Chapter Eight
- Bridge Out - Detour
As I was driving home, my leg was hurting, my hand was aching and I was thoroughly confused. To my mind it seemed that Sandy had changed, becoming something or someone I really didn't understand. What she'd said and done just didn't make any sense to me. I felt that she must have had damn little self respect if she placed that little value on her virginity and on her own personal feelings. Perhaps I was wrong, perhaps she felt more strongly about me than I believed she did, but still, I wasn't about to try to live by anyone else's standards.
I was feeling hurt and confused, yet there was a sense of relief on top of everything else and I didn't understand that at all. Right at the moment I just wanted to go home and sleep, maybe everything would make sense tomorrow. Unfortunately when I pulled into the yard, the porch light was on and Will and the two Coulter twins were still sitting there.
"Hey, Romeo. You got back early." Wil teased.
"Yeah." I snarled, hobbling toward the house on my crutches.
"Umm, did something go wrong?" He asked then, suddenly sounding sympathetic.
"You could say that." I sighed, then stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked up at the three of them. "I guess you could say that I'm too slow for Sandy, or at least that's more or less the impression I got, just before she demanded that I take her home."
"Sandy, little mousey Sandy, said you were too slow for her?" Carissa gasped in surprise.
"I don't believe it." Corinna echoed her sister's tone.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Wil asked. "You don't have to, but maybe if you get it off your chest you'll sleep better, and if you say anything it won't go any further. We won't gossip, will we girls?"
"Unh uh. No way."
"We like Chris too much to say anything that might be misunderstood."
"I dunno." I sighed heavily.
I managed to get up the stairs and saw that they were sitting in the seat I'd used before. Almost instantly Carissa realised it and got up but I waved her back.
"My foot is really bothering me. I should go to bed." I sighed.
"Can you put it up, on a cushion or something?" She asked, coming over to me.
"Not really." I sighed. "Is that so important?"
"It really helps, actually if you sat here and did that now for a while, then when you went to bed it wouldn't be so important." She gestured at the floor. "Look, you could just lay down there and rest your foot on my lap."
"Beth keeps a blanket and cushions in the entryway. She uses them when she's laying in the sun." Corinna offered. "We could easily get them for you."
Carissa didn't wait, she almost ran and was back with them before I could protest, flipping the blanket open on the back section the porch floor and putting one cushion against the wall.
"Come on, try it for a few minutes." She wheedled. "I'll help when you are getting down and back up."
"I could probably do that myself." I couldn't help smiling at her willingness. "Right now though, I think I need a pain killer and . . ."
"Sit, darn it, I'll get you anything you need." Carissa insisted.
It was easier to give in than it was to fight her. Soon I was sitting on the blanket, leaning on a cushion against the wall with my cast was resting on another one. It actually felt quite comfortable and I thanked Carissa. She smiled and sat down at my side, resting her arm on my shoulders, hugging me gently.
"At times like this, you need a friend." She smiled.
"I've got some of Grampa Bender's best medicine here." Wil offered.
"What's going on? Have you been drinking?"
"Just a bit" Wil chuckled softly. "Don't you know alcohol will melt ice? Since these gals are supposed to be 'Ice Cubes', I decided to give it a try. Want some?"
He held up a quart jar of Grampa Bender's squeezins that was still more than half full.
"Oh shit man, that's one of Dad's jugs. What's he going to say when he finds out you raided his stash?"
"He gave it to me and even had a drink with us." Wil chuckled. "Actually he and Mom sat with us for a while, both of them had a couple of drinks before they went to bed."
"Jeez, what's going on?" I asked
"Oh, have a drink." Carissa reached for the jug, had a sip, then gasped and handed it to me.
"It's no damn wonder we couldn't get you drunk last week." Corinna grinned at me as she leaned over Wil's lap to be able to talk to me. "What we had is like water after this stuff."
"She's been drinking more than me." Carissa leaned close and whispered. "Just after you left, your Dad called your cousins to help do the chores tomorrow morning. He told us all that we had the morning off and brought out the jar of home made whiskey."
"Wow, what's up with that?"
"Well, we're having a private welcome home party for Wil. And as well Corinna and I are celebrating that we finished cleaning out that damn chicken coop." Carissa said aloud
Then she whispered in my ear. "Mostly though, I think your Dad was trying to compensate, you got hurt, Beth's upset, we've been underfoot, Wil's home, you got given a stock car and found a girl to take out, Beth and George had a date, and so on. Just too much has happened too fast."
