A hurried walk.

"So, what are the girls going to be up to?" I asked as we walked along the dirt path. My wife was holding me much closer than usual, but it was nice. Nice to feel her closeness and have her along with me.

"Mmm... shouldn't be talking about them," Kaila warned with an upward curl of her lip. "You know they... aaaack, why am I so turned on recently?"

"Because... I love you," I tried the old standby.

"I never get tired of hearing you say that to me," Kaila smiled and snuggled her head against me a bit tighter. "I love you too."

"Well I like saying it," I nodded.

"Yeah, I know you do. " As she spoke the familiar back of the cabin came into view, the blue tarp of the woodpile immediately drawing the eye.

"So... do you want to do the talking, or want me to?" I asked, thinking of the talk we were going to have with Imogene. Jeez, how was I ... how was I even going to bring this up?

"You won't have to do the talking. You know her, she's already got a speech all worked out." Kaila shrugged. "We've all sat through enough of them."

"Sometimes I just wish she would..."

"The girl needs to get laid, Brent. Badly." Kaila pointed out. "You're just lucky she has pretty high standards and you don't."

"I have SOME standards," I argued.

Kaila snickered loudly. She didn't respond to my statement, merely cuddling against me a little closer as we rounded the building. The Bus was gone, I noted, and a small flash of panic ran through me before I remembered that Kaila had said the girls had borrowed it. Even knowing that it was going to be gone, there was a little warning bell in the back of my mind.

It had to be my paranoia. All day it had been riled up by being in public, add to that the fact that I'd been doing some **** during the week that I... well, I didn't usually get high. We ascended the wooden steps onto the porch; the screen door opening with a soft creak. I took a deep breath and released Kaila from my arm. My fingers found the cool metal of the doorknob, and with only a slight resistance, I opened the door.