Chapter 93

Tuesday-Wednesday, July 24-25

Kacie still had a couple of days to go before she was back in the rotation, but that didn’t mean a total cessation of affection. She made another attempt to touch my tonsils when I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

“I can’t wait until Saturday,” she said, laying her head on my chest. “It’s going to be such a big day.”

“Just don’t wear yourself out before then,” I said. “And try not to wear me out. I’ve still got to work on Sunday.”

“You’ll get over it,” she smirked, giving me another little smooch.

Then she shifted topics as she let me go and started her own preparations for bed.

“Morgan looked satisfied this afternoon,” my sister said. “I take it you gave her quite the welcome home.”

“We enjoyed each other’s company,” I admitted. “I’m just glad she wasn’t trying to push my buttons. She’s much nicer when she allows things to happen instead of trying to make them happen.”

“And what did you think of the new Morgan?” Kacie asked.

“I hope it gives her some confidence,” I said, “but I’m afraid she might go a little overboard the way she can. She’s going to get a lot more attention from boys once school starts. She told me about the whole talking-to-her-tits thing. That’s going to be a regular occurrence for her now.”

“As Arlene’s already told her: With great power comes great responsibility,” my sister said. “We’ll try to keep her feet on the ground until she gets used to them.”

I gave my little sister a goodnight kiss and headed off to bed. I was going to face another busy day tomorrow.

I was moving as soon as I woke up Wednesday. In addition to my workouts and shift at the pool, I needed to get my shopping for Morgan’s present wrapped up in time for the group date at the teen lounge.

I packed another change of clothes for after work, scarfed down a quick bite of breakfast and again drove to the club. I almost couldn’t do my stretching because I was trying to keep from laughing at the conversation Keri and Erin were having about what to wear Saturday to Kacie’s party. It just struck me as funny to be hearing about necklines and hemlines while a bunch of 300-pound behemoths grunted their way through their exercises.

Coach Bennett was on the range, swearing he was going to break 80 once this summer before he had to go back to work. His time was running out as the coaching staff would start meeting Monday. With the handful of boys needing physical exams that day in addition to all the female athletes, the athletic department was gearing up in advance of another year.

Our running, snapping and huddling went without a hitch, then it was off to get ready for work. Jed, Keri, Erin and some of the other guys went ahead and got their lifting in while those of us on the morning crew showered and dressed for work. The delivery got sorted and the cabanas attended to in time for all of us to grab something from Tia Connie while another morning of swimming lessons wound down.

Molly Harris demanded my attention almost as soon as she was out of the water, getting a coat of sunscreen and an airplane ride before grabbing a juice box out of the kitchenette.

“Dave said you paid him a visit yesterday,” Ellen Harris said as I wiped my hands on a towel after greasing up her daughter. “He’s pretty excited about a deal you’re involved in that’s about to happen, but he won’t tell me what’s going on.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” I said. “You wouldn’t want him to violate any federal regulations.”

“Can’t you at least give me a hint?” she asked.

I pondered the best way to respond without getting us all in trouble.

“Think of something you’ve always wanted,” I said, “something so outrageous you’d never hope to get it.”

“OK,” she said.

“Now imagine your husband getting it for you for Christmas,” I said, giving her a big smile. “Go ahead and start dropping hints of what you want, just wait until this time next week before you try to wheedle the information out of him.”

“Now I’m really curious,” she said. “I have a pretty good imagination.”

I went back to work, hoping I hadn’t completely wrecked Dave Harris’ marriage.

Arlene arrived a little before noon and was soon joined by all the Gang of Eight members except Kacie, who was working. David had the pleasure of dealing with the miscreants this time. The tradeoff was Arlene was sure to tip him as much as he’d make for an entire weekend at one of the other positions. I don’t know how much she’d personally raised the standard of living for some of these guys, but they were going to be devoted to her for life.

I grabbed a carne asada burrito for lunch and began subbing in for the other guys, completing the circuit just as the afternoon guys took over. Chuck badgered the rest of us morning guys to go ahead and get our lifting done before we left. It really wasn’t that hard to convince us and I was still showered, dressed and on the road before 3 p.m.

My first stop was the bank, where it was surprisingly easy to get them to raise the daily limit on my card to $1,000. They didn’t even ask for parental approval. I promised myself I wouldn’t go overboard, especially since I was facing a $100 per week allowance once school started.

After I finished at the bank, I headed over to the mall and had Marjorie add a 1.2-ounce bottle of Chanel No. 5 to my gifts for Morgan and Kacie. I held off on returning to Victoria’s Secret today, hoping they would have changed that placard in front of the swimwear display by tomorrow afternoon.

While Marjorie was finishing up the giftwrapping, I went over to the men’s department to look around. They didn’t have anything I didn’t already have except for suits and other dress clothes. Since I wasn’t planning on trying to impress George Patterson again anytime soon, I left them alone.

I took my packages from Marjorie and headed over to the apartment, where I put Kacie’s on the shelf above the clothes bar. I put Morgan’s in the trunk of the car, praying that I wouldn’t forget it. The plan was I’d give it to her tonight at the teen lounge as a homecoming gift, which was not to be confused with the Homecoming gift and giant mum I was sure she’d expect in October.

I got home a little before 5 p.m. and jumped in the shower just to make sure I was clean enough to get close to girls. I’d just finished dressing in khakis and a polo and was combing my hair at the sink when my sister blew through and took possession of the bathroom. It appeared that she really had gotten all sweaty chasing those kids around today.

“Go,” she said, pushing me toward the door to my room. “You’re practically ready now. I’m all icky. We took them outside this afternoon.”

I don’t know how my sister felt about her job, but she was apparently pretty good at it. I regularly overheard some of the little ones at swimming lessons in the mornings talk about going to see “Miss Kacie” after they were done at the pool.

Even though we’d eat at the club, I went and brewed some tea for Mom and Dad for their dinner. It was more to kill time than out of any desire to be helpful, but my efforts were still appreciated.

Mom hit me with a bombshell as I reached for two glasses and began filling them with ice.

“Would you mind staying at Arlene Jenson’s this weekend?” she asked. “Your grandparents will be here Friday and I was going to put them in Kacie’s room and give her yours. It’ll only be for two or three nights depending on when they leave.”

Dad looked like he was about to volunteer to take my place and let me sleep in the Buick.

“Sure,” I said. “It shouldn’t be any problem. I take it you’ve already cleared this with Mrs. Jenson?”

I didn’t know just how much Mom knew about my relationship with the redhead, but I was going to maintain as much plausible deniability as I could until I was shown it was a wasted effort.

Kacie came out in one of her denim miniskirt combos, pulling her hair back into a ponytail with the aid of a scrunchie. She was ready to go, even though it wasn’t even 6:30. I wasn’t even thinking when I agreed to give her a lift. I’d just have to turn right back around to go get Morgan.

“Not going with Danny tonight?” I asked as we pulled out of the drive.

“He’ll be there, but said he’d be a little late,” Kacie said. “He’ll be able to give me a ride home.”

I dropped her off, getting a kiss on the cheek in payment, and headed back to get my girlfriend. I stopped to fuel up on the way. Between all my errands the last couple of days and allowing Kacie to practice driving, I was down below a quarter tank.

Mrs. Ensberry greeted me when I rang the doorbell to pick up Morgan.