Summary:\u00a0 A 21st Century Cartwright story<\/p>\n
Rated: T \u00a0Word Count:\u00a0 5840<\/p>\n
21st Century Cartwrights Series:<\/p>\n
Within the Circle<\/a> <\/p>\n Is This Normal?<\/strong><\/p>\n It all started when my little brother Joe got himself messed up really good and wound up putting a broken rib through a lung. We were able to get him to the hospital in time and that was where I met this wonderful young lady, Alexandra Conover. Doctor Alexandra Conover. Yes, she was the surgeon who operated on my brother and kept him from bleeding to death or however it would have happened. Suffice it to say that what she did kept him alive. That in and of itself might have been enough to earn her my debt of gratitude. There was more to her though.<\/p>\n As I watched her walk down the hallway in front of me, something rather primitive crept up on me. Okay, I’ll admit that I am a normal male, an adult who is not -how shall I put this?- who is not a neophyte when it comes to women. I’ve loved and been loved by more than…let me put it bluntly. I know my way around. As my youngest brother would say, “been there, done that and even went back for more.” Get the picture?<\/p>\n So, okay, there I am, every last inch a red-blooded male, watching this cute little doctor-lady sashay down the hall in front of me. Her cheeks- not the ones on her face, either- pressed up against that awful green pair of scrub pants. I was tall enough to see over her shoulder and could see just enough of – what? Why do I keep moving my hands like that? Just seems natural, is all. Helps me define how she was – Oh, you got that picture, too.<\/p>\n Okay, so I wound up asking her out. Maybe it was because she felt a little pressured, but she turned me down. Smiled when she did it but she turned me down. Not to be put aside so easily, I kept after her. After all, she’d let me know that there wasn’t someone else in her life – unless you count her cat. (That’s another story!) In the end, she caved in, with a smile on her face, though.<\/p>\n I had made dinner reservations at one of the area’s nicer – and quieter- restaurants but when I went to pick her up, she wasn’t ready. Yes, I know that it is the woman’s prerogative to be late but she met me at the door still wearing her hospital outfit, those awful scrubs but at least they were clean.<\/p>\n “I’m sorry, Adam. I should have called you. Today was awful at the hospital. I wound up doing a shift down in the ER because they were shorthanded. I’m sorry. Like I said I should have called you because I really don’t feel like going out tonight.” As she spoke, soft and low, she ran her hand back through her dark hair.<\/p>\n You could feel the fatigue washing off her in waves, she was that beat. So, being known for my gallantry, I stepped up to the plate, ready to bunt if I had to. “We don’t have to go out,” I suggested. “Maybe order a pizza in? You like Chinese? I know a great place here in Carson that delivers.”<\/p>\n While she showered and changed into a sweatsuit, I called up the Golden Dragon and ordered us a sumptuous dinner for two, complete with saki. I showed her how to use chopsticks and she delighted me with her off-the-wall descriptions of what we were eating. Granted, the saki was a mistake because it simply made her sleepy.<\/p>\n Gallant, yes. Take advantage of a situation? No. After a few hours of discussing everything imaginable – books, plays, movies, music, even sports! – I took my leave of the drowsy lady.<\/p>\n And, yes, I cleaned up the kitchen table before I left.<\/p>\n It was as I was pulling into my parking spot in the garage at the Ponderosa that I noticed that my beloved Jaguar seemed to be running a little rough. A glimpse at the gas gauge showed that it seemed to be “overeating”. Strolling to the house, I judged myself lucky. It would have been disastrous if we had run out of gas on our first date. I wasn’t surprised to find my father still up, reading in his chair, when I entered the house.<\/p>\n “You’re home early,” came the voice of my brother Joseph. Hanging up my jacket and hat by the door, I just admitted that I was and left it at that.<\/p>\n “That doctor lady stand you up or something?” he asked when I approached the fireplace. Since Joe was sprawled in my favorite blue chair, I had no place really to go that felt “comfortable” so I just stood before the fire and rubbed my hands together. Well okay, the night was a little nippy, even if it was late spring.<\/p>\n “No, we decided to eat in. She’d had a really rough day at the hospital.” It didn’t require any more information than that.