Chapter 39

It was a tight squeeze in Phil’s car for the drive up. Even with a credit card linked to his bank account, no place around would rent a car to a group of 18 year olds. Hailey joked that it just meant they would have to wear their bikinis all weekend.

They managed to fit everything into the trunk and floor. Phil knew that for anything longer than a 30-minute drive there would have been considerable bitching,. Even though he was driving he was inconvenienced. He had to pull the seat as far forward as he could stand in order to fit a bag of clothing on the floor beneath Tiffany’s feet.

They arrived at Wild Springs Campground before four p.m. and got settled into a cabin that was roomier than the females had expected and smaller than Phil had supposed. The pictures on the web site obviously hadn’t been taken from the same spot in the room, he decided.

The weather was unseasonably warm for early May – temperatures in the mid-80s – but the cabin was surrounded by trees and slightly chilly inside. Everyone chipped in to put the food away and decided to take a look at the lake.

No one was sure if anyone else had rented a cabin for the weekend so they all wore sensible bathing suits beneath their shorts and T-shirts. It didn’t matter. One dip of a toe told them the water in the lake was still too cold for them to get in. The night-time temperatures the week before had been in the 40s at school and the cabin was at a higher elevation.

“I was looking forward to some late-night skinny dipping,” Hailey admitted. Still the four women shucked down to their swimsuits and spread out towels on the dock. They might not be able to swim but they could enjoy the sun.

“The back deck at the apartment is perfect for this,” Phil told them. “It faces west so you got a lot of late-evening sunshine. I’m thinking of getting a grill and doing most of the cooking on it. That little hibachi I picked up has been great.”

“If you’re eating alone,” Katelyn said. “You’ll need something bigger for five people.”

“I know,” Phil agreed. “I’m thinking that a gas grill would work. Nothing top of the line since it will be used only for a few months. If we decide we want to stay together next semester we might think of transporting it.”

“I’ve run it past Mom,” Katelyn said. “She isn’t opposed so long as it’s somewhere decent. I was thinking of getting an apartment even before we patched things up. Well, actually, I was thinking about calling Phil and seeing if he wanted to share an apartment with me. Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Hailey said. “You two are good friends and I would have understood. I would have been jealous as hell but I would have understood. My scholarship isn’t through the school. Beth said Phil had suggested language that would necessitate off-campus housing but that won’t be finalized until later this month. I doubt the college will want to run a dedicated internet line to my dorm room or provide me with a fireproof safe for confidential documents.”

“I can live wherever I want,” Molly said. “The little guy is going into daycare this summer. I’ll still be listed as their child’s caregiver on the INS papers but that doesn’t require me to live with them. I can afford to live in an apartment.”

“That just leaves me,” Tiffany said glumly.

“Tiff, I hope you’ll be wherever the rest of us are,” Hailey said. “If you’re not comfortable with it, then we’ll go to our original plan. You and I will share a room – and I promise to be there, too.”

“We sort of talked about looking at a suite in the Holt Building,” Katelyn said. “It was just too expensive. I can live like a queen in an apartment for what I spend to live with three bitches in the suites.”

“But you could be the Queen Bitch,” Molly said, rolling over to get some sun on her back. “Why don’t you be a nice Queen Bitch and put lotion on my shoulders? I turn into one huge freckle if I get too much – after I turn into a lobster first.”

The rest of the females decided butt-up was the way to go, too, and soon Phil could look down the line and see four rumps pointing skyward.

“Eyes back in your head, Mister,” Hailey ordered. He was on the end of the row and the way he sat put him directly in line with the butts in question.

“Oops,” Phil said. “I was thinking more along the lines of investing in a house. Getting someone to rent to five college students is going to be tough unless we want to live five miles out of town. No one near the campus is going to do it without a hell of a damage deposit. I was looking at real estate prices and the market is good for buyers – particularly since we’re not looking at a mortgage. There is a really nice split-level about three blocks from where we stay now.

“It’s got four bedrooms and three baths, a nice yard and is in a good neighborhood. There is no Homeowner’s Association to worry about and there is room for more than one car. I haven’t spoken to the Realtor yet but it’s listed at $104,000. I think we can get it for $90,000 in a cash transaction.”

“That’s a lot of money!” Hailey said. Her scholarship paid $5,000 a semester toward room and board, the same amount Katelyn’s paid.

“Not when you think about it,” Tiffany said. She was still frowning. “Even if we took a mortgage with a 20 percent down payment it would be less than what Phil’s paying for a two-bedroom. That’s the total amount. If you split it five ways – or four ways, I guess – it’ll be about $150 each. That’s about $8,000 a year less per person than living in the dorms – even when you factor in taxes, utilities and upkeep.”

“What she said,” Phil replied, glancing over toward Tiffany. Hailey’s shoulder’s blocked Tiffany’s face so he winked at her butt instead. “Then when the last of us finishes school – either the master’s program or whatever – we put it on the market and sell it. We basically live for free for the next three, four or five years because we’ll get out what we’ve put in.”

