# Car 54

####
© 2005 / revised 2014
K Pelle

### Chapter 33:
Slow - Playground Zone

After doing the chores, I was standing in the doorway of the barn, looking out at the mist, and feeling glad I'd told Carissa I'd stay near the phone, simply because of the weather. That's when I thought about the fact that I was literally setting myself up to spend the day in extremely close contact with Sandy for an indefinite period. I knew where that was going to lead and I also knew that since we'd both slept well, I wasn't going to be able to plead exhaustion again. I'd also made a promise to her that I would have sex.

I sighed at that, wondering if my fear of being sexually involved with another woman was rational or not. My main problem was that this was the first time that I'd ever asked my parents for advice when it hadn't been forthcoming. I felt slightly insecure, probably more insecure than I'd felt about any decision I'd been forced to make in several years and I certainly wasn't enjoying the feeling.

So I took a moment to lean back against the barn door and think about what effect my almost certain dalliance with Sandy would have, not only on me, but on the people I cared about.

I decided that since Carissa was literally forcing me into the situation, she'd be happy for now, but I couldn't predict what her future feelings would be. I knew without a doubt that having another person involved in our relationship was going to change our attitudes toward each other in some way and at some point of time. However, I couldn't predict exactly how our relationship was going to change. I really didn't want to lose the closeness we had developed between each other. Probably my greatest fear was that having Sandy involved in our relationship would cause a split between us. I really didn't want that to happen, at least not now.

From the way she was acting, Sandy was completely happy with the situation and wanted to be involved in a three-way love affair. I had absolutely no frame of reference to use in order to understand her feelings about multiple spouses and polygamous marriages. Her idea of being a 'second' wife had astounded me when she mentioned it, and it still did. I could not fathom why a gorgeous woman would take second place to any other woman, not when she could easily find a man of her own. She'd made it plain that she didn't know if a three-way love affair would last, but she still wanted to try. For some reason, I was less worried about Sandy, and it wasn't just because of the relative closeness of either of them. Somehow Sandy just seemed more resilient than Carissa did.

I suppose in order of importance, I placed my family next on my list of worries. Mom and Dad had literally let me know that the decision was mine, so I knew they'd back me no matter what I did. Surprisingly, that didn't lessen my worries one iota. I also knew that Wil and Beth wouldn't turn away from me, but I felt that each of them would simply decide I was being crazier than normal. The only other family member I worried about was Tom. I knew he really liked Sandy, but since he was now involved with her younger sisters, I felt that was a non-issue.

From what Carissa had said before, then confirmed on the phone this morning, her parents might not have been in favour of the situation, but they hadn't really been surprised. It seemed almost as if they were standing back and shaking their heads over the issue, but right now they were more concerned over Corinna and Wil. I decided that both issues were something that concerned Carissa more than me. Wil was family, but both his age and the fact that he was really only my half-brother set us apart, and somehow I had managed to isolate my feelings from any hurt caused by Corinna's actions. I knew it wasn't 'nice' on my part, but her mental instability made me feel uncomfortable, and since I didn't know how to expect her to act I held back from being involved with her in any way. Considering all the factors, the only person in Carissa's family who concerned me was her uncle, Frank Dolens, since he was my sponsor and friend. After a moment's thought I wasn't really worried about him either, because I felt he was a 'live and let live' sort of person.

Sandy's parents simply didn't concern me at all. I felt that Sam McAdam was a manipulative misogynist and bully. I really didn't care what he thought. At the same time I felt her mother was a manipulator, but on top of that, she was a social climber, so I wasn't impressed with her either. Actually, I felt that Mom and Beth had done more to improve Sandy's life than her own family had, and had done the same thing for Sandy's younger sisters at the same time.

After all that thought, I was left with the same conundrum. To be honest, I couldn't see any way not to become involved with Sandy without hurting her feelings and annoying Carissa. That was especially true since Carissa had engineered the present situation.

