Chris set his book down as the airplane wheels touched the runway. The cabin lurched as the screech of rubber tires on cement matched the roar of the engines. He suppressed a smirk. It wasn’t the smoothest landing, not by a long shot. It wasn’t too hard to imagine how hard David was rolling his eyes. Chris’s torso remained pressed against the seat as the plane slowed.
“Well, folks,” the pilot said over the intercom, “we made it only a little behind schedule. So welcome to Salt Lake City and have some happy holidays.”
Chris snorted softly. The pilot’s tone was so flat he wondered if he’d even thought about what he’d said. At least the reporters Chris worked with understood the concept of vocal inflection.
He slid his carry-on out from under the seat in front of him and stowed his book while Elizabeth did the same beside him with her own. His wife smiled at him, but didn’t speak. The cabin still reverberated from the engines anyway, and there wasn’t anything urgent to say. Then Chris leaned back and let out a long breath. He waited until the jet came to a complete stop before unbuckling his seatbelt. Elizabeth was on her feet almost immediately and reaching for her bag in the overhead compartment.
At least they didn’t have to wait long to deplane.
As they walked up the jetway, Leah and Erin fell in behind them. David and Beth were up ahead, already off the plane. The girls chatted and laughed as casually as they were dressed. Leah wore a Columbia sweatshirt that made Chris smile with pride and a touch of amusement. Subtly showing off her style. In contrast, Erin wore a fuzzy pink sweater, which made her look like a slightly shorter Barbie doll.
They cleared the gate area, and Chris and Elizabeth paused. The girls approached, still chattering along. Leah laughed loudly at something Erin said.
“Anyone need to use the restroom?” Chris asked.
“Um, what?” Leah asked.
Chris forced a smile. He wasn’t being ignored. She just hadn’t heard.
“Restrooms?” He pointed at the nearest ones.
“Oh! Great!” She smiled at him and then returned to her conversation as they headed to the restroom.
He watched the girls for a moment and sighed. They really weren’t girls anymore, but young women. He’d have to adapt to that.
But back to the job at hand—pee, luggage, rental car. They wanted to be at the chalet before it was too late.
The rental car counters were jammed, noisy, and hectic. Continual announcements about loading and unloading zones blared from the intercom. Young kids ran around, and at least two sets of families with a handful of teenagers milled about and happily shouted at each other. Chris pursed his lips and moistened them. He’d forgotten how dry the air was here, and his lips were already chapped. He could already hear the girls complaining about how the low humidity affected their hair.
The crowd made maneuvering the luggage cart with the skis and suitcases into a giant game of Frogger. Chris swore someone was going to run him over every time he swerved to avoid someone else.
Eventually, Chris spotted an empty patch of floor not too far from the rental counter they needed. He wrestled the luggage cart there and told Elizabeth and Beth to keep an eye on things. The girls continued chatting as they pulled into a little circle with the women. Leah laughed hard at something Erin said. With all the noise, Chris had no idea what they’d said. He sighed and turned to follow David to the rental car counter.
Unfortunately, a tall brunette woman dressed like she’d just gotten off a fashion runway cut in front of him. She gave him a smile full of expectancy. Like she dared him to protest. He grimaced, but she just brushed her hair back and headed up to the counter as if he wasn’t there. With both clerks occupied. Chris settled in to wait for what turned out to be far too long.
Finally, Chris made it to the rental counter just as David was finishing his paperwork. David held back as Chris offered his driver’s license and credit card.
“Here you go, sir,” the clerk said. “We have a K-Car for you in slot C26.”
Chris looked at the keys he’d just been handed. “I’d really like a Town Car.”
“Sorry, sir, that was the last Town Car.” The clerk nodded at David.
“Oh, looks like I got it.” David grinned and jangled the keys.
Chris glared at him. David didn’t look at all chagrined.
“See you up there,” David said before heading over to the women.
Chris watched him go for a moment. David strolled like a man half his age, and both Leah and Erin perked up when they saw him coming. Chris sagged against the counter. He wasn’t that much older than David.
“Do you have anything else?” Chris asked the clerk.
“Well, sir, all we have is the Chrysler. Unless you want a Fiero.”
“A what?”
“A Pontiac Fiero. It’s a sports car.” The clerk pulled out a little laminated sheet of paper that described the cars. Meanwhile, a guy in a bulky jacket replaced the fashionista woman at the counter next to him.
“So… like a Corvette?” Chris asked.
