54: Homemakers' Hour

Tuesday morning, Donna and I followed Dad, Rhonda, and Samantha to the fair. Dad was driving the truck and pulling the horse trailer with Gypsy and Princess contentedly drowsing in the back. Once we got to the fair, we loaded the horses out and got them into their stalls. We had two bales of hay and a bucket of oats for the girls, even though they'd only be there for three nights. The rest of the stuff, though, was like moving an entire barn. Sam and Rhonda had a two-page checklist of what they needed at the fair. The list was supplied by the 4-H club. It didn't include everything that two girls would need just to survive three days. That was packed in the camper on the back of the pickup. Dad parked it and Donna took him to work. From that point on, technically, the girls were on their own. They'd each get practice runs in the arena Tuesday afternoon for the show events.

I was just a stable boy on Tuesday. Well, I was used to that with Betts. At least Rhonda and Samantha occasionally smiled at me and once or twice gave me a little kiss. Other than that, everything was about the horses. And their riders. We bathed both horses once we got there and I spent all morning drying and brushing them. Gypsy was a big cat and just nuzzled against my arm the whole time I was within reach. That old girl is such a love. But it was obvious that she loves Rhonda just as much—or more, since I'd been gone most of the summer. Princess, on the other hand, was a princess. If I stopped brushing her, she'd turn and give me a nudge. It was like she was telling me, 'you missed a spot, ' and making me go do it right. Samantha used a detangler conditioner in her mane and tail and actually braided her mane. She even had the slinky to wrap her tail in after it was all combed out. Believe me; that tail was held high. Princess is a natural showgirl.

I watched them in their practice runs Tuesday afternoon and when they were finished, we went through the whole process again. We were sitting down, finally, when I got my first look at the schedule.

"Oh, no! Your Western Horsemanship event is at nine tomorrow morning! I have to call Miss Polly and cancel. I can't miss that!"

"Don't be silly," Rhonda said. "It's us who are missing your time with Miss Polly. You'll be working on her set from eight o'clock in the morning. You can't cancel."

"But I didn't know. I thought all your events were in the afternoon."

"Brian, you know as well as we do that the Horsemanship event will be boring to watch. Every single 4H-er who has a horse has to show. We might not even be in the ring before your show is over. It's us that will be missing. At least you'll get a videotape of your show. Even if we got one, it would be five minutes of us in a two-hour tape," Samantha laughed. "And speaking of that, you've got to get home and get ready for tomorrow." Donna was walking down the aisle and next to her was an absolute vision of delight. Rose was coming toward me. She wrapped me in a hug and looked up into my eyes.

"Please kiss me, boyfriend." I did. About five minutes later my other girlfriends started applauding.

"Remember, Rose," Samantha said. "It's your job to have him ready for tomorrow morning."

"And to keep him from ravishing my sister," Rhonda added. "You should have seen him with Elaine – and smelled them," she whispered.

"I'll do my best to keep him under control," Rose said. "But not too under control."

What did I ever do to deserve these incredible girlfriends?

All five of us ate at the fair and we made sure the horses were bedded down and that Rhonda and Samantha were secure in the camper. I was betting that neither one of them would stay there for more than half an hour and that they'd be sleeping on those two bales of hay outside Princess and Gypsy's stalls the rest of the night. I'd just cautioned them that wherever they went, to go together. I couldn't help but feel I should be right there with them.

Donna took Rose and me home and we cleaned up and dressed for bed according to the rules. Mom and Dad never mentioned the rules when Elaine and I were together, but they made a big deal about inspecting our sleepwear tonight. They'd come home in an awfully good mood Sunday and it seemed they were just getting back to 'normal.'

The truth of the matter was that I had a ton on my mind and had spent the entire evening making sure I had everything ready for my demo. Usually, Miss Polly's demos ran just fifteen minutes, but you can't make chateaubriand in that length of time. With everything prepped, though, we'd have the full demo done in segments through the hour of the show with interview segments interspersed. I was happy that Miss Sullivan was going to be interviewed as well. I guess she was Mrs. Rogers now, but I'd always think of her as my sixth grade English teacher, Miss Sullivan.