Shaking my head and laughing somewhat uncomfortably at my own reluctance, I faced the inevitable and set out to walk across the yard to the cabin. Talk about mixed feelings, wow, did I ever have them! On one hand I was fearful of the end results, but on the other hand I was actually looking forward the idea of being involved with Sandy. At the same time I was anxious, perhaps even a bit worried about dealing with her virginity, the idea of causing anyone any sort of pain really bothered me.

All of that dropped out of my mind when I opened the door and stepped into the cabin. Sandy was standing at the stove, frying eggs and bacon. All she was wearing was an apron with a high bib to protect herself from grease spatters, leaving her back and butt completely bare. She had the radio on loud and was swaying in time to the music; I think it was the Monkees, singing 'Daydream Believer,' but that doesn't matter. Since she was concentrating on the music and the breakfast, she wasn't paying attention to the sounds I made as I was coming inside.

For a moment I just stood there and stared at her, mostly watching that soft round butt as it wriggled so enticingly, then I think I may have groaned. Whatever happened, she realized I was there and she turned her head to look over her shoulder.

"Easy over, right?" she looked at me and grinned. "And I mean your eggs, not me."

"Unh yeah," I managed a weak grin.

"Just so you know, I'm a sunny side up woman, at least for now," she giggled, then she waggled her head toward the sink. "Wash up first, then before you get too wound up we need to talk, but we can do that while we're eating."

"I think talking is a good idea," I finally found my tongue. "I'm still not convinced that we should all live together when we go to Calgary."

"Hold that for the table, would you? I want this breakfast to be perfect and I'm not that great a cook."

"You look good to me," I laughed as I washed up.

"That's just hormones talking," she giggled, then shivered slightly.

"Are you cold?"

"No, excited," she giggled again. "Now shut up and sit down at the table. I don't want to bust the yolks of these eggs when I'm putting them on the plate."

So, I towelled off and sat down. In only a moment she was setting the plates of bacon and eggs on the table along with lightly browned toast, and fresh coffee. She waited until I'd taken a couple of bites and had given her a thumbs up sign while chowing down on the food. Then she sat down opposite me, but only after taking off the apron. The sight of her body, and the food in front of me, practically guaranteed I wasn't going to say much for a moment. I'm not sure what the difference was, because I'd seen her nude before, but that morning she wasn't just nude, she was somehow both naked and available.

"Carissa and I had a nice chat on the phone while you were doing the chores," she grinned at me. "She suggested how I should dress and thought you'd like it."

"Umm hmm!" I nodded my head and took a deep breath to calm myself. "Is it alright if I talk now?"

"Oh yes, that's the idea of sitting here and having breakfast together."

"Good, because I've been thinking about the three of us for several days and probably seemed to you to be waffling and indecisive, but I didn't want to make a huge mistake."

"We noticed that you weren't acting like you normally would," she nodded.

"That's not completely true, I do become preoccupied at times, particularly if I have a personal problem to solve. This could very well be a huge problem and a big mistake, so I've just been thinking about it a lot. I've even let Carissa pressure me much more than normal, but that's not surprising. After all my mind has been occupied, so I let her get away with more shenanigans than normal," I sighed. "To put it plainly, I believe the three of us will be causing problems for ourselves if we all live together. Society accepts couples and rejects anything else. Even bachelors get given a rough time, but that's nothing to what polygamists can expect to have happen."

"We realize that and we think we're prepared, but we have each other for support. Think of it this way, any couple can support each other, but by adding one more person the support doubles."

"That only works if the three people agree on everything. Even Carissa and I don't agree on everything, so why would the three of us all agree?" I shook my head slowly. "My biggest worry is the possibility that all of us will get into a huge fight, which will cause problems for everyone. In other words, we could all end up getting hurt out of this."

"Actually, that's one of the first things that Carissa and I discussed. Both of us think it's worth the risk," she sighed softly. "She also said that I was to make sure that you understood that neither one of us is trying to get you to marry us, at least not right now. We need to get to know each other much better before we even consider that sort of thing. Don't you agree?"

"I suppose so," I finally managed to say, after thinking for a few seconds. "But, my biggest worry is still that one or more of us will get badly hurt."

"Hey, I was talking to your Grampa in the hospital one day and he told me told me that 'Life doesn't come with a guarantee.' I liked that idea, but I've added to that saying."

