Chapter 9

Before Kim led Mel on a short tour through the remainder of the house, he mentioned that he needed to pee. “Probably ‘cause of those two beers I had with lunch,” Mel said, adding, “You know what they say ... you don’t actually buy beer, you only rent it for a while.” Kim has heard that old saw many times before, but gave him a courtesy chuckle anyway. While he stayed in the Belson house, he would be sharing a bathroom with DeeDee and Kim anyway, and since he’d need to utilize it multiple times each day, it only made sense for their tour to begin there, so Kim ushered him in that direction.

After a quick stop to relieve his bladder, Mel rejoined Kim in the hallway and their tour continued. She showed him the master bedroom, where Fran resided alone since her husband’s passing. In terms of bedrooms, Mel had never seen one so large. Considering the combined size of the bedroom and the en suite bath, the square footage was more than half the size of the jaw-dropping in-home library, according to his eyes. The decor was frilly and every surface seemed to be festooned with some sort of lacework. “Dad didn’t allow Mom to bring in all this girly stuff while he was alive,” Kim mentioned in passing. “Mom only started to redecorate a year or so ago, putting her own touches on it.” Mel nodded silently. He could certainly understand why a man wouldn’t necessarily be too comfortable in the space; Everything seemed too ... precious. Too dainty and delicate. Even the canopied four-poster bed, with its ornately carved woodwork, seemed like it was probably an antique and far too cherished an item to be carelessly approached. Viewing all this from the doorway, Mel was afraid that he’d damage or mar some dearly held family heirloom if he so much as stepped inside the room. He silently jerked his head back toward the hallway, hoping Kim would allow him to move away from Fran’s private sanctum and continue the tour. She took his not-so-subtle hint with a gentle smile and grabbed his hand to lead him around the rest of the interior.

“And this is the family room,” Kim said as she gestured with one hand.

“Wait,” Mel said halting his footsteps, “I thought the family room was the one with all the books...?”

“That’s the den,” Kim corrected him, “or you can call it the library, like Dad used to. He insisted that we couldn’t put a television in there, so Mom had this room made into a kind of sitting room / family room / television room.” She shrugged, indicating that the difference between the two rooms had never meant that much to her, but that she was happy enough to continue referring to the rooms as her father had. Mel looked around the space and found it inviting in its own way. There was a large, well-cushioned sofa and several lounger-style chairs, all oriented to face the television; Some directly facing it, others at an angle. The TV was impressive in its own right; A large mahogany cabinet housed the set, along with a hi-fi turntable and two sizable speakers. “Dad really liked to listen to music in here,” Kim noted, almost as an afterthought.

“And watch TV too, right?” Mel asked. “I assume he got some good use out of the thing.”

Kim shook her head. “Not too much, no. I mean, he’d watch TV every once in a while ... mostly football or maybe baseball ... but not too often. Matter of fact, that was the subject of one of the loudest arguments I ever heard he and mom have.”

Mel raised one eyebrow, looking at Kim quizzically.

She explained. “I think it was a holiday ... not like Christmas or something, but I remember that Dad had the day off work and I didn’t have to go to school either ... like President’s Day or something. Anyway, Mom was watching one of her soap operas and he wanted to listen to music in here. Man ... they were screaming so loud that I thought the cops might show up!” Kim had that faraway reminiscent look in her eyes again as she gave a half smile and shrugged. “But in the end, they got through it.”

“So...,” Mel asked, “who won the argument?”

“Dad,” Kim answered, “ ... as usual. Oh, I’m sure Mom won her fair share too ... but when he got his heels set on something, nobody was going to change his mind. Period.”

One other important difference between the family room and the library was that the space with the television also had photos on the walls. Quite a few of them, actually. There were ensemble pictures in which the entire family posed in their Sunday best, a single, larger image of Jimmy and Fran that looked almost as if it had been painted, and there were also solo shots of Kim as well as quite a few of DeeDee. A whole bunch of DeeDee. She was clearly the recipient of the Belson family’s adoration. In the bookcase that surrounded the mahogany TV/stereo cabinet, there were nearly a dozen small, framed photos of the family members at different times in their lives. On an adjacent wall, there was even a large, collage style frame that housed a few dozen smaller candid photos, showing each of the family at play or in celebratory moments. Unsurprisingly, everyone was fully clothed in the snapshots. For the first time, Mel could put a face to Jimmy’s name, allowing him to feel as if he had known the man.

