Blueberry Summer

Chpt 1

Peter knew they were almost to Grammy's place. The last 20 miles of the ride was down a narrow county road lined with orchards and vineyards. Eventually they'd make a left at the township hall, take a bumpy 2 mile drive down a gravel road and they'd be there.

As a boy Peter had lived for trips to Grammy's. . There was always something fun to do. Building forts in the woods in the fall. Sledding down the lane in the winter.. Spring brought a rush of new life with transplants in the cold frames and chicks in the brooder. And in the summer there was the swimming hole.

The swimming hole was a wide spot in a river that flowed through the woods on the back of the farm. Grammy had had a deck, fire pit and benches built on the river bank A rope swing, diving board and slide added to the fun.

"There's the yard with the funny gnomes. Almost there." At the sound, Peter looked over at his little sister. Mary Anne was peering out the window again, watching for the next landmark.

"Um, ya, I know," nineteen year old Peter said. "I've been here before.. You don't have to keep calling out landmarks and saying, 'almost there.' Don't be a dork"

"Peter, be nice to your sister," his mother scolded from the front seat. "I hope you two are not going to squabble the whole time we're gone. Don't be giving your Grammy a hard time."

"We'll be fine mom," Peter said, "best behavior." He poked his little sister in the ribs.

"Ya, mom, we won't do anything to bug each other, we promise," Mary Anne piped up, then stuck out her tongue at her brother. Broad grins spread across both their faces. Truth was, Peter and Mary Anne had always gotten along well while growing up and since he had returned home in May they had become even closer. Neither had a regular boyfriend or girlfriend so more and more they'd found themselves hanging out together that summer

"There's the Miner Lake boat launch. Almost there," their dad called out as they passed the turn-off.

Peter and Mary Anne burst out laughing. Even their mother's shoulders tensed for a moment or two as she stifled a giggle..

"I really do hope you kids have a good time these next two weeks. This could be your last time."

"Mom, nobody is dying" Peter said, "There will be plenty more times."

"No, not like this there won't. Mary Anne turns 18 tomorrow and next month she'll be leaving for university. Lily is already there. Kirk's vocational program is 18 months, straight through, no breaks. And who knows where you'll be next summer? Probably off to find the source of the Nile."

"Already been done, Mom. It was in all the papers."

"Ha, funny. You know what I mean. This could be the last chance for you and your cousins to be together as children. Adult responsibility is just around the corner. And you know, Grammy isn't getting any younger. I want you to make this time very special for her, please."

"It will be fine mom. It's all good." But his mother was on a roll, not to be redirected.

"Grammy is going to be on her own with four teenagers for two weeks. Go easy on her."

"Aunt Carrie will be there."

"Ya, OK, so that makes five. She may as well be a teenager. She's only 21. Oh, I hope you kids have fun. I wish I could be here for your birthday, dear. Mary Anne, don't forget to use sun screen. You've got my fair skin. You know you burn so easy

"Yes mom I do know. It will be fine."

"It will be fine, Claudia," Ken said to her from the front seat. "It's just another visit Not everyone sees things in terms of life milestones."

An awareness of the passages of life had been much on Claudia Cortez's mind this last year as she approached and then passed her fortieth birthday. She couldn't believe it, where had the years gone? And the dreams? Her life with Ken had been good but with their chicks ready to fly the nest, she didn't want to just settle into a long slide into twilight either. She still wanted some adventure. She wasn't ready to get old. Last winter, commiserating with her younger sister Connie, who was not much more than a year behind her, they had hit on the idea of a African safari. A rafting safari.

So that was the plan. The two sisters, and their husbands, Ken Cortez and Lars Bonn, were flying to Namibia and then spending a week rafting down the Okavango River, along the northern border with Angola. All told they would be out of country for two weeks.

The one fly in the ointment was the kids. True, Mary Anne had graduated high school and would soon be on her own at university but Claudia, and especially Ken, were not quite ready to let their daughter stay home alone for two weeks. Even if big brother was around. Lars and Connie felt the same about their two, Lily and Kirk. So, before anyone else really knew what was happening, the two sisters had it settled. The four of them were going to Africa and the cousins were going to have one last summer vacation on the family property with Grammy and their Aunt Carrie.

