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Summer In Maine: Part 5
Summer In Maine: Part 5
Hot Date
A 7-part series by Member389. Listen to the ► Podcast
at Explicit Stories.
The tires hissed along the gravel drive as I pulled
alongside her Jeep. I walked to the door, bouquet in hand and rang the bell. I
took a deep breath, just as the door opened. A pretty girl stood there, dark
hair and piercing eyes stared intently at me for a moment. In a flash of an eye
a familiar crooked little smile crossed her face.
"Mom, your hot date is here!" She yelled over her
shoulder.
"Well don't make him stand on the step, let him
in!" Summer hollered back. I just started chuckling as Emily opened the
door. Emily cracked open the outside door and opened the inside door further.
"Come on in." She said.
"Hi Emily, I'm Pete." I said holding out my hand.
Already over five feet I could tell she was going to be tall like her mother.
"Are those for my mom?" She asked nodding at the
flowers. I just shook my head.
"No, they're for you." I said presenting them to
her. Her eyes grew wide and her expression got serious for a moment before she
took them with a smile.
"I'll be right out." Came the call from another
room. She laughed a bit after saying it. I began to think this was a calculated
move.
Emily set the flowers down and disappeared head first into a
low cupboard coming up with a vase. She filled it with water and put the
flowers into it, preening them to get them the way she wanted.
Summer came out of a short hallway dressed in jeans and a
blue and gray striped sweater. Her hair freshly brushed and a big smile on her
face.
"Hi." She said giving me a quick hug, and more
notably a slight push-off after. She noticed the flowers on the counter.
"They're beautiful. Thank you."
Emily turned and interjected with a grin. "He brought
them for me."
"Oh he did, did he?" She looked at me, the
eyebrows lifting.
I gave Summer a slight shrug and a wink. She just gave me a
quick eye-roll in return. "Score one for the visiting team." She
said, in a low voice.
"You're the fireman that saved my mom from drowning in
the ocean, huh?" Emily asked.
"Actually we responded to a fall victim that was out on
the rocks. If I hadn't braved the wild winds and pounding surf, she might not
have made it." I said. "She could have been lobster chow."
"Oh lord, the story gets more dramatic with the
telling." Summer joined in. "I fell on the rocks, luckily I had a
cell signal, and called for help. Pete here was one of the first responders and
promptly hauled me back to the sand and brought me to the walk-in clinic to get
X-rays. See? Not nearly as dramatic as you two make it sound."
"She was laid up for a week after, and I kept an eye on
her. I didn't want her to starve because she couldn't feed herself." I
added, a wicked glint in my eye.
"Yes, you can cook, and I certainly didn't want for
anything." She gave me a warning look that I should stop before more
questions began. "Is your stuff in the car Em?" Emily nodded at her
mother. "Grab your jacket, let's go I'm hungry." She said grinning.
Emily trotted up the hallway, and Summer stepped closer and we kissed deeply.
"Nice job with the flowers you clown." She ran her thumb across my
lip wiping away any telltale lip gloss.
"I do what I can." I grinned, and stepped back a
half step before Emily walked back into the kitchen.
We left, Emily yelled 'Shotgun!' and her mother quickly
squashed that plan, though I graciously got in the back seat and let her have
the front. Summer giving me a sidelong look, knowing I was indulging Emily for
my own sake.
"Is this your guitar in the back Emily?" I asked.
She turned as far as she could in her seat to reply.
"Yup, my teacher is going to be there tonight and we're
going to play."
"That's awesome! What are you going to be
playing?"
"You'll just have to wait and hear." She smiled, a
mirror of her mother’s impish grin.
Summer pulled up beside the fire house and parked between a
couple pickup trucks. We walked inside to the din of what sounded like a school
cafeteria. The engine sitting outside had made room for folding tables and
chairs to be set up in the bay. People were already seated and others milled
about talking and laughing.
"I'm going to find Jen." Emily said, wrestling her
guitar case through the crowd.
Summer was saying hi to people as we passed through the
crowd, but she kept moving like she was on a mission.
"Dale!" She called out. A large guy turned around,
he must have been six and a half feet tall. She wrapped an arm part way around
his waist and hugged him. "Come here I've got someone I want you to meet.
This is my rescuer, remember when I took that spill a couple summers back.
Pete, this is my uncle Dale."
"Hi there. Thanks for making sure she didn't end up as
fish bait." He said smiling, shaking my hand.