From the portraits, Jimmy’s face looked back at Mel, showing the many years of sun-baked toil. The photos showed the man’s appearance changing through the decades, his hair had eventually turning to a shock of snowy white as it thinned a bit. He had kind eyes, in Mel’s opinion, but there was something curious about his face that took Mel a few moments to suss out; Jimmy’s smile appeared to be a bit forced. The rest of his face didn’t seem to match the curve of his mouth and his eyes didn’t narrow at all when he grinned. It was a bit unnerving to Mel, causing him to shudder involuntarily. Kim noticed and asked him about it.

“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly while rubbing one hand along his back, “ ... are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Mel replied, “ ... it’s just ... your dad’s smile.”

“Oh yeah,” Kim nodded. “Dad didn’t actually smile all that much. Don’t get me wrong ... it’s not like he walked around mad all the time or anything. He just had a kind of stony face and didn’t share his emotions with people too easily.”

The description reminded Mel of his own departed father, who only seemed to smile after he’d had a few beers. “Maybe it’s a generational thing,” Mel offered. “Could be some kind of leftover from living through some of the great depression ... my dad was the same way.”

Kim shrugged. “Maybe so. I can only tell you that he smiled and laughed around the house plenty, but everyone except me and mom thought he was just an ol’ crank.” She chortled at the memory. “They never seemed to know what he was thinking.”

Then, Mel noticed two other curious things about the room; One was that the entire bookcase that surrounded the television/stereo console housed no books except albums of even more photos. The other difference was that there were no non-family members in any of the pictures. He chose not to comment on these discoveries.

For a fraction of a moment, Mel imagined himself living in Kim’s childhood home. He envisioned Kim and her daughter in the family room, watching television while he sat in the library, reading and sipping whiskey, listening to jazz on his very own, newly purchased hi-fi stereo with a quadraphonic speaker setup. He was listening to something instrumental but not too intricate. He couldn’t listen to Monk or Bird or Brubeck while trying to focus on a book – he’d be too engrossed in the music. Strangely, his dreamy imagining did not seem to include Fran. Sometimes, when dreaming, one has a sense of another person’s presence or whereabouts even when they’re not visible. But in those moments, he had no idea why he hadn’t included Kim’s mother. “Maybe it’s ‘cause I only met her today,” he silently thought, “ ... she’s not really etched into my brain like Kim and DeeDee apparently are.” Mel shook his head to clear the phantom future memory before Kim led him through the rest of the home.

There was the kitchen, of course, which he’d already seen, but then she led him further toward the rear of the house and he was surprised again; After she opened a door and fumbled inside for a light switch, the room was illuminated and Kim announced, “And this is the garage ... we keep the washer and dryer in here too.” She gestured toward the back wall of the space at two sizable laundry appliances. There was room inside for at least two vehicles - maybe a third if a person were very careful. But what fully stunned Mel was that inside the garage sat a flawless 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. The poor neglected vehicle was covered in a heavy layer of dust, but otherwise, immaculate. Through the dirty film, Mel could see the white and pale blue two-tone paint job, yearning for a wash and polish. He carefully examined the lines of the car under the lights and couldn’t find a single dent or ding in the bodywork. Heck, the moon hubcaps and white wall tires even looked fairly new. He stood there admiring the Detroit-born work of art, gobsmacked, while Kim talked away about something or other, though he didn’t register most of what she said.

“Huh?” He finally heard himself ask.

“I said,” Kim reiterated, “this old car hasn’t moved since Dad died. Mom’s afraid to drive it ‘cause Dad loved this thing almost as much as he loved us.” Kim shook her head wistfully, once again flashing back to memories of her departed father.

“So ... it just sits here?” Mel asked, shaking his head, “that’s a shame.”

Kim nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking that I might see if Mom will let me give it to DeeDee when she’s old enough to drive ... but ... I don’t know.”

Mel honestly tried, but couldn’t hold his tongue. “You can’t give this car to a teenager ... that would be almost as bad as letting it just sit here and rot.” He shook his head again. “If I were you, I’d let DeeDee have the station wagon and you take this car. You’d be much more likely to take care of a fine vehicle like this one – as long as you don’t try to drive it in the snow and ice.” Kim chose to ignore his gentle ribbing of her and waited for him to continue, which he did. “Besides, a young driver would be safer in that tank of yours.”