"Oh?"

"Unh huh. I changed it a bit too. I think the saying should be: 'The only way that you can guarantee any happiness in your life is if you're willing to take the risk of being unhappy.' That covers a lot more area and makes more sense to me, especially in our situation."

"So you're saying that you're willing to risk being unhappy later for a good time now?"

"Absolutely," she grinned. "It's raining enough today to make work a pain, so I think it's an ideal time for us to get to know each other ... in bed."

"Well, what about the phone? I did promise Carissa I'd answer it when she called."

"Oh, after you ran off to look after the animals, she said to tell you that she probably wouldn't call until after they'd driven up to Ponoka, then talked to the people at the hospital. She thought that would be about noon, so we have almost two hours before we need to worry about her calling and disturbing us. Now, is there anything else that you want to talk about?"

"Well, I think we should develop a smoke screen of sorts, to keep the snoops and rumour mongers out of our hair," I shrugged my shoulders. "Other than that, I think we're going to have to play it by ear."

"Oh, well the other day, when we went into town, Carissa and I sort of set up an excuse for me to stay here. Mom was upset with me, because she felt nothing had happened by then. I don't know, I guess she thought I'd manage to magically seduce you the instant the three of us were alone or something. That led into a fight about a family matter that she and I have argued about for years. So when I walked out of the house to meet Carissa, she and I were still screaming at each other. Carissa got us apart and told me that I could stay with you two for a while. One of the neighbourhood gossips saw the whole fight, at least the part while we were outside."

"Well, that probably won't stop the rumours, but it might slow them down somewhat, or at least misdirect them."

"That's what we thought. In fact we sort of set up a plan like that on the drive back from town," she grinned. "The idea was that when we're in the public eye, you and I would appear to barely tolerate each other, but both of us would still be friendly toward Carissa. Maybe you didn't notice, but we tried to set that idea up with your folks last night too, at least a little bit."

"You did?"

"Yes, didn't you notice the tone I used when I was talking to you or how Carissa was always close to you, while I backed away a bit? I didn't sit next to you when we drove away, in fact I didn't even snuggle against you in the car, not until we were leaving town and no one could really see me."

"Sorry, but no, I didn't notice. Besides by then I'd probably shot your idea down by that time, considering what I told Dad," I rolled my hands out flat and palms up, to show that I was nonplussed. "Of course at the time, I was concentrating on the problems we could run into. Even more than that though, I was worried about what Mom and Dad would think, so I suppose I wasn't paying as much attention to you and Carissa as I should have."

"Oh no, it worked out perfectly. It was your Mom that we were concentrating on, trying to give the impression that everything wasn't as peaceful as it should be between us," she shrugged her shoulders and smiled slightly. "I'm not sure, but I think she saw what we wanted her to see. In fact, I think she might even be under the impression that Carissa is leading you by the nose."

"That'll be the day," I snorted. "She has a habit of deferring to me, or haven't you noticed."

"Yeah, I have, she does it even more than I do," Sandy laughed. "Actually, it's funny as hell. You two look like you're consulting with each other, but you almost always get your way. The only things I've seen her really get her back up about are things concerning me. It's so strange, because she was always the boss of anything she was involved in at school, but here she's totally different."

"Well, she claims that I'm dominant and that she's only here because of that, but she told me something different when we first got together."

"That's not a surprise," Sandy shrugged her shoulders. "She was probably worried about exposing her weakness to you until she felt she could trust you more. I think she got forced into admitting the truth when I showed up. But to get back to you and me, do you have anything else that's bothering you right now?"

"No, I think you've pretty well covered the worries I had," I grinned.

"Then to hell with washing the breakfast dishes right now," she giggled. "Come on, I want to get into that bed and see what I've been missing."

With that she leapt to her feet and reached out her hand to me. In a second she was dragging me toward the bedroom.

I'm not going to say too much about the next two hours, but I must say that Sandy was a surprise in bed. What little experience she had was multiplied a hundred times by her sheer enthusiasm and pure energy. In a way, I was relieved when the telephone rang shortly after noon. Sandy had been almost insatiable. I suppose I was panting for breath when I answered the phone.