<\/p>\n “Oh?” Pa chimed in and I didn’t have to be looking at him to know he’d raised at least one eyebrow.<\/p>\n Have you ever noticed that your parents have a particular tone or word that when they use it, you become a kid again? That night, standing there, me! Adam Cartwright, pushing thirty-five hard. Vice President of Operations of Cartwright and Sons Construction – a multi-million dollar company! Became a kid again, called up before his father’s desk for some prank. At least that’s what that “oh” made me feel like.<\/p>\n But I was not going to defend myself and tell him that I behaved even though my testosterone level had to be at an all time high! No, instead I told him that we had ordered Chinese and that was that. All right, so it was a bit on the defensive side.<\/p>\n Pa blinked twice then said, “I was wondering about her rough day at the hospital.” He fought to keep his voice flat. “Anything disastrous happen that maybe I should know about?”<\/p>\n I had forgotten that with him running for the US Senate seat, news of current events was vital. If there had been some huge disaster creating an overflow into the hospitals, he might have needed to make his position known on the subject. Already he was campaigning about the road system in the state, asking for more federal dollars for upkeep of the interstates. He was also talking hard about raising the level of education available to all kids in the state. Shame I was past school because right about then I felt very, very stupid.<\/p>\n It didn’t help that Joe was snickering softly. I glared at him, giving him the look that told him to lay off or I would…do nothing since he was still recuperating. But he didn’t know that so I kept up the glare. He covered his mouth and quieted down. Still I could see his shoulders twitching.<\/p>\n “I’m going to take her horseback riding next weekend,” I reassured Pa, giving him hope that at least two of his sons were dating eligible females. Hoss and Rosalie were the hottest thing around lately. The gossip column in the local paper had made mention of them being at my father’s side in at least two campaign appearances. Joe and I had a running bet on when he was going to ask her to marry him. Already, though, we’d had to re-bet when both of the dates slipped by.<\/p>\n “That’s nice,” was all Pa said then I said good night and went upstairs to bed.<\/p>\n When I stepped out of the shower, I noticed my little brother sprawled on my bed.<\/p>\n “That medicine you taking make you disoriented?” I teased. “Your bedroom is down the hall.”<\/p>\n “So what’s she like?” he prompted, rolling up onto one elbow.<\/p>\n Pulling my robe tight around me, I padded barefoot into the room. “She likes a lot of the same things I do. With the exception that she likes rock and roll and I prefer blues music.”<\/p>\n “That ain’t what I meant! Stayed in because she was tired from a long day at the hospital, my eye. I’ll give it to you, brother, you work fast.”<\/p>\n Stung by the knowledge of the truth that lurked in answer to his innuendo, all I could do was grab him by the belt and push him from the room. I locked the door behind me. Then leaned on it and shook my head. Just thinking of Alex- that’s what she suggested I call her – made me want to go back for another cold shower.<\/p>\n I ran into Alex once more before our riding date. She was coming out of the Salvation Army thrift store, brown bag in her arms when I stopped at the intersection stop light. She was fumbling with the bag and her purse when I called across the street and asked if she wanted a ride. There was a funny look on her face for a moment and she almost shook her head, I’m sure. The bus pulled up nearly at her feet and I couldn’t see anything else so I put the Jag into a tight turn and pulled up behind the bus just in time to get a nose full of exhaust fumes as it pulled away from the stop.<\/p>\n Alex was still standing there, trying her best to smile as I pulled alongside of her. Again I offered her a ride and this time she smiled. Trying to hold the brown bag that was full of various lumpy objects, and her swinging shoulder purse seemed more than she could handle when you add in the car door so I slipped across the bucket seats and opened it for her. After more fumbling and groping, she and her packages got into the low slung car.