Kim sidled up to him and wrapped one arm around his waist. “I’ve thought of that too. But I’m not sure I wanna give DeeDee a car that has a back seat that lays down and leaves a space big enough for two people to lie down ... if ya’ know what I mean.”

“Good point,” Mel admitted. “Still...” He gestured toward the Chevy and shook his head once more. “It’d be a shame to hand this over to a teenager or let it just rust away in here.”

Kim nodded before ushering him out of the garage. Turning toward the rear of the house again, she led him through another door and into the backyard. Once again, Mel felt his breath catch; There, before his eyes, was a veritable Eden contained inside an eight-foot-high wooden privacy fence. The space was larger than he’d expected, and obviously well-tended. Around the perimeter of the yard, just inside the fence, there were tall elm trees providing shade over a sizable portion of the manicured grass. Along one side, near the fence, was a small garden, though there didn’t appear to be anything growing in it at the time. At opposite corners of the yard, there were two fruit trees; One orange, one lemon. But the most prominent feature of the yard was the in-ground swimming pool.

Mel had only seen in-ground pools at fancy hotels – never at a private residence. In his mind, such a luxury was reserved for the fabulously wealthy, and it immediately changed his perspective of Kim’s parents’ status. Due to the chilly season, the water had been drained from it. And although it wasn’t Olympic-sized, it was easily as large as the one he’d encountered during his most recent trip to Vegas. At the deep end of the pool, there was even a diving board and a slide. He was fully dumbfounded and stood there with his jaw hanging loose.

Kim chuckled. “Yeah, we used to have a lot of fun out here in the summertime ... before Dad passed.”

“Don’t you use it anymore?” Mel asked.

“Sure,” Kim nodded. “We’ll get in there to cool off sometimes, and DeeDee likes the slide almost as much as when she was really little, but it’s just not the same. We used to come out here and spend hours by the pool. Dad would cook something on the grill and we’d swim or play croquet or whatever.” The dreamy look returned to her face again. “I miss those times.”

Again, Mel tried to silence himself, but could not. “And you did all of this completely naked?”

Kim shrugged. “Sometimes,” she said as if she hadn’t really considered it too much. “Most of the time, Mom and Dad were too worried about somebody peeking over the fence at me, so we all wore bathing suits. But sometimes, at night, we’d all come out here and swim naked.”

The thought of Kim’s body dripping wet made his cock begin to thicken and lurch in his pants. Hell, even thinking of what she’d look like in a bathing suit was enough to make his mouth water, but the notion of her emerging from the pool in her altogether was nearly rapturous to him. He barely suppressed a whimpering moan.

“And that’s pretty much all there is to the place,” Kim said, concluding her tour.

“Well, there’s a lot to it,” Mel said, almost under his breath. A question popped into his mind. “What about the rooms between yours and the guest room ... the one where I’ll be sleeping?” Mel asked.

“Oh, those are just a couple more bedrooms ... but we mainly use them for storage,” Kim replied. “I think Dad expected Mom to give him a few more kids, but ... that wasn’t in the cards, I guess.”

That meant that the house contained a whopping six bedrooms, two baths, the family (television) room, the library, a two-plus car garage, and the sizable backyard with an in-ground pool. Upon reflection, he realized his initial guesstimate of the lot size had been too small; The place was probably closer to an acre and a half ... maybe more. Mel couldn’t decide if his favorite part was the library or the backyard.

There were a number of questions still rattling around inside Mel’s noggin, but based on Kim’s most recent remark, he felt the need to explore that subject first. “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping here ... and feel free to tell me to shut up if I am, but you never told me...,” Mel paused for a beat, “why are you the only child? I mean, your mom is clearly big on the whole ‘be fruitful and multiply’ thing ... and your dad built a house that’s damn-near big enough to hold an entire baseball team ... so why don’t you have a bunch of brothers and sisters?”

Kim’s face clouded over. “I had a brother, but he was sick from the moment he was born ... most likely, before. I was four, almost five, when he was born. But after he was born, he only lived a few days. The doctors said it was some kind of illness he picked up in the womb ... I don’t remember what it was called. Anyway, after that, they told Mom that she’d probably never be able to make another healthy baby. And since she thought something was wrong with her body, causing Jimmy Jr., - that was his name - to get sick before he was even born ... she eventually decided to have her tubes tied so she wouldn’t have to go through the pain of losing another child. He was such a cute baby ... but he was so sick...”