"Hello."

"Chris? Is that you? Is something wrong?" Mom asked.

"Unh uh, I just had to run to get the phone. I thought it was Carissa calling," I was fighting to catch my breath.

"Oh, she might be calling you soon, but everything is okay. Wil and Corinna went for a long drive yesterday and had problems with the truck. They were up in the foothills on a back road and miles from anywhere when his truck broke down on them. He said he broke a tie rod or something? Anyway, he lost his steering, so they ended up in the ditch and had to walk. They managed to find an old trapper who lived out in the bush, but he didn't have a phone or headlights on his truck and it was getting dark by then, so they spent the night in his cabin. Then early this morning they went back with the trapper's truck and managed to pull Wil's pickup back out of the ditch. After they had it on the road, Wil wired the broken part together well enough to drive if they took it easy. They managed to creep along at about ten miles an hour until they got to a service station that had the parts he needed to fix the steering."

"Oh man, that could only happen to Wil," I snorted with laughter. "He's lucky they didn't have a worse accident and he's just as lucky that someone had the parts he needed."

"Oh, he knows that, but the parts he got are used, since he salvaged them off a wreck that was in the service station's back yard. He said when he gets back here, he's going to replace the steering, then sell the truck." Mom laughed. "We told him when he bought it that it was a bad deal and that we'd help him get a better one, but you know Wil. He's even more stubborn than you are. Now, to change the subject, how are you and Sandy getting along?"

"Well, we're not fighting," I sighed, trying to make it sound like we weren't getting along quite as well as we had been.

"That doesn't sound too much like you two are going to make Ann McAdam too happy then."

"I don't think that worries Sandy and it sure doesn't worry me," I said quietly but emphatically, making Mom break into a chuckle.

"Just don't kill each other," she snickered. "Now I'd better get off the phone in case Carissa is trying to call you. I'll talk to you tomorrow at the picnic."

"Okay Mom. Bye for now."

"So what's going on?" Sandy demanded, still in the bedroom and on the bed.

So I told her what had happened, explaining that if Wil had broken a tie rod any chance he had of steering the pickup was gone instantly.

"But they're okay, aren't they?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Then why don't you come back to bed?"

"You want more?"

"Well, yeah! I'm making up for lost time."

"If we do much more, you aren't going to be able to walk very well tomorrow," I warned.

"That's tomorrow. I'll worry about it when it gets here. C'mere, Stud," she giggled, then grabbed my hand and yanked me back into the bed with her.

Sandy barely had me off balance and falling toward her when the phone rang again.

"I'll bet that's Carissa and she'll kill me if I don't answer," I said as I bounced off the bed and pulled away.

Sandy just sighed and nodded, then let me go so I could hurry back to the phone.

"Hello."

"Hello Chris. It's Wil. I thought I should call you and let you know what happened myself before anyone else called and blew what happened out of proportion."

"Too late, Mom already called and she knows," I kidded him.

"Oh jeez. I was hoping to have you call home for me, but someone else must have called her. What did she say happened?"

"Just that you went out for a drive with Corinna, but broke a tie rod and went in the ditch, then had to spend the night with a trapper. Why, did something else happen?"

"Oh, we were just off the property when we weren't supposed to be. Then we were almost a whole day late getting Corinna back, that's all," Will grouched. "Dad told me when I bought that damn truck that I shouldn't touch it and as usual, he was right."

"You mean you didn't have permission to take Corinna for a drive?" I was astonished.

"I never even thought of it. Corinna wanted to go out for a drive and I didn't know any reason she couldn't. Hell, she's practically released. Well, she will be today or tomorrow," he sighed deeply. "I am in so much shit you must be able to smell it over the phone. Right now I'm in the local cop shop, but at least I haven't been booked for anything yet."

"You're in the police station?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?" Will snapped. "I don't know why and I really don't know what to do. I know it's asking a lot, but you always seem to know how to get out of shit; I thought maybe you could give me some advice."

"Umm, Wil, I usually get out of trouble by not getting into it," I sighed. "You know me, I think about things first, then if it looks like I could get into trouble, I back off."

