Page 52 of For One Night

“Yes, but if you allow one of them to get hurt or have a woman around them, I’ll kill you.” He narrows his eyes at me.

“I promise, I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“I’ll call you later, and we’ll make plans.” He holds his hand out for mine. I look at it, finally taking it and pulling him into a hug.

“Later, old man.”

“Are you positive the girls are no bother? We can take them with us,” Laura, Maisyn’s mom, says as I grab the girls’ bags.

“I promise you, I will guard Faith and Hope with my life.”

She touches my arm and smiles. “I believe you will.”

“You two be good to Uncle Lennox, and please do as he asks.” Jack, Maisyn’s dad, says.

“We’ll be nice to him, Gramps.” Hope kisses him.

Laura picks Hope up in her arms. “You too, Faith.”

“I will, Grams.” She throws her arms around Laura’s neck, squeezing her.

We stand by the door, waving as they pull away. I was completely prepared for this until I realized we really are all alone. Sweat beads on my forehead so fast I can’t keep it dry.

“Well, ladies. Let’s go inside and decide what we want to do today.”

They look at each other as a mischievous grin appears on their faces. “SWIMMING!” they scream in unison, holding it as long as possible until it pierces my eardrums.

“Swimming it is. I bought life jackets for this moment.” I’m molded to the door as they rush past me, squealing as they go.

“YAYYYYYY!”

I shut and lock the door before following them through the house. Turning the corner, I find them standing buck naked on the deck pulling swimsuits from their bags. I slap my hand over my eyes.

“Ladies.” All I can hear is giggling. “Girls!” More snickering. “GIRLS!”

“We’re dressed, Uncle Lennox,” Faith yells.

I open my eyes one at a time, and they are, in fact, dressed. “Hang on, we need to set some rules. Rule one, no undressing in public or in front of Uncle Lennox or at all until I say you can. Okay?”

“Okay,” again, answering in unison.

“Rule two…” My eyes flicker from Faith to Hope, watching as their faces slowly dissolve from excitement to bummed. “I tell you what, we’ll make them up as we go but definitely, no more getting undressed in public, and please, slow down and listen.”

Their smiles return as they jump and clap. “Okay! We promise.”

“Come on, let’s get your life jackets on.”

We play in the water for an hour or so, when I notice the time. It’s getting late, and they need to eat and bathe. I have the guest room set up for them, but now I’m worried about them being down here by themselves.

“Hey, girls.” They turn to look at me. “We need to get ready and go in. We need to eat and get cleaned up.”

“Five more minutes, please,” Faith begs.

Faith latches on to my arm. “Just five more, please.” She bats her lashes, and I cave.

“Just five.” I sigh. “How does he tell you no?”

Hope grins. “He usually doesn’t but tells Momma he does.”