She could hear the noise of people splashing in the pool and decided it was time to go upstairs and put on her bikini. Travis was outside in the pool and if she wanted to join him it would necessitate putting on her bathing suit. Besides, she wanted to keep an eye on him, a string of girls seemed to follow him around and she was feeling a little jealous.
She always felt a little daring when she put on the string bikini that her mother, and husband, had disapproved of. It was a lilac color, a precise shade between lavender and purple, a color that looked good on her. She looked at herself in the mirror, hating the way she still looked too thin, she'd gained weight, just not enough to make a difference. Gator's cooking and the hard work she'd done on the Yellowstone ranch had helped build her back up, but she had a way to go.
She gave the puppy an apologetic pat and headed down the stairs. She felt self-conscious, she hadn't worn the bikini in a long time, but she was sure that she wouldn't be the only one in something revealing.
Someone was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs. She was tall, and thin, and her brown hair hung past her waist. She was very pretty, too, pretty enough to be a model or an actress, and to make things worse she was older than her.
Anicka drew herself up straight, and with great effort, smiled at the stranger who stood before her.
"Hi," said the girl, "I'm Sadie, I used to be Travis's girlfriend. I wanted to introduce myself before you heard someone say something. I just wanted to let you know that if you need anything, or just need someone to talk to, I'm here. Things can get a little overwhelming here sometimes and you're miles from home. And if you have any questions or concerns about Travis…" she lifted her hand.
This was not what Anicka had expected, but the look on Sadie's face was friendly and guileless. It would be nice to know someone, especially a woman, who had known Travis. He could be a mystery at times, especially since she didn't quite know what he wanted from her. Except for the sex, she thought.
"Thank you," she said, trying not to stumble overs her words, but she was cut off guard and was having trouble making her mouth work, "I don't quite know what I'm doing here, except that he's providing me a refuge. I don't even know what his plans are where I'm concerned."
"Oh, he likes you, there's no doubt of that," Sadie replied, "He wanted me to meet you and help you out if I could. Most people only know Travis the asshole, but there's more to him than that. He can be a little frustrating at times, especially when he yells—he does a lot of that in case you haven't noticed."
"Travis will surprise you," she went on, "he'll do something sweet for you when you least expect it, and he will always be there to support you if he can. We're friends, good friends, and I'm glad. I'm engaged now," she held up the third finger on her left hand so Anicka could see an impressive diamond ring, "And he'll be at my wedding, and I hope you will be too."
Before Anicka could answer Travis came through the door. "Oh, I was wondering where you two were. Sadie put up with me for a long time, but she finally got smart and found someone who's smart enough to marry her. Come on, I'm about to put the corndogs in the fryer." He disappeared out the door.
"Well," said Sadie, "Shall we?"
"After you," Anicka answered, and they went out to the patio.
If Anicka had thought that her bikini was risqué, she discovered that what she was wearing was modest by comparison. Several of the girls wore thong bikinis, displaying their round buttocks. She tried not to stare, she'd never seen bathing suits that left so little to the imagination. She felt embarrassed and uncomfortable but pasted a smile on her face to hide her discomfiture. Growing up her mother would never have allowed her to wear anything that revealing so she had never even considered it. Hopefully Travis would not expect her to.
The guys were doing cannonballs into the pool—of course there was no one around who would tell them not to. This was the kind of party she'd never attended, let alone been invited to, but everyone was having a good time. She decided that she was going to enjoy herself no matter what it took.
Travis stood up, "Hey," he yelled, "Let's have a chicken fight," and the crowd cheered. He turned to Anicka and said, "Come on, you're my partner."
"I don't even know what a chicken fight is," she objected, but he stooped own and hoisted her over his broad shoulders, then stood up.
"You sit on my shoulders and try to push our opponent into the water, without falling in ourselves. Are you going to tell me you never had a chicken fight?"
"Hey, we took swimming lessons but if we wanted to swim we had to go to a public pool, and that they wouldn't have allowed. We couldn't afford to have our own pool. And no, I've never been to a chicken fight and I don't even know what it is." She was wondering what she was in for.
"Well, hold on tight and try not to fall off, or get pushed off my shoulders. We won't go first so you can get an idea of what's going on. But like it or not, we're having a chicken fight."
Anicka watched as two couples battled it out, one finally succeeding in knocking the other over. Then it was her and Travis's turn, and they went at it. At first she was scared, but she was determined to not be the one who lost. Her arms were strong from the hard work she'd done at the ranch, and though it seemed to take a while, she succeeded in knocking the other couple over and watched as they splashed down in the pool.
Everyone was laughing, everyone was having fun, but she wondered what she'd gotten herself into. Sometimes Travis seemed like a teenager. She had seen him and Rip racing, can of beer in hand, and sliding horses, seeing who had gone further. She felt sorry for the horses, but they seemed okay and would go back and do it again, and again. Now that she thought about it, that was one of the few times she had seen Rip laugh.
Things seemed to have settled down a bit. Travis got out of the pool, wrapped a towel around his waist and started frying the corn dogs. They smelled good, a mixture of corn, oil, and of course hot dogs—they smelled like summer fairs that her parents would take their kids to. And the deep-fried churros that her mother would fix in their kitchen.
The first batch was done, and he turned them out on paper towels to drain. He wrapped one in a paper towel and handed it to her.
"Here," he said, "Let it cool off before you try to eat it, you can tell me if they taste all right.
She took it from him and sniffed it, "Umm, smells good. I don't remember the last time I had a corndog."
