I suppose I should tell you a little bit about myself. A little background or something… But you don’t really want to know about me. You want to know about Summer, right? We met… well, that’s kind of boring too. Let’s just say we met at an event. Or rather, that’s the first time we met as adults. I found out later that she was my niece. Long story short, I didn’t care much for my family. Feeling was mutual, so I didn’t bo...

I’m not exactly an early riser. Neither, apparently, was Summer. Not a peep as I made my way out to the kitchen after throwing on jeans and a clean t-shirt, and starting breakfast. Coffee first. Sugar and cream. Some habits never change. Normally, I’d just scramble some eggs and toast an English muffin. Normally, though, I didn’t have a pretty blonde staying with me. Pancakes. Everyone loved pancakes. With blueberries and...

I drove back to the house in silence. At least at first. It wasn’t awkward. In fact, it was companionable. I’d put a CD in – Crosby, Stills, and Nash. She’d probably never even heard of them. God, she was half my age. We were about halfway back when she started asking questions. Somewhat personal ones, in fact. “Do you have a girlfriend? I didn’t see any pictures around the house.” I kept my eyes on the road as I answered...

I slept like the dead. If Summer had spent the night masturbating, I’d missed it although, spent as she was when I’d put her to bed, I doubted she’d woken even once. The next morning, I woke early, feeling energized, curious as to what the day would bring. It was like being a kid on Christmas morning. I was also impatient for my niece to come out of her room, curious about what she’d be wearing. Or not wearing. First thin...

Thanks to the whiskey and the pot I slept like a baby, once I finally crawled into bed. For once I wasn’t up before Summer. When I finally crawled out of bed and wandered out of my bedroom she was already up. Not only that, she was making breakfast. I smelled bacon. It smelled damn good, though anything would have smelled good at that point. Also, there was coffee, which I badly needed, being slightly hungover. Not hungov...

I didn’t quite know what to expect the next morning. After all, we’d crossed a line, one that couldn’t be recrossed again, and I found myself consumed with a million little worries when I woke. Nothing to do about it, at least not until Summer arose too. I decided that we’d sit down and have a long talk and work this out… As usual, though, Summer was… Summer, meaning things just sort of worked themselves out. Or maybe the...

We drove to the spring again, accompanied by Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. She was giggly. She’d been so all morning. She’d also brought one of her shopping bags with her. I didn’t ask. I’m sure I’d find out later. “Stay here for… Oh, I don’t know. A while.” “Why?” I asked. “Because I asked you to.” So I did. Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes going by. And then I picked up my easel and my paint box and joined...

I’ve had a few relationships. More than a few, really. A couple ended kind of ugly, but most of them ended when we both simply lost interest in staying together. Thing was, Summer wasn’t my girlfriend. That said, I felt an emotional hit when she left, and, afterwards, life seemed a little empty, at least for a while. It’s not that we drifted apart or had any kind of disagreement. It was simply that she felt a need to cont...

She’d arrived with a small suitcase, much like before. And, just like before I offered her the spare bedroom. I probably should have talked it over with Jennette first, but thankfully, she seemed okay with it. ‘I think telling you no would be worse for us than telling you yes,’ was what she told me and so it was settled although, despite that, I was understandably nervous with both of them in the house especially since Su...

He lay beneath the stars of a Van Gogh sky, the scent of cherry blossoms evoking memories so potent that tears filled his eyes. Gazing eastward towards the pale blue mountains, keenly aware of the sun dipping below the horizon, he whispered her name. “Yvette.” A cooling breeze danced past, reminding him that summer had long ago fled into autumn and that all too soon the fields would be blanketed in snow. He wondered if sh...