Donna and Rose and I cuddled into bed together and after a little kissing, we all just went to sleep.

At four-thirty I opened my eyes and Donna was getting out of bed. I started to move from under Rose's weight on my right side.

"Shh. Don't move. You'll wake her," Donna said.

"But, I'll help with papers."

"And leave her in bed alone? Not on your life, Brian Frost. I'm delivering today. You get the next two days. Now hold our girlfriend in your arms and go back to sleep." I did. After I watched Donna strip out of her sleepwear and dress in clothes to deliver the papers.

"May I kiss my boyfriend?" Rose whispered as we began to stir in the morning.

"I've made a new unwritten rule," I whispered back. "If we're sleeping together you don't have to ask for a kiss."

"Mmm. Were we sleeping together?"

"Yes, love. I missed you so much this summer, Rose."

"If you were any other boy, I wouldn't believe you." We kissed and she wiggled her soft bosom against me. "I don't think I grew any more this summer," she whispered. "But you'd better check." I moved my hand to her breast. "Inside, please?" Her nightgown was already up around her waist so it wasn't hard to insert my hand and let it rest on her full soft breast. I think the only time Rose didn't wear an extra strength bra was when she was in bed. I was just fortunate, I guess.

"You feel just perfect to me."

"I missed you, Brian. I don't want to sound needy or put unreasonable demands on you, but if it's all right with you, I'd rather not date anyone else this fall. Okay?"

"Do you want an exclusive relationship with me?" I asked. This was a little worrisome.

"No, that's not it. I just don't want to deal with the sixteen-year-old amendment to the agreement," she said. "I don't want to go on a date and have to think whether this is a boy I want to allow in my panties."

"And I'm safe."

"Brian, with you I don't have to think about it. I know I want it." We kissed some more and there was a considerable amount of rubbing ourselves against each other, but neither of us was really trying to get off.

"I don't know how I got so lucky. I hope none of the other guys start getting jealous of me."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Both Rachel and Doreen are completely gone on Doug. And no one cares that Doreen's his sister, including Rachel. Brenda and Carl are still Brenda and Carl. I don't think she'll ever let him think about anyone else. Sora is keeping Geoff occupied. He's still a little overwhelmed. Lionel and Sugar have gotten back together. You know they were on and off since third grade. The one that's surprised me is Josh and Denise. A lot has happened this summer."

"Wow. I guess so."

"That just leaves you to deal with all the rest of us. Believe me, no one is jealous."

"I wonder why."

Our morning was filled with kisses and caresses, but by six o'clock I was up and making my final preparations. When Donna got in from delivering papers, she showered and came to the kitchen to help cut the potatoes. I spritzed them with lemon juice to keep them from discoloring before the demo. We sealed everything in airtight containers and were ready to go before Mom came out of the bedroom.

"Breakfast?" she asked as she looked at all the containers. "Coffee?" Oh my god! I had been so caught up in my prep work that I'd completely forgotten about getting breakfast or coffee for my lovers or parents! "I'll forgive you breakfast, but you'd better get that coffee brewing, young man," Mom laughed. Dad came out and couldn't believe he had to wait five more minutes for the coffee. By that time I'd flipped the first omelet out of the pan and slid it in front of Mom. She shared it with Dad and told me to feed my girlfriends. The second omelet was large enough to feed both Donna and Rose.

"What are you eating, son?" Dad asked.

"I think I'll just have a cup of coffee. I don't think I could eat anything right now."

"Sit," he commanded. I sat and he shoved my coffee cup in front of me. "No son of mine is going on television without a proper breakfast," he said. I watched, a little amazed as he cracked three eggs one handed and scrambled them in the pan. He reached for the little pile of vegetables that I had cut, but didn't use and sprinkled them in the eggs. There was still some diced ham, too. There was no more grated cheese, but Dad had the cheese grater in his hand and shredded some leftover parmesan into the scramble. He salt and peppered it and then used a flick of the wrist to toss the mess into the air and catch it back in the pan. "Order up," he said as he slid a plate in front of me and scooped the eggs out of the pan. I just stared at him. "You don't think I got out of your Grandma Frost's house without knowing how to cook, do you?" We all bowed our heads a moment at the mention of Grandma Frost. The eggs were fantastic.