“Sort of. Not as cool.”
“Will it hold four people?”
“Not really. Sorry.”
“So… I guess it’s the Chrysler?” Chris asked with a touch of asperity.
“You could step up to a passenger van,” the clerk suggested unhelpfully. “Or a 4x4 station wagon.”
Chris leaned into the counter as if he hadn’t heard. The guy next to him was starting to argue with his own clerk.
“A what?” Chris asked.
“An AMC Eagle. It’s a 4x4 station wagon.”
Chris let out a long breath. “You just said two things I really don’t like the sound of, and you said them together. No and more no. We’ll take the K-Car, Lee Iacocca.”
He turned, but his group was gone. No one stood where they’d just been and he furrowed his brow. Had they left him?
But then he spotted Elizabeth working her way toward him as the clerk finished up his paperwork.
“Where’d everyone go?” He asked. “The girls?”
“Oh, they went with Beth and David,” Elizabeth explained. “What’s the holdup?”
Chris explained about the cars.
“Well… let’s get the sports car,” Elizabeth suggested.
“We won’t have room.”
“So? The girls can ride together with the Hughes.”
Which they already were, he realized. “Fine. Whatever.”
“Come on, you old stick in the mud,” Elizabeth said. “It’ll be fun!”
He recognized the glint in her eye, both a tease and a promise.
“What the lady wants, the lady gets,” he told the clerk.
Elizabeth practically beamed with excitement.
The clerk almost ruined it. “So… the Fiero?”
“Yes!” they both cried. Then they looked at each other and laughed.
Maybe the sports car was a good idea after all.
They found the rental car without any problem. It was certainly sporty, though adding the ski rack spoiled some of the effect. A lot of the effect, actually. He wished David had stuck around long enough so he could take their skis.
Still, Elizabeth sighed with happiness as she settled into the passenger’s seat. She shot him a contented smile as he backed them out of the parking spot.
They left the airport and got onto the highway headed to Park City with little trouble. The mountains loomed ahead, and Chris just marveled. Yeah, he’d seen them dozens of times before, but they were still majestic. Even better, the sun was out, which made it a glorious day.
Traffic started off pretty light. Elizabeth leaned her seat back a little and gave him a smug smile.
“It’s smaller than I thought,” she mused.
“The car?”
“Mmm hmm. I was hoping… you know.”
He nodded. There really wasn’t enough space to fool around if they pulled over.
“Do you want me to…?”
He perked up at the thought of road head, but then caught himself.
“No,” he said with a sigh. “There’s too much traffic.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Even if there wasn’t…”
She twisted in her seat a bit, but then leaned back and nodded. “Mmm hmm.”
“We’ll do something later,” he said.
“I’m hoping to do a lot later,” Elizabeth teased.
“We’ll see.”
She chuckled. “I don’t know what you’re worried about.”
He shrugged. How could he explain it? That he was old and the world was passing him by? It felt trite, but…
“We’ll have a good time,” he said hollowly.
She reached over and patted his thigh. “We will.”
He nodded. Ahead, a car moved over, and he had a straight, flat stretch before the hills began, with only distant cars.
He grinned. “Let’s see what this thing can do.”
Then he floored the gas.
Chris and Elizabeth arrived at the chalet just as the sun was starting to set. They’d rented a larger place set a little bit away from its neighbors with a thin line of pine trees between it and any other buildings. When Chris had made the arrangements, he figured the additional privacy would more than offset the longer walk to the ski shuttle.
So when he eased into a parking place next to David’s Town Car, he took the time to look up at the place and smile. It was elegant—modern Western American architecture, lots of hardwood on the walls, and enough glass to ensure plenty of natural light indoors. A few steps led up to a foyer where they could leave their skis before climbing the rest to the main quarters.
Chris unloaded the skis while Elizabeth headed inside. When he brought the suitcases in, he heard voices from the great room. Sure enough, David and the girls were there chatting with Elizabeth. David looked up when Chris entered.
“Hey,” David said. “How about we rock-paper-scissors for the master bedroom?”
Chris grimaced, but then nodded. “Sure.”
They went one-two-three and threw. Chris’s paper wrapped David’s rock.
“Damn,” David said. “Best two out of three?”
“No,” Chris said sharply.
“Yeah… I lost fair and square. Besides, you made the reservations, so you should have it.”
Chris smiled. “I’m going to put the suitcases away.”
