SIX MONTHS LATER
The December weather was snowy and windy, and Kerri drove slow to keep the Jeep on the road as she made her way up the mountain road to her father's house.
Even through the cold -- she was bundled up in a thick sweater and heavy coat, thanks to the Jeep's broken heater -- she could feel the butterflies roiling in her stomach. Aside from a brief phone call and a few emails, she hadn't talked to her father since the weekend they had spent together over the summer break. Even the emails had been friendly and perfunctory, and neither of them had brought up what had happened. It seemed best, given her dad's grudging acceptance of the computer he'd bought to "keep in touch." The last thing either of them needed was a virus or security hole blowing their secret wide open.
This visit promised to be very different from the last. For starters, her little sister Kim was visiting -- herself eighteen and attending college next term, in a different state than Kerri (thank god, she thought to herself). There was no way that Kerri and her father would get the alone time they wanted, even assuming he still felt the same way about her after all these months.
Even if they did have time alone, she had to admit she had no idea what would happen. For the first few weeks after her return to her tiny studio apartment, her longing for him had been like a constant, bittersweet ache -- but over time, desire had become laced with doubt, and Kerri had begun to wonder if even she felt the same way she had. She wouldn't know until she laid eyes him again, and a large part of her was afraid of what would happen when she did.
In short, the moment she most feared was approaching, on the other side of the wind and snow. So she drove slowly.
# # #
The house, aside from a few inches of snow and her father's traditional half-hearted attempt at Christmas lights, was just as she'd left it the previous summer. Kerri parked the Jeep out front and grabbed her bag, leaning into the icy wind with clenched teeth. White puffs of dusty snow exploded into the air as she ran for the front door. She knocked once, waited, decided it was absurd to knock at the door of a house she'd lived in most of her life, and let herself in.
"Dad?"
A burst of warm, fragrant air greeted her, smelling of wood smoke and pine needles, but no voice answered her own. She closed the door and set her bag down, then unwrapped her scarf and unzipped her jacket.
"Hello?" she called as she hung up her jacket on the hook by the door.
"Oh my god, shut up," a voice said from the living room.
Kerri furrowed her brow and stepped out of the foyer, following the sound of that voice. She emerged into the living room to find Kim curled up on one corner of the couch, thumbing through a magazine.
She hadn't seen her little sister since she'd left home the first time, and she was surprised by both how much and how little she'd changed. Though the resemblance would be instantly clear to anyone who made a casual observation, their similarity ended at their blue eyes and pale skin. Where Kerri's hair was long and and thick and tended to curl a little at the ends, Kim's was fine and straight, ending just below her shoulders. They were both slim, but where Kerri was slightly more curvy in the hips and waist, Kim was slender, although filled out a little from the stick figure she had been in high school. Finally, it was apparent that Kerri had gotten all the luck in the breast department; while hers were modest but shapely serviceable C-cups, Kim looked nearly flat-chested by comparison. Kim, however, had gotten the full lips and the perfect skin, flawless as apricot cream.
Kerri noted with amusement that one other thing hadn't changed; Kim still wore shockingly tight tops, even in the cold weather, to accentuate the figure she had.
"Hey, runt," Kerri said, not without affection.
"Dad's not here," Kim said, legs crossed, one foot bouncing restlessly with Kim's typical nervous energy.
"Hi to you too," Kerri said.
Her sister finally looked up. "That sweater makes you look like a cow," she said.
"Thanks. That top makes you look like a whore."
"I'm following in your footsteps."
"Oh wow," Kerri said, her jaw dropping in mock surprise. "Does that mean you finally lost your virginity?"
Kim looked at her wide-eyed for a moment, then could hold the facade no longer. She burst out laughing.
"Shut up, bitch," she said, and leaped off the couch and across the room to give Kerri a hug. Kerri squeezed her sister tight, once again marveling at how tiny and slender Kim still was.
"I missed you," Kerri said.
"I missed you too," Kim replied, and kissed her on the cheek. "Sorry about the cow thing."
"No, you're right, it does make me look like a cow. I can't wait to get out of this damn thing. So where is Dad anyway?"
"He drove down to the grocery to get more supplies. He said that with both of us here, we'd eat all the food in the house within a day."
"That's because his idea of 'all the food in the house' is six peanuts and a can of Miller Lite," Kerri said. "So how did you get here before me?"
Kim shrugged her shoulders. "There was an earlier flight with some available seats, so I took it. Dad hung out with me for awhile, then decided to take off before you left. He said we needed girl time."
"Right," Kerri said. "So how is girl time treating you so far?"
"I've had about enough," Kim said, and they both laughed again. Then Kim got the mischievous glint in her eye that Kerri knew so well.
"Uh-oh," Kerri asked. "What?"
"Before he gets back, will you make the special coffee?" Kim asked, putting her fists under her chin in a highly successful attempt to look cute.
Kerri smiled. "You mean the coffee with the Bailey's in it."
"Yeah."
"All this time and you haven't figured out how to filch your own liquor yet? Do I have to do everything for you?"
"Dad won't let me have any. He thinks I'm still underage."
"Right, because you've been eighteen how long? Nine minutes?"
Kim delivered a punch to her sister's shoulder. "Nine months, bitch."
Kerri rubbed her arm. "Well, you certainly hit like a grown-up. All right, one special coffee. But just one. I'm not having you getting lit and jumping off the roof of the house before Dad gets back. He's going to want to get the movie camera first."
"Oh my god, you are so mean," Kim said. "I've missed you."
Kerri grinned. "I've missed you too, sis."
# # #
Steve returned an hour later, a gust of chill wind breaking up the warmth as he shuffled in, paper grocery bags under both arms.
"Little help," he said. Both girls put down their coffee cups and bounced over to fetch the bags. Steve shrugged off his coat and hung it up next to Kerri's, just as she put down the groceries and threw herself into his arms for a hug.
"Hi Dad," she said, her voice muffled as she pressed her face into his shoulder.
"Hi, kitten," he said, and squeezed her tight. She sought for clues to the questions that had been plaguing her in his embrace, but found nothing except the affection she'd known all her life. She decided to stop overthinking it and just enjoy the hug instead.
As soon as she was finished, Kim pounced in to take her place, burying herself in Dad's arms. Kim almost disappeared when he put his arms around her.
