Carole. Carole shrugged.
“Okay, then, instead of making him a challenge for Lynne, how about you tell her
all
about him—youknow, his deepest secrets and nastiest habits?” Lisa suggested.
Carole furrowed her brows. “Trouble with that is that I think he’s just fine. How can I make him sound bad to her? He doesn’t really have many bad habits, anyway.”
“What about all those awful old jokes he’s always telling Stevie?” Lisa asked.
“What’s the matter with old jokes?” Stevie demanded.
“All right, all right. But not everybody likes them, and not everybody likes ancient movies, either,” Lisa said.
“I do,” Carole said. “You should have seen the one we watched the other night—
The D.I.
This guy, supposedly a Marine Corps drill instructor, gets all these guys digging up sand, looking for a tsetse fly one of them slapped when he wasn’t supposed to. Another bunch is digging a huge trench that’s supposed to be a grave for the tsetse fly …” Carole’s shoulders began shaking with laughter. Soon she was laughing so hard that she couldn’t go on with the explanation of what was apparently hilariously funny to her.
Lisa and Stevie exchanged looks. “Maybe it’s one of those things where you just had to be there,” Lisa suggested tentatively.
“Whatever it is, I can assure you that Carole lovesold movies just as much as her dad does and there’s
no way
she’d ever convince Lynne it’s a bad habit.”
“You got that right,” Lisa agreed.
They continued riding along the trail quietly. The silence of the forest was broken occasionally by snorts from Carole as she recalled other tidbits from the movie she had watched with her father.
“Oh, and there was the time the guy—”
“Spare us!” Stevie cried, cutting her off. “Lisa and I will rent it one night and see it on our own. Okay?”
“Okay,” Carole agreed, still giggling to herself.
“Now, back to the business of de-Lynning your father. How about you tell her how much fun it is to live with somebody in the Marine Corps—like how you have to move all the time, and how your dad has to make long trips and you can’t go along with him? Remember the four months he spent in Kodiak, Alaska?”
Carole shook her head. “For one thing, Dad’s senior enough now that he’s not likely to get moved unless he wants it. And, for another, if he were to go off to Alaska for four months again, Lynne would absolutely
insist
on staying with me and taking care of me. I don’t even want to mention the possibility. She’d move into our house in the blink of an eye!”
“You could stay with me,” Stevie said.
“Or me!” Lisa added. “We’d be glad to have you. Weeven have two extra bedrooms. No problem. I’m pretty sure my mom would agree.”
“Well, I
know
my mom would. Since there are already four kids in the house, she probably wouldn’t even notice,” Stevie said. “It would be great—”
Carole grinned. “Listen, I appreciate the invitations, you guys, but that’s not exactly the problem we have to solve right now. The problem is
Lynne
, not me.”
“Oh, yeah,” Stevie said. She had gotten distracted by the exciting idea of having Carole live with her for a few months.
“Why don’t you make up some bad habits for your dad?” Lisa suggested.
“Like collecting beer cans, matchbook covers, bugs, stuff like that?” Carole asked suspicously. “This is beginning to sound an awful lot like the bright ideas you had about Scott, which didn’t work. Maybe I should get good old Lynne to muck out some stalls!”
“Now
there’s
an idea,” Stevie said. “Only problem is that it would be sure to confuse Max even more. He’s
still
going around mumbling about the ‘wonder boy’ who cleaned out the stalls the other day—”
“Uh, I hate to interrupt your brainstorm, Stevie,” Lisa said, “but where are we?”
“We’re on the—why?”
“Just wondering. Are we lost?”
“How can we be lost if we’re
“Okay, then, instead of making him a challenge for Lynne, how about you tell her
all
about him—youknow, his deepest secrets and nastiest habits?” Lisa suggested.
Carole furrowed her brows. “Trouble with that is that I think he’s just fine. How can I make him sound bad to her? He doesn’t really have many bad habits, anyway.”
“What about all those awful old jokes he’s always telling Stevie?” Lisa asked.
“What’s the matter with old jokes?” Stevie demanded.
“All right, all right. But not everybody likes them, and not everybody likes ancient movies, either,” Lisa said.
“I do,” Carole said. “You should have seen the one we watched the other night—
The D.I.
This guy, supposedly a Marine Corps drill instructor, gets all these guys digging up sand, looking for a tsetse fly one of them slapped when he wasn’t supposed to. Another bunch is digging a huge trench that’s supposed to be a grave for the tsetse fly …” Carole’s shoulders began shaking with laughter. Soon she was laughing so hard that she couldn’t go on with the explanation of what was apparently hilariously funny to her.
Lisa and Stevie exchanged looks. “Maybe it’s one of those things where you just had to be there,” Lisa suggested tentatively.
“Whatever it is, I can assure you that Carole lovesold movies just as much as her dad does and there’s
no way
she’d ever convince Lynne it’s a bad habit.”
“You got that right,” Lisa agreed.
They continued riding along the trail quietly. The silence of the forest was broken occasionally by snorts from Carole as she recalled other tidbits from the movie she had watched with her father.
“Oh, and there was the time the guy—”
“Spare us!” Stevie cried, cutting her off. “Lisa and I will rent it one night and see it on our own. Okay?”
“Okay,” Carole agreed, still giggling to herself.
“Now, back to the business of de-Lynning your father. How about you tell her how much fun it is to live with somebody in the Marine Corps—like how you have to move all the time, and how your dad has to make long trips and you can’t go along with him? Remember the four months he spent in Kodiak, Alaska?”
Carole shook her head. “For one thing, Dad’s senior enough now that he’s not likely to get moved unless he wants it. And, for another, if he were to go off to Alaska for four months again, Lynne would absolutely
insist
on staying with me and taking care of me. I don’t even want to mention the possibility. She’d move into our house in the blink of an eye!”
“You could stay with me,” Stevie said.
“Or me!” Lisa added. “We’d be glad to have you. Weeven have two extra bedrooms. No problem. I’m pretty sure my mom would agree.”
“Well, I
know
my mom would. Since there are already four kids in the house, she probably wouldn’t even notice,” Stevie said. “It would be great—”
Carole grinned. “Listen, I appreciate the invitations, you guys, but that’s not exactly the problem we have to solve right now. The problem is
Lynne
, not me.”
“Oh, yeah,” Stevie said. She had gotten distracted by the exciting idea of having Carole live with her for a few months.
“Why don’t you make up some bad habits for your dad?” Lisa suggested.
“Like collecting beer cans, matchbook covers, bugs, stuff like that?” Carole asked suspicously. “This is beginning to sound an awful lot like the bright ideas you had about Scott, which didn’t work. Maybe I should get good old Lynne to muck out some stalls!”
“Now
there’s
an idea,” Stevie said. “Only problem is that it would be sure to confuse Max even more. He’s
still
going around mumbling about the ‘wonder boy’ who cleaned out the stalls the other day—”
“Uh, I hate to interrupt your brainstorm, Stevie,” Lisa said, “but where are we?”
“We’re on the—why?”
“Just wondering. Are we lost?”
“How can we be lost if we’re
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