around?”
“Nope. He’s in the city meeting with his agent. They’re going to some gallery opening. He’ll pick up some lovely woman, go to dinner and stuff, then adjourn to her place for ‘a nightcap.’” Lissa make quote marks in the air. “Ahh, the life. ‘I’m going to be on location in Africa for six to nine months,’ he’ll say. ‘Just me, my daughter and the wild animals.’ The women melt, thinking they’ll be the last sex he’ll have for all that time.” She giggled. “So he probably won’t be home until tomorrow, or maybe Monday.”
“You seem to know his routine pretty well.”
“Oh, I’ve watched him operate for many years, so I’m used to it. That was why I was so sure he’d never take me along. Now I guess he thinks I’m old enough not to cramp his style. Well, Daddy, I’m old enough to develop my own ‘style.’”
“It’s more difficult for us girls,” Tay said. “Guys have it pretty good. They can pick up women whenever they want.” She thought about Steve. “And toss them when they’re done.”
Catching the edge in Tay’s voice, Lissa said, “You’re sounding very jaundiced.”
“Sorry. A little of my ex-boyfriend crept into my thinking.”
“Well, toss him,” Lissa said, opening the front door and punching the security code into the keypad. “You’re starting all over.”
“True enough.” She put down the box she’d been carrying. “Okay, show me the security stuff I need to know.”
As Lissa showed her the code for the alarm system and told her the password for the alarm company, two cats, Ginger and Honey, arrived to spec out the visitor. Once they sniffed and ascertained that they knew Tay, they rubbed against her legs and snaked around her ankles. Precious stood in the doorway. If a cat could glare at an intruder, Precious was doing just that. However, she couldn’t be bothered enough to take any overt action.
“The dogs are in their area in the side yard,” Lissa said. “I’ll show you where everything is, including the vet’s number just in case. Come on out back.”
Tay knew that the dogs were perfectly happy in their partially covered enclosure with executive doghouses, but they did like to get walked and have a ball thrown for them from time to time. Lissa continued. “There is a pooper-scooper for weekly cleanups. The yard people try to do it, but at least one of them is scared to death of Mopp. Food is inside. I’ll show you where.”
The dogs were delighted to see the two women, and when they opened the gate to their enclosure both jumped and barked joyfully. Tay and Lissa picked up toys and played with the dogs until they were panting with exertion.
Finally they went back inside, picked up the boxes they’d set down in the hall and carried them up to the largest guest room. “I thought you’d prefer your own space, but please feel free to use any of my stuff,” Lissa said, then sized Tay up. “Looks like we still wear the same size, so go for it, and don’t worry about anything. You know how I enjoy buying more stuff, so if anything gets messed up, don’t sweat it.”
They made two more trips to the car and dumped the boxes in the large closet in the guest room. When the two women walked into Lissa’s room, Tay’s eyes widened. There were clothes everywhere, folded, dumped, draped and piled on every conceivable surface. “Lissa…”
“Okay, I know. But I can’t decide what to pack.”
Amazed but not surprised, Tay said, “You’re going to be dressed in grubbies for the duration, so what’s the big issue?” Then she grinned. “Okay, okay. In case of emergencies, right?” Despite the piles of clothing, Tay glanced into Lissa’s closet, which was still full.
“Oh, Tay, you know me so well. Just in case I need something for a dinner somewhere, I want to have something I can dress up in.”
Tay gave her what they both called the “hairy eyeball.”
“Okay, I get the point.” Changing the subject, Lissa said, “Why don’t you wait to unpack until later? I’m ready for the pool.”
The day hadn’t been particularly warm, but they’d been wrestling with boxes and dogs for over an hour, so Tay was ready for a swim. “Love to.”
Together, arm in arm like the dearest friends they were, they headed for the back of the house and opened the sliding door that led to the picturesque backyard. In the rear, a copse of willow trees was just beginning to get its green spring haze, and on the sides of the yard privacy was insured by an eight-foot fence covered with canes of the dozens of rose bushes planted there. In another month or two the yard would be filled with the scent of wild roses. Two dogwood trees stood in the center of the back lawn, flanking the heated pool, which had tendrils of steam wafting above it. “I’m really bad. I keep the heater on all the time and I swim almost every day when I’m here. God,” she said with a long sigh, “I’ll miss that. In the wilds of China I don’t know whether I’ll even get a shower.”
To the left, out of sight behind the side of the house, was the dog run, and to the right, at the rear of the property, was the guesthouse, a one-story replica of the main building. Tay had stayed there on one visit and knew that it contained a small bedroom, living room, bath and a tiny kitchen area. It was small but comfortable and Dave often had friends stay over there for weekends.
Since it was late in the afternoon, the air had chilled, so the two women changed their clothes in one of the cabanas and, now dressed in two of the bathing suits that were kept there for guests, dashed across the putting green–like lawn and jumped into the warm water. “Laps?” Lissa said as she surfaced. They each did fifty laps, starting slowly and building to a blistering pace, each trying to outrace the other, and ended, laughing, barely winded. They splashed each other and played like kids.
After half an hour of that, they climbed out, rushed over to the hot tub and climbed in. “That was awesome,” Lissa said.
“It will be great to be able to swim every day, without having to go anywhere.”
“Don’t rub it in,” Lissa said, splashing her friend with hot water. “I still can’t believe it’s all working out. Plane tickets are booked, first class, mind you. Daddy won’t have it any other way.”
“I’ll miss you,” Tay said, getting slightly teary. She was becoming overwhelmed with the tasks she figured she’d have to do to keep up the house. Take out the garbage, laundry, the dogs, cats, rabbit, ferrets…. She’d be able to stay in touchwith Lissa and her father by e-mail if she had questions or problems, of course, but it was quite a responsibility and Tay had always taken her responsibilities very seriously. This one was a doozie.
“You’ll be fine, Tay,” Lissa said. “I know you well enough to know you’re in a bit of a panic right now, trying to figure it all out in advance. Just relax and roll with it. I promise it will all work out.”
“I know you’re right.” Tay sat back, her head resting on the edge of the spa. She would overlay her anxiety with pleasure for her friend. “How are you dealing with being away for all that time? Excited?”
“Delirious. I can’t wait. Daddy helped me pick out the most souped-up laptop we could find and I’ve been putting editing software on it so I won’t have to disturb him. If we can get an Internet connection we’ll be logging in to the setup here. By the way, don’t turn the downstairs computer off, just leave it
