understand what I meant.
"Shannon, each of us is an individual. Each of us sees the world through different eyes and has to try to live their life to the best of their ability. Although we have to get along with others, we each have our own desires and our own fears. Right now there are four individuals from two families who are growing into a combined family. You and your Dad are one pair while Cindy and I are the other. Dave and I connect as friends and lovers. You and Cindy connect as friends and . . ." I hesitated for a second. "Well, let's call you and Cindy partners in experimentation."
She blushed and yet she squeezed my hand that she understood.
"You and I have somehow managed to connect in a third way, almost as friends and not quite as family yet, but we're getting there. "I smiled at her. "Cindy and your dad are a different thing. Cindy has been the focus of my life for years, but she's growing up and suddenly she sees that I'm involved with someone else. She looks at you and me together and she sees a form of competition, but she can't really blame either you or me for what's going on, so in a way she blames Dave. Yet she's lived with me for years and she's absorbed my likes and dislikes. She also sees Dave as a hunk, the perfect guy, after all her role model picked him as a lover."
"You mean she wants to take him to bed because you did?"
"Oh, it's not that simple and it's probably not even a conscious thing," I shook my head. "Somewhere deep inside her, she probably sees your dad as competition for my attention as well, and yet she has that other feeling of desire to be around him and perhaps even to make love with him. She's fighting her way through jealousy and desire at the same time. As well as that I think she realizes that he could be the father figure she's never had. So you see, she's trying to work her way through a lot of confusing emotions, all at once."
"Wow."
"Unh huh, wow!" I grinned. "To be honest I think she's done extremely well to keep her cool as well as she has."
"Gee. I didn't see her side of things at all," Shannon sighed. "I was blaming her in a way and I guess what she's feeling is natural, isn't it."
"Yes, it is. Now, are you ready for a shock?"
"What do you mean?" She stared at me.
"Just this. If I thought it would help her to adjust and wouldn't hurt anyone else, I'd help her get your dad into bed," I smiled. "I don't think your father would even consider having intercourse with her, even if she was in bed with him, not even if he had my permission. If he did, I'd be surprised, but I could live with it. The problem is that I don't think she'd let it be only one time because sex with your father is addictive and it would hurt all of us."
Her mouth dropped open and she looked as if I had just dropped a bomb in her lap.
"Don't look so surprised," I managed a smile. "If two strangers have sex without hurting each other or anyone else, is it any of our business?"
"Well . . . no, of course it isn't."
"What's the difference if they aren't strangers? What if they were friends that we both knew."
"I guess that wouldn't matter either, but it's different if it's family."
"Why is it different?"
"Because it affects everyone in the family. It would change the way we would act toward each other. If Cindy and Daddy had sex, it would make your relationship more difficult because Cindy might not accept your authority as much. For her and me, it would be like she was closer to Daddy than I was and that wouldn't be fair either. Then if someone outside the family found out, Daddy would be in trouble because of the difference in their ages. It would be an awful mess."
"I agree," I smiled at her.
"Just a second, you said something before that makes me wonder about something else."
"Yes."
"What would you do if Daddy had sex with someone else?"
"You mean someone outside of the family?"
"I guess so, yeah."
"As long as Dave didn't pick up a disease or get someone pregnant, what could I say? It is his dick after all. The only thing is, that I might start to feel less wanted and I wouldn't like that. If it happened often, I think I'd have to leave, but I don't really think there's much chance of it happening. After all if he could remain true to your mother for fifteen years, with her treating him the way she did, I don't think there's much chance of him cheating on me."
"Well, if it ever did happen, I'm not sure I could be very forgiving," Shannon smiled. "But, thank you for talking to me."
"I think talking over things like that is probably part of the job description of being a step-mom, isn't it?" I grinned. "Now, how about a hug before we go into the store, then we can do a bit of shopping and add a few edible essentials to the cupboards at the cabin?"
