Taken By The Wind Ch. 10

Fortunately, without moving furniture they were able to fit everything and get it packed up before evening arrived. Rob went upstairs to his old room to make sure he had not forgotten anything. Once he was satisfied that he had not, he sat down at his desk and wrote a note to his mother and father.

To his mother he was gentle, understanding her fear and offering her an open door should she ever decide to get away from his father.

To his father he was honest. It was a letter of regret, of anger, frustration, and ultimately futility.

I only ask one thing more of you, Rob wrote, do not interfere in my life again.

***

"Oh, that's Grandpa!" Jane said happily.

They had moved her stuff temporarily in what was to be Rob's room, cramming the boxes inside until she was ready to move to back to New York. The money situation had been sorted. Rob would be paying for her initial expenses, he had enough saved up from his previous two summers working at Fletcher's to get her settled. On top of that he was able to provide her with a few hundred dollars of spending money a month with what he made off the app, which with the stipend Jane would receive should cover her expenses.

Jane would look for additional work once she arrived in New York to start supporting herself. With Rob's scholarship at school he would be able to afford his tuition, but he was going to have to tighten his spending habits if he was going to be able to afford everything else. There had been murmurs from Jane and Courtney to cancel the trip to the cottage, which Rob had steadfastly refused. He was not going to allow his father to ruin something good for everyone.

In truth he had been slightly conservative in the amount he expected to make from the app, according to Mitch downloads were increasing exponentially. Word of mouth was getting out, and every day more and more copies were being downloaded and used. By Christmas they were expected to hit half a million downloads, and that was if they plateaued at their current grown rate. The more downloads, the more revenue. The more revenue, the more money in Rob's pocket.

He should make it.

"And that's you!" Jane exclaimed, grabbing another photo from the pile.

Courtney was sat across from them at the other side of the dining room table. It was late, and both Rob and Jane had to work the next day, and Courtney had school, but Jane needed this more than sleep. The picture was of Rob, plastic shovel clasped in his five-year-old fist, digging a moat around a sand castle. He looked very determined to protect the structure he had built from the incoming tide. In the next photo Jane had stomped on the sandcastle and looked quite pleased with herself.

"Oh God," Jane said horrified. "I remember that. You cried and wouldn't forgive me all day. I felt awful."

Courtney laughed when Jane leaned over and hugged her brother. She might have had a little too much to drink, which was making her extra affectionate. Rob had remained sober, he still needed to drive Courtney home. They'd gone through dozens of photos, and Courtney had been treated to the siblings' recollection of Rob's childhood. It was interesting to see the different interpretation of events, but also how most of the fond memories they had were of each other or with their maternal grandparents.

"Oh, there's you and Richard at Halloween," Jane said. "That was the year you two went as Batman and the Joker."

Rob smirked. "Yeah, I insisted on being Batman."

Courtney laughed.

"Where's the candy?!" Jane said in a Christian Bale impersonation, her voice as deep and gravelly as she could get it.

Rob started laughing too and Jane did as well. The laughter continued into the early hours of the morning, until it really did come time for Rob to drive Courtney home. Fortunately, the apartment was a lot closer than the house had been to Courtney's place, and it took half the time to get her there. The next week was slow. Jane was wrapping up for the summer, and Rob was more or less going through the motions. Everyone in Courtney's class was excited for their two week break, none more so than her.

***

Courtney lurched forward. "Jesus Brianna!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," she replied quickly, fighting with the gearshift.

"Have you ever driven a manual before?" Courtney asked her.

"Yeah, my Dad showed me yesterday," Brianna told her.

"Yesterd-AH!" Courtney shrieked.

Brianna swerved back in her lane, having drifted while trying to sort out the clutch. Horns blared behind her which only served to fluster the poor blonde further.

"How did you even get to my place?" Courtney asked her incredulously.

"Slowly," Brianna told her absently as she found the gear she needed to be in and the truck lurched forward down the highway once more.

After a few stalls, more blared horns, and a few exchanges of words with fellow drivers, Brianna and Courtney arrived in the parking lot of the apartment building Rob now lived in. Brianna parked the Ford F-250, taking up two spots but Courtney was just relieved to be in the right vicinity at this point. Courtney clambered around the ridiculous vehicle, wondering what on Earth Brianna's father had been thinking when he had offered to let his daughter drive this behemoth.

