Paul
and Lynnell spent a busy weekend preparing pieces for transport to the show and
getting the crosses ready for Sunday morning for the church down the road.
Friday night found them smeared with clay and glaze, but the task was done and
all the crosses were loaded into the kiln for firing. As Paul prepared the oven,
Lynnell questioned him on his choice of firing temperature, arguing that a lower
temperature would allow them to unload the kiln several hours earlier than
planned. Paul objected saying that the higher temperature would give the glaze a
better gloss and was worth the extra time. "But Paul, the crosses will
still be over two hundred degrees when we have to open the kiln to take them
out. Won't that damage the glaze?" Lynnell asked. "If it does, which I
doubt, it will give them a crackle finish which would be different on each cross
making them unique. It's a win-win situation." Came Paul's muffled reply
from his position with his head inside the kiln. The Firing cone in place to
shut the kiln down when it reached its melting point, Paul closed the kiln door
and locked it with a padlock to prevent accidental opening and threw the switch.
Lynnell stretched her aching back and yawned. "Paul, its after three in the
morning. I'm headed for the shower and bed." "That sounds good
to." answered Paul. "I'll be along in a little while after I finish a
few more labels for these boxes." he continued. Lynnell rose on tiptoe as
she passed him and kissed his cheek saying, "Don't be long, I need you to
wash my back." Paul gave here a tired smile and said, "I really don't
think you need me to wash your back any more, you're practically healed
now." "Paul, I'm to tired to argue with you about it. Will you please
just wash my back for me and be done with it." Lynnell replied as she
trudged out the door without looking back at Paul. With her back to him, Lynnell
did not see the look of surprise on his face at the edge in her voice.
Paul
stared after her for several seconds before returning to the last of the carton
labels. When he had finished, he turned out the light and started for the house.
The light from the bath house informing him of Lynnell's choice of showers. Paul
opened the door and found Lynnell standing unmoving under a cascade of warm
water. Paul quickly removed his shirt and shoes and stepped into the spray
wearing only his shorts. Lynnell felt his presence and leaned her head against
his shoulder and muttered, "Lord, I ache all over. I didn't realize how
much work was involved with getting ready for the show." Paul reached out
and began to massage her neck and shoulders saying as he did, "We did a lot
more than just prepare for the show you know. What with doing all those crosses,
we spent an extra four hours that wouldn't normally have been necessary. Without
your help, I would have been there until after dawn. Thank you." He leaned
down and kissed her cheek as he took the soap from the holder and knelt down
behind her and carefully started to soap her back.
Lynnell
felt like a small child again as Paul finished soaping her back and moved on to
her legs and feet. Paul forced himself not to respond to her nudity as he turned
her around and continued washing her from the feet up the front of her legs.
Paul continued his task until Lynnell was covered in lather from her toes to her
chin. Paul stood up and gently guided her under the spray to rinse off while he
returned the soap to the holder. Taking the shampoo from the table near by, He
poured some in his hand and easing her from the spray, he proceeded to apply
himself to the task of washing her hair. Lynnell was just tall enough that her
head was at an awkward height for him to wash. Realizing this, Lynnell reached
up and held his wrists as she lowered herself to her knees in front of Paul.