When we had arrived back at the cabin, Cindy and I had taken a break. I even made myself a cup of coffee and took it outside to drink as I sat on the edge of the front porch, after all the only things we had in the car were Shannon's dolls and I wasn't going to touch those without her being there to supervise. Besides that I knew there was something I had to do or someone I had to phone about a problem, but I'll be darned if I could remember who it was or what it was about. In fact I had I sat there for quite a while and simply couldn't seem to think straight. Cindy was a minor distraction, because she'd gone inside and brought out a blanket, then lay down to sunbathe, but she wasn't really what was bothering me. There had to be something that I'd heard or seen today that tied in with what had been happening to my family and my subconscious mind was trying to bring it to my attention. I sat there, trying to go over the happenings of the day, yet nothing was jumping out at me, nothing seemed like an obvious link to a solution of any of my problems. In all honesty, my thoughts were jumbled, skipping from a memory of one moment of the past few days to another, but with no logical sequence.
Then I vaguely heard a voice and looked up into Cindy's face.
"Dave, you haven't even had a sip of that coffee have you?" she asked quietly.
"Hmm, what?" I said in surprise.
"I asked you if you'd drunk any of that coffee?" she smiled. "You were sitting there quietly, yet you seemed like you were miles away."
"Oh, I'm sorry Cindy. I was just trying to make sense out of all the crap that's happened to Shannon and me."
"You mean the break in and the suicides and all that stuff?"
"That's exactly what I mean," I managed a weak smile. "It's like reading a mystery novel and having all the clues, but not being able to put them together in the right order to make sense of everything."
"But you're not a detective and you might not have all the clues," she grinned. "Even worse, you're not paying attention to your surroundings."
"My surroundings?" I looked around quickly, then back at her. "What do my surroundings have to do with my problems?"
"Well, maybe it's not a problem, but you haven't said anything about my not wearing clothes. In fact I don't think you've really noticed."
"But you run around without your clothes on all the time," I smiled at her. "You're a very attractive teenager who will grow to be a beautiful young woman, and I do like looking at you. However, both you and I know that you're teasing me and at the same time I'm being a good guy, so I'm trying not to stare."
"Hmmph. You're sitting there being a bump on a log," she snorted. "I might be teasing, but you're ignoring me and that's not nice either."
"Oh Cindy, I am sorry," I had to laugh. "What would you like me to do, blush and turn away?"
"No darn it, but I do want some attention."
"Well, go put on some clothes, then we'll go for a walk and talk for a while, how would that be?"
"Okay," she sighed deeply. "I guess that's better than getting mosquito bites and being chilly while you stare off into the distance without even looking at me."
She went inside, dragging her blanket, so I had a moment to try to collect my thoughts. I think I was almost back into the same space as before when she came out and plopped down at my side.
"Earth to Dave, come in please," she said as I awakened to the fact that she was back and fully dressed again.
"Old man to young tease, reading you loud and clear," I managed to say without moving or looking at her.
"Well at least you aren't completely zoned out again," she announced as she hopped to her feet and reached out to grab my hand. "Come on. You need to move, or you're going to petrify and turn into stone on us."
"Well, young lady, when you and I have been around each other for a while, you'll find that I take time to think things through when I have a problem," I said as I got to my feet and set the cold cup of coffee on the edge of the step. "Sometimes I try to think deeply and when I'm trying to think that hard, I zone out, as you so succinctly put it. My mind is so occupied with what I'm thinking about that I forget to eat, forget to go to bed, all sorts of weird things."
"You're kidding, right?" she giggled. "You don't do that, like you said, just zone out, do you?"
"Pretty well. Most of the time it only lasts for a short time though," I grinned and squeezed her hand. "Come on, we're going for a walk. Maybe I'll see something that will remind me of what's bothering me, then I can stop zoning out on you."
"Okay, but where do you want to walk to? Anywhere special?"
"Umm, how about all the way around the outside of the meadow and then back here to sit on the porch again. Hopefully by then we can think of something else to do."
"That's silly, if you want to think of something else to do, we can do that now."
"But, I want to walk first," I grinned at her. "Come on, down to the river and along the bank first, then we'll follow the edge of the trees all the way around to the gate and walk down the driveway."
"Holding hands?"
"Why not, it's friendly isn't it? I thought you and I just might be able to become friends if we worked on it."
