Sue called Ben and told him to put a pretty good chunk of money in her personal checking account, not telling him what she was going to do with it. I told her we could probably pay for the plane with the cash we had, but she said we should save that; she had some ideas that she wanted to use the money for.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the boat, with Dewey taking care of business in his office while the girls sunbathed on the deck. We ate supper on the boat, fixing a very nice meatloaf with mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy, good down home cooking. Mercy said it was nice not to have to work that night as she was used to working in the show seven nights a week. She did do several little tricks to entertain us. I told her our friends on the patio would love her exhibitions. She told us not to talk to anyone about her ability to read minds. She said it was valuable to have that knowledge generally concealed. People who might have heard of her stage act would assume that it was a trick; letting the real facts out would bring more attention than she wanted.
The next three days, I flew from around eight in the morning to after six at night. I did so many touch and go landings in the area that every local tower knew my numbers. By the time I had thirty hours in the plane, I was beginning to think I should keep it for myself. We really didn't need two planes, and besides, how would I get it back to Florida?
The fourth morning I showed up, the owner's dad showed up too and took me to the FAA office and signed off. They did about the same things that had been done up in Alaska. They handed me my license with my tail dragger endorsement because I had spent so much time in older aircraft. Now I needed some instrument instruction. Sue had me use the older instructor to check me out in the 206. We did the preflight and all the little things that are required before you fire up the engine. When we were ready to get in the plane, I saw Mercy in the back seat, smiling. She said she loved to fly and maybe I would take her up in the 172 now that I had my license.
The plane was powerful and easy to taxi. The brakes were a little touchy, but then this was a heavier plane. The instructor was constantly showing me features and telling me what to do if this or that should happen. We were cleared to the active runway. We did the run-up and released the brakes for the take off. I was amazed at the speed at which we accelerated. The plane seemed ready to lift off long before the airspeed indicator said to go. I lifted off to climb-out to our assigned forty-five hundred feet was fast. We headed east toward the mountains, as I wanted to feel the thermals and the winds crossing at higher altitudes. We went through a pass at nine thousand feet, and when we were clear over the foothills, I banked around and went back the other way. The updrafts did buffet the plane a little, but not bad. I kept the plane at sixty five percent power going about a hundred sixty knots, which is way about one hundred eighty five miles an hour. We must have had a heavy tail wind; with that power setting we normally wouldn't have been going quite that fast. I was surprised how quiet the cabin was and commented about it. The instructor said that the 206 had some other models that were even quieter.
I did two touch and go landings at airports I had not been to yet, then headed back to our airport at the assigned four thousand feet. It was easy to navigate using the fancy Garmin GPS on-board system. I was more accustomed to compasses, magnetic and gyro, but the GPS was great.
I didn't do the classic three-point that Sue did, but did set it down gently then dropped the nose gear slowly, getting the feel of it so I wouldn't over-steer. I pulled the plane up to the refueling pit and got out and chocked the plane. An attendant said he would refuel and go over the plane, then wash and wax it.
As we walked over, I noticed the 172 I had been using was sitting in front of the office. Mercy and I went in and I asked the owner if I could rent it for a couple of hours and he said to be his guest. He said the plane was just fueled up and was ready to fly.
Mercy came out with me and immediately climbed into the right seat while I did the pre-flight. I did a by-the-book inspection, noting that this plane had a shorter pre-flight checklist than the 206. When we were ready to go, I wrote the beginning hours from the meter into my book then noted them in the airplane's logbook.
We were cleared to the active runway and I took off the way I had been taught in a light plane. Once in the air we were cleared to forty-five hundred feet again, and I suggested we see how this plane acted over the mountains. Mercy said she was game, so we flew toward the mountains. It took at lot longer at only a hundred twenty miles an hour, but we flew through the same pass then turned around and flew back. We didn't do any of the touch and go landings as we flew directly back to the airport. Mercy said the little plane was fun; she felt like we were really flying it, rather than the airplane flying us.
We landed, then taxied up to the office. I filled out the books then went into the office. I found the owner and asked him how much he would take for the plane. He replied, "I can't take anything for it, I sold it." I apologized to him for running up the hours. He said not to worry, that the customer understood. I sadly looked at the plane, as I let Mercy call her driver to come pick us up. I had told her we could take a cab, but she said the driver was better.