Rob, Jane, and Wayne were walking towards them, all carrying various cargo. Wayne had one large cooler stacked above another one, and judging by the way he was walking it did not seem like they were empty. Rob had two immense travel bags in each arm and a large backpack strapped to his back. Jane carried a duffle bag and a tray containing what looked to be four coffees from the nearby coffee shop. Courtney bee-lined to her, taking the coffees so she would not spill them.

"Yeah," Wayne grunted. "Take the coffees, that's really helpful," he grumbled.

"Is Teddy grumpy this morning?" Courtney asked.

That shut him up.

Courtney pulled back the tailgate, Brianna was still figuring out how to turn off the headlights judging by the insistent chiming the truck was emitting. Rob hopped into the back with surprising ease given the weight he was burdened with and dumped off the bags before collecting the coolers from Wayne. He took the duffle bag from Jane and found a spot for it before hopping off and slamming the tailgate shut.

Rob went to Courtney with a grin on his face, taking a coffee and sipping at it. The chiming stopped and there was some muttered curses as Brianna opened the door. Jane had just taken her coffee from Courtney, and the brunette watched her reaction when Brianna came into view. The blonde still had a flustered look about her, but when Courtney saw Jane's eyes lock on her friend she knew the older girl liked what she saw.

She's beautiful! Jane thought to herself, her heart rate rising suddenly.

Brianna looked up and spotted Jane, suddenly growing even more flustered. She looked away, suddenly shy.

Oh my God. She thought to herself, bringing her eyes to Courtney. Her friend saw her distress and approached her, breaking Jane's line of sight. Jane turned to her brother.

"Who is that?" she whispered, hiding her mouth with her coffee cup.

"Brianna," Rob told her. "She's coming with us."

Jane blinked. "For two weeks?" she asked. Her eyes seemed to have some of their usual twinkle that had been snuffed out since the night of their fight with their father.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?" Rob asked.

Jane glanced over at the shy blonde. "No," she replied. "Shouldn't be a problem."

She was trying to be casual, but Rob could see the old Jane being drawn out. The defeated and saddened version of his sister seemed to be burning away in the light of Brianna's arrival. There was something more to Jane's look than typical admiration, something Rob had never seen in her gaze before: nervousness.

Brianna was feeling the same way, but was doing a far less effective job at hiding her distress.

"You didn't tell me what she looked like," she hissed at Courtney.

The blonde was having a mild panic attack.

"I didn't think it would matter," Courtney said.

"Courtney, she's, like, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. How am I supposed to be around her for two weeks and not go insane?" Brianna asked.

"By not being a little baby and soldiering through?" Courtney suggested. "Or blind yourself, that could work."

"You're not helping," Brianna replied in a pained tone.

As Courtney fought to calm her friend down, Rob watched first hand as his sister tried to eye Brianna from around Courtney. It was the first time he had seen back to her regular self all week.

"How old is she?" Jane asked.

Rob gave Jane a look.

"What?" she asked indignantly.

"Nineteen," Rob told her.

Jane nodded thoughtfully, her eyes taking on a slightly dreamlike look.

"Jane," Rob said, his voice tinged with warning.

Jane looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Be gentle," he told her.

Jane looked at him as if she did not know what he was talking about before approaching Courtney and Brianna. Rob nearly laughed at the extra swing Jane seemed to put into her stride. Brianna's eyes widened upon her approach, but Jane went to Courtney first, giving her a hug.

"Morning," Jane drawled. She gave Courtney's ass a little pat through her short jean shorts. "Looking good as always," she continued. "She's wasted on my brother," Jane told Brianna. "Remember, if you ever change your mind about the fairer sex..."

Courtney laughed awkwardly. Jane had not flirted with her like this for quite a while, and she was being far more direct than she usually was. Courtney got the sense that she was doing it for Brianna's benefit, telling her 'hey, I like girls' and implicitly asking 'do you like girls too?'. Rob watched the interaction, feeling a slight twinge of jealousy when Jane touched Courtney's ass. He approached the little huddle. Courtney turned to him, kissing him in greeting, a little heat added to the gesture for good measure.