"Sure mom, I understand. I promise," Mary Anne said and looked over at Peter, prompting him with her blue eyes to speak up. But he wasn't so sure they were children anymore. For one thing, he'd noticed sister's body was finally showing some curve and it wasn't the knobby knees that drew looks to her long legs anymore. He snuck another sideways glance at her. He could just see the rise of her small breasts under the loose cloth of her shirt and wondered if she had dared bring a skimpy two piece bathing suit he knew she kept hidden far from their mother's prying eyes.

"Mom, all goofing around aside, I am really looking forward to this. We'll be fine, really and I promise not to give Grammy any grief. Now go, have fun with Aunt Connie and Uncle Lars. You need to be worrying about not getting eaten by a crocodile or stomped by a hippo or something, not worrying about us. They have snakes in Africa don't they?" he jibed, knowing his mother hated snakes.

"Uuuugh," his mother shuddered. "Ken, can I depend on you to protect me from any mean old snakes?" Then, with a quick peek over her shoulder to make sure her hand was out of the children's sight, ,she reached into her husbands lap and give his penis a quick squeeze.

"You better be on the lookout for one eyed, spitting snakes," he retorted out of the side of his mouth, only loud enough for his wife to hear.

"You know how much fun we have at Grammy's," Peter continued, unaware of his parents sexual teasing.

Claudia sat back in her seat and smiled contentedly. She was off on a great adventure with a man she loved dearly. A good man who loved her back. And there was no one she would have more preferred to share their adventure with than her sister, Connie and brother-in-law, Lars. The four of them shared a friendship that went all the way back to the elementary school playground. Of course Ken had been infected with a bad case of kooties back then and Claudia was just another slimy girl if you'd asked him but over time they had grown on each other. They'd been high school sweethearts, prom dates and married two years after high school graduation.

In balance it had been a good marriage, too. After the wedding, the newly-wed Cortez family had settled in a rural mid-Michigan county seat. Peter and then Mary Anne had come in quick succession. Ken was a terrific, involved father and a generous provider with a secure job managing a grain elevator. After the kids started school, Claudia had taken nursing courses. Together they had a six figure income. They went to church most Sundays, voted in most elections, got along with most of their neighbors and never missed the Booster Club's Annual Memorial Day Barbeque and Art Show in the village park. Life was good.

Connie Klaus and Lars Bonn had been in the same class since kindergarten and they were both active in 4-H, too, facing off several times in the show ring. So they'd long known each other. But they hadn't started dating until the summer after graduation. When their love did ignite, it blazed hot and fast. Maybe just a bit too fast, too hot because late the next winter Connie became pregnant.

It took Claudia a few days to forgive her sister. Not because she disapproved or sat in moral judgment. But Claudia had just announced that she was pregnant Even though she knew better she couldn't help suspecting her sister of some bizarre scheme to upstage her, to take away Claudia's own moment in the sun. This was her pregnant time and now her sister was trying to steal it. Of course that was silly and she soon got over it.

A wedding was hastily organized. When Connie & Lars' daughter Lily was born the following January she wasn't exactly out of wed-lock; just not the full 10 months into wedlock that is considered traditional. But there was never a baby more loved, more wanted. A son, L.K., or Little Kirk, named for her father, soon followed. As a young family of four it had been hard but Ken and Connie had scrimped and saved and sacrificed to put themselves through college. Now they were both teachers in Hingham, a small town just north of the Indiana state line, giving them a comfortable living. By all appearances the Bonn family was as ordinary and grounded as the Cortez crew.

A few minutes later they turned into the driveway. Ken pulled the car up, parking it next to a new convertible. The engine had barely gone silent before the back door flew open and Grammy came through the door.

"Claudia! Ken! And Peter, you did come after all, I am so happy. Where's Mary Anne? Let me take a look at you. Oh you are so grown up. I like the blouse dear, did you make it?"

Mary Anne's face lit up. At least someone noticed. She planned to study fashion design and merchandising this fall and did her own sewing.

" Carrie is around here somewhere. In fact I sent her down to the garden to get some veggies for lunch. She'll be right up. Come on in the house. Oh, I am so happy to see you," Alison Krause rattled on.

