by openly lying to their daughters about her own behavior in high school—when in this small town they would likely find out anyway—then he had another thing comin’.
She’d tried to warn him, she said. All these years he’d been laughing at Molly’s nudie-patootie antics, saying she was just like her mother. Well, the chickens had finally come home to roost. And as she stomped by Big Jim on the way to locking him out of their bedroom, she suggested he might want to call his father-in-law and apologize, now that the shoe was on the other foot.
Like hell.
Big Jim didn’t call his father-in-law. He called the best darn pool contractor he could afford and had a luxurious inground pool installed. If his wife and daughters wanted to wear skimpy bikinis, fine. They could damn well do it in their own backyard.
He acknowledged that it sort of backfired on him when they all started sunbathing topless.
Whatever. He just built a taller fence.
Two years later, he actually did call his poor father-in-law and apologize for his own earlier behavior. This came after spending half the night tracking down Molly and dragging her shirtless body out of the back seat of some handsy football player’s truck. Big Jim’s apology only served to fuel the fire by making Molly her grandfather’s favorite—which he proved by giving her a farm-girl Ford on her sixteenth birthday.
Damn fool.
After that it seemed Big Jim spent his weekends putting out fires where Molly was concerned. Oh, he still loved her to distraction. Was still as proud as any father could be. She was studious enough for him and particularly brilliant in her artistic pursuits. She was sweet to all her little cousins who idolized her. She had plenty of friends he didn’t mind hosting at his home for overnights or treating to dinner at the Club from time to time.
But that’s where his hospitality ended. When it came to Molly’s dates, Big Jim made it his mission to scare the livin’ hell out of them. Which backfired of course, because then Molly wouldn’t let them pick her up at home. She’d trot off and meet them under the cover of darkness, as far as he could tell.
There was one good screaming match between the two of them during her high school years that broke his heart in all kinds of places. The next morning, he decided to throw in the towel. He told her he loved her and always would, no matter what. Then he backed off and spent twice the time on his knees praying that she’d make it through high school and into college before any real shit hit the fan.
It was a challenge when she took off for Mardi Gras after turning eighteen and brought home more beads than any dad need be aware of.
It was tough to shake off the scandal of the Debutante with the Plunging Neckline, when Molly left her age-appropriate escort in the middle of the ball only to be seen the next day getting out of a very distinctive Porsche belonging to an older, notorious Raleigh bachelor.
And then, just before Molly’s college graduation from Elon University, the highlight of the annual student art show were the beautiful nudes done in pencil, ink, and oil . O ne model seemed to be a particular favorite among the art students. Big Jim had to excuse himself from the crowd, pretending he couldn’t add one and one.
The truth couldn’t be denied. His precious daughter was an exhibitionist and always had been. She was interested in the human body and didn’t see a need to cover it up. The fact that she planned her European travels around nude beaches shouldn’t have been much of a shock.
Still, there was so much about Molly to love that Big Jim continued to indulge her. Though he had to admit that when she got engaged at the age of twenty-three to a nice kid from an old-school Henderson family, he sighed in big relief.
Until the shit really hit the fan.
Chapter Two
Henderson High School
Two weeks before the Evans-DuVal Wedding
Josh McCourt looked more like a suit-and-tie guy than
She’d tried to warn him, she said. All these years he’d been laughing at Molly’s nudie-patootie antics, saying she was just like her mother. Well, the chickens had finally come home to roost. And as she stomped by Big Jim on the way to locking him out of their bedroom, she suggested he might want to call his father-in-law and apologize, now that the shoe was on the other foot.
Like hell.
Big Jim didn’t call his father-in-law. He called the best darn pool contractor he could afford and had a luxurious inground pool installed. If his wife and daughters wanted to wear skimpy bikinis, fine. They could damn well do it in their own backyard.
He acknowledged that it sort of backfired on him when they all started sunbathing topless.
Whatever. He just built a taller fence.
Two years later, he actually did call his poor father-in-law and apologize for his own earlier behavior. This came after spending half the night tracking down Molly and dragging her shirtless body out of the back seat of some handsy football player’s truck. Big Jim’s apology only served to fuel the fire by making Molly her grandfather’s favorite—which he proved by giving her a farm-girl Ford on her sixteenth birthday.
Damn fool.
After that it seemed Big Jim spent his weekends putting out fires where Molly was concerned. Oh, he still loved her to distraction. Was still as proud as any father could be. She was studious enough for him and particularly brilliant in her artistic pursuits. She was sweet to all her little cousins who idolized her. She had plenty of friends he didn’t mind hosting at his home for overnights or treating to dinner at the Club from time to time.
But that’s where his hospitality ended. When it came to Molly’s dates, Big Jim made it his mission to scare the livin’ hell out of them. Which backfired of course, because then Molly wouldn’t let them pick her up at home. She’d trot off and meet them under the cover of darkness, as far as he could tell.
There was one good screaming match between the two of them during her high school years that broke his heart in all kinds of places. The next morning, he decided to throw in the towel. He told her he loved her and always would, no matter what. Then he backed off and spent twice the time on his knees praying that she’d make it through high school and into college before any real shit hit the fan.
It was a challenge when she took off for Mardi Gras after turning eighteen and brought home more beads than any dad need be aware of.
It was tough to shake off the scandal of the Debutante with the Plunging Neckline, when Molly left her age-appropriate escort in the middle of the ball only to be seen the next day getting out of a very distinctive Porsche belonging to an older, notorious Raleigh bachelor.
And then, just before Molly’s college graduation from Elon University, the highlight of the annual student art show were the beautiful nudes done in pencil, ink, and oil . O ne model seemed to be a particular favorite among the art students. Big Jim had to excuse himself from the crowd, pretending he couldn’t add one and one.
The truth couldn’t be denied. His precious daughter was an exhibitionist and always had been. She was interested in the human body and didn’t see a need to cover it up. The fact that she planned her European travels around nude beaches shouldn’t have been much of a shock.
Still, there was so much about Molly to love that Big Jim continued to indulge her. Though he had to admit that when she got engaged at the age of twenty-three to a nice kid from an old-school Henderson family, he sighed in big relief.
Until the shit really hit the fan.
Chapter Two
Henderson High School
Two weeks before the Evans-DuVal Wedding
Josh McCourt looked more like a suit-and-tie guy than
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