Chapter 36

After Deana removed the shower cap, she brushed her hair to its natural, smooth, silky shine and wrapped a towel around her chest. She paused at her room, smiled, and continued toward the kitchen, thinking I might as well make the most of the time we have left. Maybe Candy would hug her, and the towel would accidentally, on purpose, fall. Deana wouldn’t do anything with Candy now that she knew about Cindy, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be exhilarating to have her naked body pressed against her mother’s.

Deana turned the corner and jerked to a stop. Cindy was sitting on the counter. “Cindy, jeez! I didn’t hear your car.”

“I know,” Cindy said. “I pulled a World According to Garp and coasted in. Although, I was hoping to surprise Candy, not catch you naked.”

“Mom’s not here, and that was a horrible movie.” She ignored her flushed face and approached Cindy with feigned confidence. “I’m not naked.”

Cindy’s feet flew up as she pushed off, catapulting her body toward Deana. The race car driver landed, whipped the towel away, and tossed it across the room. “Now you are.”

Deana started to cross an arm over her nipples and grab her crotch, but Cindy’s grin stopped her. She looked down at herself and smirked. “So I am.”

Cindy grabbed Deana’s shoulders, so she placed her hands on Cindy’s wrists and asked, “Cindy, do you know Sally?”

Cindy nodded and moved her hands to the back of Deana’s neck. “Don’t worry, Dee, it’s all going to be okay.”

Terrified to open her mouth, Deana held her breath. If she asked the next question, it could lead to a conversation that would rip her open and leave Deana exposed and vulnerable. Cindy’s arms went around her and held Deana so tight she couldn’t inhale, but she didn’t want Cindy to let go.

Deana asked, “How much does Candy know?”

Cindy looped hair behind Deana’s ear and gently stroked her cheek. “Let’s get out of here, go somewhere to talk.”

“What, with you ... in your car?”

“I can’t imagine how else we could go somewhere together.”

Deana’s excitement about going for a ride with Cindy and the anxiety about the conversation they would have sent her into a rushed frenzy.

In her room, Deana dressed as if she were about to be caught having sex. As a result, Deana dashed back to the kitchen in a flimsy sundress, the kind she would toss over a bikini to get from the hotel room to the pool. Too bad there wasn’t a hotel, pool, bathing suit, or anything else under the dress. She mentally shrugged off a brief moment of concern, thinking it was more than I wore in Evan’s car.

Cindy glanced at her, smiled nervously, and opened the back door. “The therapy machine awaits us.”

It didn’t make sense to Deana, but she followed Cindy down the porch steps without commenting until she was in front of the yellow car with its black stripes. “It’s more like a bumblebee.”

Cindy chuckled and said, “Swarm of yellow jackets, maybe. Jump in.”

“Okay, whatever you say, Captain.”

Deana knew next to nothing about cars, but Uncle JC had the car for years, doing what he called a frame-off restoration. Deana had no idea what that meant or why Evan had always been so excited about it, but she knew Cindy loved her car and kept it spotless. The reflecting sun made her squint when she looked over the roof and said, “I remember when you got your license. Evan used to drool over this car, but for a while, you never took us anywhere in it.”