The Girl from the Ouachita Ch. 09

They were up early for a typical southern breakfast prepared by the cook the Becks contracted for the holiday, and then hit the slopes when they opened at nine. Lunch was at the Ellison's, just off the slopes, after which they skied again until the trails were closed. The distinctive ski suits made it easy to find one another, although the line of sight to the young women was frequently obscured by young men encircling and assisting the girls when they were around the lifts.

There was dinner and then dancing that evening in Park City, but they were back to the chalet at 11.

That became the schedule from the 27^th through the 30^th, although the women took the last afternoon off to go shopping, allowing the three men to brave Black Diamond trails of which the women did not approve. They skied the morning of the 31^st, but spent the afternoon preparing to celebrate the arrival of 2020 at a sold-out club.

For the first time, Jo seemed timid when they entered the crowded building. "What's wrong?" Chris asked directly into her ear so she could hear over the din and music.

"It reminds me of the place Kate's cousin took us. It's different, but the crowd and the noise..."

"It's okay; I'm with you tonight!" he assured her. "Just don't leave me alone!" she pleaded.

Her timidity meant there were demons she was hiding that needed to be uncovered and addressed. "Have you started seeing the counselor?" he asked discreetly.

"No; Donna, Kate, and I have been too busy preparing for and taking exams. We plan to start in January, after you go back to Colorado."

Kate, Donna, and Diane were dressed in colorful mini-dresses, which attracted men like flies. Jo was wearing a jumpsuit, and even though she was snuggled up to Chris at the table, a number of young men invited her to dance. She politely declined all invitations except those of her fiancé. He responded by satisfying her desire to bounce, wiggle, jiggle, and rock to the fast songs, and snuggle to the slow. Drinks went undrunk while they enjoyed each other on the dance floor.

Sandy, Debora, and Stephanie were wearing rather daring outfits themselves, and they attracted attention from the older males, many of whom stopped by the table to chat. The two sets of parents and the Becks danced quite a lot, as couples and with other spouses, but someone always remained at the table with the drinks. It was likely overkill, but it made the girls and their fathers happy.

Chris also kept an eye on his sisters and Kate, each of whom came to dance near or with Jo and Chris on the classic rock songs, but otherwise enjoyed the partner of the moment.

With the band taking a short break, discussion ensued at the table about whether to ring in the New Year here, or watching the fireworks display on Park City Mountain from the Ellisons' deck. It was decided they would dance until 11:20, then hustle to the Ellisons.

When the band returned, Diane circumvented Jo's plan to drag Chris back out for another rocker. "Nah ha! You've hogged the best dancer in the place all night! I want my turn before we leave!"

She grabbed Chris' hand and led him to the middle of the dance floor. As skilled at all forms of dancing as he was, he knew he didn't hold a candle to his sisters or Jo, but he loved watching them gyrate, flawlessly in time with the rhythm.

Donna was his next partner, and then his mother grabbed him for a waltz. Kate intercepted him after he returned his mother, and took him back to the floor just as the band began playing the John Lennon classic, Imagine. Jo was just leaving the center of the floor with Ed Ellison; he said something, they stopped, she checked the table, and they began dancing.

Chris could see that they were close but not improperly so; Kate, on the other hand, was plastered to him. He tried to hold her in a normal dancing position, but she pulled herself against him and remained there in spite of his embarrassed attempt to put distance between them.

Jo was a young woman of rare beauty with an incredible body, but Kate was in her league. Well, for that matter, so were his sisters, his mom, Stephanie Ellison, and Sandy Beck. He had been sitting at a table with incredibly beautiful women, and he was sure every man in the house was jealous. That thought was validated by the look of animosity he got from one of the boys who had danced with Kate several times already, but with a good foot of distance between them.

Whether by accident or design, Jo and Ed were on the opposite side of the crowded dance floor. Kate leaned back in his arms and gave Chris a look of pure lust while pressing her pussy tightly against him. Being five inches taller than Jo, her pussy was against his cock, which had been slowly hardening from the close contact and the female pheromones she was emitting.