<\/p>\n “Thanks,” she puffed and I smiled for her and pulled away from the curb – almost into the path of Roy Coffee’s SUV. I slammed on the brakes and he swerved. He gave me a look through the windshield that said if I wasn’t who I was, he’d’ve ticketed me. But there again, Roy has been known to do things after the fact so I am not sure if he isn’t waiting somewhere in my future with a ticket and hefty fine in hand.<\/p>\n Okay, I’ve gotten off track.<\/p>\n When I turned back to her, I saw that her bag had spilled. Not wanting to overtly pry, I grinned (she must have thought I was a complete moron I was smiling so much that day) and took more of an interest in the red light we were now sitting at. I did see that she had what appeared to be jeans and a belt in the bag but, like I said, I wasn’t going to pry.<\/p>\n “Where’s your car?” I asked, shoving the Jag into gear as the light changed.<\/p>\n “I walked here. Needed to get some things for the apartment. You know, little knick-knacks and the like.” She was babbling now and I wondered if being with me made her nervous. That was rarely the impact that I had on women.<\/p>\n I wanted to tell her that she needed more than knick-knacks to make her little apartment a home. A sofa came to mind. Maybe a TV since all I had seen said she was very minimalistic when it came to furnishings. My mind flipped through a short inventory of what I had seen: a table with two rickety chairs, the corner of a bed (no, I had not gone into her bedroom. A gentleman only does that when invited) and a fantastic stereo system.<\/p>\n Still, she was rattling on. She’d spotted a nice set of dishes and found a good bargain on some curtains. All there at the second hand store.<\/p>\n “You like shopping there, I take it.” What else could I say?<\/p>\n “Oh yes. Find the most interesting things.” By now we were pulling up in front of her apartment and she was getting out of the car. “I’d invite you in for some tea or something but I am sure you have better things to do. ‘Sides, I need to get to the hospital. See you on Saturday.” Before I knew it, she was closing the car door and damn near running for the door. Even as she did, her bag of purchases slipped from her arm and emptied itself on the ground. Looking over her shoulder and grinning sheepishly, she pulled in the lot and turned away. Just before she did I noticed what I know was at least one boot and a pair of blue jeans. That wasn’t what made me scratch my head in wonder though. Looking around the parking lot, I didn’t see a car anywhere.<\/p>\n Slowly, I backed out and went on my way, trying to put an answer to the nagging question of who Alex Conover really was. She’d not spoken a lot about herself that first date except to say what she did and didn’t like. I’d seen her diplomas hung on the wall and knew that she had recently graduated from Stanford University as a full-fledged medical surgeon. Other than that, there had been no other information about her that I could put a finger to.<\/p>\n What the human mind does not know, it has a tendency to make up to fill in any gaps and voids. My mind began working overtime even though I didn’t want it to. By the time I had pulled into the parking lot of Cartwright and Sons Construction, I was back to feeling comfortable about her, even if more than half of the information was based on my own personal interpretation of things seen.<\/p>\n One: She believed in saving the world’s resources. Hence she had no car and used mass transit or walked.<\/p>\n Two: She was not a silly female into over-decorating her personal space. Stick with the necessities only.<\/p>\n Three: Because she had been studying to be a doctor, she had not learned to cook. Hence the lack of cooking utensils and dishes and such.<\/p>\n Four:<\/p>\n Four…..<\/p>\n Four? She was one hell of a looking woman and anything else wasn’t important.<\/p>\n As I got out of the car and headed up to my office, I told myself that all men – not just my notoriously womanizing little brother- paid more attention to a woman’s anatomy than they did her living arrangement. Call it survival instinct. The male of all species looked for the best female to \u2013no, I am above that sort of thought-pattern.<\/p>\n Once again, a cold shower seemed like a good idea.<\/p>\n By Saturday morning, I had conned Hoss out of his big dual wheeled pick up truck. I had planned to pick her up, horse trailer in tow and get right on out to where I wanted to take her riding – the west side of Tahoe, over behind Squaw Valley. Yes, that’s where the Hideout is as we Cartwright brothers call our personal little cabin. We’d built it to get out of the limelight that having a parent in politics can cast. I can’t speak for what Hoss and Joe do there but I know that I have used it more than once when I needed some quiet time to think things through. And if you believe that is all it ever gets used for, let me sell you a bridge. I had plans that day that included the Hideout but they were more of…let’s stop in here and have some lunch. Steaks in the frig, charcoal on the grill ready to light, that sort of thing.