Amber was already innocently Leafing through her magazine. E-Beth and

Diane were conspicuously looking at each other trying to engage in an awkwardly forced conversation.

Still looking at our roommates, my sister commented, "Well, the girls said they wanted to get in some extra studying. It's a Saturday, but whatever..." Her head swiveled around to me. "So, how ‘bout we go for a ride? Just kick back and relax for a couple of hours..."

I risked one Last questioning glance to my girlfriend, then said “Uh, sure. Just Lemme go to the bathroom and I'll be right out."

I used the few minutes to relieve myself and then splash some water on my face. What the hell was going on? I wouldn't quite figure out the answer to that for a few hours.

In the beginning, Danielle and I just casually went out to my car. She let herself in the passenger side Like any other time, and as I got into the driver's seat I looked over and asked.

“Where to?"

She waved with indifference and just said... "I just want to go for a ride. Take me somewhere we can just drive for an hour or so."

I rifled through my mental cartography of the area, finally settling on a winding highway that took us along the river and up towards the mountains.

“Okay...” I said, not telling her our destination. I shifted into gear and then we were off.

It was a very pleasant Spring afternoon, not too hot out. And after a few minutes getting out of the city, we both had the windows rolled down and the sweet floral air rushing through the car as I banked around the curves of a two-lane road in the hills.

Danielle let one hand outside to surf in the wind, her gaze drawn upwards to the trees whipping by us at a comfortable forty miles an hour.

I had to focus most of my attention on the road, what with all the banks and turns. But the way was already half-familiar to me. Ever since I got my license I'd driven this path a few times, often with a pretty girl in the passenger seat. And so almost out of habit, I Let my eyes drift to my right to evaluate the pretty girl currently in my passenger seat.

Danielle was in a spring dress, the hem now riding up her thighs and showing off her athletically toned Legs. The spaghetti straps did little to hide her upper chest, and in my current position I could see the side curves of her right breast, supported by a standard bra. Her green eyes were Lit up by the Late afternoon Light as she kept her gaze on the scenery passing us by. And I noticed that right in this moment, she seemed more at peace than she had in a long, long time.

Maybe she was finally starting to heal from Cherys.

We'd been driving for a good hour when we rounded the next ridge, and then my memory reminded me of a particularly good vantage point. "Ooh,"

I couldn't help verbalizing my excitement.

Danielle's head turned to me.

“What?”

I grinned. "You'll see."

At the next turnoff I pulled over, rolling the car right up to the guard rail, nose first. And then I shut off the engine and just let the natural sounds percolate in as we looked across the sweeping vista.

“Wow... Danielle breathed.

I had to agree. It was my third or fourth time stopping here and it always took my breath away. We'd managed a good thousand feet of elevation, and from this lookout point, we could see the river snaking away beneath us through the valley and all the way to the horizon where the sun was coming down. By my own guess, if we just hung out for another twenty minutes we could stick around for the sunset.

Danielle must have had a similar thought because she unbuckled her seatbelt and then slid across the bench seat up to my side. This bench seat had come in handy more than once, but never with my sister. Still,

I unbuckled and let her snuggle in against me while I wrapped my right arm around her.