Mel could see the sorrow in Kim’s eyes; It was clear to him that some of that sorrow was empathetic and on behalf of her mother, while the remainder of that sadness was Kim’s own. He pulled her close for a comforting embrace. Searching inside himself, he thought he could understand Fran’s reasoning in having her tubes tied after such a traumatic event. Based on what Kim had told Mel about her parents, it was clear that neither Jimmy nor Fran were going to abstain from sex, even if Fran could no longer procreate, and it made sense to avoid the pain of creating a life only for it to be so cruelly snatched away. Mel thought that he was beginning to understand why Fran was so fervent in her beliefs about other women creating more children, especially her own progeny.

The subject matter and Kim’s grief had quickly killed any arousal he’d felt while imagining her in the swimming pool, but in that moment, those concerns didn’t cross his mind. What was most important was ensuring that Kim was given the opportunity to talk or cry or scream or do whatever made her feel better. As it turned out, all she needed was to share a warm embrace with him. Feeling his body against her own and inhaling his manly aroma calmed her nerves, soothing her as quickly as a baby being held by a loving parent.

“We should probably go inside and check on DeeDee,” Kim said softly, her voice muted against Mel’s chest. “She’s not gonna be too happy with me, but all of our clothes that we had at your cabin need to be rewashed ... especially our unmentionables ... and whether she knows it or not, she’s gonna do her fair share.”

“Why do you need to rewash them? I mean, you both washed everything just yesterday...” Mel commented, the point seeming obvious to him, and leaving him wondering why they would duplicate their efforts.

“Yeah,” Kim allowed, “but we were hand-washing everything, and there wasn’t any fabric softener or any of those girly luxuries I’m used to. Believe me, it makes a /huge/ difference when it comes to the clothes that touch the fun parts,” she added, waggling her eyebrows to accentuate the point.

“Huh ... I never would’ve thought of that,” Mel admitted.

“That’s ‘cause you’re a guy,” Kim pointed out, “and guys don’t usually think about stuff like that. I would offer to wash your boxers with our stuff and get ‘em super soft, but we both know that your underwear is holding on by a thread as is,” she chuckled. “I’m kind of afraid to wash them unless they really need it. Maybe tomorrow I’ll go get you some new shorts, then wash ‘em my way so you can see what I mean.”

