William Redman CarterChapter 51
- 1 year ago
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Lucy and Ann entered the house curious as to what they were going to find. They weren't expecting to have a screaming Tim run across the room and then jumping into his father's arms. They both jumped at his scream of delight at having his father return home. Holding up his son, Ken said, "Hello, sport. I'm glad to see you too. How about we get you ready for bed and I'll read a bedtime story to you?"
"Yeah!"
Ken carried Tim up the stairs. Lisa was waiting patiently for the males to clear out of the way. Once they were gone, she said, "Let me show your rooms."
The three women left the living room before William even had a chance to introduce them to each other. They managed to introduce themselves as they went to the guestroom.
Alone, William went to his favorite chair and sat down. Pulling out his cell phone, he called home. When Cathy answered, he said, "Tell the family that I finally found her. Her name is Lucy."
Closing the cell phone, he sat back in his chair feeling tired. It had been a long hard day and one that he would love to live over and over. He closed his eyes and fell asleep thinking that he would have to tell Lisa that they would be having a lot of company Thursday.
In the guest room, Ann said, "I'm so sorry to put you out like this. We'll be here until we get Lucy moved into her new dorm and we don't know how long that will take."
"Just the two of you are nothing. He's had as many as a hundred people drop in to talk to him. He has more visitors than anyone I've ever met," said Lisa smiling as she went over to the cabinet. She pulled out a pair of bags and said, "In case you're missing anything, each of these bags have a toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, deodorant, and tampons."
Looking at the bags, Ann asked, "He's got guest bags with tampons?"
Lisa laughed and said, "I added those after he had a female guest who needed them."
Curious, Lucy asked, "He has female visitors?"
"His sisters, mothers, and Druids drop in with some regularity," answered Lisa not aware of the emerging relationship between William and Lucy. She sighed and said, "He needs a girlfriend though. I've never seen a young man who was so lonely."
Looking at Lucy, Ann knew her daughter was probably bursting with curiosity. She asked, "Any girls interested in him?"
"There was the girl next door who was after him, but he didn't want anything to do with her. I don't blame him, she isn't too stable," said Lisa. Jennifer had been taken twice to the hospital for collapsing as a result of not eating.
Returning to her role as housekeeper, she turned down the sheets on the twin beds. While she worked, she said, "You have a private bathroom through the door behind you. The closets and chest of drawers are empty if you want to unpack your stuff."
"Nice," said Ann realizing that this was a real guestroom rather than a general-purpose room that also served as guestroom. Looking around at the twin beds, chairs, table, nightstands, chest of drawers, and television, she asked, "How many guest rooms does he have here?"
"Three. We've had a number of occasions when we needed more. We packed some of them into Tim's room."
"Oh."
Satisfied that everything was ready, Lisa asked, "Would you care for some hot chocolate?"
"Sure," answered Lucy thinking that a cup of hot chocolate would be the perfect end to a long day.
Lisa led the way to the living room. The women took one look at William sleeping in his chair and made their way to the kitchen as quietly as possible. Once they reached the kitchen, Lisa turned to face the other two women. Whispering so that she wouldn't wake William, she asked, "Did he explain the rules of the house to you?"
Puzzled at having house rules, Ann answered, "No."
"There are two rules. If it harms none, then do it. Protect the weak from the strong. If you follow those rules, you won't have any problems staying here," said Lisa.
"Seem easy enough," said Lucy.
"Well, the first rule is a little complicated. You see, this is a clothing optional house," said Lisa as she got out a kettle in which to heat the water for the hot chocolate. Seeing the look of horror on Ann's face, she quickly added, "I know what you're thinking. He's a fifteen-year-old boy with raging hormones and all that. It's not that way at all."
In an icy voice, Ann asked, "What way is it?"
"It's all very innocent."
"Innocent?"
"Let me tell you the truth. When I first came here, I was terrified to get undressed in front of him. The first time I did it, he barely looked at me. He's never looked at me in a way that's made me uncomfortable. I participate in the morning exercises undressed most mornings now."
"I really don't like this," said Ann becoming convinced that she had seriously misjudged William.
Lucy was shocked at the revelation that it was a clothing optional house. There was no way her father would let her see William if he knew that he was a nudist. She doubted that her mother would allow the relationship to continue. No boy had ever seen her without her clothes on and she wanted to keep it that way. Snorting, she said, "There's no way I'm going to get undressed in front of him while I'm here."