"Pete is applying to the fire department here, looking
to get hired for the new year." She added.
Dale's eye turned on me appraising openly. "Looking to
move to our neck of the woods are you?"
I nodded. "Yes sir." I didn't add anything so that
rumors wouldn't begin. The look in his eye got shrewd, and he knew exactly why
I was willing to pick up and move a thousand miles away from home. The reason
was standing right next to him.
"Hell don't call me sir, save that for her dad."
He said tilting his head towards Summer. "Call me Dale, good luck to you
Pete. Now go on and get some food before the kids clean us out." He said
smiling. We made our way through the crowd, Summer greeting people as she
passed, stopping a few times to introduce me around. We eventually found
ourselves in the chow line. Summer insisted on paying for us at the little card
table. She mentioned that hurricane Emily might blow through any minute. The
lady let her know that Emily had already come through the line.
We found a place to sit and eat at one of the tables. People
stopped to chat and moved on, the night had a familiar small town feel to it.
Before long we could hear the sound of guitars, chords being strummed here and
there. People started to grab seats, and there was Emily sitting on the left of
another girl and a woman. They were sitting around a music stand and Emily and
the other girl were watching the woman point things out on the sheet music. I
felt a hand grip my thigh and looked at Summer who was beaming at Emily with a
big grin on her face. A few moments later the woman began and the girls joined
in playing Van Morrison's Moondance instrumental. My foot began tapping and Summer's
grip tightened on my leg as I ran my arm over the back of her chair rubbing her
back. She turned to me with the silliest grin. I only hoped she was reminiscing
about when I played it for her at the summer festival. They gave way to the
Beatles Eleanor Rigby, then played John Denver's Take Me Home, which they sang.
Summer leaned in close to my ear and whispered. "Thank
you." Before giving me a peck on the cheek. I just wrapped my arm around
her and gave her a squeeze and smiled.
As the group finished the crowd erupted with applause, the
girls grinning ear to ear. The woman spoke up after the noise died down stating
that she had room for one more student this year if anybody knew someone
looking for lessons.
Emily packed her guitar away, and put her chair back with
the tables. She made her way back to where we were sitting and got caught up in
a bear hug from Summer.
"Alright, say goodbye to your friends, we need to get
going."
As we left I hollered shotgun and got front seat privileges
on the way back to the house. We chatted on the way back about other songs
Emily had learned, and how long she'd been playing. Coincidentally it had been
just over a year. Summer pointed out that she was a natural, learning very
quickly.
"We learned Moondance this summer. I figure if mom
liked it so much I wanted to learn it."
"Your mom likes Van Morrison?" I prodded.
"She's played his greatest hits until she practically
wore out the CD." Emily replied. I just grinned wider. Out of the corner
of my eye I saw Summer's expression and nearly bust out laughing as she tried
to look aloof, the twinkle in her eye giving her away.
"Well there are some other great musicians from that
era you might like. Maybe I can suggest a few for you to listen to." I
said.
"Do you play too?" She asked surprised.
"Not guitar. I play saxophone, clarinet, and dabble a
little in piano." I said.
"I can teach you." She said, excited.
She didn't begin to know how much I would love that.
"That would be awesome."
"Not tonight." Summer chimed in. "You need to
get ready for your sleep over, and that room of yours looks like a tornado
touched down in there." As we entered the house she told Emily that she
needed to get it cleaned up. Emily went down the hallway with a few sighs and
several eye rolls.
"Would you like something to drink?" Summer asked,
with an unusual look in her eye.
"Yes, please." I nodded, trying decipher it. She
opened the fridge and pulled a wine bottle out and began opening it. Music
started playing down the hall as Emily puttered around making more noise than
necessary. I turned from looking down the hall to look at Summer. She had
stopped opening the wine and I noticed her shoulders trembling slightly. I
stepped closer my hand circling her waist.
"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked softly.
"I don't know, it all seems to be happening so fast, I
feel like I'm waiting for the train to derail. You know? I get the feeling
something is going to go wrong and it's all going to blow up in my face."
She looked up, her eyes burning intently.
I chuckled. "How do you think I felt when I put that
note in the mail box and drove back down the mountain to wait and see if you'd
respond."
"Those were the scariest hours of my life." I
added softly, staring down at the wine bottle. "I mean I had no idea if
you'd call the cops, or call and tell me it was all a mistake and I should go
home, or worse, just throw it away, and me with it."