When he arrived, Sue was with him. She got out and went over to the 172, checked the book, then came back carrying it. She pointed to my entry and said, "You did good, you made the log entry correctly. I already know you did it in the 206. You're quite the pilot now. How did you like the 172, Mercy?"
"It was great. The plane is noisy and I bet it gets hot, but it was fun. It was like we were flying it and not the plane flying us."
Sue said, "I know what you mean. Did you notice the difference in speed?"
"It took us a lot longer to go to the mountains and back in the 172, that's for sure, but we did have a good flight."
Sue handed the airplane's logbook to Mercy and told her to show me the plane's owner.
Under registered owner it said, "Steve Sharp."
"You bought the plane?"
"No, you bought the plane. I robbed you of some of your cash and made a deal."
"How is it getting back to Florida?"
Sue smiled, "If you don't want to fly it back, we'll have it ferried. I really would rather have us fly together. They'll ferry it back for very little and check out our ground people on the 206 while they are at it."
"Sounds good to me, but I don't know what we need two planes for," I said.
"Easy, sometimes we'll want to fly a short distance or just fly for the fun of it," Sue was smiling. "That's what the 172 is for. If we want to go to the races or somewhere quick, the 206 will get us there almost twice as fast. Now we both have to get our instrument ratings."
We made arrangements for the 172 to be ferried back to Florida. The owner was very cordial and thanked Sue for slapping him around enough for him to find out he was being taken advantage of. He said the mechanic had already sold three planes besides ours since he started doing that job too.
The three of us rode back to the boat to prepare for our departure for Florida.
Dewey and Sheila were being moony-eyed with each other, considering they had made all of the arrangements to get married, although they were not planning on tying the knot for a while. I asked Dewey if he didn't think we should go back up the coast with him so he would feel safer, instead of doing it by himself? He commented that he wasn't by himself; Sheila was with him, and he had experience sailing by himself. A hundred foot boat is a lot to handle solo.
He finally consented to possibly hiring a college kid to ride with him back up the coast, just so he had someone to help with the anchors and such.
For our last night on vacation with Dewey and Sheila, we decided to eat at the yacht club. All except Sue had martinis before dinner, wine with dinner, and scotches after dinner. Sweet Mercy was an experienced drinker and could hold her liquor. Sue teased her that she was going to be popular among our friends back home because she could drink with the best of them.
Dewey and I spent some time out on the deck talking. Mostly it was me telling him how much fun I'd had with him over the last few weeks. Ever since we met him at Friday Harbor, he had influenced our vacation. He had made it memorable and fun. He helped Sue realize a dream, getting her pilot's license back, helped me get a captain's license, and tolerated my early coming and going while I was getting my pilot's license. The trip had been great.
We talked about Sheila and him coming down to visit. He said that Sue could fly up and get them; she would need the time in her new toy. I told him either one or both of us would come and get him anytime. When they got tired of rainy days, they should come for a winter visit to enjoy our crew in the mornings and evenings. I did tell him that we didn't live very high on the hog down in Florida. We were a little backwoodsy and a lot of Bubba. He looked at me funny and I told him he would see for himself when he came.
He wished me luck with my extra female, but I told him not to worry about it, as Sue seemed to enjoy having an extra lady around. He punched me on the shoulder saying, "Yeah right, Sue enjoys the extra lady, you don't care one way or the other, right? Sure guy, tell me another one." I just shrugged my shoulders. We shook hands, then did the non-masculine thing and hugged, knowing we had a lifetime kinship.
We all went to bed with our own personal misgivings. I was anxious about going back. Sue was anxious about flying her new plane back to Florida and Mercy was anxious about leaving home for the first time.
We three lay in bed, not sleeping for a good while. I got up to make myself a scotch up in the salon, wearing only a pair of shorts. A few minutes later Mercy showed up, wearing a loose satin robe and wanted something that would knock her out. Then Sue came up, wearing one of her invisible robes, saying she wanted a beer or a small glass of wine to help her go to sleep. We all sat together with me hugging the two ladies to me. Sue kissed me, then Mercy put a heavy lip lock on me, then kissed Sue equally. The next thing you know, robes were loose, and my shorts were torn away, only to be found in the morning. We finally made it back down to bed, having convinced each other that going back to Florida was the right thing to do.
