# Car 54

####
© 2005 / revised 2014
K Pelle

### Chapter 8:
Detour Ahead - Bridge Out

As Carissa moved across the darkened front porch, coming back toward me, I was reminded of two things, the slinky movements of a cat stalking a mouse and the proud march of a bantam rooster approaching a hen, yet there was nothing threatening about her movements. Perhaps Grampa Bender's 'squeezins' had dulled my senses and killed some of the pain I'd been feeling over both my foot and my loss of Sandy's company, but right then I was completely enamoured by that sexy shape moving in the dim light. I was feeling vulnerable, and I knew that I wasn't in control of the situation, yet I trusted that slinking shadow as she approached and slipped down to kneel on the blanket, right at my side. Somehow she flowed onto my lap without shifting my injured leg. Then I was being kissed by a gorgeous girl for the second time that night. As I kissed her back, one hand began to wander over her back, the other crept up her flank, around toward a breast. Suddenly I had a scary thought - what if Mom or Dad came out to see why the front door was open?

I broke off the kiss suddenly, holding my hands still.

"What about Mom and Dad?" I asked.

"Good point," she sighed softly. "Dammit. I think they've gone to bed and are asleep, but I don't suppose they'd be very forgiving if they found us in this state on your front porch, would they?"

"Could you blame them?" I chuckled.

"No," she giggled.

Then suddenly she was wriggling around in my lap and she bent to one side for a second. She sat back up and lifted her hand to my shirt pocket, stuffing something inside. Her panties?

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Those are a promissary note," she said softly and snuggled against me even tighter. "One day, when both of us are ready, you can collect on it."

"Unh, this is sort of like what caused Sandy and me to break up," I said quietly.

"I thought so. Reading between the lines, it sounded like she pushed too hard, too fast, and in the wrong way," she whispered. "In my case, there's no hurry. I can wait as long as you want, and even then we both have to know it's right."

She started to slide off of my lap, then paused.

"Of course, you know where I'm sleeping tonight and I think from the sound of things that I'll be all alone in my room," she giggled softly and gestured in the direction of the soft moans coming from the other end of the porch. "I think those two have a date with destiny."

"Do you think that they're going to ..." I paused, not knowing how to ask her what I wanted to know without sounding crass.

"I don't know," Carissa leaned close and whispered softly. "I do know that Corinna has had a crush on your brother for a very long time and ... well, you know how I feel about you. I know if you asked tonight, I don't think I could say no and it's not because of the alcohol or because you broke up with Sandy."

"But, damn it Carissa, I'm younger than you are and ..."

"I'm a little more than eighteen months older, but I suppose to some, that's a lifetime. In fact just a week ago it would have felt that way for me. Actually, I guess it was, wasn't it? I was one of the bitches that was going to teach the little professor a lesson. Instead, I fucked up, 'cause he taught me and the whole damn town one instead. In the process the silly little bastard ended up protecting me and taught me that he and his family are about the nicest people I've ever met. Even after I and my sister proved to be real bitches and managed to screw things up so that he broke his leg, he still treated us nicely. So now I really don't care about your age and mine, I think I've got a bigger crush on you than Corinna has on Wil."

Then she was kissing me, hard! But, she didn't kiss me for long. Instead she pulled away, stood up, then turned to face me. She slowly moved so her feet were on either side of my legs, then she was moving forward and now I really could smell her, the real scent of her womanhood. She paused. I reached out and touched her ankles, then slowly slid my fingers up the back of her legs, trying not to let the cast on my hand touch her. She moaned softly as I caressed her calves.

"Not behind my knees," she whispered ever so softly. "I'm really ticklish there."

So I slipped my hands to the outside of her knees, then once I'd moved above them, I gently felt my way up her thighs.

"You're covered in goose bumps," I sighed.

"It's not because I'm cold," she sighed. "You're touch is driving me crazy."

"Oh."

I slid my hands higher, feeling the crease where her thighs met her butt and then my fingers were spreading over those wonderful tight globes. I could feel the muscles tense and flex under her skin as she shifted ever so slightly. I gently pulled her forward, but I was unable to judge just how far away she was in the dim light. I was guessing that her pelvis was only inches from my face because of the narrow strip of light between her inner thighs. I paused and stayed completely still and unmoving for a few seconds, then I blew gently, aiming my breath up and then down, hoping it was tickling her skin.

