The Rock
24 El Rancho del Corazón
BY LATE SATURDAY, the ranch looked like a campground. Mom, Dad, and Anna came in the camper and pulled the horse trailer down. The horses weren’t being left at the ranch yet, but they sure got a lot of attention and seemed to like the barn. There was a small pasture right behind the barn of about five acres and we checked the fence to make sure they’d be okay. They went straight to work trying to mow the weeds for us.
Rose’s parents brought the fearsome foursome with them and set up two more tents. Carl, Brenda, and Louise moved into the huge one that was shared with Lexi, Judy, Monte, and Ross. Doug, Doreen, and Rhiannon set up a small tent. Whitney’s mom and her boyfriend Dave pulled a small travel trailer down. Brenda’s parents drove a big honking motorhome they’d just bought. Apparently, once Brenda was moved to Bloomington, Mr. and Mrs. Lenox planned a long tour of the country. Sora’s parents hadn’t been at the bonfire after our martial arts demo, so they showed up in their travel trailer, too.
Contractors started arriving about ten. We’d do as much work as we could ourselves but remodeling three bathrooms in the house was a job we needed pros for. I gulped thinking about how much the bids would be and trying to figure out where the money would come from I had a pretty good bank account after two years of my show and my summer job last year, but it wouldn’t last long when you started thinking about remodeling a house.
We had a wiring inspection and there were a few upgrades recommended to accommodate the number of people who would be running hair dryers, computers, and appliances. Hannah had specifications for wiring in the kitchen and great room that would support lights and cameras. The electrical contractor seemed to be really impressed with the drawing Rhiannon did and the list of equipment Hannah had. He got the electricity turned on and that meant that we had running water, too. It looked like we were going to need a new water heater, though. Courtney had been in touch with the telephone company and they turned on service. We hunted all over the place for phone jacks and discovered the house had the old-fashioned kind that usually required a visit from the phone company to connect a phone. And there were only two of them in the entire house. Josh took charge of that and he and Cassie went to Radio Shack to get the necessary connections and equipment.
Then there were the construction contractors who came out to bid on putting in the cement pad with electric, plumbing, and sewer for the modular duplex bunkhouse. We were trying to keep the feeling of the farm/ranch and not just clutter up the grounds with a bunch of mobile homes. On the outside, it would look like a bunkhouse for ranch hands, but the inside would be comfortable living quarters for two casas.
The contractors weren’t sure about dealing with a bunch of kids and we had to show each of them the lease and our organization papers and the bank account that we’d managed to set up for group expenses. They weren’t checking balances on it yet, but we at least had an account that we’d be paying from on behalf of the LLC. When the parents started arriving, the contractors wanted to talk to them, but Anna showed them her closing docs and the lease and just pointed them back to us.
Jennifer and Rose were point central and handled the bulk of the contacts with the help of everyone else as needed. Rhiannon had all the plans and blueprints and had to do a lot of explaining about what exactly was wanted when she got there. Carl and Doug were working with the foundation contractor to show the plans for what they had agreed to order. Since it was only one structure, it would be cheaper both to set up and to maintain.
My specific little job was to talk to a well-driller about our water needs. It turned out that we already had two wells on the property. One serviced the barn and stock tanks and one serviced the house. He felt the well itself would be adequate to supply our needs, but we’d need a bigger pump and storage tanks for each structure. He also assessed the sewer situation and had all kinds of cool gadgets to trace how the current septic system was laid out. He convinced me that the drainage field was okay but we’d need an additional septic tank and should have the current tank pumped out. He’d take care of making sure everything was connected correctly and that the drainage lines were clear.
By nightfall, we were all exhausted.
Of course, having parents and some of the younger cousins present, we stayed clothed during the bonfire that night. We actually sat around the fire with the parents and made s’mores and even sang songs. There were lots of moans coming from various tents later and interested lovers always seemed to be next to me.
