Nick Scipio
Flirting with Fire: A Summer Camp Swingers novel
Summer Camp Swingers: Allie Series Book 1
Chapter 1
Christy was running late, as usual, and she was packing for a trip, which only made things worse. So far, she’d pulled out a hanging bag for dresses, a rolling suitcase for shoes and regular clothes, and an overnight bag for all the other things she couldn’t live without—for a week.
The trip was actually two weeks, but she’d only need clothes for one of them, swim camp with Laurie. The whole family would be at the Pines for the other, where we’d only need sunscreen. Still, I knew better than to tease her. Dresses and shoes and jewelry made her happy.
“What time are you supposed to pick them up?” I said instead.
She reflexively glanced at her wrist before she scanned the nightstand and dresser.
“Bathroom counter,” I said helpfully.
She had a habit of leaving things wherever she took them off, and I had a habit of paying attention to them. I called them bunny tracks, and I could usually follow the trail to find her.
Be vewy, vewy quiet, I grinned to myself. I’m hunting wabbits.
“I heard that,” she warned. Then she disappeared into the bathroom and was gone for a couple of minutes. She returned wearing her watch, a necklace, and a matching pair of earrings, the Celtic trinity knots the girls had given her for her fortieth birthday.
“Much better,” I said, more or less sincerely. “Now, what time are you—?”
“Now! Of course. Mr. Punctual.”
I completely failed to suppress a grin.
“Ugh! Will you call her?”
I flipped open my cell phone and scrolled down to Wren. She answered on the second ring.
“She’s running late,” I said without preamble. “The usual.”
Wren and I both knew how Christy worked. We routinely added fifteen minutes whenever she said she’d do something at a certain time.
“Remind me why I believe her when she says she’ll be on time?” Wren laughed.
“No clue. You think we’d learn.”
“But she’s always so sincere,” Wren complained fondly. “Like this time she’s really gonna change.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay. About how long, do you think?”
I gave the suitcases a quick scan and then added time for loading the van and saying goodbye. Fortunately, Wren only lived next door, although it was still a three-minute drive.
“Twenty minutes?” I said. “Maybe thirty?”
Christy squawked indignantly, but Wren simply laughed.
“Is she sure she doesn’t want me to drive? We just had the oil changed in the van.”
“She’s sure,” I answered for her. “Besides, our van has the entertainment center for the girls.”
“Yeah, okay,” Wren said. “Tell her we’ll be ready when she gets here.”
“Will do.” We said goodbye and ended the call.
“Funny, ha ha,” Christy said. “It won’t take thirty minutes.”
She was right, but only because it was closer to forty by the time I wheeled and carried her suitcases outside. In her defense, we had to wait on Laurie too. She could wear makeup now that she was thirteen, and she’d inherited Christy’s sense of time. She packed like her too—or rather, she overpacked like her—so I loaded five suitcases into the back of the van, not counting Laurie’s backpack.
I returned to the house and opened the door. “Emily! Susie!” I hollered. “They’re leaving! Come say goodbye!”
Two dogs came running first, Spike and Buck, black Labs of the goofy variety. They barreled down the hallway and would have run through me if I hadn’t stepped aside. They spilled into the garage and then circled in confusion.
“Go on,” I told them, “Laurie’s out in the driveway.” I even pointed.
They couldn’t see the van because my Denali was in the way, so they didn’t believe me. Spike thought she might be hiding in the workshop, and Buck followed to investigate.
“Guys, outside.”
I was just about to tell Laurie to call them when their heads snapped around. I stepped into the house, and they bolted past me in a headlong rush.
Emily appeared from the direction of the stairs, followed by Molly, a yellow Lab who was the complete opposite of the other two. She was mothering and protective, like Emily herself.
“Where’s Susie?” I asked. Molly looked up, like she wanted to know too.
“Upstairs,” Emily said. “Why?”
I raised an eyebrow. Please go get her.
Emily huffed and headed upstairs to find her sister. Molly went with her. They returned a minute later with Susie in tow.
“What?” the younger girl was saying. “I didn’t hear! Ugh.”
“Chop-chop,” I said.
“Why do we have to rush?” Emily complained. “Weren’t they supposed to leave, like, an hour ago?”
“Preaching to the choir,” I said. “But Mom and Laurie are special. They don’t tell time like we do.”
“And me,” Susie chirped brightly. “I tell time just fine.”
“You do,” I agreed. Then I stepped into the garage and waved them past me.
“Come on, Mols,” Emily said, and the dog’s nails clicked on the concrete as she trotted to keep up.
Susie remembered to pull the door closed behind her. She beamed up at me, my bright-eyed princess. She could be moody too, especially when she didn’t get her way, but it rarely lasted. She and I shared the same basic temperament, more than either of her sisters. She also had a pragmatic streak that I took credit for, although I hadn’t found mine until my thirties.
Case in point, her name. She’d wanted us to call her Susan when her namesake godmother had died, but we’d struggled with the change. We’d called her Susie for years, after all. She also seemed to understand that “Susan” was another person, at least as far as I was concerned. And so she’d changed her mind with her usual sunny outlook.
“That’s okay. Teachers call me Susan at school, especially the first day. I suppose you can call me Susie. Or Boo. I like that too. It makes me sound scary!”
I returned from my woolgathering and realized she was waiting for me. She smiled again, tenderly, like she knew I’d been thinking about the other Susan. Then she gave me a hug. I returned it and marveled at the caring little person we’d brought into the world.
“What was that for?” I asked.
“I dunno. It just seemed like you needed it.”
“I did. Thank you. Now… let’s go say goodbye.”
* * *
I gave Laurie a hug and then held her at arm’s length.
“Do your best. And don’t forget to have fun.”
“Thanks, Dad, I will.” She forced a smile but was still anxious.
I hugged her again and kissed the top of her head. She was already two inches taller than Christy, yet still a girl, slim and self-conscious.
“I love you, and I’ll talk to you tonight.” Her arms tightened around me. I glanced at Christy, but she was busy saying goodbye to the younger girls. “Don’t tell her I told you,” I added to Laurie in a low voice, “but your mom’s talking about a cell phone for your birthday.”
Laurie nodded but still wasn’t ready to let go, so I held her, an island of stability in the whirlwind.
“You can do this,” I told her, and she nodded with more confidence than she actually felt.
Then Emily called out, and Laurie and I stepped apart. We looked up the driveway as Spike and Buck scrambled to investigate. They greeted Wren and Missy and wagged their tails furiously.
“We got tired of waiting,” Wren called, “so we decided to walk.”
Their house was only a few hundred yards away as the crow flies, but forest and a shallow inlet separated us. Humans with rolling suitcases had to go the long way around, at least a ten-minute walk. The dogs escorted them the rest of the way.