Chapter 4

The house was abuzz at six the following morning as we packed the car and prepared to leave. My sister was scurrying around and acting like she didn’t know what she was doing. Mom tried to calm her down, but she was an absolute basket case.

I packed my suitcase and asked Amy if I could do anything to help her. She asked me to check the bathroom and make sure she packed all of her things. We all got into Mom’s SUV and left for the hotel an hour and a half later.

Amy and I sat in the back seat together and listened as she and Mom discussed everything we needed to do over the next few days. It was Thursday, and the wedding was on Saturday afternoon. We had a rehearsal and dinner for the wedding party on Friday.

When Mom and Amy stopped talking, I got to ask a few questions.

“Amy, tell me about the man I’m standing up with.”

“Sean is Darrel’s younger brother. He’s twenty or twenty-one.”

“What’s he like?”

“He’s nice, Trish. Sean plays football for Northwestern and is huge. He makes Darrel look small.”

“Great, we’ll look like Mutt and Jeff!”

Amy laughed. “Sean is about six-two, I think. He’s not much taller than Kyle.”

Amy, Mom, and I talked for the rest of the trip to the hotel. When we arrived, a bellhop helped unload our luggage and put it on a cart. After Dad checked in, the bellhop led us to our rooms.

We stopped on the twelfth floor and followed the bellhop to the room my sister and I would share. After removing our things from the cart, he took Mom and Dad to the sixteenth floor and into their suite. My parents didn’t know I smoked, at least I didn’t think they did, but they knew Amy did and booked a smoking room.

“Which bed do you want, Trish?”

I shrugged my shoulders and pointed to one of the beds.

“Great, me too.” My sister started laughing.

Smiling, I shook my head. “You’re crazy.”

My sister stopped removing her things from her suitcase, came over to me, and hugged me.

“Yeah, but you still love me.”

“I’m glad you and Darrel will be living close to us. It’ll be easy to visit you.”

“I always wanted to move to another state, but we decided to stay in Michigan when Darrel got the job with GM. We bought the house, and I’m happy it’s close to you. You could ride your bike to our house.”

I nodded. “Maybe we’ll have classes the same day and can ride downtown together when I start college.”

“Maybe. Let’s get unpacked and go down to the hall. I want to check it out.”

I quickly took some of my things from the suitcase, put them into a drawer, took my makeup bag into the bathroom, and put it on the counter. Looking around, I noticed we had a whirlpool tub.

“Hey, Amy, come and check this out.”

“Wow, a whirlpool tub! We should plan on using it.”

I chuckled, knowing what my sister was thinking, and while she might want to share the tub, I didn’t know if I did.

Amy and I finished unpacking and called our parents to tell them we were going to the hall. Mom told Amy she and Dad would meet us there.

We went to the fifth floor, got off the elevator, and walked down the hallway to the banquet hall. The room was large, and the tables were in place but not covered yet. My sister and I walked around the room, checking out the two bars and the dance floor. Amy opened a set of French doors, and I followed her onto a balcony running around two sides of the corner room.

“Great view, isn’t it, Trish?”

“Yes, it is.”

Amy and I walked around the balcony, sat on one of the benches, took out a cigarette, offered me one, and I took it. We sat on the sunny terrace and gazed out at the skyline of Grand Rapids.

“I wish Darrel’s family didn’t live clear across the state. It would have been much easier to have my wedding closer to home. I think I’ve been here five times to make the arrangements.”

“Where do they live?”

“Most of them live in Ludington, and a few live in Frankfort. Darrel’s dad and mom have a small business in downtown Ludington. The store sells outdoor furniture and things for the yard. They go to Florida in the winter.”

Mom and Dad came out on the balcony. If they didn’t know I smoked before, they knew then.

“Patricia, what do you think you’re doing?” Mom said when she saw the cigarette in my hand.

“Um, ah, I’m having a cigarette, Mom.”

“How long have you been smoking?”

“About a year or so. I don’t smoke too much, Mom.” Embarrassed, I snuffed the butt in the ashtray next to the bench.

I was shocked when Dad said, “You didn’t know she smoked, Beth? I’ve known for a long time now.”

“Well, you could have said something!”

“Yes, I could have, but I knew you’d get upset. It’s no big deal. I wish she didn’t smoke, but we can do little about it.”

