Chapter 16

There was an IHOP just a bit up the road. I'd noted its location on the way to dinner. We loaded up in the car again, the girls in the back seat giggling in the delightful way that somehow disappears from females as age advances. Hearing it from the girl I loved and her friend was very pleasant.

I looked at Dan. "Didn't expect to be on the road at this hour."

"Me neither," Dan said. "But I learned a long time ago that hanging around with Cindy was gonna result in a few random situations. She's never done this late night snack thing, though."

Cindy made a cute remark, a little double entendre.

"Tina has been talking about Cindy most of the evening." I paused. Dan looked at me, knowingly. I continued, "well, you know..."

"Cindy's been the same way," he said. "She says it's like finding the big sister she never had."

I laughed. "You know, Bud, I never figured that you and I would be marrying sisters."

"Beginning to look that way," Dan said.

"Tina, they're talking about us," Cindy giggled.

"That's because we're the most important thing in their lives," Tina replied.

"You got that right!" I said.

Cindy smiled. The kid had a sweet smile. "We'll try not to take advantage of you too badly," she said, giggling at her own joke.

I glanced at the pair in the rearview mirror. Yeah, it didn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to see them as sisters.

Dan was apparently been reading my mind. "They do look like sisters."

We pulled into the parking lot and walked into the little restaurant. We found a booth and I scooted in with Tina next to me. The waitress came up.

Dan said, "it's too late for coffee for me."

I noticed that Cindy nodded in agreement. They ordered hot chocolate, and a pastry, apiece. The waitress looked at me and Tina and I told her that we wanted the same thing.

Cindy and Tina started back up on the sisterhood thing. Tina looked at me. "Uh, Alan we're not gonna let this thing drop, are we?" She looked at Cindy. Cindy was smiling.

I said, "Yep, sometimes guys are like that. But if Dan had stayed in my back pocket, we might've missed you two. It's almost like Dan and I were supposed to meet only for one job and then take off in separate directions, meet you two, and then run into each other. I mean, if I was sitting here at the table with all of us, I'd think this was some kind of fiction."

"I gotta agree with that," Dan said. "If we'ed been working together, we'd've been doing just like last time, running the roads and stuff. I would'nt've been hanging around the swimming pool..."

Cindy giggled. "Yeah, hanging around the pool, scoping out babes."

Tina looked at me. I know she could tell that Cindy was joking but she feigned a slight outrage. "Uh, Dan! You were at the pool to pick up fourteen year old girls?!?"

Dan took a swipe at that one. I think he handed it out of the park. "Oh, no, Miss Tina, she was thirteen when I met her." Cindy punched himin the bicep, playfully.

"There you go, Dan, coming off like some kind of child molester."

Dan put his arm around her and squeezed. "Truth is, we ran into each other at just the right point in time when we both needed someone. I didn't know I needed someone, but Cindy popped up. You know, sometimes you need stuff you don't even know about." Dan looked at Cindy with adoring eyes. "Even cute little redheads."

Cindy sort of filled in the story. "I was livin' in an RV Park. The only time I saw kids my own age that summer was on weekends. And then they only stayed for couple of days. I needed a friend. I wasn't even sure what a real friend would look like. In school, it was hard to have friends. A lot of the kids knew about my momma. And even in Alabama, living in a travel trailer puts you at the bottom of the list.

Tina reached across the table and patted Cindy's hand. "You an' me both had mommy issues." She continued, "I had it good as long as I stayed with Grandma. But when Grandma passed away, I had to start living with Mom. Yeah," she snorted. "Supermom. Didn't let teenaged daughter get in the way of her life! We moved every couple of months, so I had to drop out of high school because I kept changing schools. And when we evacuated for the hurricane I didn't think I'd get back alive. Mom's boyfriend was crazy. I hate to use the term 'batshit' but if it was in the dictionary they'ed've had his picture next to it. And what was worse, some of her 'friends' were already making little comments about doing things with me."

