The Summer of '66 - Troubles

(2) The Summer of '66: You've Lost that Loving Feeling

Caelan disembarked at the dock at Ingleside at 5 p.m. He hadn't spoken to his friends or his 'summer fling', the rich and gorgeous Barbara Ann McLaughlin, since he left for the offshore rig two weeks ago. Hey, he had certainly thought of them -- especially her -- while he worked, worked out, and did PT on the rig, but the only communication was ship-to-shore, and that was restricted to business or emergency use. You could write letters, but come on - it didn't really matter.

She was waaaay out of his league anyway, so he had left her with his buddy Theo, telling him to take good care of her for the remainder of her vacation. She and Theo had a flirting/teasing thing going even with him standing there, and they obviously were attracted to one another. She was at Port Aransas to have a good time, and he had no claim on her. They had shared a lot of pleasure in the short five days after they met, true, but he knew that she knew it would end when he left to go work seventy miles out in the Gulf for two weeks.

He spotted his red pickup in the lot, picked up his duffle and started toward it. Memories of the dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty with the phenomenal body and the capability to fuck him senseless, while orgasming a dozen times, flooded his mind. After their final, lingering kiss, he had boarded the boat; she had wrapped her arm around Theo, he wrapped his arm around her, and they waved as he motored out of sight.

Caelan sighed, 'It's for the best,' he assured himself. 'There is no way that was going to work out, so now you are free to do whatever and whomever you want, and she is back in Dallas doing the same.' Still, being here where he last saw her was disquieting.

As he approached his truck, a uniformed Deputy Sheriff called his name and walked toward him. "Are you Caelan Kelly?" He acknowledged he was, and noticed a second officer standing beside a patrol car with his hand on his pistol. "Mr. Kelly, we need you to come with us. Charges have been filed against you for assault with bodily injury. We need to take you to the station, get your official statement, and see where we go from there."

"I assume the complainant is the cowardly prick otherwise known as Chad Smithwick, who actually assaulted ME in front of dozens of witnesses?" The officer answered, "We can discuss all that at the station. Telling your side is the purpose of your official statement."

With permission, Caelan stowed his duffle bag in his pickup and got into the back seat of the squad car. The ride gave him time to think. When they got inside the Sheriff's station, Caelan stated calmly, "I need to make a phone call. I won't answer questions or otherwise participate in an interview without my attorney present."

The cops shrugged, told him he wasn't under arrest so he could make a call, but having a lawyer present wasn't necessary. He insisted, so they showed him to the pay phone, and returned to chat with the officer behind the elevated desk.

He deposited a dime to call 'Aunt Peggy', praying that she would answer. He didn't really have an attorney, but hoped she would give him a name and number to call. He hadn't personally had many run ins with the law, but he had watched too many other kids and young men get railroaded, especially when rich folks were involved, to take a chance.

Peggy answered on the second ring; Caelan identified himself and explained the situation. She told him to sit tight, and not to talk to anyone until her attorney arrived in twenty minutes. He made it in fifteen.

After payment of a $20 'retainer', Caelan had a brief meeting with John Jameson, Esquire, in a conference room. They then met with the officer assigned to take his statement. Jameson asked to see the complaint, read it thoroughly, and announced that his client wished to file a complaint against the complainant, Mr. Smithwick, who first assaulted his client.

That caused a bit of an uproar, but they did the paperwork, and then Caelan gave his official statement. Because the statement included an admission that he did hit the complainant, albeit in self-defense, the officer decided he should be arrested. Jameson argued against it, but Caelan spent the night in jail. His arraignment would be held and bail set the next morning. The jailer was a good old boy who felt like Caelan was getting a raw deal, so he had a cell to himself and food brought to him.

Peggy showed up at the arraignment dressed in her finery. She smiled at the judge as if he were a good friend; the judge smiled back. He checked the docket with a puzzled look, turned his eyes back to her, and continued with a bewildered face. When Caelan's case was called, the harried-looking prosecutor spelled out the charges in a tired voice, without looking around. He then demanded 'the assailant' be remanded without bail due to 'being a danger to the community'.

The defense countered that he was a member of the community in good standing, and that he had filed assault charges against the complainant, who was actually the responsible party; therefore, he should be released on his own recognizance.