My parents continued to talk like I wasn’t there. “Walt, she’s only seventeen. She shouldn’t be smoking.”

“She’ll be eighteen in two weeks, and your little girl will be an adult. Next year, she’ll be in college. Besides, you smoked until you got pregnant with Amy.”

“So did you, but we didn’t know how harmful it was.”

“Yes, we did! Don’t try to rationalize our smoking. I still like to have one once in a while.”

Mom turned to me. “How many packs a day do you smoke?”

“I go through about a pack every few days. Longer since I started working out with Amy.”

When Mom leaned over and whispered, “You better read the warnings on your birth control pills,” I gasped. Mom stood up and smiled. “You left them on your dresser. I spotted them when I was putting your laundry away.”

Dad and my sister were laughing. It was apparent everyone knew I was taking birth control pills. I turned my head and looked at Amy.

“Mom asked, so I told her I took you to the clinic.”

“Don’t get your shorts in a bunch, Trish. I’m not upset about it. I knew about your sister when she started.”

“I never needed them, Mom, not until I was out of high school.”

“Well, I sure didn’t want to be a grandmother, not then, but now...,” Mom said.

“Don’t get your hopes up, Mom. Darrel and I will wait until I’m out of school.” Amy laughed.

“I’ll never be a grandmother.”

“Are you saying I’ll never get out of school, Mom?”

“No, but three years seems so long.”

Mom and Amy laughed. We all went back into the hall and found a worker. Mom asked when the decorations would be finished, and the man told her it would be Friday. We left the room, went to the main floor, and ate lunch at a restaurant.

After lunch, Mom, Amy, and I went to the salon and checked our hair appointments. Once we confirmed we were all set, we left and walked outside. Dad returned to the room to make telephone calls, leaving us alone.

“Trish, how are things going with Kyle?” Mom asked.

“Great, Mom. I like him. I like him a lot. Kyle is the sweetest boy I have ever met.”

“He doesn’t try to pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do, does he?”

“Never, Mom. He tried to get frisky when we started going out, but I told him no. He hasn’t tried anything since.”

Mom seemed miffed. “Nothing?”

I shook my head. “Nope, he’s a perfect gentleman. Kyle told me he would never do anything unless I wanted him to.”

My sister laughed. “Yeah, the ice princess won’t let him get to second base.” Amy stopped laughing. “I wish I had boyfriends like him.”

“You couldn’t say no, Amy. Whatever happened was because you let it.”

“I know, Mom, but sometimes I let the boys convince me it was what I wanted. Sometimes, I didn’t want to but let them, so they’d go out with me.”

I was confused. I wondered how much my mom knew about Amy’s activities. Mom must have seen I was puzzled and smiled.

“Amy may have been carefree in her teens, but we always talked. There were many nights she came home and cried on my shoulder.”

I was shocked to know my mom was so open. I would never have guessed Mom and Amy shared the details of my sister’s dates.

“How come we never talked about those things, Mom?” I said.

“Well, you haven’t needed to, have you?”

I shook my head.

“If you ever want to talk with me, say so. As I did with your sister, I won’t judge you or offer advice unless asked. I’m still young enough to remember being your age.”

Mom smiled at me.

“There is one other thing your father and I agreed on. If you ever get drunk and need a ride home, call us. We’ll pick you up with no questions asked. It doesn’t matter what time it is or where you are.”

“I know you don’t drink, but Mom and Dad mean what they say. They got me a few times when I was your age.” Amy laughed. “They may not ask questions but don’t sympathize with a hangover. I still remember having to clean the house with my head pounding.”

“Why do you get drunk if it makes you feel so bad the next day?”

Amy and Mom both laughed. “I don’t usually plan on getting loaded,” Amy said as Mom nodded in agreement.

While we walked along the street, we talked, and I learned things about my mom I never knew. We stopped at a small shop, went in, and checked the clothing. I found a nylon warm-up suit and showed it to Mom. She looked it over and told me she would buy it for me.

“This will be great when it gets cool, and I ride my bike. Thanks, Mom.”

“You can use it on the boat too. Maybe we should get you another one you could leave on the boat.”

I picked out a power blue warm-up suit to go with the pink one I was holding, saw some matching shorts, picked them up, and showed them to Mom. When she nodded, I added them to my things.