Mel shrugged and nodded.

~~~ DeeDee and Fran were back in the kitchen, playing checkers ... sort of. In fact, while there was game of checkers underway, it seemed that the two were only moving the pieces as an afterthought. Their attention was much more focused on DeeDee’s moment-by-moment recounting of her harrowing rescue. Fran sat across the table from her granddaughter, patiently listening to a more detailed version of the story she’d already heard, overjoyed that Kim and DeeDee were safely back home, where they belonged.

Kim allowed her daughter to continue her story, loathe to interrupt such a pleasant moment. Eventually, DeeDee got some scratch paper and a pencil so she could sketch a simple depiction of Mel’s Sno-Cat, since Fran had never seen one. The teen also doodled a few more times to better describe Mel’s cabin and its interior. All of these details seemed to fascinate Fran, and she asked loads of questions to get every morsel of information from her granddaughter. Eventually, she tried to steer the conversation toward a more decadent topic.

“So,” Fran said almost nonchalantly, “you let Mel pop yer cherry, huh?”

“Well, kinda,” DeeDee answered, “I mean I already busted it before, but not with a guy or anything.”

Fran nodded, remembering that the girl had broken her own hymen using one of Kim’s adult toys. “That’s right, sweetie ... I ‘member yer momma tellin’ me that. But you said Mel’s packin’ a really big piece o’ meat ... you sure he didn’t hurt you ‘r nothin’?”

DeeDee shook her head rapidly. “No ma’am, I promise. I mean ... it hurt a lot at first. Like ... a lot... ‘cause he’s so huge and I guess I’m really small down there.”

“Ya’ mean yer little coochie?” Fran asked, prompting DeeDee to speak more frankly.

DeeDee nodded as a dreamy expression washed over her face. “Yes ma’am. But he was really sweet and he kissed me all over and didn’t make me go too fast or anything. Actually, he let me get on top so I could go as slow as I wanted.”

“That there’s a good man,” Fran commented. “Most fellas don’t think about how th’ woman feels ... they’re only thinkin’ ‘bout gettin’ their jollies.”

“That’s what Momma said too,” DeeDee agreed. “But he’s not like that at all, Nana. He’s nice and he’s strong and when he touches me I start tingling all over.” She shivered involuntarily, the tiny nearly-transparent hairs on her arms standing on end. “Sometimes I start tingling just thinking about him.”

“Well, I fer one am thrilled that yer first time was good, honey,” Fran said as she patted one of DeeDee’s forearms reassuringly.

“And the second time and the third time were even better,” DeeDee blurted out. Simply talking about Mel’s effect on her had caused her nether regions to begin to feel electric. Even her scalp felt like it was buzzing as her blush spread from her cheeks out to her ears and down to the top of her chest. She tried shifting her weight in her seat to disguise her growing arousal, but Fran picked up on it right away. It wasn’t difficult, since the teen’s nipples were hardening to points and becoming plainly evident even through her bra and shirt.

Mel had been perusing the book spines in the library while sipping another beer, but finally made his way into the kitchen to join the ladies. As soon as he stepped into the room, he could smell DeeDee’s heightened arousal. It wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been when the girl had been naked in his cabin, but it tickled his nostrils enough to make him stop in his tracks.

Kim noticed his reaction, along with the growing python slowly stretching his pant leg toward his knee, and quickly put two and two together. She smirked to herself but chose not to say anything, afraid of embarrassing him in front of Fran.

Fran, however, was of a different mindset; Though she hadn’t noticed the evidence of Mel’s rigidity, she had seen the flush on her granddaughter’s face and could faintly smell the girl’s arousal, which meant the teen was needful. “Th’ poor thing’s in heat,” Fran silently, and correctly, surmised. Based on that, and the fact that Mel had apparently already sampled DeeDee’s charms, Fran saw no need to keep the two from coupling so that the teenager’s needs could be met. “Seems t’ me that yer little girl is in need o’ some lovin’,” Fran announced, cocking one eyebrow at Kim.

“She can wait,” Kim replied, turning her head so she could look DeeDee in the eyes. “She needs to learn that she can’t always have her way. Besides ... sometimes, it even makes things better to have to wait a while. All that anticipation can make it even more special when the moment finally happens.” What Kim chose not to say out loud was that she and her daughter were both still dealing with their ‘monthlies’, so the possibility of baby-making sex was off the table for another day or two.

DeeDee let out a whimpering whine when she heard her mother’s words. For just a few moments, she had hoped that her Nana was giving her permission to enjoy Mel again right away, but her mom had just pulled the rug right out from under that notion ... for the time being, at least. Silently, she played back Kim’s comment and realized that her mom hadn’t said it wouldn’t happen – just that she’d have to wait. DeeDee’s mood began to brighten again as the words sunk in.

Fran turned her attention to Mel as he took a seat at the table. “So, how long you been a forest ranger, Mel?” she asked.

“Actually,” Mel pointed out as kindly as he knew how, “I’m a Park Ranger. I know it might not seem like there’s a big difference, but the responsibilities of a Forest Ranger are not the same as mine.”

