Chapter 29

"Remember this summer?"

Warning bells. Hell, more like an air raid klaxon. "Of course."

I turned off the highway onto the road that led to Robbie's house. I was driving Darlene home after school. Tami had stayed after to work on something for the paper, and I had the afternoon off because of the rain pounding down around us.

"Remember when we..."

"Something I'm not likely to ever forget," I said quickly, remembering her self-esteem issues. "A sexy cheerleader losing her virginity in my tent is one of those stories I'll bore everyone with in the old folks home ninety years from now."

"I wasn't a virgin," she giggled.

"Might as well have been."

Damn, I hoped she wasn't horny. That would be all I needed, along with Tami still bugging me about Bobbi's virginity.

I parked and shut off the car.

"I just wanted you to know that you were right."

"I usually am," I said pompously.

"Not according to Robbie," Darlene said and giggled again.

"What was I right about this time?" I asked, ignoring her comment.

"Afterward, when we were talking, you said there were guys out there who knew how to do it right."

I remembered our talk. We were walking, just enjoying the quiet of the morning and Darlene was telling me about her first time. Her real first time. "I'm glad."

During the play, I'd thought she and Luke were about to hook up, but a week or so later I found out that she'd been dating Clay Willingham. "How'd you hook up with the enemy anyway?" Clay was a senior and had been the quarterback on North Lincoln's football team.

Darlene smiled. "During the home basketball game with them, I kind of got into it with one of their cheerleaders. It was his little sister. It just kind of happened."

I decided for the eight-thousand-three-hundred-and-sixteenth time that the world was a strange and wondrous place.

"And he treats you right?"

Darlene reached over, cupped my face in her hands and kissed me gently. "Almost as good as you."

"I want you to listen to something," Robbie said as Darlene and I ran dripping into the house.

"Can I dry off first?" I asked sarcastically.

"Nope, just shake like a dog." Robbie got out of her chair and headed for the stairs. Lying on the floor in front of the chair, the twins giggled. I decided that I needed to speak to their dad about spanking them more often, or maybe Robbie's dad since they hung out here as much as their own house.

I shook like a dog, then followed Robbie up the stairs. I grinned when I saw the drops of water that had landed on the entryway mirror. Robbie had complained more than once about constantly cleaning it.

Robbie was sitting at her computer when I walked in her room.

"This is a seventies song I found. I wanted you to hear it."

I cocked my head in question.

"Just listen," she ordered and clicked something on her computer.