by Merry Farmer
“If you think it’s cute, wait until you see the apartment,” she told him with a laugh. To outsiders, it probably looked like the Clutterbucks were hippie shopkeepers, scraping by on the profits from selling flowers. But Dave Clutterbuck came from a family that had made a fortune importing flowers, produce, and other goods. The entire family had their fingers in way more than a few pots.
“Well, I can tell you that I like this view,” Scott went on, letting Casey climb a few more stairs ahead of him so that her butt was at his eye-level.
“Come on,” she laughed. “I’m wearing a coat. You can’t even see anything good.”
“I have an imagination,” he argued. “And a memory.”
Casey flushed, giggling. She had a memory too, and it was filled with every inch of Scott’s naked body. Her stomach fluttered and her heart squeezed. Why was it so hard to keep on the right path sometimes? She had to focus.
When they reached the top stairs and knocked on the apartment door, Scott sniffed and said, “What is that smell?”
Casey sniffed too, but she was so familiar with the aura of the Clutterbuck home that she hardly registered its unique perfume. “Incense,” she said. “As long as Dave hasn’t been burning the Nag Champa, we’re good.”
A moment later, the door flew open, and Melody greeted Casey with a hug. “Come in, come in,” she said, all smiles. As soon as Casey and Scott were both through the door and Melody shut it behind them, she took Scott’s coat, hung it on a peg, and hugged Scott like he was her best friend too.
“Uh, hello.” Scott flailed his arms just a little before hugging Melody in return.
“You’re here!” Calliope swept into the large, open hall, feet bare, long skirt flowing. She gave Casey a warm hug too, then treated Scott to the same thing. “Welcome to our home.”
“It’s okay,” Casey giggled, hanging her coat, as once again, Scott looked overwhelmed by being hugged so affectionately. “That’s the standard greeting in this house.”
“It is.” Luna swept into the hall next. She was an older, wiser version of her daughters with the same elven build, the same thick, curly hair—although hers was more grey than blond now—and the same flowing, fluttery wardrobe and bare feet. And just like Melody and Calliope, she wrapped Scott in an affectionate hug. “Ooh,” she exclaimed, running her hands over his arms and sides, and even roving over his backside. “What a great catch. Casey, you must have a blast with this one.”
“He’s okay,” Casey teased, trying to keep her laughter inside at the deep flush that came to Scott’s face.
“I’m sure he’s much more than okay,” Luna said, giving Scott’s backside one more pat. “Don’t forget to take off your shoes,” she said before leading them all on through the hall and into the living room.
Casey glanced eagerly to Scott to see what he thought of the place as they slipped out of their boots and headed into the main room. She wasn’t disappointed. His jaw dropped as he looked up at the huge, open space. The building was three stories—like so many of the other buildings in the heart of Haskell—but when the Clutterbucks had bought it and the building next door twenty years ago, they had done extensive renovations. The ceiling separating the second and third floors had been knocked out and a loft and balcony had been put in instead. The room was decorated with exotic—and in many cases, erotic—art. Bookshelves lined the loft area. A dining area took up one corner of the room and consisted of a two-foot tall table with large pillows placed on the floor as chairs. A vast mobile of naked, dancing figures hung in the open space above them. Along with faded Persian carpets and Indian wall-hangings, there were enough potted plants around the room to make it feel like its own jungle.
Scott took in the room, and when his perusal stopped on the mobile, his jaw dropped farther and his face went beet-red. “How can anyone get anything done with all that…naked?”
Casey clapped a hand to her mouth to hold her laughter inside. Sometimes she forgot that her friends were a little much for anyone who didn’t know them.
“Is this the Scott Martin I’ve heard so much about?”
Casey and Scott turned as Dave Clutterbuck, Melody and Calliope’s father, stepped into the main room from the kitchen. Compared to his wife and daughters, Dave looked normal—clean-shaven, short hair, and dressed in scholarly khakis with a button-down shirt and sweater-vest. That was as ordinary as Dave got, though. He walked right up to Scott and hugged him as openly as his wife and daughters had.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, squeezing Scott’s arm as he stepped back. “Welcome to our humble home.”
“Thanks,” Scott managed to say, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat. “Although I wouldn’t call it humble.”
“These are just things.” Dave waved his hand absently. “What really matters is right here.”
Luna had floated over to his side, and he reached out to loop an arm around her waist. He pulled her in for a kiss, and once again, Casey had to cover her mouth to stop from laughing at Scott’s reaction as their kiss pushed the boundaries of what was socially acceptable.
Scott turned to Casey, eyes wide. Casey just shook her head.
“So how about that meeting last night?” Calliope asked, circling the low table and setting out cloth napkins as if her parents weren’t standing there making out in front of them all.
“I can’t believe Ronny and his dad pulled that nonsense,” Melody added, coming out of the kitchen with a steaming, crockery bowl.
“Howie thinks they’ve been planning it for a long time,” Casey sighed. The fun of watching Scott’s reaction to the Clutterbucks was over. It was time to focus on the reason they were there.
“Howie?” Luna slipped easily out of Dave’s arms as if passionate kisses in front of company were as natural as turning on the lights. “I didn’t think he was there.”