She spun around in my arms and wrapped her arms around my
neck kissing me fiercely. "If you think for a moment that it didn't hurt
to leave you like that, then you're crazy. I only did what I thought was
best."
"Ahem?" Came loudly from the hallway door. I tried
to release Summer from my grip but she just held tighter and gave me another
quick kiss.
"Better let her get used to it." She whispered,
before slowly letting go of me.
"Ready for inspection." Emily said saluting as she
stood at attention.
Summer let out a snort. "I bet. How much of it is
stuffed under the bed?" She asked as she spun Emily around and pointed her
down the hallway giving her a nudge.
As I watched them retreat down the hallway I felt a warm
glow deep inside me, the feeling enveloped me, eventually making the hair on
the back of my neck tingle. There was no other explanation for it, this just
felt right. I turned and poured the wine into the glasses, putting the bottle
back into the fridge as I listened to muffled conversation and shuffling as the
last of the cleaning was directed.
"Put the basket on the dryer, and I'll ask Pete if he
wants to join us for movie night." Summer said. She walked back toward me,
a grin on her face before she let out a dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes.
"Still a disaster, but you can walk through it now." She smiled.
"So, on Friday nights we usually pick a movie to watch. It's sort of a
tradition, some mommy and me time. Care to join us?"
"So long as it's not an intrusion on the mommy and me
time." I said grinning back at her.
"Like I said, she's going to have to get used to you
being around. What better way to start."
"Well we better find something family friendly, you
know, no late night cable." I chuckled.
Summer laughed. "No and I'll make sure we don't bore
you with princesses and tiaras."
"You don't have to change what you'd normally watch on
my account." I replied.
"Well it is nearly Halloween, horror movies have been
popular the last few weeks, but they're getting old. What's your
favorite?"
I shrugged, giving her a non-committal look. "I'm
pretty easy going, though ax wielding, chainsaw revving, slasher flicks are a
little too much for me. I've decided a while back that I like being able to
sleep."
"I'm sure we'll find something." She smiled
wrapping her arms around my waist.
"So what's the verdict so far?" I asked softly
kissing her ear.
"Hmm?" She responded, running her lips up my cheek
leaving a trail of kisses.
"Emmy? Am I doing okay?" I prodded her.
She let go of my earlobe long enough to whisper. "Oh,
you're a shoe in. She asked me if you were my boyfriend, with a huge grin on
her face."
"Well?" I asked, wondering at her response.
She pulled back laying her forehead against mine. I could
see the little grin on her face, she bit her lip and said. "I think he
just might be if you like him. She nodded like a bobble head doll."
"Yes!" I whispered. "Easiest interview
ever."
"Am I going to walk into a room and find you two
sucking face every time?" Emily said, clearly not as exasperated as she
tried to sound.
"Only if I'm lucky." I replied.
"Go and get everything ready and I'll make the
popcorn." Summer said.
We sat down on the sofa, I ended up in the middle.
"What are we watching?" I asked.
"You choose." Emily said.
I took the controller and thought a moment and keyed in a
title to see if it was available, and it was.
"Ever heard of this one?" I asked as the film
poster popped up with a short synopsis.
Both shook their heads. "Nope, any good?"
"Well the book was fantastic, but I've never seen the
movie." I hit play, and the credits began. The movie was a hit, the
fantasy and magic captured Emily's imagination as she let out occasional
exclamations. I chuckled inwardly when I realized I had both of them tucked
under each arm. I don't remember when that happened but I certainly wasn't
going to complain about it.
"That was a good movie. I love when he went to find the
falling star and found the girl." Emily said.
"Sort of reminds me of how I found your mom on the
beach." I said.
"Oh please." Summer said, rolling her eyes and
giving me a poke in the ribs. Emily broke into a fit of giggles. "Alright
you, get ready for bed."
"But it's not even ten yet!" Emily shot back.
"It will be by the time you're done." Her mother
replied. "Now scoot, get a move on." Summer uncurled herself and
began to stand too. She reached into my lap to pick up the popcorn bowl and I
waved her hand away and picked it up standing up too. I set the bowl and
glasses on the counter as Emily trudged up the hallway with a sigh. An equal
sigh came from Summer as she wrapped her arms around me from behind. I felt her
soft warm lips meet the nape of my neck.
"Thank you." She said.
"For what?"
"For everything. You don't think she snuggled up to you
just because you had the popcorn, do you."