The judge frowned at the prosecutor, looked at Jameson, and asked, "Will bail in the amount of $10,000 be a hardship for your client?" Peggy rose up in her seat directly behind Caelan and announced, "If I may, your honor, I will gladly put up the bail for this WONDERFUL YOUNG MAN in any amount you order."

The prosecutor turned toward her, saw who it was, finally noticed that her own attorney was defending the miscreant, and 'Oh, shit! What have I gotten into?' flashed across his face. The judge looked directly at him, defying him to object, when he set the bail at $5000. He spoke not a word, studying the charges instead.

"Paul! Paul!" the ADA heard, and saw Jameson right behind him as they left the courtroom. "Paul, you need to rethink this. I don't know what you are relying on, but we're fixing to give you a thrashing in court! The complainant was the initiator, not my client." "I'll look into it a bit more, John, but I have four sworn statements..." Paul replied. "And I'll produce a dozen, including neutral parties. Believe me, this is a stinker. Cut your losses!" "I'll look into it and get back with you tomorrow, John; will that work? Now I've got to go; too many cases to juggle!"

Peggy's chauffeur opened her door; Caelan greeted him and walked around to get in the back with her. "My truck and clothes..." he began, before she cut him off. "Theo and Carl took your spare key and picked it up last night. We're going to stop and buy you some clothes for court and for play, and then you are coming over to my house and we are going to have a talk!" The no-nonsense voice persuaded him to simply nod in acceptance.

"Speaking of Theo, I didn't expect him to be around. How is he doing?" "He's fine, Caelan. I've talked to him quite often in the past two weeks." "I'll bet you have," he said under his breath. She smiled a knowing smile and ignored him. 'Well, I guess that proves it; they are still together,' Caelan thought.

The clothes shopping expedition was painful at best, but Caelan was sure he would be better dressed than ever before in his life when all the custom fit items were received on Monday. He also knew his bank account was going to take a major hit, but he had to admit the clothes Peggy made him buy were comfortable and flattering.

Peggy's 'house' on Ocean Drive was more a castle, and the grounds were as immaculate as the interior. He wandered behind her, gawking at the furnishings and décor, until she called him into 'the study'. A carbon copy of Barbara Ann stood by a tall, distinguished looking man; he froze, stared, and looked at Peggy with his mouth open. He looked back, studied the man, and knew these were Barbara Ann's parents. 'Oh, fuck!' he thought, 'this will not turn out well!'

"So this is the young man whom my daughter has been cursing for two weeks!" her father stated in a cold voice. Caelan noticed her mom had a slight smile playing along her mouth as her husband accosted him; Peggy's face showed only innocence. Caelan steeled himself and moved to greet them.

He held out his hand and introduced himself; the gorgeous woman studied him for a moment, and took his hand. "Oh, we are well aware of who you are, Mr. Kelly. We know much more about you than we care to know!"

The man interjected, "We know you are mean, cruel, heartless, and uncaring. We know you misled our poor daughter and then callously left her to your friend! We certainly don't know how you can be that way, but that question has resonated in our home for almost two weeks, without ceasing."

Their expressions were serious, but they broke into grins when Peggy guffawed. "Enough! Enough! The poor boy is going into shock!" The man stopped laughing, tried to wipe the grin off his face, and introduced himself. "As you can tell, we are Barbara Ann's parents; I'm Sean, my wife is Amelia. I'm sorry we did that to you, but WE have all suffered immeasurably for YOUR actions of two weeks ago. The look on look on your face was -- almost - worth it!"

"Sit down, Caelan," Peggy ordered. They gathered around a large table, and Amelia began. "You may find it hard to believe that our daughter is somewhat spoiled, used to getting her way, and rather hard headed." They all laughed, and he relaxed enough to reply, "I hadn't noticed" with a wry smile. Everyone laughed again.

"Still, we love and adore her, even though we know she is all those things, and also manipulative. When she suddenly arrived in California without prior notice, we were surprised. When she spent the first day and night with us sobbing, and the second cursing and accusing you, we realized his was not another of her snit-fits. At that point, we stopped trying to comfort her and started listening to her. It was quite a bizarre tale, full of ecstasy and joy, and pain and suffering. Unlike anything our daughter had ever told us, and filled with emotions we didn't know she could feel."

"We pieced it together, with help from your friend Theo," Peggy said.

