Jon Reskind
Doggie farm
CHAPTER ONE
Toni Baline stared out of the open French windows of the second floor guest bedroom and shielded her eyes with her hand to survey the green blanket of sweet-smelling manicured grass and linear hedges. They were flanking the cobblestone path leading from the breakfast patio to the kidney-shaped swimming pool whose cement rim ribboned out into the gently rolling hillocks beyond. The palatial house, situated in the lush, green hills bordering the western edge of Jameston, Alabama, caught the morning and noon sun, but had a cooler late afternoon and evening, thanks to the willow trees surrounding the pillared three-story home. From her outlook, Toni watched the slow, methodical movements of the two young black maids now clearing the afternoon's tea cups and silver service from the patio table and replacing the soiled linen with freshly starched checkered ones. In the far distance the unexpected sound of puppy barks, echoing from the hills to the right, ruptured the sticky, cloying Alabama afternoon, the sole imperfection of what otherwise would have been a perfect movie set.
Seventeen year old Toni Baline could not rid herself of the feeling that she was in a fantasy land, a dreamland of opulent make-believe. She studied her boy friend who stood on the opposite side of the bed watching as he removed his sweat stained shirt and trousers to reveal his lanky frame, a tender emotion of deep affection filling her. They were the luckiest people on earth, she reasoned incredulously as she turned from the window to unzip and step out of her sun-dress. Here they were, two unmarried seventeen year olds, living together under her relatives' roof… and nobody cared or ridiculed!
"Yeah, just about perfect, isn't it?" Jeff answered her unspoken thoughts, the warm smile brightening his sharp-angled, boyish features meant to reassure her that he was as ebullient over spending the summer at Toni's aunt's and uncle's home as she was. "It doesn't even feel like work when you have somebody bringing you mint juleps and iced tea every hour." He laughed to himself. "Never thought I'd dig cleaning out dog kennels."
"Or me doing housework. You know how Mama used to yell and scream, calling me lazy when she'd ask me to lift a dust rag at home. But God! It makes a difference when you're dusting nineteenth century mahogany instead of twentieth century plywood…"
"Now don't be so hard on your parents, Toni. They can't help it if they're not as rich as Uncle Milt and Aunt Claudia. Remember," he cautioned, waving his finger in the air, "It was your aunt's money and land that Milt inherited. Bet he didn't have a dime until he met her." His eyes locked on the honey-haired girl, sensing the deep foreboding and moodiness brooding there. For all her fine qualities, Toni still possessed that old Southern trait of lusting after the leisure in life. "Come on, Baby," he assuaged, "Some day we'll have a spread like this. Lots of land… servants… nothing for you to do but lie in the sun and stay beautiful for me." He stood awkwardly running his hands through his own long, chestnut hair, his shorts, one covering his nakedness.
Damn, what a fine scene it would be if he could take Toni off and elope against her parent's wishes, and against their wishes it would be! Her parents would never consent to their marriage, and with due cause. How could he support their daughter? God, just the thought of it was a joke… and yet. Damn it, he'd give anything to have that happen and, hopefully, spending the summer here with her gorgeous relatives, he just might find a way. Hell, he was most twenty, wasn't he? Time to start thinking about settling down and raising a family, and what better introduction could there be to marriage than playing house? But Jesus, if her parents ever found out that he was staying at her aunt and uncle's house, sleeping in her bed… oh, boy, the fireworks would put the 200th Fourth of July to shame!
But he couldn't help himself… he'd loved her from the first moment that day he'd seen her on the beach, reminding him of a golden Venus in her tiny white bikini… just as she did at that very second, her wispy nylon panties and abundantly filled bra enhancing the curvaceous loveliness of her golden-tanned satiny-skinned body.
"… Why do you think they're being so generous with us?" Toni asked, a quizzical look clouding her perfect features as she turned and walked to her vanity for the skin moisturiser that hopefully would turn today's pink sunburn into tomorrow's deeper tan.
Jeff swallowed tightly, his discerning eyes automatically fixing on the provocative rippling movement of her curvaceous young hips and perfectly ovaled buttocks, the length of her blonde silken hair falling to the middle of her back, her slender waspish waist and long, shapely legs. He felt a stirring inside his shorts and mentally berated himself for harbouring such thoughts when they'd already made love once today.
"Don't know… maybe they've always wanted to have children of their own," he guessed, moving around the bed toward her. "I can't understand why your parents are dead-set against them having you stay for the summer." He wanted to make an addendum to that statement, including himself, but knew that was already a sore subject with Toni's parents who loathed the thought of their only child leaving home for a summer… not to mention how they would respond if they knew she'd brought him along with her. "Just be glad we're together."