The Home Court Advantage (23 page)

Bruno was being doggie-sat this weekend by Aunt Beth and Grandma and Grandpa Pierce. Beth had just taken him with her (along with a few thousand dollars’ worth of doggie accessories and gourmet kibble) after an emotional goodbye. I thought Braden might actually cry. We both came from very close families. Cam and Jess climbed into the rear seats and Adam and Lily took the middle. I, of course, rode shotgun.

“Now I want you kids to behave back there. No fighting or kicking the seats,” I joked.

“Yeah, don’t make me turn this minivan around,” Braden added.

About fifteen minutes later we had made it out of the city and we were on the open road headed for rural Bucks County, PA with Lily, Jess and I belting out the lyrics to Southern Cross along with Crosby, Stills, & Nash. It was getting darker earlier now and by the time we were close to our destination the atmosphere had definitely changed.

“Nice location,” Cam called out from the back. “Very Blair Witch Project.”

“You know if I were driving a spaceship I’m not sure I’d want to land here,” Lily said, peering out the window.

“It’s better than the Ozarks, or the Mojave desert or any other places that they land. I mean at least they have hot tubs and a bar here,” I noted.

“It’s probably really pretty in the daytime,” Jess said optimistically.

“Maybe tomorrow when it’s light out they’ll plan a fall foliage nature hike and dead alien recon mission,” Adam added.

We arrived about fifteen minutes later. We pulled into a long drive bordered by trees and at the end I saw a large historic-looking white building that was actually quite lovely. Ha! The main lodge was in the center and two other wings connected to it on each side. The drive continued on around a small lake to the rear of the hotel and I could see the lights of cabins along the perimeter nestled amongst the trees and backed by forest.

“Hey!” Jess called out. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?”

“This is it. Overbrook Lodge,” Braden called back. “Must be for a better class of UFO hunters and conspiracy theorists.”

We parked the van and went into the main lodge where a huge stone fireplace formed the centerpiece and the hardwood floors gleamed. A bellman directed us to the antique-looking front desk where we checked in and got the lay of the land. There was a restaurant, saloon and gift shop, along with conference rooms, located in one wing and there were bedrooms and suites in the other. The front desk clerk gave us a schedule for the UFO conference, the keys to our luxury cabin, and instructions on how to get there. The restaurant did deliver to the cabins so we grabbed menus, placed an order, and left to go settle in.

The cabin was really nice too. We went in and quickly looked around. The floor plan was similar to that of the main building, as there was a central stone fireplace. A big screen TV was fixed to the wall behind it in lieu of artwork and it was surrounded by comfy-looking sofas. A tall bookshelf filled with novels, magazines and board games stood to one side. Behind the central fireplace area there was a modern kitchen, a small bar, and a table that seated eight. Sliding doors at the back led out to a deck that, as promised, housed a hot tub. To each side of the central area there were two bedrooms, and every bedroom had its own small private bathroom. Even though it was rather spacious, it had a cozy atmosphere. It also smelled like spiced cider, which, combined with the rust and gold décor created an autumn-like feel.

“This is pretty!” Lily said, sounding surprised.

“How much did you pay for this, baby?” Braden asked me suspiciously.

“Um, two or three thousand?”

“Two
or
three thousand?” Cam laughed. He was a former financial planner, by the way.

“For two nights?!” Jess asked. She was just a person who had a better grasp of money matters than I did. I was never good at that stuff.

“I think so,” I replied. “I just paid for it out of my trust fund.”

“I suspect that Braden will be handling their finances as a couple,” Adam said as Braden laughed and shook his head.

“So should we pick bedrooms?” I asked excitedly. I might have actually enjoyed Girl Scout camp much more if this had been my cabin. Nobody really had any preference about bedrooms as they were pretty much exactly alike so Cam and Jess went to the left along with Lily and Adam and Braden and I wound up in the two bedrooms to the right.

Braden and I took a few minutes to check everything out. Our room had a nice queen size bed with a very soft-looking comforter in a rich red color. The décor in there was also warm and rustic and so, like the rest of the place, it was very cozy. The private bathroom would make things easier. Our joint morning shower could be slightly more awkward with a line of people waiting outside. We started unpacking and putting our things away.

