When The Stars Align Ch 03

(My thanks go to Linda62953. She did a great job of finding my mistakes and pointed out the errors in the story line that I missed.)

The sun had just started to peak over the top of the mountains, the weight or rather the warmth on my lap a telling sign. Victoria was curled into my lap with a blanket covering both of us. She moved to get a little closer; my arms went around her nakedness and held her to me.

"I got up to go to the bathroom. When I couldn't find you, I woke Gretchen and she found you out here. You scared us both. Please don't do that again. Although you were asleep, Gretchen said you had a smile on your face and you looked content."

She still smelled of sex, even after all this time; I placed my nose to her hair and smelled her. The hardness that followed didn't faze me in the least. Victoria adjusted her position, and went fishing for an entrance into my shorts. Her hand wrapped itself around my cock.

"I have yet to be confident enough to do outdoor sex and other than Gretchen, I don't do audiences. Your father is coming down the path."

It was only when she finished speaking; I heard the gravel beneath his boots. Gretchen came out onto the porch just as dad got to the steps of the cabin; the blanket wrapped around her, a telling sign that she was naked beneath it.

"A good morning to you all, I'm heading into town do you need anything while I'm there?"

Gretchen mentioned that we needed more coffee and bacon but other than that, we wished him a pleasant journey and he left. The smell of breakfast followed Gretchen out of the door and I scooped Victoria up into my arms and carried her inside. The blanket never made it past the door despite Victoria trying to hold onto my hardness and the blanket at the same time, I guess it took mere seconds to decide her priorities.

Breakfast carried us over to mid morning, neither of the girls wanted to get dressed and who was I to complain about that. I did manage to get them in the shower though. We made a discovery then, they're just not built for three adults. The girl's cunning plan of course was for me to take two showers. Someone had to wash their backs, sides, and well, all of their fronts of course. Nevertheless, I was under orders, what's a guy supposed to do in those situations.

A week seemed to slip by and other than swimming in the creek, we never traveled far, the girls made sure of that. Connie invited us all over for a cookout. I never realized the logistics of a cookout before. We had to make a trip into town for more groceries; the girls were adamant that they couldn't turn up at a cookout empty handed. Hell, what did I know, I usually just turned up. That comment alone, got me one of those looks from both the girls.

I trusted Connie and yet again, I was proven right in doing so. When we got there, the party was restricted to her family and ours. We knew there was time yet to introduce Victoria and Gretchen to the rest of the family. Tonight wasn't going to be that night. Lou-Lou stuck to Victoria like glue and not only acted as her arm but also her partner in crime. Dad and I could often hear laughter coming from the seats out by the barn. When girls get together, it usually spells trouble for us guys. Add to that, a daughter that knew too much and two wives hungry for that information and you could figure out my concerns.

The trip home was so full of innuendo that even dad got flustered and told them to cool it. At his age, he's likely to get a heart attack from the stuff coming from the back seat of the car.

"Son, you had better hurry up and marry these two. Judging from what's coming from the back seat your ass is already hanging out there. These two know more about you than any man should be comfortable with one wife knowing about him, let alone two."

That set both of them off. Laughter between the two ever so slightly drunk women filled the car for the rest of the journey. Dad helped me bring the girls in, placing Victoria onto the couch before he looked at both of them, shook his head and wished me luck and left. The morning found them both in bed and in each other's arms while I took the couch. The smell of coffee brought on the sound of the shower, the conversation and laughter between the two increased.

When they exited the shower, I put breakfast on, ready for when they were dressed. That was a mistake. Both girls emerged from the bedroom with a towel wrapped around their hair and around their bodies. I managed to get a kiss from each before they said anything to me, the look they both gave me said enough.

"We woke up and it was clear you slept on the couch."