"Oh my God," she moaned softly and I felt her knees quiver.

"Don't you like that?" I murmured.

"Oh yes. But we have to stop now," she whispered.

I ignored her and blew gently once more.

"Please? Oh please don't," she sighed as she slowly settled downward, straddling my hips but not pulling away, now her knees were slipping downward on either side of my hips, her body close to mine.

"Are you pulling an 'Ice Cube' trip on me?" I asked, leaning forward to give her a brief kiss.

"Oh no, not with you. Never ever!" she said when she could speak again. "But, we can't do it tonight, not after you just broke up with Sandy and not after we've both been drinking. I'm so sorry. I know I've been a bitch, teasing again."

Suddenly she was hugging me and crying on my shoulder. I was aroused and at that moment I was very frustrated, but in my heart I knew she was right. So, I just held her gently and sighed deeply.

Damn it, why had Mom and Dad raised me to respect other people's decisions? I was holding a beautiful woman again, and once more I'd been tantalized by the main thing that any guy my age wanted, but I was going to pass it up because she'd asked me to hold back. I was doing it even though she'd been teasing me, and I wasn't going to try to convince her to break her resolve. I was certain it wouldn't take much to change her mind, but I wasn't going to try. Even if I didn't like her decision at the moment, I knew she was probably right, this wasn't the time or the place for us to do anything.

"Oh, I am so sorry," she blubbered through her tears.

"Shh," I hissed, hugging her gently and letting my hands caress her back. "You're right. It's not the right time for us to play around."

"Can you stand ... to hold me ... for a bit?" her voice was a soft plea, broken by tiny sobs.

"Of course," I heard my voice say and fought down the argument my body was presenting to my mind.

There's no way to express how much I wanted that girl right then. I wanted to do so many things with her. I wanted to touch her and caress her and ... I forced my mind to stop. I had to, or I was going to get carried away. I tried to concentrate on just about anything else, but I have to admit, holding a beautiful naked woman in your arms is not an easy thing to ignore. I might not have been able to ignore her, but I was able to control my continuing urge to convince her to change her mind. I even managed to hold my hands still instead of allowing them to roam over her smooth skin the way they seemed to want to do.

Finally, after several minutes, Carissa lifted her head and wiped at her cheeks with one hand.

"Do you have a hanky?" she whispered.

"In my hip pocket, but why?" I questioned.

"Because my nose is running, idiot," she snorted as her hand slid around my waist and down toward my bottom.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting my boyfriend's hanky, then after I blow my nose, I plan to kiss him goodnight."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Yes, as far as I'm concerned anyway," she sighed and her fingers wriggled on my butt as she found the pocket she wanted.

"But ..."

"Yes, it is and I do like yours. It's a nice tight butt. Now shut up."

I could tell that she was getting back her attitude, regaining her control and for some reason that pleased me a lot. As she pulled my hanky out of my pocket, I had a totally off topic question zap into my head; 'Why were farmers, at least the men, the only people I knew who carried hankies?' They were something that came in handy for so many things, from dust masks to emergency bandages, or ... or for your girlfriend to wipe her nose, after she'd been crying.

And then I jerked like I'd been shot.

Girlfriend? Carissa? What the hell was going on? Where had that come from?

"Is something wrong?" she whispered as she pressed her cheek to mine.

"I'm not sure you want to know," I managed to mumble.

"Are you thinking dirty thoughts?" I could hear the edge of a giggle in her voice and was pleased that she was getting her sense of humour back again as well.

"Not really, I was thinking about you. And about me. And about us."

"And it made you jump?" she asked.

"Yeah," I nodded slowly. "I'm in shock."

"What? Why are you in shock about us?"

"Because it took me by surprise," I grinned, deciding suddenly that I really did like the idea.

"Mmm, at least you're smiling about it," she sighed, then suddenly she was kissing me again.

As we were kissing, I finally had the nerve to let my hands roam over her soft body. She didn't protest and for the second time that night I felt a breast in my hand. But this time, for the first time ever, it was a woman, not a girl. There was less than a year difference in their ages, but it felt like there was a lifetime of difference between the attitudes of Carissa and Sandy.

I felt a nipple swell and harden under my fingers and heard her moan softly, felt her tongue suddenly become a demanding weapon as she french kissed me. Then suddenly, she was pulling back, her hands pressing on my shoulders as she shifted away from me to slowly stand.

