Chapter 81

“Ladd, you stay here. I’m going to see if Dad has time to talk with you and me tonight. If he does, I’ll wave for you to join us,” Lilly Beth said as she leaned over in front of him before walking over to where her dad was.

Eli saw Lilly Beth stand and look his way, then bend over to whisper to Ladd. When she started toward him, she was smiling.

“Hi Dad. I hope you have a few minutes. I need to talk to you and I’d like you to get to know Ladd better. I really like him and he likes me too,” Lilly Beth said as she rushed into her dad’s arms.

“He sure seems to be a special young man, Lilly Beth. I like him and I like his older brother, Jud too. If you and Lee Yu don’t hurt your boys, they may just be the ones to tame you both down a bit,” Eli told her and she laughed.

“I may not want to be tamed, Dad. I have always wanted to be a little wild and silly at times. Now I have a special boy that likes me and I want to be even more wild for him.”

“Lilly Beth, it’s alright to have fun and be silly. It’s alright if you want to be a little wild. Just make sure you’re safe at all times and make sure Ladd likes this part of you.”

“He likes it, Dad. He told me he did. I wish I wasn’t so young now. Ladd is sixteen and I won’t be fourteen until this fall. We’ll have to wait three and a half more years before I’m seventeen.”

“The time will pass soon enough, you’ll see. Do you think you and Ladd will still want to love each other by then?”

“I know I’ll love him and I hope he loves me. He told me he wants to court me and I have never been courted. Momma told me it was fun for a girl to be courted and Sissy told me that she and Joe had so much fun before they married. Dad, she told Lee Yu and me that she even swam naked in front of Joe and he loved her more than ever. She told us a lot more but I’d be embarrassed to tell you all the things she said.

“Martha talked to all of us when we first arrived at Pecan Ridge on our way to Little Tree. Dad, she sure made it sound like SO MUCH fun when a man and woman love each other and do wild and crazy things together. Especially when they’re naked.

“Dad, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure you can, Lilly Beth. Just don’t get too personal.”

“Have you ever swam naked with a girl? I mean other than Miss Miranda and all of us that time.”

“I have and that’s getting way too personal for a girl to ask her dad.”

“Was it fun, Dad? Did you and the girl have fun?”

“Lilly Beth!”

“Please tell me, Dad. I want to know. I hardly know anything about love and being with boys and I want to be sure I know what to expect.”

“Yes, it was fun.”

“Dad, did you and the girl do things in the water?”

“Lilly Beth!”

“Did you, Dad? Please tell me.”

“We did. Yes, it is fun and wild and when you’re old enough and you try it, you’ll see. Now stop asking me questions. I need to know about you and Ladd.”

“Dad, he makes me feel so good. I can feel it in my chest when he looks at me the way he does. I would tell you more about how I feel, but I know I would embarrass you,” Lilly Beth said and laughed at his expression.

“That’s enough about that! Do you think he wants to love you or just look at you?”

“Dad, Ladd tells me all the time that he wants you to like him and let him be a friend just like Jud is. He tells me that if you’ll let him, he’ll wait for me as long as it takes,” she said, serious now that she wanted her dad to know about her boy.

“Will you let him wait or will you be wild and let things get out of control?”

“I’ll never be one to just sit on the porch and wait, Dad. I love to have fun and I want to have fun with Ladd.”

“What will you do if he wants more from you?”

“You mean if he wants us to get naked and do sex?”

“Lilly Beth, if he did, would you?”

“Yes, I already want to. Dad, I’m not a bad person, I just want to love and know that I’m being loved. That’s what Aunt Miranda and Aunt Rose told me I should want out of a relationship. Martha told me that she loved to get naked with Jud and do sex in the daylight. I think one day I’d like to do that too, after I get a lot braver with my boy.”

“What did your momma tell you about boys?”

“She told me not to hurt them, but if I ever found a boy who loved me, love him with all I have inside me and show him that I care about him even when we’re not in bed.”

“That sounds just like her.”

“Is that the way Momma loves you, Dad?”

“Lilly Beth, this is getting personal again. We need to get Ladd over here so we can talk with both of you together. Just don’t start saying things like this when he gets here.”

“Dad, you didn’t answer me.”

“Yes, your momma loves me and makes me feel special. Lilly Beth, I reckon your momma would stop at nothing to show me she loved me. If you ever love that way, make sure you don’t either.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’m glad you and Momma love each other. Do you and Miss Miranda love like that too?” Lilly Beth asked. She had to laugh when her dad looked at her with a really strange look.

“Now that is way too personal!”

