Chapter 47

It was hard to get everyone focused, but we were finally ready with the first load to be moved. I planned to rent one of those suite things in a local motel, till the barge house was ready. We tried to carry things we would need in that environment, without getting too bogged down in minutia. Since we had to get Osborn's car down as well she followed me. We had all manor of crap packed in my truck as well as her car.

By the time we arrive in New Wales, the small coastal town across the bay from Jefferson Island, I found that my plan was shit. I could have checked the internet and found there were no Suite type motels in the area. It seemed that all the tourist in the area wanted to be on Jefferson Island, so the prices there were sky high.

People who stay in the local motels were just looking for a cheap bed. Even the ones with the bay view were cheap compared to those on Jefferson Island. For the bay view and some solitude we had to leave the modern town and settle onto the old town of New Wales across the river.

What we found on the first attempt, was a place that had two room for a hundred bucks each. It did have a connecting door. Since I wouldn't agree to stay a month, the owner wasn't willing to remove the beds from the second room to make a kitchen. So we moved on.

Our only other choice with a bay view was a double room with a small dressing area. I knew I should have brought my microwave and small frig, I thought. I decided that there was a bright side. We could turn the dressing area into a kitchen with dorm size appliances, and have them when the house was ready. Of course neither of us really wanted to cook anyway, so we decided to eat out for a while and see how the barge build came along. I paid for a week, since I was sure we would be in the room that long at least.

"We need to talk," I said to Osborn after having spent the early evening looking at motels. The room we were in had a nice bay view. Since it was already dusk, we sat at the high table with coffee in a paper cup. Even at night the bay view was beautiful. The lights on the boats headed in to moor at the docks up river from the town were beautiful.

"Well?" Osborn asked.

"Look, you had your wild weekend last time. So are you ready to settle down and go to work?" I asked.

"I'm not ready to enter a nunnery again, if that is what you mean," she said.

"No. that is not what I mean at all. What I mean is, are you ready to act responsibly," I asked.

"In what way?" she countered.

"Well, let's take it the other way, let me state what is irresponsible. Picking up strange men in bars and bringing them home is irresponsible. The problem is not only might they may be carrying an STD, they may be carrying a S&W as well. The STD might be your problem, but the S&W is likely to be mine as well."

"Okay, I get it. If I meet a man I want to sleep with, I should let you vette him?" she asked.

"Not quite that dramatic." The conversation had taken on a adversarial tone. One I didn't like at all.

"I just want to have the same kind of fun, that you have had over the years," She said.

"That's fine, but I didn't put anyone else in danger. I suggest, if you must give in to those impulses, you go to his place. If he doesn't have one, between the two of you I'm sure you will be able to come up with the price of a Paki motel."

"Okay I get it. You are jealous," she said.

"There is probably some of that. Let's do this, if you have three real dates, you can have them stay over. Anything less you need to stay at his place, or a neutral place. It is still my home, we are talking about." I hated to pull rank but I had to draw the line. There were going to have to be rules, if we were going to live together."

"Okay," she said resentfully. "I think I will take a run to clear my head."

I wanted to ask if she thought running at night in a strange neighborhood was a good idea. Instead I offered, "Take my derringer." She might have been pissed, but she took the pistol anyway.

While Osborn was gone I gave her some thought. I found her to be less likable on a long term basis. She was still more likable than unlikable, but I figure she was going to be trying now and then. Personal relations were always like that. I was never good at them long term.

When Osborn came in she was sweaty and went into the shower. When she came out I was already in bed. "Sylvia, I want you to know, that when I thought about it, what you said make perfect sense. I am sure that it is for the best, and I also thing we should keep our sex lives separate from now on."

"I agree completely. It was a one time thing. I'm sure it will never happen again," I said.

"I also want you to know that I was a little jealous, when that guy said you gave a better blow job than me," she said with a smile.

"More experience I expect," I replied. I rolled over and went to sleep immediately.

The early morning run didn't get started till 7AM. It was a really nice area in which to run. The whole town would have been. I couldn't believe how small the downtown area was. It was old as hell, but it really hadn't grown much. That was probably due to the geography of the area.

If you can imagine a finger of land which ended in point where there was a watch tower. It had never been a light house, but in the really early days there had been a watch tower with an oil light. It couldn't be seen very far, but it was a place to point your boat, if you got caught on the ocean in the dark.