Sue actually woke me first, giving me some non-denture pleasure. The activity woke Mercy, who complained that Sue had an advantage. I began laughing so hard at the tone of the argument, that we forgot all about the activity we had been involved in and just got up. I made coffee and took a quick shower while the girls were still arguing over, or at least intimately discussing, Sue's advantage. I went up to the salon and recovered my shorts, then brought them downstairs to be packed with our meager clothes supply.
By the time Dewey and Sheila woke, we were almost done making a big breakfast. I had made biscuits and pancakes, along with bacon, sausage, and milk gravy, and was just waiting to get egg orders so I could top the breakfast off. Mercy called her driver and told him to hurry as there was a giant country breakfast waiting for him.
The driver didn't arrive alone. Merlin and Missy showed up with him. They joined us, and it was a good thing, as I had made far too much food for just five of us. There were still leftovers after feeding eight. Missy had been mentally communicating with her daughter and knew we were flying back on our own. Merlin was wary, but Mercy assured him that she had communicated with both of the planes we had purchased and knew them to be dependable. She said Sue was a great pilot and she felt very safe with her.
After loading our bags, we all piled into the Suburban and rode out to the airport. The 206 was sitting next to the office, with the stairway down, waiting for our arrival. The 172 was already on its way and we would probably pass it later today. Our in-flight time would be about fourteen hours, so we were planning to fly eight or nine hours today and finish tomorrow. The weather looked good all the way through. Luckily, the summer thunderstorms had let up and shouldn't be a problem for a couple of days.
The owner and the mechanic that Sue had made friends with assured us that both planes were perfect and we would enjoy or trip home. We were planning on stopping somewhere in Alabama or Mississippi for the night but we would call later if they wanted. Both Dewey and Merlin wanted.
Mercy hugged and kissed her parents, climbed into the back seat, and put on her headphones. Sue sat in the left seat while I did the pre-flight. We communicated each item while she called them out in order. Once done, I climbed in and shut and locked the stairway door. As soon as I sat, Sue began the starting procedure; she had done the cockpit preflight while I was doing the external. Sue called the tower and got a current altimeter setting while the engine was warming. We gave a final wave and taxied out, having been granted access to the active runway. Sue ran the engine up, released the brakes, and we were rolling. The plane lifted off easily, then Sue guided us toward the mountains and the pass I had flown through twice.
The three of us chatted using the headphones. After a couple of hours Sue said she was going to need a bathroom so we began looking for airports that we could land at and refuel. A couple we called were not answering, and we didn't want an unattended site. We settled on one in eastern Colorado that told us we were welcome and to come on down.
Sue set the plane down and we were granted a spot right in front of the operations building. Sue wiggled out of the left seat while Mercy opened the door. Sue and Mercy made a dash for the bathroom. I taxied the plane over to the fuel pumps and proceeded to top off our fuel. I was surprised that the turbo was as efficient as it was. Usually faster planes burn more fuel. This one could hold a lot of fuel, but it didn't consume as much as you would think. After refueling, I taxied back over to the operations building, shut down, then got out and grabbed some chocks, not worrying about tie downs for the little time we were going to be on the ground.
I went to the bathroom and came out to find the two girls surrounded by admirers. Sue was wearing a fairly conservative top, but any top on Sue is not conservative at all. Mercy was wearing a tease top, even though her top was only a full B on her slim frame. The idea of these two flying around the country in a 206 was getting their juices up. When the girls spotted me they both squealed, "There's our husband now," and ran to me. I was given some really dirty looks, but even more "You lucky dog" looks.
We bought a couple of bottles of water, then climbed into the plane after doing the through-flight. By the time I had the door closed and locked, Mercy was buckled up, and Sue had the engine going. I strapped in and we were granted permission to taxi out to the active runway. We took off smoothly and headed east. About two hours later, we stopped in New Mexico, took a potty break, refueled, and ate. We headed east again, hoping to get into northern Texas or southern Arkansas, before nature required another pit stop.