Then she astounded me, by kissing my ear lobe and laying her head on my shoulder.
"You've been drinking too, haven't you."
"Mmm, some." She giggled and snuggled even closer. "With this stuff, it doesn't take much to feel really good. Now come on, drink up, you've got a reason besides needing a pain killer."
"Yeah." I sighed and looked at the Masons' sealer.
After a moment, I took a deep breath, lifted the jug to my lips to take a mouthful, then I swallowed that slug of liquid fire. As usual, I couldn't get my breath for a few seconds and once more, I wondered why I'd even thought about drinking any of it at all. A few seconds later the warm feeling hit my gut, my ability to breathe came back and I sighed deeply.
"Whoo-wee." I sighed and Will chuckled.
"That jug came from a good batch." I croaked.
"Yep, one of Grampa Bender's finest." Wil snorted. "Pure fire water. So, you gonna tell us what happened?"
"I'll think about it." I sighed. "But first, my throat would need to be a lot more lubricated."
I lifted the jug, took another sip of white lightning and went through the gasp and groan routine before handing it back to Carissa. She sat up and had a drink as well, then handed it back to Wil. She settled back against me, resting her head on my shoulder as I slipped an arm around her back. I looked down and her eyes met mine.
"You can talk or not, it doesn't matter. If you talk, I promise that I'll kick my big sister's butt if she says anything to anyone and she'll probably offer to do the same to me." She said softly, then she looked at Wil. "And the two of us will help you dump Will in the hog muck if he says anything."
"Hey!" Will protested. "Quit making suggestions like that Corinna, he might take you up on the idea."
"That's the point, he knows I mean it." Carissa said sharply. "And by the way, I'm not Corinna."
"Oh shit. I'm sorry Carissa. I just get you two confused too easily."
"Yeah, we know." Corinna sighed as she sat next to him. "At least Chris can tell us apart. Why don't you ask him for help in figuring out how he does it?"
"He hasn't got the nose for it." I decided to kid them all. "The two of you smell different."
"They do?" Wil stared at me so I nodded, doing my best to look utterly serious.
"You're kidding us, right?" Carissa whispered.
I grinned and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't suppose you'll ever know."
"That's not fair." Corinna giggled. "We're supposed to be identingcal."
"That's identical , dear." Carissa giggled. "You are drunk and he's right, we're not identical."
"Not drunk, just feeling happy." Corinna argued. "Besides, he was talking about how we smell."
"So, maybe his nose is better than ours." Carissa argued right back. "Sometimes you do smell different to me."
"Well, sometimes you do too, but you don't fart all that often." Corinna's voice had an edge to it.
"Hey, no fights." Wil said almost sharply.
"There's a way to settle this." Carissa barked
"We'll be right back." Corinna added
Then the two of them stood up and hurried inside.
"Do they really smell different?" Wil whispered after they were gone.
I just grinned.
"Are you bull shitting me?"
"Just wait, they're going to come outside and demand that I tell you which one is which, probably with my eyes closed or with them wearing masks. Do you want to bet on whether I can tell the difference or not?"
"No dammit." He chuckled. "You know I quit betting with you years ago. I lost too many times."
Just then the screen door opened and both Will and I turned toward it, then we stared. Except that they were wearing tiny panties, both twins were nude. They stopped between us but about five feet from either of us and stood side by side. Then they each spun to face Wil.
"If you can guess, which one of us is Corinna . . . " Said one.
". . . she's willing to sit on your lap and snuggle with you, dressed this way." Said the other.
Then they slowly turned to face me before spinning all the way around to face Wil again.
"What happens if I guess wrong?" Wil whispered.
"Why then we cuddle Chris."
"We know he can tell us apart."
"If either one of us finds a boyfriend, he'd better be smart enough to tell us apart."
"I wouldn't want him to play around with my sister and think it was me."
"Neither would I."
"Now, it's time for you to guess."
"And Chris, no hints or clues."
"Okay." I nodded. "Can I give him some advice?"
They glanced at each other and then back to me before they nodded.
"Wil, Corinna really does want you to figure out which one is which and there are several clues. Take your time, get close to them, think about what you've done together and how they acted, how they looked, things that were special. Then look in their eyes, you'll be able to tell."