"Did you really seduce my daughter, make her feel things she had never felt before, and then 'give her' to your friend?" Sean asked with a raised eyebrow.

Caelan looked at the table for a moment, took and released a big breath, and asked, "Can I tell my side?" All three nodded, and he proceeded. "I've never met...been with...anyone like your daughter before. We got off to a bad start because I believed she was the heartless bit...she had cheered my injury in a football game..."

"We know all that!" Peggy interrupted. "We've heard the story ad nauseum. We know about moonlit swims and first times and fainting in ecstasy. You don't have to embarrass yourself in front of her parents and aunt with the full tale. Just tell us why you 'gave her' to Theo."

"Look, I know she's far too good for me. She's...she's your daughter, she's rich and beautiful, and way too good for an offshore roughneck, so..." "Rubbish!" Peggy interjected fiercely. "You are an honor student at the University of Texas with a 3.85 GPA in Petroleum Engineering and Business. You accomplished that GPA while playing football so well you were second team all-conference, in spite of missing the final two conference games! You dated one of the Hunt girls, and her family is many times richer than ours! You have dated cheerleaders, models, and a Hollywood starlet, so we don't buy the whole 'poor boy, rich beautiful girl' excuse you concocted! Besides, 'The king of the beach bunnies' would hardly be intimidated by a beautiful rich girl, would he?

Tell us the real reason you broke our poor girl's heart, Caelan Kelly!"

Caelan stared at the floor, afraid to admit the real reason even to himself.

His prolonged silence and discomfort brought mom to life. "Let me take a shot at it," Amelia said. "You fell in love with our little girl, she fell in love with you, and you were afraid. No more 'king of the beach bunnies', right?"

Still staring at the floor, Caelan quietly replied, "No, it wasn't like that. I...I just saw that she was who she is and I'm who I am and she was going back to her friends at SMU and leave me, so I tried to make it easy for her. She and Theo had a little thing going, so I told him to pursue it. I wanted her to enjoy her vacation, and return to Dallas without worrying about how I would feel. It was supposed to be a quick, clean break, but not so I could go back to 'the beach bunnies', whoever that is. It was supposed to make it easier on both of us."

"Well, unless you spent two weeks crying, cussing, and crying some more, it was easier on you than on her, young man," her father offered. "I heard something about her going back to her friends and leaving you...why would that bother you, being the king of the beach, or whatever?"

Caelan looked up at him and saw humor on his face, despite the harsh words; he paused. "Want me to take a shot, Caelan, or are you going to fess up?" he asked, with a much bigger smile. "Could it be that you..."

"Okay, I might... maybe... love your daughter." Caelan interjected. "I hate to admit it because I know she will ultimately break my heart, but I can't keep lying to myself and you folks! I didn't want to love her -- I don't want to love her -- but I guess I do, if caring deeply about someone you've known for five days can be considered love. If that goes against your wishes and plans I apologize and I'll..."

His heartfelt admission was interrupted by Amelia's pronouncement: "Silly children! Neither one of them is mature enough for what's coming, are they?" "No, but I think we should bring Barbara Ann over and watch the fireworks when he tries to explain 'giving her away' to his friend because he loves her! That should be delightful fun!" Peggy stated with a laugh.

"That's a great idea, but we don't need to call. I invited her to meet us for supper; she should be here in a few minutes!" Sean explained.

With perfect timing, the door chime began playing its tune and the butler invited the guest inside. High heels clacked on the marble floor, and a vision in royal blue entered the study with a very sad face. "You!" she exclaimed when she saw Caelan at the table. He got up and started toward her. "Don't you come near me! I hate you! You are the meanest, cruelest man on earth, and I...I hate you!"

He knelt on one knee in front of her. "Once again, I have to apologize. Once again, I made a terrible mistake. I know you hate me, and you have every right, but I did it out of love for you..." "You are NOT going to get off with an apology this time, Mister! Who do you think you are that you can use me and then give me...to...your...friend... Why did you say?" she asked quizzically.

"I DID NOT give you away! I had no claim on you; you weren't mine to 'give away'! I did tell Theo that you two should have fun while you were still in Port A on vacation. I did that because I realized I was falling in love with you, but I was leaving and I wanted you have keep having fun on your vacation. I doubted I would ever see you again, but I hoped, maybe, someday in the future, I could come visit you and see if you still had feelings of if that was just beach lust you felt.

