“I think she’ll be alright,” whispered Michelle. “Let me worry about her. You two worry about gettin’ those other two together.”
“I wish it were that simple. This might have to be one of those things they have to work through on their own. Not that I don’t plan on giving them a little nudge . . .”
——————– ———————-
Out in the living room . . .
——————– ———————-
Laurie glanced nervously across the couch at Heather. Jane’s words had filled the young woman’s mind with images and fantasies that were hard to ignore. From the glitter of her pseudo-diamond nose piercing to her icy-blue eyes . . . everything about the hard-edged girl fascinated Laurie. She was trying to keep her cool and avoid saying anything really stupid. It seemed to be working, as Heather seemed to be much more relaxed. The movie they had been watching was incredibly disturbing to the blonde girl. There was so much anger, ignorance and hatred that it made her hurt to watch it. So whenever she could get away with it, she watched Heather instead. She loved watched the tattoo of the snake on her arms and shoulders. She wished that she were wrapped up in its coils.
Heather wasn’t nearly as into the movie as she thought she should be. It was the ‘society sucks, then we die’ type film she normally sank her teeth into, but she just wasn’t feeling it at that time. She loved the movie . . . owned on DVD and everything, but she just wasn’t in the mood. She glanced over at Laurie, who seemed to be looking back at her until she hurriedly looked away. She was wear a tube top that was way to small to be considered ethical, and her breasts were straining to escape in any direction they could. She found herself remembering that despite the annoying questions, comments and screw-ups, Laurie was a fine looking piece of work. The things Heather could do with a woman with a rack like that . . .
‘Oh what the hell are you thinking? The girl is an airhead, and girls like that have boys lined up around the block to have a turn.’ As Heather’s internal discourse continued, she felt a pang of something. It wasn’t her normal animosity. She realized with some embarrassment that it was jealousy. She was jealous that some brain-dead jock got to take girls like Laurie to his room for a quick how-do-you-do but Heather couldn’t.
“Heather,” the girl across from her asked timidly, “would you mind turning the television off for a moment? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
‘Oh boy,’ Heather thought as she made a conscious effort to NOT roll her eyes. ‘She wants to talk.’ But since she wasn’t into the movie that much, she agreed.
“First of all,” Laurie continued with obvious strain in her voice, “I’m really sorry about your jeep. I should’ve told you that I don’t know the first thing about cars. And I’m sorry for ruining your summer by getting you and Alice stuck out here.”
Heather was genuinely surprised. It was the first time she had heard Laurie take responsibility for anything, much less apologize. And she wasn’t just being placating. The girl was on the verge of tears. Heather remembered her conversation with Freddie from that morning. The girl wasn’t giving her any cause to be angry, so she would try and remain calm. “Don’t worry about it now. Once you talk to your father, we can work something out. As far as ruining my summer, so far I’m having more fun than I expected to have at band camp.”
Laurie blushed. “Me too. But . . . how much was your jeep worth? And . . . I’m sorry, I don’t know how these things work . . . are you going to be wanting a new vehicle or a used vehicle . . .”
“The jeep, considering the mileage and the condition, was worth about six thousand. If I can get something of equal or slightly better value, I’ll be fine.”
“Well, if we could get someone to take us to the nearest town with a car lot, I can replace your car myself. Would that be okay?”
Heather looked dubious. “You have six thousand dollars to spend? Just like that?”
Laurie felt herself cringing as she was under the impression that she was about to get yelled at again for being a spoiled rich kid. “My . . . my grandparents and my folks all got together and gave me a bunch of money to take a European vacation with. I hadn’t gotten around to it yet, and since I owe you . . .” Laurie straightened her back (which also thrust her chest out, much to Heather’s viewing pleasure) and said, “Your car isn’t my dad’s problem. It’s mine. So I’ll fix it.” Laurie leaned over as she was talking, making her cleavage that much more available for public viewing.
“Alright. If that’s really what you want to do, I’m cool with it.” Heather was a bit perplexed by this shift in attitude, but found it much more pleasant than having her prize possession vaporized. And Laurie seemed enormously pleased with herself, and she curled her long legs up under her and rested her head on the end of the couch. ‘Damn she’s hot!’ thought Heather.
