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“ I saw how she looked at him.”“ Doesn’ t Mom see that?”“ Mom notices everything. She didn’ t seem to care,” Nicole said. She decided to pay a little more attention to what was going on and less time thinking about her Delorean.
The speedometer in Nicole’ s Nissan had seen seventy-five miles an hour. She figured she could get away with ten miles over the posted speed limit. Eddie promised to take the car away if she got a speeding ticket. Pushing the Delorean to triple digits scared her. But she wondered how her car would react on the track or if Sam would allow such a thing.“ I live here as of next summer. Sam referred to this place as ours. I guess I don’ t have to ask,” she thought. There was a small pool house with two changing rooms. The filtration pump’ s low rumble came from behind the walls as Nicole and Justin changed into their swimwear. The adults changed in the main house. Nicole watched from the heated pool as Eddie exited the home with Tanya on one arm and Sam on the other. Sam noticed Nicole’ s gaze and let go of Eddie.
Nicole did not remember her mom buying a new suit and she was certain the suit in the bag was a blue one piece. The revealing albescent suit she wore was a series of strips of fabric that looked like racing stripes designed to show off the lines of the female form. The french cut showed leg all the way to her mother’ s waist.“ Mom! Where did you get the... Can I have one like that?” Nicole asked, becoming very aware of her own plain suit. Sam’ s suit was light pink and of a similar cut but held together with silver rings. From the side Sam appeared almost nude.“ I am sure I have a red one with the tag still on,” Sam offered.“ If it’ s no trouble. I don’ t think I bought Nicole a new swimsuit this year,” Tanya said, meeting her daughters challenging glare.“ Follow me,” Sam said, helping Nicole from the pool and handing her a fluffy towel. The night air was cool and Nicole wrapped in the warm towel.“ Thanks,” she said to Sam as they headed inside.
“ I usually buy a couple of different colored suits that catch my eye. I picked this one up in France. European beaches are so much more relaxed than here,” Sam spoke casually, leading Nicole through the home. The master suite was nothing like Nicole had ever seen, except in magazines.“ Wait here and I’ ll lay out a few I think you would look great wearing,” Sam said excitedly and stepped into the walk in closet. Nicole could see through the open door as Sam walked a few steps and then turned out of view. Nicole looked around the room standing near the bed. The sparkling collection on the triple dresser caught her eye. Nicole was checking out the crystal figurines on the dresser as Sam laid out half a dozen suits on the bed.“ I could not afford them when I used to admire them in the shop’ s displays. I still think the crystals are beautiful,” Sam said. Nicole nodded and returned to the bed to see what Sam had chosen. Nicole picked a two piece bikini over the red suit that matched the white one her mother wore. She noticed she would have been embarrassed to walk the beach in two of the micro bikinis.“ You are going to look great in that,” Sam said, leading her to the bathroom and taking the towel.“ Razors are in the top drawer, if you need them,” Sam pointed toward the cabinet beneath the black granite counter.
Sam waited and heard the water running a few minutes later. Nicole saw herself in the mirror that ran the length of the counter with double sink and gold fixtures. The black triangles of the bikini were trimmed in what could only be called flesh-tone, causing the suit to look much smaller. Nicole stepped from the bathroom.“ Wear that to the beach next spring break and cause ten thousand cases of whiplash from all the double takes you will get,” Sam said seriously. Nicole picked up the towel and started to wrap it around her waist. Sam took the towel with a laugh.“ Wear it like you own it, because you do girlfriend! You have a beautiful figure and Matt is going to love watching all the other guys drool over the woman on his arm,” Sam said, leading Nicole back to the pool.
Nicole began to understand this is how Sam lives. She feels free to express her emotions and say what she thinks. Sam’ s warmth and exuberance were contagious. Nicole was upset with herself for mistrusting Sam. The look from her father was the first thing Nicole noticed. Sam stopped him in his tracks.“ It’ s an optical illusion. The cloth pieces are not glued to her or held by invisible thread,” Sam said and pulled the side of the bikini and let it snap back in place.“ She didn’ t pick the one I thought she should wear. Nicole would have been the perfect little mermaid.”