We made it all the way to eastern Louisiana before we had to either stop or soil the seats. We thought we could possibly make the panhandle of Florida, maybe Panama City, for the night. If we made it to Panama City, we might just stay over a day and enjoy the beaches.
That was incentive for us to fly through to Panama City. Since we had been losing time all the way across the country we had flown eleven hours, but because of the time zones, we were now fourteen hours different from when we left. Mercy called her Mom, as her Dad was at the restaurant. I called Dewey and told him we might hole up in Panama City a day. He said he couldn't believe we had flown so far in a day in the small plane. I reminded him that the turbo could really go fast so we made some good time, plus we had a tail wind all day.
The airport at Panama City was a quiet place with lots of personal jets and small aircraft. Airline feeder flights occasionally passed through, but most of the traffic was light aircraft. We refueled, then taxied to the assigned tie down point. We had the plane secured and our bags at the operations building in minutes. I rented a car and we drove out the causeway to the inter-coastal to go to the nicer beaches and resorts. We found a nice resort on the beach and registered. The weather was balmy and warm. The girls wanted to hurry and eat; they had eaten only sandwiches since breakfast.
We ate a light supper because of the hour, then went to our room, put on swimsuits, and went out on the beach. We splashed in the gulf for a half hour then went up to the hotel and rinsed off under the outdoor showers. I checked the hot tub or in this case, a Jacuzzi. The water wasn't hot so we got in and relaxed. Sue was telling Mercy that she may have to watch herself the first time we went to the hot tub at the park because most of the people in our group considered the hot tub as a free-for-all and everything-goes area. Mercy said she was sure she would be fine. She would just follow our lead.
We went back and decided to order one of the biggest steaks they had and split it three ways. We did that and split a bottle of wine between Mercy and me. Bedtime was fun, as Sue insisted I take care of marital responsibilities, then insisted I take care of our new wife, as she called Mercy. Sue wanted more after having to watch Mercy and me. Luckily, I was up for all of this late night fun.
We slept soundly until my West Coast six o'clock body alarm went off. This made it nine in Florida, but it was still early for the West Coast. I woke the girls and asked them if they were hungry. Sue was hungry of course, but Mercy said she would rather sleep as she was used to sleeping late. I roused them both, saying they needed to begin getting used to east coast time; a work week would begin soon.
Sue asked me what day it was. I said it was probably Thursday or Friday. I called down to the desk and they told me it was Thursday. I made coffee in the mini coffee maker in the room but ordered a full pot with three orders of bacon and eggs with toast and jelly for the girls and me. The people were surprisingly quick. I gave the bellhop a nice tip and he smiled while viewing the two ladies in my bed.
The girls decided they wanted food, so they were in and out of the bathroom quickly, and ate breakfast in the buff. The display had me thinking of eating something other than breakfast. I asked Sue if she wanted to stay the day, then travel home in the morning, and she said yes. She wanted to sunbathe and play in the gulf before showing up on Friday. At least she wouldn't need to go to in to work until Monday.
We played all day, enjoying the hot sun, the warm gulf water, and even an afternoon rain shower. I watched the TV weather channel multiple times and it looked like the morning would be the best time to fly home. We had to decide where we were going to keep our planes.
While we were sunbathing in the late afternoon, I asked Sue where she thought would be a good place to keep the airplanes. I should have known she had not only thought of it, but had made the arrangements.
Sue said, "There is the Tampa Aero Park in Lutz just north of our park. It's probably less than ten minutes from the house. They have hangar space right now, so we can keep both planes inside. The big reason for staying there is that they are an authorized Cessna flight center. That means they have schools for the instrument rating we both need plus they are a Cessna maintenance center. That is probably the best place for us right now. There are a couple of other little airports near us that we could check out, but for right now, we'll use the Tampa Aero Park."
Mercy seemed to be getting nervous about meeting our friends. Sue and I both assured her that she had nothing to worry about, except that a couple of our friends, including most of the females at home, would be trying to get her in the sack immediately. She asked if they were all built like Sue.