<\/p>\n Not truly knowing about her riding skill, I had “borrowed” Pa’s Buck. An older horse, the buckskin was as gentle as a kitten and had to be pushed hard to break into anything faster than a trot. He was part Tennessee Walker so his faster gait was more like sitting in a rocking chair. That, I had hoped, would meet her skill level and not make her too sore afterwards. As I pulled into the parking lot, though, I heard a snort from his side of the trailer. Peeking through the metal railings, I saw he had his ears laid back and was about to take a bite out of my Sport. I banged the aluminum wall and Buck decided on behaving. I cautioned him sternly but I am not sure he was listening.<\/p>\n “Alex!” I had rounded the corner of the trailer when she popped out her front door. Unlike the last time, she was dressed and ready to go. I took her hand and helped her into the truck, noticing that her jeans looked rather worn as did her brown, slant heeled cowboy boots. Maybe I had been wrong about her all along, I thought, but then remembered her bag of goodies from the second hand shop. Didn’t she have a pair of jeans and at least one boot in it?<\/p>\n Didn’t matter. Didn’t matter. Didn’t matter.<\/p>\n We made small talk as we drove the fifteen minutes over to the staging area. It’s part of the National forest that rings Tahoe on the north and west sides and as usual that morning, the entrance was guarded by a forest ranger – one that I knew as it happened to be.<\/p>\n “Hi, Luke.”<\/p>\n “Howdy, Adam. See you going to do a little riding, huh? Bring it all the way over here when you got the Ponderosa over on your side of the Lake seems a little -”<\/p>\n I wasn’t going to let Luke Foster ruin my date. “Yeah, I know, Luke. Listen, just assign us a spot, okay?”<\/p>\n Good old Luke Foster, national park ranger, grinned like a cat with a mouthful of feathers as he assigned us the spot closest to his kiosk for unloading the horses. I could feel his eyes on Alex and me every step of the way.<\/p>\n I won’t bore you with the particulars of the ride. Suffice it to say that Alex was a novice and I was almost glad that I had chosen Buck for her. I say almost because Buck and Sport seemed to be at odds that morning. Why? How should I know? Ask Hoss since he swears he can – never mind. Every time that they got close, side by side, one or the other was baring teeth and laying back ears. Most of the morning we rode trail fashion, one behind the other. That’s okay for kids but I wanted to ride beside her, not in front although the time I spent behind her….cold shower time again just remembering.<\/p>\n When did the clouds start rolling in? I’m not sure but I know it wasn’t until we were headed for the Hideout so that would make it right about eleven or so. I was riding lead, showing her where to go when I first saw the clouds. Instinct said that it was just a little rain shower, pushing up from the California valleys.<\/p>\n “I don’t suppose you checked the weather this morning, did you?” she called up. She’d seen the clouds too.<\/p>\n “Don’t worry. We’ll be there before it breaks loose. Besides, it’s just a little shower.”<\/p>\n I was right, of course. We made it to the Hideout before the first fat drop of cold rain hit. I had to help her dismount but she was game when it came to taking care of the horses. We pulled them into the garage where someone – yes, I had planned that, too- had left some feed and hay for them. With their bridles off and their cinches loosened, they were content to be friends again as long as the other one stayed on the far side of the bale of hay.<\/p>\n By the time I had them taken care of, the weather had turned down right cold. I switched gears and suggested that we grill the steaks on the kitchen range instead. Alex seemed to be willing- very much so!- when I offered to do the cooking. Presented with glasses of chilled white wine, she left me to my own devices in the culinary department. She went wandering about the place, touching this or that and suggesting that we might want to light the fire I had thoughtfully pre-laid in the circular fireplace. There was pure delight in her eyes as she struck the match and the tinder began to burn brightly. If it hadn’t been for the steaks sizzling in the kitchen, I would have….