Laughing at the obviously puritanical reaction, Lisa said, "He'd never ask you to do that."
Surprised that he wouldn't want to see her naked, Lucy asked, "Why?"
Filling the kettle with water, Lisa answered, "Because I think in this circumstance, you are weak and he will do all that he can to protect you. That is the second rule of this house, to protect the weak from the strong. He would never violate that rule."
Lisa nodded her head thoughtfully and said, "I doubt that you'll even see him naked unless you are up early enough for the exercises."
"The exercises?"
"Yeah. We exercise every morning. It is called Tai Chi." She leaned over and then, in an even softer whisper, said, "I gained weight after giving birth to Tim. You won't believe this, but I was a pretty hefty woman. Now look at me. I've never looked better. My stomach is flat, my breasts are firm, my ass doesn't sag, and my legs are shapely. My husband finds me sexy again."
Intrigued, Ann examined Lisa with the intent of checking out her body. The other woman definitely looked healthy as she went about the business of making hot chocolate. Lisa looked over her shoulder and said, "I apologize for the instant hot chocolate, but William really likes it."
"I like the instant kind," Lucy said.
"Good."
Filling three cups with hot water, Lisa glanced over at Lucy. Convinced that there was a good chance that Lucy might get a crush on William, she said, "I'm probably overstepping my bounds, but you look like a nice girl and I'd hate for you to get hurt. I don't know if you're interested in William, but you might not want to get your hopes up too high."
"Why?" asked Lucy. It was an interesting comment after what Happy Harry had said earlier.
"He's real smart. The girl who gets his eye is going to have to be a super-genius. I know you're a pretty young lady, but you'd have to be in college before he'd look at you," said Lisa as she poured the instant hot chocolate into the cups. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "I think he's been waiting for someone special."
There was an interesting correlation between what Lisa said and what Harry said. Giving her mother a significant glance, Lucy asked, "What would you say if I told you that I was a sophomore in college?"
"I don't know whether I'd say that you should grab him and never let go or if you should grab a baseball bat to keep the other girls from killing you," answered Lisa with a chuckle. She passed out the cups of hot chocolate.
"Why do you say that about other girls?" asked Lucy.
"He's young, attractive, smart, rich, and famous. Gold-diggers are going to be swarming all over that boy in a year or two," answered her mother thinking about the problems that will develop later in life. She wondered if her daughter had a chance at happiness. She still didn't like the idea that he was a nudist.
After Lucy and her mother went to bed, Lisa woke up William so that he could sleep in his bed. He stumbled off to his bedroom forgetting to tell Lisa about the fact that he was expecting a lot more visitors Thursday.
Unable to resist temptation, Ann and Lucy watched the group practice Tai Chi through the back window. Ann could hardly keep her eyes off Ken and Lisa. Lisa had not been lying about being in good shape. Her body was tight and she moved with grace. With a sigh, she said, "She is really attractive."
It was strange to stand beside her mother while watching a bunch of naked people, but Lucy wouldn't have been able to turn away for any amount of money. She had never seen anything like what was happening in the backyard. When they turned to perform certain movements she could see the private parts of William, Ken, and Tim. She wasn't sure if it was normal for their cocks to be flaccid when standing around a beautiful woman like Lisa. Curious, she asked, "Shouldn't they be excited or something?"
Ann looked at her daughter well aware of what she had been examining. She had spent more than a little time looking at the same things. Smiling, she said, "Not necessarily, but I'm surprised they aren't."
Licking her lips, Lucy watched William perform a turn. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing wrong with his body. Softly, she said, "He's gorgeous."
"Yeah, he's a good looking young man. Don't let your hormones get the better of you," Ann said. Looking at Ken and William, she could understand having a biological response to the view.
"Did you notice the scars on his chest?" asked Lucy. The two horizontal scars across his chest were the only imperfection on his body that she could see.
Ann nodded, but didn't answer. The group broke up their exercise and started moving around. William talked to Ken and Lisa while Tim headed into the house. The naked little boy burst through the back door, shouted a quick hello, and raced up the stairs. Lucy said, "He's not shy about being naked."
Laughing, Ann said, "No he's not."