She ground her pussy on his cock, which, against his will, responded by growing rapidly and rather painfully, trapped as it was against his leg by his pants and her pussy. Kate ground herself against him, batted her eyes, emitted a low moan, and held him even tighter.

"Thank you for that," she said huskily when the song ended. "I've always wanted to know what it would be like to have you to myself for a few minutes, and now I have an idea. I won't do anything like that again, but if you and Jo ever break up, call me first, okay?"

He smiled, nodded, and said, "You'll be at the top of the list -- if we ever break up."

They had been across the crowded floor, so by the time they got back Jo was back on the floor with Trey Beck, his sisters were dancing with two unknown young men, his mom was dancing with Ed, and Sandy was dancing with a man who had been introduced as a neighbor. Stephanie took his hand from her daughter, and steered him into a distant, less crowded part of the floor.

"Now show me some of those fancy moves," she ordered, as Taylor Swift sang about New Year's Day. Stephanie was curvier than Kate, but she had the same grace and a similar predilection to press her lush body against him, so he guided her through a series of turns, dips, and spins. That accomplished two things: to show off his 'fancy moves', and to keep distance between them.

It was 11:10 when they returned to the table, arriving just as Jo took her seat and guzzled her water. Chris let her finish, but he'd already identified the obvious impersonation of Elvis' Loving You, so he grabbed her up, pulled her to him, and danced her away. 'Elvis' then sang Falling in Love with You, which was even better for snuggling. As the song ended, she stood on tiptoes and pledged, "I love you, Christian Alexander," and then it was time to leave.

The fireworks were spectacular from the Ellisons' deck. As Chris said in Boulder, they are prettier when not exploding right above you. Everyone else stayed up to celebrate into the New Year, but they shared a deep kiss and excused themselves, saying they were too tired to stay up any longer.

Chris used his app to secure a nearby Uber driver, who was lounging in his car until he saw Jo. He exited quickly, greeted them, opened the back door, and hurried back to his seat.

Chris told him the address again, just in case; he adjusted the mirror down slightly so he could see Jo better, and began driving.

"So, do I need to keep you in sight whenever the Ellison women are around?" Jo asked with a frown. "They both seem to find you quite appealing."

"Do I need to keep an eye on Ed? He certainly seems to find you quite appealing."

She giggled, "You might... he was a gentleman, but it took some effort on his part, and at least one part of him definitely seemed to find me appealing!

"On the other hand, he wasn't rubbing it against me like his daughter was rubbing herself against you!"

"She promised she would never do something like that again, but she made me promise to give her a call if you dump me," he teased.

"Then she'll never get a call," Jo replied as she snuggled closer and dropped her hand into his lap.

"Right now, I'm worried about our driver," Chris whispered in her ear. "He looks like he wants to stop and ravage you."

"Too bad I'm not wearing a dress -- I could torture him all the way back," she whispered in response. "And darling, Ed isn't the only one I danced with whose fondness showed."

"Oh, I've watched Trey and Dad with their tongues hanging out before," he replied. "You have that effect on pretty much all men."

"And yet I only want one!" she whispered as she licked his ear, and squeezed his cock. "I'm gonna RAVAGE YOU tonight, Big Boy!"

****

Their enthusiasm at having an empty house led to unmerciful teasing the next morning when they came down for breakfast. "'Too tired', I think you said when you left before everyone else. Too tired to carry these all the way upstairs?" Donna teased, holding Jo's tiny gold panties in front of her by two fingers.

Jo, appearing the wide-eyed innocent, tilted her head and replied, "I don't recognize those. Perhaps someone dropped them while putting up the laundry?"

She handled the laughter that ensued by looking perplexed by the response to her simple inquiry, but the sparkle in her eyes told the story. Debora ended the charade by holding up a large man's sock and asking, "And this size 14 sock?"

Chris merely hugged Jo and replied, "I took off my boots so I wouldn't track mud on the carpet; I must have dropped my sock on the way upstairs before we collapsed in bed and slept for nine hours.

"Now that your questions have been answered, where's breakfast?"

Chris and Jo were flying back commercial tomorrow, so they skied hard all day, rode two of the Ellisons' snowmobiles, ate a light supper, and then took a romantic sleigh ride after it got dark.

