Burying the Lead

"It's just not right." He stabbed at his fries.

"How do you reckon?" Charlie looked up from his menu. "Plenty of girls work in Dallas, especially when they don't have brothers to earn for the family, or they live without a guardian. Of course—"

"We're not talking about inner-city dykes though, this is God's country." Michael said matter-of-factly.

Gwen balked at the foul language and looked down at the menu set in front of her. It was right then she realized just how long it had been since she was last given a menu to simply order for herself. Even if a waiter offered, her Dad would surely decline — with a wink her way. He usually knew what she liked just fine. Now that she could see all the options, though, it was a bit overwhelming.

Charlie seemed disinterested in stoking the guy's fire, so he asked her what she wanted.

"Uhm... a strawberry shake?" she asked like he was going to say no, but he didn't hesitate at all.

"Okay. Are you sure you don't want some food too?"

Her eyes went wide and a rush of anxiety overcame Gwen, a very odd feeling for someone who thought herself so self-assured. She wasn't usually asked! Did he expect her to— "Maybe we can... share?"

Even though he replied, "Of course," just in his demeanor Charlie seemed to be a little disappointed in her indecision. Not unsurprised. He flagged Tegan to come back, but once she arrived with her tray covered in empties, the whole group discovered Michael wasn't going to let it lie.

"I wouldn't trust this one. Javier and I had to get our orders fixed because she forgot them."

"It was just the bacon, man. It was super extra."

Charlie tried to settle the matter, "Let's just order and—"

"No way!" Michael put his foot down. "You're an out-of-towner, high-roller looking for a good afternoon out. It's not fair you get a bad impression of us and our town."

Tegan just stood there with her tray full of empties, realization dawning that she was the topic of discussion. Gwen could see the same look of nervousness on her face as earlier in the exam. Fear, indecision, insecurity. She was entirely adrift and at the whims of others.

"Here we'll have a—" Charlie tried again while Tegan was trying to tune out Michael, but he was relentless.

"I think we would prefer a real waiter," he smiled thinly, "so that we don't get any more mixups. You have a bit of a reputation for your little scatterbrain, no?"

The shock on the waitress' face was too much...

"Leave her alone! Don't you see she's just trying her best?!"

Gwen felt the words coming out of her before she could tame them, and Faith and Cristina looked at her shocked, repulsed even. Michael was taken aback and ready to redirect his ire her way, but it was Charlie who broke the silence.

"You should mind your tongue, honey. We didn't ask you."

His words were gentle but firm, and even as her date touched her lap gently, Gwen felt quite firmly put in her place.

"You said it." Micheal grinned, but Charlie wouldn't let him get too smug.

"And so should you. Gwen isn't even half-wrong."

"Listen, you're the poacher coming into our school on the last day to scout for wives, right? I was fine not getting into it, but—"

"That's enough." Charlie asserted through gritted teeth. "You're just a kid who has zero idea what's actually going on here."

This was the first time Gwen had seen him not in control of the situation, and while that was new, the danger of a 'poacher' was not. At worst it was a man who seduced or simply grabbed unmarried girls, took them out of state, and wed them without family approval, something that was increasingly hard to annul, especially if the man had his way with her. At best it was a vulture swooping in right as girls came of age to charm the family and make promises he couldn't keep just to find a wife when his own reputation back home was irrecoverable.

For obvious reasons, the word looped in Gwen's head even as the two men bickered enough that by the time Clive had lumbered over to take the order, Charlie could only thank him politely and say the two of them would be leaving.

Chapter 6

The chaperone and his girl stood on the street corner, the buzz of the soda shop sealing behind them with the glass door's soft but definitive close.

The street outside seemed quieter than before, and Gwen's slight shoulders shrugged as a breeze blew by. The sun was setting and as it faded, so did the afternoon heat. Her leash seemed less a security now than a liability, and she was two seconds from looking the policeman's way when Charlie finally turned to her and spoke.

"I'm sorry, that guy was way out of line, but I promise you this isn't what you think." He gestured between them. "Are you... okay?"

