Chapter 7

"She's something else, Mom," Darrin said. "You should have seen Carrie negotiate with the art gallery owner. It was amazing. She won point after point, and the resulting agreement wasn't near as one-sided as it would have been otherwise. I'll be perfectly frank, I would not have known where to start, let alone where to end up."

Alone with her son, Harriet wondered how Evan was getting along with Carrie. Her husband had asked Carrie to drive him to the restaurant where she worked. He wanted to scope out any problems related to his little girl's safety.

"Carrie said the gallery would sell all of your paintings within a week, and they would be priced at $10,000 apiece. Correct?" Harriet asked.

He blushed. "The price is correct, though it's an average price. I assume some will be a little higher and some a little lower, but the gallery owner didn't guarantee all of them would sell in a week. Let's wait and see. Carrie exaggerated a little. She's a glass-is-half-full kind of girl."

Harriet laughed. "Yes, she is. How have the two of you been getting along?" Stupid question, she thought. Her son and daughter obviously adored each other. Maybe a little too much. No, she told herself. Don't go there. Give them the benefit of the doubt. They've always been close. Darrin doted on her when he lived at home, took better care of her than I did. Now she's taking better care of him than I did when he lived at home.

"Fine. When I offered to help her so she could go to college, I didn't realize she'd end up helping me more than I helped her. I guess you could say we have reciprocal needs."

"It's hot up here, Darrin. You should consider some ceiling fans and maybe a window air conditioning unit, though Carrie doesn't even have a window in her bedroom. I walked in her room a while back, and it was a sweatbox."

"Good idea. I think I can wire the fans for the ceiling, but if I can't we'll buy some floor fans, and if it gets too bad in her room, I'll trade with her, say every other night or something like that."

Glib. Too, glib. Not like Darrin at all. He's normally uncaring when it comes to his own comfort let alone someone else's comfort.

"Tell me what the plastic surgeon told you this morning, Carrie," Evan Cannon said.

With Carrie behind the wheel of Darrin's car, she and her father were returning to the studio and loft. He had wanted to see where she worked, where she had to park, and how she moved to and from the restaurant from the car. Carrie had explained the parking lot was well lighted and usually someone accompanied her to her car after her shift, the bartender more often than not, and still the worried man had wanted to see for himself.

"He did a little more than talk to me. He took one look at my wound and cursed, and then replaced the stitches made by the doctors at the hospital with what he called neat little monofilament, non-absorbable sutures. I'm to see him again in six days, and he will remove the stitches. Then we wait. He wants the wound to heal completely, which could take from three to six months, before he recommends further treatment."

"Did you ask what it would cost?"

"Yeah, but he said he couldn't tell me until he sees what he'll need to do."

"Well, let me know when you know, and I'll help with the expense. We can put it on a credit card and pay for it over time."

"We'll see, Dad. I believe the insurance company will take care of the expense. If not, I think I can handle whatever it costs myself."

"Well, if you can't handle it all, call on me, and I'll pony-up whatever you need. Okay?"

She pursed her lips and nodded.

"Okay?"

"Yes, Dad."

"It looks like you're fairly safe at the restaurant, but I want you to promise me you won't go to the parking lot alone at the end of your shift."

"Okay, I promise."

"And while I'm here, I'm probably going to piss you and Darrin off, but I have a few recommendations about the studio and loft. I don't like it that you have to get out of the car to open the overhead door, especially considering you don't get home until the wee hours in the morning. It's not so bad when Darrin drives you to and from work, but when you're alone, that's the most dangerous time for you. I want an automatic door opener installed so you can pull into the studio and then close the door before you get out of the car. Also I want some lights installed that will come on automatically when you pull up to the door. You need a deadbolt lock on the entrance door, a peephole in the door and a security chain so you'll be safe opening the door to a stranger. And lastly, I think a home alarm system is necessary. If you'll do these few things, I'll get off your back about moving."

"Okay, I promise I'll do them, but I can't afford them right now. I'll do them after Darrin's show next month."

"No, we'll get them ordered today. I'll pay for them, and you don't need to pay me back. I just need to feel you are safe, sweetie." He gave her shoulder a loving squeeze. "I know you think you're not my little girl any more, but in my mind you are, and I need to feel you're relatively safe."

She glanced toward him and smiled. "Okay, but Darrin and I will pay you back after the show."

"We'll see. And another thing, while you're driving around, like now for instance, you should have the car doors locked."

She reached and pushed the button that locked all the doors. "I usually do, Daddy. Just forgot."

"And for hell sake, don't walk to the Seven Eleven alone anymore."

"That's a promise, for sure." She touched the bandage on her cheek.