"Well, it was really good popcorn." I smiled. I
got another poke in the ribs for my comment.
"No. She likes you."
"She's pretty terrific, like a mini you." I said
turning in her arms holding her closer.
"Mom!"
I just began chuckling as Summer buried her head in my neck.
"God help us if we're out of toothpaste." She mumbled before giving
me a kiss and turning to go find the source of the distress.
"What babe." She said as she walked down the
hallway, and turned into the bath.
I washed the wine glasses by hand, returning to the cupboard
she'd taken them from earlier. They both came back into the kitchen a few
minutes later.
"Goodnight Pete." Emily said.
"Sweet dreams pumpkin." I said, not quite sure
where that came from. She launched herself at me hugging me like she was
holding on for dear life.
"Thank you for saving my mom." She sniffled. I
hugged her back just as tightly and gave her a peck on the top of the head.
"You're welcome, but I think it was your mom that saved
me. Hopefully we'll have time to figure that out."
"Take all the time you want." She smiled up at me
before she turned and trotted over to her mom, gave her a big hug and kiss and
disappeared down the hallway with a parting goodnight.
Summer stood across the room from me leaning back against
the door jamb, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked side long down the
hallway. A few minutes passed before she let out a sigh. "I have got to
stop overestimating how smart I think I am."
I chuckled at that.
"Seriously! You know why she called me into the
bathroom?" She asked.
"I'm guessing it wasn't because she was out of
toothpaste."
"No! She gave me the kind of interrogation I'd expect
from my mother! She asked stuff I hadn't even thought of yet." She
chuckled nervously. "Is he moving in? Are you two getting married? If he's
moving here, what does his family think of that. Does he know you can't have
more kids? That last one threw me, not because I had thought of it when you and
I spoke the other day, but that she thought of it!"
I walked over to Summer and leaned down and kissed her
softly. "Well, I've added another piece to the puzzle, she's just trying
to figure out how it's going to fit."
"She wanted to know if you were staying the
night." Summer said glancing down the hall. "Damn she grew up
fast."
I laughed at that. "Yea they have a way of doing that
while you're not watching them. What did you tell her?"
She sighed again. "I told her that you were going home
for a couple months to finish out your year at work and that you'd be comi
View all episodes
By Steamy StoriesSummer In Maine: Part 5
Hot Date
A 7-part series by Member389. Listen to the ► Podcast
at Explicit Stories.
The tires hissed along the gravel drive as I pulled
alongside her Jeep. I walked to the door, bouquet in hand and rang the bell. I
took a deep breath, just as the door opened. A pretty girl stood there, dark
hair and piercing eyes stared intently at me for a moment. In a flash of an eye
a familiar crooked little smile crossed her face.
"Mom, your hot date is here!" She yelled over her
shoulder.
"Well don't make him stand on the step, let him
in!" Summer hollered back. I just started chuckling as Emily opened the
door. Emily cracked open the outside door and opened the inside door further.
"Come on in." She said.
"Hi Emily, I'm Pete." I said holding out my hand.
Already over five feet I could tell she was going to be tall like her mother.
"Are those for my mom?" She asked nodding at the
flowers. I just shook my head.
"No, they're for you." I said presenting them to
her. Her eyes grew wide and her expression got serious for a moment before she
took them with a smile.
"I'll be right out." Came the call from another
room. She laughed a bit after saying it. I began to think this was a calculated
move.
Emily set the flowers down and disappeared head first into a
low cupboard coming up with a vase. She filled it with water and put the
flowers into it, preening them to get them the way she wanted.
Summer came out of a short hallway dressed in jeans and a
blue and gray striped sweater. Her hair freshly brushed and a big smile on her
face.
"Hi." She said giving me a quick hug, and more
notably a slight push-off after. She noticed the flowers on the counter.
"They're beautiful. Thank you."
Emily turned and interjected with a grin. "He brought
them for me."
"Oh he did, did he?" She looked at me, the
eyebrows lifting.
I gave Summer a slight shrug and a wink. She just gave me a
quick eye-roll in return. "Score one for the visiting team." She
said, in a low voice.
"You're the fireman that saved my mom from drowning in
the ocean, huh?" Emily asked.
"Actually we responded to a fall victim that was out on
the rocks. If I hadn't braved the wild winds and pounding surf, she might not
have made it." I said. "She could have been lobster chow."
