“Oh, hi!”
“Hey, you made it,” I said. “I didn’t think you were supposed to be here till tomorrow.”
“We changed our flight and left early. My deputy can handle all the tests. Besides, I have a modem on my laptop, so I can use dial-up and check the progress if I need to.”
“Seriously?” I said. “It’s that big of a deal?”
She nodded. “FDA Phase II clinical trials. We can’t afford any problems at this point.”
“Well… good luck.”
“Thanks.” She glanced at Carter, and sexual tension sparked between them.
“Okay,” I chuckled. “I suppose I should introduce you. Brooke, this is Carter. Carter, Brooke.”
She went to shake his hand and realized we were holding bags full of groceries.
“You want some help?”
“Sure,” I said. “Then we need to get you out of those clothes.”
She rolled her eyes but turned pink with pleasure.
“Wait, I have a better idea. Get you out of those clothes and then unload the groceries.”
Her copper eyebrows rose when I looked at her expectantly.
“I’m serious,” I said. “I mean, it’s a nudist camp.”
“Right,” Carter agreed. “You’re supposed to be nude.”
“Uh-huh,” she said dubiously. Still, she crossed her arms, grasped the hem of her top, and pulled it over her head. Her breasts swung free, and I felt Carter rock back with awe. I didn’t see him do it, of course, because I was looking at Brooke’s chest.
She was still one of the most beautiful women I’d ever met. Some kind of cosmic alignment had given her a model’s good looks and a brain to match. Playboy had even tried to recruit her for a Career Girls edition a few years earlier. She’d turned them down, but not before she’d done a test shoot with one of their photographers.
Her breasts were big enough that they’d sagged over the years, but they still would’ve looked fine in Playboy. Besides, Carter didn’t know any better, and I wasn’t about to complain.
“Hello?” she said with a laugh. “My eyes are up here.”
“Sorry,” I teased, “what did you say?”
“Oh, boy. So… it’s going to be like that, is it?”
“Yeah, probably,” I chuckled. Then I frowned and looked around. “Hold on, where’s Nate?”
“He’s in the room, getting things put away.”
“Things?” My grin turned suggestive. “Toy things?”
“Do you want help with the groceries or not?”
* * *
We went to the main camp after dinner to fetch the kids. Kara’s daughters were going to spend the night with her parents, but ours were too young. Besides, my own parents looked like they needed a break.
“I’d forgotten how much work it is,” Mom said.
“Welcome to my world,” I chuckled.
Her expression reminded me that it had been her world too, for nearly twenty years.
“Um… yeah,” I said, a bit sheepishly.
“Come on, kids,” Wren called to them. “Everyone help clean up.”
After fifteen minutes of cajoling and chaos, we finally managed to find all the toys, towels, flip-flops, sunglasses, and more. Then my kids began their extended goodbyes. They were stalling because they didn’t want to leave, although I didn’t have the heart to rush them.
The clubhouse door swung closed behind us, and I turned to look. Doug waved as he and Olivia walked toward us. He hadn’t changed much in the five or six years since I’d seen him last, but I felt a moment of déjà vu when I glanced at her.
She looked almost exactly like Susan had when I was a teenager. Her body was slightly different, and her hairstyle definitely was, but the resemblance was close enough that the little head immediately started making plans.
Down boy, I told him firmly. She isn’t Susan.
But…? But…?
She isn’t a widow, isn’t lonely, and hasn’t known me since I was a boy.
So?
I sighed and did my best to ignore him. Fortunately, we had a longstanding agreement about who was in charge. Sometimes he even abided by it.
Doug and I exchanged greetings.
“I’m glad we caught you,” he added. “We’re headed up to the Retreat.”
“Just you two?”
“Yeah. The boys’re gonna stay with my mom for a few days. Can we help carry anything?” He already had a canvas bag over his shoulder, but he gestured at the ones beside me.
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” He grabbed the closest one, while Olivia shouldered Susie’s diaper bag.
“Okay, girls,” I said to mine, “one last hug and kiss and then say goodnight to Grandma and Grandpa.”
Dad didn’t know the meaning of restraint, especially when it came to his granddaughters. He spoiled them worse than Mom did, although she was no slouch.
“It’s our job,” she’d said to me once. “We spoil them and send them home. Then it’s your problem.”
I couldn’t disagree. My own grandparents had done the same thing.
We finally said goodnight and headed out a few minutes later. The walk from the clubhouse up the hill was strangely quiet. Our kids were all tired from a long day of swimming and sun, so they weren’t making their usual racket, but no one else was either. None of the other campers had kids.
“Mom told me,” Doug said as he looked around, “but it’s different in person.”
“No kidding.”
We reached the trail to the Retreat. After years of use, it was wide enough that two people could walk abreast. The camp manager used a golf cart to get around, and she kept the trail well-maintained, like everything else.
Leah, Wren, and Olivia led the way, with the kids in the middle. I hung back with Doug. He knew about my life and family from his mother, and I’d heard updates about his for years, but we chatted and caught up anyway.
He was an executive for a big computer company in Austin, Texas, and Olivia was a stay-at-home mom. They and their two sons (Fraser and Cole) lived a typical upper-middle class life. Doug tinkered with computers and made little robots on the weekend, Olivia liked to bake and garden, and the boys played video games with their friends. In other words, suburban bliss.
When we reached the end of the trail, Davis and the older girls found a reserve of energy. They shouted and ran ahead, and Wren jogged to keep an eye on them. Susie was sound asleep on my shoulder and didn’t even stir. Leah was carrying McKenna, who raised her head and looked around. After a moment she decided she’d had enough fun for one day. She heaved a tired sigh and flopped onto Leah’s shoulder again.
Doug chuckled. “They’re fun when they’re that age.”
“They are,” I agreed. “A lot of work…”
“But worth it,” he finished.
Leah and Olivia drifted back to walk with us as the trail widened into the clearing.
“Is now a good time to discuss the rules?” Doug asked.
“Sure,” I said. “The common areas are PG-13, especially if the kids’re around.”
“Good,” he agreed.
“If it’s just adults, fooling around and flirting are fine, even a little fondling.” I smiled to myself at the alliteration. Leah noticed and knew me well enough to figure it out. She sighed. Fondly, even. “Sorry,” I said aloud, “I can’t help it.”
Doug and Olivia didn’t get it, but they knew an intimate relationship when they saw one.
“Anyway, where was I?” I said. “Right, the rules. Flirting is fine in the common areas, but save the action for the privacy of a bungalow, yours or one of the empty ones. We have linens and towels in them too.”
He nodded.
“Number five is couples only,” I went on. “Twelve is for groups, anything goes. With the usual permission, of course.”