"Mother suspects, Darrin," Carrie said as they waved and watched their parents drive away. It had been a hectic three days. Her father had supervised all the workmen installing all the security devices he had ordered. He also helped Darrin wire and install the ceiling fans in the living room and the two bedrooms. Darrin put his foot down about the window air conditioning unit, but promised to buy one after the show.

"Really? Why?" Darrin asked, obviously surprised.

"For one thing, they're coming back for the show. I also noticed Mom looking at both of us a number of times, watching us intently like she was studying how we reacted with each other. She even pursed her lips and shook her head once when you looked at me with too much love in your eyes."

When their parents' car drove out of sight, they moved back into the studio. Carrie locked the door, fastened the chain and set the alarm. Her father had nagged her so much the action had become automatic.

"Besides," Carrie added, "she talked to me about moving into a dormitory when I start school. That's always been Dad's big thing. Mother didn't care one way or the other before. She suspects, Darrin. Take my work for it."

"What should we do about it?" he asked with concern as he flopped down onto the worn-out recliner he kept in the studio after Carrie had ejected it from the living room.

She settled onto his lap. "Nothing. When they come back for the show, we'll just keep denying, denying, denying. Unless they catch us with our pants down, all they can do is make caustic comments or accusations, which we'll rebut and deny." She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him, and the kiss soon became passionate. "I needed that," Carrie said when they leaned back for air.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, which made them both jump. Carrie reached and rubbed her lipstick from Darrin's lips. "Wash your face. I'll answer the door. I suspect it will be Dad or Mom or both of them with one more tidbit of advice."

Darrin was at the studio sink when he heard Carrie say, "Mother, did you forget something?"

"I didn't. Your father did. I'll swear he'd lose his head if it weren't attached. Your father left his toolbox here. Ah, there it is, right where he said it would be. Darrin would you take it out to the car for me?"

"Sure, Mom."

After Darrin walked outside with the toolbox, Harriet turned to her daughter. She gave her a serious look and said, "You're being a good girl, aren't you, Carrie?"

She just couldn't resist, Carrie thought with a smile. "Mom, I haven't even had a date since I moved here. Of course, I've been a good girl."

"It's all right to date, you know. It's healthy - normal. Go ahead and date."

"I haven't had much time, but things are easier now. There's a good-looking guy at work I think is going to ask me out soon. He's been flirting with me, and I like him. And no doubt I'll date when I start college. I'm a little confused, though. You want to know if I've been a good girl, and in the next breath tell me I should start dating again."

"What about Darrin? Does he have a girlfriend?"

Damn! She couldn't be more obvious unless she came right out and asked if Darrin and I were committing incest. Remember, deny, deny, deny. "He's been busy, too, but a few women have called him since we had the phone installed. I know a woman broke up with him just before he came up for my graduation, and he feels a little burned. You'd have to ask, Darrin, Mom. He hasn't told me much about his love life."

Harriet raised one eyebrow, a genetic thing she'd passed onto Darrin, but not Carrie.

"Well, both of you should date. One of these days, I want some grandchildren to spoil."

"Mother! I have no intention of getting married anytime soon. I want an education so I don't have to be too dependent on any man. Besides, I think I'm going to make a career out of being an artists' agent, so I've been thinking about changing my major to business with a minor in English. Waddaya think?" Carrie flashed a wide smile at her mother.

She shook her head. "Sounds right."

Darrin came back inside. "Dad's getting impatient, Mom."

"Okay, okay." She gave her children another hug and kiss, and they walked her to the door and out to the car, once again waving until the car drove out of sight.

Back inside the studio with the door locked and chained, Carrie pushed Darrin back onto the recliner. "Now, where were we when we were so rudely interrupted?" she asked as she settled back on his lap. She kissed him again and said, "Mom thinks we should be dating, and I don't mean with each other. She gave me quite a lecture while you took Dad the toolbox."

"Jesus!"

"Yeah. So here's my plan. We will both have dates for the show."

He nodded.

"Just dates, not lovers, Darrin. I have no intention of sharing you with anyone, and I certainly don't want another man. But we'll need dates to perfect the subterfuge. Agreed?"

"Yes."

"Good. Which presents a dilemma, at least for me. I told Mom a man at work seemed interested in me - the bartender, by the way - but he isn't the type I'd take to an art gallery, a demolition derby perhaps but not to your three-man show."

Darrin laughed. "Let me guess. He drives a pickup truck with oversized wheels."

"Yep. What about your lawyer friend, Tom? When he brought the contract over for me to sign, I looked like death warmed over, but he didn't appear too repulsed by what he saw."

Darrin had noticed the way his friend looked at his sister. No doubt Tom would jump at the chance for a date with her if Darrin gave him the green light. But he had reservations. "Revolted! Hah! He undressed you with his eyes. Tom is quite the lady's man, Carrie."