"Ready to go?" Rob asked. He could not wait to get Courtney up to that cottage.

"Yeah," Courtney said. "Brianna, give Rob the keys." She had decided that she would rather live to see the great outdoors, and that the best chance for that happening was for Rob to drive.

Brianna reached into the pocket of her shorts and drew them out, passing them over to Rob without question, relieved to have that duty taken away from her. The four of them said goodbye to Wayne and then clambered into the vehicle. Courtney quickly called shotgun, which meant Jane and Brianna were sitting in the back of the cab together. Rob took a moment to get acquainted with the trucks controls before firing up the engine and steering them smoothly toward the road.

"Show off," Brianna muttered to herself as Rob accelerated without any hiccups.

They had a long ride ahead of them, and since she was feeling social, and Brianna was nearby, and for no other reason, Jane started talking to the girl who had so affected her. First they talked about school, which was fairly innocuous but Jane still managed to get a blush or two out of the younger girl. Courtney could hear the seduction going on behind her, and marvelled at how smooth Jane was. She was beginning to understand why Jane always seemed to have a new girl in bed with her.

Jane seemed to have figured out that Brianna was also gay, not a particularly difficult task given Brianna's initial response upon seeing her, and about two hours into the drive was making Brianna giggle in a way Courtney had never heard before. Rob's normal rule concerning bathroom breaks was that the strongest bladder decided when stops were to be made, but with three women that was an impossibility. The breaks were frequent, and far longer than Rob would have preferred.

On the third stop Rob remained inside the air conditioned cab while the girls when to the bathroom. Courtney returned first, and he watched her walking towards him, seeing her add a little extra sway to her hips when she felt his eyes on her. She was wearing a pair of short jeans shorts and a plane white tank top, the spaghetti strapped top revealed quite a lot of her wonderfully tanned flesh. She came to the door of the truck and opened it, grinning at him as she climbed inside.

Without a word she leaned over, kissing him deep, and then whispered in his ear.

"If you keep looking at me like that we'll have to stop at one of those motels," she whispered to him huskily.

Rob grinned. "Why not just go 'round back?" he asked, nodding towards the McDonald's they had stopped at.

Courtney looked like she was about to take him up on the offer when Jane and Brianna appeared. Both their eyes watched their approach.

"Brianna's acting weird," Courtney told Rob. "I don't think she's used to being pursued like this."

Rob laughed. "Yeah, Jane can be pretty aggressive."

Courtney was not sure she would use that word. More like efficient. Jane was not pressuring Brianna in any way Courtney could see, she was just being her usual flirty self and directing her attention to the person most receptive to her behavior. Brianna looked perpetually flustered, and obviously pleased to have the attention of someone she was so attracted to. It was quite cute, in a way, Courtney thought. She was pleased to see her scheme working out so far.

Courtney saw them diverge as they approached the vehicle, climbing in through the little back doors and settling back into their seats. Rob continued to drive and eventually they reached the town nearest to the rented cabin. They stopped at a gas station so Rob could fill up and so the girls could go for one last bathroom stop before they left civilization. Courtney went to find Rob when she was done, leaving Jane and Brianna alone in the truck.

"So," Jane asked as she bit into a snack bar she had packed for the trip. "How long have you known?"

Brianna blushed. She did not have to ask for clarification of what Jane meant.

"Since I was about thirteen," she replied. "I didn't know exactly what I was until about tenth grade, but I knew I didn't like boys like the other girls did."

Jane nodded thoughtfully. "Basically the same for me. Who did you first realize it with?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Brianna asked.

"You know, the girl who made you realize you liked girls," Jane continued. "Mine was Sarah Michelle Gellar," she admitted. "You know, Buffy."

"Oh," Brianna replied. "Uh, mine wasn't really a celebrity."

That piqued Jane's curiosity. "So it was someone you knew?"

Brianna nodded. Before Jane could get any more information out of her Courtney opened the passenger door, making both the other girls jump slightly. Rob climbed into the driver's seat once more and they drove on for another hour before reaching the gravel road that led them to the driveway of the cabin. It was a beautiful area, thickly forested with a network of small lakes and fast flowing rivers dotting the landscape. Most importantly, it was heavily isolated.