"Maybe? In fact I sorta think that's probable," she giggled again.
We set off toward the river side by side and she kept glancing over at me.
"Did I put my face on crooked after I washed it or something?" I asked, after about the third or fourth time.
"No," she smiled. "It's just that this is kind of nice. I can feel that you're okay and that you like me and that I'm safe, all at the same time and we weren't even talking. It's not something that I've ever felt quite this way before."
"That's good. Shannon used to like to walk like this too, but she was a chatterbox."
"A chatterbox? Shannon? You've got to be kidding?"
"No, it was a few years ago though. I'm not sure why we stopped doing it and . . ." All of a sudden she pulled her hand from mine. "What's wrong?"
"Number one; I'm not Shannon. Number two; I'm not going to do anything that might make Shannon mad at me. Number three; I'm me and I want to get to be your buddy, but I want us to do it our way, not somebody else's way, okay?"
"Okay, when we've talked before we were either in the car or under your tree, but we could walk along the river bank too. Which do you prefer?"
"The tree then," she said shortly. "I like it there anyway, even if I'm there alone, but I like it more if I have someone to talk to."
"Did you want me to leave you there, or . . ."
"No, I do want us to get to know each other," I could see tears in her eyes. "I just don't know exactly what to do or say."
"Hey, with me, there aren't any rules yet. We don't know each other well enough to know what subjects or what actions are taboo."
"So we're starting out with a clean slate?"
"Unh huh, and either one of us can declare a subject taboo or else restricted. I'm going to start by declaring my sex life restricted."
"Not taboo?" she stared at me in surprise.
"No, just restricted. You can ask a question, but it's my choice whether I want to answer or not."
"Okay, mine's restricted too," she grinned as we found seats under her tree. "Of course, so far I don't really have a sex life, but I will one day."
"Oh yeah, you certainly will," I grinned. "You're much too sensual not to have a sex life when you grow a little older."
"You think I'm sensual?"
"Of course. In your case, it's genetic. You inherited it from your mom, and she inherited it from her mother."
"You're telling me you think Granny is sensual?"
"Yes, so is your aunt. Your family is much more openly sensual than many women. For instance, Shannon is a bit subdued that way right now, but that's natural too. I'm a reserved sort and I think her mother was repressed."
"When you say reserved, do you mean shy?"
"No, it's not that I'm shy. I'm just not openly flamboyant. I don't jump up and down while shouting loudly so that everyone will look at me."
"Not like Noreen, huh? The first thing she usually does when she comes up here is to strip off her clothes, then do a cartwheel across the grass. She says it makes her feel young and free again."
"Oh boy, and she's going to be coming up here with Jaro tonight. Do you think she'll do that with him here?" I couldn't help grinning at the thought of his reaction.
"Why not? I think if she likes him, she will, if she doesn't like him as much, she'll keep her clothes on and be quiet for a while."
I was laughing about that when we heard a car, turning toward the sound, we saw Arlene and Shannon driving down the driveway.
"Well, so much for a nice long talk huh?"
"I think it was long enough," she grinned at me, then grabbed my hand. "Let's go help Mom and my almost sister unload the car."
"We need to unload both cars, remember? We have the back seat full of Barbie dolls to take out of my car too."
"Oh boy, more work," she sighed and then grinned. "At least we don't have to do any cooking tonight. After all, dinner is being delivered."
Both of us were chuckling as we walked up to the car. Then I grabbed Arlene in a bear hug and lifted her off the ground to give her a short kiss.
"Well, you're in a good mood," she grinned after I set her back down.
"You'd be in a good mood too if you were rescued from confinement with a teasing nude belly dancer," I grinned and winked at Cindy.
"I didn't do a belly dance, because I don't know how," Cindy said in a mocking tone. "Besides, I think he only has eyes for older women. I was lying on a blanket, right in front of him and I was buck naked, but he ignored me."
At first both Arlene and Shannon looked surprised, then they looked at each other and both started to giggle like a pair of very young school girls. I could have imagined a lot of things that might have happened at that moment, but I didn't expect that.
There are times when I think women are strange . . . almost a completely different race, because they sure act differently than men do.