“More,” Katelyn said. “The housing market should rebound by then. It’s been in a down cycle for seven years. It rarely goes past 10. The economy keeps hinting at a rebound and if Congress would stop playing chicken and start cutting expenses we’d probably already be back. I keep hoping they’ll finally wise up, nuke the IRS and put in a flat tax but I don’t think that’s going to happen soon enough to help us.

“Still, what we – and by ‘we’ I mean Phil – buy for $90,000 today might be worth $150,000 in four or five years. I know the area he’s talking about. It’s high-end real estate so if it’s dropped that low it’s probably been on the market for a while and they need rid of it. When it comes time to graduate, we look at new hires at the college who have children. Hell, you might be able to sell it to Heilman to use for visiting professors. I think there will be options.”

“So how will it work?” Molly asked. “I mean, I have money but not enough for fifths on a house – unless I’d like to go a year without food.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of how we worked this weekend,” Phil admitted. “I take care of the purchase; you chip in on expenses where you can. Tiffany has the option of skipping the meal plan at the dorm. That’s $3,100 a semester right there. You can’t eat on campus – or off campus every night – for $3,100 but it would go a long way on one-fifth of a food bill and an electric bill.”

“One fourth,” Katelyn interrupted. “If you spring for the dwelling you’re not going to contribute to food and utilities.”

“But we’ve already determined I will get the money back on resale,” Phil countered.

“That’s not the issue,” Hailey stated. “The issue is how much money goes out, not comes in.”

“Well I have a hell of a lot more coming in than the rest of you,” Phil grumbled.

“Sure, rub it in,” Tiffany said. She paused for a second. “Seriously, I need more sunscreen on my back. Rub it in.”

The group smiled and Phil dropped some lotion on Tiffany’s pale back and rubbed it into her skin. Her complexion was the same pale alabaster as Molly’s but Tiffany’s dark hair made it look even whiter.

He moved to Molly next and repeated the gesture, then followed up with Katelyn on the end. Even though Katelyn’s skin was the color of lightly creamed coffee, she still burned in the sun. He ended his parade with Hailey, who got a pinch on her tush for being last.

“I’ll agree to sitting out the utilities and food on one condition,” Phil said when he resumed his seat. He had his hand on the portion of Hailey’s butt that was covered so she didn’t have a finger-shaped gap in her tan. “Everyone’s name goes on the deed and we split the proceeds when it sells.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Molly said.

“Hear him out,” Hailey suggested. She considered rolling to her back to give Phil other interesting places to put his hand. “Why should we agree to that?”

“It will equalize the expenses,” Phil pointed out. “I put the initial money in and you four keep up the house for the next few years. In the end we’ll all have equity in it – my upfront money and the money you spend over the course of time. We split the sale 20 percent to each of us. It will give everyone a little nest egg to start their post-collegiate lives – perhaps enough for a down payment on a house or at least on a new car. No one gets to live for nothing.”

Hailey decided to go with her plan to roll over and frowned when Phil moved his hand to her stomach.

“That’s actually workable,” she said.

“And, more of a surprise, it makes sense,” Molly said, also rolling to her back.

“It’s something I can live with,” Katelyn agreed.

“I’m still not sure I can help out,” Tiffany said with a sigh.

“You’re getting paid this summer,” Hailey pointed out. “You figure 40 hours a week at $12.50 an hour, even after taxes, is going to be pretty substantial. The food and utilities on the apartment split four ways isn’t going to be much. You should be able to put away a pretty nice sum.”

“Add in the $6,000 from opting out of the meal plan and I think you’ll see you won’t have to dip into your summer savings much,” Phil added.

“If you run short, you can pick up a part-time job,” Molly put in. “I’m giving lessons next year to make some money. Hailey is going to work for the chemistry department again.”

“They’re always looking for lab assistants,” Hailey told her. “They pay $10 an hour. That’s a couple hundred a month for just a little work.”

“And they haven’t frozen your accounts yet,” Katelyn contributed. “If they planned to do that, it would have happened Monday when the Marshals called your brother for return of the car.”

“If I didn’t know better I would think you really wanted me to live with you guys next year,” Tiffany said. The sunglasses hid her wet eyes but Phil heard the catch in her voice.

“No doubt about that,” Hailey said, putting her hand on Tiffany’s. “And not just next year, either. We hope to see your smiling face well into your 80s.”

The sun was starting to fade behind the trees before the five teens got up to head back to the cabin. The weather was still nice but none of them wanted to navigate through the trees in complete darkness. Phil started to pick up some of the loose branches as they trekked through and soon the others followed suit. They had enough wood for a tame fire in the pit just away from their cabin.

Phil got the fire started while the others went inside to change out of their swimsuits and to fix sandwiches for supper.