Honeymoon for Three

CHAPTER 14

Gary saw the Ford coming around a curve and breathed a sigh of relief. He had started to worry when he saw that Penny was no longer behind him. He pulled into the first available turnout and waited for several agonizing minutes. Had she lost control of the car and…? He couldn’t bring himself to finish that thought. But he realized how empty life would be without her.

Penny brought the car to a stop and got out. Alfred exited awkwardly from his side. He really was hurting. Maybe it was dangerous for him to drive. Penny walked directly to Gary and gave him a big kiss. That was a nice way to be greeted.

“What happened to you?” Gary’s anxiety made his voice harsher than it should have been.

“I…I thought I had a flat tire. We stopped to check.” Her voice sounded strange.

“It’s dangerous to stop on this road. Let me check the tires.” Gary walked around the Ford. The tires looked fine to him. He went back to Penny. Alfred was a few feet away, looking up at the Garden Wall, a spectacular mountain ridge.

“Is Alfred acting okay?” Gary sensed that Penny was jumpy. He had labeled Alfred as a weirdo from the moment he met him.

“He’s fine,” Penny said, quickly but unconvincingly. “He’s complaining about his aches and pains, but I can handle him.”

“He can ride in the VW with me for a while.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to foist him off on you. He’s my classmate and my problem. I’ll drive him.”

“Your problems are my problems.”

“What I mean is, I don’t want him to bore you. At least he and I can reminisce about the old days.”

Gary wasn’t satisfied. He was about to argue when Penny said, “His legs are really sore. He has to stretch them out. He needs the legroom in the Ford.”

The VW actually had a lot of legroom for such a small car, but Gary didn’t want to start an argument right there, especially in front of Alfred. He decided to accept the situation.

Penny dreaded what was coming next, but she couldn’t let Alfred ride with Gary, at least until she heard how bad Alfred’s story was going to get. He had become a loose cannon. The little convoy started up again, with Gary in the lead. Alfred didn’t say anything at first. Penny decided to wait him out. Maybe he would forget about it. Maybe it was just a bad daydream. She navigated the mountain road slowly and carefully, staying close behind Gary.

“The guy who helped me carry you upstairs was drunk. He wanted to do more than just put you on the bed, if you know what I mean.”

Penny cringed inside. She knew all too well. She noticed that Alfred had placed his hand on his stomach with his fingers inside his shirt, like pictures of Napoleon she had seen. That gesture had helped her identify him at the Space Needle.

“I kicked him out of the room and shut the door. I put you under the covers so you wouldn’t be exposed.”

Alfred paused again. What did he want, a medal? This was agonizing, hearing the story come out piece by piece. She didn’t know whether he was telling the truth, but she couldn’t contradict him.

“You don’t remember any of this, do you?” Alfred said.

He had called whatever bluff she had. “I remember things.” She tried to sound indignant, but the words didn’t come out very forcefully.

“You were very grateful to me.”

Penny could tell that Alfred was watching her, waiting for her reaction. She decided to return to silence.

“ Very grateful, if you know what I mean. And I really like your mole.”

So this was the story. This was what he would tell Gary. She shuddered.

Additional memories returned to her. She had indeed woken up in Joan’s spare bedroom in the wee hours of the morning-naked. With a splitting headache. Once she figured out where she was, she turned on a light and found her clothes in the room. Someone had collected them for her. She got dressed, snuck out of the house, and walked home. It was less than a mile. She snuck into her own house and made it into her bedroom without being seen. Her brothers were asleep. Her mother was asleep. Her father was asleep and probably drunk to boot.

There was gossip at school, of course-that’s what had cost her a boyfriend-but nothing that enlightened her about what had happened when she was unconscious, except that it was Joan who had put her clothes in the room. It was a lost slice of her life that she couldn’t get back.

Penny negotiated a hairpin curve and said slowly, “There’s no way I’m going to run off with you. So what do you want?”

“I want to be your friend. That’s all, Penny. I just want to be your friend.”

Alfred’s voice had a pleading tone. And the word “friend” sounded innocuous enough. If only he would settle for that.

They were cooking their dinner at St. Mary’s Campground located at the east entrance to Glacier National Park. At least they weren’t sleeping in the campground. They had gotten two inside rooms at St. Mary’s Lodge. Alfred hadn’t argued about getting himself a separate room. He had Penny where he wanted her, and he wouldn’t push his luck just now.

Gary was tending to the Coleman stove. He was very good at this camping stuff. Good at climbing treacherous mountain trails and staying in places with no heat, lights, bathrooms, or hot water. Roughing it. Making Penny rough it. This was no life for Penny. Alfred would see that Penny lived a life of luxury.

Alfred helped Penny set the wooden picnic table. Gary was busy at the stove. The hamburgers wouldn’t be ready for a few minutes. Alfred said to Penny, “Come with me and watch the sunset. It’s going to be beautiful.” He didn’t care that much for sunsets, but it was a convenient excuse to get Penny away from Gary.

