Family Ties

“Orgy?”

“He’s kidding,” Christy said hastily.

“I was afraid of that. Still, I wanna know all the details. Come on, let’s go upstairs so I can get out of these wet clothes.”

Christy sat up and shot me an exasperated look. I wasn’t the least bit repentant, and she conceded defeat with an indulgent smile.

“Thanks, man,” Trip complained as the girls headed upstairs. “Now I’m gonna be shut out of my own bedroom in wet clothes.”

“Sorry, dude. Grab a towel from the linen closet. You have anything dry in your suitcase?”

“Yeah, but… it’s the principle.”

“Relax. Pretty sure you’re gonna have a wild night after Christy and Wren finish talking.”

His eyebrows shot up.

“Yeah. Go dry off. Then we’ll talk.”

He returned ten minutes later wearing a sweatsuit with a towel draped around his neck. He tossed his wet clothes in the laundry room and then called to me from the kitchen.

“I’m gonna fix a drink. Jack and Coke. Want one?”

“Sure.” I joined him in the dining room and told him about the weekend in broad strokes, guy-fashion. He didn’t expect details and didn’t ask.

Besides, we both knew he’d hear them later from Wren.

“But I really wanna talk about this summer,” I said. “So… Gunny was the

He nodded. “A realtor would say, ‘Great fixer-upper.’”

“Exactly. So, I was thinking… maybe instead of doing two or three houses this summer, we can do one house and the camp.”

“It’d be a big hit to our bottom line,” he said.

“Maybe, maybe not. Susan would pay for the work, I’m sure. Maybe not as much as we made last year, but…”

“Dude, we got lucky on the rancher. It put us so far in the black it isn’t funny. Don’t expect profits like that again unless you pull another bidding war out of your bag of tricks.”

“But lemme think about the camp thing. Is there another reason you wanna do it? Besides just helping Susan?”

“Guilty as charged. It’d be a great place to introduce—” I double-checked to make sure the girls hadn’t come downstairs. They hadn’t, but I still leaned forward and lowered my voice, “It’d be a great place to introduce Christy to the joys of swinging.”

“Thought you might say that.”

“I’ll deny it if you tell Wren I said that.”

“Never,” he swore. “But… you really think…? I mean, Christy… a swinger? For real?”

“No. She doesn’t know a thing about the swinging, but she really enjoyed being a nudist. Surprised the hell outta me.”

“So… that’s just another reason to do it.”

“It’ll make Wren happy,” he continued, “and that’s worth a dozen ranchers by itself.”

But as soon as I started thinking about it…”

“It’s perfect,” he finished. He swirled the last of his drink and then finished it. “Well, I guess our plans for the summer just changed. Big time.”

He raised his empty glass. “Ready for another?”

We had just returned from the kitchen when the girls appeared from upstairs. Wren was grinning from ear to ear, while Christy couldn’t decide between smug or embarrassed.

“Have you guys been drinking without us?” Wren asked.

Trip stood and grinned. “Yes, we have, my beautiful little matchmaker.

But allow me to fix you drinks so you can catch up.” He cleared his throat.

“Are we celebrating?”

Christy turned pink.

“Just a fun weekend,” Wren said. She smiled at Christy and then included me with the same warmth. “It’s a perfect night to stay in, listen to music, and relax with friends.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said.

“We brought home dinner from Puckett’s,” she added for our benefit.

“Barbecue for us and chicken and dumplings for you,” she told Christy.

“Let’s heat it up while the guys fix drinks and pick out music.”

“Your wish,” I told her with a glint of mischief, “is our command.”

“You know, I’m in such a good mood that I’m going to forget you said that.”

We ate and drank and talked and drank and listened to music and drank some

more, until well after midnight. We were finally winding down when Wren drained her glass.

“Trip Whitman,” she said with elaborate care, “I would like to request the presence of your pleasure upstairs.”

“I think you meant—” I began.

“Don’t c’rect me,” she said drunk-imperiously. “Trip knows wha’ I meant, even if I did mix it up.”

“Probably,” I said with a grin. “Your wish is his command.”

“As it should be. An’ in the spirit of bein’ more p’lite—”

“Thank you,” she allowed. “Now, where was I? Oh yeah! I was tryin’ t’

ask my sweetie t’ come u’stairs an’ screw my brains out.”

“And they say romance is dead,” I quipped.

“Be nice,” Christy whispered.

“You’re jus’ jealous,” Wren said.

“Come on, sweetheart.” Trip extended a hand. “I have plans for you.