A minute later, Tim made the reverse route carrying a Frisbee. With a quick goodbye he was out the door. Afraid of what she was going to hear, Lucy asked, "What do you think about this clothing optional stuff?"
"It's not what I expected," Ann answered watching William talking with Ann and Ken. He looked at their eyes and not the sexy bits. It was not the kind of behavior that she expected from a teenage boy.
"I was afraid that they'd break out into an orgy or something," Lucy said giving voice to her greatest concern. After catching her roommate the previous day, she didn't think she could have dealt with that.
"Same here," Ann said. She thought about it for a minute and then said, "Let's not tell your father about this yet."
The three adults dressed. Once dressed, Ken went off to play Frisbee with Tim who was still running around naked. William went over to watch them play for a minute while Lisa returned to the house. Entering, she looked over at Lucy and Ann at the window. Smiling, she said, "Good morning. I see you are both early risers."
Blushing at having been caught watching, Ann said, "Well, we went to bed a little early last night and have a busy day today."
"That's okay. I'm going to make pancakes. Is that all right with you two?"
"That's fine," said Ann.
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William walked out the front door of his house to await his visitor. His daytime bodyguard, Colt, walked behind him wondering why they had come outside. For all he knew, they had left the house just to stand around all day in the sunshine. His eyes automatically checked the surroundings for any threats. The two men headed over to the driveway with William leading the way. A minute later, a rental car pulled up in the driveway. Colt glared at it as if it were a direct threat. He relaxed when...
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William looked across the table at Patrick and asked, "So how are things going?" "They are going well. Once I got over the initial shock, I found that I can deal with the nudity," Patrick answered although he wasn't going to mention the unease he felt when talking with Lucy. "Good. After two years here you'll be able to handle most things that life throws at you. You'll need that when you become a Chief," William said choosing his words with great care. It was time to plant a seed...
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The months passed without much of anything too remarkable occurring. William spent most of his time working with the candidates running for office. Lucy worked on the program trying to find ways to represent the quality of the society graphically. Construction on the facility for holding the computers was progressing nicely. The young couple kept the staff very busy as well. With the ever increasing need for data, Victoria spent nearly every hour of the day searching for new sources of data...
Spreading margarine on the slice of toast with long smooth motions, William was getting ready to enjoy breakfast. Lucy watched him, waiting for him to cut his slice of toast along the diagonal. Rich enough to afford butter, it always amazed her that he actually enjoyed margarine more. William looked up from his toast and winked at her. Rock, the nighttime bodyguard, was watching him with narrowed eyes. The other three bodyguards were seated at the far end of the table eating their eggs....
William stared at Lucy in shock. Unable to believe what he thought he had heard her say, he asked, "Excuse me?" Pointing to the woman at the front of the conference room of the Carter House, Lucy said, "I asked her to remove her clothes." "I thought I misunderstood you," William said. He glanced over at Mary Gold. The woman had her head down and was hiding her mouth behind her hands. The twinkle in her eye suggested that she was trying not to laugh. The twenty-four year old woman...
The Catholic religious wedding ceremony for Cathy Black Thorn and David Light Wind started at noon. It was a traditional Catholic service and lasted for almost an hour before they exchanged their vows. The Catholic priest provided a nice service in which he blessed their marriage. To tell the truth, Lucy had found it rather boring. She also felt that the bride wasn't given the kind of attention that most women sought in the wedding ceremony. At two, the bride and groom met at their future...
"Is it working?" Lucy asked watching the array of monitors at William's desk. Shaking his head, William answered, "I don't know. We've only progressed ten years in the simulation. We've got another ninety to go." "It's been running for twenty hours," Lucy said looking over at the clock. They had started the program the previous day at noon and it was now just a little after eight in the morning. "That's right," William said woodenly. His eyes examined the curves of the...
William shook his head in amazement while going through the stack of papers Barbara had handed him. She had all of their expenditures typed up for the accountant complete with receipts. The confirmations for chartered jets were in a neat little stack. The agenda for the meetings had been typed up with copies for everyone. Looking up at Barbara, he said, "You are amazing. I don't know how you keep up with everything." Upon hearing more praise from William, Barbara squirmed in her chair. It...
William stepped out the front door of the hotel and froze. Rather than facing a run down street in San Diego, he was in a meadow. There in front of him was a contrived scene of life and death. To his right, a man was facing death as a giant wrecking ball swung towards him from behind. To his left, a different man faced an identical death. He shouted, "Duck." Both men stared at William as the wrecking balls swung through them. William stared in horror at the result. Two broken bodies lay on...
