Cherry Orphan

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

By 9:00 A.M. they'd cleared Carmel and were heading south on Highway 1. Light morning fog, left well behind on the peninsula, would burn off by noon. It proved difficult to talk in the open car without shouting when they were up to speed. The forthright way Calley handled the Corvette reminded him of the first time they met, when she roared an open Mercedes through his hometown so fast he almost soiled himself. Noise and vibration not withstanding, clearly she liked her own car better. A strange statistic occurred to him. With the sole exception of the limousine at the airport, every car he'd ridden in since knowing Calley had been a convertible. She seemed synonymous with the open feel of blown hair, high sun and flapping clothes.

Instead of talking he turned over the previous night's events in his mind. June nights were cool, bordering cold, in the Del Monte Forest; taking most visitors by complete surprise.

James had been plenty warm in Calley's bed. He began with a shaky start. He ached for her so intensely the boy climaxed before they'd barely begun.

Calley didn't seem as relaxed as she'd been when they shared a bed in England. Robert, the night owl, perched only a few yards away in his bedroom across the hall and Sonia's room adjoined Calley's with a connecting door. Whatever intimate sounds they made during the night would have been monitored for sure.

James knew Calley had perpetuated one lie to her sister—the fictional limits to their lovemaking. Cousins or no, they did have intercourse, and Sonia was no one's fool. The Rubicon had been crossed in England on their second night together. By his reckoning James had journeyed from cherry to manhood by the most delicious route possible. If Calley was forbidden fruit there could be none sweeter, and the way had been guided by a fantastic series of events that he could no more predict, control or comprehend than his feelings at that instant of consummation.

They'd both wanted the previous night to happen. As he rode in the car alongside her he bubbled inside. Had he only endured three nights drought in California? Things were turning out better than he dared hope.

The scenery looked different in the reverse direction. He knew he'd already passed each landmark in Robert's Bentley only three days previously, but recognized nothing. It had been close to evening then. Morning light changed everything.

Calley pointed to a sign and some angle-parked cars at the side of the highway. They'd entered Garrapata State Park.

"Soberanes Point," she shouted. "In winter there are whales and sea lions down there. We stopped here on the way up, but you were out of film. Do you have some now?"

James raised the camera and smiled as she swung the car into a parking slot on the right. The burble of engine noise cut, and just as suddenly they could hear seabirds wheeling overhead. He snapped her picture in close-up.

"Don't do that, I'm a mess."

"Is this the beach?" he said as she tried to restore the blown tangle of light brown hair.

"No, it's farther down the coast, about three miles. I thought you might want to take a scenic photo here for your collection."

He touched her arm near the shoulder. "For my memories you mean."

"Yeah, for those too." Her eyes went evasive. "Look, James... last night. I was a little high. I'd never have suggested what we did otherwise. I respect Dad. In his house... well it doesn't feel right, you know. Can you imagine if we were found out?"

James couldn't imagine. It bordered incest—underage incest to boot. Calley was using illegal drugs. The situation spoke for itself. They were the time bomb in Robert's otherwise social utopia waiting to explode.