One by one, our guests filtered through the kitchen and emerged onto the patio with their choice of morning beverages and some fresh fruit. I was in the pool with the dogs cleaning all the hair out of the filter as Sammy showed up in his underwear and testing the water temperature.

  “It’s cold!” Sammy said as the dogs rallied around him looking for morning pets and affection.

  “Can I help?” Sammy asked me with an eager smile.

  “WOW! That is cold. I’m not getting in.” Paul said testing the water and walking over and grabbing the pool skimmer and showing Sammy how to use it from the pool edge, then sat at the patio table sipping his coffee.

  Sammy walked around the pool and expertly cleaned the surface debris as I pulled chunks of hair from the partially disassembled filter. I turned my head for a split second and ‘SPLASH’.

  “SAMMY!” I heard out loud from at least three different voices as Paul launched off his chair.

  Ginger and Pete swam over to him as he came up laughing; “CRAP IS THAT COLD!” He yelled out loud as Paul stopped short of the pool edge and Sammy turned toward him treading the water.

  “It takes your breath away!” Sammy said in astonishment.

  “Sammy. Can you make it to the edge?” Paul asked in a calm tone. By this time everyone was at the pool edge concerned for Sammy’s safety, and the dogs and I were just within arm’s length from him.

  “You know this is the deep end, right?” I said to Sammy treading water right next to him.

  “Yea. I know. You’re not a-posta jump in the shallow end. Sammy said calmly still treading the water.

  “Sammy. Can you make it to the edge?” Paul asked Sammy, again. Sammy immediately started swimming, not the most efficient technique, and not to the closest edge but started swimming to the deep side near the diving board about twelve feet away, touched the side and returned from where he started.

  “The water is getting warmer.” Sammy said smiling as he continued treading the water.

  “That’s because I just peed.” I said joking to Sammy as he just looked at me with a ‘gross’ face.

  “I’m just kidding Sammy.” I said.

  “Don’t pee in my pool! That goes for everybody!” I said shaking my finger toward everyone watching. Scotty pretended to write with an imaginary pen on paper: “Don’t, pee, in, the, pool. Got it.” Scotty shrugged his shoulders. “Makes sense!” Scotty added.

  We all had breakfast together, finishing off the leftovers, cleaning up and we helped everyone pack up for their return voyage.

  “What are your plans for the ‘Sofa-King’? Scotty asked Paul, closing the rear door on his truck.

  “Not sure yet.” Paul said.

  “I’d like to put one of those engines in a boat, cut travel time to about an hour.” Reese said to Scotty.

  “I was thinking the same thing!” Scotty said cheerfully.

  “Put together a couple layouts and take some pictures, I’ll do the same and we can compare ideas.” Scotty said excitedly.

  “Sounds good to me!” Reese said in an odd manner that caused Rebecca to comment; “Sailing is beautiful and graceful. It challenges you to be aware of the constant changes Mother Nature throws at you. You are part of the ocean, not just bouncing on the surface.”

  Jillian interrupted what sounded like another debate brewing.

  “Take these once a day, till there gone. Rinse your mouth after you eat anything, and no straws.” Jillian said handing Reese a pill bottle. “Thank you so much.” Reese said hugging Jillian.

  Jillian and I secured our house for a possible overnight stay at Helen and Scotty’s, partially because we were out of everything and needed to go shopping and we wanted to check up on Rosie, Becky, Jeff and the pups. We all said our goodbyes and promised Sammy a baseball game on our next visit. Rebecca gave both Jillian and I a hug and placed an arm around each of us and pulled us in close.

  “This will be more fun naked.” She whispered to us and placed a small SD card in my shirt pocket. “Men are visual creatures.” Rebecca said with a wink to Jillian.

  “I want a group picture!” Susan said as we all assembled and Rebecca took two pictures as she placed her camera on the top of Scotty’s truck and hit the button and quickly took her position and Jillian and Helen did the same. We did a quick radio check and watched them taxi out of the Marina.

  “I’m going to make three photo albums, so I’ll need all your pictures.” Helen said to Jillian as Scotty and I checked our boats and the batteries making sure the solar chargers were working properly and then drove to Helen and Scotty’s.

  “Rebecca is really desperate for sex.” I said to Jillian as we drove.

  “Ya Think!?” She responded.

  “What do you suppose is on the SD card?” I asked.

  “Knowing her, could be anything or everything!” Jillian said laughing.

  “Rebecca and Reese sure have a strange… what’s the word?” I asked.

  “Dynamic.” Jillian answered looking at me.