"Well, that doesn't help me much," Will complained. "When Corinna asked me to take her for a long drive yesterday, I was just so happy that she was feeling up to it that I never thought of anything else, but being with her and talking to her. I really didn't mean to get into trouble. I simply fucked up."

"Well, I don't know what to do, but I think you should call Mom and Dad. If worst comes to worst, they'll know how to get hold of the lawyer Grampa Bender used to write up his will and the leases. His lawyer will probably be able to recommend a defence lawyer who can help you, but make sure Mom and Dad know all the details."

"All the details? Like what?"

"Yeah, all the details, like where things happened and how they happened. The lawyer will want to know what Corinna said that convinced you to take her for a drive, where you went, the reason the truck went into the ditch, the trapper's name, the name of the service station where you worked on the truck, all that stuff."

"Oh jeez! I'm not sure I can remember everything."

"Well, you'll have to do your best. The more the lawyer knows, the easier his job will be and the quicker he can get something done," I paused to think for a second, then continued. "If I were you, I'd call Mom and Dad right away. The sooner they know about this, the faster they can get something going and the faster you can walk away from there."

"Shit, I guess you're right. Thanks."

Then before I could even wish him luck, he hung up the phone. I held it for a second, then slowly set it down. My mind was whirling, but had nothing to work on that offered a solution. I was turning toward the bedroom when Sandy stepped through the doorway, pulling on a robe.

"That wasn't Carissa, was it?" she asked.

"No, it was Wil. I don't know why, but the cops arrested him. He wasn't supposed to take Corinna away from the hospital, so when he got back, I guess the cops took him into custody."

"They probably assumed that he'd kidnapped her," Sandy rolled her eyes. "Wil is so impulsive and after he's done anything he acts so guilty at being caught that people think he's guilty of more than he really did."

"Well, when it comes to being impulsive, Corinna isn't much better, but then, neither is Carissa," I snorted.

"You know; you're right," she looked thoughtful for a second. "But, you're on the exact opposite end of the scale. I try to think first and act later, but you take it to the point where I become impatient and wonder if you're ever going to make up your mind."

"Yeah, I do take a while on some things, but at least I haven't been arrested by the cops," I sighed. "Now, Wil is going to be calling Mom and Dad, so I can't use the phone to call them and warn them of what's up, but I'd like to at least give them a heads up. That way ..."

"Use the radio," she interrupted me.

"Pardon?"

"Use the CB. Then you're not tying up their phone."

"Good idea. I knew you were more than just a pretty face and a sexy bod," I grabbed her in a quick hug and a short kiss before I moved to the CB and called Mom.

I was surprised how quickly Mom answered, but didn't mention it. I was in too much of a hurry to get the message across that Wil would be calling and that his call was important. I wanted to make sure the phone wasn't tied up and that Dad was in the house to take the call. I was very careful what I said over the CB, knowing that anyone else with a CB might be listening in, but I did get the message across. I'd just finished the call to Mom and stood up, intending to thank Sandy again when the phone rang, so I shrugged my shoulders and rolled my eyes at her grinning face as I grabbed the phone receiver again.

"Hello."

"Hi Chris. It's Carissa. Have you talked to your mom?"

"Yeah she told me that you'd called and that Corinna was back."

"Yeah, she's back, but Wil has disappeared. His truck is parked out front, but we haven't been able to find him anywhere," she snapped.

"He didn't disappear voluntarily. The cops arrested him and took him to the police station."

"What? You're kidding me? We've been hunting all over for him."

"Well, the cops must have been told to arrest him by someone at the hospital, but whoever told them to do it didn't bother telling you. If you really need him, that's where he is."

"Look; I'll call you back. I've got to go tell Dad, then try to calm Corinna down. Fucking cops! We don't need this kind of bullshit right now. We need Will here with us to act as support. Corinna has been put through hell and she needs him. If I find out who told the cops to arrest Wil, I'll have his nuts. I'll rip them out, dry them in the oven and use them for a key fob."

With that, she hung up on me. I just shook my head and put the phone back on the hook.

"Carissa?" Sandy grinned.