I told your family that I thought you were only looking for a summer lover, so I thought since you and Theo flirted so much..."

"Stop! No, go back to the beginning and say it again!" she ordered.

"What? That I was falling in love with you?" She shrieked and dove on him, knocking him over and falling on top of him. "You love me? I love you too! I thought you knew and you just discarded me! But you were really just afraid I would hurt you? That's so sweet; you were trying to help me, not hurt me!"

Her lovely face was just above his. She lowered her lips to his, eyes open, and gave him a loving kiss that quickly morphed into the kind of kiss and moaning her parents didn't want to hear.

"Well, that was a big letdown!" her mom opined. "We expected a knock-down drag out fight after the way you cussed him for two weeks, young lady. Instead, we get a tempest in a teapot and makeup sex right in front of your parents and aunt! If you two don't stop, I'm going to pour cold water on you!"

Caelan took her warning seriously, and tried to unwind from his immodest girlfriend, who continued to cling to and kiss him. "Your parents, Angel" he warned when he pried her mouth off his. She looked confused, then mildly embarrassed, as she slid off him, gathered her dress, and sat on the floor with a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, Aunt Peggy. I think I got a bit carried away, and I apologize."

They laughed uproariously at her discomfort, and her mom asked, "What happened to 'when I see him I'm going to...' do all those unmentionable things you threatened for weeks?"

"He seems to have his balls still attached, Sweetie. Are you going to detach them later, or what?" her dad asked with a mystified look. "You swore you would, as soon as you saw him!"

A devilish grin broke across her newly ecstatic face: "Well, now I have a better use in mind for them! We are going to give you grandchildren! Lots and lots of grandchildren!" She sprang to her feet, pulled Caelan up, hugged him, and cajoled, "Aren't we, Honey?"

The stunned look on his face was fodder for more uproarious laughter. When she could talk again, Peggy directed everyone to her car for the 'seafood feast' at her favorite restaurant. Her parents and aunt sat facing forward in her limousine. Barbara Ann climbed onto his lap as soon as he was settled.

"Barbara, honey, we have plenty of room; you don't have to sit on his lap, you know" her dad explained. "I know, but this is kind of 'our position'. He often carries me around like 'a bride', as he calls it, because he makes me so....sleepy." Caelan blushed; Mom laughed, and then tried to look stern: "There isn't much she hasn't told us, Mister Kelly, amongst all the tears. She was crying, reminiscing, or threatening your manhood the entire time she was in California. I have to say, you are NOT the gentleman you appear to be today, if her stories are true!"

"Oh, I believe her stories!" Dad added. "There was far too much graphic detail for my INNOCENT YOUNG DAUGHTER to have been making it all up! I mean, the 'makeup sex on the beach in the moonlight' story was FAR too explicit for her innocent young mind to have concocted.

Keep in mind, Amelia, this is the girl who gave us hell for being too touchy-feely, for going to our bedroom in the middle of the day, and who once told us 'I don't know what the big deal is about having sex!'"

Caelan looked from one to the other in disbelief; Barbara Ann sat on his lap grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Aunt Peggy soothed him: "Our family is -- how shall I put this? Open and honest about things we do, including sexual things! Sean and Amelia's story begins much like your story with their daughter, so they found the whole thing both beautiful and terrible. Amelia and I had it right from the start, but Sean wanted to hire a hit man at first. We knew you were running from love with a precocious and sometimes overwhelming young woman; he thought you had used her and passed her off, just as she did."

Barbara Ann elbowed him in the ribs: "You did! I was so mad when Theo told me!" Caelan dropped his head, closed his eyes, and replied, "You two flirted all the time; you seemed to have something going, I wasn't going to be back until after you left, and I wanted you to have a good time on your vacation, so, even though it was killing me, I told him to go ahead. He did, by the way, jump at the chance. How did he go about telling you?"

Barbara Ann blushed this time, and he saw it. "This should be fun!" Peggy whispered rather loudly to her sister.

"We went from the dock to a bar in Ingleside and started drinking after you left. He was so nice to me, taking care of me, holding me while I cried. He is your friend so I felt comfortable with him!" she said with a pouty lip but concern around her eyes.