  “What?” What do you know! Come on, spill it!” I said. Jillian turned her head away from me and snickered.

  “With all your observational skills, body language and emotional energy assessments; you are not very perceptive.” Jillian said in a tone that brought some sort of satisfaction to her face as she turned toward me and raised her eyebrows. I read Jillian’s mind. Reese is Homosexual.

  “Reese is gay?! I mean, homosexual?” I said correcting myself; but it was too late.

  “YOU CAN READ MY MIND! Son of a bitch! I knew it all along!” Jillian said proudly.

  “Not all of the time.” I said quietly, embarrassed.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “The salt and pepper mill. That was the clincher!” Jillian said.

  “We were shopping, and you put a new salt and pepper mill in Gingers pack. I asked you, ‘why do we need a new salt and pepper mill’ and you said, ‘because ours is broke.’” Jillian said very excited and animated imitating my voice.

  “So?” I said not understanding the point.

  “I accidentally broke the salt and pepper mill five minutes before we left for the store and thought about it the whole drive. You did not know it was broken.” Jillian concluded her presentation waiting for an answer. I said nothing.

  “OH, I love you too!” Jillian said kissing my cheek and exposing a breast to me.

  “I have always been able to read your mind.” Jillian said securing her breast back in her shirt.

  “Damn.” I said. Defeated.

  Scotty’s truck went off the road a little as he quickly brought it back under control. I slowed down to see what may have caused this because this road appeared quite clear.

  “What was that all about?” I said. “Call them and ask…” I started to say as Jillian interrupted me.

  “Helen just told Scotty that Reese is homosexual.” Jillian said.

  “Now you’re just scaring me.” I said to Jillian shaking my head.

  “Reese is homosexual. I did not even consider the possibility, but now that I know, some things seem a little clearer. Now that I think about it, it was cruel giving him a four-hour erection and… well.” I said feeling guilty.

  “Rebecca and Reese have sex, but she said that it’s very uncomfortable, unnatural and unsatisfactory, for both of them. She says the only time it’s tolerable is when she is drunk.” Jillian said, feeling sad.

  “That sounds like it would be, frustrating.” I said. Jillian and I did not speak the rest of the way to Helen and Scotty’s house. I think both of us felt sorry and guilty.

  Ginger and Pete started getting excited as we approached the house. I put the car in park and got out to open the back door, but they both exited through the driver’s side tearing three holes in the leather seat.

  They both took off barking towards Rosie’s den in a cloud of dust. All of us walked toward Rosie’s Den and saw Ginger and Pete barking playfully and wining. The pups were getting big, miniature unstable little fur balls that were wet from Ginger and Pete kissing them. Rosie saw us approaching and was very excited and happy to see all of us.

  Becky and Jeff were probably out hunting as we sat down on the ground and let Rosie smell each of us a couple of times as the pups tried to climb on top of us. We took off Ginger and Pete’s backpacks and shared water with the pack as the pups drank from our cupped hands. Rosie laid down next to Jillian and the pups started nursing as Jillian stroked her head. Ginger and Pete busied themselves sniffing the entire area as we sat and talked. Scotty was confused and a little uncomfortable talking about Reese.

  “I can honestly say, I have never met a gay man before.” Scotty stated.

  “None that you were aware of.” Helen said as Scotty just shook his head and looked toward me. “And you didn’t know?” Scotty asked me.

  “Took me by surprise as well.” I said. Scotty was really struggling with trying to process this information.

  “Just because he's homosexual doesn’t make him any different. I bet relationships are just as confusing and frustrating.” I said.

  “Think of it as someone who prefers a Japanese motorcycle over a Harley Davidson. You don’t ask why; you just accept their choice regardless of your personal view.” I said. “That’s not a very good example.” Jillian said as she tried to inspect Rosie’s teeth as Rosie licked her hands. “Not if you ask someone who rides a Harley.

  Becky and Jeff appeared out of nowhere and startled Ginger and Pete as they greeted each other. Eventually, they came over and greeted us.

  They were full grown and strong. After a few rotations of smelling each of us and expecting to be petted they sat next to Jillian.

  “Ain’t I the popular one!” Jillian said as she inspected both of them between kisses.

  Rosie got up, stretched, yawned and headed toward the house. She turned and looked at us, then looked at the pups and continued walking toward the house. We picked up the pups as Becky, Ginger, Jeff and Pete ran in a protective circle around us and the pups.

  After lunch, Scotty and I worked on the generator using the motor from the station wagon and hit the ‘Start/Stop’ button. A small click and all the indicators jumped to one-hundred percent. Scotty made a couple of adjustments and the indicators were at ninety-eight percent. He turned it off very satisfied with the results.

