Chapter 10

September arrived and Jordan was back in school. I still saw her quite often and was always delighted when she walked in the door. Some time ago a long time, major client of mine had offered me the use of a condo on Padre Island in Texas. So in early October I took 'my ladies' and we spent several days there – again separate bedrooms.

In late October I'd noticed that I hadn't seen Jordan for several days but I just put it down to schoolwork or something like that. I was a bit surprised though one evening when I got a call from Trish asking if she could come over to talk to me.

When Trish arrived, she looked like she'd been run over with an emotional steamroller. I noticed that Jordan wasn't with her and wondered why. Once she was seated I asked if she wanted something to drink. "Coffee, a coke?" I asked.

"Can you get me something stronger, please," she replied.

'Wow, what's happening?' I asked myself but went off and made her drink of choice – a rum and coke – and made one for myself.

"Here you are," I said as I handed her drink to her. "This must be quite an occasion."

I sat and waited for Trish to tell me what's on her mind. Finally she started. "I must be absolutely insane to be having this conversation but here goes." She stopped, drank a bit of her rum and coke then after taking a deep breath, said some things that left me absolutely speechless.

"Brian, Jordan and I have spent the last few days having a discussion that has, on occasion, become quite heated. I finally agreed to talk to you about a request that she has of you." Trish paused for a moment then dropped the first bombshell.

"Monday evening, just after supper, Jordan announced that she wanted to lose her virginity – and that the man that she wanted to do that deed was you."

I almost passed out from the shock. I opened my mouth to say something but no sound would come out. Trish held up her finger as if to tell me to wait.

"Yes, my reaction was the same as yours. I'd been expecting that she'd hook up with a boy at some point so Jordan and I have been having discussions about sex and the other issues around having sex. In light of these discussions, I made an appointment with our doctor almost a year ago and got Jordan on birth control pills." She stopped to take another drink.

"Over the last three days Jordan and I have been going at one another tooth and nail but she's adamant that the man to take her virginity must be you." She paused and looked intently at me for an extended period then continued.

"I figured that was bad enough and that I could live with it as I knew you'd be a gentle lover for her first time. What really floored me was her next revelation – that she wants to marry you. She made it clear that she doesn't want to marry yet, but she was adamant that you are the only one she'll ever consider marrying."

Trish sat back and waited for my reaction. What should I do? The first thing Jordan was asking was illegal. I sure didn't want to be a guest of the government in the 'crowbar hotel' for an extended stay. I know what prison inmates think of a convicted sex offender. I started asking myself questions. What would Jordan do if I refused? What did Trish want me to do? If I agreed, would we be able to keep things secret? I was mulling these things and some others over in my mind when I became aware that Trish had been talking to me.

"Oh I'm sorry; I was trying to get my head around what Jordan has asked." I told Trish.

"I know, I had a hard time getting my head around it too. I'm going to leave you to think things through. Can you come over and have supper with Jordan and me tomorrow so we can continue this discussion? I have Jordan's solemn promise to not get upset."

I agreed and after Trish left, I went into the den and tried to get my head around everything with no success. Finally I gave up and went to bed.

After tossing and turning all night, I woke up the next morning, no closer to figuring out what I should do or say. I figured trying to do my regular work was a waste of time since I'd likely not be able to concentrate. Instead, I took Maxie, who loves to ride in my truck, and headed out into the hills nearby. I just drove around taking in the scenery while turning things over and over in my mind. As I looked back on what had happened when Jordan and I were together, there had been lots of very, very subtle signs that I had missed – her comments about the wedding for example and her story about feeling sad and wanting to sleep with me. After aimlessly driving around most of the day, I looked at my watch and saw that I needed to get ready to go to the Harrison house for supper.