"I will not tease you again," she growled. "We need to take some time before we do this again, because next time ..."

And she didn't even say goodnight, but suddenly I was alone. Well, I was alone except for the soft moans and groans from the other end of the porch. That was something I didn't need to hear, not in the mood I was in because it would simply frustrate me. Besides, I wanted to give them some privacy.

I rolled to my knees, pushed the blankets and cushions against the wall and grabbed my crutches. In a very short time I was slipping into my bed. I didn't fall asleep soon though, instead I lay there, trying to think about what had happened and trying to decide what I really felt about everything.

The questions that ran across my mind were like flashes, one following another. Each question seemed to create another question or two. Either that, or else it was tied to an answer that I didn't have, and to a question that I hadn't yet answered. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep until I had some sort of resolution to my wild speculations.

Finally I sat up, slipped out of bed and closed my door, then turned on a light and hobbled over to sit down at my desk. I'd decided that if I made some notes about things, I might be able to clear my head enough to sleep.

Since Sandy and Carissa vied for my attention more than any other subjects, their two names went at the top of two different pages. I was going to list what I liked and disliked about each of them.

The first dislike I had for Carissa was that she was older than I was, but did that really matter? We both had the same education, many of the same acquaintances, very similar tastes ... maybe her age wasn't such a big thing? I crossed it off the list. But what else was there that I didn't like about her? Okay, I wasn't pleased about some things, like the actions she and her sister had toward guys, but I decided that was in the past. I'd give her the benefit of the doubt on that one. I didn't really like the fact that she was a twin, but it seemed to me that Wil was handling that problem. I looked at the page in front of me with one word written at the top and then a scribbled out word under it. Then it struck me, I didn't really have one thing about her that I absolutely disliked to the point where I wished it was changed.

Glancing at Sandy's page, I had very different feelings. I knew there were several things about her that I really didn't feel comfortable with. I lifted the pen to the top of the page. I could start with her insecurities and her shyness, then I could ... I yawned at tht point and started to feel sleepy.

I glanced at the clock, wow, it was almost three in the morning. Forget the lists, I decided. Instead I turned out my light and crawled back into bed. My last thought before I fell asleep was "I wonder if I'm being shallow, the way I'm reacting to these girls?"

I was having such a nice dream. I was being almost smothered in the arms of three or four pretty girls and someone kissed my cheek, then nibbled on my ear lobe and whispered softly; "Wake up Sexy. We need to talk to you."

"Mmm," I moaned, trying to lift my arms and hug the girl who'd talked to me, but it seemed like my arms were tied down, I couldn't seem to move them.

"Chris, wake up. Wil and Corinna are gone and so is your car."

I thought that sounded like Beth but ... surely she wouldn't be in my dream? Then someone tickled my nose with a feather and I started to really struggle. I still couldn't seem to move.

"Chris!" Beth's voice was right in my ear and it was loud.

I finally realised I was in bed and I was being woken up. The reason I couldn't move seemed to be the fact that I was rolled up in my blankets. Finally I managed to free myself enough to turn and look up. Beth was there, so was Carissa. Neither of them looked very happy.

"What's up?" I managed to mumble, my tongue rolling aside the drifts of moss that Grampa Bender's 'squeezins' left on your tongue the next morning. "Is somethin' wrong?"

"Carissa says Corinna didn't come to bed last night and Wil's bed hasn't been slept in either," Beth snapped, staring down at me with her hands on her hips. "Your car isn't here, so at first Mom and Dad thought you were the one who was gone."

"Okay, so I'm here. What am I supposed to do?" I finally decided I'd had enough of her being bossy. "And who made you Queen of the castle to come marching in here, demanding to know what I was doing when you could obviously see that I was sleeping."

"Oh don't get into such a snit," she answered. "Who else ever does anything weird around here, but you? I'll bet it ends up that you're tied up in this some way."

With that comment, she stormed out and slammed the door behind her. She almost hit Carissa with the door, since she had moved to follow Beth.

"Hey, where are you going so fast, Carissa?" I asked. "I haven't even had a chance to say good morning."

"You're not angry at being wakened?" Carissa asked in a surprised tone.

"I wasn't annoyed at being woken up. I was pissed that she automatically seemed to think I knew what was going on. I think she even ended up blaming me for whatever it is," I sighed. "I've spent most of my life being blamed for things other people did."