  The project was fairly big, but it was on wheels. Scotty backed up his truck and we moved it to the side of the house to a small shed he built for it and he made the connections. Scotty explained to me: “Since most of the critical systems are solar and everything prior was running on nine volts, this thing should not break a sweat.”

  Scotty hit the ‘Start/Stop’ button, and the small click and indicators jumped to ninety-eight percent.

  “No screaming or explosions. That’s a good sign.” He said with partial sincerity with his filthy glasses at the end of his nose. He walked into the house and using his meter he checked the service panel and hit each breaker. Using his nose, he sniffed after each in order to detect something wrong. He handed me a thermal gun as I pointed it at the service panel and did not see any variation, maybe one or two degrees as he explained ‘line conditioning’ and using technical terminology. I just shook my head as though I understood.

  Scotty handed everyone a small corded electrical device and told everyone which room to test the outlets. Room by room we tested the outlets and the ceiling fans. After ten minutes, not one failure. Scotty installed a new hot water tank and a clothes dryer. He switched the breaker.

  “Here we go.” Scotty said smiling. Helen loaded the small basket of clothes into the washer, added detergent, made her selections and hit the ‘start’ button. We all rejoiced. Scotty took off his cap and opened the dryer. The light came on as he placed his sun faded cap inside and turned it on. We all rejoiced. We walked outside and checked the generator. 97%.

  “Before you two get more involved, let’s have some dinner.” Helen said as she handed Scotty a small stack of vacuum sealed frozen fish packages. “We’ll get some veggies.” Helen said handing Jillian a box.

  As the sun set, we sat in the Gazebo with the dogs staring in amazement at the house. It actually looked alive. None of us have seen a house this brilliantly lit in over five years.

  “Does anyone else feel guilty, like we are wasting energy?” Jillian asked.

  “I have a tendency to turn off what is not being used.” I said.

  “I think it is just beautiful!” Helen said handing a glass of wine to Jillian.

  “I bet ’cha you can see this from space!” Scotty exclaimed as he rounded the corner with a big smile.

  “Any change?” I asked.

  “Nope!” Scotty said admiring his work. ‘Ding’. The dryer sounded as another load was complete. It was Jillian and my whites; t-shirts, socks, underwear.

  “I have never been this excited to fold warm clothes!” Jillian said smiling as she got up to retrieve the clothes.

  A twig snapped in the distance causing all the dogs to become alert. Helen quickly put the pups in a clothes basket and held onto them. Rosie and Pete took point toward the location of the sound and Becky, Jeff and Ginger silently jogged off in different directions. Scotty handed me his 357 as he pulled a rifle from a compartment in the Gazebo.

  “Whatever made that noise has less than a minute to live.” Scotty said quietly as we scanned the area as Rosie and Pete slowly walked forward, all senses on high alert.

  The closing of the dryer door in the silence broke everyone’s focus momentarily as a rustle in the darkness gave away the position of the nosy intruder. It sounded like whatever it was, made a break for it as the dogs engaged. The animal squawked twice and no more. Rosie and Pete stood guard just in front at the edge of the bushes in plain view.

  “Five million dollars on Jeff!” Scotty said.

  “No way, Becky.” Helen said.

  Breaking into the light was Ginger with the biggest raccoon I have ever seen hanging limp from her mouth. Becky and Jeff respecting the kill just sniffed the animal as Ginger proudly trotted to the Gazebo followed by Rosie and Pete.

  “Good girl Ginger!” I said as she headed in my direction.

  “Look at the size of that thing!” Jillian said walking toward the Gazebo from the house holding a basket of clothes. Ginger turned and headed toward Jillian just as proud as can be with all the dogs taking interest.

  “AWW! You got me a big stinky raccoon! Thank you Ginger!” Jillian said as Ginger let go of the raccoon and it took off causing everyone to scream and jump. The dogs prevented its escape, as it had nowhere to run inside the canine circle of death. Wagging tails and playful barking almost made me think as though it had a chance, when Jeff decided playtime was over.

  Helen let the pups go investigate. Rosie sat and monitored as Jeff and Becky squabbled back and forth as the pups kept their distance. Ginger just wanted congratulations and appreciation from Jillian as Pete sat next to me happy to have his head petted.

  We decided on names for the four pups. The two females: Emma; shy and curious. Sandy; energetic and always rolling in the dirt. Jake: fearless, has to taste, chew or eat everything. Roy: the runt of the litter. Apprehensive, always last and needed to be near Scotty at all times.