“He showed up after the meeting was already over,” Scott said. He stuck like glue to Casey’s side as they moved to the dining area.
“How strange.” Luna frowned, then gestured for them to follow her into the kitchen. “We don’t stand on ceremony here,” she went on, as if that weren’t obvious. “Guests help set up and clean up, as if it were your home too.”
They headed into the kitchen as Melody, Calliope, and Dave gathered various dishes and utensils and carried them back to the dining area. The heady scent of Middle Eastern spices filled the state-of-the art kitchen. Once again, Scott’s eyes went as round as moons.
Luna handed him a handmade pot brimming with a curry dish that made Casey’s mouth water. “Did Howie say why he wasn’t at the meeting?” she asked, then gave Casey a basket of round, flat bread.
“He had a last-minute, urgent meeting about the apartments he’s renovating in town,” Casey said, arching her brow to let Luna know just how suspicious they all thought it was.
“As if that isn’t blatantly transparent,” Dave commented as he reentered the kitchen to fetch a pitcher of water.
“He did think the Bonnevilles had something to do with it,” Scott said. Casey could see that he was trying hard not to think anything around him was weird, even as his eyes flickered to the mobile once they headed back into the main room. “I’m just figuring out what the Bonneville family is all about.”
Melody and Calliope traded wry laughter, shaking their heads. “Ronny was in my grade in school,” Calliope said. “I had to deal with his nonsense day in and day out.”
“His sister Katrina was in my grade,” Melody added. The meal was almost completely on the strange, low table, so she sat on one of the pillows, crossing her legs. “Katrina can be okay, but she has her moments too.”
“Scott, you sit there, next to me.” Luna pointed toward the end of the table, her bangles tinkling as she did. “Casey, you can sit next to him so you’ll be ready for dessert.” She winked.
“I don’t think dessert is in the cards for tonight,” Casey laughed. They all took their seats on the pillows around the table. Scott lowere
d himself awkwardly onto the pillow between Casey and Luna, pushing his glasses up his nose as he did.
“What’s this?” Luna was all concern as she took one of the bowls of rice from the center of the table and served some to herself, Scott, and Dave around the corner from her.
“Uh…” Casey hesitated, focusing on serving supper. The Clutterbucks had a unique system of everyone putting food on each other’s plates, which meant there was a burst of activity and confusion as a variety of amazing, exotic delicacies were distributed across everyone’s plates. “Scott and I aren’t focusing on that sort of thing just now,” she went on, as fast as she could, while everyone was busy with the food. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
“Bigger fish than sex?” Dave blinked at them.
Casey could feel her temperature rising with an utterly uncomfortable mix of embarrassment and arousal. Scott looked just as flabbergasted. She really should have warned him about the Clutterbuck’s complete openness about all things.
“Casey feels that solving the problem of this proposed law and how it will affect her ranch and my house should come first,” Scott said, eyes locked on the dishes in front of him instead of any person.
Luna and Dave were much more direct, staring right at him. “Sex is a vital part of any relationship,” Luna said.
“There have been numerous studies that detail the positive effects of healthy sexual relations,” Dave added. “We encourage our daughters to express themselves sexually in whatever way feels most comfortable to them.”
“Dad,” Melody laughed as she tore a piece of flatbread into smaller chunks. “Scott’s not used to our brand of frank talk.”
“Yeah,” Calliope added, laughing almost too much to get the words out. “You’re embarrassing him.”
Dave shrugged at his daughters. “What’s there to be embarrassed about when it comes to healthy, functioning bodies?” He turned to Scott. “Everything is healthy and functioning, right?”
Casey couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter. Melody and Calliope laughed and shook their heads along with her. Even Scott saw the humor of the situation and chuckled as he ate, face and neck red now.
“Okay.” Luna held up her hands. “I concede that talking about sex at the dinner table the first time Scott eats with us might be a bit much.”
“You could say Scott is a Clutterbuck virgin,” Calliope added in a low voice, prompting another round of laughter.
“I can assure you, this is turning out to be a memorable first time,” Scott laughed along with them.
“In all seriousness, though,” Dave went on, pointing a wedge of flatbread at Scott. “Luna and I run sexual health classes for couples, so if you ever have questions or would like to explore new methods or techniques—”
“Enough, Dad,” Melody stopped him, almost snorting with the force of her laughter. “I think Scott and Casey are here to talk about the proposed law anyhow.”
“Of course.” Dave smiled and nodded to Scott in apology. “I’m just passionate about human sexual expression. Sorry if I got carried away.”
“It’s not a problem,” Casey giggled. It wasn’t the first time she’d experienced Dave going off on a lecture on the topic of sexual health and she was fairly sure it wouldn’t be the last. And she was much better at handling it as an adult than she’d been as a horrified teenager.
They fell into much lighter conversation about the town and everyone in it as they ate. Gradually, the mood around the table cooled down, and by the time they were all mopping up the last drops of curry sauce from their plates with the remaining flatbread, even Scott looked relaxed and contented.
“So, Scott,” Luna began as she handed around their dessert of fruit and yogurt to everyone. “Tell me more about this off-grid house of yours.”