Dad and I saddled Jingo and Rika Sunday morning and headed out to ride. It’s not like Dad spent a lot of time in the saddle, but he was comfortable with the horses. I don’t think Betts and I would have been allowed to have them if he wasn’t. Our purpose was to ride the fences all the way around the property. We couldn’t just let the horses out into the larger pasture and woodlot if we didn’t know the fences were all good. That’s what we told everybody. The real reason was a little father-son bonding.
“You nervous?”
“I don’t mind telling you, I am, a little.”
“You love them, don’t you?”
“Yes, but it’s such a big step.”
I laughed at Dad. It was almost the conversation we’d had before Samantha and I had our handfasting. This time it was me trying to reassure him. He got the humor of the situation and we got off the horses to check a section of fence.
“Well, I’ve got two pieces of advice,” I said. “That is, if you want advice from your son.” Dad nodded. “The first is to relax. The women have taken care of everything. Rose is like our official minister or something. Maybe she’s the shaman of our village. Since everybody’s involved, you won’t have to be naked in front of the bonfire like she and I were.”
“That’s almost too much information, Brian. Although I rather suspected it.”
“Where have I heard that before?” I laughed.
“What’s your next bit of wisdom?” We swung up into the saddle after we were satisfied the fence wouldn’t give way.
“The camper isn’t soundproof.”
The fences were in good condition. We also tied flags along a route we thought might be a good riding trail. All told we were out for a couple hours, a lot of it spent laughing and joking with each other. I loved having times like this with my dad. Five girls were waiting in the barn when we got back with their hands on their hips.
“We thought you’d never get back,” Hannah said. “I almost rode out to get you.” She was holding Silk’s lead.
For having been out for two hours, Jingo and Rika weren’t the least bit tired or sweaty. Dad and I had been pretty easy on them. We gave the girls a boost into the saddles. Jen and Sam were up on Rika. Hannah and Courtney were up on Silk. I boosted Liz into Jingo’s saddle and looked the old horse in the eye.
“That’s my girlfriend on your back. You take care of her.” Jingo nodded his head at me as if he understood every word I said. Liz looked at me a little strangely. I had her lean down to me so I could whisper in her ear. “Come back wet and ready, cónyuge.” Her skin color matched her hair and the grin on her face was as wide as she could make it.
“In an hour,” she said. The girls rode off.
Dad and I got in my Suburban and drove over to the neighbor’s house. It was after church, but not yet dinnertime for most rural folks in Indiana, so we figured we were safe. Two black and tan farm dogs ran out to meet us when we drove in. A guy in bib overalls stepped out on the front porch. The dogs looked pretty friendly so I went ahead and got out of the car. I almost got licked to death. One of the dogs was obviously very pregnant. Dad and I walked toward the farmer.
“Hi!” I said. “I’m Brian Frost. I’m going to be your new next-door neighbor. This is my dad, Hayden Frost.”
“Marshall Jacobs,” he said. He stuck his hand out to shake with Dad. Like most adults, that’s who he talked to first. “Nice to meet you, neighbor. How can I help you?”
“Not me,” Dad said, simply. “Him.” Mr. Jacobs looked at me.
“Sorry, son. Most of the young folks who come around here aren’t very neighborly.”
“No problem, Mr. Jacobs. We only learned from the sheriff Friday that there’d been trouble with partiers on the old Wilkerson place. I want you to know we’re not like that. There’s no question that we have a good time together, but we don’t do drugs or alcohol and we’re pretty responsible kids who would like to be good neighbors.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. What can I do for you?”
I explained about having horses and needing hay and feed for the winter. We dickered back and forth a little and Dad just stood back and let us work out the details. We agreed to take fifty bales from each of his four cuttings of grass hay this year at a reasonable price. Like most folks, he tried to sell us the more expensive alfalfa, but plain timothy and clover is what a horse does best on. I sealed the deal by writing him a check for the first half. We had an option to increase the amount if we got more horses, which I knew already was a goal of Hannah’s. He said he usually kept a couple hundred bales in reserve in case it was a hard winter. Usually he dumped them half way through if it didn’t look like prices were going up.