The activities being performed by the occupants of the house would never be the subject of a Norman Rockwell type of picture. The scene just wasn't cute enough. Lucy, seated at her desk, was busy writing up her solution to the math problem that William had given her. At his desk, William was busy changing his program for predicting economic and social trends. Over at the dining room table, Jan was writing on a pad of paper; capturing another chapter of her book. At the other end of the...
The gymnasium of the activity center was empty except for a long table at which the tribal elders of all the local tribes were seated. All eyes were watching the door at the far end of the room for their visitor. The tension in the room was high. Most of them expected their visitor to argue with them about their conservative stance and they were not looking forward to it. They were sure that they would lose this argument with this particular visitor. Looking around the room, Robert White...
Talking quietly with each other, Lucy and William waited in the theater for Eddie to arrive. The theater room had four rows of ten seats each facing a large screen. Each chair was large and comfortable with a holder for a soda built into the armrest. Beth had ordered the chairs from a real theater supply company. Like a real movie theater, the floor slanted down towards the front of the room. At the entrance to the room, there was a snack bar complete with a typical theater-style popcorn...
Greetings had been exchanged and the guests shown their rooms in the Carter home. The next order of business was to relax. William stripped off his clothes and headed towards the pool. He jumped in feet first, reveling in the feel of cool water against his bare skin. Lucy and Ann, naked as well, slipped into the pool right behind him. Before they had even moved a dozen feet from the edge, Betsy charged into the poolroom throwing off her clothes even as she ran. Without pause, she jumped into...
William and Ed returned to the hotel refreshed from their little swim at the Mayor's house. William felt confident that another candidate had been found with a good chance of winning. They entered the suite laughing about the mayor's reaction on discovering them swimming in the pool. The laughter turned to surprise when William spotted his mother relaxing in the living room of the suite. She was seated next to Lucy. He said, "Momma Kelly! What are you doing here?" Seeing that William...
Lucy watched the screen through red eyes that saw the world through a blur. She hadn't sleep for the past thirty hours. The programmers were asleep on the floor having exhausted the last of their stamina under the nearly constant pressure from Lucy. Even if she hadn't been so tired, it would have been hard to interpret the results. There were a hundred curves all overlaid one upon another. After running twenty four hours, the model had projected ahead only twelve years. Considering the...
Amused by what he was doing, Derrick led the little horse using the reigns. Lucy was seated on its back holding onto the saddle horn with white knuckles. She was nervous; feeling like the horse was huge and ready to run away at any moment. She looked over at William and, voice tight with tension, said, "I've never ridden a horse before." "You don't say. I would never have guessed," William replied with a grin from atop the horse that Derrick had given him. It was a nice quarter-horse...
"Your mother and I watched your meeting with the White Buffalo on the news. That's how we knew to go to the ranch," said Lucy. "Pardon?" William was not aware that there had been a television camera at the ranch. "Someone filmed the whole thing with their video camera. It was on the television within half an hour of it happening." "So what did you think?" "Strange. It was like you weren't there. Your face was blank. Your voice was strange with an odd echoing quality to it. When...
Following behind Rock and Natalie, Lucy and William entered their home with a sigh of relief. They had both been very busy since their graduation. The summer had started with locating, hiring, and delivering Dante to Harry for the purpose of creating a statue of the elderly Druid. That had been followed by their wedding with a week of parties, their honeymoon, visits to a number of tribal councils, and a few visits to Homeless Hotels around the country. Exhausted, they planned to stay at home...
Ling and Betsy stopped the car at the front gate leading to William's place. Over the past year, the front of the property had changed to where it looked more like the entrance to a military base than a ranch. There was a little guard shack that sat beside a closed metal barrier. Ling's trained eye recognized the retractable barrier was capable of stopping a charging dump truck. Worried about the kind of reception they would receive, Betsy asked, "Are you sure that he'll see us?" "It...
Wearing nothing but a loincloth and a small leather bag around his neck, William walked to the edge of the stream. Once there, he paused and looked down at the ground. At the border between water and land was a stone that caught his attention. Kneeling, he picked it up. The stone was the diameter of a quarter with a thickness of a quarter of an inch. The edges were worn smooth. There was nothing remarkable about the stone except for one feature -- the center of the stone had been worn away...
