Chapter Two
Aralyn rubbed her temple and leaned against her locker, trying to curb the upcoming migraine threatening to remind her of last period’s chemistry class. If she didn’t bring up her grades and fast, her parents would bring in a tutor. Nothing like the humiliation of being tutored by a younger cousin or uncle to help motivate her.
“Duke, you all right?”
She looked up to see Cam approaching and she forced out a smile. The blue in his shirt shirt really brought out the color in his eyes, she thought.
“Yeah, just got a nasty headache happening,” she said turning on her heel and heading down the hall.
“Did you take anything for it?” He fell into step next to her.
“Nah, I generally stay way from that stuff. I took a tumble years ago in a game and sometimes my neck and shoulder act up and give me headaches. Usually I can hit a pressure point and it will go away but this one is being persistent. And I think I have a knot in my shoulder.”
“Anything I can do to help?” he asked, not adverse to the idea of massaging that knot out of her back. She had a lovely neck, he thought, and he wondered if her hair was as soft as it looked. His fingers itched to touch it but he didn’t dare.
“No, thanks,” she gave him a tired smile. “Dad’ll massage it out later for me. Leif tried one night but he just made it worse,” she laughed. “I think he did it to get back at me for spicing up his burger ‘accidentally’ at dinner.”
Cam chuckled, biting back the innuendo that sat on his tongue. They weren’t nearly close enough for that, he thought. Yet. They barely knew each other, despite his two year long yen for her.
“Hey, you think we can set up a tutoring session? I have a nasty feeling Frau Schwartz going to throw us a bigger test soon.” Besides, he was eager to spend more time with her, away from school.
“Sure,” she brightened. “I have practice tonight, how about tomorrow?”
“Great,” he gave her a relieved smile.
***
The rest of the day and the next, Tiffany noticed Aralyn and Cam exchanging a few glances and a lot of shy smiles. Cam’s eyes lingered on her cousin and Aralyn blushed each time she looked up and caught him. Tiffany could practically smell the attraction between the pair and was surprised she couldn’t see the crackle between them. She hadn’t seen her cousin ever blush over a boy before.
***
That evening, Cam arrived at the Duke home with a few minutes to spare. He admired the General as it sat in the driveway of the pretty white frame house. The manicured lawn was trimmed and someone had planted green bushes with white flowers along the front. Cam wasn’t sure what kind they were, but the green leaves looked nice against the white of the house.
At the door, he took a few calming breaths and rang the bell. This wasn’t a date, but he was as nervous as if it was. He had met her father the other day but this could be the whole family. It was important to him that the family like him. There was some muffled yelling; heavy footsteps and then a crash that made him wince. The door flung open and one of the twins stared out at him. Cam had seen them around school, but he honestly didn't know which was which.
"So you’re Cam," the twin scrutinized him.
"Yes," he said politely. This twin had mischief lurking in his bright blue eyes.
The boy turned and hollered into the depths of the house, "Aralyn! Your date is here!" Turning back to Cam with, "Come on in."
"Thanks," Cam said dryly.
The cozy house was filled with the lingering spicy scent of dinner. Pictures hung everywhere, of children at different stages through their lives, including a small dark headed boy mixed in among the blond siblings. She had mentioned three younger brothers and he had only seen the twins so far. Was this the third? There were some of a younger Bo from his NASCAR days, the General Lee, and a pretty blonde lady whom Cam figured had to be Trixie, Aralyn’s mother. The wood floor of the entryway led to a dark table that held a layered inbox. Each level had a family member name and some containing mail. Cam made a note to mention that to his mother. With three sisters, the mail at his house was forever getting shuffled.
"Leif!" Bo Duke appeared in the doorway from the living room. "Don't yell in the house. And studying is not a date!"
"I'm not Leif!" the youth protested with a sudden English accent.
Bo narrowed his dark blue eyes and stared hard at his son. Another blond head poked around the corner. It was the other twin, looking strangely innocent.
"I'm Leif. He's Logan. Really old man, you claim you're our father?" this one too had adopted a sudden English accent.
"Logan-" Bo said warily.
"Only joking, I am Leif!" the youth shot past his dad and leapt over the couch, where he was joined by his brother. Two curly blond tops were the only visible evidence of the exchange.