I laughed. No one is built like Sue. We have a few girls that are barely A cups, some B's, and others from C to DD. Sue was laughing too when I told Mercy that one of my girlfriends when I had first come to town is nicknamed 'Double D'. Nope, no one is built like Sue.
I leaned over Sue, copping a feel of one of her monsters and motioned for Mercy to join me. "These things are two-handed toys. Fun to play with, don't you think?"
Mercy was blushing, "I just love to touch and hold them. I'm worse than guys, because I just love to suck on these huge nipples."
The conversation was getting to Sue. "Okay you guys, cut it out unless you want to spend the rest of the afternoon in the room."
Mercy and I gave Sue a kiss, then laid back down to toast in the sun a little longer.
While we were lying there, my cell phone rang. When I answered it, the pilot ferrying the 172 said that he had landed and had turned the airplane over to the Aero Park mechanic to check over. He said the flight was perfect and he'd had no trouble. He said that the Aero Park had advised him that the instrument equipment would be completed Saturday. I thanked him and told him to enjoy his commercial ride home. He said that flying commercial was always scary to him; he wasn't in control and those big planes didn't glide worth a hoot.
We were nearing our maximum sun exposure time. Sue commented that Mercy was tanning up nicely, faster than she had anticipated, since she had been so pale. Mercy said if you sleep all day and work in a nightclub all night you hardly ever get out in the sun. She said she was enjoying getting sun and would like to start doing some form of exercising. Sue and I told her she would fit right in as we went a gym most days, plus we walked and swam most evenings. Sue told Mercy that she was going to be responsible for making sure we both kept to our exercising; both of our injuries required it.
Sue decided that she and Mercy should go to the Mall on the mainland to load up on Florida clothes for Mercy. She also said Mercy would need some jeans and T-shirts for riding.
Wow, riding. That would require some thought. I used my cell and called the Tampa Harley dealer and asked for Jim. He was surprised to hear from me. I told him that we should probably be home tomorrow, but I had a request. Did his dealership have any sidecars or did he know of any used sidecars that would fit the FLH. It didn't take him a second to reply. "Funny you should ask about a sidecar that would match your bike. A guy just nearly gave us his used sidecar, as he had sold his bike and the buyer didn't want the side car."
"How about getting the FLH and installing the sidecar for me? You know I'm good for the money. Can you do that?"
"Sure, I'll call Hanna and tell her to ride your FLH in right now. We'll install it and she can ride it home. Plenty of time to get it done. What time are you guys coming in? I'm sure a couple of dozen people will want to meet you."
"We'll see everyone at home after work tomorrow. Spread the word and we'll have a party. I'll call Glenda and see if she and Martin are ready for one."
"You know you guys have been gone damn near a month. Without you two around, the place is not as exciting. But we have picked up a couple of more bikers that have moved into the park. They are two great couples and you'll love them. They make nice additions to our crew."
Sue and Mercy had taken off, so they didn't hear that conversation. While they were gone I called Glenda. You would have thought her long lost son had called, she was so excited to hear from me. When I told her that we were coming home tomorrow she became really excited and wanted to meet us at the airport. I told her that we didn't need to be met and would be in during the day. We talked about having a big party and she said she would arrange it.
"You know, Steve, the patio may be too hot to enjoy much longer during the summer. With every day ninety degrees and the humidity way up there, even with all the fans it isn't very comfortable out there right now, especially in the evening."
"Let me do something about that, Glenda. I have an idea, and someone else said they had an idea, so let me work on it. Can you organize and order everything for tomorrow afternoon? We are bringing a new friend with us that we want everyone to meet."
"I'm not surprised about you two bringing someone. Sue is just terrible about picking up stray little girls and adopting them or whatever she does with them. Since you two have been together you are hardly ever without company at night."
"Oh Glenda, we're not that bad. Sue does seem to gather in other girls though. See you tomorrow."
The cell number of the contractor that had done the work on the patio and all my shop work was in my cell phone, so I gave him a call.
As soon as I identified myself, he said, "Where the hell have you been, Steve? I've missed you. You haven't built anything for a month. I was worried you had gone out of business."