He hauled them up the stairs while Elizabeth headed into the kitchen to talk to Beth.
The master suite was large with a big king bed. Chris noted the solid wood furniture—no particle board here. That was nice. A few nondescript paintings hung on the walls, but the big feature was the large windows. He drifted over and looked out. He had a great view of the deck and hot tub. Even better, the hot tub was very private, with a barrier wall and several pine trees preventing anyone from outside the chalet from seeing into it.
Yeah, they were going to enjoy that.
He flopped the suitcases on the bed and unzipped his. When he opened the closet to hang some of his clothes up, he spotted two terrycloth robes hanging there. That was a nice touch. Similarly, when he unpacked their toiletries, he discovered the bathroom had a large soaking tub big enough for two. That was really nice.
Chris finished unpacking and headed back downstairs. He found everyone in the kitchen sitting around the large oak table.
“I’m ready to go eat,” David said.
“What about groceries?” Beth asked.
“Do you really want to cook tonight? Besides, there’s that nice Italian place.”
“Well… then what are we going to eat for breakfast?” Beth asked with saccharine innocence.
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“No, I didn’t think so.” She almost managed to say it without sounding tart, and David had the good sense to look chagrined.
“And we’d better head to the liquor store before it closes,” Chris said.
“Why don’t you do that while we get groceries?” Elizabeth suggested.
“Divide and conquer, I like it,” David agreed.
You girls wanna go with your moms?” Chris asked.
“Like… are you serious?” Erin asked.
Chris leaned against the counter and rubbed his forehead. Attitude already?
“We don’t need them,” Beth said dismissively. “They can stay and unpack.” She gave Erin a significant “you should do this” look.
Erin rolled her eyes. “Fine. Whatever.”
“Better let the women have the Town Car,” Chris said.
David smirked. “Yeah. Let’s see what that Fiero’s like.”
Unfortunately, Chris and David pulled into the parking lot a minute after the liquor store closed. They knocked on the door, but the clerk just looked at them through the glass and shrugged. They knocked again, and he ignored them. David pulled out some money and waved it when they knocked a third time. The clerk saw it, raised an eyebrow, and then turned and headed into the back.
They waited for a couple of minutes. Then the lights inside turned off.
“Well, hell,” Chris grumbled.
They turned to leave and Chris stepped off the curb. Unfortunately, into a puddle. To add a cherry on top of the shit sundae, the puddle was a pothole full of slushy, dirty water. The cold gunk quickly soaked his shoe and pants leg to his calf.
“Fuck,” Chris said.
David did not have the good grace to hide his laughter. “Sucks to be you.”
“Thanks,” Chris deadpanned.
David continued chuckling as they got back in the Fiero and drove back to the chalet. Slowly, because Chris’s shoe leaked every time he pressed the gas pedal. They arrived back well before the women were done.
Chris slid his shoe off in the vestibule and followed David up to the great room. With only one shoe, his gait was uneven, like he was limping. He went slowly so he wouldn’t do something stupid and hurt himself.
He was old enough that it wouldn’t take much, unfortunately.
Chris raised an eyebrow when he spotted the girls’ luggage still sitting next to the couch. So much for unpacking.
Then young female voices sounded from upstairs, a moment before young female feet started coming down them. Leah and Erin pulled up short when they saw the men. Both girls were nude with bath towels slung over their shoulders.
David’s eyes lit up as they darted up and down their bodies. He grinned.
Chris rolled his eyes, but then looked pointedly at the girls. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” Erin said playfully. Her eyes darted toward the patio.
Chris followed her gaze and, sure enough, the hot tub was steaming already.
Erin’s expression turned to a frown. “Hey, what’re you guys doing back so early?”
“The damn store was closed,” Chris growled.
“Why didn’t you go to another one?” Leah wondered aloud.
“Because they all close at the same time!”
“State law,” David explained in a calmer voice.
“Oh, that sucks,” Erin said. She shifted her weight and bent one leg, which thrust her bare breasts forward a bit. “So… you want to get in the hot tub with us?”
“That sounds like a pretty good idea,” David said.
“No, I do not want to get in the hot tub,” Chris snapped at the same time. “I wanna change my damn pants.”
Chris immediately regretted his tone. Erin hadn’t done anything to annoy him, although David was doing a good job in that department.
The girls looked down and noticed for the first time that Chris’s pant leg was dark and soggy and he was missing a shoe. Their eyebrows rose.
