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.
CHAPTER 15
Gary didn’t want to give up his dream, but something was pulling him inexorably back toward consciousness.
“Honey, wake up.” Penny’s hand was on his shoulder.
He reluctantly opened his eyes. He couldn’t see anything. They had an inside room at the lodge with no windows.
“What time is it?” he asked groggily.
“Five o’clock.” She turned on the lamp sitting on her nightstand. “I’d like to get up now and get out of here.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“If we leave now, we can shake Alfred.”