He gave me the name of another farmer who could supply me with oats in the fall and another who could provide bedding straw. We were pretty conservative about how much grain we fed the horses because it makes them hot, but a little supplement in the winter was always useful. We also talked about propane from County Gas, who had a local delivery guy. The only public utilities that ran out in this area were electric and telephone. We already knew about the well and septic system, but I hadn’t thought about not having gas for the stove. I needed to talk to Hannah about what model we were getting. He said that it was considerably cheaper to get a 500-gallon gas tank and have White River Co-op fill it up every few months than it was to buy gas at the pumps. Gas was well over a dollar a gallon at the pumps and we could get it from the co-op for about ninety cents.
That made me realize that we were going to need a parking area at the ranch. We were pretty scattered all over the property at the moment with cars, motorcycles, trucks, trailers, and a motorhome. I needed to count up how many vehicles we were going to have regularly and look at the weather almanac to see what we could expect in the way of snow down here. And then there would be some amount of farm equipment. I was pretty overwhelmed.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said when we were back in the car.
“Hmm?”
“For letting me handle negotiating with Mr. Jacobs. I’m sure you could have gotten us a better deal.”
“Son, you are old enough and smart enough to handle these things. Interfering wasn’t worth a possible couple cents. But, you should know that if you need me, I’m here. All of us. You know the parents are all pulling for you kids. Just because we’re cutting you loose to set up your own household, doesn’t mean we won’t be available when you need us,” he said. I grinned. We headed back to the ranch.
Dad headed straight for where the main bustle of activity was in our camp but I headed for the barn. If Liz said an hour, she meant an hour. She was already in Jingo’s stall and was wrestling with his saddle. I reached around her and took it. I’d no more than flung it up to rest on the stall wall than Liz was in my arms and kissing me.
“You’re here. I knew you’d be here. I’m back within an hour. Fuck me, Brian!”
“Oh, Liz,” I said. I pulled her shirt out of her pants and ran my hand up under it to cup her left breast. I thumbed her nipple and she whined into my mouth. “Are you wet and ready, lover?”
“I was wet and ready before we got out of the barn,” she said. “I want you. I want you now.”
We had a couple bales of hay in the aisle. That was really the only thing that wasn’t a hard floor. I lay Liz back on one of them and unfastened her pants. Liz was always ready and always willing. I seldom took advantage of how much she wanted me all the time but just smelling her had me stiff. I pulled her jeans and underwear down to her ankles and her legs fell open showing me the red tuft that decorated her mound. I fastened my lips to it while I struggled to get my cock out of my pants. Liz grabbed my head and held my mouth against her clit while I lashed it with my tongue.
“Yes!” she gasped as she came. “Hurry! I want you in me.”
I managed to get the condom out of my pocket, torn open and rolled onto my cock while I was still kissing her. I sank into her and we both sighed through our kiss.
“Liz, I love you. You are so hot.”
“When we made love Friday night, you never got in me. I was afraid you didn’t want my pussy anymore.”
“I certainly don’t want it any less. Oh, Liz, it feels so good to be in you. I’m so glad you’re my cónyuge.”
“Brian, anytime you want me. Anytime. We’re going to live together in that big house soon. Anytime you want me, take me. I give you my explicit permission,” she gasped as we started to move together. “And please, want me a lot.” The hay under her butt couldn’t have been that comfortable, but Liz was thrusting up against me. I had one hand under her shirt playing with her tits while I supported most of my weight with my other arm. She had both arms around my chest and I wasn’t sure she was really even touching the hay under us as she pulled herself against me. “Yes! Brian, yes! I… I-eeee!” Feeling Liz’s hot grasping pussy flooding against me had me coming hard and fast. I looked into Liz’s eyes and wanted to just lie there with her for hours looking at her. Orgasms were great and Liz drove toward them quickly, but I loved to just have her in my arms. She lifted her lips to mine for a long, languorous kiss.
“I love you, Brian.”
“That was so hot!” the voice behind me said. I looked over my shoulder and then squinted. Liz looked around me.
“Brian, who’s the hippy chick?”
“Damned if I know.” I started to pull back but Liz rode with me.
