"Double or nothing," I suggested and he nodded. Forty pounds is a lot of money, and I saw some sweat on the big man's face.After Tom's shuffle, I turn...d a jack. Carter smiled and found an ace with a missing corner. I knew what he had done, and I think by then he knew that I knew. He took his money and left without another word."So," Tom said as he gathered up the cards. "Freddie's yours." No," I said, "but she ain't yours neither. Let her be."He took a swing at me and I grabbed his fist and. Obviously she was excited. A fact that wasn’t lost on Alf as he ogled her.Alf said he needed the toilet so Cathy said she would show him the way. Ruby was sitting very quietly in one of the lounge chairs. With Alf gone I turned to her. “You really are not into this are you Ruby”. She looked surprised. “Can you tell” she said quietly. “So all this is Alf’s idea and he dragged you along” I said. She smiled for the first time. “Is it that obvious?” she said “yes, he talked about it and I didn’t. I heard Seth choke only to assume that Claus had fed my uncle an unsuspecting assault of rapid-fire shots to his throat. I could have warned him of the boy's considerable capability to produce an abundance of semen had I been given the chance. Shaking my head to rid myself of the unthinkable possibility of him getting my aunt pregnant, the sister of the man from whom I was now coercing the last few reluctant driblets of his own 'baby-makers'. I was struggling with both realizing and reminding. Maybe if my parents had a secret mountain lodge, then Tyler and I could’ve gotten on with growing close again a long time ago. A deep breath. I wasn’t exactly feeling so sure that I could handle this. However, looking at the log structure in front of me, it was quite easy to feel that things had progressed to the point of ‘too late to turn back now.’ As if to confirm my thoughts, just as I began to open the door to my car, he stepped out the front door. My eyes met his almost instantly, and boy.