"Unh huh, and she's wound up like a two-dollar watch," I rolled my eyes again. "She's ready to chew out both the cops and the doctors at the hospital."

"That arrest doesn't sound like something the RCMP would do, I'll bet they're town cops out to make a name for themselves. You know the kind, act fast, then even if you fuck up, at least you have something to justify your paycheck," she snapped quickly, her mood changing instantly.

I just nodded. Then I crooked a finger in a come hither gesture and patted my knee.

"Since I can't move the phone because it's fastened to the wall and since I want to be nearby to take calls, I'm not going to move from this chair, but that doesn't mean we can't cuddle," I smiled at her. "Let's both calm down and try to be nonjudgmental about what we hear until we know the whole story, okay? Maybe the cops are at fault, but maybe someone at the hospital arranged to have Wil arrested. We don't know yet, so let's not go off half cocked."

That changed her mood again. She just shrugged her shoulders, but slid into my lap and I cuddled her for a moment.

"Oops, I should call Mom and let her know that Carissa and the Coulters didn't know where Wil was. There's a good chance that there won't be a reason to get a lawyer involved," I thought aloud.

"Yeah, you'd better, but I want my seat back when you sit down again," Sandy sighed, sliding off my lap with a quick peck on my lips.

Gambling that my folks' phone might be free, I picked up ours and dialed. Mom answered on the first ring.

"Hello. Wil, is that you?"

"No Mom. It's Chris. I was just talking to Carissa. They didn't know Wil had been taken away by the cops and the whole Coulter family is pissed off about it."

"Wil was arrested?" she sounded astounded.

"Mom, I don't know if he was arrested or not, but he's at the police station and ..."

"Well, now your call on the CB makes more sense," she interrupted me. "I'm going to call over there right now and find out just what's going on."

And, for the third time that morning, someone hung up the phone on me. I just stared at the dead receiver for a few seconds, then shook my head and hung it up again.

"Well, that was short and sweet," Sandy giggled at the surprised look on my face.

"Yeah, I'm getting tired of people hanging up on me," I said sharply, then couldn't help but laugh. "I suppose Mom got a bit excited though. I wasn't exactly diplomatic, was I?"

"No, after what you said, can you blame her? She thinks one of her family has been put in danger. So she's just showing her mother's instincts. Now about that snuggle," and with that, she slipped back into my lap.

Actually, that was a preview of how Sandy and I spent most of the afternoon, lazing around the cabin, grabbing the phone when it rang, but grabbing cuddles and smooches whenever possible. The phone probably rang more that day than it had in weeks, so we never did get a chance to relax. However as time passed, things slowly straightened around.

In the long run, John and Wilma Coulter got Wil out of the cops' hands. In the process they reamed one of the overly officious doctors at the hospital rather well for arbitrarily arranging to have Wil taken into police custody. So it turned out that even though Wil had been held in custody for a few hours, there was no official arrest. In fact, after Corinna was officially released from care, she left the hospital grounds riding with Wil in his truck, but Carissa followed them in her Jeep, just in case Wil had any more trouble with that bloody lemon.

Mr. and Mrs. Coulter remained behind for a while, but I never did find out why. I suspect that they spent the extra time chewing out people that they felt had screwed up. I did hear later that one of the high ranking doctors who had been working at the hospital was demoted and then transferred out not long after the incident, but I don't know if the Coulters were responsible for his transfer or not.

Back at the ranch, things had settled down at our end by chore time. Not only had the phone calls dwindled off, but the rain had petered out and the sky was clearing. Sandy came out with me to help look after the animals, then I helped her prepare something to eat and even helped to clean up the kitchen afterward. We didn't sit on the porch for long that evening though. She wanted to go back to bed, but when we got there and tried to do anything, she soon realized that she was a bit uncomfortable.

"I guess you were right. Maybe I was a bit too energetic earlier," she complained.

"That's okay. You can still cuddle," I grinned and hugged her tightly.

"Well, I wanna do more, but it's uncomfy," she sniffed in annoyance.

I just chuckled and hugged her tightly. We fell asleep cuddled closely and I don't think we moved much all night.