“No! Don’t pull out until you shrink. I want to feel you in me longer.” Oh, fuck it. I pushed back into Liz and we just lay there on the bale of hay kissing. I wasn’t sure I was going to shrink.
Finally, I did start to soften and when I slipped out of Liz she sighed. I rolled off and dusted the hay off her bare butt before I pulled her jeans and panties up. She tucked me back into my pants. When we were covered we turned around and looked at the girl staring at us. She had long hair. Really long, straight brown hair that hung down around her butt. She wore flowered pants and some kind of peasant blouse that left her shoulders bare.
“Did you slip me something to make me trip back to the sixties?” I giggled at Liz. Just making love with her made me high. For all I knew this could be a hallucination. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her again, ignoring the apparition.
“Who are you?” Liz asked, when we came up for air. I started to answer and then remembered we had company.
“Sandy Donaldson,” she answered. “Will you do me next?”
“Uh, no,” I said. Who the hell was she and why would I…?
“You’d pass up a chance at this?” she asked as she pulled the sleeves down her arms and exposed her boobs. Well, hell yeah! They were nice. Round and full and pale white with pink nipples standing out. Shit!
“I don’t really do girls, most of the time,” Liz said. “But you do look nice. Sorry I used him all up.”
“Donaldson? Are you the sheriff’s daughter?” I asked.
“Yeah. Everybody knows the sheriff and won’t touch his daughter.”
“You must know the combination of the lock he used,” I laughed. Or maybe the sheriff decided to introduce us. He could have warned me. “Better pull up your blouse. We don’t usually go naked unless it’s just the household.” Liz and I walked toward her and the open barn door. She hesitated a minute and then pulled up her blouse. It really didn’t do that much to hide her tits. They kind of poked out the white fabric. “Tell me, Sandy. What brings you to El Rancho Del Corazón?”
“Dad said he was going to visit the new hippie commune this afternoon. I couldn’t pass up that opportunity. He’s out with the old folks.”
“I hope he doesn’t spread that term around. We’re not, you know,” I said.
“I was afraid you weren’t. I think he was putting one over on me. Nobody digs the hippie age anymore.”
“Except you,” Liz said.
“Yeah. Peace. Grass. Free love,” she said.
“Well, we believe in peace, mostly,” I said. “No drugs here, though. Absolutely not.”
“Free love, though? You were sure going at it in the barn.”
“This is my cónyuge,” Liz said. “It means mate.”
“My father just got it all screwed up,” Sandy sighed. Her shoulders slumped.
“Brian!” Rose said, running up to me. She jumped into my arms and kissed me, then started licking my face. “You taste like Liz!”
“It was riding that did it,” Liz said. “Oh shit. I need to go rub down Jingo and let him out in the pasture. We just left him in there.” She took off and ran back to the barn. I watched her over Rose’s shoulder as my little cónyuge kept licking my face. I thought I’d take Liz up on her permission once we got moved down here.
“I see you met the sheriff’s daughter. Sorry, I lost track of her,” Rose said.
“She got a bit of an eyeful, cónyuge. Was that your plan?” I asked.
“May-be,” Rose chuckled.
“Wait. That other girl said you were her mate, but you used the same word with this one. Are all these girls your mate? Isn’t that the same thing as free love?” Sandy asked as we continued toward the gathering. I was getting hungry.
“Not exactly,” I said. “By the way, I’m Brian. This is Rose and the beautiful redhead you interrupted is Liz. Rose, this is Sandy.”
“We met,” Rose said. “I heard your dad say you’d gone to the barn, Brian, and the next thing I knew she’d disappeared.”
“I’m not into girls that much and those other hunks all had a couple girls hanging on them. I figured my best chance would be to trap the loner in the barn. Damn it! I haven’t been laid in a month. A girl has needs, you know.”
“Oh, I do,” Rose said. “But sometimes a girl just has to fall back on… what’s at hand.”
The moms and dads had brought in four big grills and were grilling ribs. There were salads and chips and deviled eggs. It was a real picnic. Hannah, Sam, Courtney, and Jen accompanied Liz from the barn and I looked up to see all three horses rolling out in the pasture. The girls all came straight to me and kissed me. Liz wiggled a lot when she was in my arms, but then she was off to get some food.