Casey caught her breath. After all this time, any mention of the house still filled her with trepidation.
Scott seemed to sense that. He reached for her hand under the table and gave it a quick squeeze before saying, “It’s pretty much exactly what I presented to the city council the first time around. The energy for electricity comes from a combination of solar and wind power. The water comes from a well and is disposed of through a septic system.”
“So innovative,” Calliope said through a mouthful of yogurt.
“Not really.” Dave shrugged, and Casey’s brow flew up. “Isn’t that what all of the original houses in this area were?” he went on. “Haskell was founded well before electricity was commonplace in every home.”
“Good point,” Scott said.
“I think we still have journals and letters from our great-great-several-times-great grandmother, who settled here after emigrating from Ireland,” Melody said.
“Don’t let the Clutterbuck name fool you,” Luna told Scott with a wink. “My family goes right back to the very beginning of Haskell.”
“Aiden and Katie Murphy,” Calliope said. It meant something to Casey, but Scott only nodded, not seeing the significance of the names.
“I assume your house has very little carbon footprint,” Dave brought them back to the reason they were there.
“As little as possible.” Scott nodded. “Actually, that’s been something of a goal and obsession for me the entire time I’ve been planning this project. From the start, I challenged myself to design as green a house as possible, just to see how far the concept could be taken and still create a comfortable home.”
“See.” Melody grinned, swallowing a bite of yogurt and using her spoon to point. “I told you he was a nerdy guy after all.”
Scott smiled and blushed modestly. Casey’s heart leapt in her stomach. Other parts did a jig too. Modesty was as sexy a trait as a guy could have. She was beginning to think that Dave and Luna had the right idea after all. Jumping each other’s bones whenever the feeling struck, audience or no audience, couldn’t be all bad.
But no, she had a mission to stick to.
“I don’t think the Bonnevilles have really considered how exciting a model Scott’s home could be for future construction,” she said, more serious than anyone else at the table. “And their plan to restrict the way historic land can be sold is nothing short of piracy.” She ended on a particularly vehement note.
Scott reached under the table to squeeze her hand again.
“I agree with you,” Dave said. “I might not be a lifelong Haskellian, and Luna’s family were never ranch owners, but I believe in preserving the rights of landowners as much as I believe in preserving the land itself.”
“Well said, sweetie.” Luna leaned across the corner of the table and gave her husband a quick, full kiss. She turned to Scott afterwards. “I think your plans are admirable, and I intend to vote in support of you.”
Casey breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Thanks so much, Luna.”
“It’s the least I can do.” Luna smiled fondly at her, and her smile turned wistful. “It’s what your mom would do if she were still here.”
In an instant, a knot formed in Casey’s throat. She inched away from Scott, all too aware of the temptation he presented and the way it clouded her judgment. “I know.”
Scott’s expression twitched just a bit as Casey pulled away. The reaction was subtle, but not so subtle that Luna didn’t catch it, even if the others at the table finished off their desserts none the wiser.
“Hester would want you to be happy,” Luna said, speaking around Scott to Casey directly.
Casey hid the twinge of having her motivations discovered by scooping a large spoonful of yogurt with a sliced strawberry on top into her mouth. She did her best to calm her emotions as she took extra time to chew and swallow.
“I’m sure she would,” she said at last. “But I bet she’d want to make sure that our family’s legacy was safe before I went off frolicking in the fields.”
“Never underestimate the value of frolicking,” Luna said with a twinkle in her eyes that matched any expression Dave could come up with. But as insightful as Luna wa
s, she was equally intuitive about when the subject needed to be changed. “So, Scott, what’s this I hear about Howie planning an orienteering expedition as the spring mixer?”
Luna’s vote in their favor secured, the rest of the evening was spent talking about Howie’s wild plans to get his new PSF employees together with Haskellians. The idea of being dropped into the middle of a national forest with only survival supplies and a compass excited the entire Clutterbuck family—especially Melody—far more than Casey would have thought. They laughed over potential life-or-death scenarios people could get themselves into, or rather what Howie’s responses to those situations would be.
By the time Casey and Scott were in his car, driving her home, they had both loosened up a lot and were full of smiles.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Scott admitted with a laugh.
“I don’t think anyone outside of Haskell has either.” Casey giggled.
“And you grew up with them?”
“Mmm-hmm. There are times that I’m still surprised Mom and Dad let me hang out with Melody and Calliope. But Mom and Dad always were just a little more open-minded than people gave them credit for.”
“You’d have to be to let your kids hang out at that apartment.”
Casey laughed, filled with warmth from her memories. “They didn’t really start collecting that art until Melody and Calliope were in high school. In fact, I think they bought some of it when the two of them were going through puberty because they were curious about ‘stuff.’”
Scott grinned and shook his head. “When I got curious, my parents told me to mind my own business and not worry about things I was too young to handle.”
“And let me guess, you found out everything you wanted to know from your buddies at school?”
“Pretty much,” he admitted, sending her a sheepish, sideways look.
“See.” Casey spread her hands in victory as Scott pulled into her driveway. “In the end, I think Melody and Calliope probably got a much healthier, much more accurate story about sex than most teenagers.”