Sitting up, swinging her feet to the floor, Daisy cradled her face in her hands, fighting a sudden dizziness. She'd have to stop drinking to excess, she thought, also experiencing a sick feeling in her stomach. She'd condemned her father too much to turn into an alcoholic herself.
After a minute or two, she lifted her head and looked around the room. All the clothes had been gathered from the floor. Somebody had placed her's on a chair. Her canvas bag was near the bathroom door. She stood up, glad the dizziness had passed, sure she'd be all right after she'd taken a hot bath.
Daisy took the zipper bag into the bathroom. She dashed cold water on her face at the basin, brushed her teeth, and began to feel better even while filling the tub. After a hot bath, where she vigorously scrubbed herself with a soapy wash cloth, she felt almost normal. Her body responded sexually, but she tried to ignore the fact, and also tried to block from her mind the shameful acts she'd performed in front of the fireplace. She wasn't completely successful, but by the time she'd rinsed off under a cold spray of water in the shower stall, she felt much better both mentally and physically. There was no use in worrying about what had already happened, she decided. She'd just try to concentrate upon keeping herself under control in the future. Feeling the short skirt had contributed to the attempted rape by the man in the Cadillac, and thinking she'd soon be on the road again, Daisy put on the blue jeans and sweater over a clean bra and panties. It'd probably be easier to get a ride with some flesh showing, but she was still determined to pick the male, the time, and the place for the sex she knew she'd need on a regular basis from then on.
Daisy brushed her long blonde hair, applied a little lipstick, took the bag containing her few belongings, and went out to face the sex partners she'd freely chosen the night before. The fire had been banked in the fireplace and one of the boys was stretched out on the carpet. Satan lifted his head and barked when he saw her. Remembering how the dog's hard cock had felt in her clinging cunt, Daisy felt a flash of shame and an unwelcome surge of excitement. By damn, she'd stick to human cocks in the future!
There was an uncomfortable silence when Daisy entered the kitchen. She didn't meet anybody's eyes, and she imagined she looked just as shamefaced as the three brothers. They were eating breakfast.
Mark finally told her she was just in time, and told her to pull up a chair. Daisy realized she was famished, and quickly accepted the invitation to sit down and eat.
After they'd finished, and were all having a second cup of coffee, Mark asked Daisy what she intended to do.
She said she guessed she'd just hit the road and maybe try to find some kind of a job. Mark told her he and his brothers had talked it over and were sure their father would be wining to give her a place to stay until she made up her mind what she wanted to do next.
"Dad's a friendly, good-natured guy," Matthew said. "We all get along damned well with him, and most of the time we call him by his first name."
"Please come home with us," Luke said. "We like you a lot, and I know John would, too."
Mark looked at Daisy. "Nothing would happen that you wouldn't want to happen, Daisy. We won't tell John about the fun we had last night, either. He isn't religious or anything like that, but he might not understand."
Daisy wasn't eager to get back on the road and she did like the guys. She told them they didn't have to blow any more smoke, that she'd accept their offer and try her best to behave like a lady around their father. Then she added she was finding out what kind of a person she really was and didn't feel very proud of herself.
Luke told her not to run herself down and started gathering up the dirty dishes. There was no argument when Daisy said she'd wash the dishes. The brothers cleaned and straightened the rest of the cabin while Daisy got the kitchen in tip-top shape.
Mark drove the station wagon, and Daisy sat in back with Luke. Satan promptly went to sleep, and Daisy was glad the dog had done no more than lick her hand.
Mark drove around the small town, showing Daisy just about all there was to see, then headed for their home.
The small ranch was two miles out of town. Mark said there was a school bus that went right by, but that he and his brothers usually took the station wagon. Their father had a pickup truck he used, Matthew told Daisy, and Luke said their father was away from home a lot.
"On business some of the time, and out getting his ashes hauled some of the time," Mark said. "He doesn't talk much, but we do know he has one chick in town he bangs regularly."
"I hope he gets plenty of ass," Matthew said. "He's still young, and sometimes I wish he'd get married again."
Mark told Daisy they wouldn't tell the real reason she'd left home. "John might want you to go back and press charges against your old man, and you've already said you just want to forget the whole deal."
Matthew changed the subject that time by saying maybe he could help Daisy with her studying if things worked out so she could stay and go to school. Daisy didn't say anything, hoping the brothers didn't have the idea she might be willing to pay for her keep by allowing their father to get his ashes hauled right at home.
The home was a large, two-story structure sitting well back from the road. The pickup truck was gone, and Mark said their father was supposed to deliver a couple of dogs to a customer that day. Luke took Satan back to the kennels, which were located a hundred yards or so behind the house, while Mark and Matthew took Daisy inside and showed her around their home.
The entire house was beautifully furnished and very, very clean. Mark said he and his brothers did all the housekeeping. "John helps, too," he added. "He hasn't had a woman in the place since our mother died."
"You should've told me," Daisy said. "You'd better take me out to the highway."
"We've brought girls here," Matthew said. "John doesn't mind. it's just that he was raised by a stepmother he hated and… well, I don't think he was really too happy with our mother. He's having too good a time now to take a chance on getting hooked into marriage."
Luke came into the house then, and they all went to the kitchen and had coffee and sandwiches. The rest of the day passed pleasantly for Daisy, despite the fact she was a little worried about meeting the father. Still tired and sleepy because of the drinking the night before, they all took a nap during the afternoon.
Luke woke Daisy up by shaking her shoulder and telling her his father was home. She sat up and swung her feet to the carpet just as Mark and Matthew entered with their father.
John Griffith was tall and even handsomer than his sons. He had a friendly smile, and Daisy liked him even before he told her she was welcome to stay as long as she wished. She wondered what his sons had told him about her, but she didn't get a chance to find out right away.
After she'd told him she appreciated his kindness, Mark said they'd been bragging about her cooking. She said she could take a hint, and, amidst the general laughter, she hurried to the downstairs bathroom to wash her face and hands.
Daisy prepared a meal that everybody agreed was excellent. John again told her she was welcome to stay as long as she liked, excused himself, and left the kitchen. The boys told her they'd help with the dishes and cleaning the kitchen since they wanted to show her the kennels.
She asked them what they'd told their father. Mark told her they'd just said they'd picked her up on the highway, taken her to the cabin to get her out of the cold, and decided to bring her home while she made up her mind what she wanted to do.
"He didn't ask any questions," Matthew said. "We didn't ten him about the sex party, but I know he doesn't think we just sat around and talked."
"I think he's a very nice man," Daisy said. "I like him."
"So do we," Mark said.