"Just the type I want, the type that will fool Mom. A lady's man will be attentive and try to impress me. Besides, we'll be double dating that night, Darrin. I think I can handle Tom, and when the parents return to Milltown, I'll give him the cold shoulder."

He grinned. "Double dating, huh?"

"Yep. I want to keep an eye on you."

"Which might defeat the purpose of the subterfuge, at least in Mom's eyes."

She grimaced. "You might be right."

"Don't you trust me?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I trust you implicitly. I don't trust Tom or the bimbo you'll be taking."

"Bimbo?" His dark eyes teased. "I thought I'd ask Barbara. She might turn me down, though, might be in a committed relationship for all I know. Do you think she's a bimbo?"

Carrie's eyes widened. "Barbara?"

"Yeah. She's a few years older than me, but not too old. I'm guessing she's in her early thirties, like Tom. She'll be going the show anyway, and she's the type that will impress Mom as much as Tom."

"Are you interested in Barbara?"

"Are you interested in Tom?"

"No. Answer my question, damn it!"

"I'm in love with you, sis. If you were asking if I'd be interested in Barbara if I wasn't in love with you, I'd have to say yes. She has class, is attractive and she's interested in me. Tom falls into the same categories relative to you. Carrie, you suggested the subterfuge, not me, and you selected a man for your date that immediately set the green-eyed monster called jealousy on my shoulder."

"Barbara makes me jealous, too."

"You could go to the show with the guy with the pickup, and I could rustle up a bimbo, but if we're going to pull this off, we need to do it right."

She grimaced. "Yeah, I suppose so. Damn it! Okay. I'll call Tom, and you give Barbara a call, and we won't double date, but with this decision we'll have one more thing to worry about when the parents return."

"Such as?"

"It's difficult enough not to cast loving glances at you when Mom and Dad are around. Now I'll need to be careful not to shoot daggers with my eyes into Barbara's lovely back during the show."

"And I'll need to quell my urges to choke Tom with my bare hands when he touches you."

Carrie sighed. Incest was complicated. If they weren't brother and sister, they could be each other's date, and she wouldn't need to worry about Darrin alone with a classy beauty like Barbara. Still, she either trusted him or she didn't. She shrugged inwardly. She trusted him. He loved her. She had nothing to worry about. She felt her brother's hand caress her leg, and his touched thrilled her. "I know you want to get back to work, but could we please go up to your bed for an hour or so first?"

He grinned. "My sentiments exactly."

Harriet gazed unseeing through the windshield of the car as her husband guided it toward home. Deep in thought, she wondered yet again if her son and daughter had become intimate with each other. Images flashed through her mind. Darrin's loving glance when his sister entered the kitchen. Carrie's lust-filled eyes fixed on her brother when she didn't realize her mother could see her. She remembered Carrie on Darrin's lap when he visited Milltown for her graduation. She was kissing him, and the kiss didn't appear innocent, certainly not a brother-sister kiss. Then later after she had given Carrie permission to live with her brother in Vegas, her daughter had hopped on her son's lap and kissed him again, and that kiss didn't appear innocent either, but it was. Carrie had just kissed her the same way. Shaking her head, she still had doubts. Carrie and Darrin had always adored each other, more than most siblings.

"You're awfully quiet," Evan said. "Are you worried about the kids?"

"No, not really. Just doing a little wool gathering about my youth." Yeah, I'm worried, she thought, very worried, but I'm not worried about them in the same way you're worried about them, dear, sweet, naïve husband. She debated whether to announce her suspicions, but knowing Evan like she did, he would turn the car around and tear back to Vegas. He'd bodily remove Carrie and take her back to Milltown with them. Lord only knew what he would do to Darrin. The scene would be a disaster, especially if what Harriet suspected weren't true, and she didn't have proof, only suspicions. Surely her children wouldn't be so foolish as to become involved in an incestuous relationship.

She remembered a girlfriend of hers named Rhonda from her youth. Rhonda had become sexually active with her brother. When her parents discovered the incestuous relationship, they had shipped her brother to another state to separate them. Rhonda had been devastated for a while and had finally confided in Harriet. Harriet remembered how shocked she'd been with the revelation. Rhonda didn't seem the type to do what she did, and Harriet would have never guessed the source of her friend's unhappiness. The two girls had talked about what happened, discussed sex and incest and love. Yes, they talked about love because more than sex was involved. Rhonda had announced she loved her brother. A year later, Rhonda came to terms with what happened and started to date. She was a bit wild, and Harriet, still a virgin, had enjoyed Rhonda's sex life vicariously for a while.