Chapter 20

Much later, following a nap, curled up together like two puppies, Beth Ann stirred, smiled and asked, "Have you made plans for our next four years since you seem to have no intention of working or attending school and apparently don't intend for me to work, either?"

Thankfully, Beth Ann finally realized what I wanted for us. "Now you get it. I do not intend for you to work ever again. Mr. Bell and Colleen have finished putting together our trust and you know you are completely protected when ... well ... I ... I'm no longer ... when I don't have need for it anymore. You will never have to worry about how to support yourself again, whether I'm here or not."

She dug her hands into my sides to make sure I was paying attention and then said, "You ARE NOT dying any time soon and I WILL NOT be left alone. Do you hear me? I don't know what I would do without you. Stop thinking about it and let's enjoy every day without that cloud following us." Her face darkened and tears crowded the edges of her eyes. I held her face in my hands and kissed her deeply to let her know I'd heard and she kissed back until Mr. Johnson decided he wanted in on the fun.

Beth Ann leaped to her feet, pointing at my rising dick and shrieked," Oh My God. He's back. Ladies! Run for your lives. Mothers! Hide your daughters! Be afraid. Be very afraid. Mr. Johnson wants to hunt you down. He'll find out all your deepest, darkest secrets and then have his wicked way with you.

"Fathers - Lock your doors. Bar your windows. Set your alarms. Mr. Johnson knows no limits. His evil agenda will not be thwarted.

"OH, NO! Here he comes." Her gales of laughter echoed throughout the cabin. Beth Ann was having a blast. "No. NO. Keep that thing away from me. I'm an innocent, poor, naive virgin and your awful man-thing wants to deflower me. What will people say? They'll shun me for falling under your spell and then I'll be shunned - forced to wander the Earth, alone, naked and hungry – all because Mr. Johnson was on the loose.

"People will see me wandering up and down through their towns and say, "there goes Beth Ann. She was a good girl but Mr. Johnson stole her innocence and now she is condemned to wander the roads of our villages, forever. It will be just awful. Don't you feel terribly sorry for me?

"Save me. Someone save me from this fate worse than..." her laughter turned to shrieks as I tickled her. Beth Ann struggled in my arms and then spun around to face me, pressing her naked body against my erection, trying to make me forget I was tickling her. We giggled and tickled and giggled some more. Even with the restrictions placed on me by the surgery we had a wonderful time.

Finally exhausted, we wound up in a huddled mass of naked flesh, panting on the couch where all of this started to begin with.

Gently Beth Ann and I settled back into our domestic routines. Though noticeably weaker, I tried to be just as much help as before and picked up clothes, did the laundry, puttered around the kitchen and tried to get us back to where we were before I got sick.

Beth Ann and I spent days discussing how we wanted our life to be once I was well and the high school thing was settled and off our minds. At one point I knew I had to come completely clean with her and said, "Listen. If the school refuses to budge on testing me out, I will either take the GED and be done, or simply drop out.

"There is zero chance I'm starting school in August. If I recall exactly what the neurosurgeons said, I need at least six months before I could even consider going back to school, anyway. By the time I miss half a year, go to school with a long list of physical limitations and try to get by with no memories, there's not a chance of it working out.

"You need to understand, Beth Ann my love. High school and me – we're not happening.

"With you I have an advantage. You know all the things that made me ... this way. You know the worst things about me and love me anyway, or at least you have me fooled into thinking you love me anyway. Can you imagine how I would be bullied and teased for being different?

"For crying out loud, look at me, I'm bald. How long before the bullies start trying to take me apart for looking like this?" My hair hadn't even started to come back, the scars were scary looking and I was swollen still from the surgery and injuries. "Trying to fit in, socialize, be a kid, or just make it through is impossible because I've got too many strikes against me.

Beth Ann smiled, batted her sexy eyelashes at me and asked, "Then what are we going to do? Any ideas?"

It was late July. The summer rains had the shores of Table Rock Lake bursting with green and the nights often cooled down just a bit. Table Rock Lake was perfect for swimming but Beth Ann and I instead spent several days drifting out on the lake in a houseboat we bought from Mr. Bell. It gave us privacy and somewhere to go to get away that didn't take hours to get to. It was two weeks after my surgery and I had been home from the hospital for two days. I was feeling trapped in the cabin after two weeks in bed and asked Beth Ann to drive me to the marina.

When they saw me JoAnna and Hank were really sweet. Hank met me getting out of the van and we talked like old friends, walking towards the office. JoAnna looked up as we three came through the front door and squealed. Her hugs were sweet and genuine. She greeted Beth Ann like her own sister. I told her I wanted Beth Ann to see their houseboats and we all wandered down to the docks.

There was a particular boat I wanted to tour and it was in slip number one. The boat was made in Kentucky by Thoroughbred Houseboats. It was eighty-four feet long and eighteen feet wide, making it among the largest boats on Table Rock Lake and was appointed beautifully. Besides two large staterooms, the boat was cleverly designed to use space beneath the floors for two more bedrooms.

I knew from my one day career at the marina that this boat was on a lease back from an owner that never used it and it would probably sell for far less than it was worth because the owner needed money. Instead of three-hundred thousand dollars – plus – I was hoping to spend about one-hundred to one-hundred fifty thousand and keep it right where it was, entering into a maintenance with Hank to keep it in shape.

When Beth Ann realized I had an agenda, she took me aside and asked, "What are you thinking about, here?"

"I want to see if we can buy this cheap and let Hank and JoAnna take care if it for us. We could use it as a second home and when we need alone time all we have to do is untie the ropes and drive away." She let that roll around in her head awhile and I gave her space.

The houseboat came with twin Perkins two-hundred horse power diesels. They weren't fast but Perkins run forever and need very little expensive maintenance. Hank was a gifted mechanic and was equipped to take care of any repairs, renovations, or maintenance imaginable. The fuel tanks were very large, just as the fresh water supply was more than adequate. With the diesel generator it would be self-sufficient for weeks, if we decided to take a long cruise on the White River.