Looking up at him, she smiled tiredly and said, "It should be a little
easier now." as she closed her eyes and released his wrists. Paul looked
down at her as he continued to massage lather into her hair. Paul's eyes closed
as he remembered the last time he had washed his daughter's hair so many years
before. As he slipped further into the past, he failed to notice that Lynnell
was having trouble maintaining her balance with her eyes closed until she was
forced to reach out and grab Paul to keep from falling over. Lynnell struggled
to keep from falling the only way she could; wrapping her arms around Paul's
hips, she leaned forward and rested her head against his lower abdomen so she
could shift her knees and regain her balance. It was only at the instant of
regaining her balance that she became aware of where her face was pressed. As
she leaned back to a more upright position, she turned her face upward and
kissed his belly just above the waist of his shorts. Paul understood what was
happening and rapidly finished washing her hair. Reaching down, he lifted
Lynnell to her feet and turned her around to face the shower and told her to
rinse her hair. While she stood under the spray, Paul reached over to the table
and grabbed a towel. When Lynnell stepped out from under the shower, Paul
wrapped the towel around her and gently urged her towards the sauna. "You
dry off while I shower and I'll join you in a couple of minutes," he said
as he opened the door for her. Lynnell looked at Paul and pouted, "That's
not fair. I want to wash you like you washed me." Paul smiled down at her
and said, "I know you do but it's not going to happen. Now go on in and dry
off. It's still warm in there and I'll be in shortly." and urged her in the
door before returning to the shower to clean up.
When
he had finished, Paul wrapped a towel around his middle and started to enter the
sauna. Looking in through the small window in the door, he saw to his amazement
that Lynnell was fast asleep on the middle bench. Glancing over at the
thermometer, he saw that it was still a cozy eighty degrees inside. Paul rapidly
dried off and rewrapped the towel around his waist before entering quietly and
gently shaking Lynnell's shoulder. "Wake up sleepy head. You can't sleep in
the sauna." Lynnell stirred but did not awaken. Paul looked down at her for
several seconds, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of her breasts as she
breathed. Sure now that she was sound asleep, Paul bent down and gently kissed
her cheek before carefully picking her up and carrying her from the sauna into
the house to her bed. Paul laid her gently on the bed and began to work the
covers down beneath her. When he had gotten them down past her feet, he reached
up and carefully removed the towel from around her, pulled the covers up and
kissed her forehead before turning out the light and closing the door as he
headed for his own room.
Paul
hadn't been asleep long when he was suddenly awakened by a scream. Unaware of
what woke him, knowing only that something was very wrong, Paul clambered out of
bed and into the hall trying to locate the source of what awoke him. A second
scream that dropped to a moan sent him running down the hall to Lynnell's room.
Throwing open the door and flipping on the light, Paul found Lynnell sitting
upright in the bed, her eyes wide open and unseeing, face masked in terror. It
was instantly obvious to Paul that Lynnell was in the midst of a very
frightening nightmare. Paul rushed to the bed and sitting down next to Lynnell,
he folded her in his arms and held her while softly calling her name and telling
her over and over that it was all right that it was only a dream. Slowly,
Lynnell came awake. Frightened, confused, sobbing and gasping for air, she clung
to Paul and gradually got control of her self. Between sobs and gasps, she
managed to tell Paul about her dream. The big cat was the source of her terror.
As Lynnell managed to tell Paul about her dream between gasps and shudders, she
regained control of her emotions and thoughts. Paul stroked her hair and
caressed her cheeks and shoulders as he listened and sympathized with her fears.
When she had settled back down, Paul tucked her back in and acutely aware of his
state of undress, started to get up to return to his room when Lynnell stopped
him and begged him to stay with her for just a little while. Unable to say no
because of her recent fright, Paul settled back down next to her and put his arm
around her and said, "Only until you fall asleep." Lynnell clasped his
hand in hers and thanked him for being so kind and rolled onto her side and
snuggled her hips into his side. Knowing that he was there beside her was all
she needed to drift off to sleep again and within minutes her breathing slowed
to a soft whisper as she drifted off. As Paul lay next to her waiting for her to
sink deeper into sleep, he too, dropped off to sleep. Sometime in the predawn
hours, Paul got cold and without waking, pulled the covers over himself and
rolled on his side, Lynnell wrapped in his unconscious embrace.
All
men occasionally get morning erections and Paul was no different than other men.
