We continued along a path that was bordered by perfectly trimmed hedges and turned right at a rose garden that was rich with red and pink blooms. The path led to a pool that was so large it circled around a small island of palm trees.

“That is not a pool. It’s a lagoon.”

“My dad drove himself nuts designing the thing. He fashioned it after some resort in the Mediterranean. I still remember the day they dug the hole. I was only six, so to me it looked like the Grand Canyon.” We walked around the edge to the beach front entry. “We all put our footprints in cement.” She placed her shoes next to a small footprint.  “My feet aren’t much bigger now.”

I smiled down at the comparison. “Hey, I’ll trade my basketball player feet for yours anytime.”

“Your feet aren’t that big. And if they were my size, you’d be knocked over in a hard breeze.”

“I guess my boats do serve a purpose. I can also stomp out very large cockroaches. Unfortunately, I learned about that talent when we moved into our last apartment.”

“You know, I’m usually dorky enough to pick up a cricket or even a harmless spider to carry outside, but I’ve got to say, my empathy ends with the cockroach. They really are disgusting.”

I glanced at the other footprints. They’d scratched their names beneath them. “Cole’s penmanship was lacking some back then.”

“Trust me. It hasn’t improved any with age.”

The prints had been somewhat faded by time but it was easy to see that there was a fourth pair of feet in the cement. There were just as small as Finley’s. The name was hard to read. “Finley, who does this last pair of prints belong to?”

“Those are Chloe’s. She was my older sister. She died the year after we pressed our feet into the cement.” She said the words casually as if she was telling me the weather, but there was something in her expression that made it clear she’d practiced the cool, unaffected tone. And I was quickly learning that there were some subjects she would talk freely about and others that she would not. Her sister seemed to be one she preferred not to talk about.

Finley’s face brightened and she skipped excitedly over to a chaise lounge and sat down. “Let’s take off our shoes and soak our feet.”

I sat down on the lounge across from her and removed my shoes and socks. “I’ve got to say that looks like a really fun pool.”

“We can swim tomorrow,” she suggested. “It’s in full sun all day so it will be warm enough.” The dogs had stretched out nearby, and once again, they lifted their big heads.

Jude walked behind us along a path that led to what looked like a rather spectacular pool house. It was a small replica of the house. Even the landscaping matched. He ignored us completely and disappeared inside.

Finley hopped up and grabbed a chair. She dragged it across the cement to a large potted plant, leaned over and knocked three times on the ornate planter. Then she nodded for me to grab another chair. Small ripples of water lapped at the entry of the pool just like the ocean shore. We carried the chairs into the water and sat. Cool, crystal clear water covered our feet, and the warm sun spiked down on our heads from above.

I squinted up. “You weren’t kidding about the sun shining on it.”

“This whole pool heats up like a bathtub in August. It actually gets too hot to swim. That’s when my dad likes to go in.” Her phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket. “Speaking of Dad.” Her long row of earrings pinged against the phone as she pressed it to her ear. “Hey, Daddy, what’s up?” She paused. “Yes, she’s here.” Finley smiled at me. “I think it’ll be great. Auntie made a good choice.”

Her words helped bolster some of the confidence I’d lost after meeting her brother. Even though I’d definitely suffered some feelings of homesickness throughout the morning, I needed this adventure. I needed to be on my own and away from my highly dependent family for awhile. My college and my future had been put on hold, but I was sure this would prove to be a learning experience. And the money would at least help pay for city college this fall. Without any mode of transportation, my summer job prospects were going to be limited to the mini mart or fast food restaurants. I looked around at the park-like surroundings and the resort style pool. No matter what twists and turns this job took, it would definitely be better than standing over a counter folding burritos.

“Don’t stay up too late, Dad, and take the vitamins I sent with you. Love you, bye.” She grunted as she hung up the phone. “Sometimes I feel like the parent.”

I laughed. “I know exactly what you mean. Hey, do you think I could use your phone to call my parents? I just want to let them know everything is great. Is there a number I could give them to reach me at if they need me for something?”

She handed me her phone. “Of course. They can use my number. I’ve always got my phone on me—” she smiled. “In case my dad needs me for something.”

“We really have to get our dads together,” I said. “Something tells me they’d get along perfectly.” As I made the call, a statuesque woman with auburn hair and high cheekbones strutted behind us out toward the pool house. Finley glanced back at her and the woman looked our way, but there was no greeting or acknowledgement exchanged. Like Jude, she disappeared into the pool house.

“Hey, Mom, it’s me.”

“Eden, I miss you already.”

I could hear Janie crying in the background. “Is Janie all right?”

“Yes, she and Sophie were fighting over a toy. Sophie has been a total grump since you left. How is it?”

“Great. I’m having fun.” With Finley sitting right next to me, I couldn’t go into much detail. Mom would have loved to hear about it too. “I wanted to leave a number in case you need me.”

“You call us if you need to come home,” Mom said with a wishful hitch in her voice. “Dad’s out looking for a job, but I’ll tell him you called.”

“Kiss the girls for me. Bye, Mom.” I hung up. “My poor Mom. She sounds like someone who just lost her best friend. I guess in a way it’s true. My sisters are cute, but their conversation topics are rather limited.”

Finley smiled. “How old are they?”

“Sophie is six and Janie is four. I love them, but I confess, it’ll be nice to hang with people my age for a change.”

“Good.” Finley relaxed her head back against the chair and turned her face to the sun. “Then this should work out well.”

I looked back at the pool house. There was no sign of Jude or the woman who went inside.  There was no way a guy like him would stick around once he was off house arrest. “Yeah, it should be great.”

Chapter 6

Finley and I had spent the rest of the afternoon deep in girl talk. Cole had returned from the hospital dazed and sleepy on pain medication. He’d gone straight up to his room, and Jude hadn’t emerged from the pool house again. I could only assume that the woman was his girlfriend, but Finley never said anything and it was none of my business to ask. Aside from the tension with Jude the day had gone well.

I reached across the counter for the bottle of red pepper flakes and sprinkled some more on my slice of pizza. “You’re right; these flakes do add a certain touch of diner-like elegance to a frozen pizza.”

Finley wiped the side of her mouth with her pinky. “Told you so. Of course, if it weren’t for Jude and his inability to turn off the charms and magnetism,” she quipped, “we’d be eating some awesome quiche or cheese soufflé right now. Tanya was a talented chef.”

I lifted my brow at her. “Seriously?”

“Well, except for that whole spit thing.”

I laughed. “I can just imagine your brother’s face when he walked in on that. Lucky for him his timing was good.”

We both fell silent and simultaneously put our pizza slices down. “Lost my appetite, how about you?” Finley asked.