I was embarrassed and sat silent. Then she told me it was okay because she always liked me more than anybody her granddaughter ever dated.That gave me...a little relief but I still sat silent not knowing what to say. What she did next caught me completely by surprise. She rested her hand on my crotch and told me everything would be okay.I was shocked but I figured she just didn’t realize where she put her hand so I just said, “Thanks. I hope you’re right.” She just looked at me and started. I think I kept Juni awake all night, the way I was rolling and trying to stop the bed from spinning.“Now my fingers are all knotted up. I reckon I slept with them bent over wrong,” he said as he looked at his right hand, squinting, with his right eye almost closed.They ate their breakfast, watching Duncan as he ate his, though he had problems with his curled and crooked fingers on his right hand.Eli pulled Jefferson aside after breakfast and they talked for a few minutes about Duncan and his. "Rose asked with a smile, "Scruffy?" Yep, scruffy describes it perfectly. Maybe getting it fixed up could kill two birds with one stone -- get the dining room in good shape and get Ana to know a real nice guy."Rose smirked a little and said, "Besides, you could check out how he and Natalie act together -- maybe it'll soften up Ana a bit too."I laughed. "Hell, when Natalie started puberty, I worried about keeping her away from bad guys -- then she never found anyone in Ohio even remotely. The pictures showed the woman in the pillory and father applying the whip to her shapely rear. Pictures, some before, some after of the woman screaming throughout, with her husband stood near her head loving every moment and sporting a raging errection.There was a second entry, another year-later date with the words- 17 branded on right haunch letter` M` at wife`s request. There were similar entries, mostly young ladies with names that normally were found in who`s -who, or country life, mostly.