A Matter of Trust: Follow Your Heart Read Online Free Page B

Dad
was out, which he was most of the time in summer, there was a lot of laughter
in her eyes and we used to sing and play games. But when Dad came home all the life
went out of her face and we all knuckled under.  Dad was more abusive with the
girls than with me, controlling everything they did – the way they dressed and
even walked.  It was better after we started high school because we could stay
away from home more often.  But I could see that mother missed us when we did,
and I tried to balance things out.  Anyway, the four of us – two girls, mom,
and myself became very close – a kind of mutual support group.  I was the
youngest so stayed home longer, but eventually we all left for college.  The
girls both married young - both to very nice non-macho men.  It’s funny. People
looking at us from outside thought we were a perfectly happy family.  None of
our bruises were visible and we kept our feelings to ourselves.   What about
your family?”
    “It was similar in a way,” replied Allison, and
changed the subject.   The sun was setting and they left each other at their
cars, well pleased and encouraged by the day.
     

Chapter 6
     
    As Spring morphed into Summer, Allison and Doug spent
more and more time together.   Allison attended court several times to
experience a particularly difficult case in which Doug was trying to get
custody for a pair of children for their mother.  She was not an ideal mother,
having a drinking problem, which didn’t help, and the father was well-connected
in Little Rock, so that the mother’s stories of harsh treatment were not
believed.  Doug had to fight hard to persuade the judge, but he fought with a
passion driven by memories of his own childhood and won, mostly by sheer
eloquence, but also because he dug until he found a witness who corroborated
the mother’s testimony, despite the father’s attempt to intimidate her.
    They went hiking together, and joined a square dancing
club.  Allison was very hesitant about that; you can’t square dance without
touching people, but Doug persuaded her to give it a try and she found that in
a formal and ritualized setting like a square dance she could manage, and
gradually to be comfortable with it, and even find it enjoyable.
    By the end of the summer, it was patent that they had
become good friends.   Allison’s friend June noticed the change as it happened,
and was ecstatic.  “He’s what you need, honey! It’s beautiful to see. But he’s
not going to put up with just being friends forever – not a man with his
reputation among the ladies – so you’d better move on.”
    The idea of “moving on” as June had put it, gave
Allison cold shivers, but she didn’t say that to June.
    June was right about Doug, in a way. He was growing weary of the “just friends” bit, and wanted more. The fact was that he
had fallen in love with Allison and didn’t want to go forever without
expressing that physically.  But June was wrong that he wouldn’t “put up” with
friendship forever if he had to.  He would … if he had to.  The friendship was
coming to mean too much to him to let it go, and he knew that to move too fast
would ruin everything.  For the time being, there were still lots of willing
bodies on his address list, though not so many as he used to have, because his
basic lack of interest in the women whose bodies they were became more and more
obvious.
    He kept wracking his brain for ways to “move on” in
small steps.
    One came in a way that was reminiscent of the way they
had met.   They had avoided situations when they would be alone together. 
Allison, though her trust in Doug was growing steadily, was not comfortable
when there were no outside restraints on his behavior.   They had formed a
friendship with another couple in the square dancing club and by October were
spending an occasional weekend as a foursome at Doug’s family farm.  Doug had
kept the property as a bolt hole, though he