Chapter 8

I will admit I lost all track of time after those three did to me what they did to me. Their only saving grace was when I'd recovered enough to at least be able to move on my own wobbly legs, they guided me back into the Jacuzzi for a recuperation period.

Claire stayed on one side of me and Susan on the other, holding me so I wouldn't drown and giving me a gentle stroking. Not of Barney and his friends as you might be thinking, just my chest and arms. A gentle closeness and affection to soothe my savage beast. Or to let me return to reality.

Sandy was having fun just playing in the bubbles, finding just where they were the most tingly. Sometimes Claire or Susan would have to tell her to calm it a bit so my progress wasn't inhibited or so that the waves she made wouldn't drown us or overflow onto the floor. The last thing needed was for us to start water dripping from the ceiling of the rooms below us.

I will admit the warm bubbly water was just as soothing as the stroking they gave me. Although after that three-some attacked me, I wasn't sure that I would be available for anything but sound sleeping. I was exhausted.

But when my mind started working, some of the questions I'd been saving up and had been stored away for future research came to the forefront. The first of many was for Claire, 'What was that hug and the kiss about with Chief Bradley and what's with that statement, 'Give my love to Lulu' and 'Wasn't she the owner of Lulu's Pie shop where your mom worked?'.

I guess I must have been wrinkling my eyebrows as I delved into the questions and tossed them around in my head. Claire asked her never ending, "What?" She never asked a full sentence, well, I guess that's a complete one-word sentence but I mean a long enough sentence to at least give me a clue of the subject that made her ask that one-word one.

I took it to mean why was I scrunching up my face so I dove right in. "I was just wondering about what's with you and Chief Bradley. You kissed him like you've known him for a long time. Then that hug and that 'high-five' finger tip goodbye.

"What's up with all that?"

Claire laughed. "Oh. Long story or short story?"

"Well," I answered. "Guess the short one to begin with. Later we might need to switch to the long one but a short overview might be a good place to start."

What Claire said next had me startled, just a little. "Lyle's my Uncle."

"Wait a second here," I told her. "Lyle ... Chief of Police, Lyle is your uncle."

"Yes." she answered, pulled my face toward her and gave me a light kiss on the cheek. "Things make sense now?"

"He's your father's brother, right?"

"No. Let's start over. The way Chief Bradley, Uncle Lyle and I are related is he's married to my mom's sister."

As I thought about that one trying to put all of the strings together, Claire tied a few knots and started to weave the fabric. "Lulu ... you remember Lulu's Pie Shop where mom worked.

"Lyle said he tried to get with Betty, my mom. Well because dad and she were sharing recipes and one thing led to another and they married, right?

"Well, remember that dad tried to get mom to work with him at Piggly Wiggly? Can you figure out why mom didn't ever do that?"

Still missing a few parts I answered, "No."

"Lulu and my mom were sisters. They were also Co-Owners of Lulu's Pie Shop. There was no way mom was going to leave her sister alone in the shop so she never could, nor wanted to, work with dad at Piggly Wiggly.

"So to benefit both the pie shop and his bakery, they shared, well, not only recipes but were able to help each other out. That quiche Lyle and Bill Senior liked so much, was really dad's. No one ever knew that it was baked in the P.W. Bakery and trucked over before either store opened.

"Like everything else, Lulu's version was slightly different from the one dad sold. It wasn't as if dad was using his ovens and not telling anyone. The store exec's knew and approved it so long as whatever was for the pie shop was made with ingredients paid for by Lulu. The payback for the energy used for her pie shop were extras that were made. Dad's store got to sell those at a huge profit.