Chapter 2

So it was three years later I was in Austin. I'd kept in touch with Daneille and her family through my annual Valentine's Day cards, and she'd written back. She had come back from her visit to Mt. Shasta and confronted John, saying she knew about his ongoing trysts, and that she'd had enough of it and had one of her own, and she liked it, and if he didn't quit, then neither would she. That blew him out of the water, since he'd never thought she would cheat on him, like it was only a male thing to do.

When she made it clear it wasn't just a "male thing," and if he wanted to keep the family together, they'd better make other plans, he agreed. He looked for a job in academia, even though it wouldn't pay near what he was making programming, and he'd finally found a gig teaching at UT Austin. It gave them more time to be a family, and Danielle was making peace with his previous indiscretions, and being a loving wife once again.

I'd never met John, and was anxious to see how the family was doing now, so when I found myself scheduled into Austin to teach, I rang up Danielle to see if I could visit with them.

"Oh, Ron! It's so great to know you're going to be in town! I'd love to see you. I'm afraid you won't get to meet John, though. He's headed out of town for a conference, and Mark's at an academics camp, but Laurie and I will be here, and it will be great to see you. Let me know where you're staying and when we can get together."

"I'll call you when I get in. I'm teaching Thursday and Friday, but get done around 3pm Friday. How about I take you two out to dinner?"

"Sounds great. I can't wait to see you."

Laurie and I had established an e-mail friendship after she left Mt. Shasta. We shared messages every week or so, sometimes less frequently, but it was enough that I kept up on her growing pains, gave what advice I could, and then in the past year, these had tapered off. I was curious to see her in person again and find out what was going on, that she didn't feel as comfortable e-mailing with me as she had before.

The classes went well; I finished with a flourish, and then went to gather up Danielle and Laurie for dinner. They lived in quite a palatial estate, with a stone wall surrounding the two-story home, which looked easily 3,000 sq. ft. Danielle seemed genuinely pleased to see me, while Laurie gave me a brief hug, said hello and then seemed to hang back a bit while I offered arms to both, but only Danielle wrapped her arm around mine as we walked toward my rental sedan. Asking about the house, Danielle said John had quite a cashout from his Bay Area firm when they moved, and they'd been able to "buy well" considering how much they had also made, selling their Berkeley home.

Dinner was grand, at one of Austin's finest steak houses, and both Danielle and Laurie were dressed to the nine's. Laurie had really grown up, now 15, and filled out her evening dress delightfully. She was friendly enough but reserved as we chatted through dinner, getting caught up on our lives. I tried to engage Laurie in the conversation but she didn't stay in any loop for long, sitting back, but I was aware of her engaging looks toward me all evening. Danielle didn't seem to notice, and was happy for the company of an 'old friend.' I almost wondered how happy and where that might lead, but played the good companion while keeping an eye on Laurie, wondering what was up with her.

When we got back to their house, Laurie headed out around the house into the yard while Danielle invited me into their spacious home.

"Where'd Laurie go?" I asked.

"She lives in the carriage house," Danielle said. "She's become quite the rebel, and is just about impossible to live with. We negotiated, after she threatened to run away from home last year, and outfitted the carriage house for her. She seems to have settled down since then, having her "privacy," and she's doing well at school, we don't see her getting into any trouble, she's not hanging out with the "wrong kind," so we let it be. I miss her in the house, but we see her for breakfast and most dinners, but other than that, she stays in the carriage house."

"Must be kinda sad for you, though," I said. "You two seemed close last time we were together."

"Well, she was 12, and now she's 15, and I'm just glad I can keep her around. Maybe you could go talk with her? She liked you, you know, when we visited. Maybe you can find out something, if she'll confide. Maybe you can straighten her out some. John and I certainly don't seem to be able to connect with her these days." Danielle wasn't aware that Laurie and I had talked quite a bit over the previous three years, but given the relative absence of communications this past year, it didn't seem relevant at the time.

"Hey, I'll give it a shot. I'll drop out to see her, then head back to my hotel. I'm in town until Sunday. Can we visit tomorrow?"

"I'm taking a workshop at the community center tomorrow, but will be done by 4pm. Dinner?"