Jane had been listening to the whole exchange from just inside the door to the kitchen. ‘Please Heather. She just gave you a tremendous clue as to her intentions, and all you have to do is pick up on it.’
“Girls!” she shouted from the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready!”
———————— ———————-
Dinner was as delightful that second evening as it had been the first. Both guests and hostesses were pretty much unable to move, so they sat around the table chatting the evening away. Although they all had planned activities for later on, none of them felt in much of a hurry. Alice spoke excitedly about riding along side the herd of buffalo, which had everyone captivated. Heather and Laurie both found her enthusiasm refreshing.
During the story, Jane began rubbing her temples again.
“Hon, please tell me that ain’t another headache,” said Michelle with absolute concern. “We really need to get you to see a doctor about those. If you’re gettin’ migraines, we need to get you some real medication.”
“I suppose you’re right. But for now . . . Laurie dear, would you mind horribly . . .” The aforementioned girl quickly got out of her chair and stood behind the matriarch of this strange little clan.
Heather thought it unusual that the woman was only in her mid-thirties, but everyone deferred to her as if she were some ancient sage. She also noticed the care with which Laurie’s hands were moving, and the relief they seemed to be providing. She wouldn’t mind feeling those hands on her own body . . . ‘Stop it,’ she thought.
“You are an absolute treasure,” murmured Jane. “I suppose we can head into town tomorrow. Dr. Craven is usually quite amenable to walk-ins.”
Heather’s ears perked up. “How big is this town?”
“About six thousand people. But it’s a good two hours drive from here.”
Laurie spoke up. “Does it have a dealership? For cars I mean?”
Michelle thought it over. “Yeah. Not much selection, but I know the guy that runs its. He knows his cars, and even his used stuff can be put under warranty if ya don’t mind payin’ a bit extra.”
“Well, would it be okay if we went with you? If they’ve got something that Heather thinks is a fair substitute, I was going to go ahead and replace her jeep.”
“Can you afford that?”
“Yeah,” Laurie replied as she started working the knots out of Jane’s neck.
“Well, I’m sure we can work something out. We’ll have to take my car. There is no physical way we could all fit in the truck comfortably.”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Michelle. “Unless you need some heavy liftin’ done, I need to go check the fences for the north pasture before we let the herd in to graze it.”
“I’ll stay too,” said Alice. “I’m not much good with car shopping or doctor’s visits, but I can help with the fences I think.”
Jane smiled. “I think you’ve made a cowgirl out our young friend,” she said, smiling warmly and making Alice blush.
“I’d be happy for the company,” replied Michelle with a knowing wink.
“Actually,” said Jane, enjoying the feeling of Laurie’s hands working her shoulders, “that brings me to something that I’ve been milling about in my head for a while this afternoon. I realize that you all are in a hurry to get to your camp-counselor jobs . . .”
“Nope,” said Heather.
“Not especially,” said Alice.
“The word ‘icky’ comes to mind,” was Laurie’s contribution, making everyone else chuckle. Even Heather laughed, which made Laurie practically glow inside.
‘Good girl,’ thought Jane. ‘Show them you aren’t as daft as you’ve been pretending to be.’ “Anyway, I was going to offer a counterproposal. Seeing as we enjoy your company, I don’t think my companions would mind if I offered to hire you on myself for the summer.”
The three girls were caught flatfooted by the suggestion. So were Freddie and Michelle, neither of whom had been consulted in this matter. Not that either of them was opposed to the idea.
“You’d get paid forty hours a week, and you’d be expected to put in the time.”
“Not a problem,” said Heather excitedly. The idea of some real work rather than babysitting crying little kids was appealing to her. And some of the perks . . .
“Your lodging and meals would be included of course. I always fix too much food anyway. It would help us get things going much faster than we had originally anticipated. So what do you think? You don’t have to decide right away . . .”
Heather, “I’m in.”
Laurie looked at the first girl. “Me too.”
“Can I ride the horses?”
“Of course.”
“Sign me up.”