Ken came around back of the car and opened the trunk so that he and Peter could start unloading the luggage. Claudia and Mary Anne reached inside and began grabbing bags and parcels, too.

"I haven't heard from Connie and Lars, do you know when they'll be getting here?" The words were barely spoken before Mary Anne pulled out her cell and her long thumbs began dancing across the keyboard. "Come in, come in," Alison commanded as she led the way back inside. "Claudia, I'm putting you and Ken in the guest room and Connie and Lars in my sewing room. I believe it's their turn." The futon in the sewing room was short, lumpy and had a distinct tilt towards the wall. "Peter, you and L.K. are in the hired men's quarters, Mary Anne, you're of course in the girl's dorm with Carrie."

Peter shifted his duffel bag from one shoulder to the other, picked up his day pack with his free hand and started up the back stairs. The hired men's quarters was where he and his cousin always landed. It was a remnant of the day when the farm was fully planted with fruit and they hired seasonal labor to tend it.

He dropped his bags on one of the iron beds—they were all more or less the same so he grabbed one by the window—and headed back down the stairs to retrieve his sister's suitcases.

Peter was wrestling his sister's bag out of the trunk when he heard running footsteps behind him. Carrie had turned the corner, spied Peter and ran towards him. His aunt was upon him with a laugh and a hug.

"Hi Pete. You're looking good." Truth be told, Peter thought Carrie was looking pretty good, too. Her long, chestnut brown hair seemed to glint with highlights in the sunlight and he couldn't help but notice the deep cleavage between her breasts, shown off by the spaghetti strapped top. He idly wondered how much she weighed, probably not more than 110 pounds.

"Nice wheels in the drive-way. That's new since I saw you last isn't it?"

"Golly Peter, you make a girl feel so special. I haven't seen you in ages, I'm wearing an outfit that I made myself, I just got highlights put in my hair and the first thing you ask about is my new car?"

"Well of course I'm happy to see you. And of course you're looking good. You always do."

"Forgiven." She gave him a full kiss on his lips. And it is a cool car. I'll show it to you, maybe let you take a test spin later. But for now, where is everyone else? In the house?"

"Yep, the whole crazy crew. Lemme just drag Mary Anne's bag up to the dorm. They're all in the kitchen. Meet you there."

Carrie might have been Peter's aunt but she could have just as easily been his older sister. She had been a late addition to the Klaus family, years younger than her older sisters, Claudia and Connie. When their mother announced she was pregnant in her late thirties, her two high school aged daughters had received the news with equal parts feigned scandal, knowing winks and genuine pleasure.

Carrie had been their little angel, pampered and spoiled, practice for their own babies that would follow in less than two years. Given their relative ages, Carrie had grown up closer to her nieces and nephews than her own sisters. Now she was 21 years old, still living at home, having a vague sense of what came next but not quite sure how to get there.

Carrie had thrived living on the farm, both mentally and physically. She had been a social butterfly of some note in high school and active in 4-H. Her grades were consistently in the top percentile and she had been a featured flutist in her high school's orchestra. The highlight of her life, "so far," as she liked to remind people, was being crowded two years ago as the County Fair Queen.

She was in tip-top physical shape and her body showed it. Vivacious, smart, pretty, the sky seemed the limit for Carrie.. r

Just as Peter walked back into the kitchen he heard his sister's cell vibrating on the counter where she'd left it. Scooping it up and scanning the text scrolling across the screen, Mary Anne informed them that the Bonn's were turning the corner at the township hall and would be there in a matter of minutes.

"So Mary Anne," said Carrie, "how many boys have you got on the line these days?"

"Hey, she's just out of high school, won't even be 18 until tomorrow," Ken spoke up. "A bit young for boys yet."

A general round of eye rolling and head shaking followed. Ken was having a hard time seeing his daughter as a grown woman, no longer the little girl who's adoring eyes looked at her daddy and saw a knight in shining armor.

"Umm Ken dear, she's older than you and I were when we started dating. In fact, get right down to it, she's two years older than we were the first, um...." the sentence hung uncompleted in the air. Knowing smiles spread across Carrie's and Grammy's faces, at the same time looks of mild horror emerged on Peter's and Mary Anne's. Sure, they knew where babies came from and obviously their parents had done the deed at least twice, maybe three times if you threw in a practice round. But it really wasn't something they wanted to hear about. Or picture in their minds.