It was a clear, cold winter night, with a slice of waxing crescent moon and a jillion stars lighting the heavens. They snuggled under a blanket the driver provided, silently enjoying the sensory experience of a horse pulling a sleigh through towering trees on a thick blanket of glistening snow.

Their flight on the 2^nd left just after 10, so they were up early. Chris was securing a ride to SLC when Dan and Trey stopped him. "We're taking you, right after we eat a decent breakfast. There won't be any lines today -- visitors won't leave until the 4^th or 5^th, and business travelers won't leave until Sunday or Monday. We'll get you there by 8:30, which is plenty of time," Trey assured him.

They had time for breakfast, goodbye hugs and kisses, and wishes for safe travel. There were no lines at the TSA checkpoint, plenty of room on the plane, and the flight was uneventful; both slept. They were on the ground climbing into their Lyft at 12:50, and Chris was using the keypad to open the gate at 1:30. They were naked on the staircase at 1:37, and stayed that way until hunger overtook them at 7:30 that evening. They slipped into robes, ate microwave dinners, and rushed back upstairs, shedding robes at the top of the stairs.

After yet another rollicking orgasm, they were lying on their sides facing each other when Chris nonchalantly asked, "So, when are we planning to get married?"

Jo blinked, a guilty look raced across her face, and she broke eye contact. "What do you mean? We haven't set a date yet..."

"Then what are you, mom, Sandy Beck, and my sisters planning in July -- my birthday party?"

"Chris..., Honey, we aren't really planning, per se, but your mom says it takes a lot of work and a long time to plan a proper wedding, so we've been doing a little preplanning."

"And that preplanning group thinks July is a good month?"

"Well, you would be through with classes, and Trey says you can have two weeks off any time after you finish classes, so it's probably the first chance... But we weren't going to go any further until we set a date, I promise!"

"Jo, promise me my bossy, sneaky, manipulative mother isn't forcing you into this, or manipulating you."

Sigh. "Not really. I mean, I'd marry you in front of a JP tomorrow, or fly to Las Vegas and get married by Elvis, if you asked me to. I don't need a fancy wedding - I just want to be your wife! But she makes a big church wedding sound so wonderful! It's fun to imagine ME as Cinderella."

"As gorgeous as you looked in your 'debutante' dress, I think you'll make Cinderella look plain."

"Oh, Honey, you're so sweet! Let me show you how much I love you..." she replied as she kissed her way down his chest and stomach...

****

In spite of Chris' stated intention to stay naked until he had to leave, they actually got dressed the next morning, drank coffee, ate breakfast, and then wandered through the back yard considering options.

"The greenhouse should go here, by the barn because there is electricity close by." "But wouldn't it look better, be shielded from the north wind, and still have electricity if we put it here, Honey?"

"Yeah, you're right, it would. So, put the garden here again, or do we move it over there so we can expand it?" "Let's expand it after you're living here full time. It was all I could do to keep our little garden watered and picked while you were gone last June!"

And so it went; working together to decide where the Primrose Jasmine hedge should go to increase privacy for their nude sunbathing, where the flower beds should be and what 'period' flowers should be in them. Finally, they addressed the biggie in Chris' mind: whether they should lay a slab and build a covered outdoor kitchen with wet bar, a propane grill with burners, and a refrigerator/freezer, alongside his big barbeque pit with smoker.

She looked skeptical, so he very logically laid it out, complete with details, and with an invitation for Jo to design the kitchen part. "So, you've been thinking about this for quite some time, haven't you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Me, I don't care about that: what I want is a gazebo with a hot tub in it, and shutters you can close to keep out the cold so you can use it year around. It would go over here in this bare spot close to the house, so it would be easy to add a walking stone pathway from the back door, and..."

"So you've been planning this for quite some time, haven't you?" Chris asked teasingly. "Are we talking about clothing optional hot tubbing? If so, I'm in!

"Anything else, Princess Jo?" he teased.

She wrapped a strand of hair around her finger, gave him a coy smile, and replied, "Well, I want a swimming pool beside the gazebo, but not until we're living here full time. Yes, it will be clothing optional, except when Kate or her mom are visiting!"