"Just like that?"
"Yep and take your time. Personally, I think they're definitely worth looking over carefully."
That brought a giggle from both girls and a laugh from Wil. Then he stood up and approached them. As I watched I could actually see Corinna react to him and I had to hide a grin so Wil wouldn't catch on. When Wil's head was turned away from her Carissa winked at me and I had to hide my grin at that too.
A moment later, Wil just seemed to stop and then he grinned and scooped Corinna into his arms, walking over to the farthest seat at the other end of the porch.
"That was anticlimactic." I said quietly.
"Maybe, but maybe not, don't move." Carissa giggled and danced back to the doorway.
She shut out the lights. Now the only light was from the moon and it didn't really reach back onto the porch as far as I was. There was enough light that I could still make out her figure as she moved back to me.
"Since Corinna got him, I get you." She declared and slipped into my lap while being very careful of my sore foot. "And, I think I got the better deal."
Then I was being kissed by a gorgeous girl for the second time that night. As I kissed her, one hand began to wander over her back, the other crept toward a breast. Suddenly I had a scary thought - what if Mom or Dad came out to see why the front door was open?
I broke off the kiss suddenly, holding my hands still.
"What about Mom and Dad?" I asked.
"Good point." She sighed softly. "Dammit. I think they've gone to bed and are asleep, but I don't suppose they'd be very forgiving if they found us in this state on your front porch, would they?"
"Could you blame them?" I chuckled.
"No." She giggled.
Then suddenly she was wriggling around in my lap and she bent forward for a second. She sat back up and lifted her hand to my shirt pocket, stuffing something inside. Her panties?
"What are you doing?" I asked quietly.
"Those represent a promissary note." She said softly and snuggled against me even tighter. "One day, when both of us are ready, you can collect on it."
"Unh, this is sort of like what broke up Sandy and me." I said quietly.
"I thought so. Reading between the lines, it sounded like she pushed too hard and too fast, in the wrong way." She whispered. "In my case, there's no hurry. I can wait as long as you want. We both have to know it's right."
She started to slide off of my lap, then paused.
"Of course, you know where I'm sleeping tonight and I think from the sound of things that I'll be all alone in my room." She giggled softly and gestured in the direction of the soft moans coming from the other end of the porch. "I think those two have a date with destiny."
"Do you think that they're going to . . . ?" I paused, not knowing how to ask her what I wanted to know without sounding crass.
"I don't know." Carissa leaned close and whispered softly."I do know that Corinna has had a crush on your brother for a very long time and . . . well, you know how I feel about you. I know if you asked tonight, I don't think I could say no and it's not because of the alcohol or because you broke up with Sandy."
"But, damn it Carissa, I'm younger than you are and . . ."
"I'm only a little more than eighteen months older, but I suppose to some, that's a lifetime. In fact just a week ago it would have been the same for me. Actually, I guess it was, wasn't it? I was one of the bitches that was going to teach the little professor a lesson. Instead, I fucked up, 'cause he taught me and the whole damn town one instead. In the process the silly little bastard ended up protecting me and taught me that he and his family are about the nicest people I've ever met. Even after I and my sister proved to be real bitches and managed to screw things up so that he broke his leg, he still treated us nicely. So now I really don't care about your age and mine, I think I've got a bigger crush on you than Corinna has on Wil."
Then she was kissing me, hard! But she didn't kiss me for long. Instead she stood up, then turned to face me. She slowly moved so her feet were on either side of my legs, then she was moving forward and now I really could smell her, the real scent of her womanhood. She paused. I reached out and touched her ankles, then slowly slid my fingers up the back of her legs, trying not to let the cast on my hand touch her. She moaned softly as I caressed her calves.
"Not behind my knees." She whispered ever so softly. "I'm really ticklish there."
So I slipped my hands to the outside of her knees, then once I'd moved above them, I gently felt my way up her thighs.
"You're covered in goose bumps." I sighed.
"It's not because I'm cold." She sighed. "You're driving me crazy."
"Oh."
I slid my hands higher, feeling the crease where her thighs met her butt and then my fingers were spreading over those wonderful tight globes. I could feel the muscles tense and flex under her skin as she shifted ever so slightly. I gently pulled her forward, but I was unable to judge just how far away she was in the dim light. I was guessing that her pelvis was only inches from my face because of the narrow strip of light between her inner thighs. I paused and stayed completely still and unmoving for a few seconds, then I blew gently, aiming my breath up and then down, hoping it was tickling her skin.