"They go really good with beer, too bad you don't like beer." He grinned at her, his cute, little boy, aren't I cute grin.
"I hate beer," she said, "I've hated it since I was a kid. That's why I drink 'Mike's'. You can drink my share of the beer."
"Not a problem," he told her, "Now go and tell everyone that the corndogs are ready."
The party began to slowly wind down. People ate and drank and then the first departers made their goodnights and left. The smart ones would decide that driving was not a good idea and spend the night, others would leave even though they shouldn't.
She dove into the deep end of the pool then swam the length. She didn't care when Travis went to bed, she was going to take the puppy and for one last walk then go to bed. It hadn't been a bad night. Most of the people had been nice to her, and but she didn't know if she would mind seeing them again.
The big surprise was that she liked Sadie. The brunette beauty had gone out of her way to show kindness to her. She had expected to be uncomfortable around her, but Sadie had been nice, pointing out different people and telling her things she knew about them. And she was funny, she made her laugh, which she appreciated.
There were only a few of the partyers left, and some of them had fallen asleep in chaise lounges or chairs. Travis was sitting in a chair, nursing his last beer of the night.
She over to him and put her arms around his neck. "I'm taking the doggie for a last walk, then I'm turning in. Alcohol makes me sleepy."
"Are you sure?" he asked, "Can you try and stay up a little longer?" He put his hands on hers and squeezed them.
"Nah, my eyes are barely open as it is. If I stay here any longer I'm going to fall asleep on the ground. I'll give the pup a last walk then put her in the crate. Hopefully she won't want to be fed at six in the morning because I'm not planning on being awake. G'night cowboy."
He pulled her head down and kissed her. "I'll be up for a while, I'll try not to wake you."
"Good," she answered, and went into the house. It had not been such a bad night after all.
She took some vitamin B-complex and drank a glass of grapefruit juice before she climbed into bed. Her sister was a dietitian and swore that it prevented hangovers. She set a glass and one of the fat vitamins out for Travis, she'd get it down him if she were still awake when he came to bed.
She woke up when he stumbled into bed, half amused, half annoyed at how drunk he was. He objected, just a little, to taking the pill and juice but relented when she told him he might not have a hangover the next day.
It was still dark when she woke, the sugar in the alcohol could do that to her. It was no use lying in bed, Travis would probably sleep for hours but she felt too restless to stay in bed. Besides, the puppy was awake and wagging her tail. She wanted her breakfast and to go out, so Anicka pulled on jeans and a light sweater and let her dog out of the crate.
Candy was all boundless energy. She ran down stairs and barked, letting her human know she was hungry and wanted her breakfast. Anicka did not argue, she filled the stainless-steel bowl with kibbles and gave her some water.
After last night the kitchen was a mess. She searched the cupboards until she found some plastic garbage bags and tossed the paper plates in one and the beer bottles and cans in another, then went outside.
It was as bad as the kitchen, maybe even worse. She separated the bottles and cans from the regular trash. As she had suspected, Travis had not drained the oil from the fryer, but it was cool enough to drain into the plastic jug she had found. She resisted the urge to fold up the tables, she would leave that to him.
The couples who had passed out had found their way out of the cool night air into the house. It would warm up but for now Anicka was glad she was wearing a sweater. She shook her head when she spied a couple curled up together on Travis's leather sofa, it was obvious what they had been doing before they fell back asleep.
Her strict upbringing had her shaking her head at what she had seen the night before. She had no idea Travis could be so, so juvenile! She had no objection to parties, even a little tomfoolery, but this was something out of her experience.
"We work hard so we play hard," Travis had told her, well she hadn't expected to see just how hard they played. The strip poker, the chicken fights, that she had not been prepared for. Her parents and their friends might drink a bit on occasion, there would be laughing and yelling, but strip poker?
She turned back to the kitchen, looking for anything she might have missed, then decided to let the puppy outside. She'd probably stick close and needed to stretch her legs. Her dog needed to be walked but she was too tired to make the effort.
"What are you doing?" Travis's voice startled her, she hadn't expected him to wake up this early. "Why aren't you in bed?" He'd put on jeans and a tee shirt and looked none the worse for wear.
"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I came downstairs to feed the dog and saw the mess, so I decided to clean up a little." She was feeling more awake now and wondered how he was feeling. "Did the B-complex work?"
"Did you make any coffee? Are you wondering if I'm hung over? If I am it's not bad. I pay people to clean up after my parties, you didn't need to do it. Why don't you come back to bed?" He was trying to cajole her, and it was almost working.
"I want some coffee, I just hadn't gotten around to making it. Why don't you go back upstairs and I'll bring you some," she replied.
"Nah, I'm awake now. Rita should be here soon. Did you drain the fryer?" He began rummaging around in the cupboards until he found a bag of coffee and filters. "Here," he said, "Make a full pot of coffee, people are going to start waking up and they'll need it."
Candy scratched at the door. "Did you let her out by herself without a leash?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said, "I was busy, I figured she'd stick around unless she found something to chase. She's a good girl."
The coffee pot started gurgling and soon the aroma of good coffee started wafting through the kitchen. The aroma reminded Anicka that she was hungry and she would be glad when Rita got here and started making breakfast. She wasn't hung over but she felt tired after a short night's sleep and coffee wouldn't cure it.
She wondered what she had gotten herself into. She wanted to ask if all of his parties were like the one last night but she was afraid of the answer. Sliding horses was one thing, strip poker and chicken fights belonged to kids. Just what was in store for her anyway?