I patted the bed at my side. "I could use an explanation of what's going on, at least what you know about it."

"After making a fool of myself last night, you expect me to sit there and ... "

"Nope," I interrupted. "After the kiss on the cheek and the whisper in my ear this morning, I do though."

Darn if she didn't blush, then she giggled.

"You were supposed to be asleep."

"I was, but I was having a great dream," I grinned and held out my arms. "Can't I even have a hug?"

"One quick hug and then we have to get downstairs, your folks want to ask you about last night."

At least it was a nice long hug and I even managed to sneak in a little kiss, then she pulled away and stood near the door.

"Get your butt in gear, loverboy. Even your folks seem convinced that you must be involved, especially since your car is gone."

As soon as she went out the door, I hopped out of bed and then cursed at my cast. It was not meant to be thumped on the floor, so now my foot hurt. I reached for the shorts I'd worn the day before and they weren't on the chair where I'd left them. I couldn't find them anywhere. My shirt was gone too.

Oh well, I dug in the dresser and found another pair of shorts and another T-shirt, then I hobbled down the hall to the bathroom. In only a few minutes I was headed downstairs to face the music. Maybe Wil had lied to me last night about the jug, maybe something else was going on. I decided the best defence was attack.

"Who stole the shirt and shorts that I was wearing last night?" I demanded as I limped into the kitchen.

"Ah ha," Dad grunted. "Did you lock your car doors last night?"

"I think so, yeah, I almost an automatic thing I do. Why?"

"Hmmph," he grunted again. "Were your keys in the pocket of your shorts?"

"Yeah, but ... Are you saying Wil and Corinna came up to my room and got my keys? My wallet and a bunch of other things were in the pockets of those shorts too."

"Oh, oh," Carissa squawked. "I'll bet Corinna has them."

Suddenly it all made sense in a weird way.

"Quick explanation," I barked to catch everyone's attention. "On the way into town last night, Sandy and I had a disagreement, well, more like a battle. She wanted something that I didn't want and she demanded I take her home right then. I took her home and she stormed out of the car and into the house. I decided I needed to talk to her parents, because I wanted to explain them what had happened and why I felt it wasn't my fault. I was just getting out of the car when her dad stormed out ready to pound on me, but instead we had a talk. I think he understands what Sandy did and he's not angry with me."

"My turn," Carissa insisted. " What you people didn't know is that for years Corinna has had a crush on Wil and last night they got drinking and necking. Actually, I was feeling like a fifth wheel. Then when Chris came home and he looked so down in the dumps I felt sorry for him. Only, I really like him a lot, so I got him to have a drink or two and I joined him."

She paused and I was going to say something but she held up her hand and silenced me.

"I know that Corinna and I should know better, but it seems as if when we drink any alcohol around your boys we end up taking off our clothes. Chris and I stopped before anything happened, but when I went up to bed, I just scooped up the clothes and ran. I suppose I must have taken Corinna's clothes too. Maybe Wil came to get Chris's keys and he grabbed his clothes for Corinna to wear."

Beth and Mom just looked at each other and shook their heads. Meanwhile Dad was staring at Carissa and I like we each had two heads.

"Are you two telling me that ..." Dad started to ask, but the ringing of the telephone interrupted whatever he was going to say. Dad just lifted one hand to warn everyone to be quiet while he handled whoever was disturbing our family meeting and grabbed the phone with the other.

"Hello," he literally barked, then I could see him calm down. "Oh, good morning, John."

He suddenly looked surprised and then he shook his head and rolled his eyes as he listened.

"Well, John, what you say to him is your business. He's over eighteen, so I can't interfere. I would recommend that they slow down though ... Yeah, both of them ... I don't think there's a major rush, is there?" Dad listened for several seconds and then laughed softly. "Now, that sounds like a good idea ... Okay, John, I'm looking forward to it ... Bye for now."

He hung up the phone and turned to us with a huge grin on his face. "Do you know what that silly pair of idiots did?"

"Who?" we all demanded.

"Wil and Corinna," Dad chuckled.

"Well, don't just stand there grinning, tell us what's happening," Mom insisted.

"They borrowed Chris's car because they decided they had to rush to town this morning. They wanted to be sure to catch John Coulter before he went golfing."

"So they're just sitting at home?" Carissa asked unbelievingly.