Okay, I should correct that. I didn't move much during the night, but I woke alone. Sandy wasn't in bed with me. When I went looking for her, she was sound asleep on Beth's bed in the back porch. I assumed right away that she'd found cuddling with me to be uncomfortable and that she'd moved during the night. Rather than awaken her, I made coffee, then went out to look after the animals. I'd just walked back in the door after doing the chores when the phone rang. I rushed to grab it, hoping I could prevent the ring from waking Sandy.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hi Chris, it's Beth. I was just calling to tell you that you don't have to worry about the chores this evening. George and I are only going up to the track for the barbecue, then we're coming back home before the races start; that way you don't have to do the chores either too early or too late," Beth prattled, almost non-stop.

"You're sure that's alright? Doesn't George want to be at the races?"

"Well, yeah, but Jess and Jean are going to go along with Tom and they've never seen the races before. So George suggested we leave early. He thinks Tom can handle the pit duties tonight, besides if we do it right, George and I can be alone for a while."

"Oh, are things getting serious?" I teased, then waved at Sandy as she scurried past to grab a robe before running outside to the biff.

"No more serious than they were a month ago, if it's any of your business. But talking about people and what's going on, J & J want to know how you and Sandy are making out?"

"Well, all I'll say is that I was alone in bed when I woke up and your bed was slept in last night. I really don't want to talk about it much," I snapped.

"Oh. Unh, should I say that I'm sorry or ..."

"No! Just leave it alone," I said shortly.

"Oh shit. Well, whether you like it or not, I am sorry. I like Sandy."

"Look, just leave it alone would ya?" I tried my best to sound grouchy.

"Okay, whatever you say, but I want to talk to you this afternoon, if I can get you alone."

"Okay, Beth. I'll see you then," I held a finger to my lips and winked as Sandy came inside again.

Sandy grinned and winked back, sticking her tongue out at me, but not saying a word.

Beth said goodbye and we both hung up, then Sandy was in my arms. After a kiss and hug, Sandy leaned back and grinned at me.

"You've been fibbing again, haven't you?" she grinned.

"Nope, not one word, I just used a deceptive tone of voice," I grinned. "Of course I didn't tell her all the truth either, but that's beside the point."

"Smart ass," she laughed. "Isn't that called dissembling by exclusion?"

"Wow, dissembling by exclusion? Aren't those awfully big words for a little gal to use on a Sunday morning? Just what do you think they mean?"

"Oh, I think you could say that they mean lying, by not telling all of the truth. Besides, I'll have you know that this little gal got an A+ in my English final, so even if you don't think so, I have a pretty fair idea of the meaning of the words I use," she grinned. "Now I'm curious, who was that on the phone?"

"That was my dear little sister. She told me that she and George are going to do the chores here tonight while I go race a car, but she also warned me that she likes you and plans to talk at me about you."

"Don't you mean talk to you?" Sandy snickered.

"Nope. When Beth gets wound up, she talks at you, not to you. She gives lectures that have a built-in bite."

"Oh, I know those. I've had one," she laughed, but rather off-key, almost as if she wanted to complain, but knew she shouldn't.

"When did she lecture you?" I frowned.

"About a day after I tried to screw you on the way home after the only real date we ever had. She talked at me about birth control and about relationships. I have to admit that in her case, the word 'at' is very descriptive and used accurately," Sandy broke into a grin. "I'm just waiting for the day when she screws up and I can talk 'at' her and give her advice."

"You'd better be patient then. She's darn careful and doesn't screw up often," I laughed. "Now, I'm starved, could we make something to eat. By the way, I don't have anything planned for today, so I was wondering if you have something you want to do?"

I was surprised that she didn't want to take advantage of the fact that we were still alone. Instead, she wanted to go for a drive in the Jeep and see more of the ranch. So after breakfast, we packed some drinks and snacks, then I drove up the trail on the west side of the valley. We went as far as we could in the Jeep, then climbed to the top of one of the cliffs. From there we could see the entire ranch all the way down to Mom and Dad's, so she was able to get an idea of just how large the government lease really was. I'm certain that she'd had no idea before, because she seemed to be stunned by the view.