<\/p>\n What? You want all the details now? Well, I am a gentleman so the answer is “No. Figure it out for yourself.” All right, yes, our steaks finished, we made love on the floor of the living room. In front of the roaring fire. She was everything a man could want in a lover and brought out the best in me as well. Several times, in fact. But then, warmed by the fire and tired from our earlier ride, we both fell into a cozy, luxurious nap, curled about each other.<\/p>\n How long we would have stayed that way is anyone’s guess. I awoke with a start at the banging and wild neighing from the garage. It took me a moment to disentangle myself from her long arms and legs so it was pretty much all over but the shouting by the time I got to the garage. I was just in time to catch sight of a black tail and then a red one disappear down the lane. I could have tracked them easily since there was roughly three inches of wet snow on the ground. Could have, I say, but I didn’t and now you want to know why? Because I was stark naked is why. Just imagine that you are driving down a snowy mountain back road when suddenly appears before you two horses – one of them wearing a saddle upside down (Buck) and the other one after him, ears flattened and death in his eye (Sport). Enough to scare any sane driver, wouldn’t you think? Now add to it a man chasing said horses buck-naked and shouting obscenities. Not a pretty sight, is it?<\/p>\n So I didn’t chase after them. My plans of a leisurely afternoon ride suddenly changed into \u201ccall the house and see who could come and pick us up who wouldn’t be laughing behind their hats.\u201d<\/p>\n That is until I heard Alex beside me. I looked down at her. That was a mistake since all she was wearing was \u2013well, she wasn’t wearing any more than I was.<\/p>\n She groaned and leaned against me. “Oh no, Adam, what do we do? Can we walk out of here?”<\/p>\n “Sure we can but we don’t have to. I’ll just make a call. Come on before you freeze off something important.”<\/p>\n My plan fell apart at the garage\u2019s inside door. It had locked behind her. I distinctly remember looking into her eyes and pulling her into my arms…and wondering what the newspapers would say about finding Senator Cartwright’s oldest son frozen to death in the buff, holding an equally naked woman in a compromising position.<\/p>\n “Surely you have a key hidden somewhere?” Her simple question shook the vision of my father denying any knowledge of his eldest son’s peccadilloes to the press right out of my head. I snapped my fingers and kissed her on the end of her cold nose.<\/p>\n Down on my hands and knees, digging in three inches of wet spring time snow, I am sure I looked like every woman’s dream. I found the front door mat and even though it had frozen to the deck concrete, pried it up with my fingers, straining for all I was worth. It finally came free but there was no key under it. I sat back on my heels and tried to remember where else we had talked about hiding a key. I snapped my fingers as I recalled Hoss suggesting that one be placed out back where the emergency generator was kept in a low squat building.<\/p>\n I grabbed her hand and running through the cold snow, we made our way there. This time she helped me dig through the snow to free the small door. I had to lay face down in the snow and stick my arm in, snaking it around the generator’s pull rope and to the far side. I could feel the empty nail.<\/p>\n “Adam, listen. I am getting more than a little cold here. What if we break a window?”<\/p>\n Rolling around and still sitting in the snow, I did the same thing she did: stare at the cabin, picking a window. There was but one problem and I knew about it because I had insisted on it when we were building the Hideout. All of the windows were triple-paned. Not only would they be tough to break but expensive to replace. I shoved aside the thought of what it was going to cost to replace one. That I could do without anyone knowing about it. Freezing to death while naked, or even trying to go for help while naked? Couldn’t keep that quiet for love nor money. Window it was.<\/p>\n “Here.” She offered up Sport’s saddle pad to wrap around my hand. Instead I took it and placed it against the window on the back side of the building – the one no one would notice was broken until I had the chance to replace it.