"Uh oh," William said as he pulled into the driveway. Rock, Colt, Natalie, and Nicole were standing in the driveway with their arms crossed and a frown on their faces. They didn't look too happy to see him. "I forgot about them." He turned off the motor and stepped out of the car. Looking at the four body guards, he asked, "How did you enjoy your vacation?" "You dumped us in the middle of nowhere," Colt said. "Sorry about that," William said. He glanced over at the front door to...
"Do you think I should open a publishing house?" William asked. "No," Linda answered putting the manuscript on the table. She had just finished reading it and had been very impressed. She knew Happy Harry, but not many of the other homeless. She had noticed that the manuscript had Forest Shadow crying like a baby by the time she had finished it. "Okay, so who do we take the manuscript to?" "Al Maloney would probably be the best person. His publishing house has handled a lot of best...
John Carter, William's older brother, squatted down by the campfire and picked up the coffee pot. While pouring a cup, he asked, "So what do you think of Betsy's legal problems?" Shrugging his shoulders, William answered, "I don't know what to think. I keep hoping that the father will drop the charges. It would be a disaster for the prison system if she were to go to jail. The thought of that sends shivers down my spine." John laughed and asked, "What do you think the chances are of...
The last test, marked with an A+, joined the rest of the tests stacked on the left hand corner of William's desk. Looking over at Lucy, he said, "That's the last one." "So how were the grades?" Lucy asked looking up from her work. "Not bad," William answered patting the stack of test papers. The first eight weeks of teaching had been hard on William. He didn't have any real experience of dealing with high school students. Getting his early education at the Druid College had not...
William rushed into the hotel and looked around the lobby. The elevator door opened and Lucy stepped out looking around the lobby. They met halfway with a hug that was just on the tasteful side of being publicly acceptable. William said, "I've missed you." "I missed you," Lucy said burying her face into his chest and enjoying his scent. It felt good to feel his arms around her. "I'm so glad that you could make it here," William said running a hand across her back. It felt so right...
It was the day after Thanksgiving and William sat in his hunting stand watching the area in front of him for an older buck to appear. Several does and a young buck had passed in front of him a little after sunrise, but they were young animals that would strengthen the herd. He was waiting for an older deer to come through. There was a nip of cold in the air that was usual for that time of year. He could actually see his breath. Frost had covered the few grasses that grew along the banks of...
The squick of a white board marker flying across the white board filled the air. William looked up and watched Lucy work through the equations on the board; her hand moving at almost a blur. She stepped back for a second and then dived in for another round of simplifications. Her hips swung from side to side as she worked her magic on the mathematics. With her entire body participating, her long hair started swaying in a most seductive manner. William was entranced. Frowning, Lucy stepped...
Lucy stepped out of the truck and went around to the back to get her suitcase. Before she had a chance to pick it up, Ken had grabbed it while looking at her as if she should have known he'd carry it. The van with Linda and Ed pulled up beside the car. Looking around the parking lot in front of the country hotel, William said, "We'll get checked in and then I need to get on down the road." "Are you sure that you don't want me to come?" "Lucy, I'd love for you to come, but you...
"So you're going to become Dr. Carter?" Eddie asked while watching his brother pack up his books. William looked over at his little brother. The boy was turning into a good looking young man. His short black hair, piercing grey eyes, and subdued Native American features gave him an exotic look. William knew that it wouldn't be long before the girls started following his brother around town. Pulling the roll of tape over the top of the box, he answered, "Yes, if I ever manage to get out...
"Son, you know I have to tell the truth," Ed said looking William in the eye. He had finally caught up with William before his son had entered his office. "Yes, I know that," William said with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looked away from his father breaking eye contact. "You know that it isn't always an easy thing for me to do, don't you?" "Yes, I know that." Shaking his head, Ed said, "You can't hide away from the world forever. Your little brother has asked you...
Ken removed his clothes and placed them on the patio table. The past four weeks had wrought major changes in his physique. He had lost fifteen pounds, with even more fat having been turned into muscle. His shirts were too large around the waist and too small at the shoulders. He glanced over at his wife to see how she was reacting to stripping outdoors. Lisa's body was a soft red color, flushed as a result of embarrassment. After a month of morning exercises with William, Ling, and Tim...
