“And you’re worried that I DON’T go to these things?" Theresa just laughed and motioned for us to start handing her our plated so she could load them up.
“We know that you’re smart enough to wear pants, say no to alcohol, and ward off any unwarranted attention from any over intoxicated boy.” I just rolled my eyes at her, and took a huge bite of pancakes.
“Can we not talk about this?” I mumbled around my mouthful of food. I saw my parents look at each other across the table. I chose to ignore that look, and had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes again.
After that little conversation the rest of breakfast went without a hitch. My father and Tye cleaned up the breakfast mess, and I went to talk to Theresa.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” I questioned her, plopping down on the sofa next to her as she mindlessly flipped through channels. She stopped on the DIY channel, and looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
“I was thinking about doing some yard work. Nothing big, just some slight landscaping. I Figured we’d start in the back, maybe create a little vegetable garden. I see wheels turning every time we walk past the garden area at the store, plus it’ll be our little summer project. A little girl time.”
“That sounds great!” I was grinning from ear to ear. I had always loved those ‘do it yourself’ home improvement shows. So many creative possibilities. I was just surprised that anyone had noticed. “What types of vegetables do you think we should get?” I excitedly giggled, rushing to one of the side tables and grabbing a pencil and a notebookFor the rest of the day, the happy grin never left my face, even thru all the raking and tiling and troweling, I loved it. We had everything from basil to green peppers, and one the last one was transplanted I all but collapsed into the dirt next to the garden, Theresa had long since gone back inside to clean up and supervise the my dad and Tye starting on dinner.
I was so sweaty that my tank top was clinging to me like a second skin, and I was covered in so much dirt it looked like I would never be clean again. Then it hit me, the pool! I shot up off the ground and raced back toward the house. Theresa must have seen me coming and totally knew what I was thinking; she came flying onto the back patio and hollered at me
“OH NO YOU DON’T YOUNG LADY! DON’T YOU DARE GET DIRT IN THE POOL!” I stopped abruptly at the edge of the pool and pouted. “Go hose yourself off and I’ll bring you your bathing suit and a towel. You can change in the shed.”
“Thanks mom, I’ll wait here!” I sat down and looked down the lawn in the direction of the garden and smiled; I was happy with what I had accomplished that day. And I was happy that Theresa wanted to join me. The sound of the sliding glass patio door. I turned and saw Theresa walking onto the patio wrapped in a terrycloth bathing suit cover.
“I figured I’d join you. The boys are just getting dinner started, so we have some time.” She said as she handed me my bathing suit and a towel. I set the towel aside not wanting to get it all dirty from me.
“Oh goodness, are you sure we should leave them in there by themselves?” I said laughing, walking towards the shed.
“Yeah, after the last time there is a fire extinguisher underneath the sink” she chuckled. I just shook my head and walked to the side of the house. I quickly rinsed off before walking into the shed. I changed and went back to the pool. I walked over to the deep end and cannon balled in, creating a tidal wave and jostling Theresa’s floating lounger. I tried surface quickly so I could see the face she made. She had been laying on the lounger with her eyes closed, and even though I was pretty sure she had heard me, I don’t think that she was expecting me to come crashing into the pool like I did. As I surfaced I saw her looking around with wide confused eyes. I broke out into loud laughter, and she glared at me.
chap. 2
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