Rose and I made sure Sandy had plenty of food and the sheriff was talking to my family and Rose’s Dad.
“If they aren’t all yours, how many are?” Sandy asked. She was still trying to make sense of the whole clan after Rose had explained it to her.
“My first inclination is to tell you it’s none of your business, Sandy. Are you working for your father? He could ask questions himself if he thinks we’re up to something,” I said.
“No! Hell! Shit, no! He just said there was this new hippie commune and maybe I wanted to ride along with him while he visits today. Then we get here and it’s like a camporee. I just thought… I was just born in the wrong generation. I should have been in San Francisco twenty-five years ago,” she sighed. “Not that I’ll ever go anyplace now.”
“Well, I’m sure it looks a little like that to your dad. I like him, though. I don’t think he brought you out here to get laid.”
“Of course not. He thought he found a bunch of people who would be friends. He’s always talking about how I need some friends.”
“How old are you, Sandy?” Rose asked.
“Nineteen.”
“Are you a student at the U?”
“No. I was going to go to Hoffman, but…” I could hear the wistfulness in her voice.
“What happened, Sandy?” I asked.
“My mommy died.” She turned her head away from me and rubbed her eyes. I touched her shoulder. She turned with a mournful look and Rose pulled her into a hug with us. “I’m sorry. It’s okay now. Really. I just… When she died there was no one to take care of Dad. I just stayed home. I do all the things that Mom did. Cook. Clean. Sit up at night when he’s out on duty. No. I don’t do all the things. It’s not like that. I just couldn’t leave him all alone.”
“I know it’s not Hoffman, but I bet you could still get some schooling at IU and meet some other people so you aren’t all alone,” Rose said. She petted Sandy’s long silky hair.
“Yeah. I should do that,” she said. “It’s just so hard to go do something like that when you’ve been thrown into this other world. Dad’s been encouraging me. I guess maybe that’s why he wanted me to meet you all. You’re all going to college and making something of your lives.”
“We’re making something of our lives, but we aren’t all going to IU,” Rose said. “Liz is going to beauty school. Doreen has a job at the newspaper. Sugar hasn’t decided yet. Hannah is producing a TV show.”
“Damn. No wonder you didn’t blink an eye when I showed you my tits,” Sandy laughed. “Really, how many of these women are yours? They are all so smoking hot.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” I said, “let me explain who we are.”
I think Sandy was ready for anything but the truth. It took most of the afternoon to explain everything. Rose passed her off to Brenda. Brenda introduced her to Rhiannon. She was with us when we toured the house with the sheriff and pointed out what we were doing with the rooms. Hannah took charge of her when we got to the kitchen.
“Hannah,” I said when she’d finished the lecture on the TV show and how the kitchen would be remodeled. “We need a propane stove. There’s no natural gas out here.”
“Why not an electric range?” the sheriff asked. “That’s what most of the rural folks have.”
“On TV you need instant control of the temperature. You can’t wait for burners to cool. You just can’t get that with electric,” I explained.
“How about the ovens, Brian?” Hannah asked, making notes.
“No, the ovens can be electric. Preferably convection. You’ve already got that down, though, don’t you?”
“Yes. I just wanted to make sure. Sandy, have you ever been on television? Maybe you’d like to be one of Brian’s girlfriends,” Hannah said.
“I think that idea already got shot down,” she said.
“Hannah means for an episode of the cooking show. We use guest ‘girlfriends’ as a gimmick,” I said.
“You make it sound like this is something that’s already happening,” Sheriff Donaldson said.
“The show’s been running for two years up in South Bend and it’s syndicated. It’s been part of The Homemaker’s Hour with Miss Polly. Now we’re taking it independent,” I explained.
“My wife used to watch that show. Do you watch it, Sandy?” She shook her head.
“Maybe I’ll start, though.”
“Would you like to stay for our ritual tonight?” Rose asked Sandy. Her dad was shaking hands with folks and heading for his car.
“I’m not one of your clan, I guess,” Sandy said.
