Tyne
She shoved the last of the furniture over to one corner of the room. Sweating already. She glanced at her watch. 2 o'clock and still plenty of time in the day. The air conditioner was turned off, so it was just the infrequent breeze of the ceiling fan keeping her cool. The windows were open to help with the smell, but they offered no relief from the heat. Better to sweat than to breathe in these fumes, she thought, wiping more sweat from her brow. Still so much to do and the weekend was half gone. Armand and Emma were off to a father-daughter camping event with their church and that left her home alone. The walls in the den had needed a new coat of paint for some time. Armand had offered to hire someone half-heartedly and she knew what that meant. She would have to listen to him complain about the cost for the next five years until another new coat of paint was needed. She'd just do it herself, she thought and grunted aloud as she shoved the couch one last time.
The doorbell rang.
Weird, she thought. The house was far off the rural farm road so visitors were always expected. Well, this stranger is going to have to take me looking like this, she shrugged. She caught a glimpse of her rough ponytail, cut off shorts and ripped t-shirt as she passed the hallway mirror. She glanced out the front window and saw a red Jeep. Hmmmm, she thought, looks like Kyle's car. Peeking through the peephole, she saw the familiar frame of her daughter's new boyfriend, Kyle.
"Hey there," she said opening the door, "what brings you around?"
Kyle looked down at her from his broad shouldered, 6'2 frame. He smiled quietly.
"Emma couldn't get in touch with you this morning. She asked me to drop by and check on you." He said in a deep, languid voice.
She was never sure why this boy - well, young man - made her nervous. She felt that he appraised her, and she always seemed to feel insecure under his gaze. His soft brown eyes looked into hers and seemed to remove thoughts from her head. He and Emma had met when Emma visited a college upstate and had been seeing each other for a month or two. She had only met him twice before briefly. Emma seemed excited about him, but she really wasn't sure of more than that. Emma didn't share her inner thoughts with anyone but Armand. Kyle was certainly broodingly handsome. What was she thinking? She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Oh goodness, I think I turned down the volume last night on the phone when I was taking a bath. I'll go fix it."
She walked over to the table in the living room and picked up the phone receiver. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kyle walk into the house.