“I was thinking. After dinner and this get together, or whatever it is, we could come back here and have a drink and maybe enjoy the hot tub for a while,” Braden said as he unpacked. I had a feeling that was just the beginning of his plan for the evening.

“That sounds nice.” I smiled.

“And then later, we could come back in here and I know a position we haven’t tried that I think you would really like. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion,” he said happily.

“Well, actually, I have a surprise for you later too,” I said, feeling myself blush a little.

“What kind of surprise?” he asked, sounding very intrigued.

“I’m not telling.” I giggled. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Oh come on!” He stopped packing and came over to me. “If you don’t tell I’ll be forced to get the information out of you by other means.”

“What other means?” I giggled more and found out as he started tickling me. “I’m not telling!” I squealed and the two of us fell onto the bed where I squirmed, writhed, laughed and tried to get away. Soon I was bucking my hips underneath him and I quickly realized that he was becoming highly aroused.

“Gabrielle, I think it’s time for a quickie,” he said thickly and started kissing my neck. I moaned and wrapped my legs around him.

And then the knock on the door came. Because you
knew
that there had to be a knock on the door. Braden and I practiced coitus interruptus more often than most Catholics.

“Yes?!” Braden called out none too warmly.

“I’m sorry guys!” Cam answered sounding embarrassed. “The food’s here, though, and everyone’s waiting.”

“Okay! We’ll be right there!” I called out in what I hoped was a light cheerful voice and I heard him walk away.

“Does it seem like we don’t get to have sex very often without a waiting period being involved?” Braden asked, rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling blankly.

“It’ll be worth the wait,” I rolled onto my tummy, gently stroked his hair and leaned down to kiss him softly on the forehead. He looked up at me for a second and smiled and then got up silently and went to go splash cold water on his face and pace around to reestablish the blood flow. Five minutes later we sat down at the table to dig in to our Italian cuisine. Braden was still not looking very jolly though.

“Oh, I think someone’s a Gloomy Gus,” Adam said with barely suppressed mirth.

“I’m sorry I bothered you guys,” Cameron said, looking a bit more contrite but also rather amused. “We’re running kind of late though.” He shrugged and pointed at his watch helplessly.

“Your fiancée there has us scheduled for drinks with the X-Files gang tonight,” Adam, who obviously had a death wish, went on. “Wouldn’t want to be late for that.”

“I was looking at the schedule,” Lily chimed in. “They’ve got a local historian coming to tell the stories of both the UFO sighting and the ghosts that supposedly haunt this place.”

“I’m sure that’s
much
more fun than whatever you had planned, Brade.” Adam smiled.

“Keep it up and you’ll be the next ghost haunting this place,” Braden said, which just made Adam laugh more.

“So, we listen to the historian and…?” Jess asked Lily who was still reading the schedule.

“And there’s a ‘meet and greet’ and then some folks will be heading out to the woods to see if they spot any UFOs,” Lily answered.

“How about instead of searching for aliens and sitting in a forest at night we come back here and search for some alcohol and sit in the hot tub?” Jess suggested.

“Ah! Come on! I wanted to hunt the aliens!” Cam laughed.

“How long do the lecture and the meet and greet last?” Braden asked. I had a feeling he was mentally counting down the minutes until we could go to bed.

“Um, well it runs from eight until ten,” Lily answered. “And it’s seven-thirty now so we’ll have just enough time to clean up and head over to the Lodge.”

We finished up and while Jess and I cleaned up and Lily stocked the kitchen with the few groceries we had brought along, Cam and Adam stocked the bar with the large supply of alcohol we had brought. Braden, meanwhile, checked to make sure that the hot tub was working and to quickly finish our unpacking. Twenty minutes later we headed to the Lodge on foot. It took less than five minutes to get there but the darkness and woods made it feel kind of spooky. When we arrived we followed signs to the saloon where the ‘meet and greet’ was taking place. As soon as we got in the door we saw a table with “Hello” badges and went over to fill them out. The ink had barely dried when we were approached by a positively exuberant couple with badges indicating that they were Earl and Marge.