"If you're asking me if I regret it, then yes. I don't take advantage of women who have more than a little alcohol in them. Moreover, if you plan to do it again, then expect the same response. Don't get me wrong here, I don't begrudge you getting a little wasted; everyone is entitled once in awhile and with what you two have had to put up with over the years. It proved to me that you trusted us enough to take care of you when you did."

Judging by the smiles on their lips, it wasn't the answer they had expected. But, it sure took the wind out of their sails when they tried to get back to their original conversation.

"You're our husband, you should never sleep on the couch when one or both wives are in the cabin."

With breakfast now on the table, the conversation waited until we finished. Then it was Gretchen's turn to try another angle.

"Ok. We won't ever drink again or if we do either one of us stays sober or we drink in moderation. Neither of us is comfortable with you sleeping on the couch."

"Girls I'm not sure you understand my view on this. You two have a right to drink, I don't drink and haven't for some time, that doesn't mean you two have to stop. It's clear to see you don't drink all that often, judging by the amount you both had yesterday. You both clearly enjoyed yourself yesterday and as word spreads, I can guarantee you're going to be asked to more cookouts, just enjoy them and try not to get drunk."

Victoria seemed to take my meaning the wrong way. "We are not drunks."

"I never said you were, judging by the amount you had to drink, you both drink very little. All I'm saying is that around me, the farm and the family you can relax and know that none of us have a hidden agenda towards either of you."

I must have said something right because the towels parted and settled over the back of the chairs. They stayed there for the rest of the time we sat and talked. I did mention to the girls that I had to open the barn later in the afternoon because someone was coming by to pick up a part. That got us into the conversation of what I had been doing since I came back from the city.

"For some time our family have been on the periphery of NASCAR Racing. When I came back home I got back into it. I design specialized parts for cars, sometimes I will test parts the other race companies give me for efficiency and to make sure they don't do nasty stuff like blow up at full revs."

"So the day I came to see you at the track, it was business?"

Smiling as I remembered that day and the day after, Gretchen noticed and blushed, evidently figuring out why I was smiling so much. Victoria sat in silence for a moment, her brow creased and then she said.

"What else do you do?"

I paused before replying and regretted when I did. "I don't understand your question."

Victoria wasn't about to let this slide. "Yes you do, I sensed it. You chose your words carefully, meaning you do something else."

Gretchen had lived with Victoria long enough to place great trust in her friends instincts and shuffled her seat to sit next to her, waiting for me to explain. Perhaps it was time, this needed to be discussed between us sometime, I suppose now would be as good a time as any.

"To answer your question would take this conversation back some years, our family were ridge runners during the prohibition years. We were smart in as much as we never made the stuff, we just transported it and we were good at it as well. There are some back roads we used that even today aren't on maps."

Victoria sat and listened while Gretchen got up and made us all a drink. She could still hear us from the kitchen and I raised my voice slightly so she could do so comfortably. I went on to explain that the head of the family back then was Walter Ellington. He never had a college education but most called him street smart. He knew there was money to be made during the prohibition, just as those that quickly went about building stills to make moonshine.

Even deep in the woods, stills couldn't be moved and were sitting ducks. He knew the real money was in the transportation. Our folks had moved around the mountain ranges for years on horseback, often not seeing anyone else for days if not weeks. Walter got the family together and we became ridge runners. One of our cousins took Walter into the city and he bought a truck using a false name. As soon as he got the truck back, he kept it in the mountains, stripped it down and then went about making it ready for the mountains.

One truck led to two and then three. It got to the point that if you wanted your booze moved, you talked to Walter. He also knew that it wouldn't last. To him the business of moving booze during the prohibition era was a one off windfall that couldn't be left to others to take advantage of and as quick as they made money he squirreled it away. Buying land, getting each of the children in each of the Ellington families a better education, sending the eldest in the families off to college, it was as though he had a tick list in his head that would improve the whole family.