"Jeez, just how big is the whole place?" she turned to me, eyes wide in astonishment.

"Well, the valley floor is the only part we really count, and that works out to be just under five thousand acres on the upper valley," I smiled. "But we do control the cliffs on each side since the government survey lines run along the compass lines, north and south or east and west. I suppose if you counted the cliffs and the upper area, all the way out to the survey lines, we probably have at least another thousand acres we don't use. The upper ranch is about seven and a half miles long and two and a half miles wide at the widest spot. The lower ranch is bigger, a lot bigger."

"Jeez, you folks are fucking rich."

"No, not really," I laughed. "Actually, if we had one or two years of bad weather, my whole family could be land poor. You see the taxes on the place match it's size, so they're huge as well, then the expenses for upkeep are sizeable, so we have to worry about keeping our income on the positive side of the ledger all the time. At the moment we have a decent bank balance, but if we had three or four rough years in a row, we'd have to re-mortgage the land we own to pay the expenses on the taxes and upkeep on both our property and the leased land. As farmers and ranchers, we depend on the weather to be favourable. The government doesn't care one iota if the weather ruins our crops one year, they still want their taxes. Then the bankers still want the money we're paying back on loans we took out in the bad years we had not long ago. So in effect we're gambling on the weather all the time, every season, year in and year out."

"Oh, I didn't look at it that way," she frowned.

"Most people don't, they just see the large acreage and don't think about the ongoing costs that go along with that size."

"Well, if the costs are so great, how do you do as well as you do?"

"Well, we diversify. Look at Dad's farm. He has cows, pigs, and chickens, but as well he grows more grain than he can feed, so he sells the extra. That means he sells milk and eggs, beef, pork, and chickens, as well as grain. No single weather problem will completely wipe out his financial base. Because we have the water rights on the creek, he even has one field that he can irrigate if there's a drought. He usually gets a cash crop of alfalfa on that, which he sells to a dairy farmer near Calgary. I'm thinking of doing the same thing up here, even if it means plowing under one of the regular hayfields, and clearing back some scrub willow."

"Where would you do that? Can you point out the area from here?"

"Oh yeah, no problem," I rested my hands on her shoulders and turned her toward the cabin, then slightly to the left. "There, on the left of the cabin, above the barns and corrals, you see that hayfield that runs almost to the lake?"

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Okay, all of that field with the addition of the area covered by those low bushes would be a perfect area to irrigate. First of all, it's very flat and won't need any grading work. Secondly, it's close enough to the house that I could use an electric motor to run the irrigation pump. Then as a third point, every acre of that area is on the original homestead, which means it doesn't fall under the new rules that we have to follow about native plant protection on the leased area."

"You have to follow rules on what you can do on your property?"

"Oh yeah, on the lease we certainly do. I think new lease states that we have to retain something like seventy-five or eighty percent of the acreage in natural plants and we can't do major soil modifications or anything like that."

"I didn't realize farming and ranching could be so complex."

"Oh, this is nothing. You should ask Mom what the latest rules are, because she's the one who keeps track on all the new laws, rules and regulations. We always ask her to check things for us before we even start a new project, since the government always seems to be in the process of changing things. I'm not sure how it happened, but after we had a problem or two with legal changes, Mom just assumed the job on and she does it extremely well."

"Mmm, talking about your Mom, I guess we should go get ready and head down there soon, huh?" she leaned back against me and snuggled for a minute. "So, are we going to keep up the charade of barely getting along in front of your parents, or do we let them in on the secret?"

"Let's see just how long we can keep it up," I laughed. "Mom and Dad are very good at judging character and they read people's actions as much as their words. Let's see just how long it takes for them to catch on to our act."

"It's a good test for us then, is it?"

"Um hmm, but it might be tough to fool Mom and Dad for long," I hugged her gently from behind.

She turned and kissed me quickly, then pulled away and bent to pick up what was left of our picnic lunch. I almost had to run to keep up with her as she skipped down the grade to the Jeep. Back at the cabin, we cleaned up a bit, then set out for Mom and Dad's in my car.

### Chapter 34