"Oh my God." She moaned softly and I felt her knees quiver.
"Don't you like that?" I murmured.
"Oh yes. But we have to stop now." She whispered.
I ignored her and blew gently once more.
"Please? Oh please don't." She sighed as she slowly settled downward, straddling my hips but not pulling away, now her knees were slipping downward on either side of my hips, her body close to mine.
"Are you pulling an 'Ice Cube' trip on me?" I asked, leaning forward to give her a brief kiss.
"Oh no, not with you. Never ever!" She said when she could speak again. "But, we can't do it tonight, not after you just broke up with Sandy and not after we've both been drinking. I'm so sorry. I know I've been a bitch, teasing again."
Suddenly she was hugging me and crying on my shoulder. I was aroused and at that moment I was very frustrated, but in my heart I knew she was right. So, I just held her gently and sighed deeply.
Damn it, why had Mom and Dad raised me to be respectful of other people's decisions? I was holding a beautiful woman again. Once more I'd been tantalized by the main thing that any guy my age wanted, but I was going to pass it up because she'd asked me to hold back after teasing me. I wasn't going to even try to convince her to go further. I was certain it wouldn't take much to convince her to change her mind, but I wasn't going to try. Even if I didn't like her choice at the moment, I knew she was probably right, this wasn't the time or the place for us to do anything.
"Oh, I am so sorry." She blubbered through her tears.
"Shh." I hissed, hugging her gently and letting my hands caress her back. "You're right. It's not the right time for us to play around."
"Can you stand . . . to hold me . . . for a bit?" Her voice was a soft plea, broken by tiny sobs.
"Of course." I heard my voice say and fought down the argument my body was presenting to my mind.
Damn, there was no way to express how much I wanted this girl right now. I wanted to do so many things with her. I wanted to touch her and caress her and . . . I forced my mind to stop. I had to or I was going to get carried away. I tried to concentrate on just about anything else, but I have to admit, holding a beautiful naked woman in your arms is not an easy thing to ignore. I might not have been able to ignore her, but I was able to control my continuing urge to convince her to change her mind. I even managed to hold my roaming hands still.
Finally, after several minutes, Carissa lifted her head and wiped at her cheeks with a hand.
"Do you have a hanky?" She whispered.
"In my hip pocket, but why?" I questioned.
"Because my nose is running, idiot." She snorted as her hand slid around my waist and down toward my bottom.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm getting my boyfriend's hanky so I can blow my nose and then I plan to kiss him goodnight."
"Your boyfriend?"
"Yes. As far as I'm concerned anyway." She sighed and her fingers wriggled on my butt as she found the pocket she wanted.
"But . . ."
"Yes, I do like yours. Now shut up."
I could tell that she was getting back her attitude, regaining her control and for some reason that pleased me a lot. As she pulled my hanky out of my pocket, I had a totally off topic question zap into my head; 'Why were farm men the only people I knew who carried hankies?' They were something that came in handy for so many things, from dust masks to emergency bandages, or . . . or for your girlfriend to wipe her nose with after she'd been crying.
And then I jerked like I'd been shot.
Girlfriend? Carissa? What the hell was going on? Where had that come from?
"Is something wrong?" She whispered as she pressed her cheek to mine.
"I'm not sure you want to know." I managed to mumble.
"Are you thinking dirty thoughts?" I could hear the edge of a giggle in her voice and was pleased that she was getting her sense of humour back again as well.
"Not really, I was thinking about you. And about me. And about us."
"And it made you jump?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah." I nodded slowly. "I'm in shock."
"What? Why are you in shock about us?"
"Because it took me by surprise." I grinned, deciding suddenly that I did like the idea.
"Mmm, at least you're smiling about it." She sighed, then suddenly she was kissing me.
As we were kissing, I finally had the nerve to let my hands roam over her soft body. She didn't protest and for the second time that night I felt a breast in my hand. But this time, for the first time ever, it was a woman, not a girl. There was only a year difference in their ages, but it felt like there was a lifetime of difference between the attitudes of Carissa and Sandy.
I felt a nipple swell and harden under my fingers and heard her moan softly, felt her tongue suddenly become a demanding weapon as she frenched me. Then suddenly, she was pulling back, her hands pressing on my shoulders as she shifted away from me to slowly stand.
