Chapter 1

It was mid-summer and my daughter Madison’s “bestest friend ever” Allison had arrived to spend a week with us. Allison’s, or Allie’s, parents had decided to go on a couples cruise to improve their relationship. I didn’t know much about it, but I knew they had a lot of ups and downs. The girls met when they were 10 and my wife and I had moved back to the area where I grew up, switching from a townhouse to a single family home in the suburbs. Allison was also a recent transplant and the girls bonded instantly.

It was about 3 months after the 2 year anniversary of my wife’s passing. She went suddenly, in her sleep. Freaked me the hell out when I woke up that morning. I was definitely at a loss and the early stages of grief hit me hard. My parents had passed away many years ago and my wife Jennifer’s parents were pieces of shit and no one knew where they were. Jennifer had been my support network and I really struggled. But Allison was there for Madison, helping pick up some of the slack. And as a newly single father, I also worried about how to raise a teenage girl. But Madison, or Maddy, came through strong and I recovered fairly well.

Madison and Allison spent a lot of time together, in and out of school. And since Allison’s apartment was a 2-bedroom, with only a few amenities, more often than not they were at our house. It is a 4-bedroom ranch style house, with an unfinished basement that’s basically used for storage. The main suite contained a king size bed and had its own bathroom with a pretty large shower. The backyard was big enough to host a deck and at the right time of day it got plenty of sun. I figured the girls, now 15, would spend enough time out there to keep them out of my hair on the days I worked from home.

Madison welcomed Allison into our home with hugs and giggles. I managed to make it to the front door to give Steve a wave before he drove off. Despite our daughter’s bonding, he and I just never became close. His wife, Aubrey, was a decent looking redhead for our age, now in our late thirties. Over the past 5 years she’s flirted and made innuendo enough to indicate that fidelity wasn’t her specialty. Perhaps in a different life I’d have taken her up on that, but I had been committed to Jennifer and now I was a bit more withdrawn and not really looking.

Allison looked like her mom, with her wavy red hair and B-cup breasts. She also looked a lot like Madison. Like myself and Madison, Allison had hazel eyes. They definitely stood out and on many occasions I caught myself staring at her face thinking how beautiful she was. She had an athletic build and her curves had definitely been forming as she matured. Their birthdays were only 5 months apart, with Allison being the older one. If it wasn’t for Madison’s straight brown hair and slightly darker complexion, you really would think they were sisters.

They had both joined the cheerleading team and made a few more close friends there. Madison had never given me a reason to doubt her, and we’d had the sex talk more than once, so I did let her go on the occasional date.

So here they were on a Sunday afternoon, with Allison giving me a “Hi, Mr. J” and hug as she came in. That would be me, Allen Johnson, 5’10” and 180 pounds. More weight than I should have but not excessively. I think the current term is dad bod. My brown hair was relatively short and I kept my beard trimmed. Madison definitely looked more like me than her mom. Her brown hair was straight and stopped just below her shoulders. Just over 5 feet tall she almost reached my chin.