"Thank you, Dad."

"Your grandma would be proud of you son," he smiled. "Like I am."

We pretty much flew through cleanup and loading Donna's car and I went down my list twice to make sure I had everything. I ran to my room and went to my closet. My Tally Ho chef's jacket, hat and scarf were all clean and neatly hung. I put on a white shirt with neat black slacks and took my kit with me to the car. We were off.

I didn't know I was Miss Polly's only guest. Oh, Miss Sullivan was there, all right, but all she talked about was my demonstration last year and how much I'd added to the St. Joe Valley 4H Foods program. There were four boys in the program this year. I didn't know that.

The demo went well, and while we were waiting for the food to finish cooking, Miss Polly interviewed me.

"Brian, I understand you had an exciting summer this year. Tell us about it."

"Miss Polly, I had a really amazing opportunity. Kokomo School Corporation started a work experience internship program this summer. To prove its viability statewide, I was privileged to be the only out-of-district student allowed in the program. I got to work in one of my dream jobs as an intern at the famous Tally Ho restaurant in Kokomo."

"You learned a lot there, but your hosts tell me that you brought a lot to the table, so to speak. Let's take a look at what I found when I visited just two weeks ago."

The station ran the video of Miss Polly and me in the kitchen at the Tally Ho while I ran to the kitchen on set and stirred my glacé and checked the potatoes and asparagus that Rose and Donna were tending.

"Well, as a matter of fact, they are just about ready," I said, glancing at my watch. "Why don't we see if I can actually make them live." We walked over to the ovens and I turned on the oven light. "It looks like we have about three minutes to go, so I can check on the potatoes and the asparagus." Rose and Donna, dressed in simple slacks and shirts and "Brian's Girlfriend" aprons, were tending to the two dishes. "It looks like these are under control and it will take me just a minute to get the glacé ready for the steak."

"Brian, both of these girls are wearing aprons that say 'Brian's Girlfriend.' Now we have some interesting footage that our crew has compiled over the past year. While you are stirring the glacé, let's let the audience take a look at this." The footage started with a clip of me making the soup last year and Elaine, née Candace, miming a smooch. Then there was Rhonda on Gypsy saying she was my girlfriend. Then there was a shot of Jennifer and Courtney in their girlfriend aprons. Finally, there was a close up of Miss Polly and me at the restaurant.

"So how many girlfriends do you have?"

"Really?" She nodded. "Seventeen." Miss Polly turned directly to the camera.

"I'm ready for dessert," she squeaked.

"I hope you'd like to have the entrée first," I laughed when we were live again. "Everything's ready. Shall we?" I scooped the popovers out of the oven and used tongs to place them carefully in the prepared basket. The steak came out of the oven and was placed in the middle of the serving dish I had ready. I sliced it with seven deft strokes of my very sharp butcher's knife. Around this I placed the potatoes and asparagus spears. In a matter of two minutes I pushed the platter of steak and the basket of popovers to the center of the bar where the camera was focused and waiting.

"And this is the famous Tally Ho Chateau Brian steak for two and his County Fair Grand Champion popovers," Miss Polly exclaimed. There was a lot of applause from the live audience as we cut to commercial. When we came back, Miss Polly and I were seated at a nicely set table and I served her a portion of the chateaubriand and vegetables and she sampled the food as the show resumed.

"Brian, I have to ask you, because it is too unusual for us to let it slip by. We showed the clip from last year of you and Candace clowning on the set. I understand Candace has changed her name to Elaine for professional reasons. Then we saw Rhonda on the horse and we saw those two cute girls down in Kokomo at the Tally Ho. When you told Carmen last year that you had five girlfriends, who was the fifth?"