<\/p>\n “I’ll hold it while you use that chunk of fire wood. You’ll have to hit it hard, Alex. That way it won’t shatter back on us.”<\/p>\n That would have worked except that she was too short and too cold to get a good swing at the window. After a few futile attempts, she stood back, hands on her hips and scowled at it. I almost laughed because she was so angry that snowflakes weren’t even landing on her.<\/p>\n I shrugged my shoulders and stepped back to study the situation. “Okay, scratch that plan. Any ideas?” I thought I was being courteous but considering the circumstances I should have saved myself the effort.<\/p>\n “You’re the engineer, aren’t you?” she shouted.<\/p>\n When forced to face your shortcomings, I decided a long time ago that it was best to do it head-on. No, being an engineer was not a shortcoming on my part. Nor was keeping my temper in a dangerous situation. What is a shortcoming, and I freely admit it, is thinking logically and coolly when the situation clearly warrants something closer to caveman ethics and capabilities. So it was that I picked up the chunk of firewood and threw it at the window.<\/p>\n The window shattered as if it had been hit by machine gun fire. By draping the saddle pad over the glass shards, Alex was able to get into the cabin. Me? I ran around to the door, feeling the cold keenly now.<\/p>\n And listening to the wail of our high-tech burglar alarm. As soon as I got inside, I ran to the control box and yanked the door open. At that point, my mind went blank because I couldn’t recall the number code to punch in to turn the thing off. I tried all of the codes I could remember: Pa’s birthday, mine, Hoss’, Joe’s but none of them worked. That was exceptionally unfortunate because three wrong tries and the system locked out my continued futile attempts. As I sagged, defeated against the wall, I could almost hear the phones ringing on the other side of Lake Tahoe. My own cell phone was turned off so the alarm agency would get my voice mail. Next would be Hoss’ cell phone which he rarely carried so the odds were good that once again the agency would get voice mail. The next call would be to Joe’s number. I envisioned him answering it then calling Roy Coffee and reporting a burglary in progress at the Hideout.<\/p>\n Well, at least that would bring someone who could take us home and we would be dressed, at least.<\/p>\n The thought of that phone call to Roy jerked me to my feet. I raced to the phone in the kitchen and called the Ponderosa. One, two, three times it rang as I stood there, shivering cold, still naked, praying that someone other than Pa would answer it.<\/p>\n There is a god in heaven but He has a twisted sense of humor.<\/p>\n Joe answered it.<\/p>\n “Listen, Joe,” I began, not realizing that my teeth were chattering. “Get your butt over here to the Hideout.”<\/p>\n “Why? If you hadn’t noticed, Brother, it’s snowing out there to beat the band! Got a few inches on the ground already.”<\/p>\n I fought the urge to reach through the phone line and throttle him into silence. “I know it is. Listen, just come on over and I’ll make it worth your while. And while you’re at it, when the alarm company calls, just tell them to turn it off. Just a mistake is all it is. No need for the law. Better yet, where’s Hoss?”<\/p>\n A body can hope, can’t they?<\/p>\n “Luke called him from Squaw Well. Said that they were closing the park and that his truck and trailer were over there and had to be moved. Pa took him over and…” Suddenly the other end of the phone line became filled with Joe’s high-pitched laughter. He tried to get a few words out – words that told me he’d figured something out about what had happened. Finally he got himself under control long enough to continue with “And Roy Coffee called Pa and told him Buck and Sport were chasing each other down the highway. Running loose and causing a traffic hazard…” Joe lost control again so I hung up.<\/p>\n Twenty minutes – long minutes with the blasted alarm still wailing at decibels too hard to think through- and I heard Joe’s Jeep grinding up the lane in low gear. Alex and I had both dressed quickly, bolting futilely into our clothes. An errant reminder of how we had taken them off – hurriedly stripped them off actually- revisited me as I pulled my half-unbuttoned shirt over my head. We huddled close to the fireplace but the wind had picked up and was sweeping in the broken window, gusting around corners and finding us.