Chapter 10

It took a little while to get everyone settled down and get all the explanations made. The four of them were sitting outside the 5^th wheel. The lawn chairs were the only things saved from Susan's home. The lawn chairs and the BBQ grill that is. Susan didn't want to think about it and wasn't sure if she ever wanted to see the grill again. Bill and Susan were drinking the last two surviving beers from the case Bill had arrived with. The girls had cokes accompanied with squeals of surprise when they spewed all over the place when opened.

"I guess they got pretty shook up when I threw the case," Bill said with a smile.

"Why didn't your beers spew," Mandy demanded angrily as she wiped the coke from the side of her face. "You threw that case too."

"Oh, that's something you learn when you grow up," Bill said nonchalantly.

Beth hit him in the arm and huffily said, "No it's not. That's only sex stuff you learn when you grow up."

Bill and Susan got a laugh out of that. Both girls just glared at Bill. Their anger didn't last long, mainly because they weren't really mad. They enjoyed spending time with Bill and their mom even when they got teased. Both of them made the girls feel important.

The chatter and laughter finally had a lull and Susan looked at all that was left of her life. There was hardly any smoke coming from the pile now. The fire department had done a good job. It was just a smelly black pile of nothing now.

"It's getting late. I guess I should call Ruth and ask her for a ride. She said that we can stay with her until we find another place," Susan said glumly. The evening had ended well despite its bad beginning and she didn't want it to end.

Mandy made a face and sighed.

"Does she have plenty of room for the three of you," Bill asked?

Mandy answered for their mom. "Not really. Aunt Ruth is fun but she lives in a little one bedroom cabin. We have stayed overnight with her before and it is pretty tight."

"So why don't you stay with me," Bill asked looked at the three of them...

Susan gave him a startled look then surreptitiously looked at her girls. "Ah Bill," she started jerking her head at the girls.

Bill smiled at her discomfort and spoke over her objections. "There's only one bathroom so that might be a problem."

"Bill, ah, don't you..." Susan tried again.

"It isn't as solid as your place was and it moves a little when you move around so you will need to get used to that," Bill continued.

"Bill, I don't think..." Susan said sharply.

"We'll need to figure out the sleeping arrangements but I'm sure I can figure something out," Bill said as he fought to hold a smile in.

"I'm, I'm sure you could," Susan spluttered as she turned red. Her thoughts had turned to the changing configurations of her recent seat and the possible sleeping arrangements. She blushed harder.

"This unit will sleep ten the way it is set up now so I am sure we can figure out a separate place for each of us to sleep," Bill said slowly and distinctly to let her off the hook.

Mandy and Bill were laughing. Susan was blushing. Beth was looking back and forth between all of them trying to figure out what the joke was. Mandy leaned over and whispered in her ear. Beth blushed and laughed at the same time.

Susan called Ruth and told her that they would be sleeping at Bill's, in separate beds. She did confirm that first. She explained that everything was straightened out and how. Both of them were amazed that Bill wasn't very concerned about someone trying to sabotage the project.

"Do you think this is the first time someone tried to kill one of my projects," Bill had asked laughing? "That's why I brought in Tim. Between the two of us we can lock this project down. There will be no sabotage," Bill assured Susan. "Someone will try it once but only once," he concluded with a grim smile.

Bill explained the 5^th Wheel had been used to house crews at remote job sites and construction workers didn't like sleeping together. He had to smile at that. He thought it might be one of the understatements of the century. The girls were set up in a small bedroom with bunks. They didn't have much room but they didn't need much. Susan was set up in an adjoining little room with another set of bunks. Bill was all the way in the back and had a longer bed that had been put in especially for him. The bathroom was between them.

Before they went to bed that night, Bill took them all down to the local Wally World so they could get the necessary things females need to get through the night. Since their trailer had gone up like a torch they didn't have anything but the clothes on their backs. They needed a change of clothes for the next day. They needed under clothes. They needed a comb and brush and a dozen other things all females need to survive the night in a strange place. Bill was amazed when the cashier rang up over $300 worth of stuff. It was his fault. Susan kept trying to put things back. Bill kept picking things up. The girls kept laughing at the two of them.

They actually looked like a big, happy family when they left Wally World.