"Sounds great. I'll be by around 5 - how's that?"

"Terrific." She kissed me on the lips and I could sense an urge for tongue, but she held back, and looked me in the eyes. "John's been great since I got back from our being together, and I wouldn't want to mess anything up. I hope you understand?"

I kissed her back gently, and said "I respect that very much. Thank you for then, and thank you for now. And thank you in advance for tomorrow!"

Danielle hugged me, and thanked me again for being such a great guy. I headed down the path to the carriage house.

I knocked on the door, and Laurie opened it, with a bit of surprise in her eyes. "Ron, oh, you came! Oh, thank you so much! Did Mom see you? I was so hoping you'd come but couldn't ask, not in front of her, and I didn't know what your plans were while you're here, and..."

"Hold up a minute, Laurie! Get your breath back!" I smiled. "Mom knows I'm here. She asked me to come visit with you, in case I could help 'straighten you out.' Her words, not mine. May I come in and see your palace? I hear this is your dream come true."

"Well, it's my place, but... yes, come on in. I'd love to show you around," she said. I wasn't certain but I thought I detected a wry smile. "Mom knows you're here?"

"Yes, so not to worry. Now show me about!" She walked me through the carriage house, pointing out the various features with obvious pride.

It was a two-story structure, but only about a 20'x30' footprint. The downstairs had been converted into a living room with a small kitchen unit. There were bookcases on one wall, a good stereo/t.v. system across from a very comfortable-looking couch, and a closet. The stairs were narrow, crowded against one side and led up to a large loft area than held a large bed at one end, with a bathroom and shower at the other, along with what looked like another closet, though a big one.

"Laurie, thanks for letting me see your place, and most of all, you. I've missed our e-mail talks this past year. It seemed one day you were there, and then you kind of wandered off. I wondered if I'd said something to upset you, or if you'd just gone on to other interests. I enjoyed how close we seemed to get after your visit to Mt. Shasta. But now, I wasn't sure anymore how you felt about us, but wanted to talk with you.

Laurie looked sullen for a moment, then like she was a manic-depressive, immediately perked up.

"Ron, can I fix you something? What do you like? Is Mom still up?"

"She said she was going to bed, and I'll see her tomorrow. What do you have to offer?"

She looked at me sideways, and said, "Well, that depends."

I eased back onto the couch, crossed my legs, and looked square at her. "Depends on what?"

"On whether we'll be disturbed or not."

Oh, my. Well, let's roll with this and see where it goes. "Why don't we start with something non-incriminating and watch the lights in the big house?"

"Sounds like a plan."

She winked at me and then put some water on for tea. "I'll be back in a minute. Just want to change," and headed upstairs. It was probably just a minute when she swirled back down the stairs in a knee-length robe with slippers, and headed back to the kitchen unit. On the way, she glanced out the window toward the big house. "Downstairs lights are off, only her bedroom is on, looks o.k.," she announced.

She turned off the hot water and turned to me. "Can I trust you?"

"You could always trust me, and you can now. I won't give anything up."

"Goodie," she squealed, and went to the cupboard to bring down two glasses, then reached under the lower cabinet to bring out a bottle of wine and a small box. She brought the glasses over to the table in front of the couch, then returned for the bottle and box. Laurie then dropped onto the couch next to me, set the box and bottle on the table, and exhaled like she hadn't breathed for a day. Then she turned to me, clasped her hands around my face and pulled me into one very hot kiss, with lots of tongue. I just sat there somewhat in awe as she drew back and put her hands in her lap as she seemed to be almost jumping up and down on the couch.

"I am just so glad you've come to visit, and I'm just so nervous, and can't believe you're really here, and like I'm here with you, and I've thought about this sooo much and it's just as wonderful to see you and I thought it would be and..."

I put my finger up to her lips to shush her. "I'm so glad to be here with you, like like or or whatever whatever, and you don't have to say everything at once, and so let's just slow down and know I'm delighted to see you and that you're glad to see me, and we've got a lot of catching up to do, so like let me know what's going on with you and I'll tell you what's up with me, and we'll go from there. How's that?" She grinned and I smiled back.