"Oh lord, the story gets more dramatic with the
telling." Summer joined in. "I fell on the rocks, luckily I had a
cell signal, and called for help. Pete here was one of the first responders and
promptly hauled me back to the sand and brought me to the walk-in clinic to get
X-rays. See? Not nearly as dramatic as you two make it sound."
"She was laid up for a week after, and I kept an eye on
her. I didn't want her to starve because she couldn't feed herself." I
added, a wicked glint in my eye.
"Yes, you can cook, and I certainly didn't want for
anything." She gave me a warning look that I should stop before more
questions began. "Is your stuff in the car Em?" Emily nodded at her
mother. "Grab your jacket, let's go I'm hungry." She said grinning.
Emily trotted up the hallway, and Summer stepped closer and we kissed deeply.
"Nice job with the flowers you clown." She ran her thumb across my
lip wiping away any telltale lip gloss.
"I do what I can." I grinned, and stepped back a
half step before Emily walked back into the kitchen.
We left, Emily yelled 'Shotgun!' and her mother quickly
squashed that plan, though I graciously got in the back seat and let her have
the front. Summer giving me a sidelong look, knowing I was indulging Emily for
my own sake.
"Is this your guitar in the back Emily?" I asked.
She turned as far as she could in her seat to reply.
"Yup, my teacher is going to be there tonight and we're
going to play."
"That's awesome! What are you going to be
playing?"
"You'll just have to wait and hear." She smiled, a
mirror of her mother’s impish grin.
Summer pulled up beside the fire house and parked between a
couple pickup trucks. We walked inside to the din of what sounded like a school
cafeteria. The engine sitting outside had made room for folding tables and
chairs to be set up in the bay. People were already seated and others milled
about talking and laughing.
"I'm going to find Jen." Emily said, wrestling her
guitar case through the crowd.
Summer was saying hi to people as we passed through the
crowd, but she kept moving like she was on a mission.
"Dale!" She called out. A large guy turned around,
he must have been six and a half feet tall. She wrapped an arm part way around
his waist and hugged him. "Come here I've got someone I want you to meet.
This is my rescuer, remember when I took that spill a couple summers back.
Pete, this is my uncle Dale."
"Hi there. Thanks for making sure she didn't end up as
fish bait." He said smiling, shaking my hand.
"Pete is applying to the fire department here, looking
to get hired for the new year." She added.
Dale's eye turned on me appraising openly. "Looking to
move to our neck of the woods are you?"
I nodded. "Yes sir." I didn't add anything so that
rumors wouldn't begin. The look in his eye got shrewd, and he knew exactly why
I was willing to pick up and move a thousand miles away from home. The reason
was standing right next to him.
"Hell don't call me sir, save that for her dad."
He said tilting his head towards Summer. "Call me Dale, good luck to you
Pete. Now go on and get some food before the kids clean us out." He said
smiling. We made our way through the crowd, Summer greeting people as she
passed, stopping a few times to introduce me around. We eventually found
ourselves in the chow line. Summer insisted on paying for us at the little card
table. She mentioned that hurricane Emily might blow through any minute. The
lady let her know that Emily had already come through the line.
We found a place to sit and eat at one of the tables. People
stopped to chat and moved on, the night had a familiar small town feel to it.
Before long we could hear the sound of guitars, chords being strummed here and
there. People started to grab seats, and there was Emily sitting on the left of
another girl and a woman. They were sitting around a music stand and Emily and
the other girl were watching the woman point things out on the sheet music. I
felt a hand grip my thigh and looked at Summer who was beaming at Emily with a
big grin on her face. A few moments later the woman began and the girls joined
in playing Van Morrison's Moondance instrumental. My foot began tapping and Summer's
grip tightened on my leg as I ran my arm over the back of her chair rubbing her
back. She turned to me with the silliest grin. I only hoped she was reminiscing
about when I played it for her at the summer festival. They gave way to the
Beatles Eleanor Rigby, then played John Denver's Take Me Home, which they sang.
Summer leaned in close to my ear and whispered. "Thank
you." Before giving me a peck on the cheek. I just wrapped my arm around
her and gave her a squeeze and smiled.
As the group finished the crowd erupted with applause, the
girls grinning ear to ear. The woman spoke up after the noise died down stating
that she had room for one more student this year if anybody knew someone
looking for lessons.
Emily packed her guitar away, and put her chair back with
the tables. She made her way back to where we were sitting and got caught up in
a bear hug from Summer.