“How’s ‘at?” Fran wanted to know, genuinely curious.

“Well,” Mel paused to consider his word choice, “ ... first difference is that we work for the state or a specific national park, but they don’t. They might be assigned to a region, but not a certain park, for example. And within the state parks anyway, the Forest Rangers are primarily in charge of watching for fires and general conservation stuff. But ... and this is where the biggest difference shows up ... they don’t really do all that much other than that, at least in my experience.”

“I never knew that,” Fran admitted. Both Kim and DeeDee chimed in that they concurred.

“It might not be that way everywhere,” Mel allowed, “but where I work, the Forest Rangers don’t do all that much. Like I said, they’re mostly on fire watch, it seems like. Oh sure, they know the plants and animals as well as anyone, but when it comes time to actually do manual labor, they seem to disappear.”

“So, from what yer sayin’, it don’t sound like there was ever a chance that a Forest Ranger woulda found DeeDee or Kim?” Fran commented, phrasing it like a rhetorical question.

Mel chuckled. “No ... not in my park, anyway. As soon as they heard that we were gonna have to close the main road for the snowstorm, the Forest guys hightailed it out of there. But I guess you can’t blame them ... it’s not like any of them actually live there like I do. They just come into the park for their shift, then leave. That’s their routine, regardless of the weather.”

“Don’t they lead people around on nature hikes and stuff?” DeeDee asked, to which Mel nodded.

“Yeah, they do some of that. Of course, we do too,” Mel answered. “I suppose the easiest way to differentiate us is that we, the Park Rangers, actually maintain the place; road work, construction ... all that kind of stuff. Plus, we’re there year-round, even when the weather turns awful.”

“Like when we were there,” DeeDee commented, glad to still be part of the conversation.

Mel nodded slowly. “Yeah ... that...,” he let out a whistling sigh, “ ... that was somethin’ else. I’ve never seen that much snow in my life. Not all at once, anyway.”

Fran reached across to pat Mel’s forearm lovingly. “And I can’t thank you enough fer gettin’ my girls outta there safe.” Her face showed her sincerity, with soft eyes that brimmed with happy tears.

Mel blushed. “I was just doing my job, Missus ... um ... Fran. Besides, it has been my genuine pleasure to get to know them both.”

Fran’s head rocked back as she let out a raucous bellow of laughter. “I guess so! Heck, there ain’t no way you fig’red on gettin’ two horned-up girls in yer cabin is there? An’ in th’ middle of a snowstorm?! Shoot ... you prob’ly thought you died an’ went t’ Heaven.”

Mel’s blush deepened a shade as he nodded almost imperceptibly. “Well ... I ... uhm...”

“Oh hush, sugar,” Fran patted his arm again, “I’m just funnin’ ya’. Ain’t no reason t’ be embarrassed. Th’ Lord God made our bodies an’ gave us urges fer each other ... praise be t’ His name. An’ I, fer one, don’t think there’s any probl’m with a man an’ a woman pleasin’ each other s’ long as they don’t break marriage vows, an’ they try t’ make a baby while they’re at it.”

“We have to try to make a baby /every/ time?!” DeeDee asked incredulously and loudly.

“Well, maybe not every time,” Fran allowed. “But makin’ more young ‘uns oughta be a priority ... that much is fer sure. Why? Didn’t you take his seed inside yerself, honey?”

DeeDee nodded quickly. “Yes ma’am. Well ... not every time.” Shifting tactics, she tried to divert her grandmother’s seemingly judgmental gaze away from herself. “Momma likes to suck on him ‘til he squirts in her mouth.”

It was Kim’s turn to begin blushing a deep crimson.

“Don’t tell me you only sucked on ‘im, Kimberly,” Fran gently scolded her daughter. “You know dern well that a good Christian woman is s’posed t’ take a fella’s seed inside ‘er cooter... ‘specially if she loves th’ man like you claim to!”

“I didn’t...,” Kim stammered, flustered at the way she was being dressed down like a child in front of Mel. “It’s not like that’s the only thing we did together, Momma. And DeeDee knows that too; Most of the time, she watched Mel and me together!”

“Well, that’s good t’ hear,” Fran said with a nod. “I’m glad you was there t’ he’p ‘er along.”

“I figured it was the best way to teach her ... you know ... to let her watch me do it. Then, when she had her first time, I stayed there and tried to give her advice. That’s what you did for me when I had my first time,” Kim reminded her mother. “And I figured it was the best way I could make sure she was safe and didn’t try to rush things too much. You know, like dad did with me...”

Fran’s expression changed quickly. In a flash, her face showed the loss she still felt from her husband’s passing, and simultaneously, gave evidence of her empathy toward Kim. “I know, sweetheart. I know he went too fast... ‘specially that first time ... an’ I’m so sorry that happened. But you know how yer daddy was; Once he got ‘is mind set on somethin’, there wasn’t no way t’ get ‘im t’ listen.”

Kim nodded. She had spent many years trying to find a man who was as hard-working and protective as her father, but more giving in the bedroom. With Mel, she was certain that she’d hit the jackpot. Before she could point this out to her mother, DeeDee interrupted.

“Mel didn’t try to rush me or anything,” she said with a dreamy smile on her face, reiterating what she’d said to Fran just moments before. The teen had shifted her gaze Mel’s face, unknowingly biting her lower lip as her eyes flashed at his.