Sound asleep and totally unaware of his condition, Paul shifted his hips and
shoulders and settled back into deeper slumber. Paul's movement awakened Lynnell,
even though Paul had settled back down before she had was truly awake. Lynnell
didn't open her eyes when she awoke but, she did smile when she realized that
Paul was asleep next to her with his arms wrapped around her, his right arm
across hers, her left breast cupped in his hand. Reveling in the sensations
brought on by Paul's embrace, Lynnell snuggled back against Paul, savoring the
moment. It was then that she became aware of Paul's erection. Her first impulse
was to roll away from him but lying on the edge of the bed prevented that. Next,
she wondered if she could maneuver him inside her. She carefully shifted her
hips but it did no good, wrong angle. Lynnell then slowly lifted her top leg and
carefully reaching down, she clasped his erect manhood for the first time. She
gasped; he was much larger than the boy she had previously been with. Slowly,
she drew him to her and rolled away slightly to change the angle. When she had
the position and angle just right, she started to roll back towards him.
Quivering with excitement, she guided him to the threshold of her vagina and
paused. Paul would be very angry with her if she did this, she thought but she
wanted him so badly she was willing to risk his anger.
At
that instant as she gathered her courage for the thrust backwards that would
impale her on his erection, a loud, insistent knocking on the front door made
her guiltily jerk her hips away and call out, "Paul, wake up! There's
someone at the door." shaking and tugging at his hand as she did so. Paul
came awake instantly and said, "What? What is it, what's wrong?"
Lynnell repeated herself, "There's someone at the door." Paul
understood, and rolled away from her and started to get up only then realizing
he had an erection. "Grab your robe and stall them while I go get
dressed." he said as whoever it was knocked again, even harder this time.
Lynnell jumped up and throwing on her robe, she turned to Paul with a wicked
grin and asked him, "Aren't you going to get up too?" Paul blushed and
stammered, "Uh, I, uh, I'll get up in a second, go answer the door."
Lynnell grinned even wider and said as innocently as she could manage,
"What's wrong Paul, why don't you get up now?" "Because I'm
naked, damnit." he hissed at her. "I think that there's another
reason," she replied and quick as a cat, she reached out and grabbed the
covers and yanked them off of him. For an instant, Paul froze before having the
presence of mind to grab a pillow and cover his loins. Blushing beet red, Paul
gasped, "I'll get you for that smarty. Now go answer the door."
Lynnell's eyes grew wide as she got to see his erection. He was even larger than
she had thought. Giggling like the young girl she was, she ran from the room to
answer the door.
Giving
her a couple of seconds to get out of the hall, Paul got up and started for his
room. He paused at the opening of the hall and peeked around the corner to see
if the coast was clear. Who ever it was, they were at the front door, which was
directly in front of the opening to the hall. He was trapped. Turning around, he
ran back to Lynnell's room and threw open the closet door, frantically looking
for the robe he had loaned her the first night she was there. It only came to
his mid-thigh but it was enough. He returned to the hall in time to see Mike and
an attractive young woman enter and head for the kitchen. Breathing a sigh of
relief, Paul trotted to his room to get dressed stopping only long enough to
urinate so that his erection would go away.
As
Paul approached the kitchen, he could smell that Lynnell had already started
coffee for their guests. "Welcome back to the high country Mike. How was
the trip and who is your friend?" Paul said as he entered the room.