“You’ll need tops to wear under them, Trish.” Mom picked up a tube top and showed it to me. “How about something like this?”

I checked the top out and nodded. “I’ve never worn a tube top before.” I grinned and blushed. “I’ve never left the house without a bra on.”

“I have,” Amy said as she wiggled her shoulders. “I love letting these puppies hang free.”

Mom chuckled. “You’re puppies don’t hang. Now, Trish, hers are another story.”

“MOM!” I could feel myself blushing.

“Oh, lighten up. We’re having a little fun. Like your sister, I like going braless when possible.”

Mom’s breasts were at least a size larger than mine. I chuckled under my breath as I thought about her without a bra.

We finished shopping, Mom paid for my things, and we left. The three of us returned to the hotel and agreed to swim.

Amy and I went to our room to change into our suits. I put on a terrycloth robe and waited for my sister to finish putting on her suit. Amy wore a conservative suit, forgoing her micro bikini for another time.

Mom called, and we left for the hotel’s swimming pool. Mom and Dad met us there, and we staked out four lounges, put our things on a small table, shucked our robes, and got into the pool.

After swimming for a little while, we all got out, went into the hot tub, and Dad turned on the timer. Mom, Amy, and I stepped in when the water began to swirl. Dad got in, sitting next to Mom as we all relaxed.

“Well, it looks like I will settle the lawsuit I started five years ago. The companies agreed to an amount everyone can live with.”

“Which case, Dad?” I asked.

“I’ve been working on one against a construction company and the manufacture of a crane. The crane malfunctioned and caused one of the workers to end up in a wheelchair. We sued them because there was a known problem. We also sued the construction company because we discovered they knew about the problem and didn’t address it.”

“How much money did you get for the man?”

“The total settlement is over six million dollars. By the time all the smoke clears, the injured man will get about four million plus his medical expenses for the rest of his life.”

“It seems like a lot of money, Dad.”

“Not when you consider the man will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He’ll never be able to play ball with his two young boys or do the things a man his age should be able to do. The sad part is the fact it could have been prevented.”

“How much do you get?”

“I get a third of the settlement, about two million.”

I smiled and said, “Can I get a car?”

My dad chuckled and nodded his head. “I was planning on getting you a car before you started school anyway.”

“What kind of car can I have?”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything about cars. Will you help me pick one out?”

“Of course. We can look for something after we get home.”

I was excited about the prospect of getting a car. My parents let me use one of theirs when I wanted to go somewhere, but they weren’t always home.

“This is a nice hot tub,” Amy said, then laughed. “They’re much better if you don’t have to wear a suit.”

“Take yours off. You don’t seem to mind flashing your boobs,” I said.

My sister stuck her tongue out at me, and we both laughed.

“Maybe not, but you’re so modest you wouldn’t even do it if alone in the tub,” Amy said.

“I would, too.”

“Yeah, sure you would.”

My dad told us to stop. “I’ve been trying to convince your mother to let me install a hot tub in the backyard for over a year. Last year, I saw one in a gazebo at the Home and Garden show. Your mom thinks it would be too much work.”

“Why, Mom? How much work could it be?” I asked.

“Those things need to be cleaned, and the chemicals monitored. How much use would we get out of it?”

“I’d use it, Mom. I’d help clean it, too,” I said.

“Great, now it’s two against one.” Mom shook her head. “I don’t care. If you want a hot tub, buy one, Walt.”

I grinned when Dad winked at me. We decided we were ready to go and got out of the hot water. After drying off, we put on our robes and went to our rooms.

When Amy and I got to our room, the message light on the telephone was flashing. My sister called the front desk, wrote something on a pad, and hung up.

“Darrel wants me to go to his room. Oh, by the way, Kyle called you.”

I removed my wet bathing suit and hung it in the bathroom. Before I got dressed, I jumped on my bed and called Kyle. While I talked, Amy dressed and left for Darrel’s room.

Kyle and I told each other how much we missed one another, even though it had been less than twenty-four hours since we were together. Kyle told me about his day at work. I told him about the car my dad said I could buy.

I rolled over and gazed down at my naked body as we talked. I moved my free hand over my stomach and let my fingers rest on the small triangle of short pubic hair on my mons. Closing my eyes, I raked my fingernails through my hair, then dipped them between my legs.