Chapter 25

We went into the house with the salad. The refrigerator was fairly full. Mary got the pitcher of lemonade out and started rearranging stuff to make room.

I heard music. It hadn't been on when we came in the house and everyone was outside, so I decided to investigate. I followed the sound and ended up in the TV room.

Wanda and a boy were sat on the couch watching MTV.

"Hey Wanda. When did you get here?"

"About the time you were yelling at that woman out back. We decided it was a little early in the day for fireworks."

"That's Mom. I think she'll behave for the rest of the day. Come on out and see Jill's new present."

"Ooh. Presents. By the way, Jack, this is Charlie. He's known us almost as long as Jill and I have known each other."

"Glad to meet you. I'm Jack."

"I've heard all about you."

"Oh, shit. I'm in trouble now."

Charlie laughed. "It wasn't all bad."

"That's good to know. I'm a changed man, thanks to Jill. And Wanda had something to do with it, too."

She looked puzzled.

"That little talk we had last weekend. You remember. When you chewed me out for making her cry."

"Oh, yeah. Most guys wouldn't have listened. Or wouldn't have cared if they did."

"Most guys don't have Jill."

"Come on Jackie, I need some help with these glasses."

Mary came into the room and stopped. She just stood there, her eyes on Charlie. I looked over at him and he was staring right back at her.

"Sis, this is Charlie. He's a friend of Jill and Wanda. Charlie, this is my sister, Mary."

They both mumbled something. Neither stopped staring at the other.

"Come on, Wanda. I don't think I trust her to carry glasses or a pitcher of lemonade out back."

Wanda came to the door. Mary and Charlie appeared to be stuck to the floor.

"You guys know where the back yard is when you're ready."

I glanced at Wanda on the way to the kitchen.

"Damn, I've never seen anybody react like those two."

"I have."

"Really? Where?"

"At the football game. A little over a week ago."

"Oh, yeah. I guess so."

I was attempting to pick up seven glasses when Wanda touched my arm. She opened a cupboard under the counter and pulled out a tray. "Try this."

"Much better." I piled the glasses on it and told her to grab the lemonade.

We went out the door and the puppy came bouncing up to Wanda. He obviously liked pretty girls. She put the pitcher down and bent over, picking him up.

"Oh, my. Aren't you precious." Her face must have tasted good, too.

"Is this the present you got for Jill?"

"Yeah, I had to. She's already grown tired of the jacket."

"I have not. I just didn't want the puppy to get it wet. That's why I didn't wear it."

"Jill, that doesn't make any sense. You didn't have the jacket on before you knew about the puppy, so there's no way you could have been afraid of him getting it wet."

"It doesn't have to make sense."

John laughed. "Better give up while you can, Jack. There's no way you can fight female logic. It doesn't follow any rules known to man."

I heard the door slide open. Charlie was holding it for Mary. Somehow they had made it from the TV room to the doorway without taking their eyes off each other.

Jill looked at them. "What's with those two?"

Wanda said, "You know how those Hills are. One look at someone of the opposite sex and they fall in love."

"Aw, that's cute."

I noticed Mom was watching Mary sleepwalk out to the patio with interest.

Wanda changed the subject. "My God, Jill, what have you been doing?"

"What?"

"Look at you. You're soaked."

"Oh. The puppy was in the pool."

"Damn, it's a good thing you've got your bathing suit on underneath. You can see everything. Speaking of which, I want to go swimming." She peeled off her shirt, then used my shoulder while she took off her shoes. The shorts came next and she was in her suit. She ran to the side of the pool and dove in.

Of course she was followed by a small black ball of fur. Jill and I both yelled "Watch out for his nails."

Jill stripped off and dove in with them. The girls started playing keep away from the puppy. One would call, then back away, the other would call and he'd turn around trying to catch her.

I slipped off my sandals and was about to undo my shorts when I was stopped short by the sight of Charlie and Mary. They were both looking in each others eyes. She was standing perfectly still, hands at her sides. Very slowly, he undid the buttons on her shirt, one at a time, top to bottom, slipping it off when it was unbuttoned, revealing the top of her bathing suit. He held it out over a chair and let it drop. He then unzipped her shorts and worked them down past her bottom, letting them slip to her feet. She put one hand on his shoulder, bent a knee and shook off that leg's part of the shorts, then repeated it for the other leg. Neither of them moved their gaze from the other's eyes for a second. Mom and John were both watching them as if in a trance. I swear, he could have continued and removed the suit and taken my sister on the table behind her and none of us would have been surprised or had anything to say about it. Including my sister. I have never seen anything so sensual, so intimate, yet so innocent.

After what seemed like hours but was probably only seconds, he shucked off his shorts, threw them on the chair with her shirt and stripped his shirt, which joined the other clothes. Mary bent her knees, picked up her shorts and tossed them on the pile, never breaking eye contact.