She looked at him. He returned her gaze. He had the power to make her go with him. It gave him a surge inside, almost electrical in nature. She told Gary they’d be back soon and walked beside him. He took her to a spot where they could see the beautiful sunset better, but also a spot away from everybody else.

He gave her a few seconds to admire the sunset and then said, “I need a hug.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her toward him. He put his arms around her, going inside her arms that hung limply by her sides. At first she just stood there. Then, slowly, she put her arms loosely around his neck. She felt good against him.

He lowered his hands to the bottom of her sweater and slid them underneath it. He untucked her shirt and pulled it up until he felt the bare skin of her back. He felt her muscles tense, so he stopped moving.

She started to pull away. He held her with one hand and moved his other hand quickly around her body, following the curve of her waistline, letting the smooth skin slide sensuously through his fingers. He found her bellybutton. Her fabulous innie bellybutton. He touched it as he would a shrine, respectfully.

Penny abruptly jerked away from him and punched him hard in the face, making him stagger backward and grunt loudly.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she shouted. She turned and ran back toward Gary and their picnic spot.

Alfred watched her go, feeling his aching jaw with his hand. She really packed a wallop. Anger flared inside him. How dare she hit him? She would pay for this. As he practiced opening and closing his mouth to make sure his jaw wasn’t broken, another thought came to him.

He had gotten to first base with her. Of course he couldn’t go all the way on the first date. She wasn’t that kind of a girl, but she was amenable to his advances. She had hugged him. He had the upper hand. She couldn’t afford to have him tell Gary about her past. There would be other opportunities for him. He was sure she had enjoyed it. She was just being coy. He walked back slowly with a big, if painful, grin on his face.

Gary was flipping the hamburgers when Penny came running up to him, out of breath. He barely had time to put down the spatula before she ran right into his arms. Her body was shaking.

“What’s the matter? Is it Alfred?”

She didn’t speak; she just clung to him. As her breathing slowed, she said, “There he comes. Don’t say anything. I’m okay. Everything’s fine. I’ll tell you later.”

Alfred came strolling up, grinning. “Is dinner ready? I’m so hungry I could eat a bear.”

Gary thought his grin looked lopsided. Maybe Alfred’s face was lopsided, and he just hadn’t noticed before. Gary had an urge to wipe the grin off his lopsided face, because he was sure Alfred had done something to Penny. Penny didn’t want him to act impulsively. He would hear her story later and take appropriate action. Meanwhile, he would keep his cool and try to be the perfect host.

Neither Penny nor Alfred talked about what had happened during dinner. In fact, Alfred acted as though nothing had happened. Penny was very quiet, unusual for her, and she sat close to Gary.

He had a hard time not challenging Alfred, but he honored Penny’s wishes. Tonight was definitely the last time they would have to put up with him. Tomorrow they would leave him behind. Gary wouldn’t accept any more reasons for Alfred tagging along with them.

Penny and Gary weren’t alone for any length of time until they went to their room at the lodge to go to bed. Penny finally made it her job to extract them from Alfred’s company, giving excuses to him even though it was fairly early, telling him that they were tired after a strenuous day.

The three of them had attended a ranger show and washed clothes together in domestic bliss, with Alfred babbling about all the sights they had seen. He obviously expected to do more sightseeing with them tomorrow. That was probably the reason he didn’t tell his story about her to Gary. He thought he had power over her, even though she had hit him. That hadn’t fazed him at all. What a strange person.

Penny tried not to antagonize Alfred further. She didn’t want him to say anything to Gary that would inflame the situation. Gary would erupt and probably attack Alfred. They both might end up hurt and get themselves thrown out of the lodge. She wasn’t sure what it would do to their marriage. If they could escape with no blood being shed and the marriage intact, she would be happy.

Once they were inside their room with the door closed, Penny had to tell Gary something. She simply said that Alfred had made a pass at her, and she had rebuffed it. She didn’t elaborate.

“That son of a bitch. I’m going to go punch his lights out.” Gary started to open the door.

“Leave him alone.” Penny restrained him. “You’ll only get us kicked out of this place. Alfred’s not worth it. We’ll leave before he gets up in the morning. With any luck we’ll never see him again.”

She hoped that was true. She set their travel alarm clock for five a.m. before she turned out the light.

Penny didn’t want Gary to touch her because she felt dirty and unworthy, although she knew he was hungry for her. She told him she still had her period. That was unfair to him. She had other ways of satisfying him. She employed them now. He was asleep in ten minutes. It would be a different matter for her.

She lay awake thinking about Alfred, wondering what motivated him. He had always been a little peculiar, but nothing like this. He had become excited from touching her navel, instead of, say, her breasts, which is what she would have expected him to do when his hands started to wander. Peculiar behavior, indeed. And very scary. She wouldn’t tolerate it, regardless of the consequences.