"Where's Betsy?" "She's grounded," Eddie answered. He shrugged his shoulders and, looking over at his mother, said, "All she did was have a little swim." "Naked, in a public aquarium, and with sharks," Ling said filling in a few details that Eddie tended to forget. Putting an arm around his little brother, William pulled Eddie against his side and said, "At least she didn't get threatened with a spanking." "True," Eddie said. He was tired and wished that he had been able to...
Seated at his desk, William listened to the sound of a twelve-string guitar emanating from the guest room. He liked the music Greg Banner created. Lucy loved the music and could listen to it all day. Turning to Ken, he snapped his fingers to get the man's attention. Once he was sure that Ken was looking at him, he said, "Doug is here." Ken reached the intercom in time to hear the signal from the guard. Pushing the button, Ken said, "Let Doug in." "Sure," came the answer. It sounded...
William looked up at the stars overhead. The sight of the summer sky was always special to him, particularly on nights without a moon. The stars seemed so low that you could reach out and touch them. Turning to the dark shape seated next to him, he said, "I love looking at the stars out here." "I do too," Eddie said with a smile. In the dark, his white teeth seemed to stand out. William pulled out his pack of cigarettes and took one out. He handed the pack to his brother and said,...
"Vera." "What?" she answered without even looking away from her computer screen. Her fingers did not slow down in the least bit. William frowned at the tone of voice that she used in answering him. It seemed to him as if she was upset about something. Dismissing his concerns, he said, "I need you to research the sex industry." "Excuse me," Vera said drawing out each word twice as long as would be normal. She saved the file she was working on before turning to face William. The...
"You're going to be heading off to college soon," William said looking across the fire at Eddie. He added another small log to the fire and sat back to watch it catch. "I've got another two years of high school," Eddie said poking a stick into the fire and watching the end start to burn. He pulled the stick out of the fire. The weak flame flickered and died. The small glowing bud at the end of the stick slowly faded. "Enjoy them while you can," William said. Everyone was telling...
The students trickled out of the classroom in ones and twos as they finished their final exams. William sat on the floor across from the door watching them leave. Some looked confident, others angry, and a few as if they didn't care how they did in the class. Those who looked blurry-eyed or were sloppily dressed had spent the previous evening cramming in the hopes of learning the material at the last minute. When Lucy stepped out of the class, she rolled her eyes and smiled. Closing the...
Chuckling to himself, William shook his head as elements of the near future resolved themselves in his mind. Ken, seated at the dining room table, looked over at him wondering what he had found so humorous. He was about to ask when William said, "It is time for one of my mothers to make an appearance." Lisa, in the kitchen with Tim, wondered why he hadn't asked her to prepare one of the guestrooms. She came out of the kitchen and looked at William with concern. This was the first that...
The underground bunker for housing the computers had been completed. A work crew sent by Dan Biggerstaff was busy wiring the room to support the network that would tie the computers together. It was a massive job considering that they were linking ten thousand computers together. It was made even more difficult due to the fact that they were physically located on four separate floors. The room was cold. The air conditioner was set up to cool ten thousand machines, but there were only empty...
Head in William's lap, Lucy was busy reading a math book. His hand was busy stroking her arm in an absent minded manner while he was reading his book. Lucy put her book down and said, "She's got a crush on you." Frowning at the sudden introduction of a new topic, William asked, "Who? What?" "I said she has a crush on you." "Oh, that's nice," William said wondering who had the crush on him. He turned the page and continued reading. "You don't know who I'm talking about, do...
Nancy Darnell, Mistress of Ceremonies for the Druids, stood at head of the platform. She had finished explaining the significance of the ceremony that was to take place and now she was waiting for the bride and groom. This was her first wedding ceremony in which none of the individuals involved were a Druid. Oliver had volunteered to perform the ceremony, but she had insisted that she be allowed the honor. It was, after all, her service. A very serene Lucy walked to the platform from the...
Jack sat in his new office unable to believe the difference that twenty four hours made in his life. His office was larger than the room he was renting. The furnishings were much more luxurious. Barbara Gray had told him that it had been the bedroom and exercise room, but they had converted it to his office. He would have been quite happy if they had left the bed in the room, but he wasn't going to tell them that. He got up and made his way to the break room to get a soft drink. That was...