"Yeah, when he got up this morning, your dad found them sitting at the kitchen table, holding hands."

"Willard. Shit or git off the pot," Mom barked. "You're enjoying dragging this out and we're not."

"Okay, Mama," Dad chuckled. "Wil asked John if it would be okay if he and Corinna got engaged to be married."

From the chorus of gasps, I think all of us were left speechless.

I don't know for sure what anyone else was thinking about, but at that moment, I was staring at Carissa. Her face was going through a variety of expressions, then she was slowly turning white and I thought she was going to fall down.

"Dad!" I hollered and reached out for her, but my damn crutches were in my way.

To my surprise, it was Beth who got to her first and supported her as Carissa seemed to melt. Mom wasn't far behind Beth and helped move her to a seat on a kitchen chair, then she turned to Dad and I've never seen her look angrier.

"Willard, that was stupid! Just what were you thinking?"

"I thought she'd be happy I suppose," Dad's voice was almost a whisper. "I didn't think that she'd ..."

"That's the trouble. You really didn't think," Mom snapped, then seemed to totally ignore him.

Both Beth and I were giving most of our attention to Carissa, but I think that at the same time both of us were realising that this was the first time we'd ever seen Mom or Dad act openly critical toward the other. It wasn't that they didn't disagree, but until today neither of them had ever shown this sort of annoyance or criticism, at least not openly in front of us.

Dad stood there quietly for a moment and then he walked slowly outside. Since there wasn't much I could do with both Mom and Beth fussing around Carissa, I followed him. I found him standing on the front porch, his hands clutching the top bar of the porch railing in both hands so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

"Damn, I didn't mean to hurt her," he whispered softly.

"I don't think it was anything you did or said that hurt her," I said quietly as I stood next to him.

I felt an almost overpowering urge to give him a hug, but instead of doing something so 'unmanly,' I just reached out and rested my hand on his arm for a minute.

"I think Carissa was shocked that Corinna would do something like that, Dad, at least not without warning her first," I said almost in a whisper. "I think she'd have been extremely upset, no matter who told her and no matter how they told her."

"What do you mean?" he sighed. "I just plain fucked up."

"Dad, you didn't make it easy, but it might have been the best way after all," I was thinking of the changing expressions I had seen flash over Carissa's face as Dad had spoken. "Carissa saw that it made you happy and I think that registered before the idea that Corinna had done something that Carissa didn't suspect was coming. I think that might have been a good thing."

"I don't see that."

"Well, aren't you happy that Wil and Corinna are thinking of getting married?"

"Of course I am, even if it's too damn soon and they're too damn young. I like Corinna. In fact, I like both of those two girls. They've got spunk and I don't care what anyone says about them, they're both damn intelligent."

"Right, and Carissa saw that on your face," I smiled. "So did I and I'm glad."

"Huh?" he turned to me with a strange frown on his face. "Why should it matter to you?"

"Dad, I told you before, last night when I took Sandy home, she did something that made me question her whole outlook on life. She insisted I take her home and from the way she acted, I don't think I'll be taking her out again. When I came back here, Wil and the twins were sitting out here on the porch drinking, so since I was feeling in the dumps I had a few drinks along with them. Carissa and I were almost as bad as Corinna and Wil, but we managed to retain our sanity a bit longer than they did."

Dad just stared at me, totally speechless for a moment and I didn't know what to say or what to do.

"So, you and Carissa ..."

"We didn't do anything, well except kiss and cuddle, but I found out I like her a lot more than I thought I did and she told me that she likes me just as much."

"Holy Smoke!" he stared at me. "Does your mother know?"

"Dad, we stood there and told you guys about it."

"But you didn't make it sound so ... so serious before."

"That's probably because I don't know how serious it is myself, at least not yet," I sighed. "I'm the guy who ran away from the same girl just last week. Cripes Dad, I'm about as virgin as I could possibly be and still like girls."

"Just a moment Chris, Carissa said she and Corinna took their clothes off, didn't she?"

"All but their panties, Dad," I sighed.

"And you never tried to ..."

"No, I didn't, and I'm not sure whether I'm happy about that or not," I frowned. "I mean I know if I'd tried I think I could have gone further, but for some reason it just didn't seem right to try to ... well, force things. Oh, I don't know if even ..."