"I will not tease you again." She growled. "We need to take some time before we do this again, because next time . . ."
And she didn't even say goodnight, suddenly I was alone. Well, I was alone except for the soft moans and groans from the other end of the porch. That, I didn't need, not in the mood I was in. I knew it would simply frustrate me. Besides, I wanted to give them some privacy.
I rolled to my knees, pushed the blankets and cushions against the wall and grabbed my crutches. In a very short time I was slipping into my bed. I didn't fall asleep soon though, instead I lay there, trying to think about what had happened and trying to decide what I really felt about everything.
The questions that ran across my mind were like flashes, one following another. Each question seemed to create another question or two. Either that, or else it was tied to an answer that I didn't have to a question that I hadn't yet answered. There was no way I was going to sleep.
Finally I sat up, slipped out of bed and closed my door, then hobbled over to sit down at my desk and pick up a pen. I'd decided that if I made some notes about things, I might be able to clear my head enough to sleep.
Since Sandy and Carissa vied for my attention more than any other subjects, their two names went at the top of two different pages. I was going to list what I liked and disliked about each of them.
The first dislike I had for Carissa was that she was older than I was, but did that really matter? We both had the same education, many of the same acquaintances, very similar tastes . . . maybe her age wasn't such a big thing? I crossed it off the list But what else? Okay, I wasn't pleased about some things, like the actions she and her sister had toward guys, but I decided that was in the past. I'd give her the benefit of the doubt on that one. I didn't really like the fact that she was a twin, but it seemed to me that Wil was handling that problem. I looked at the page in front of me with one word written at the top and then a scribbled out word under it. Then it struck me, I didn't really have one thing about her that I absolutely disliked to the point where I wished it was changed.
Glancing at Sandy's page, I had very different feelings. I knew there were several things about her that I really didn't feel comfortable with. I lifted the pen to the top of the page. I could start with her insecurities and her shyness, then I could . . . I yawned then and started to feel sleepy.
I glanced at the clock, wow, it was almost three in the morning. Forget the lists, I decided. Instead I turned out my light and rolled into bed. My last thought before I fell asleep was "I wonder if I'm being shallow, the way I'm reacting to these girls?"
I was having such a nice dream. I was being almost smothered in the arms of three or four pretty girls and someone kissed my cheek, then nibbled on my ear lobe and whispered softly; "Wake up Sexy. We need to talk to you."
"Mmm." I moaned, trying to lift my arms and hug the girl who'd talked to me, but it seemed like my arms were tied down, I couldn't seem to move them.
"Chris, wake up. Wil and Corinna are gone and so is your car."
I thought that sounded like Beth but . . . surely she wouldn't be in my dream? Then someone tickled my nose with a feather and I started to really struggle. I still couldn't seem to move.
"Chris!" Beth's voice was right in my ear and it was loud.
I finally realised I was in bed and I was being woken up. The reason I couldn't move seemed to be the fact that I was rolled up in my blankets. Finally I managed to free myself enough to turn and look up. Beth was there, so was Carissa. Neither of them looked very happy.
"What's up?" I managed to mumble, my tongue rolling aside the drifts of moss that Grampa Bender's squeezins left on you tongue the next morning. "Is somethin' wrong?"
"Carissa says Corinna didn't come to bed last night and Wil's bed hasn't been slept in either." Beth snapped, staring down at me with her hands on her hips. "Your car isn't here and at first Mom and Dad thought you were the one who was gone."
"Okay, so I'm here. What am I supposed to do?" I finally decided I'd had enough of her being bossy. "And who made you Queen of the castle to come marching in here and asking me what I'm doing when you can see I'm sleeping."
"Oh don't get into such a snit." She answered. "Who else ever does anything weird around here, but you? I'll bet it ends up that you're tied up in this some way."
With that comment, she stormed out and slammed the door behind her. She almost hit Carissa who had moved to follow her.
"Hey, where are you going?" I asked. "I haven't even had a chance to say good morning."
"You're not angry at being wakened?" Carissa asked in a surprised tone.
"I wasn't annoyed at being woken up. I was pissed that she automatically seemed to think I knew what was going on. I think she even ended up blaming me for whatever it is." I sighed. "I've spent most of my life being blamed for things others did."
I patted the bed at my side. "I could use an explanation of what you know though."