"And when my parents and sisters are visiting!" he interjected with a horrified look.

****

Suddenly it was Sunday afternoon, and Chris had to leave. They had done more planning for the grounds, sketched out the kitchen and gazebo, with a shadow drawing of a pool for when they were ready, and they had made love, fucked, and further considered July wedding dates. They even found time to go to a movie, and dancing at a small club near their house. They were inseparable for three days, and then severed from each other by commitments.

He tried to get Jo to consider spending the week with him in Denver and then returning for the start of classes, but she was enrolled in another self-paced, project-based internet class and was sure she could get much of it done before classes started... but not if she was distracted by him half the day and night! Besides, if truth be told, she could use a break from the demands of his libido, and her own!

****

Classes hadn't resumed, so Chris went to work at eight. He wanted to be there when the others reported to the job site. The project manager had a coffee truck waiting, so the first hour was drinking coffee, catching up, and sketching out plans for the week. No major storms were expected, they had a full crew, all needed supplies and equipment were on hand, so the start of 2020 was looking good.

Chris appreciated the varied programming and calm, unbiased presentation of news on the local NPR station and he kept his radio tuned there for in town driving. He was working longer hours, working out longer, and spending quality video time with Jo from 9-10 each night, so his days and evenings were full.

On January 9, he left the gym after a vigorous martial arts workout and started home. An interesting discussion was taking place among several medical scientists and the host about a new pneumonia-like infection that the WHO was reporting had been discovered in Wuhan China. The discussion was around whether the new disease was another form of pneumonia, a new strand of influenza, or a new form of coronavirus.

The host then asked whether we in America should be concerned, given its reported limitation to Wuhan province. The scientists described how such diseases pass from person to person, and agreed that world travel would mean it would be here sooner rather than later. The question of the day: how dangerous is it? No one could say.

Chris' obsession was engineering, but his favorite subject in high school and college, and in reading for fun and enlightenment, had always been history. He was well aware of previous worldwide epidemics, including the deadly H1N1 influenza pandemic of 1918, inappropriately misnamed the Spanish Flu.

The first case was actually reported in Kansas, but soon about one-third of the earth's population had it, and somewhere between 50-100 million died. That was a staggering blow to the earth's population at that time.

The "Spanish Flu" was not as deadly as the bubonic plague, AKA Black Death of the 1340s, but neither of those pandemics had taken place on a planet as crowded and interconnected as the world in 2020. He felt a tinge of concern and vowed to stay alert for information on this mysterious new disease.

Classes resumed; he returned to his normal classes/work/workout schedule, with evenings after nine reserved for Jo. They loved their video time, but longed to be together. Chris asked for a week off in March to coincide with the CU and TCU spring breaks the week of March 9, and planned to surprise her with a weekend trip for Valentine's Day.

News about the 'novel coronavirus' discovered in Wuhan began to be reported on mainstream media and the CDC closed certain airports to international arrivals after cases were reported in Japan and Taiwan as well. On January 21, the first American case was confirmed, and a Chinese scientist broke government protocols to confirm that it was being passed from human to human, and that many had died.

On January 23, China confirmed that Wuhan province was in quarantine, and by late January it was well known that the disease had spread far beyond China, including into the USA.

The American government and the CDC spokespersons continued to equivocate, assuring Americans that they were in no danger if they hadn't traveled abroad, and that the virus might not be that bad anyway.

In early February, the shit began hitting the fan as the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global health emergency and called for restrictions on international travel, and the US declared a Public Health Emergency. The Chinese admit more are dying than died of SARS a few years back, and that the contagion has not been contained. The US suddenly declares we're heading to pandemic status in late February, and a cruise ship returns with more than a score of infected passengers.

Chris was keeping up with it all, and in late January he had warned Carlos, the project manager, of his concerns. Carlos believed him, and insisted he tell Trey; he did, and informed his parents as well. Both construction companies had a large number of respirators and N95 masks on hand because they were used when working in dusty or possibly toxic air. Trey and Dan ordered more, only to learn that a worldwide shortage was developing. Their vendors gave them what they had on hand, but warned that might be the last available for the foreseeable future.