<\/p>\n “Hey, Adam!” My brother never sounded so cheerful in all his life, I swear it. He stumbled into the living room just as the burglar alarm shut down. “Well, hello, Doctor Conover. Adam.” If the doctor who had put him back together so recently hadn’t been there, I would have given serious thought to wiping that smile off his face with my own hand.<\/p>\n “Listen, we’ve had quite an adventure here this afternoon and could use some help, Little Brother.”<\/p>\n Said little brother was nudging the empty wine glasses with the toe of his boot. Then he sniffed the air which still smelled faintly of cooked meat. “Yep, I can see that, all right. But how come it’s so cold in here?”<\/p>\n Alex piped up. “Because we were locked out and had to break a window to get back in.”<\/p>\n “Locked out?” Joe asked, his head canted to one side as he poked the ring of keys dangling from my jeans’ pocket. He leaned in close to me and whispered. “She that good that you lost your senses?”<\/p>\n She must have heard because she promptly told him that I had kept my senses very clearly. “It was our clothes we lost.”<\/p>\n The place suddenly warmed up because I know for certain that I was not blushing, either from what she’d said or Joe’s hooting.<\/p>\n Anyway, to make a long story short, while Alex and I cleaned up from our afternoon, Joe put a sheet of plastic over the broken window. With only sidelong glances, we piled into his Jeep and took off. Within twenty minutes we were at the Ranch. I shuddered, seeing Hoss’ truck already pulled into the garage, the horse trailer off to the side. There was a light in the barn and I could hear him saying something but I was sure it wasn’t to Pa as I could see him standing, waiting, on the porch.<\/p>\n “Doctor Conover,” Pa greeted her warmly and led her into the great room to sit before the fire. Before we could even ask, Hop Sing was delivering hot toddies. I helped her out of her coat then took off my own prior to settling again before the fireplace.<\/p>\n “If the snow isn’t too bad, could one of you gentlemen take me home?” she asked, not even looking in my direction.<\/p>\n I was about to offer up my services but Pa waved his hand, giving me the signal to be quiet or risk his wrath. “I’ll be glad to, Doctor Conover. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll go. You are welcome to spend the night, though.”<\/p>\n “No,” she said as she shook her head. “I have an early shift at the hospital tomorrow, so if it isn’t any trouble, could we go ahead now?”<\/p>\n Pa smiled benignly and rose to get his coat on. “I’ll just get the car warmed up while you and Adam-” Pa could finish his sentence as he’d started coughing. I thought it was a strange cough. Through it, he managed to tell Joe to find the good doctor something warm to wrap up in. Joe obeyed but he was having trouble not laughing as he went upstairs.<\/p>\n That left Alex and me alone. I took her carefully into my arms and kissed the tip of her nose. “Quite an adventure today, wouldn’t you say?” She nodded and looked up at me with those great brown eyes of hers shining brightly. “Do it again sometime?”<\/p>\n Alex smiled and snuggled a little closer. “Only if you promise that we do something a little less adventurous. Like a walk or something.”<\/p>\n I offered to take her to dinner and dancing but she shook her head and sighed. “Please, something that doesn’t-” she floundered to a stop, thought for a moment then went on. “I don’t have the clothes, or the budget to buy them unless they come from the second hand store. Doctors don’t start out rich, you know.”<\/p>\n It hit me like a ton of bricks. I slapped my forehead and what did she do? She took my hand and kissed my palm.<\/p>\n “Besides, we can do other things, can’t we?”<\/p>\n I was still kissing her when Joe showed up with one of my heavy coats and Pa came in the front door. They were still tickled by something but I was feeling something a whole lot different.<\/p>\n So, that’s the story. Tell me now, honestly. Is it normal? Pa and Joe’s reaction, I mean. After all, they both clearly understood what had happened that afternoon. Shouldn’t one of them have told me that I had my shirt on wrong-side out?<\/p>\n the end, for now.<\/p>\n Tahoe Ladies Next in the 21st Century Cartwrights Series:<\/p>\n Heavenly Intervention<\/a>
\nWith a Two-edged Sword<\/a>
\nCalculated Revenge<\/a>
\nPassages<\/a>
\nWith The Best Intentions<\/a>
\nThe Art of Weaseling<\/a>
\nWith All Deliberate Purpose<\/a>
\nDeath Walked This Way Today<\/a>
\nIs This Normal?
\n<\/a>Heavenly Intervention<\/a>
\nWithholding the Dream<\/a><\/p>\n
\nJanuary 2006<\/p>\n
\nWithholding the Dream<\/a><\/p>\n