Gwen couldn't meet his gaze, so she looked down at her best pair of Mary Janes. "If you were from here, you would know those two boys are trouble. Well, Javier is alright but he sure doesn't hold the best company."

She didn't answer his question, though. In a way, she was asking her own; throwing an accusation that would paint her as presumptuous and naggy if said directly. You never said you were all the way from Dallas, but that rude boy knew.

"Yeah well, if I was from here maybe my plan wouldn't have gone halfway to hell. I invited those other chaperones out as an excuse to take you on a date, told them I would pay and everything. Did you see the pile of dishes they had there? But I'm not some poacher, I promise. I'm just an idiot who thought he could win you over the old way. I... should have waited for the weekend..." He idly twirled her leash in his hand, but then stopped before she could ask what he meant. "Would you like to go home, or can I still make it up to you? We could head down Olmos Drive, I saw there's some nice lookouts over the reservoir."

Something clicked, and Gwen simply let out a laugh. Sardonic or care-free, somewhere between, even she couldn't quite define it. "If you were from here, you would know that's a brazen ploy to take me to the most famous makeout spot in the whole town!"

Charlie could only shake his head, smile, and begin heading back toward her house, but for the first time Gwen didn't follow. She stood still, feet planted on the sidewalk, and let the line go taut. He looked back, confused. "Wait, I thought I struck out!"

"You did, but..." she smiled shyly, leaning on the leash so he would come back, "you didn't even know what you were suggesting, so it's okay for me to accept, I guess." Charlie reeled her in so the two were chest to chest, his strong hands giving her no slack, while she leaned and tugged playfully. "Sunsets are quite nice over the water— as long as that's all you had in mind." She twisted and turned and batted her lashes, feeling the crinkle of her special underwear between her legs. "I'm probably promised, you know!"

"Oh, I know."

With a backup plan in motion, Charlie and Gwen strolled from the main drag over to the corner grocer to make up for their skipped dinner: fruits and meats and cheeses for a little board of deli selects. Her confidence in him grew again, slowly this time, as she followed him through the store, gradually becoming comfortable enough to suggest this and that, chat more openly about likes and dislikes, as he threw everything she asked for in a basket hanging from the arm that held her leash. Her schooling always told her to defer exclusively to the man's desires, but he seemed preoccupied with hers, which felt... strange. If he hadn't been so self-assured, it would've reflected poorly on him, but...

By the time she was getting side-eyed by the checkout clerk, Gwen had put the pieces together, but she had to ask on the walk over. She had to be sure.

"So... you know my Dad, then?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, you were awfully casual with him on the phone and... to be honest, I still can't believe he gave you a slip."

The bench was in sight when he looked back at her, their own special picnic in his hand, and gave her the warmest smile. "I knew you would be too smart for all this play pretend. Yup, I know your Father pretty well. I'm a junior associate at his company, in the Dallas office. He's really taken me under his wing the last couple years since I got out of school and... well I'd been looking for a match, but to be honest I was surprised when he mentioned you."

Gwen blushed. It explained so much! Somehow all his half-answers and contrived plans, which she had begun to attribute to one of the worst qualities of a man — playing the field, an undiscerning or wandering eye — they coalesced into something far more earnest now that she knew he wasn't just hunting any girl. He had gone through a whole day of volunteer work just to target her!

After sitting her down by the banks of the reservoir, water sparkling with the evening sun, he looped her leash over her neck; a sign that she was free to roam however she pleased, or leave. Once again he was putting this date on her terms.

"So..." she waited for the first bite he was slicing with a pocket knife. "Did you propose to him already?"

"I did. Last week." He put a dollop of compote and a fresh raspberry under a sliver of brie, feeding her the cracker by hand.

Gwen kept eye contact as she leaned forward and took the delectable bite in her mouth, something she knew only to do with a husband as thanks, a little prayer to him. It was an important gesture she'd never had the confidence to even pretend or joke about before, far too intimate, and yet now she could think of no better way to communicate just how she felt.