I just let my last sentence die, sighed deeply and moved over to the seat where I'd been sitting last night.

"You really don't have to explain, Chris," Dad said quietly. "I think the way you acted is outstanding. You're more of a gentleman than either your brother or I would have been. Actually, with Wil in the situation he's in, I think you can understand what I mean."

I'd just started to wonder about his last sentence when Dad suddenly stood up straight and sighed. "I'd better go apologise to Carissa."

Before I could tell him that I didn't think that was a good idea, he was gone, heading back into the house. I wasn't about to argue with him anyway and I wasn't exactly in a good mood either. I had a bit of a hangover from last night's drinking and I hadn't even had a cup of coffee to wake up.

That might explain why when George came around the end of the porch with the milk we'd need for the house and started a conversation by asking me where my car was.

"Wil took it, I guess," I snapped, because right then I wasn't very patient. "I suppose he thought he needed it."

"Hey man. I'm sorry I asked," he said setting down the bottles and then looking at me like he was a bit uncomfortable.

"Unh, is Beth feeling better?" he said after a moment of my stony silence.

Oh my, another thing that I'd let slip out of my mind. I looked at him almost in surprise and I had to hide a grin that wanted to plaster itself on my face. The term 'love sick pup' popped to mind when I looked at the expression of his face and I knew if I grinned he'd feel 'put down' and probably get pissed.

"I think she'll be fine," I said quietly. "Right now, she's got her hands full, but I'm sure she's going to want to see you later today."

"She's not mad at me?" he sounded relieved and hopeful.

"No, George, I don't think she was ever upset with you. I think she was upset with herself."

"But why? Just because she's so good at baseball?"

"No, George. She's just too darn kind for her own good. I think she felt she was showing off and that she hurt other people's feelings. It's funny, but she gets really down on herself when she does that."

"That's silly," he argued. "I guess it's a good thing you and Sandy are going out together and she was along with us last night, huh?"

I sighed and then I decided that I had to give him a quick run down of all the things that had happened last night. As I talked, he just sat there and stared at me, his face showing his total surprise.

"Oh wow," he sighed. "So, do you think it would be okay for me to take the milk inside? I sort of thought that Beth might be there and we could talk."

"Maybe you'd better not. I think that would just complicate things right now. Look, I'll pass on that you were here and wanted to talk to her, then she can talk to you later," I was trying to think on my feet and not leave any loose ends or make any mistakes. "I know she's going to want to see you, but there's just so much happening right now ..."

"Yeah, I guess I understand," George looked at me suspiciously. "You're sure you'll tell her that I was asking?"

"I'm sure George," I managed to smile. "I think you'd probably kick my butt if I didn't."

"You got that right," he snorted and then pulled off a grin that I hadn't expected to see. "You hang in there, Cowboy. I've got to go help Tom finish off your chores. We'll talk to you later."

"Yeah."

"And no more surprises, huh?" he chuckled.

"No promises, George," I said quite loudly as he disappeared around the corner of the porch on his way to help Tom.

Hardly a moment passed before the door popped open and Mom came out carrying a couple of cups of coffee.

"Here Chris, I imagine you need a coffee as much as I do," she said with a deep sigh as she sat down in the chair beside me.

"Thanks Mom. I could have gone inside and gotten one myself, you know."

"I needed to talk to you anyway," she said firmly. "Sandy McAdam's mother called earlier."

"Oh boy," I grunted, not knowing what to expect.

"She said that Sam had told her what you said to him and that she'd talked to Sandy."

"Umm, yeah, so what did ..."

"Wait a moment," Mom held up a hand, interrupting me. "Let me finish what I started and then you can talk."

She paused and had a sip of coffee. Then she looked at me and smiled almost apologetically.

"Your father and I almost made a blunder this morning. When your father and I got up, we saw that your car wasn't here and we'd last seen you with Sandy late last night, we assumed that the two of you had ..."

"Oh Mom," I snorted.

"Chris, be quiet. Yesterday morning when I talked to you, you expressed anxiety at being around Carissa and Corinna. Yesterday afternoon when I spoke to you, you seemed to have developed quite a liking toward Sandy, but you didn't know how far it would go. By last night, it looked to me like both of you were developing quite a crush on each other. Is it any wonder that your father and I thought that you might have gotten carried away and done something rash?"

"Can I talk now?" I asked.

"Yes Chris, you can talk now," she smiled.