Walter made sure that none of the Ellington's ever flaunted the money they made as ridge runners. They still worked farms, tended cattle and lived as if every cent was earned. He saw the end of prohibition two years before most of the others did and called a halt to the transportation of alcohol. Walter Ellington was the head of the family so what he said happened. By now, it was in our blood. Walter knew it and turned those in the family who couldn't let it go towards racing cars at county fairs. That was the early start that became NASCAR.

"The Ellington's have been in or amongst the scene ever since. Some of us became drivers, some like me liked to tinker and were happy just making them go faster. When I came back, I just picked up where I left off. Converting the barn into a workshop took the longest. I went to see some of the race companies and when they found out I was back, they shipped some of their problems to me."

What followed was a deluge of questions from both of them, I answered as best I could although some I flat out refused to answer. Walter Ellington may have passed on generations ago but his rules regarding our past, still remained to this day. Just as his legacy of seeing to it that all the Ellington children of that era and for generations to come were taken care of, the strength of that legacy made us what we are today.

The questions became never ending, resigning myself to the fact that these women who were now a part of my life, needed a glimpse of it. I held both their hands to silence them and even that took awhile.

"Ok, ok I give in. Let me make a couple of calls. You two need to get dressed and I don't mean dresses. You're going to need jeans and shirts and none of them fancy bras either. I know you both have sports bras so get them out as well as boots. I'm sure I can beg borrow or steal the rest."

That set them both off once again, I just picked up my cell and walked out of the cabin and made some calls from my workshop. It was the only place quiet enough. As luck would have it, one of the NASCAR teams was doing a promotion day at the track, which came in real handy since it meant I wouldn't have to wait for one of their guys to pick up the part waiting for them, I could deliver it. I of course, leaned heavily on a few favors and got us in as guests. It was time to go and find the girls and let them know we would be leavening in an hour.

One of the teams mechanics met us at the security gate and hitched a ride back in. The team was hosting one of their major sponsors. I had a talk with a couple of people, twisted an arm or two, begged a little and smiled an awful lot. That alone got us into the courtesy tent with the sponsor. The girls went all conglomerate on me then and started networking. I found Phillip Ambridge III, the owners called him 'three', the rest of us called him Phil.

Phil had been team chief for the last eight very successful years and the owners kept their hands to themselves and simply took the praise for his efforts. Phil looked on it as a fare exchange of labor. By the time I had found him, Victoria was already deep in conversation with him. Her sense of being able to find the right person in a crowd was uncanny. Gretchen swooped in and whisked Victoria away while I spoke to Phil. At first he flat out refused, I knew this was going to cost me something and after awhile we struck a deal.

"Listen Doug, what worries me is the blind girl. I could get Max to take it easy on her and keep it under a hundred, I'm sure she wouldn't notice."

"That's where you're wrong Phil, you have to treat both girls the same or she will know. Don't ever treat her as dumb. It ain't worth it in the long run and you could well lose a fan if you try."

Even as we talked, he still watched her mingle with the sponsors. I was almost sure she sensed him watching her. In the end, I got him on my side and as the cars came in off the track, I was able to get the girls a ride. They were so hyped up that they jumped at the chance. The team brought out the two-seated version of the racing car. We kitted them both out and the team drivers took them onto the track.

I sat in the control booth and listened as the cars reached a hundred, both the girls had already started to scream on the way round. I nudged one of the tech guys and asked if he could tape this. He just smiled, slipped a tape into the machine, pressed record and told me to remind him, never to piss me off. By the time both cars had gotten up to a hundred and thirty, you could hear the girls screaming above the noise of the engine.

The whole thing lasted three laps although I'm sure they both felt it was more than that. Phil and I both agreed that because of Victoria's blindness we needed to get her in first. The groan could clearly be heard from Gretchen when he radioed over to Benny that he needed to do another lap to give us time to get Victoria out of the car. The engine noise only increased slightly this time so it was fair to say that he was taking it easy on Gretchen.

