Chapter 13

Brenda pulled a sobbing Jillian's head off of her shoulder. She guided her daughter so that their faces were very close together. The look of seriousness hadn't left her face.

"When you e-mail Abbey to ask for an interview, don't give any personal information yet. Just give her my cell phone number. Your Dad is right. Let's be cautious until we know more", Brenda instructed while changing her expression to wide smile. She then pulled her youngest daughter into a very tight hug.

Jillian's eyelids closed to mere slits to look through. The tears continued pour out. Her jaw began to quiver. I knew that these were now tears of joy. She would get a shot at her dream.

Through all of her emotion, Jillian manged to get the air out of her trembling chest enough to say, "Thank you" to her mother. When Brenda released her, the young girl ran a few steps over to me to give me a quick squeeze. That gave Brenda time to stand up and get out of the way. Because, as soon as Jillian let me go, she made a focused rush to the lap top.

Even before her cute little behind touched the seat of the chair, her fingers were busy on the keys. I watched her from a few feet away to give her some privacy. When I saw her hit the 'Enter' key, I cleared my throat. She looked up at me.

"Done?", I asked.

Jillian smiled and answered, "Yes. I am SO happy. Thank you".

"I felt your 'Thank you' when you squeezed me. You're welcome", I said while I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay, tell Abbey that you'll talk to her later. Then please put the lap top back in the living room. We need the whole table for breakfast", I asked.

A little while later, I put my fork down. 'What a feast', I thought. The others finished soon after me. We all played a part in the clean up. When we were done, I asked Brenda and Trudy to come sit with me at the table.

I looked at Trudy and said, "I've given some thought to your situation. Have you done the same?".

Trudy glanced at both of us and bluntly stated, "I know what I want to do. Before my brief stay with my ex-boyfriend, I was staying with my aunt and her daughter. I have more clothes and personal items there."

Brenda and I listened carefully.

"I don't care about what my ex has of mine. He's got a few changes of my clothes and my wallet with a small amount of cash in it. I don't have driver's license or credit cards. My keys and cell phone are at my aunt's house. There's nothing important enough to risk contact with him", Trudy continued.

"Smart decision", I interrupted.

Trudy added, "They don't live very far away. If I call them they will come get me. They can bring some clothes for me. I haven't talked to them in a couple of days. They're probably getting worried".

Brenda got up and went to the kitchen counter. She returned with her cell phone, sat, and offered it to Trudy with a very concerned look on her face.

Trudy quietly took the phone and leaned forward to put both elbows on the table. This position made her bare nipples rest on the very edge of the table. In the next few seconds, I watched them become erect on the cool tiles that ran around the edges of the table.

As Trudy was finishing pressing buttons on the phone I made a point of staring at the freckle pattern on her cleavage, upper chest, shoulders, and face. I planned to do the same to her bare back at my next opportunity. I wanted to burn these images into my memory. I was going to miss being able to drink in her beauty. But, I already knew that she was making the right choice. Obviously, so did Brenda.

My wife and I silently listened to Trudy's side of the conversation.

"Hi Alison. It's Trudy ... I'm fine ... I'm with some new friends who rescued me ... Hold onto your questions. I'll tell you both all about it later. I was hoping you and your Mom could come get me and bring some clothes please ... It's a long story Alison... (long pause while Trudy just listened) ... Was he mean to you? Did he threaten you?... (another pause that was almost as long) ... Please bring the bag. I am anxious to see it ... I'm going to hand this phone back to its owner. Get something to write with. She'll give you the address".

Trudy held the phone in her open hand and gently gave it back to Brenda.

After introducing herself, Brenda asked Alison if she was ready to write. Brenda gave her our address. Brenda asked which way they would be coming from. Some info on directions was exchanged. Lastly, Brenda read her cell number to Alison just in case it was needed. The call then ended.

Without saying another word, my wife and I glared at Trudy. She knew what we wanted as soon as saw our expressions.

"Alison told me that he came to their door thirty minutes ago", Trudy began, "She told me that she was only wearing her panties when she answered the door. She had one forearm covering her chest. My ex went on a vulgar rant about my behavior running in the family".

In the middle of it, he thrust a large bag to Alison and told her it was for the tramp. Even though he didn't threaten her, she said she was beginning to get scared because his tone and angry face. So, she grabbed the bag and used her leg to slam the door in his face and locked it. Alison said that he shouted nasty things from outside the door for another minute and then went away".

"I like her already", I quietly commented.

"They'll be here in about twenty minutes. Can I take a shower please?", Trudy asked.

Brenda stood and took hold of Trudy's nearest hand and guided her to her feet as well. "I need one too", Brenda announced. Trudy stood and let herself be led out of the room. That gave me my opportunity to memorize Trudy's bare back. At the last moment, I looked at her behind swaying side to side as she disappeared from my sight. What a beautiful creature.

I looked down past my abdomen to what was between my legs. It was standing straight up. I had a silent conversation with it. 'It's probably to your benefit that she is going to live somewhere else', I thought, "You can't have her, so it's better if the tease is gone'.

I decided some shorts were in order. I didn't want to scare our visitors. I stood and made my way to the kitchen entrance way. As I cut through a corner of the living room to get to the hallway, I paused. Jillian was seated at far end of the couch which gave me a sideways view of her. The lap top was straddling her bare thighs. Her small fingers were busy on the keyboard.

Her head was tilted slightly forward and down to see the screen. Accordingly, her hair hung forward effectively creating a blind for her peripheral vision. All I could see of her face was the tip of her nose. She was oblivious to me standing nearby. I lowered my gaze slightly at her nipples peeking out from behind her closest girly bicep.

I looked down at my still erect appendage and thought, 'You can't have that one either'. I took a few steps into the hallway. The girl's bedroom door was wide open. As I passed it, I saw Sandra straightening up their bed from their night's sleep.

She was bent over at the waist with her behind facing the open doorway. All of her treasures were on display. I kept moving. If Sandra knew that I had seen her in that position, she would be mortified. Especially so, because of my state of arousal.

I got further down the hallway. On one side was the open doorway to my bedroom. On the other was the closed door to the bathroom. From behind the closed door, I could hear the shower running and a lot of female giggling. I went to put my hand on that door knob, but at the last moment I stopped my hand.