Fortunately the siblings were spared any further discomfort. A car horn honked outside. The Bonns had arrived and in moments the kitchen was empty.

The ride had seemed unusually long to Lily. She was anxious to see her grandmother, Carrie and her cousins again. In another month she'd be headed back to the stresses of her second year of university. After working a crap job most of the summer, she was really looking forward to relaxing on the farm for the next two weeks. Grammy's place held so many warm childhood memories for her. Summers there with her cousins and her young aunt, who was only 18 months older than she was, had been heavenly.

Lily had dated a few times the previous year but never seemed to click with anyone. Even though her freshman year had been pretty much a bust in the boy department, Lily had come away having learned a thing or two. Late night gab sessions with her suite mates and other girls on her floor filled in some blanks about things and activities she'd only imagined previously, as well as introducing her to a few other things that were completely new to her. Just as important, Lily had begun to develop the self confidence every girl must learn if she wants to keep boys in their place. With her new found poise, her success in the classroom, and the experience of a year on her own, Lily had become a striking young lady.

Kirk had noticed the changes in his sister as soon as she arrived home last May. Before she'd just been his big sister; always there, nothing remarkable, just an integral part of his life. But the Lily that had left for university was not the Lily who came home again. This Lily was self confident, she was well spoken and well dressed. Faded t-shirts had been replaced in her day to day wardrobe with colorful tops with bits of frill here, flounce there. Shirts that drew eyes towards her full breasts, no longer curtained behind loose folds. And had her legs ever looked so trim?

Lily was a fairly petite girl, barely 5'2". Her naturally olive toned skin didn't really darken, more like became deeper, more rich when exposed to the summer sun. By this time of year her skin glowed, matched by the shimmer of her jet black hair. Perhaps it was intentional, perhaps just happy luck, but the thick heeled sandals she'd favored this summer to give her a bit more height also favored her legs. Or maybe it was the cut of the tight shorts she'd begun to wear. Kirk had never really noticed how nice the view of her butt, her legs, her entire backside could be. But he was noticing it now.

As a rule, Kirk was wary of girls. As a starter on his school's soccer team he got his fair share of attention. When the team went to District, and won, he had the distinct feeling that more than one of the girls who hung around the team wouldn't say "no" if he asked her for a date. And probably something more, too. All he had to do was ask. But he never did. There was something about those girls that turned him off, intimidated him just a little bit. They seemed so aggressive, so pushy. Once they got their claws in a boy, there was no telling just how far they would push that boy either. He'd seen it happen. Pussy whipped they called it. Boys who would do just about anything, whatever it took, to ensure uninterrupted access to that pussy. Not for him.

A buzzing from his sister's side of the back seat brought Kirk back from his reverie.

"Mary Anne wants to know when we're going to get there. Grammy is going nuts."

"Tell her we're stopping for berries and then we'll be right there. We're almost there," Connie said.

Lily started tapping away.

"Hey Lily, you probably know this already, being a biology major and all, but scientists say the next step in human evolution will be gigantic thumbs."

"Ha, very funny. I'd say you're already half way there. L.K., You're like a puppy, still growing into your paws."

Kirk wasn't sure if he should be offended and say so or just get to the meat of the matter and give her a jab in the ribs with his puppy paws.

"All the better to beat you down, my dear," Kirk hammed as he made as if to strangle her.

"That is enough of that, and I do mean it. I do not want you threatening your sister, even in jest. That is just not funny."

"Sorry mom. Lily is safe from me" Kirk sounded contrite. Only his sister could see the way he scrunched up one eye like a pirate and mouthed the words, "later me pretty, later". He was so cute.

Lunch was a loud, calamitous affair. It always was. There were updates. They hadn't been together since Kirk's graduation open house 6 weeks previous and life happens so fast. There were reunions. Lily had already left for her summer job on Mackinaw Island by the time Peter had returned from Africa. There were announcements, two distant cousins were getting married and another cousin who was doing some genealogical research would be in touch.