As Max came to a stop in the pit, the mechanics automatically gave the car a check over, ready for the next volunteer. What none of us took into consideration was that Victoria's heightened senses could well be her own undoing. I managed to help Victoria out of her seat, she was a bit wobbly on her legs, her other instincts must have been working in overdrive throughout the three laps and it was only now she was finding her feet again.

The weak smile didn't fool anyone, the sudden look of panic made a couple of us understand what was coming next. She pushed me to one side and threw up over one of the mechanics that wasn't quick enough to move out of the way. I waved one of the hospitality ladies over and she helped Victoria to the women's bathroom so she could 'freshen up'.

Gretchen fared slightly better, as her car came to a stop alongside Victoria's she was already hitting the catch to release the safety harness. By the time I got to her, she ran past me, much to the amusement of the mechanics that now started to swarm around the car. She made it to the men's bathroom before she lost her breakfast. We all stood and waited apprehensively for her to exit. The round of applause when she came out through the door turned her beet red with embarrassment.

She rode the applause well though and even milked it a little with a curtsy. Even the folks from the pit crew could see she took the jesting well and a few actually asked her if she was ok. I stood back and watched her, I had known it all along yet it was times like these that it could be seen more clearly. She wasn't afraid, she stood tall amongst a group of people that do this for a living and the curtsy was to show that whatever they could send her way she could deal with.

The look she gave me when she managed to separate herself from the crowd, reminded me that it would serve me well to sleep with one eye open for the foreseeable future. The fact I was relaying to Victoria what Gretchen had done, and the applause only led to her doubling up laughing so much. Well at least it mellowed Gretchen's mood and both took the experience on the chin although I doubt either one would be so quick to volunteer ever again.

Phil came over, hugged both girls and said he hadn't laughed so much in some time as he escorted us to one of the tents for light refreshment. I didn't need to remind the girls that they now had empty stomachs so a light meal and plenty of liquids were in order before we left. The crew and even the drivers wandered up and joined us for a chat over the time we were there, most I knew and introduced them to Victoria and Gretchen.

Apart from the slight sickness episode, both girls freely admitted that they enjoyed themselves although from now on it would be from the safety of a sponsor's tent or the stands.

I of course saved the best until last. On the way home, I slid the tape into the machine. The fight that ensued between the girls to get the tape out the machine and toss it out of the window was one of those, I wish I had a camera moments.

*******

Lou-Lou came over every day, the bond between all three girls made me smile and even I gave a quiet prayer of thanks that they liked each other. Some days my daughter would turn up and they would spend their time doing nothing but talking. Times like that I left them to it and either sat with my dad or worked on some unfinished stuff in my workshop. Other times, all three would insist I took them into town. The clothing shops were hit often while I went and hid in the diner across the street.

The girls still sunbathed down by the creek while I was working in the barn. I had already warned them that although I had cleared most of my work for their visit I still had a couple of bits that needed my time. Thankfully, they accepted that and I did make it up to them by offering to take them back to the track anytime they wished. I never did understand why I was met with silence at that offer.

It was when I was closing up the barn that my world was pulled back to reality. A horse and rider came around the side of the barn. It was the first time I had seen Dixon since Lou-Lou's accident. He climbed down from his horse, tied her up and walked into the barn; I looked around once and then followed him. Dixon started one of the machines and motioned that I stand next to him, what he told me next made me angry and confused at the same time.

"I know you have some tough decisions to make Doug, I will come by tomorrow for an answer. I'm sorry, truly I am."

"Does dad know?"

Dixon nodded his head; I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. My father was after all, the head of the family just as I knew he could have made the decision himself. Yet he chose not to interfere in our lives and I knew what had to be done now. I just had to figure out how to get the girls on board and make my insane idea work. We shook hands and as Dixon left, I closed up the barn sighing to myself as I walked back to the house. Dad sat on the porch watching me; he only nodded as I walked in and up to Lou-Lou's room.