Chapter 1

"Look, it's only for a month," my mother said to me, somewhat exasperated. "You'll be back in plenty of time for football practice, but I just can't leave you here by yourself. I would worry about you the entire time, and that won't do my recovery any good."

"Can't I just stay with a friend? Why do I have to go to Aunt Jill's?" My mother was about to have some serious surgery and thought she would be in the hospital at least a week and then moved to another kind of care place for several more weeks. She really didn't need this hassle from me, but I really didn't want to have to go stay with my goofy Aunt and her nuthin-muffin daughter. It's true that I had not seen them since the funeral of my Uncle, three years ago, but not seeing them was just okay with me, all the same.

"Kyle, I am not going to argue with you about this. We are going out there tomorrow and then I will come back here and have my surgery next week. When I am well enough to come home, you can come home, but until then, I need to know that you will be out there, and not running around here doing God knows what. I suggest you go up to your room and start figuring out what clothes you want to take, and what other stuff. You are old enough to do this--I shouldn't have to pack for you, and I really don't have the strength to do it right now."

As a seventeen year old guy in prime physical condition, in the summer before his senior year in high school, I sure didn't want to get stuck two hundred miles away in the middle of nowhere, without a ride, and having to put up with two dingy females. But I knew that Mom was right in what she was saying, and that even if I did claim to stay with a friend, I would most likely be sleeping in my very own bed, hopefully accompanied by one of the many young ladies in my school. I am certainly no poster boy for the Squeaky Clean Award, that's for sure. I mean, I've not been in trouble with the cops or anything, but

I am guilty of misspeaking about precisely what went on in my bedroom on several occasions when Mom was gone for the day or out of town for a weekend. In my defense, at least I always wear a condom. So, being away from all of that is the very last thing I'd consider when thinking about ways to spend my summer. So like the dutiful son that I am, I went up to my room and dug out some clothes for a month.

How does a guy know what clothes he will need for a month? Hell, sometimes I change clothes three dimes in a day, and that's before dinner! So I dug out four pair of jeans, some shorts, every tee shirt that I could find, and even a pair of slacks in case I have to dress up for something. As an afterthought I even threw in a sweat shirt and light jacket In case some cold weather blows through. Who knows? A dozen pairs of sox, some underwear and, just in case, my swim trunks. I debated about electronic stuff and games and stuff, because I'm not sure they even have electricity out there yet, and surely don't have anything for internet.

"Get up!" she said. "We're leaving in a half hour."

"It's seven o'clock! For God's sake, Mom, can't you let a guy sleep in once in a while?"

"Get up now. If you hurry, you can shower and still have time for breakfast, but we're leaving in thirty minutes."

On the way out to the car, I picked up the duffle bag of footballs and a kicking tee that my coach allowed me to use over the summer. If they have a couple of trees that could approximate a goal post, I thought, I can kick and I'll have my ditzy cousin retrieve the balls for me.

I don't know what I had envisioned for their town -- I just knew that it was five hours away and a little burg in the middle of nowhere, and that Mom said that they lived in the country. Images of some back roads shack or hillbilly cabin were the only concepts that came to my mind, probably because I live in a large metropolitan area and I am only seventeen years old. Preconceived ideas??? Okay, I will admit to having a few, about my cousin and her mother. I was correct about the little burg. It is in the middle of nowhere. There is no reason for the town to be right there, historically or geographically, it's just where it is, on a state route going between two other small towns. But, I will admit that the appearance of the town itself surprised me. It is what most people describing as "a charming old town with quaint buildings that are well maintained". It even has a small river passing through the middle of it. Okay, so it's not "Hicksville", at least from the outside just passing through it. The countryside was pretty lush, too. Almost as soon as we left the town proper, a substantial growth of tall old trees began on one side of the road. Two miles beyond, we turned left onto a smaller paved road and amongst the trees, but set back from the road, several houses, nice houses, had been built. As quickly as it had begun, the forested area ended or at least became less dense and I could see ten or twelve newer houses nestled on both sides of the road, all well separated from one another, and all substantial enough in size to scream out that this was anything but a depressed area. With directions in hand, my mother slowed and then turned onto a lane that led to a very impressive, and very large two story all brick house. We pulled into the driveway and Mom drove up to the garage. From around back came my aunt carrying a bag of flower food and a couple of small hand tools.

"Oh I didn't expect you until much later," she said. "Goodness, I look frightful. I'm sorry. Please forgive my appearance. Oh, and welcome to our home."

"We're glad to be here. It was a long drive, and I am just glad to be able to get out and stretch my legs," my mother replied.

"Listen, you both walk around a bit and I'll go in and catch a quick shower. I'll be back in a jif."

"This isn't what I expected, Mom. This isn't my idea of a country house in a little town." We took my suitcase, duffle and football stuff out of the car and then began to walk around the house. As we rounded the corner to the back, we were both surprised to see a rather large, in the ground swimming pool surrounded by a deck. There was even a pool house behind it and a place for a barbeque grill and a table.

"My goodness," Mom said. "I had no idea. It's none of our business, but I had no clue that they were living like this. I just assumed that after your Uncle Richard died that they would just have some small, simple place for the two of them."

"There is nothing small and simple about this place, Mom. This is pretty nice."

"See, I told you it wouldn't be so bad."

As if on cue, Aunt Jill returned, her hair still wet, but in clean clothes and looking much refreshed. "Welcome, both of you, to our home. Seriously, I'm sorry I wasn't ready for you, but please come in now and let me show you around. Emma is in town with some of her friends from school but she should be home by mid afternoon."

Aunt Jill gave us a walking tour of the house, and I honestly think that I have never been in a home quite as nice, or anywhere close to as large as this house was. There were four bedrooms on the second floor, and a couple of them had private balconies. The living room on the first floor was almost as big as our whole house, and there was a kitchen and a separate dining room and a family room across the back side of the kitchen. The place just went on and on.

"Jill, ' Mom said, "I had no idea that your home was so lovely. How ... what... ?" She was stumbling for words.

"When Richard died, his company had a large insurance policy on him, and then the court settlement will more than provide for us forever, so I just decided that we needed to live in a house that we could enjoy."

"Well, it is very lovely."

After lunch, Mom got back into the car and headed for home while I carried my stuff up to the room that Jill said was to be mine for the next month, or for ever how long I stayed. It was at the end of a long hallway and directly opposite my cousin's room. We shared a common wall and our doors were mounted from the same pillar. Just outside, on her side of the hallway was our bathroom, which appeared to be as enormous as everything else in the house and across from the bath was another bedroom. Aunt Jill's room was at the far other end of the hall with some sort of sitting room stuck in between on one side, and the stairway on the other. I had to chuckle to myself thinking about when I had earlier wondered if they even had electricity.