Upon arrival everyone clambered out and started to bring their belongings up to the elevated porch of the log cabin. Brianna surprised everyone when she turned up carrying one of the coolers, her arms straining as she held the cumbersome object, and grunting slightly as she lowered it to the deck. Courtney did not miss the gaze Jane had trained on her friend, or the slight biting of her lower lip as Brianna was bent over at the waist.

Jane's eyes quickly turned away when Brianna straightened, but turned back to her as the blonde raised her arms above her head and stretched tiredly. Courtney nearly laughed at the unintentional effect Brianna was having on Jane as she thrust her chest forward and her bum backward, going up on to the balls of her feet as she stretched. Her pink tank top came up, a narrow band of her torso coming into view between its hem and the waistband of her white shorts.

Rob arrived behind her with the other cooler, placing it down on top of the one Brianna had carried in before opening up the cabin. They stepped inside, and Courtney's eyes widened. It opened into a single large room with a closed off area for the bedrooms and bathroom in the corner. According to the brochure, the cabin was ideal for 'the family looking for adventure and comfort!', and to Courtney it looked like the perfect place to sit back and relax.

It was decided that Courtney and Rob would share the 'parents' room, which featured a large double bed, and that Brianna and Jane would share the 'kids' room with the two twins. After they had unpacked their things into their respective rooms, they scrounged something up for dinner. Nobody wanted to cook, road-weary and tired from their early start to the day everyone just wanted to go sit down by the beach.

The water was still and they let the sun set before Rob and Jane built a bonfire. They all sat around it late into the night, sharing stories and laughing together until their weariness drove them to bed. Courtney was in the bathroom brushing her teeth when it started. Rob entered the bathroom as well, it was a tiny space with the toilet right next to the sink on the far wall. He rested his hand on her shoulder to alert her to his presence, his touch igniting something in Courtney.

They had been waiting for weeks for this. The plans had changed somewhat, but they were here, away from everything. A little paradise for the two of them where all they had to do was close a door and they would not be disturbed. With her mouth still frothed up with toothpaste, Courtney drew Rob down into a deep kiss. His body pressed against hers, pushing her against the wall perpendicular to the sink. Her toothbrush was still held in her hand, hanging over the edge of the sink, and Rob's tongue slid past her lips.

He tasted her toothpaste, and kicked the door to the bathroom shut. He kept his mouth pressed over hers as their tongues found each other. Courtney giggled as she felt the froth of the toothpaste flowing down her chin, which caused a chain reaction as Rob began to laugh too and more of it to leak out between their fused mouths. Eventually they pulled away, grinning at each other.

"I've got my own toothpaste, you know," Rob joked.

"I like to share," Courtney told him.

Rob's hand slid down her back and over her panty clad bottom. "I have something I'd like to share with you."

Courtney gave a snort of laughter.

"Right, not my best come on. I'm tired," he told her.

Courtney re-inserted her toothbrush and started scrubbing. She shrugged at his comment.

"Not too tired I hope," she said in a slightly garbled manner.

Rob squeezed his handful of her ass. "No," he replied, "I've still got a little in me."

Courtney hummed around her toothbrush as he squeezed her ass, pretending to ignore his touch as she mechanically brushed her teeth. Seeing her resistance to acknowledge his hands presence, Rob took it a step further. His hand turned inward and slid down, his fingers curling and pressing against her pussy. Courtney gasped and spat out the toothpaste in her mouth in surprise. Rob laughed lowly beside her, and kept his fingers pressed firmly against her labia.

Courtney gasped when he began to rub her through her panties, the soft cotton growing damp beneath his fingers.

"How is that, Courtney?" he asked her.

She moaned in response. Courtney put her toothbrush in the mug Jane had brought in from the kitchen, hurriedly clearing her mouth of toothpaste as Rob dragged his fingers along her pussy in a rhythmic 'come hither' gesture.

"Rob, we shouldn't..." Courtney said.

"Why not?" he asked.

Rob's fingers went up under the gusset of her panties, and pressed against her bare pussy. Courtney moaned as he probed at her glistening folds, his fingers massaging the outer lips of her pussy.