Pleasure's Spear. Shannon Cook

is more appropriate."

      Barb looked at the black dress and picked it up. She put it right back down. "I like the blue one better. I feel black is more for a funeral. I'm not suffering any loss."

      Mandy put her head down. "Yet." she said softly.

      Barb walked over to her daughter. "What is wrong?" she asked her daughter. "You can tell me."

      "Did your co-worker tell you what the party is for?"

      "She said the party is for her daughter and her partner."

      "Just promise dad won't cause a scene at this party."

      Mandy walked out of the room as Lee came in. "What is all of this? Are you cleaning out the closet finally?" He asked.

      Barb pulled out her phone and showed Lee the text. "We got invited to a party on Saturday at my co-worker's farm!" she said excitedly. "It'll be good to have some fun in our lives again."

      Lee read the text. "Oh, it's at the big farm on Spring Hill Road?"

      "Yes."

      Lee got a disgusted look on his face. "Do we have to go? I hear that her husband Nate has a gay friend, and I don't want to be exposed to him."

      Barb raised an eyebrow to her husband. "We're going, and if that guy is there please keep your mouth shut!" She pleaded with Lee. "I don't need you causing a scene, like you did the last time and almost causing me lose my job!"

      "Why would you lose your job if I cause a scene?" Lee inquired.

      "My boss will most likely be there!" Barb snapped back.

      Meanwhile, Mandy sat up in her room trying to figure out what to do. She was positive that her parents had gotten invited to the party that Alex's parents were throwing for them to celebrate them coming out.

      She feared her father's reaction when he'll definitely find out about her sexuality. She had to try to do something to prevent her parents from attending that party.

      She went back downstairs and sat down in the living room with her parents who were watching TV. "Tell me more about this party you got invited to." She asked her mother. "Where is this party anyway?"

      "You know that big farm on Spring Hill Road?" Barb asked her daughter.

      "Yes, I've seen it many times." Mandy said nervously. "Didn't we go to a party there once?"

      Lee and Barb looked at their daughter suspiciously. Why was their daughter so nervous when she found out where the party was going to be held?

      "I don't think you two should go." Mandy stated. "I hear that they have many more cattle than they did a few years ago. Rumors around town state that one cow, in particular, is very timid! I would hate to find out mom got chased down that cow while wearing such a fancy dress." Mandy said that knowing her mother had a minor fear of cows after one got loose from a farm next to her childhood home, and chased her once.

      "She's right!" Barb said as she jumped up, and began picking up the dresses. "We shouldn't go. I'll call Rose and tell her we're busy on Saturday. I'll tell her something came up!"

      Mandy smiled, but that smile soon turned upside down when her father spoke up.

      "Oh, we are definitely going now!" Lee laughed. "I would love to see that!"

      Mandy tried to think fast. How could she talk her parents out of going to this party? "Dad, there is going to be a lot of people there. There is no guarantee there won't be any gay people there."

      Lee nodded his head. "I know. Your mother has already talked to me about that." He looked at his daughter suspiciously. "Are you trying to stop us from going to this party?"

      Mandy sat there quietly as her parents stared at her. Her heart was pounding fast. She knew deep down that no matter how hard she'd try to stop her parents from going to that party, they were still going to go.

      "I was."

      "Why don't you want us to go to this party, Mandy?" Barb asked.

      Mandy just looked over at her father quietly. She stared at him for a second. "Do you love me dad?" she asked her father.

      "Of course I do." Lee responded. "Why do you ask?"

      "No reason. Just please remember that on Saturday." Mandy got up and went back up to her bedroom.

      Mandy's parents stared at each other. "What was that about?" Barb asked.

      "I haven't a clue." Lee responded. "But, I'm getting the feeling our daughter is hiding something from us and I don't like it."