“Neither are half of the people here.”
“But Dad said you do stuff naked.”
“Not with our parents! Oh, yuck!” Whitney said. “I love my mom, but I’m not going to dance naked around the fire with her. Or let Brian!”
“Oh. I mean, sure, but Dad’s leaving.”
“You live someplace in the county, don’t you?” I asked.
“Yeah. Just a couple miles from here.”
“I’ll run you home afterward. Remember, none of us drink or do drugs, so it’s not a problem,” I said.
“If you’re sure. Yeah. I’d like to stay.”
“Let’s go tell your dad so he doesn’t waste a lot of gas waiting for you.”
“Casa del Fuego, Casa de la Tierra, Casa del Agua, Casa del Sol, Clan of the Heart, and Tribe of our Elders,” Rose intoned as she stood in front of us all at the fire. It was just dusk and we could easily see around us. In twenty minutes we wouldn’t be able to see anything that wasn’t lit by the fire. Rose had taken her usual position. We all wore our gis. Rose was like our shaman or wise woman. Or—I should just face it—our queen. I didn’t think that was a position that Hannah was ever going to aspire to or accept.
“Like any group or culture, we don’t always do things according to a pre-planned script.” Rose continued. “We don’t pretend to have a script for things like what we’re doing tonight. Many of you were present at the handfasting of Samantha and Brian. They became, in our terminology, cónyuge or mates. But you see six other girls in our casa who wear our red robes as cónyuge and we each had our own unique celebration. When we were asked to celebrate the handfasting of Hayden, Marilyn, and Anna, we had a world of possibilities. They are not part of our clan, but they are part of our tribe. I hesitated calling it the tribe of elders because, let me tell you, these guys aren’t that old! And if we were to follow Joseph Campbell’s analysis, the tribe would include all the clans. Besides, every year that passes, less of our life separates us than brings us together. And our love and respect for each other brings us even closer.”
Hannah led Mom to Rose. I led Dad. Jennifer led Anna. We stopped in front of the fire.
“Three people have fallen in love,” Rose said. Everyone clapped. A couple whistled. “We know there are all kinds of legal agreements that they have to deal with. Like the fact that two of them are married to each other. But this ceremony isn’t about legal agreements. We are here to celebrate and recognize their love.” Dad stood between Anna and Mom. The women were wearing simple dresses, pale blue. They looked beautiful. Dad had a nice pair of jeans and a western shirt on. They all held out their left hands.
“There are no vows to be spoken in this ritual,” Rose said. “If you three had not already made your promises to each other, you would not be standing here together. I am taking your three hands and placing them together. You each touch each of the others. You have accepted each other as cónyuge—mates. This light blue thread that I wrap around your joined hands cannot hold you together. It is fragile. As soon as you have to tend to your jobs, your children, your homes, you would have to break the thread. This thread is a blessing on your handfasting. And when you release your hands and break it, it will burst with blessings on all three of you. There is an affirmation that we make within our casa that I invite you to share. We say, ‘I love all of you. I love each of you.’ Share a moment to look at each other and repeat, ‘I love both of you. I love each of you.’”
I expected them to just say it all together, but Dad started by pulling Anna and Mom to him and saying, “I love both of you. I love each of you.” Then Mom repeated it. Finally, Anna burst into tears as she said the words. They broke the thread and everyone cheered.
After we’d celebrated for a while, I caught hold of Sandy and Rose.
“We’d better get our friend home before the sheriff comes looking for her,” I laughed.
“He wouldn’t,” Sandy scoffed before she realized I was joking.
“Maybe not, but I know my casa is anxious to celebrate in our tent, so we need to take you home,” Rose said.
“Do you have like an orgy every night?”
“Not at all,” I said as we climbed into the Suburban. Sandy was quick and jumped into the middle seat before Rose could get there. I saw Rose raise an eyebrow. Sandy gave us directions to her house but as soon as I pulled out of the drive onto the county road she shook her head and I was afraid she was crying.