"Alright, say goodbye to your friends, we need to get
going."
As we left I hollered shotgun and got front seat privileges
on the way back to the house. We chatted on the way back about other songs
Emily had learned, and how long she'd been playing. Coincidentally it had been
just over a year. Summer pointed out that she was a natural, learning very
quickly.
"We learned Moondance this summer. I figure if mom
liked it so much I wanted to learn it."
"Your mom likes Van Morrison?" I prodded.
"She's played his greatest hits until she practically
wore out the CD." Emily replied. I just grinned wider. Out of the corner
of my eye I saw Summer's expression and nearly bust out laughing as she tried
to look aloof, the twinkle in her eye giving her away.
"Well there are some other great musicians from that
era you might like. Maybe I can suggest a few for you to listen to." I
said.
"Do you play too?" She asked surprised.
"Not guitar. I play saxophone, clarinet, and dabble a
little in piano." I said.
"I can teach you." She said, excited.
She didn't begin to know how much I would love that.
"That would be awesome."
"Not tonight." Summer chimed in. "You need to
get ready for your sleep over, and that room of yours looks like a tornado
touched down in there." As we entered the house she told Emily that she
needed to get it cleaned up. Emily went down the hallway with a few sighs and
several eye rolls.
"Would you like something to drink?" Summer asked,
with an unusual look in her eye.
"Yes, please." I nodded, trying decipher it. She
opened the fridge and pulled a wine bottle out and began opening it. Music
started playing down the hall as Emily puttered around making more noise than
necessary. I turned from looking down the hall to look at Summer. She had
stopped opening the wine and I noticed her shoulders trembling slightly. I
stepped closer my hand circling her waist.
"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked softly.
"I don't know, it all seems to be happening so fast, I
feel like I'm waiting for the train to derail. You know? I get the feeling
something is going to go wrong and it's all going to blow up in my face."
She looked up, her eyes burning intently.
I chuckled. "How do you think I felt when I put that
note in the mail box and drove back down the mountain to wait and see if you'd
respond."
"Those were the scariest hours of my life." I
added softly, staring down at the wine bottle. "I mean I had no idea if
you'd call the cops, or call and tell me it was all a mistake and I should go
home, or worse, just throw it away, and me with it."
She spun around in my arms and wrapped her arms around my
neck kissing me fiercely. "If you think for a moment that it didn't hurt
to leave you like that, then you're crazy. I only did what I thought was
best."
"Ahem?" Came loudly from the hallway door. I tried
to release Summer from my grip but she just held tighter and gave me another
quick kiss.
"Better let her get used to it." She whispered,
before slowly letting go of me.
"Ready for inspection." Emily said saluting as she
stood at attention.
Summer let out a snort. "I bet. How much of it is
stuffed under the bed?" She asked as she spun Emily around and pointed her
down the hallway giving her a nudge.
As I watched them retreat down the hallway I felt a warm
glow deep inside me, the feeling enveloped me, eventually making the hair on
the back of my neck tingle. There was no other explanation for it, this just
felt right. I turned and poured the wine into the glasses, putting the bottle
back into the fridge as I listened to muffled conversation and shuffling as the
last of the cleaning was directed.
"Put the basket on the dryer, and I'll ask Pete if he
wants to join us for movie night." Summer said. She walked back toward me,
a grin on her face before she let out a dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes.
"Still a disaster, but you can walk through it now." She smiled.
"So, on Friday nights we usually pick a movie to watch. It's sort of a
tradition, some mommy and me time. Care to join us?"
"So long as it's not an intrusion on the mommy and me
time." I said grinning back at her.
"Like I said, she's going to have to get used to you
being around. What better way to start."
"Well we better find something family friendly, you
know, no late night cable." I chuckled.
Summer laughed. "No and I'll make sure we don't bore
you with princesses and tiaras."
"You don't have to change what you'd normally watch on
my account." I replied.
"Well it is nearly Halloween, horror movies have been
popular the last few weeks, but they're getting old. What's your
favorite?"
I shrugged, giving her a non-committal look. "I'm
pretty easy going, though ax wielding, chainsaw revving, slasher flicks are a
little too much for me. I've decided a while back that I like being able to
sleep."
"I'm sure we'll find something." She smiled
wrapping her arms around my waist.
"So what's the verdict so far?" I asked softly
kissing her ear.
"Hmm?" She responded, running her lips up my cheek
leaving a trail of kisses.