"Paul, its good to see you again. I've been trying to get in touch with you
for two days. Lynnell was just telling us that the two of you have been working
almost day and night to get ready for the show in San Diego. Why didn't you turn
on your answering machine? I really needed to talk to you before I left
Cleveland." Mike replied. Debbie smiled at Paul and said, "Hi. My name
is Debbie Taylor and I'm here because I was dared to come." Paul got a
puzzled look on his face and was about to ask a further question when Mike spoke
up, "Paul I need to speak with you privately, can we go to your
office?" Paul was somewhat taken back by Mike's manner and looking to
Lynnell he said, "Lynnell, will you entertain Ms. Taylor for a few minutes
while Mike and I chat, please?" "Please drop the Ms., the name is
Debbie, ok?" Debbie piped in before Lynnell could speak. Lynnell answered
in the affirmative and Mike pushed back his chair and started for the office at
the other end of the house with Paul following after him. When the door had
closed, Mike turned around and confronted Paul. "Please Paul, tell me that
you haven't had sex with Lynnell." Paul looked at Mike, blinked twice and
said, "Mike, I don't know why you are so obsessed with the idea that I may
or may not have had sex with Lynnell and it hurts my feelings that you would
think that I would even consider doing it with a girl who is younger than my own
daughter would be if she were still alive." Mike was un-phased by Paul's
indignation and pressed on, "Paul can I have a yes or no answer please. I
would not even dream of asking you this if it wasn't of the utmost
importance." Paul walked to the picture window and stared out at the
distant mountain. After several seconds, Paul softly said, "No Mike I
haven't had sex with her." "Thank God for that." Mike replied and
walked over to stand next to Paul at the window. After a minute of silence, Mike
continued, "Paul, you and I go back a long way and you should know by now
that I would never do any thing that would hurt you. I told you before, several
times in fact that I felt there was something not quite right about the
situation." Paul turned his head to look at his friend and replied,
"Tell me Mike, what have you found out. Just what is so damn important
about me not having sex with Lynnell other than the fact that she isn't even
sixteen, other than the fact that you know I'm impotent, other than the fact
that I told you I wouldn't, other than the fact of Lynnell promising you not to
seduce me, do I need to go on with this?" The hard bitterness in Paul's
voice made Mike understand how much his fear was unfounded and made him feel
very guilty about how he had approached his friend about something so personal
and sensitive to Paul. "I'm sorry Paul but I had to ask. Let's go back to
the kitchen and I'll explain everything, ok?" Paul didn't say a word but
turned and walked from the room towards the kitchen.
As
they entered the kitchen, Lynnell was pouring coffee into three cups. When she
had finished and had served the adults, she said, "Would you excuse me for
a few minutes, I need to get dressed?" Mike was the first to speak,
"Young lady please hurry, what I have to say involves you as much as
Paul." Lynnell looked at Paul quizzically only to see Paul shrug his
shoulders in bewilderment. "I'll be back in a moment," she said as she
hurried to her room. Debbie looked from man to man and didn't like the slight
veneer of pleasantness each was using to cover up what had so recently become a
very tense moment. The silence became unbearable until finally, out of a sense
of desperation, Debbie looked at Paul and said, "It's so beautiful here in
the mountains, and your home feels so comfortable. Could we move into the other
room where we can sit on the couch? To be truthful, I've spent so much time in
the last day and a half sitting in hard chairs that my rear needs something soft
under it." Both Mike and Paul broke out laughing and Paul said, "I'm
sorry, I had no idea, please let's move into the living room and you can sit on
the couch." Mike beamed at Debbie; proud of the way she had broken the
tension and put Paul at ease.
When
Lynnell came out of the hall, she saw that everyone was in the living room on
the couch. As she approached the room, she asked, "May I join you?"
Paul and Mike both rose to their feet and said in almost perfect unison
"please do." When she had settled herself in the chair across from the
couch, Paul sat back down but Mike remained standing. "Lynnell, I want to
show you a picture. Please don't say anything about it but be prepared to answer
some simple questions, ok?" Lynnell nodded yes and Mike reached into his
jacket pocket and took out the picture that he had gotten from her mother.
Handing it to Lynnell, he waited until she had studied it for several seconds
before saying, "Lynnell, do you recognize this picture, please answer yes
or no." Lynnell looked at the picture and then back at Mike and said,
"Yes." Mike continued, "And do you recognize the people in the
photograph? Answer yes or no please." Lynnell again answered
"Yes." "Thank you Lynnell. May I have the photo back
please?" Lynnell leaned forward and handed him the photo and started to
speak but was stopped by Mike putting a finger to his lips and saying,
"You'll understand in a minute, ok?"
