How Did You Know? Ch. 05

"Horny?" She asks with a wry smile.

"No, I'm definitely not that. Honey, I'm lonely. I'm lonelier than I've ever been in my life, and I've just found someone who wants to spend time with me. How stupid would that be if I said no to a person I like a lot in the first place?" I ask smiling.

She smiles back, and I say, "I need to call Beth and let her know you're okay too." She nods.

"Get out of the room." She says.

"What?" Now I'm confused.

"I need to get up, and for the first time in a long time I want some dignity when I do, is that okay with you?" She's smiling now.

"Of course, you get dressed; I should call Beth," I say as I get off the bed.

"Ah Phil, can you do me a favor?" Becky asks, not moving from the bed.

"Sure, what cha need?" I turn looking at her.

"A bunch of aspirins would do nicely. There's a cupboard above the sink, they're in there, and a can of V-8 that's in the fridge. I feel like shit." She smiled weakly.

So I go retrieve the aspirin, grab a V-8, and head back to give it to her. She's sitting on the bed now, sheet wrapped around her, looking lovely, and whispers thanks as I give her the aspirins, and open the V-8 for her.

"I hate Jim Beam," she says with a wry smile, then after downing the aspirins and drawing on the V-8 she hands me the can and falls back on the bed. Now there's a sight to behold. This girl is beautifully proportioned and her light skin stands out against the dark background of the sheets. It wasn't erotic to see her like that, it seemed natural, and I was amazed at how comfortable she was with me standing there, especially since she'd wanted to be alone as she dressed.

"Bye," she says, waving me to the door. "I'll be alone now if you don't mind.

I get off the bed, walk to the door, and realize I'm still pretty wet. After all the walking I'm about half dried, but large parts of my clothing are still wet. I turn before I walk out the door and ask, "Beck, you got a dryer around here somewhere?"

"It's in the basement; the door in the kitchen goes down there." She says as she sits up, holding the sheet around her. Modesty; I'm so much more comfortable with that I think as I turn, close the door and walk to the kitchen.

I go down the basement, strip to my shorts and throw my pants, shirt and socks in the dryer. Boots aren't all that wet, so that's a good thing. I sit down on a couch and noticing a phone sitting there I figure I might as well call Beth and let her know we'll be coming out there. I pick up the receiver and hear voices.

"No you dumbass, I didn't tell him." I hear Becky say.

"You'd better; he needs to hear it from you, not from me. Fuck, I've surprised him enough in the last couple of days." Beth replies.

"I'm afraid to tell him Beth, I mean shit, I know how understanding he is about a lot of things, but this? I don't think so. I mean it was a mistake in the first place; it shouldn't have gotten out of hand like it did, and now we're stuck."

"What the fuck do you mean by that? I thought you were going to handle HIM anyway." Beth seems a little mad, and while I want to hang up and pretend I didn't hear anything, my curiosity has a solid grip on my head, and my head ain't letting my hand move.

"You know exactly what I mean by that. I gotta get dressed, he's downstairs drying his clothes and then we're coming out there." Becky says.

"Did you fuck him?" Beth asks in a low voice.

"Does it matter?" Becky answers.

"No, it's none of my business really, just curious." Beth says.

"I gotta go Beth, see ya in a bit." Becky says and hangs up.

Before the line goes dead I hear Bethany say clear as a bell: "FUCK!"

Well, here I go again. These two have something they're talking about concerning me, and I'm clueless. Did Bethany tell Becky what she did before she did it? Would it make any difference? I don't think so other than I don't like lies, and Beth said no one knew before she came into my room that night. If she lied to me, well, I'd be bit more cautious with anything else she says.

I pick the phone back up and dial the house. I told Becky I was going to call Beth and if I don't she'll get curious.

"Hey hon, she's okay, we'll be out there in a bit." I tell her after she answers the phone.

"She wasn't drunk or something?" Beth asks.

"We'll talk about it when we get there." I tell her.

"So am I getting a new mom or what?" She teases.

Here again, surprise. Not in a hundred years would I have guess that's what she'd say, and I'm at a loss for words.

I guess my silence convinced Bethany that she'd hit the nail on the head cause all she said was, "Cool," and hung up.

About twenty minutes later, I open the dryer, pull my stuff out, and get dressed. Feels good to be dry again I think as I head up the steps. I walk into the kitchen the same time Becky comes around the corner. She's got that knife in her hand and she smiles sheepishly at me as she puts it back in its place.

"Sorry 'bout that." she says softly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not upset."

"You ready?" She asks, and after I nod, we head out the front door and climb into the truck.

"I don't feel so good," she says looking at me.

"Come here," I say, patting my right leg. "Lay your head down and take it easy."

I'm pleased when she does, and as we drive down the road I lightly stroke her hair while I'm thinking about the phone call. Well, the phone call and what I'd told her before I went down stairs. I don't want secrets, and yet I'm sittin' on one.

"Beck," I say.

"Hmmm?"

"I want you to know it was an accident. When I picked up the phone downstairs I heard you and Beth talking. Want to tell me about that?" I ask.

Becky put her right hand on my knee, pushed herself vertical, and slowly slid across the seat til her back was on the door. It was all in slow motion, and she didn't utter a word until her arms were across her chest as she looked at me.

"What did you hear?" She asks.

"You said you hadn't told me, and Beck said something about it should come from you 'cause she's surprised me enough." I say.

"Oh God," she says softly.

I don't say anything, and for a second I'm thinking that I should have kept my mouth shut, but I've been in so many uncharted waters these past three days, I'm not movin' another inch without a map.

I glance at Becky and get completely confused because she's crying now. Not hysterical tears of rage or anger, but the soft ones, the ones that run like rivers down your face and leave you with no strength to wipe them away.

TO BE CONTINUED...