"Emmy? Am I doing okay?" I prodded her.
She let go of my earlobe long enough to whisper. "Oh,
you're a shoe in. She asked me if you were my boyfriend, with a huge grin on
her face."
"Well?" I asked, wondering at her response.
She pulled back laying her forehead against mine. I could
see the little grin on her face, she bit her lip and said. "I think he
just might be if you like him. She nodded like a bobble head doll."
"Yes!" I whispered. "Easiest interview
ever."
"Am I going to walk into a room and find you two
sucking face every time?" Emily said, clearly not as exasperated as she
tried to sound.
"Only if I'm lucky." I replied.
"Go and get everything ready and I'll make the
popcorn." Summer said.
We sat down on the sofa, I ended up in the middle.
"What are we watching?" I asked.
"You choose." Emily said.
I took the controller and thought a moment and keyed in a
title to see if it was available, and it was.
"Ever heard of this one?" I asked as the film
poster popped up with a short synopsis.
Both shook their heads. "Nope, any good?"
"Well the book was fantastic, but I've never seen the
movie." I hit play, and the credits began. The movie was a hit, the
fantasy and magic captured Emily's imagination as she let out occasional
exclamations. I chuckled inwardly when I realized I had both of them tucked
under each arm. I don't remember when that happened but I certainly wasn't
going to complain about it.
"That was a good movie. I love when he went to find the
falling star and found the girl." Emily said.
"Sort of reminds me of how I found your mom on the
beach." I said.
"Oh please." Summer said, rolling her eyes and
giving me a poke in the ribs. Emily broke into a fit of giggles. "Alright
you, get ready for bed."
"But it's not even ten yet!" Emily shot back.
"It will be by the time you're done." Her mother
replied. "Now scoot, get a move on." Summer uncurled herself and
began to stand too. She reached into my lap to pick up the popcorn bowl and I
waved her hand away and picked it up standing up too. I set the bowl and
glasses on the counter as Emily trudged up the hallway with a sigh. An equal
sigh came from Summer as she wrapped her arms around me from behind. I felt her
soft warm lips meet the nape of my neck.
"Thank you." She said.
"For what?"
"For everything. You don't think she snuggled up to you
just because you had the popcorn, do you."
"Well, it was really good popcorn." I smiled. I
got another poke in the ribs for my comment.
"No. She likes you."
"She's pretty terrific, like a mini you." I said
turning in her arms holding her closer.
"Mom!"
I just began chuckling as Summer buried her head in my neck.
"God help us if we're out of toothpaste." She mumbled before giving
me a kiss and turning to go find the source of the distress.
"What babe." She said as she walked down the
hallway, and turned into the bath.
I washed the wine glasses by hand, returning to the cupboard
she'd taken them from earlier. They both came back into the kitchen a few
minutes later.
"Goodnight Pete." Emily said.
"Sweet dreams pumpkin." I said, not quite sure
where that came from. She launched herself at me hugging me like she was
holding on for dear life.
"Thank you for saving my mom." She sniffled. I
hugged her back just as tightly and gave her a peck on the top of the head.
"You're welcome, but I think it was your mom that saved
me. Hopefully we'll have time to figure that out."
"Take all the time you want." She smiled up at me
before she turned and trotted over to her mom, gave her a big hug and kiss and
disappeared down the hallway with a parting goodnight.
Summer stood across the room from me leaning back against
the door jamb, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked side long down the
hallway. A few minutes passed before she let out a sigh. "I have got to
stop overestimating how smart I think I am."
I chuckled at that.
"Seriously! You know why she called me into the
bathroom?" She asked.
"I'm guessing it wasn't because she was out of
toothpaste."
"No! She gave me the kind of interrogation I'd expect
from my mother! She asked stuff I hadn't even thought of yet." She
chuckled nervously. "Is he moving in? Are you two getting married? If he's
moving here, what does his family think of that. Does he know you can't have
more kids? That last one threw me, not because I had thought of it when you and
I spoke the other day, but that she thought of it!"
I walked over to Summer and leaned down and kissed her
softly. "Well, I've added another piece to the puzzle, she's just trying
to figure out how it's going to fit."
"She wanted to know if you were staying the
night." Summer said glancing down the hall. "Damn she grew up
fast."
I laughed at that. "Yea they have a way of doing that
while you're not watching them. What did you tell her?"
She sighed again. "I told her that you were going home
for a couple months to finish out your year at work and that you'd be comi