PART THIRTEEN: Family Ties
CHAPTER ONE, Queen Bitch
It would be an overstatement to say that nobody liked Cherie Mosswell. Lots of people liked her. They just didn't like her for long. Though they didn't want to admit it, her family was pretty much in the same boat. The day she moved out of the house was a blessed day for one and all.
"Where is everyone?" Cherie demanded as she started toward the stairs, her stout little face set in a determined glare.
"Hey, Cher." Tillman emerged from the upstairs hall just straightening his tee shirt and wearing a smile much larger than Cherie would normally warrant. "What's up with you? Get fired?"
"It's summer time you fool!" his sister exclaimed, hands on her hips. "I get vacation just like everybody. Two weeks." She stared her brother down as he descended the steps two at a time. Her lower lip stuck out defiantly, giving her round face a look of comic hostility.
"You better start working out, Tilly," she said. "Little hop down the stairs got you sweating. You in damn poor shape."
"Yeah, well you could do with some exercise, too," he retorted, knowing he shouldn't get into it with her right at this moment.
She glared at him as he passed her, looking poised to strike. She was five foot two, a round woman with a round face and round breasts that seemed to have been attached as an afterthought to her round body. Her backside was round and then some. All of her body was firm, and there was nothing really fat about her roundness. She was just built round.
Tillman looked at her in a different light now. She wasn't unattractive. No, on the rare occasions when she smiled, she was quite pretty. And her body was something that most men would like to tussle with at least once. He began wondering what she was like sexually, and what she liked to do. No, the question would be what she would be willing to do. He couldn't picture her doing anything in bed without lengthy negotiations and downright begging.
"Where's Daddy?" she asked.
"Downstairs, I think," Tillman said, casually. "Should be up in a minute. Mom's upstairs. I think she was taking a shower, or something."
Cherie began walking up the stairs. "I'd have been here sooner 'cept for the damn road construction. I'll just go up and . . ."
"You staying for the whole two weeks?" Tillman asked quickly, stopping her at the second step.
"I'm not spending my vacation here, fool," she snapped at him. "I'm just stopping in on my way to New York. Why in hell would I want to spend time here?"
"Because we're your loving family," Tania said as she emerged from the upstairs hall. She was belting a robe and wearing her slippers, but, thought she'd brushed it, her hair was still a bit frazzled from her recent activities.
"Yeah, sure, Mama." Cherie kissed her mother when she got down the stairs, her nose crinkling just a bit. "Guess you haven't showered yet," she said.
"No, I was just about to," Tania said sourly.
"Still little Miss Tact, aren't you Cherie?" Tillman laughed.
"Shut up, you fool." She rolled her eyes and turned back to her mother. "You don't mind putting up with me for a couple days, do you? I'm gonna meet a girlfriend in New York this week. Be back here for the weekend. That okay?"
"Of course," Tania said. "Are you hungry?"
"I stopped for a burger when I was driving around through all that damn construction. Took me a good two hours extra. Always fixing but it never gets fixed."
"Well, you've got to learn to read a detour sign," Tillman said.
"Hey, kitten," Robert said as he came out of the kitchen, forestalling Cherie's retort to her brother. "Moving back in?"
"God, Daddy, you should be so lucky," Cherie said, smiling for the first time. When she looked at her father, she was always in a better mood. Not necessarily a good mood, but certainly better.
"Yes, we should." Robert gave his daughter a big hug while winking at his wife over her head. "Come on and I'll rustle up something for you to eat."
"That would be great, Daddy," she said, following him to the kitchen.
Tania eyed her son closely. "Be nice," she said. "No matter what, be nice."
CHAPTER TWO, A Good Day's Work
Terry Carter kissed her husband at the front door at a quarter to eight on Monday morning, bidding him a good day at work as he left. Once he was out of the house, Terry hurried to dress the children, Kyle and Kristy, and then called Jennifer Peterson.
"Hi, it's Terry," she said to her friend when she answered. "I know it's short notice, but I got called in to do some short term subbing at the school. They're just starting the summer session and a teacher broke something or other. Their bad luck is my good, I guess. I was hoping you might be able to watch the kids today. I'll line up something else for the rest of the week. No, no, you don't have to do it. I couldn't impose on you like that," she said, countering Jennifer's arguments for her to baby sit all week even while hoping she might do just that. Finally, after arranging for Jennifer to come over in about ten minutes, she ran to the quickly to get ready for her day.
Terry had prepared for her day by taking a room at the Comfort Inn with two medium suitcases containing what she felt she might need for a few days. That would allow her to leave the house dressed like a school teacher and still be able to look the part of an escort once at the hotel without having Jenny see her leave carrying suitcases.
She was checking her hair in the bathroom vanity when Jenny Peterson knocked and entered. "Hello! Your cab is here!" she called.
"Oh, goodness," Terry said, sounding flustered as she hurried out to greet the other woman. "Thank you, Jenny. Thanks a million."
"No problem. And, if they keep you on, don't you worry about it. Summer school is only a month or so anyway, right?"