"I apologize for that," Bo stepped forward and shook Cam's hand.
"No problem, Mr. Duke. I have three sisters and I’m familiar with the chaos. Do they always do that to you?"
"Yep. And it got worse after those Harry Potter books came out. They done got it in their heads to mimic the twins in there."
Cam nodded knowingly with a smile. His younger sister was in love with the Weasley twins from Harry Potter.
"They’re absolutely identical but somehow their mama and sister can tell them apart. They never fall for it." Bo gave an exaggerated expression of dismay but his dark blue eyes were twinkling. “Of course my brother-in-law gets the twins that don’t want to stereotype the rest. His kids all want to be seen as individuals.”
At the mention of Mrs. Duke, Cam was again drawn to the many photographs of Aralyn’s mother. She used to be a Federal Marshal as well, and a private investigator after that. Cam wasn’t sure what she did now. Besides, Cam wanted to meet the woman who had tamed the legendary Bo Duke. Speed records on the track weren’t the only thing he had been known for on the circuit. A quick Google search had provided a wealth of information. The hair on the back of his neck rose and he glanced about, but was alone with Mr. Duke in the entry.
"Hi Cam!" Aralyn suddenly appeared behind her father. She was holding a half full glass of milk. "Give me just a minute, ok?"
"Sure," he watched her as she left the entryway, amazed at the similarity of appearance between father and daughter. He knew many girls in school had crushes on the handsome blond man, and Aralyn was almost a carbon copy, however with softer features and curves that were decidedly feminine.
Bo hadn’t missed the way the young man's eyes lit up when he saw Aralyn. Of course he had run a full background check on the boy earlier at work, as well as his entire family. Stable family, financially comfortable given his father was a high stakes litigator, no criminal records, all the siblings got decent grades, involved in the art community. The boy himself was in the running for a couple of journalism scholarships. Overall, a good family, he thought with approval.
Sometimes it bothered Bo that Aralyn didn't date much. Though as her father, he should be glad, but he was afraid it would cause her trouble later on. That'd she'd be an easy target for a smooth talking con artist who would sweep her off her feet. He had to remind himself Trixie hadn't dated a whole lot when they’d met, and she had been in an off again, on again relationship. Besides, she hadn't let Bo sweep her off her feet – too much.
"Have you known Aralyn long?" he asked casually.
Cam braced himself. This may not be a date but the man was a Federal Marshal and, more importantly, her father.
"Actually, yes sir. We’ve had a couple classes together over the years; I transferred in half way through the freshman year. My parents thought I'd get a better education here than the public school I was in. I have tried to get Aralyn to submit some articles to the paper-I'm the editor- but she laughs it off."
Bo grinned. "She ain't one for a lot of anythin’ that requires too much sittin’ down."
"I've noticed she's always moving; even when sitting still."
"She was worse than those two when she younger," Bo said nodding towards the twins on the couch, "and she comes by it honestly, both her mama and I are like that."
"Daddy, please don't scare Cam away. I need him to get me through chemistry," Aralyn appeared with a smile and wrapped one arm around her father’s waist..
"Yeah, have fun with that." Bo grimaced, squeezing her in return. "You can use my office so the boys won't bug you."
"Thanks." She flashed Cam the Duke grin as she asked, "Cam, you want anything to drink?"
"No, thank you."
“Okay, c’mon, I’ll give you the grand tour real quick.”
To the left of the entrance, he could see through a doorway that led to the office. To the right was a spacious living room, stairs in the middle leading up to what Cam imaged was the bedrooms.
He followed her through the living room. It was neat and tidy and the walls were lined with bookshelves that were full of all sorts of books in varying states of condition, and even more pictures. He recognized Tiffany in a couple frames and other students, who he assumed were additional cousins, he had seen around school. Her family was huge! He was familiar with several of them from profiling them over the years for the paper, but there were just so many.
"Yeah, I know," she said when Cam mentioned it. "Kind of frightening, really. Hopefully this year at Christmas, Tiff and I won't have to sit at the kids table."
Cam grinned at her, noticing the strands of hair that were escaping from her ponytail Aralyn absentmindedly brush the shorter pieces out of her eyes. She led him through the living room a door that opened into the dining room, deduced from the furnishings. The kitchen was through another door and it wrapped around to a small breakfast nook which looped back around to the office.