Mike
then turned to Paul and handing the picture to him said, "Paul, please look
at this photo and tell me if you recognize either of the people in the
picture." Paul looked at the picture for a minute before recognizing one of
the people. "My God Mike where in the world did you get this." He was
about to continue but Mike, with a flair for the dramatic that all lawyers have
said, "Wait a second Paul." Paul closed his mouth and continued
looking from the photo to Mike to Lynnell and back again. Mike continued, "Lynnell,
please tell Paul who the two people in the picture are." Lynnell looked at
Paul and said, "that is a picture of my mother and her sister Sandi taken
at my great grandfather's funeral more than twenty years ago." She was
about to go on when Paul said in a whisper, "Lynnell, are you sure?"
Lynnell started to answer him when she suddenly put it together. A look of
anguish that can only be felt and not described crossed her face as she jumped
up from the chair, and tears springing from her eyes ran from the room screaming
"No, no, it can't be true." over and over as she ran from the room.
Paul leapt from the couch to follow her when it suddenly dawned on him what she
meant. Paul stumbled to a stop and turning to Mike exclaimed, "Mike, is it
true? Is she really my niece?" Mike reached into his other pocket and
withdrew copies of birth certificates for Sandi, Sarah, and Lynnell. Handing
them to Paul he said, "Look at the name of the mother on Sandi's and
Sarah's birth certificates, oh yeah the father's name too. Congratulations my
friend, you just became an uncle."
Paul
was stunned. "I, I don't know what to say. It's obviously true or you
wouldn't be here. Mike, give me your best legal advice. How does this affect my
guardianship of Lynnell?" Mike thought for a moment before responding,
"Actually, I think it makes for a stronger case for you. After all, she is
family and a judge will look favorably on that. Other than that, I don't think
that it matters." At that point, Debbie spoke up, "I think that you
both have missed something very important here. Neither of you has shown any
concern for a very upset young lady who just recently ran crying from the room.
Paul and Mike looked at each other guiltily before Paul turned to go to Lynnell
saying, "Excuse me for a few moments while I see about Lynnell. Mike, you
know where everything is, would you give Debbie the grand tour and make
yourselves at home." "Sure Paul, go see if you can get her calmed down
while I fill Debbie in on your home." Paul thanked Mike and headed for the
hallway and Lynnell's room.
Tap, tap, tap, "Lynnell, may I come in?" A muffled, "It's open" came from beyond the door. Mike turned the knob and slowly opened the door. Lynnell was sitting cross-legged on the bed with a pillow on her lap. Eyes red and face wet from crying, Lynnell looked at Paul with a pained expression saying, "What do you want?" Paul looked down at Lynnell and in a soft voice asked, "I would like an explanation as to why you ran from the room. Does the fact that you're my niece upset you that much?" Lynnell looked at Paul and choking back a sob said, "You just don't get it do you? I don't want to be your niece, I want to be your lover. Now I can never be that." Paul was floored by her statement. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Paul reached out to Lynnell and took her hand and squeezed gently and said, "A couple of days ago, I promised you that someday it would happen. I've never broken a promise since I came out of rehab and I don't intend to start now. Does that help?" Lynnell cocked her head to the side and looked up at Paul, the love and desire plain on her face and said, "Really? You mean it?" Paul didn't answer her the way she expected. Paul bent down and gently raising her face to his and kissed her forehead. Looking into the violet wells of her eyes, Paul lifted his lips long enough to say, "I promised, didn't I" and leaned forward to kiss her forehead again. Lynnell threw her arms around Paul and with longing and desperation said, "Oh Paul, hold me. Hold me tight and promise me again, please." Leaning his head back down to hers, he whispered back to her, "A promise is a promise Lynnell, I said someday, not today." Paul stood up and said, "Wash you face and come on back out to the living room. We have guests and it's not very polite of us to be away from them." Lynnell raised eyes to Paul's and said, "You're right of course. I'll be out in a minute." Paul smiled down at her and said, "Good girl. See you in a few." and turned and left the room closing the door behind him.