"Okay, to start with Carissa and Corinna, when they're together, they scare hell out of me, but I like being with Carissa when she's by herself. I don't know why."

"All right, I suppose I can understand that, but what about Sandy?"

"Sandy has some weird ideas," I shook my head. "Actually, she scared me last night, far more than either Carissa or Corinna has done at any time."

I paused to sip some coffee and try to choose my words.

"When we left here last night, we had lots of time to get her home by her curfew. I pulled off of the road and stopped so we could talk and I thought I might eventually get up the nerve to kiss her. However, I'd hardly gotten stopped before she was climbing into my lap and sticking her tongue down my throat. If the horn button wasn't built into the steering wheel and she hadn't sat on it, I might very well have been out all night."

"As it was, we both reacted in surprise when the horn went off and we broke apart, then we actually talked for a bit. That's when I got a shock, I think she actually expected me to have sex with her last night and she was certain that her father had literally given us permission to do it. She thought he expected her to come home and tell him that she'd had sex with me on our first date. She said he'd told her all her life that all boys would expect her to do those sort of things if she went out on a date. I couldn't seem to get it through her head that I want to know the girl really well before I have sex with her."

Mom was staring at me as I paused, and her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, but I raised a hand, signalling that I wanted to say something else. "At that point Sandy started screaming for me to take her home, so I did. Once I was there though I decided I had to talk to her Dad, not run off and leave things up in the air. I didn't feel I'd done anything wrong and I thought he should know my side of the story as well as hers."

Mom sat very still for a minute, then she reached out a hand and patted my arm.

"Ann McAdam said this morning that she felt that both Sam and Sandra should apologise to you, but she doubts if it will ever happen. You must have laid it on the line with Sam and you must have been pretty convincing."

"Actually, I think I was probably a bit too angry to be nice. I know I sort of chewed him out for teaching Sandy to expect that every guy she went out with would try to get into her pants."

"Oh Chris, you didn't?" she broke into laughter. "Poor Sam."

She sighed, then continued what she'd been saying. "You might as well know about something else, before I ever met your father, I dated Sam once. We went to a country barn dance and when we parked at the hall, Sam got a little too friendly to suit me. I slapped his face, then ran inside. Your Aunt Alice and Uncle Tom were there and Alice guessed right away what had happened. I didn't find out until years later that your father and your uncle talked to Sam. They explained that Tom and Alice would be giving me a ride home and that Sam should go home and sober up. I'd always thought that Sam had gotten angry when I wouldn't cooperate and had left me to find my own way home."

"Oh wow. What happened last night must be like pouring battery acid on a raw wound for Mr. McAdam."

"I'd think it might be quite upsetting for him, except I also thought Sam might have grown up a little in the years since I went out with him."

"From what Sandy said he hasn't changed much," I griped. "I think any man who would teach his daughters stuff like that needs to be ... I don't know what he needs, but he sure needs something."

I was annoyed and Mom could see it, but I don't think she had any better idea than I did about how the situation should be handled. Finally she sighed softly.

"It's not as if I can do anything, but would you like me to talk to Ann McAdam?"

"Mom, that's up to you. I like Sandy, but after last night, I just wouldn't feel right taking her out again. It would be like making a date with a ..."

"Chris, don't you dare say that word," Mom snapped. "The young lady I had in my house last night is a very nice young person, even if she is misguided at the moment. Your actions have made up my mind though. I am going to talk to Ann and I'm going to have Willard talk to Sam as well. I may even have Beth invite her sisters out here to ride horses so she can talk to them."

"Okay, Mom, whatever you say," I knew better than to argue. Mom was off on what Dad called 'one of her campaigns' that were meant to improve the world, no matter the cost. Only a fool would get in the way of the steam roller she could become.

Then I thought Mom changed the subject.

"Do you suppose Willard and I can leave you here with Carissa and Beth for a few hours today?"

"Unh, I guess," I was surprised she'd even ask.

"Well, I thought I had better ask since it seems that all three of my children have suddenly become sexually aware. Inside of a week you've all decided to drive Willard and me around the bend with your activities. I wouldn't want to come home to an orgy or some other situation that included my two youngest children being involved with their paramours."

"Oh Mom," I snorted. "Carissa and I are just getting to know each other and after this morning, I doubt very much if she's about to be in any mood to do anything."

