...continued from previous page

When the boys were gone, Charlie shut the bedroom door and went to the mirror to run a brush through her hair before going down to meet Shirley.

As Charlie descended the stairs, she could hear voices coming from the kitchen and the dining room. Not only was the Garner clan present, but many of the Westons were here, as well. Picking out the familiar sound of Adam's voice, Charlie followed it toward the kitchen, and found him and Shirley deep in talk.

"I can't believe Thomas actually said that to Mike," Shirley was saying to Adam. "A prostitute--" Shirley stopped short when she noticed Charlie was listening. Abruptly ending her discussion, Shirley gave the young woman a warm hug. "It's so good to see you," she smiled. "My, don't you look..." here, the woman awkwardly hesitated.

Charlie grimaced, waiting for her sister-in-law to finish the sentence. She almost expected Shirley to add, "all grown up," and by the look of embarrassment on Shirley's face, Charlie guessed that she hadn't been too far from it.

Abandoning her thought altogether, Shirley tactfully changed the subject.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to meet you," Shirley apologized. "The house must be a wreck. Is your room all right? Do you need more towels? Sandra said she couldn't find the good towels in the linen closet." At this, Shirley went to go find Sandra and confirm the status of the towels in the guest bathrooms.

Smiling apologetically to Charlie, Adam took his wife into the dining room where the men were sitting around the table, munching on bread sticks and talking until dinner was served. Horace Weston was questioning Kevin about some military related issue, while his wife, Millie, worked in the kitchen with their daughters and Shirley.

"Well!" exclaimed Horace, as the couple entered the room, "here come the lovebirds! Is the honeymoon over, yet?" he joked.

"Oh, hush!" Millie laughingly scolded as she entered the room to set a large bowel of salad on the table before returning to the kitchen. "Sometimes, you never know when to leave well enough alone, Horace! Can't you see you're embarrassing Charlie?"

Adam smiled and was about to help his blushing bride into her chair, when Charlie turned to ask something. Right there, on the back of her blouse, were two large wet hand prints! Horace burst into laughter, while Adam tried to figure out what was so funny. Then he saw Charlie's back.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Sorry, Honey," Adam apologized with a grin. "I guess I should have dried my hands, first!"

"Oh, Adam!" Charlie exclaimed in horror.

By now, the men were roaring with laughter so that Shirley came from the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. When she realized what was going on, Shirley withheld any comment, though her displeased looks said what her words did not.

"All right, all right," she quieted them, "you've had your fun. It's time to eat, so you'd better put down those bread sticks."

Charlie quietly sat beside Adam at the table, grateful that her back was against the chair, and not facing everyone. The hand prints would dry, but her humiliation would not disappear so easily. Throughout the meal, Horace would occasionally tease Adam and Charlie, and even though it was all done in good-humor, it made Charlie very self-conscious.

continued on next page...

<< Love Stories Last PageLove Stories Next Page >>