deck to check their compass heading and get some cooling sea water to throw over them, before again going into the cool salon and engage in one more sexual act.
Finally though, after many days of this type conduct, Steve, Ellie, and Sandy sat and talked quietly. They all agreed that there was no real future for them as a threesome. Ellie stated that she had her own pursuits to follow, and while there would always be a place in her heart for the two of them, as well as a place in her home, she would be saying farewell in Hawaii and fly the rest of the way home.
Steve could understand the necessity of her getting away from the boat then. He too felt that they had perhaps taken on too great a trip at once like this. He and Sandy decided to remain for a while and get used to living ashore somewhere. He also reminded her that her tutoring had to be caught up with so that she could take the exams for her diploma from high school some time in the next four years.
They arrived in Hawaii and checked into one of the grandest hotels on the beach. A final night of uninhibited and total sexual depravity was shared by the three of them, and then the next morning Ellie said goodbye to them in their room. She said that she would rather take a cab to the airport alone rather than stretch their farewell out over a long period of time.
Sandy and Steve understood, and Ellie could see that they did. There was such a tight bond of love between the three of them, it wasn't necessary to explain everything. She knew it was this love that drove her from them now. They had a life to develop, while hers was approaching its conclusion. Just before slipping from the room she gave Steve an address and phone number and directed him to call or visit upon his arrival. She also told him that it would be important to the both of them if they did contact her when they finally got to the states. In the pain and confusion of her leaving, Steve didn't note the sad love in her eyes as she kissed them both for the last time, and then walked out of the suite. They both looked at each other for a long moment, and then Sandy burst into quiet tears. Steve held her and they stayed together for a long time before they were both ready to face the outside world. They both knew that they had just closed a chapter on their lives that would never be duplicated again, for as long as they lived.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
After being in Hawaii for six months, Steve and Sandy flew to the States to take care of some business. While there they contacted Ellie, who was well settled into her new home just south of San Francisco. They visited there with her for a week and Steve and his daughter immediately felt the warmth of their old relationship with the older woman return. They spent long hours on the beach, and Sandy discovered the stables that were quite near and began riding. She and her father spent many hours riding the lonely beaches in the early morning or evening hours. Ellie was happy it seemed, but during their quiet moments Steve noted that she seemed preoccupied with something. He asked her just once if there was anything that she might need, and offered her his assistance, regardless of what it involved. She declined and the subject was never touched upon again during the visit.
The Larks also met Pauline Bell and her twin sons, Peter and Donny. The two families met on the beach while Steve and Sandy were riding one evening, and he was immediately struck with her beauty and sweet personality. The boys were a pleasure, and the few occasions he had to be with them during the remainder of his stay were always enjoyable.
The Larks returned to the islands, and Steve settled down to some serious writing, which was received well back on the mainland. He and Sandy continued living together but maintained separate quarters in their home. The occasions on which they shared their bodies with each other were not infrequent, but they did not make it a daily practice. She dated the local boys, and Steve suspected that she also experimented sexually with some of them. Their only sexual experience that she and her father still could not share was getting his erection into her tight, adolescent cunt. He was simply too large for her, and again he forced himself not to damage her young body simply to satisfy his lust.
His own life was filled with his work and the boat. On occasion, when he felt the compulsion, he would take Sandy into Honolulu and they would stay a few days on the beach, during which time Steve would gratify his needs with any one of the many women available around the luxury hotels, who enjoyed the company of rich, famous men. Steve's literary accomplishments had afforded him a very comfortable life style, and his name was becoming well known in certain fields. He was able to enjoy anonymity and success at the same time.
When Sandy turned thirteen, they went back to the mainland, and her party was held at Ellie's. The three of them enjoyed themselves immensely, but on this trip there was no sexual activity. Ellie did not have the same fire in her eyes, and Steve felt an undercurrent of unhappiness in her.
There was an opportunity to get to know Mrs. Bell better, but she was still shy about talking much, and he did not feel that it was time yet to press for a deeper relationship. He confided in both Ellie and Sandy his attraction to the lovely auburn-haired woman, and her two friendly and robust little boys. They were now almost twelve years old, and Steve spent a couple of very enjoyable days with them on the beach. Ellie told him that she talked with them only infrequently, as she was not at the beach all the time now.
Two months after returning to Hawaii, they received a telegram from an attorney in San Francisco telling them that Mrs. Elizabeth Gower had passed away the week before, and that in the reading of her will, she had left some property to the Larks. The news stunned Sandy and Steve. Their sadness stayed with them as they returned to San Francisco and met Ellie's son and his family. He told Steve that his mother had talked about the Larks and the happiness she had shared with them over the past two years, and that she had wanted Sandy and Steve to have the beach house as a home for them to come to. Steve was touched, and he and Sandy made a point of going to the grave to grieve silently for a short while. They accepted the deed, and after being given the keys, they drove to the house.
They lived in the house quietly for a week before finding the cassette. It had been stuck in a box containing some tapes that Sandy left there to use whenever she and her dad stayed with Ellie. Sandy found it and then called Steve to listen. Shortly after some soft melody started that had been one of Ellie's and Sandy's favorites the woman's voice broke in.
'This is going to be short and sweet, Skipper. I've had this little problem for over two years now. I knew about it when I met you in Bali, but I was told I could have a couple more years of good life before I'd have to go into the hospital. I also could have gone into the hospital right away and they said I could be kept alive for probably twice that long. It wasn't worth it to me. I've had a great life, and I don't regret a thing I've done. I particularly don't regret the past two years. Meeting you and Sandy was what I needed to remind me that life isn't worth living if it can't be lived the way you want it. I had no obligations to anyone after Buck died, and I was about to curl up and let life pass me by. I met you two and things changed for me. Enough of that though.'
'I want you to enjoy this house. If you decide to get rid of it, ask my son if he wants it and let him have it for whatever you think fair. He can afford it. Steve, I think you had better look for a woman to share your life with. Sandy isn't going to be a teenager forever, and she should and must find a life of her own, away from you when the time comes. Sandy, let your dad find someone and then encourage him to start a life of his own. You can love him just as long and hard as you want but don't smother him. That's all the advice I ever intend to give again.'
'I'm sure that when I close my eyes for the last time, Buck will be there waiting for me with a cold beer in his hand and a dirty joke. I'm looking forward to it. I'm happy and content and I want you two to be also. If you're not good to each other and make each other happy, I'm going to come back and haunt you. I know you loved me, and I also know that you were aware of how much I cared for the both of you. Thank you for sharing your lives with me. Goodbye and love each other.'
The silence that lasted only a second was then broken by the same soft music that preceded the taped message. Sandy looked at her father and saw that the tears in her eyes were matched by those he was quietly shedding. She folded herself in his arms and they sat quietly for the rest of the taped music. When the tape was through and the machine snapped off, Steve got up and removed the cassette. Taking it to the fireplace, he dropped it on top of the flaming log. They both watched the plastic curl and smoke, and then burst into a small blue flame. After the tape was completely destroyed, Steve and Sandy went out on the beach and walked for nearly an hour in the brisk winter weather. That was the end of it. They knew that Ellie wouldn't have wanted them to grieve any longer, and her happy spirit seemed to fill the house after that.