"You don't know much about either women or about twins, do you? Right about now, Carissa is probably thinking that her sister is 'ahead' of her somehow. I'm sure she's certain that Corinna and Wil got carried away and that's why they want to get married. She's not exactly thinking straight," Mom looked me right in the eye. "You're going to have to be the rational one when you two are alone together."

"And why did you mention Beth? She won't listen to me."

"Oh Chris, she always listens to you. She listens to you even better than she does to your father or me. And on top of that, George worships the ground you walk on. If you tell the two of them to cool it and give them a reason, both of them will listen to you."

"Oh sure Mom, and pigs fly too."

"Chris, how many things have you started around here, then had Tom and George at your beck and call almost instantly? Don't you realise that they look up to you because you think things through before you start to try to do them? Why do you suppose that when there is a prank pulled around here your father and I look at you first? You're the one who thinks ahead and develops schemes, then the others follow your lead."

I just stared at her. She smiled and glanced down at my cup.

"If you want more coffee, you're going to have to get it yourself. I'm going to be busy getting your father and myself ready to go talk to Mr. and Mrs. Coulter about the fate of our son and their daughter."

"Isn't Carissa going with you?"

"No and that worries me," Mom frowned. "That's one of the reasons I'm out here talking to you right now. I'm sure you can add up the reasons and come to your own conclusion."

I sat there for several minutes thinking about what we'd talked about after she went inside. When I finally did hobble inside, Beth and Carissa were sitting in the kitchen and talking quietly.

"Hi girls, can I come in an sit down, or is this a woman's only meeting?"

"Oh Chris, don't be an idiot," Beth snapped. "Carissa is practically our sister now."

"Oh I hope not," Carissa giggled.

Beth stared at her, then at me and I could see the light come on.

"Holy Smoke! Do Mom and Dad know?"

"Yeah," I said as I poured a second cup of coffee and grabbed a bran muffin. "Mom just had a talk to me about actinging responsibly while they go straighten out Wil and Corinna. I'm supposed to prevent you and George from running off and at the same time I'm not to go running into Carissa's hungry arms."

I slid into the seat beside Carissa and she giggled as she leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder for a second.

"Fat chance, I'll get Beth to trip you, then I'll hold you down while she runs off with George," she teased.

"Wow, what happened to you? You're sure in a better mood," I smiled at her.

"She talked to Corinna on the phone. Her mom made Corinna call."

"Ah, I see," I nodded, trying to look like I had a clue why that would make Carissa look so perky.

"They didn't do anything stupid," Beth said sharply, realising I was bluffing about understanding. "They were sitting on the front porch looking at the sunrise while huddling together under a blanket and they decided that they wanted to be able to see a lot of sunrises while holding each other in their arms. I think it's really romantic."

"You would," I grinned, knowing that she knew I was teasing her.

Carissa giggled and poked me in the ribs.

"Hey, that hurts," I was surprised more than anything.

"Oh, I like her," Beth giggled. "For once Chris is outnumbered and right now, he can't run worth a darn."

"Well, he'd better still be in one piece when we come home," Mom said as she came in, having changed into a really nice looking dress.

"Wow, looking good Mom," I smiled at her "And thanks, I need all the protection I can get from these two."

"I'm not sure it's protection that you're looking for," she said quickly, obviously noticing how close Carissa was sitting to me.

"Mom, Carissa likes Chris a lot, but they aren't any sillier than Corinna and Wil are. Besides, I'm here to chaperone them while you're gone."

"And if George happens to come over, who will chaperone you?"

"If she's chaperoning us, then we're sure going to chaperone her," Carissa giggled. "We won't do anything that we'd be ashamed of, I promise."

"Aww, you're a spoilsport," I said, winking at Mom.

"Chris there are times ..." Mom said, but she was smiling.

"Well, what have we here?" Dad said as he came in, but he was dressed well too.

I looked at him and smiled. "I don't know what you did while Mom was talking to me, Dad, but I certainly like the mood the girls are in now much more than the one they were in before."

"Your father ... Chris, you whelp," Mom laughed. "Come on Willard, before I murder our middle child."

"All right dear, but in his case I think a jury would see it as justifiable homicide," Dad grinned and winked at me. "You kids be good, huh? We have to go see if we can put out a fire in the Coulter household."

So they left with our shouted goodbyes echoing in their ears.

### Chapter 9