“Stop, please,” she said. I pulled to the side of the road and turned on the flashers. There wasn’t really room to get all the way off the road. “I’m sorry. Rose, you’ve been very kind to me today and so have you, Brian. I shouldn’t have jumped into your place. Please trade seats with me, Rose.” Rose laughed.
“Now that you’ve figured that out, take the center seat, Sandy. Brian and I would like to sandwich you between us for the ride to your house. And thank you for the apology. No more needs to be said.” I pulled back onto the road and we continued as Rose and Sandy talked about the handfasting and asked how I felt about my parents taking another woman into their home so publicly. It was a good conversation, even if brief. When we pulled up to her house in a little subdivision, the sheriff’s car wasn’t there.
“Oh, he often patrols on Sundays so at least one deputy can have the night with his family,” Sandy said. “Like every place else in the country, they’re understaffed. Thanks for a great day. I hope I get to see you all again soon.” She headed toward her door. Rose and I walked with her. She stopped and looked at us. “Um… what are you doing?”
“Sorry. We didn’t mean to frighten you,” I said stepping back. Rose followed suit. “We have an unwritten rule that we always walk our dates to their door if we’re driving. I guess it’s a little old fashioned, but it’s something my folks drilled into my head when I had my first sort-of date.”
“Were we on a date?”
“We like you, Sandy. You just shared one of our very personal rituals. I think that counts as a date,” Rose said. “Do you mind?”
“No. But you don’t… I mean, thank you for walking me to the door.” On her porch with the key in her hand, she turned to us. Instead of speaking, she launched herself at my lips for a kiss. I caught her short and held her away from me. “I was just going to… Don’t you want… Shit!”
“It will take some time before you understand us fully,” Rose explained for me. “We have a written rule that says that you ask for explicit permission before you engage in any activity that could be considered sexual.”
“You mean I have to ask to kiss him?” Sandy said. “You guys are so weird! I think. Maybe. Um… Brian, may I kiss you? Like that?”
“Yes, Sandy. A friendly kiss goodnight, but not a passionate kiss or a kiss with intent,” I said. She moved more slowly and put a soft kiss on my lips. I smiled. Even in that little kiss, it was obvious that her unrestrained breasts felt as good against my chest as they’d looked in the barn.
“Was that okay?”
“That was really nice, Sandy. Thank you.”
“May I kiss you goodnight, Sandy?” Rose asked. Sandy’s eyes went wide.
“Um… a friendly kiss goodnight?” she said and nodded. Rose closed the gap and kissed Sandy softly. When Rose stepped back, Sandy stayed there like she was expecting more. She blinked her eyes. “Are you guys sure you’re not aliens?” she asked. We all laughed and said goodnight.
People started breaking camp and leaving after breakfast Monday morning. Dad and I hitched the horse trailer and loaded the horses. Then he and Mom and Anna headed north. Everyone but our immediate casa was packed and ready to go by two o’clock. We had everything loaded but were all standing around just looking at the farmhouse and the property. We checked the fire pit three times to make sure there were no hot embers left. We’d cleaned out the horse stalls. We just walked around for a while, sometimes holding hands or stopping to kiss one of our hearthmates.
“We’re really going to live here, aren’t we?” Sam sighed.
“Yeah. It’s going to be our home,” Courtney nodded.
“Hey. Josh. Cassie. Mary. Nikki. Sarah. Elaine. Don’t forget it’s your home, too. It’s not an IU dormitory. You might not be here to attend college, but this is your home. Please be here whenever you can. We love you,” I said.
The one that nearly knocked me over with her hug and was crying on my shoulder was the last one I expected.
“Really, Brian? We’re not… We don’t have to break up?” Nikki cried.
“You are my compañera and my hearthmate, Nikki,” I whispered. “Please don’t break up with us just because you’re going to a different school.”
Cassie, Mary, Josh, Sarah, and Elaine wrapped us in a hug and were quickly surrounded by the rest of the casa in a big group hug. Finally, we got our butts in the cars and headed north. Nikki and Liz with Cassie and Josh behind them buzzed by us on their motorcycles. Hannah leaned against my shoulder in the front seat. Jen, Court, and Sam were soon asleep in the back.
We had a home.
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