free hit counters
Chapter 44
One of the nice things about not having anything to do for the summer was that Josh got to sleep in in the mornings. He was sawing logs pretty good, not thinking about the chance to sleep in, but taking advantage of it the following Monday morning. His dreams,
predictably, were of Amy -- not even a naked Amy, playing volleyball, the vision at the Frosty Freeze, or even the meaty-tasting kiss they'd shared late Saturday night, but of Amy, bent over Mr. Sloat, trying to breathe life into his lungs.
It had been a heck of a first date, under any circumstances.
It had been tough to see Danny drive off in the car with the two girls, but when Danny had brought his car back Sunday morning, he reported that when he got out to the club, both Dr. Brege and Harry Masterfield had talked to the girl's parents. "Everybody's real
pleased," Danny said. "The girl's folks want to meet you some time, but I don't think we're going to get any static about going out with them again. It was kind of funny," he went on, "Watching both of them trying to keep from getting caught with Big Mac on their breath."
With that vision in mind, Sunday afternoon went a little bit better, although it was a short jump to visualizing Amy and Marsha playing volleyball. The afternoon was broken up by several people calling or dropping by mostly to offer congratulations to Josh, and that made
things go a little better, too.
The afternoon was waning, and Josh had managed to build up a little interest in a Cubs game on TV when he heard the beeping of a horn outside. "Looks like it's for you," his father said.
Josh went outside, to discover the Appliance Center pickup parked at the curb, with Danny and the girls in the cab. "Get your swimsuit and get your car," Danny called. "We're gonna go to the city beach. Meet you back here in a few minutes."
Suddenly, Josh was in motion at the speed of sound. He had his swimsuit on and was heading down the stairs and out to his car, when he discovered Amy on the front porch, talking with his father and mother. "We just don't know how to thank you and Josh for what
you did," Sarah was saying. "We've known Ed and Jill for a long time, and we're just glad you came along when you did."
"Have you heard how he was doing?" Amy asked.
"Bud went down to Camden earlier," Walt replied. "He says they think he's going to make it."
"That is good news," Amy said, and went on. "Josh, why don't we get in your car and go down to Danny's house? It could take them a few minutes."
"Have a good time," Sarah said. "Try not to be too late."
That beat a lecture any day.
Out in the car, Josh asked, "What's the deal at Danny's house, anyway?"
"Danny thinks that there's an old swimsuit of Brandy's laying around that Marsha could wear," she explained. "You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a swimsuit out at the our place."
"I can imagine," Josh said, only too truthfully. "Danny said he thought you guys wouldn't be too crazy about going to the city beach."
"Well, yeah," Amy explained. "But, we were sitting around, talking about going for a swim, and Danny said it was too bad we had to leave you out of the fun. So, here we are."
"Thanks," Josh said. "It was getting pretty dull. The Cubs were getting their butts whipped, anyway."
They pulled to a stop in front of the Evachevski house. In a minute, Danny and Marsha came out, Marsha wearing a one-piece brown swimsuit obviously a little too small for her; with a high French cut and a low neckline, she was popping out all over. It was clear that
she wasn't used to wearing a swimsuit. Josh and Amy got out of the car, while Danny and Marsha piled into the back. "OK," Danny said. "We're going over to the city beach for an hour or so, and then we're going to meet the girl's folks at the Frosty Freeze at 6:30. After
that, I don't know."
It had been a good hour, with the four of them laughing and playing in the water, throwing a frisbee around. It proved that Amy had on as close to a string bikini as had ever been seen on the beach at Spearfish Lake, and she drew a lot of attention, which she pretty
much ignored. A good deal of the attention was from Josh; though the bikini didn't leave a lot to the imagination, it did leave a little, and it was hard to not wonder about what might have been, under other circumstances.
It was getting close to 6:30 before they got out of the water and dried off. "Hey, I know it puts you guys out to come into town and do this for me," Josh said, "But I really appreciate it."
The meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Ashtenfelter had gone pretty well, under the circumstances. Josh had tried to be respectful, and leave a good impression, and it must have worked, for though the girls went home with their parents, there hadn't been any objections to the
idea of future dates. "That went better than it had any right to," Danny commented as he and Josh went back out to Josh's car. "Now, with any kind of luck at all, we ought to have a pretty good summer. It's going to be a little awkward at times, but one thing you learn out
there, you learn to get used to awkward."