David used the opportunity to read the room. More specifically, he read Chris, which was slightly unusual. David had an obnoxious habit of thinking with his dick. Chris couldn’t really blame him, but it was still annoying at times.
“Yeah… maybe better not,” David said into the pregnant silence.
Chris decided that maybe David wasn’t a complete loss.
“You all go ahead,” Chris said.
The girls didn’t even give it a second thought and bounced down the last two stairs. With the innocence of youth, they headed toward the deck and relaxation.
Chris watched them go. He’d seen them nude thousands of times, but… naked young women? Of course he watched.
Then he sighed and headed upstairs to change his pants.
The restaurant was good. Even better, they actually had booze! Chris’s attitude improved significantly with the food, wine, and dry clothes, though not in that order.
The appetizers were quite good. The tomatoes in the bruschetta were particularly fresh, which implied a greenhouse somewhere nearby. Chris also liked the full flavor of the cheese. He sipped his wine and took a few deep breaths and soaked in the flavors and the merry atmosphere of the room. It definitely helped.
Unfortunately, he found himself on the Continental Divide of small talk. Elizabeth and Beth were deep in conversation on his left, while David sat across from him like the master of ceremonies, laughing and flirting with Erin and Leah.
“Ski a couple of blue runs to warm up,” David urged the girls, “and then come with us.”
“We’ll die!” Leah laughed.
“No, you won’t. Trust me. Live a little!”
David was well into his second glass of wine and had already assumed his natural role as the life of the party. It was the same old schtick, jokes and innuendo with a healthy undercurrent of flirting. Chris sometimes wondered if David even realized he was doing it. He probably didn’t. He was like that, effortlessly cool. He claimed he’d been shy and introverted in college, but Chris didn’t believe him. Besides, he wasn’t like that now, which was probably Beth’s influence. Chris turned his attention to her, but she and Elizabeth were laughing together.
“—you serious? He really said that?”
“He did!” Elizabeth confirmed.
“What did Kara do?”
“Started clearing the table. But you should’ve seen the look on his face!”
“Chagrinned?” Beth smirked.
“More like embarrassed.”
“Same thing,” Beth agreed amiably.
“Served him right, too!”
Chris smiled to himself and sipped his wine. He was tempted to order a third glass, but he had to drive back to the chalet after dinner. The roads had been plowed, but he still wanted a clear head when driving on packed snow.
Better not, he decided reluctantly.
He swirled the ruby liquid in his glass and watched the light play off the ripples. It was a nice little Shiraz from Penfolds, fruity and full with a smooth finish. He took a long sip and then stifled a sigh. Not that anyone noticed.
Leah could’ve. She was close enough. But her attention was elsewhere.
“—did you do then?” Leah said to David.
“I introduced myself to the young lady who was there.”
“And then what?”
Erin grinned and rolled her eyes like she’d heard the story a thousand times, which she probably had. In fact, Chris was pretty sure he’d heard it too. It sounded like one of David’s standard cocktail party anecdotes.
“Well…,” David said faux-judiciously. He leaned back and slid his wineglass to the side with his fingers. He was enjoying the attention from the two girls and wanted to build the suspense. He was a decent raconteur, Chris reflected, and the girls were having fun too.
Leah turned and grinned at Erin.
David grabbed her attention again. “I asked her where she kept her underwear.”
“No!” Leah said in disbelief.
“I did,” he boasted.
“You just asked?”
“Yep.”
“Did she tell you?”
“Not in so many words,” David admitted. He leaned forward conspiratorially, and the girls did likewise. “But I figured it out.”
“Her eyes gave it away,” Erin said, almost under her breath. She flashed a quick smile at Chris, but then turned back to David and the story.
“—top drawer on the left,” he was saying, “and grabbed the first pair I saw.”
“Just like that?” Leah laughed.
“Just like that.”
“Were they sexy ones?”
“God no! Are you kidding?” David laughed. “Not in those days.”
“Were they granny panties?” Leah asked.
“Oh, they weren’t that bad. If I recall, they had yellow ducks and blue bunnies.”
“Ducks and bunnies! That’s pretty risqué for the Fifties,” Leah said.
“Fifties!” David bawled in mock outrage. “Fifties?”
Erin leaned toward Leah and stage-whispered, “It was 1960.”
“Technically… not the Fifties,” David said.
“Close enough.”
Leah shook her head in amusement, and Chris was totally unprepared for what she did next.