"Yep," I said, "that's what I'm talking about. If me and Dan had been working on the same job, I would've been driving up the road bitching about the hurricane traffic and I would'nt've stopped for breakfast. You don't know how aggravated I was, first the driving, stop and go for three solid hours, an' then I stopped for breakfast, and some asshole wanted to make a scene. Then I almost got arrested. I figured it was just what I needed to put the finishing touches on a perfect day." I saw Tina smiling. "And that's one of life's little twists, because what started out as a tragedy turned into a really good thing."

Cindy slid up closer to Dan and held his arm. She smiled and said, "You know, best possible outcomes. It's kinda like some weird fairytale where the little castle is thirtysomething feet long and has wheels."

Tina change the subject. "Cindy, tell Alan about your college stuff."

"I'm afraid I sound like I'm bragging," she said demurely.

"It's not bragging, Cindy. It's really neat. He won't think you're bragging."

Cindy told us that she had two 'gifted' scholarships. "An' I've already interviewed with the deans of two engineering schools in Alabama. It's hard decide which one to choose."

A part of a previous conversation came to mind. I smiled. "It's that 'Engineer's Apprentice' thing, ain't it?" I could see the pride in Dan's eyes.

Cindy continued, "Yes, it is," she said smiling. "The first time I saw Dan in his element, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. An' every time I visit the site, it kinda reinforces that. One day I hope to be an engineer like Dan."

I laughed, "Baby doll, you need to set your sights higher than that."

Dan looked at me with a wry grin. "Jealousy is a terrible emotion," he said. "You know, that's not the worst of it. She got letters of interest from a lot of different schools. Even MIT and Stanford."

"But I want us to stay in Alabama," Cindy said, looking at Dan. "I think it would be easier for him to work down here." She smiled and gave Dan a playful bump. "I think either one of these two universities are just fine."

Tina looked at me then said, "See, that's another one of those coincidences! Me and Alan have been talking about my college. I gave up on college after Grandma died. But now, with Alan, and being back in school, well, when he saw how I was doing in school, we started talking about college. Before I met him, I had no clue about a major. Guess what?!?" She looked at me, grinning. "I got a clue now!"

"See, Dan," I laughed. "You ain't the only one that can delude a young lady!" I continued, "Tina's an honor student, too."

Dan looked at Tina. "Tina, how's your math?"

Tina smiled. "Straight A's. And I'm taking the advanced placement classes."

He smiled, saying "That's great! The math is the toughest part. If you're in AP math, then you're on your way."

Cindy is the one that tossed the challenge on the table. "I think you guys should move to Alabama," she said. She had a big grin on her face. "If you do that, Tina an' I can go to school together. I think that would be the most amazing thing."

Dan looked at me, a little dazed. Then he looked at Cindy. "Sometimes you amaze me, little girl. No! Just about every day, you amaze me."

Taking that as encouragement she kept on. She looked at me and her husband and said, "Doesn't that make sense? You guys, maybe y'all can work something out, you know, where you workand what you do." She continued, "Dan's kinda got a job lined up with a new powerhouse. So that's an option. He says it's enough money to keep him in the area, but you guys are good at what you do. Maybe there's a way that y'all can keep on doing what you're doing, you know, going where people need you to get them out of a bind." She paused. Addressing me and Tina, she said, "Dan was gonna do that so he could be around while I was in college. But with me and him and you guys, we'd have our own little community..."

"You know," I said, "she might be onto something."

A giggle came from Tina. "That's my little sister!" Big smirk.

Dan was just shaking his head. Cindy saw that and said, "We don't have to make a decision tonight." She giggled, "I was just thinking. I thought I'd just throw it out on the table."

"Cindy, that's an interesting idea, you know. Like you said, though, wedon't have to rush into a decision. We can talk about it, and we can think about it, and we can talk some more. Me an' Dan know a bit about the business, so we can talk to see if we come up with a model that makes sense."

"There you go, talking like an MBA," Dan picked.

This was a hangover from our last job together. I think I'm a bit more organized and methodical, a little bit better administrator then Dan. "You know exactly what I mean," I laughed.

"Yeah," he said. "Let's think about it."

I saw Cindy and Tina exchanging looks. Something told me that a decision was being made right now.