Even if Mr. Duke hadn't told him it was his, he would have guessed. The large portrait right behind the desk was of the General Lee, and there were commendations from the US Marshals to both him and Mrs. Duke. Childish drawings of their family and mostly misshapen lumps of clay with 'Aralyn' scrawled on a few, and a big ‘L’ on others cluttered the shelves behind the desk. There were numerous pictures of a younger Aralyn and her father fishing, camping, and in skydiving gear in front of a big plane.
"You really are a Daddy's girl, huh?" he asked in amusement.
With a sheepish smile she nodded. "Yeah, he's kept all those silly things I made over the years.” She gestured behind her. “Pictures, attempts at jewelry. The half decent ones are mine; those really ugly ones are Leif and Logan’s," she snickered.
"I can see that. It is so great that your dad is so involved in your life."
"Yeah, he's really respects my space and doesn't interfere. He trusts me and my judgment," she said simply. "Besides, the twins keep him busy enough when he's home," she laughed.
“How did you guys get the name Belden-Duke Clan? Your last name is only Duke, right?”
Aralyn nodded with a chuckle. “It all started years ago. The pictures you saw of the young people in red jackets are Mom, my uncles, Tiff’s mom Honey, her brother Jim, our cousin Dan and my Aunt Diana, who had a club. They did loads of charity work for groups like UNICEF, and fundraising for the art department at their school, victims of earthquakes and the like, when they were teens,” Aralyn explained.
“They called themselves the Bob Whites of the Glen. Fast forward - Mom, Honey and Diana met Dad, Luke and Daisy one summer, and then Dan, Jim, Mart and Brian met them the next summer. The short version is they met one summer while Mom, Honey and Di were on a roadtrip. Few years later they met up again and the rest is history. Every adult couple of the Bob-Whites of the Glen has a Duke or Belden so we’re all related somehow, and that’s how we got the name. This guy Mike, who runs Wimpy’s burgers in Sleepyside stuck the name on us.”
“What about Honey’s brother? Wasn’t he adopted? He has the Frayne Academy out in Sleepyside, right?”
“Yep. Jim married Mom’s cousin, Hallie Belden. We finally stopped using terms like Aunt, Uncle and such because it got so incredibly confusing, once all of us kids started talking. I’d say Uncle Mart, but he’d be a cousin to Tiffany because her dad Luke is cousin to Bo who’s married to Trixie whose brother is Mart.”
Aralyn took a breath to let Cam digested that for a moment.
“Likewise, Jim is my second cousin because he’s married to Hallie, Mom’s cousin. But he’s Tiffany’s uncle, because Jim is Honey’s brother.” Aralyn watched as Cam tried to mentally build the family tree in his head. “Regan is Dan’s uncle, but he’s a cousin to all of us Dukes because Dan is married to Daisy. Diana is aunt to me because she’s married to Mart, who’s Mom’s brother. But she’s a third cousin to Tiffany, because Luke is Dad’s cousin who’s married to Mom.”
Cam closed his eyes as she smirked mischievously.
“Regan Jr., Valerra, and Byron are children to Hallie and Jim, which makes them my third cousins because Hallie is my second cousin through Mom. They’re also cousins to Tiffany, because Jim is her uncle. They’re cousins removed somehow to Dan and Daisy’s kids, because Daisy is cousin to Bo and Luke who are married are Trixie and Honey.”
Cam just shook his head. “You can remember all of that but you can’t grasp chemistry?” he asked.
Aralyn shrugged. “It’s as natural as breathing to me. I can even remember all kinds of family details on my favorite soap operas and they can get really twisted.”
“It’s really kind of mind boggling,” he said thoughtfully.
Aralyn just chuckled, settling herself down on the floor.
Cam sat down next to her and spread out their books.
"What do you want to start with?" she asked.
Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!
***
Author’s Notes
-a huge yee-ehaa to Dana and Jenn (the anti-smile editor!), my lovely editors who help keep me on track.
-the twins introduction scene is an homage to of course, Harry Potter, where we first meet Fred and George Weasley.
- Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder are real types of autism. Each case is difficult, and varies person to person. Information from http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/autism/types_of.html
- Word Count, 5,212
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