“What about you, Dad? Did you ever go on panty raids?”
“No,” he said dryly.
“Why not? Didn’t they have them before the war?” Leah teased
“Vietnam?” he replied.
“No, World War II!” Erin said.
David and the girls laughed at his pained look.
“I’m not that old,” he protested, but it was a constant refrain these days. He was getting older, much as he didn’t want to admit it.
“That’s not what Mom says,” Leah shot back.
Elizabeth heard her name and looked across the table at the younger woman. “What do I say?”
“That Dad’s old.”
Elizabeth wrinkled her forehead in genuine confusion. “What’re you talking about?”
“Dad. You always call him an Old Goat.”
“That isn’t ’cause he’s old,” Elizabeth laughed. “It’s because he’s—”
“Horny,” Beth finished. She tipped her own wineglass in a silent nod.
Leah rolled her eyes and turned back to David. He started another anecdote, one of his “So, there I was…” stories that became increasingly improbable with each telling. Chris had heard this one before, too, a “rescue mission” to a bar in the Philippines. It had a full cast of characters straight out of Central Casting: a bunch of Navy pilots on leave, a stripper named Delight, and a foul-mouthed parrot. Ronaldo? Roberto something? It didn’t matter. It wasn’t his story anyway.
Chris leaned back and sighed into the dregs of his wine. Leah was hanging on David’s every word, and Chris decided that his own stories were dull by comparison. At least the ones he could tell in public. Even those didn’t measure up to David’s crazy college days.
Chris had to face it. Maybe he was old.
He certainly couldn’t hold the attention of the women like David could, young or old. Not that Elizabeth and Beth were old, he reminded himself. Only he was, and maybe he needed to accept that. But he’d hoped for some, ahem, attention from the younger women as well.
Too bad.
He raised his hand and caught the attention of the waiter. Maybe he could have a third glass of wine and still be okay to drive after all.
“Yes, sir?”
“Can I get another glass of Shiraz?” Chris asked, but then he had a brainstorm. He reached back, pulled out his wallet, and discreetly handed over his gold AmEx. The waiter reacted with a disappointing level of cool. He probably saw that sort of thing all the time. Still, Chris had pulled it off, and David hadn’t even thought of it.
Who’s the big man now!
They arrived back at the chalet satiated and tired. Chris’s mind kept drifting back to dinner, but he decided to put it out of his mind. So what if the girls hadn’t really talked to him? He wasn’t chopped liver, after all, even if it felt like it at times.
After a round of goodnights, everyone headed off to their bedrooms. Chris slipped into the master suite bathroom while Elizabeth undressed. He took care of things and came out to find her in a short terrycloth robe. It looked comfortable but not at all sexy. He knew she’d brought a skimpy silk one, but… he guessed tonight wasn’t the night for it.
“There’s another in the closet,” she said before she went into the bathroom behind him.
Chris sighed. He undressed and considered just staying nude. When he was younger, he would’ve. But now… that robe sounded like a good idea. It was warm.
He opened the closet and put it on. As he did, he heard a thump from outside the window.
He went to it and looked out, down on the hot tub. As he’d guessed, the thump was the hot tub lid hitting the ground. Leah and Erin finished maneuvering it out of the way.
Both were nude.
He watched as they set their towels and glasses of water where they wanted. They’d turned the tub light on, which illuminated them from below. Slim and sexy, they both moved without a care in the world.
A pang of envy moved through him.
But… it wasn’t like he hadn’t been young and full of energy once himself. And, he had to admit, having young, energetic women around was a good thing.
His blood surged with memories. Yeah, it’d been a really good thing at times.
Leah picked a spot to sit in the hot tub that faced the window, but she didn’t look up. Instead, she chatted more with Erin. Leah leaned against the side with her bare breasts just barely above the water.
She had really nice breasts.
And nipples that felt wonderful under his tongue.
He snorted softly. It was a little surreal to be able to remember how his daughter’s nipples felt in his mouth. He definitely took “dirty old man” to the next level.
He heard the water running in the bathroom and a moment later, Elizabeth emerged, nude and drying herself with a towel. He glanced her way, but she just smiled as she came to his side. He slipped an arm around her waist as she looked over his shoulder.
“Nice view?” she teased.
“Better now,” he said with the wisdom of experience.
She slid a hand around to his front. He stayed still and she poked around until she found a gap in his robe. A moment later, her fingers wrapped themselves around his hard shaft.