The conversation changed to the upcoming concert, and some of the other concerts that we'd been to in the recent past. Tina was telling Cindy about the live bluegrass music that we'd heard. She smiled at Cindy. "I love the live music," she said, "but I guess that's not the same as being up on the stage." She elbowed me. "Don't you wish you played a musical instrument?"

Actually I did regret that, but I said, "I play several instruments."

Tina looked a little bit surprised. "What instruments, baby?"

"CDs, iPod, and a bunch of ancient instruments that Dan knows about. Things like cassette tapes and vinyl records."

That got Cindy to giggling, got me a dig in the ribs, and Tina said, faking sadness, "I fear that I have married a smart-ass!"

Everyone had finished their chocolate and pastry. It was time to go. Dan and I did our customary arguing over who got to pay the ticket. I won, this time. We were all in a good mood for the short ride back to the hotel. In the lobby, we agreed to meet for lunch the next day at about eleven, then we headed to our rooms.

Tina was ahead of me in the hall, key card in her hand. She opened the door, and I walked in. She closed the door and backed up against it. I don't know what she wanted but I knew what I wanted. I pressed her back against the door and kissed her. The way she put her arms around my neck and held me against her confirmed that she desired same thing.

I locked the chain lock and the deadbolt on the door. When I turned around, she was standing beside the bed stripping off her clothes.

"Baby, what'd you think of Cindy's suggestion?" she asked.

"It's actually very interesting," I said, "if Dan and I can figure out how to make a living, I think it's a great idea."

"I was just thinking," Tina said, "if we had our little community, like Cindy said, then if you or Dan had to go out of town to work for a few days or whatever, we'd have each other, me an' Cindy, to sort of back each other up. That way, maybe y'all wouldn't feel bad about abandoning us for a few days to go off on a project. What d'you think?"

"You know, little brown haired girl, that sort of makes sense. I can't see you and Cindy take'n more than four years to get a BA in engineering."

"Got a question, Mister Engineer..."

"A question?"

"Yeah." Pause. "Why'd'you still have all your clothes on?" She was completely naked now. And she had a delightful grin and a twinkle in her eye.

It didn't take me long to match her nakedness. I laughed. "Well, there goes any chance of clear thought. Seeing you naked just wiped out half my blood supply to my brain."

She giggled, eyes twinkling. "You know, sweetie, when we're both naked we don't need to do a whole lot a deep thinking." She smiled. She put her hands on my waist and tugged me sideways, laying down on the bed facing me.

We wrapped up into a full body kiss. I let my hands explore her, my fingertips relishing every bit of her silky skin. If she purred under my touch, I shuddered under hers. She had her right arm under me pulling me against her while her left hand was down at my crotch, her fingers curled delightfully underneath my balls. I would've said 'expertly', but it wasn't a matter of expertise. No, it was a matter of her enjoying the sexual exploration and happily reading my reactions to it.

Withher fingers wrapped around my shaft, I was hard as a rock. She pulled back from a kiss, her sweet face inches from mine. "You make me feel so good, Alan."

My answer wasn't a word, it was a shudder. She started sliding downward in the bed, while gently pushing me onto my back. When her cheek got down to my navel, she kissed, teased it with her tongue, then turned her eyes towards me.

"D'ya have any idea what I have in mind?" She said, flicking her tongue, knowing that she was driving me crazy.

"I don't know what you have in mind, but I have some ideas of my own."

Giggle. "What kind of ideas, sir?"

"That hot chocolate and that pastry was nice, but there's a taste I really crave. Sadly, there's only one place in the WHOLE universe that I can get it. It's totally controlled by this young lady."

She giggled, playing the game. "And if this young lady was, like, if she'll let you have that, is there, like, some kind of reward she can have in return?"

"I don't know," I said. "Just maybe, she can find something to entertain herself while he's tasting." I brushed her sleek auburn hair away from her face. What I saw was, in my mind, perfection.

"I think the young lady is willing to accept your offer," she giggled. She slid further down the bed, tossing a leg over my face, presenting me with an engorged, juicy pussy. I was starting to move close enough to lick her when lightning shot through my body, caused by her mouth covering my dick. "The young lady says that compensation is adequate," she said with a giggle, her head bobbing downward to return to my dick.