Ch. 4

"Boxers or briefs?"

Everyone turned to look at Sami as she sipped her soda.

"Excuse me?" Wendy asked incredulously.

"It was a simple question. Does David wear boxers or briefs?"

The men blinked at Sami, not sure what was a safe answer and the women grinned and eagerly looked to Wendy to find the answer.

"And on that note gentlemen," Scotty's voice floated from over from the back of the toy hauler. "I think it's time to leave and go mudding!"

Then men followed, eager to leave the women to gossip about them.

"Chickens." Vena said to their retreating backs.

"So?" Sami asked again.

"Sami!"

"Oh, come on! Like you weren't wondering? I'm just the only one brave enough to ask." Sami argued.

Minnie wrapped an arm around her daughter. "No dear. You're just the only one with no tact or shut-up filter. You speak before you think."

She gave her mother a bland look. "And that's a bad thing?"

Shannon flicked a pebble at her head. "O M E! You are the most annoying person on the face of the planet."

"O M E?"

Shannon giggled. "It means, 'Oh My Edward!'"

Now Wendy was really confused.

"Edward Cullen? Twilight?"

"Shannon's obsessed with fictitious men who drink blood and wear more glitter than heterosexually possible."

"Edward's not gay! And he doesn't wear glitter. His skin is like diamonds and sparkles in the sunlight."

Sami rolled her eyes. "And yet you seemed to have skipped over the fact that he's not even a real person."

While Sami and Shannon argued the finer points of reality versus fantasy, Wendy followed Minnie to see the dogs. A black lab lolled his head over the side of the pickup bed and Wendy obliged to scratch between his floppy ears while Minnie dropped the tailgate.

"Are they usually that weird?" Wendy asked.

"Unfortunately so." Minnie said, scratching the chest of a large Siberian Husky, his crystal blue eyes closed in bliss.

"Hodges definitely has some strange friends."

"I've been meaning to ask…Why do you and David call each other by your last names?"

She considered the goofy Labrador. "I suppose because that's what we've called each other at work for so long."

"But, you're not at work now."

"I guess I should start calling him David since this is our second date."

"Took him long enough. That boy hasn't shut up about you since the first time we got him plastered. It was 'Simms' this and 'Simms' that. We thought he was gay 'til he pulled out a picture of you."

Wendy giggled and watched as the dogs tumbled off the tailgate and snuffled about. Minnie closed the back of the truck with a thud that knocked Wendy out of her reverie.

"So, how are things going so far?"

"Good…they're good…" her voice trailed off.

"But?"

"How do you know there's a 'but?'"

"Because there's always a 'but' when it comes to relationships."

"…I got a job offer the other day."

"Ah. And?"

"It's to be a field tech…in New Orleans."

"Oh. That does put you in a bit of pickle. You've been waiting on David to show some sign of interest and life's gotten ahead of you."

"Yeah. What do I do?"

"I can't answer that for you. I'm not a Life Coach…Sami is, though."

"So now you're saying I need professional help?"

Minnie opened her mouth to rebut the comment but then shook her head and walked away leaving Wendy to her own thoughts.

She found Gen and her boyfriend snuggled at the water's edge. "Where'd everyone go?"

The couple pointed wordlessly at the lake. So, Wendy stripped down to her swimsuit and joined them in the cool water. She floated quietly away from the main group for a while until the pregnant woman finally paddled over and bobbed next to her.

"Okay. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Something's wrong."

"Your mom said I should talk to you."

"I'm a Life Coach. What's wrong with your life…other than dating David, that is?"

"I got a job offer in New Orleans about a week ago."

"David said he asked you out around then."

"Mm-hm. So, what am I gonna do about it. Do I stay in Vegas with David or take the job in Louisiana?"

"And leave the possibility of a relationship with David." Sami added.

"I didn't say that."

"Didn't have to…pretty obvious. Did you talk to him about it?"

"No."

"Maybe you should."

"He'll just tell me to take the job. It's a step up for me and all I've been talking about lately is working in the field."

"You sound pretty sure."

Wendy dropped from her prone position and tread water. "It's Hodges. What do you think?"

"He might ask you to stay, you know."

"Doubtful."

"How can you be so sure?"

"If there's one thing David Hodges is not, it's selfish. He might be thoughtless and conceited, but not selfish. He won't ask me to stay just because he wants me to, he'd need some logical reason outside of his own wants and needs."

"Why don't you just ask him and find out?"

"Honestly? Because I don't think I wanna know his answer."

"Chicken." Sami poked at her.

Wendy brushed the offending finger away. "The way I look at it, I can either stay and see if this 'thing' with Hodges works out and hope a field position opens up before I hit retirement or I can leave everything I know and take the field position in New Orleans."

"So, what're you going to do?"

"I don't know!" She whined dramatically. "That's why I came to you."

"You know-" Sami started but Wendy cut her off at the pass.

"I'm not asking Hodges."

They floated in the cool water for a while, lost in their own thoughts, until the men came back from playing in the mud and waved them back into shore. The little fire was coaxed into a raging inferno and drinks were passed around.

Sami sipped her ginger ale as she discussed her earlier conversation quietly with her mother.

Dex, Pops, Mark, Scotty, and Mickey stood around the fire, stoking it to epic proportions. Shannon, Vena, and Gen sat in a tight little group giggling drunkenly. Hodges leaned back against a rock with Wendy's back at his chest. He shifted uncomfortably and she glanced over her shoulder at him.

"You okay?"

"Nature calls."

He grabbed her by her belt loops and maneuvered her so he could stand and headed for the nearest tree with a minor bit of wobbling and weaving.

"I think he's well on his way to being drunk." Sami observed as she levered herself to the ground and rubbed her round belly.

"I think he's past that point already." Wendy giggled.

"Can I ask you something?"

"God! Not this again."

"No! No. It's just…something you said earlier, it got me thinking."

"What?"

"Why does David call you Simms and you call him Hodges?"

"Because those are our names."

"Your last names. Kinda seems impersonal for two people who've been dancing around each other for as long as you have. Shouldn't you be calling each other David and Wendy or pet names even?"

Wendy stared at her cup with a confused air. "You know, your mom asked me the same question."

"And?" Sami prodded.

"What?"

"I think you've had enough." Sami tossed Wendy's cup in the fire. "What was your answer when Mom asked you?"

Wendy let out a sigh. "I don't know. Work?"

"I doubt that's the reason. Listen, you figure out the real answer and then come talk to me about New Orleans." She patted Wendy's knee. "But for now you can just help me get my fat ass off the ground."

Wendy hefted her up and rolled her eyes. "You're not fat, you're pregnant."

Sami grinned ruefully and rubbed her stomach. "Don't feel much different."

"I've been meaning to ask, how far along are you?"

"Five months."

"Good grief. You look further along than that."

"Twins will do that."

With that Sami toddled off to find her husband and left Wendy staring into the fire trying to comprehend what she meant.