"After making a fool of myself last night, you expect me to sit there and . . . "
"Nope." I interrupted. "After the kiss on the cheek and the whisper in my ear this morning, I do though."
Darn if she didn't blush. Then she giggled.
"You were supposed to be asleep."
"I was but I was having a great dream." I grinned and held out my arms. "Can't I even have a hug?"
"One quick hug and then we have to get downstairs, your folks want to ask you about last night."
At least it was a nice long hug and I even managed to sneak in a little kiss, then she pulled away and stood near the door.
"Get your butt in gear, lover. Even your folks seem convinced that you must be involved because your car is gone."
As soon as she went out the door, I hopped out of bed and then cursed because of my cast. It was not meant to be thumped on the floor and now my foot hurt. I reached for the shorts I'd worn the day before and they weren't on the chair where I'd left them . I couldn't find them anywhere. My shirt was gone too.
Oh well, I dug in the dresser and found another pair of shorts and another T-shirt, then I hobbled down the hall to the bathroom. In only a few minutes I was headed downstairs to face the music. Maybe Wil had lied to me last night about the jug, maybe something else was going on. I decided the best defence was attack.
"Who stole my darn shirt and shorts from last night?" I demanded as I limped into the kitchen.
"Ah ha." Dad grunted. "Did you lock your car doors last night?"
"I think so, yeah, I almost always do. Why?"
"Hmmph." He grunted again. "Were your keys in the pocket of your shorts?"
"Yeah, but . . . are you saying Wil and Corinna came up to my room and got my keys? My wallet and a bunch of other things were in those shorts too."
"Oh, oh." Carissa squawked. "I'll bet Corinna has them."
Suddenly it made sense in a weird way to say the least.
"Quick explanation." I barked to catch everyone's attention. "On the way into town last night, Sandy and I had a disagreement, more like a battle. She wanted something I didn't and she ended up demanding that I take her home right then. I took her home, then I waited outside because I wanted to explain to her folks. Her dad stormed out ready to pound on me, but instead we had a talk. I think he understands and he's not angry at me."
"My turn." Carissa insisted. " What you people didn't know is that for years Corinna has had a crush on Wil and last night they got drinking and necking. Actually, I was feeling like a fifth wheel. Then when Chris came home and he looked so down in the dumps I felt sorry for him. I really like him a lot, so I got him to have a drink or two and I joined him."
She paused and I was going to say something but she held up her hand and silenced me.
"I know that Corinna and I should know better, but it seems as if when we drink too much around your boys we end up taking off our clothes. Chris and I stopped before anything happened, but when I went up to bed, I just scooped up the clothes and ran. I suppose I must have taken Corinna's clothes too. Maybe Wil came to get Chris' keys and he grabbed Chris' clothes for Corinna to wear."
Beth and Mom just looked at each other and shook their heads and Dad was staring at Carissa and I like we each had two heads.
"Are you two telling me that . . .?"
The ringing of the telephone interrupted whatever he was going to say. Dad just lifted one hand to warn everyone to be quiet while he handled whoever was disturbing our family meeting and grabbed the phone with the other.
"Hello." He literally barked, then I could see him calm down. "Oh, good morning, John."
He suddenly looked surprised and then he shook his head and rolled his eyes as he listened.
"Well, John, what you say to him is your business. I can't interfere. I would recommend that they slow down though . . . Yeah, both of them . . . I don't think there's a major rush, is there?" Dad listened for several seconds and then laughed softly. "Now, that sounds like a good idea . . . Okay, John, I'm looking forward to it . . . Bye for now."
He hung up the phone and turned to us with a huge grin on his face. "Do you know what that silly pair of idiots did?"
"Who?" We all demanded.
"Wil and Corinna." Dad chuckled.
"Well, don't just stand there grinning, tell us what's happening." Mom insisted.
"They borrowed Chris's car because they decided they had to rush to town this morning . They wanted to be sure to catch John Coulter before he went golfing."
"So they're just at home?" Carissa asked unbelievingly.
"Yeah, your dad found them sitting at the kitchen table, holding hands when he got up this morning."
"Willard. Shit or git off the pot." Mom barked. "You're enjoying dragging this out and we're not."
"Okay, Mama." Dad chuckled. "Wil asked John if he would mind if Corinna and he got married."
From the chorus of gasps, I think all of us were left speechless.