Charlie looked so bashful, smiling. The gesture wasn't lost on him: Acceptance. She was jumping the gun to give him the honorifics she would soon have to, once the knot was actually tied.

"You understand why I wanted to make this day special, then?"

"I do." She said softly. Every girl knew her arrangements were usually set in stone long before she was even in the loop. Feminine feelings like attraction were fickle, and yet he had her reeled all the way in. "My Dad's going to announce your promise this weekend, isn't he?"

"He is, but I wanted your approval first."

Gwen couldn't believe her ears. "What does that matter? I should be seeking yours! You must have seen my fertility tests on the registry, and you know I have good grades at Ford and—"

To cease her nervous volley, Charlie fed her another bite and a sip from a tiny bottle. Something sparkly and fruity and... slightly alcoholic. Another first for her.

"They teach you the oddest things down here." Charlie smiled and squinted at the sunset over the water, the light illuminating his irises, making him glow to her as she did to him. "Your listing was one of the best I've ever seen, but I can't fall in love with test results, certifications, and measurements. Same way you can't fall in love with a name engraved on a pendant between your breasts. A marriage should be a partnership."

"You are such a romantic." She giggled. "I don't know what it's like in the big city, but here marriage is ownership. Obedience. Loyalty. Servitude. Ephesians 5:22 says—"

Charlie grabbed her neck in that way a man tells a woman to listen close, usually behind closed doors. Caught mid-sentence, she let out something between a squeak and a moan, his hand holding her firm as her shoulders shifted and shrugged reflexively, uselessly. His face was only a few inches from hers.

"You mean ownership like this, Gwen? I can take what I want, sure, that's what the Transition was for, after all." He leaned in and kissed her on the lips, and her confusion melted as she kissed back, lost in him. His other hand supported around her back and gripped her shoulder and pulled her body close to his, their chests crushing the permission slip between them, while their deep sighs of release mixed and mingled. She had no idea what to do, but his lips were patient and commanding, telling her how, then letting her respond. Even untouched as she was, Gwen learned quickly and eagerly.

Finally he let go of her lips, but not her neck. "I would rather you learn to give as much love as I earn, taking care of you, making you happy. I want us to be close. You're obviously so used to hearing where you falter and fail, but I want to know where I slip, what you feel is lacking in me — in us — so we can build something stronger than this leash. That's what I'm offering. Yes, an old-fashioned marriage."

She admired the glimmer of light in his eyes, the taste of him on her lips as her thighs squeezed together. Something warm and intense was building inside her, and she answered honestly, the only way she knew how. "The only thing I feel lacking right now is a way to hold you closer. Just in this moment, I wish Adam had given women a whole rib so we could have arms too."

Charlie didn't let go but he backed off and looked at Gwen queerly.

She hesitated, unsure of herself. "I'm sorry. Did I say... I shouldn't have expressed doubt in the Lord. I should've kept my mouth shut. This is why He keeps girls like Faith meek. I—"

Charlie touched her more gingerly now.

"Do you think... has no one ever told you about the Transition?"

"What transition?"

"It's a failure of education, really." He muttered to himself, and prepared her some more bites of their picnic. There were going to be many moments, better moments, to reveal to this innocent girl why she and all the women like her lacked arms and independence. It was important she know, but...

"It's not important right now... just know that I'll hold you twice as tight. I promise, okay?"

"Okay..." Gwen wondered even as she took another bite from his hand. She knew then, as she kept her eyes on his with her mouth open and accepting, that she could eat from his plate for the rest of her days. She knew he would be generous and gentle, and firm with her when it was appropriate. She knew he would tell her whatever she needed to know, and keep her safe from the things she didn't. And in exchange Gwen would behave, and follow his lead as a girl should.

He pulled a small box from his pocket, opening it to reveal a pair of diamond studs and a matching pendant on a fine golden chain. Two hands, holding the gleaming gemstones like an offering.

"Gwen Cartwright, will you marry me?"