“That sounds like a perfect way to spend the summer.”
“Yep. My last summer as not-quite-an-adult. I’m so glad you’re letting me take the time to do this. Dan wanted me working.”
“Yeah, well I think you deserve the break before you have to hunker down in medical school.”
“I appreciate that, daddy.”
“Mi casa es su casa, my dear. Your old room is just how you left it last time you were here but with clean sheets. I stocked up on your favorite foods, too. There are a bunch of those toaster waffles in the deep freeze. And I got you those pancake-wrapped sausages you like so well.
“I also got your bicycle a tune-up so you can ride to campus. You should probably get yourself a new helmet, though.”
“Perfect!” I giggled. Dad had really gone out of his way to make me feel welcome.
***
The next morning I woke up to the sun shining through the sheer curtains on my bedroom window. My second-floor room was in the back of the house on the northeast corner where I had a great view out one window of our backyard, including the pool and patio where my dad liked to grill out. My side window just looked out onto the neighbor’s… I mean Scott’s house. I had noticed when I was getting ready for bed the night before that the curtains were drawn closed on the window nearest my room, as they always were ever since Todd went off to college. This morning they seem to be opened slightly. I could also see over our privacy fence into the Miller’s… I mean Scott’s backyard. It was well-kept but mostly barren. The ancient swing set which had occupied the corner of the yard for as long as I could remember had been removed and replaced with a paver patio and a firepit. The rest of the yard was just grass, the old flower beds growing nothing but piles of mulch.
I planned to spend as much of my day as possible next to the pool, but I needed to do a little bit of shopping first. I needed to buy myself a new bicycle helmet as per dad’s suggestion and I thought I’d splurge on a new bikini. I’d the feeling that the new neighbor might be appreciative. Dad and I had breakfast together before he went to play golf with his buddies. He told me he wouldn’t be back until dinner time so I should consider myself on my own for the day.
I hopped in my car and made a stop at a bicycle shop for a helmet, then a department store for a new bikini. I actually bought two, one was a metallic blue bandeau with a thong bottom, the other a slightly more modest unlined sting bikini in white. I was pretty confident that the white one would leave very little to the imagination when wet.
I also bought coffee beans at a local roaster since I knew my dad only drank Folgers. I needed a low acid coffee or I’d have an upset stomach all summer.
When I got home I made myself a bit to eat for lunch and then went up to my bedroom to change into the blue bikini. I knew dad wouldn’t approve, but I was sure I’d be back to my room and changed into regular clothes before he got home. I looked out the side window that faced Scott’s house and noticed that the curtain in the room facing mine was pulled aside even further than it had been earlier. I cocked my head to one side and wondered about it. That room had belonged to my friend Todd before he went to college. I wondered what Scott used it for. He’d definitely been in the room since the morning, though. The curtains had been completely closed.