"I've been on a real vacation and have had a great time. We'll tell you all about it at the party we're going to have tomorrow night. However, I was told the patio is too hot to enjoy any longer for the summer. You had said something about an idea to cool the place, and I have an idea too. Tell me your idea first."
The contractor explained, "The easiest way is to enclose the patio with tinted glass and install a big air conditioner."
I didn't really want to close the place up. "That would be okay but a lot our friends smoke and the place would be worse than a bar. We would have to scrub the windows and ceiling every day. What do you think about one or two big units that we could set out by the storage building but put the condensers on the roof of the patio? We could even enclose them. You built the patio roof for hurricane winds so a little enclosure up there would be fine. You could pipe the air to vents around the patio, with most of them nearer the house than on the outer edge. Say six vents by the house and six vents halfway out. With the fans going, the place should stay cool on the hottest day. You know what I mean, something like Frenchy's over in Clearwater has. That place is wide open but they keep it pretty cool."
"That's a good idea, and it would be easy to do quickly. I like it."
"That's the other thing, can you do it tomorrow morning so it is cool for our party tomorrow night?"
"Why did I know you were going to ask me that? I think I can get it done. Let me call the air conditioning distributor and find the best unit or units and get started. Do I have a budget?"
"Budget? When I ask you to do something, have I ever tweaked you? Just do it, I'll pay you tomorrow night."
"It will be done. Come home and build something. I'm not humping like I was."
I called the shop to talk to Debbie. A new voice answered the phone and asked who was calling. When I said "Steve Sharp", she didn't hesitate and directed the call to Debbie. She was really excited that I had called and was coming home. I told her that we would be home tomorrow and that we would have a great party tomorrow evening so we could tell everyone about our trip. She said she was glad I was coming back as there were a lot of customers that would talk only to me. She said there had been a bunch of small changes done for the better of the company and that I would like them.
"Would one of them be a receptionist to answer the phone?" I asked.
"It sure would. The girl has a nice voice. You'll love her; she is sweet as can be. She is at a desk outside our office so she can greet people who come in as well. She has a little trouble with that part, but she is doing great on the phone. Anyway, we'll all be happy that you and Sue are home."
"Actually, I just called you to make sure there weren't any big problems."
"Nope, the joint is cooking along. Every time someone wants to do something, about ten of us get together and come up with the best way to do it. We follow your lead, what would be the aggressive way to handle it, and how we can do it to make a buck. See Steve, you've taught us well."
"Okay then, if Tiny is there, transfer me up to him."
"Tiny's at some kind of Chamber of Commerce function with Phil. They are working on some kind of charity event. Is there anyone else you want to talk to?"
"Send me to Ruth then, and I'll let the rest of you rest in peace."
"Steve, I'm glad to hear from you, when are you coming home?" Ruth asked.
"We'll be back tomorrow. You don't have to worry about picking us up. We have that covered. I've called Glenda and she's is putting together food and stuff for a party tomorrow evening. Call her and ask her if she needs the caterer's number or if there is anything you can do for her."
Ruth sounded a little down, "I'll do that, Steve, but it's getting really uncomfortable on the patio in the afternoon and evening. Coffee time is great but later anything outside is sticky and uncomfortable. I'm sure we can suffer one evening for your welcome home."
"Not to worry, Blondie, I've made arrangements to have the place cool by tomorrow night. You know, you guys could have rented a couple of those portable air conditioning units they have at the theme parks, the kind football players use. That would have worked too."
Ruth said, "Damn, that's why you need to be here. You always come up with a way to fix something. It will be great to have our evening gathering place back."
"Make sure you tell everyone, and that's everyone in the company, that they are welcome to come out for a party. You know what? Call Taylor rental and have them to put up one of their big tents and to put plenty of tables and chairs under it and to put four to six of those portable outdoor AC units under it to keep it cool. If we're going to have a big party, let's have a BIG party. Tell Glenda that I said to have the caterer set up a second bar and have the beer distributor bring out another keg. Tell your in-laws that they are welcome and to invite any of our neighbors that might want to come. Let's have a party."
"Okay, boss. Let me get started on this. You're not giving a girl much time to get this done. See you tomorrow."
