Chapter 9
The next day Brad and Amy took a cab to the Branson home and picked up Amy's car. Evelyn hugged him and he had to eventually pry her off his neck. The computer equipment had been delivered and John was busy setting it up.
Brad had Amy drive the car to the Department Of Motor Vehicles. He was surprised that she drove very well for a neophyte. She drove slower than Brad would have, but all in all, she was driving like she had at least some experience. She took the drivers test and passed. As they walked out of the building she was staring at her driver's license so hard that she tripped and almost fell down the stairs.
Brad made her drive home. He insisted that she drive her car whenever they went anywhere the rest of the week. She was becoming more at home with him and they would spend the evenings talking. Amy told him that she did not have many long range plans because she had pretty much resigned herself to the fact that she would leave home as soon as possible and never return. She regretted that she had not taken more of an interest in school. She had never seen much point in studying for college as she felt that it was out of the question.
Carol came over one afternoon and the two of them spent the entire afternoon and most of the evening talking and trying on makeup. Amy had never been allowed to use makeup and knew nothing about how to use it. Carol made Amy dress up in the dresses they had bought and they went out one evening to dinner. When they got home about nine o'clock Carol told Brad that a couple of guys had hit on her, but Amy told them she was going steady.
On Friday, Brad took Amy out to lunch at the restaurant. Carol was waiting tables and made sure that she got to serve Amy and Brad. Joseph came over to the table and was talking to Brad when Carol came back with their order.
Brad grabbed her arm as she was leaving, "Wait a minute. I was thinking about spending New Years at the lodge. Amy has never been to the lodge and since she doesn't quit trust me yet, I guess she's afraid I'll molest her if I got her up in the mountains, I was wondering if you had any plans. We'll spend the weekend there and come back Sunday night. Amy has to go to school Monday. If you have any plans we can make it another time."
Carol grinned, "How do I know you don't want me along so that you'll have two girls to molest?"
Brad and Joseph both laughed, "Because I saw those big knives he has in the kitchen and I know what he would do with them. I'll be talking soprano. Now, do you want to come with us?"
Carol looked at her father and Joseph nodded his head.
"Well, I was going to spent a quiet evening at home with mom and dad, but I'll go with you and Amy."
"Good I'll pick you up about five and we'll drive up tonight. Be sure to bring heavy clothes, it gets cold up there this time of year. It might be wise to bring boots in case we get some snow."
They drove home after lunch and Brad told her how Carol and her family had spent several weekends at the lodge before Vera died. He told her that Carl Samples also had a key to the lodge. Carl had used it more than he had since Vera's death. He told her that it seemed so lonely up there without Vera.
Brad insisted on checking on what Amy had packed and told her that they would have to leave a little early and pick up some heavier clothes. They stopped at L.L. Bean and picked up a parka, insulated underwear and heavy boots for her. Amy said she was sure that Carol didn't have a parka so he bought one to match Amy's. As they were walking out of the store he noticed the light shoes that she had worn and steered her back to the shoe department and made her get a pair of hiking boots.
They picked up Carol and made the two and a half hour ride to the lodge. The lodge sat in the middle of one hundred and twenty acres of wooded mountainside that had belonged to Brad's father. Brad and his father had built the lodge shortly before his father got cancer. His mother couldn't stand to come to the lodge after her husband died and never saw the lodge after it was completed. She died about a year and a half after Brad's father died.
The lodge had a great room and two bedrooms and a bath on the first floor and there was a sleeping loft at each end of the lodge. Each sleeping loft had four beds. There was a hot tub that would hold eight people at the far end of the great room. The lodge had a front porch that covered the entire front. Brad had built benches on the wall of the lodge so that he could sit outside and relax. The road to the lodge from the county road was a private road, so there was never any traffic to worry about. There was a small garage carved into the side of the mountain that held a John Deere tractor with a snow blade. Brad allowed his closest neighbor to use the tractor in exchange for keeping an eye on the place. The neighbor would clear his own road and then clean the road to Brad's lodge. Brad's father had put most of the money into the lodge and had spared no expense. Deer, raccoon and occasional a black bear would pass the lodge seemingly unafraid of the occupants of the lodge.
Brad made the girls drag the luggage in while he built a fire and got the water turned on. In about an hour the lodge started to warm up and the girls shed their parkas. They had put the parkas on when they saw the first snow on the trip up to the lodge. Brad got the food out of the car and put it in the refrigerator.
As he was putting the last of the food away he heard a screech from the girls. He looked where the girls were pointing and saw two raccoons standing on the bench on the porch looking in the window. They kept swaying back and forth as if to try and see around the girls and spot food. Brad got two slices of bread and moved to the window slowly and showed the bread to the raccoons. As he got closer, they ran off of the porch. He opened the window and put the bread on the windowsill. Within two minutes the raccoons returned, grabbed the bread and ran back into the woods.
He fixed hamburgers and French fries for dinner and the girls polished off dinner and moved to the wood stove and started playing cards. They were very animated and they were constantly accusing each other of cheating. They played cards for about two hours and then started talking about Carol's experiences at college and her many escapades with boys. Brad decided to go to bed and the girls retired to the sleeping loft. As he laid in bed waiting to fall a sleep he heard them talking and giggling.
Brad opened his eyes and tried to figure out what had awakened him. He looked toward the door and saw Amy standing in the door. He had left a table lamp on in the great room as a night light. She was wearing a silk nightgown that was made like a slip, but went to the floor.
"Carol snores," she said sleepily.
She came to the bed and slipped in next to him and turned on her side and fell asleep immediately.
Brad awoke in the morning with the sensation that he was trapped in a vise. He opened his eyes and saw that Amy had scooted over to his side and he was spooned behind her. He was as close to her as he could be and he had his arm around her with his hand on her breast. Amy had her hand over his as if to hold his hand in place if he tried to get away. As he slowly pulled his hand away she made a move as if to hold his hand where it was. After he freed his hand he heard her say "Oh darn" in her sleep. He watched her and saw that she was really still asleep.
He went to the wood stove and got the fire going strong again. After a fast shower in the chilly bathroom, he fixed a pot of coffee. About an hour after the coffee was done Amy came out of the bedroom. The fire had warmed the room up nicely.
"How did I get down here?"
"You told me that Carol snores and then you slipped in my bed. Don't you remember?"
Amy giggled, "I always did roam in my sleep, sorry. A lot of times I would wake up on the floor in my room and not know how I got there."
Carol woke up about an hour later just before Brad put breakfast on the table. The girls picked up their chatter where they had left off the evening before. Brad was relieved that Carol apparently did not know that Amy slept in his bed.
After the breakfast dishes were washed and put away Brad suggested that they take a walk and enjoy the outdoors. The girls put on their parkas and boots and reluctantly followed him out into the cold morning air. He stayed on the road, taking them toward the highest part of his property. They saw several deer and the girls started to enjoy the hike. Amy looked behind her and saw the two raccoons following them. Every time Brad and the girls would stop, the raccoons would dart into the woods.
The highest part of the property was almost at the top of the mountain and the view was spectacular. Amy looked out over the valley below with her mouth open.
"I can see why you built up here. I have never seen anything like this. This is beautiful."
She saw Brad looking at her, "I'm a city girl remember. We don't even have trees where I'm from much less mountains."
The walk down to the lodge was much easier and the girls talked to
each other all of the way so they didn't see any more wildlife. It was
New Years Eve so Brad told them he would take them into town and buy
them lunch and let them do a little shopping. The town was a tourist
type of town and catered to the summer vacationers and the ski crowd in
the winter. The girls bought a few things and they had lunch and made
their way back to the lodge.