Chapter 14

We did a quick turnaround in the trailer and emerged clad in swimsuits and carrying towels and walked to the pool. Helen was locking up as we walked by. "You know," she said, "we shut that thing down for winter on Monday?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm gonna miss it."

"We're gonna start riding bicycles, though," Cindy chimed in.

"Bikes? That'll be good. I'm gonna go get ready for dinner. See ya'll there!" And Helen left.

Cindy and I did our pool laps and walked back to the trailer dripping, all the while chatting about the day's experiences. I had to answer a slew of questions, and was trying to not be too technical, but Cindy was drinking it all up.

Back in the trailer, we did our shower thing and she dried her hair while I shaved. This left us both naked. Clean and naked. And she not only looked good, she smelled good. I passed my hand form the sleek richness of her hair down her back to the curve of her ass and squeezed a cheek.

"Now, Dan," she giggled, "as much has I'd LOVE to take you straight to the bedroom, we have to go out in public, and we can't do that with your sweetie smelling all freshly fucked, can we?"

"The language!" I said.

"Yeah. You know exactly what I'm talking about, babe. I've smelled ME on YOU afterward, and I love the smell. I can eat it up. But it is a smell. And we're trying, as you say, to maintain a certain air of decorum. We have, what? An hour before we go?"

"Yeah."

"Then lay down on the sofa" she commanded as she sat down. "Put your head in my lap."

I followed orders, laying on my back, my head resting on the smooth softness of her thigh. Okay, not TOO soft. Swimming every day, you know. She slowly stroked my face. "Dan," she said, "I wish I could tell you how much I love you."

"Thank you, sweetie. I love you too, you know."

"But today. You took me around to those people and showed me off."

"I didn't show you off. I really did want you to see what was going on."

"I know. But that was purely something you did for ME. For no reason."

"I had reasons. First, I love you. Second, you're smart enough to get something out of the visit."

"That first part," she said, "that's what I mean. The way I figure it," she continued, "if I was just a somebody you wanted to have around for the sex, then you wouldn't've done today. So that kinda makes me think I'm not just your toy. I'm feeling pretty important to you."

"A man's toys ARE important," I said. That got me a slap on my bicep.

"Beast!"

"I'm YOUR beast, little princess. Your very own dragon."

"Mmm-hmmm."

"And occasionally dragons have been known to eat princesses."

"You can eat me later ... Right now I just want you to know that every time I turn around I see you doing things that tell me you love me. What can I do in return, Dan. I don't have anything to offer like you do."

"Cindy, my dear, you are beautiful, intelligent, funny, and, if I may say so, of fine temperament. All I want from you is to be loved in return. And you show me that every day, too. You know Mizz Helen said she could see it before you moved in here. Said you didn't hide things very well."

"I know. She told me that, too. I tried. But when I see you, I get happy. If I'm already happy, I get happier. It's like we were made for each other."

"I think so, too, baby."

As she caressed my face and chest with one hand, the other picked up a remote and clicked us up some good music to relax by. Forty-five minutes passed. And it was time to get dressed.

I regarded the young lady I would escort to dinner. She was wearing a dress. A simple dress, simple lines, hemmed just above the knee, plain neckline stopping well short of being revealing. She fished through the drawers that held her belongings and retrieved a black elastic headband and placed it in her hair, pulling the sides back from her face, leaving her bangs hovering as if pointing to those startling green eyes. And a tiny dab of perfume behind each ear and at her throat and on each wrist. Her shoes were simple, too, flats, unembellished.

"Do I look okay?" she asked?

"You are the single most beautiful creature in the universe, baby!"

"No, seriously!"

"I AM serious. If somebody could crawl inside my brain and find every imprint of what I think is beautiful in a woman, it would all add up to YOU!"

"So I look okay?"

"You look perfect. Almost like I need to put you in a padded box so you won't break before I can get us to dinner."

"Nah," she smiled. The front seat of your truck will do fine."

"And, Dan, you look nice, too. I've never seen you wear a tie before." I was wearing a tie. And a jacket. I might be a grubby field engineer, but I can clean up pretty good.

We got in the truck, but first I moved the console out of the way so she could sit next to me. Soft, idle chit-chat occupied our short trip and we pulled up the drive to what I would have called a mansion. Two stories. Landscaped. Circular drive. I parked immediately behind Helen's minivan.

We rang the doorbell, standing together. Helen and the one I assumed to be the judge met us.

"Come in, come in," he said. Helen was smiling beside him. Helen cleaned up pretty nicely, too. Her grey hair was shoulder length, brushed pewter, and darned if she wasn't wearing makeup and it worked well for her. And she was wearing a DRESS. Helen. Who I never saw in anything but jeans and a man's shirt.

He reached out his hand. I shook it. "Charles Peebles. You must be Dan. And this ... this angel ... must be Miss Cynthia." He offered a hand to Cindy and she shook it. "Nice handshake, Cindy," He said. "You like being called Cindy, am I right?" He smiled broadly. Looked pretty darned solid for eighty-something.

"Yessir," said Cindy.

"Come, let's sit while the table is set for us."

""The table is set for us"? Like, I'm not expected to help out in the kitchen?"

Judge Peebles must have caught my puzzlement. "Oh, Dan, it's not that bad. I have a housekeeper, is all. And on the odd occasion that I have something special going on, she takes care of it for me. Her and her daughter do a fine job for me." We followed him to a formal sitting room, wainscoted walls and bookshelves, dripping with gentility. We sat, I with Cindy beside me, a chaste distance separating us, Helen and the judge in a love seat.