I guessed that I had stirred up enough trouble in one short period of time. I saw that it was coming up on three in the afternoon. They didn't have much time to get everything done. That's okay, the best parties are spontaneous ones anyway.
I was dozing on the bed when the girls came in about six. They both lay down on me making me the meat in a sandwich. Mercy spoke up, "You've been a busy boy. You're mind waves have been bouncing all over the place. There is something about air conditioning and a party, plus what are you doing with a motorcycle? Want to tell us about it?"
Sue said, "I'll bet he's planning a big party for tomorrow night. And I'll bet the patio is starting to get really hot in the afternoon so you can bet Steve has figured out how to fix that. As far as the motorcycle, he's probably dying to take a ride. Me too. I just love to ride."
"I've never rode on a motorcycle before. It looks so dangerous," Mercy said in a shaky voice.
"Steve is a careful rider. I was apprehensive at first too because of my accident. But with Steve, it is really fun. You can bar-hop around town and across the bay while feeling the wind in your face. It really is fun."
I said then, "There will be a surprise, as far as the motorcycle is concerned. You never know, Mercy, you might like to ride, especially after you meet Shawna, Hanna, Debbie, and our two dykes on bikes."
Sue scoffed, "Oh, you know those two aren't dykes. Mandy and Bob make such a cute couple. Mercy, Bob is deaf and mute, so when you talk to him you have to look him in the eye so he can read your lips. A lot of us sign, so it's easy for us to talk to him. Sandy's friend is a military vet with only one leg. He has a fake leg but gets around really well. Sue finished with, "You'll like those girls a lot."
Mercy was looking at Sue and me, propped up on her elbow with head in her hand. "You two have so many friends. I can't wait to be a part of all of it. I don't know how we'll all fit together, but I feel one second like I'm Sue's sister, then Steve's, then I feel like Sue and I are lesbian partners, then I feel like I'm Steve's wife. All these emotions keep running around inside me and I want all of them. The one thing I do know is that coming with you two was the right thing to do."
Sue dragged Mercy across the top of me to give her a kiss. "I know we just captured you and carried you off, but I'm very happy we did. You were inside our head from the beginning. I can hear your thoughts most times and I can hear Steve's too when you give me that path. It's so strange to have you inside my head."
"I'm glad you like my gift," Mercy said with her head on my chest. "When I was a little girl it scared me to hear someone else's thoughts. My Mom has this gift as well and we can feel each other whenever we are apart. Like right now, my Mom is making spaghetti to take to the restaurant for Dad. She likes to cook for him. She's also going to be doing some of the show like I used to do. See, we talk. She was embarrassed when we were all making love. She loved it when Steve made love to me, but feels strange whenever Sue and I play."
Mercy rolled to her back looking at the ceiling, "You know I never ever thought about girls until Sue. When I was in her head the first time, I got wet between the legs. That's why I switched to Steve as soon as he came in. That was a mistake, because he was radiating whatever it is about him so much, I started dripping right there on stage. I was so fascinated that I wanted you physically right then."
Mercy climbed up on me and straddled my waist. "Just like I want you right now. Make love to me. Make love to me and Mom at the same time. She'll enjoy you with me."
Those were sexy thoughts. For the next hour, the three of us demonstrated our physical desire for each other. Sated, we were in the shower when Sue's stomach began growling.
"You two have me so hungry, I want something to eat other than you two. Let's hurry and get supper."
We went to a nice restaurant nearby. Mercy found it different, that people in Florida can go to the fanciest restaurant in shorts and T-shirt for men and shorts and a halter for women. No one thinks a thing about half a group in shorts and the other half in suits. Florida is just more laid back than most areas.
Tonight we all had baked grouper with a rice pilaf mixed with peas, corn, and carrots. The food was great. I love fresh fish. We stopped in a lounge that had a piano bar where Mercy and I had a couple of drinks, while Sue sampled some virgin drinks the bartender was having fun making for her. When it was near eleven east coast time we went back to the resort and snuggled in bed with the door to the balcony open. The temperature was down to seventy-four, and it was humid, but comfortable sleeping with the fresh sea breeze.