Chapter 6

At breakfast the next morning, Nell sat across from me, avoiding my gaze. And I didn't try to look at her, either. I felt a bit sheepish, of course, from my fresh meadow grazing of the night before, but I tried to speak cheerfully.

"Fruit and cereal again?"

"It's your stomach."

"Bacon and eggs would go good for a change."

She glared at me. "Yes, especially after last night, you probably need some energy. What time did you get in, anyway?"

"The moon was down. I couldn't tell."

She poured the coffee. "You won't feel like joking when I tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"About Lissa."

"Lissa?" I dropped my spoon.

"Yes. You and she must have got home about the same time. She was out to a party."

"There wasn't any booze, was there?"

Nell fingered the table cloth. "I don't think so. At least, I didn't smell it on her breath."

My belly knotted. Oh, I could screw other men's daughters, all right, but when they screwed mine, that was different! "That Vic!" I growled. "I'll bet he's got a whole case of bourbon hidden in his car. Of all the-"

"Wade!" Nell glared at me again. "You mustn't judge others. Besides, Vic hasn't had any upbringing. His father has humored him and let him run wild."

"Upbringing?" I said. "Look at Lissa. She's had plenty."

"Proving?"

I got to my feet. "Proving that upbringing has nothing to do with it."

Nell's gaze drilled me. "I give up, Wade. Trying to convince you is hopeless."

I jerked into my coat. "It is hopeless, I'll admit, when you refuse to face facts."

"Facts?"

"Genes and heredity," I said, bitterly. "Like father, like daughter!"

That evening Lissa came clacking down the stairs, a cloud of perfume enveloping her. Nell and I were gathering the supper dishes and silverware before taking them into the kitchen. I put down a handful of knives and forks to gaze at my daughter.

"Going out again tonight, honey?"

"Of course, Dad." She frowned. "Vic and I aren't wasting any time. We'll soon have to go back to school."

Nell said, "They'll have to buckle down then." "And 111 be doing bawl games for spending money," Lissa told us. "Bawl games?"

"Sure, Dad, baby sitting." "Oh, I thought you were talking about—" "Sure you did." Her lips curled. "You're not hip, Dad."

That made me mad. "I guess not, Lissa. I never got to go to college."

"Wade!" Nell's face reddened.

Lissa shook her head. "Dad, you're all mixed up."

"Maybe, but I'm not mixed up about that dress Lissa's wearing."

Lissa's green eyes flashed. "Now what's wrong with my dress?"

I stared at the plunging neckline. It showed a good part of Lissa's superb, alluring breasts. It was a dazzling dress, a shiny silver lame, the hemline rising above her enticing knees. I felt my anger draining away.

"It's beautiful, honey," I told her.

"Well?"

"It is gorgeous, Lissa, but it shows too much of your charms."

She gritted her even white teeth. "Dad! You're an antique."

I said, "Lissa, can't you guess what such a sexy dress does to a man?"

"Just what I want it to do, Dad." Her tone was sweet, too sweet. "It's tame, compared to the dresses some of the other girls wear."

I started getting mad again. "Maybe so, Lissa, but-"

"Here, you two!" Nell exclaimed. "You're both just alike. You can't be together five minutes without starting a fight. Stop it!"