Cindy broke the conversational ice. "This is a perfectly lovely room, sir. You have a lot of books."

Judge Peebles chuckled. "Yes, young lady, I do. Been reading since I was a little one. But all this is law and it's not the kind of reading that you want to do on a fine cool evening."

The conversation rolled on, the judge's prodigious history in the local scene, a young attorney, county prosecutor and finally for the last twenty-five years, a state judge. He'd seen a lot, loved to talk, and told stories well.

A middle aged black woman appeared at the door. "Judge," she said, "dinner is ready."

The judge rose with Helen and I and Cindy followed them into a formal dining room. It wasn't set for a formal dinner, but it was several orders of magnitude above a slab of ribs on a paper plate. The judge held the chair for Helen and I did the same for Cindy. The judge motioned for me to be seated and seated himself. The same middle-aged black woman and another, younger version of the same appeared and placed salads in front of each of us. I noted the Cindy had correctly placed her napkin in her lap.

The judge bowed his head and the rest of us followed as he recited an old and familiar blessing before the meal. He raised a forkful of salad and the rest of us followed. After his first bite, he looked at me. "Dan, it's not that bad. The young lady who served you is the daughter of the older lady. She's the third generation that has worked for me here. I pay her mother well, and the young lady is starting pre-law at the university in the winter semester. She gets paid for tonight, also."

"Uh, oh, I didn't... , you know..." I stuttered.

"Yeah," said the judge, "You have been watching too many of those movies. Just because I'm an old white judge in Alabama doesn't mean I still keep slaves, Dan. I don't even like own a rebel flag."

"Judge..."

"You can call me Charley, Dan. Helen does. But I appreciate the thought."

"Charley, I guess I'm a bit overwhelmed. This is a nice place."

"I worked hard for it. Made some good investments, too, but even lawyers have to work."

"I know. I get the "you don't work with your HANDS" bit all the time."

He laughed. "Yes, yes. Helen tells me you're an engineer? Electrical engineer?"

"Yessir."

"Mighty fine," he said.

Dinner proceeded at a modest pace, everything prepared to perfection, soup, poached fish and vegetables for a main course, a delicious pie for dessert. We then returned to the sitting room.

"Helen," Charley said. "You're absolutely right. She is really a beautiful lady."

Cindy blushed. "Thank you, sir."

"Dan," he said to me, "Helen explained the whole case to me. She says she explained how and more to the point, why I felt the way I did about the way we chose to remedy the situation."

"Yessir, she did," I said. "I thank you for your understanding."

"I'm just an old country lawyer, Dan, and I'll be quite honest with you, sometimes the law is an ass. Take our particular interest here. Let's just say there WASN'T a law like that. You and your young lady there would be accepted. Maybe not totally the norm, but still within the realm of acceptability. But supposed the OTHER end of the spectrum happened, and some old guy FORCED a young girl into a situation? Don't you think I would jerk a knot in his butt?"

"Yessir," I said, "I see what you mean."

"Yep," the judge said, leaning back in his chair. "Dumbasses today are afraid to let people do what is right. They have to write more and more laws, and every law has its unintended consequences. You and Cindy there are one of them. But you don't worry here," he continued. "The district attorney, is, ah, my son. And he knows about his mom and me. And Helen and his Uncle Herb."

We continued conversation, listening to a few more stories, a couple that, well, they made me blush, and I saw Cindy blush, too. Finally, after finishing a good after dinner coffee, it was time to go. The judge and Helen escorted us to the front door. Cindy and I shook hands and thanked the couple for a good evening.

In the truck, Cindy tucked in tight against me. "How'd I do?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, did I do anything horrible, like bad manners or something?"

"No, princess, you were perfect. You listened attentively, joined the conversation appropriately and acted mature beyond you years. And this dinner was pretty much 'prime time' for a social event."

"Good!" she exclaimed. "I don't want to be uncouth in public."

"Well, you're not uncouth in private, either..."

Giggle. "We'll see..."

"Yeah," I countered. "The rules change in private."

"What about semi-public, like this, then?"

"Like what?"

"Like ridin' around in a truck in the dark."

"Okay, that's somewhat public."

"Then would THIS be uncouth?" She lifted her hips off the seat and slid her panties down her smooth legs. Checking that we were on a straight section of road, she passed her panties under my nose.

"Now that's not couth. Welcome, but not couth," I said as my nostrils flared. I loved the smell of this girl. And the little doll had dabbed just a hint of her perfume on her pubic mound. I could smell the fragrance mixed with her distinctive musk.

She laughed. "Dan, uh, hurry home."

"Uh, I was thinkin' of pullin' off on the side of the road..."

"Nuh-uh baby..." she said. "If I was wearing something else, I'd love to, but I really like this dress and we'd wreck it." She squeezed the lump in my pants. "Oooooohhhh ... baby ... Can you wait?"

"Yeah, little red-headed girl, but right now I'd do you in the middle of the town square at high noon."

"All because I took my panties off?"

"That's one thing. Second is what we did this morning before we left. And this afternoon. And how beautifully you shined this evening, and, yes, I desperately want you in my arms."

"Then hang on, buddy," she giggled. "I have the same desires." She punched the buttons on the truck's sound system. "Here, this'll help us relax..."

In the door of the trailer, I don't know whose clothes came off first. I do believe that they hadn't fluttered to the floor before two naked bodies entwined on the bed. Our mouths just as well have been welded together. My hands explored the silken skin. I opened my eyes in the middle of a kiss, looking past a freckled face to red hair curled around the back of her ear.