The Dance

Chapter 174 Rain Check

Rose and Bear may not have christened the Virtue but they wasted no time in christening Bear's treehouse. The advantage of the treehouse was its relative privacy, something that came at a premium in Browntown.

Rose had shifted positions with Bear giving her the distinct advantage of straddling his narrow hips. He pulled her closer to him as she guided the pace of their lovemaking. She pressed her hand to his chest driving him deeper inside her. She tried to contain her pleasure not wanting to alert their family to their carnal activities. Rose could feel herself just at the edge of her climax when they heard Lucas calling for them at the base of the treehouse. Red was caught so off guard she collapsed on Bear in a pile of giggles. "I'm sorry, baby, I can't finish with an audience." Bear caught Rose's laughter with his lips trying to stifle her as their laughter would only make Lucas more interested in what they were doing.

"We'll be down in a minute, little man." Bear groaned at not being able to enjoy the remainder of their time together.

"Rain check?" Rose asked as she hastily dressed.

"Claim it soon!" Bear smoothed his hair and both descended the ladder in record time.

"Dad sent me to get you. He said there's a family meeting."

Bear put Lucas on his back and walked to the main cabin with Rose. Family meetings were always important and this one was called by Matt. He suspected that Matt was going to announce that Bear would be coming to work with him. As the family began to grow, the vision of Browntown was changing also.

Everyone had gathered around the family table which for the first time was too small to accommodate everyone comfortably. Matt began to speak. "My business has been growing and as a result of that I have asked Bear to come on board fulltime with me. He's got even more reason to be in town now." Matt nodded in Rose's direction.  "I know you think everyone is leaving but I see it as our base of operations is expanding. All of our hauling business is based in Hoonah with Paul and now that we have the sat phones, it makes it easier to communicate with Bam on jobs. I don't want you to feel as if we've abandoned the family here. We can now come back and forth more quickly with the addition of my boat."

Bam understood but Billy expressed concern. His vision was for everyone to live in Browntown but the fact of the matter was he never calculated that the boys would fall in love with women that were already established and owned businesses. His vision was a double edged sword. In order for his family to grow, they would all need wives, he just never assumed that love would take them all away. 

"I have another idea but everyone may need to think on it for a while. What if we moved Browntown to the outskirts of Hoonah? Jill and I have been looking at a large tract of land that could easily accommodate a number of homes that we can build. Da's health isn't getting any better and Ma probably would like to be closer to all her grands. We could keep this land to hunt, fish and trap. So what does everyone think?"

Bam and Lila liked the idea as did Gabe, Noah and the girls. It was Billy who had reservations. "We'd live in town?"

"Not exactly in town but close enough to our businesses and boats.  You wouldn't have neighbors but you also wouldn't be able to hunt the property. Bam's business would probably grow faster and we would all be there to help each other in the mill or on the boats."

Bam interjected. "It really sounds like a win-win for the whole family. And Ma and Da aren't getting any younger."

Billy and Ami winced at the comment but both knew it was true. Their bush lifestyle had taken its toll on their bodies and on their health in general. "I'd like to mull it over for awhile."

Matt replied, "Fair enough. We'll vote later at dinner."

As Bam and Matt walked back to the cabin, "I'm proud of you, bro. You've really thought this plan out."

Matt appreciated the compliment. He missed his extended family. It was a huge risk but one that he was willing to take to help the family stay together.

Coldplay-We Never Change