“Hello there!” Earl said enthusiastically. “Earl Samuels, and my better half, Marge.” He reached out a hand and vigorously pumped all of our arms a few times.

“Nice to meet you!” The woman, who resembled a codfish, said in a slightly manic voice. Marge looked like she had drunk about sixteen pots of coffee.

We introduced ourselves and they shared that they had been attending this conference for several years. We also learned that Earl sold insurance and Marge was a service desk manager at K-Mart and that they both firmly believed that aliens walked among us. Yeah, this was going to be a long night. We finally managed to extricate ourselves and make it to the bar.

“Did you think that Earl could be the shadow?” I asked Adam.

“It’s hard to tell. Like I said, I didn’t get a great look at his face. I thought he might have been a little younger, but Earl seems to be in decent shape and he’s about the right size. It’s possible.”

“They didn’t act like they recognized us, though,” Braden commented.

“Marge seemed pretty nervous,” I pointed out.

“Honey, I get the feeling that Marge is nervous a lot,” Jess put in.

After fortifying ourselves with alcohol we decided to work the room a little more. The next couple to approach looked like former hippies. They appeared to be in their sixties and it seemed like they hadn’t had a haircut since then either. The woman was dressed like a gypsy and the man was dressed like Tonto.

“Hello,” said the woman pleasantly. “I’m Rain and this is my lover Forrest.” I laughed loudly. Nobody else laughed at all, loudly or otherwise.

“Oh!” I said. “You weren’t kidding.” Braden quickly pulled me to his side and reached out to shake their hands.

“I’m Braden, my fiancée Gabrielle, our friends Cameron, Jessica, Adam and Lily.” They all smiled and waved to Rain and Forrest.

“Wow man, it’s really cool to have new people here!” Forrest said. “We want to share your thoughts so I hope that you’ll take some time and rap with us.”

“Well, personally, I don’t really like rap, but I do like the blues,” I assured him.

“What he means is that we want the information to flow freely. We are all here to explore the possibilities and expand our minds,” Rain added helpfully.

“Oh, okay. Well, I’m good with flowing and expanding,” I answered, nodding like I understood what in the hell she was talking about.

“Far out,” Forrest said. “We’ll catch you later.” With that they wandered off.

“I think that Braden will also be handling most of the speaking for them as a couple.” Adam laughed and I glared at him.

“Forrest is too old and too skinny. Do you agree?” I asked him irritably.

“Yeah, absolutely. It’s not Forrest and it’s not Rain even though she’s pretty tall for a woman,” Adam agreed.

“Well, the room is packed with white guys of average height and weight, do you see him anywhere?” I asked.

“I don’t think so but it’s kind of hard to tell,” he answered, looking around. “There are
so many
average-looking guys here, which just makes it all the scarier.” I saw someone else on the move, coming in our direction.

“Greetings!” said a short skinny guy with black-framed glasses and wild red hair that stuck up in several places. He was wearing a T-shirt with a Star Trek insignia on it. “I’m Stew Morrison and I’m an organizer of this conference. We’re so happy to have you with us. Are you here because you’ve made contact or just because you want to learn the truth?”

“Well …” I started but Braden cut me off tactfully.

“We’re open-minded and curious people,” he said with a smile.

“I see! Well, that’s wonderful!” Stew was looking at Braden carefully. “You look a little familiar. What do you do?”

“I’m a lawyer,” Braden answered in a friendly tone. “We all are actually.” We introduced ourselves to Stew and he turned his attention to me. “You look familiar too. I could almost swear that I’ve seen you two somewhere recently.” I was about to explain that he might have seen a picture of us together in the engagement announcement but Adam jumped in.

“So, Stew! Is this the whole gang assembled here?” he asked.

“Oh, no. There’ll be more people arriving tomorrow and even more still tomorrow night when we all go out on the watch. Stella, who’s also a group member, has psychic abilities and she has a strong feeling that this is the year that our visitors will return. Here, let me introduce you.” He looked over and waved at a woman standing near the bar who looked like she was having a conversation with the air beside her. She looked over at Stew and began walking in our direction.

“Stella, let me introduce you to …”

“She’s psychic. Maybe she already knows our names,” I joked.