“It’s OK, Dad. I know she does, she told me one day that if I ever meet a boy that I knew I could love with all my heart, love him every way a woman can love a man. She even told me some ways to do it too.”

“Go get Ladd. You better not start this with him over here, either.” Eli scowled at his daughter as she smiled.

“Dad, times have changed since you were young. I heard Momma and Aunt Miranda talking about that one day. They said girls and boys are a lot more free and are trusted to be alone together way more than when they were younger.”

“Lilly Beth, one day you’ll be talking with your daughter or son, then what will you tell them?” Eli asked, thinking he would make her think about this differently.

“I’ll tell them to live their life on a big ranch out in the open with their brothers and sisters and cousins around them and never be afraid of having fun.”

“What about when they get older, like you and your sisters are now?”

“I’ll tell them that if they meet a boy or girl they want to love, let them know it and don’t be afraid to have fun, no matter what.”

“What would you tell your daughter if she was in love with a boy and they wanted to be alone together?”

“I’d tell him that he better not get my daughter pregnant and I’d tell her that she better not let him get her pregnant.”

“Would you trust them to do the right thing, no matter how much they wanted to do sex?”

“If I can raise my son and daughter the way you and our mommas have raised us, I’d trust them to at least stop before they got pregnant.”

“Lilly Beth, you get more like your momma each day!”

“Was my momma wild when you first met her and made love?”

“Go get Ladd and stop asking me questions.”

“Was she?”

“Yes, just as wild as you are right now, maybe even more.”

“And you loved her for it, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. Now go get that boy of yours over here. I need to know that he will respect you no matter how wild you get.”

“You mean as long as he doesn’t get me pregnant?” Lilly Beth asked, laughing at the look on her dad’s face.

“Exactly, now go get him. It’s getting late and I wanted to talk to Lee Yu and Lane before bedtime,” Eli told her and she ran over to get Ladd’s attention.

“Hello Marshal, I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk tonight. I know you’ve had a long trip down here and haven’t had a lot of rest, but I sure would like to talk some,” Ladd said in his slow easy way of speaking as he walked up and shook Eli’s hand.

“Ladd, I wanted to get a chance to talk with you and Lilly Beth together before all of us turned in for the night.

“Lilly Beth tells me that you and her have talked some about your future. Do you plan on being here for a few years?”

“Marshal, I plan on being here for the rest of my life. Lilly Beth and I have talked some, but I was afraid to plan too much until I knew it was alright with you. I’m falling in love with your daughter, Marshal. I hope you’ll approve of me and tell me I can court her. I’ve never courted a girl and she tells me she has never been courted. I respect her a lot, Marshal. I know she loves me too, because she makes me feel so good when she smiles at me.”

“Ladd, what will you do when Lilly Beth wants more? You know she leans more than a little toward the wild side.”

“I already love that wild side about her, Marshal. What I’ve seen so far, that is. I reckon we’ll have to deal with that side of her when she really shows it. She’s already told me that I haven’t seen anything yet. I’ve never been with a girl before, but you’ll never have to worry about me respecting her. I already think too much of her to hurt her, or you for that matter.”

“Dad, didn’t I tell you he was special?” Lilly Beth spoke for the first time since Ladd came over. She’d let them talk until now, but she wanted in on it too as they talked.

“Yes you did and I agree with you.”

“Ladd, you have permission to court Lilly Beth if that’s what you want. She’s only thirteen and won’t be fourteen until fall. That means it will be almost three and a half years before she’s seventeen. I’ve told my Bucks and my girls that if they are mature enough, they could marry at seventeen. Can you wait for her that long and still love her?”

“Marshal, Lilly Beth and I have already talked about this too. I’ll wait for as long as I have to, if I know she will marry me when she’s seventeen.”

“Do you think both of you can wait that long, if you really do fall in love?”

“I think we can, but I’m not real sure, Marshal. I already know she can be very convincing.”

“That was a good answer, Ladd.

“Lilly Beth, I know we talked before, but I want you to tell me in front of Ladd what you think about waiting that long.”

“Dad, I’m not sure I can make it that long.

“Ladd, I hope you’re not upset with me, but I want us to be honest with Dad,” Lilly Beth said as she looked at him.

“I’m not upset. To be honest, I probably couldn’t wait either.”

“Then what can I expect, Ladd?” Eli asked as he looked at him then Lilly Beth.

“Lilly Beth, you let him answer.” Eli looked at her just as she started to speak.

“Marshal, I really don’t know what to say. I can tell you this though, I’d never do anything to put your daughter with a baby, even if I had to wait longer than three and a half years.”