After several long hours of yardwork, I was finally done. I picked up the glass of water, the ice having melted, and practically inhaled the scant contents. Using the garden hose, I filled the glass again, and almost literally did inhale the contents. Then I did it again, finally feeling satisfied.
I thought ahead to the following day, when my twin nieces would arrive to spend a week with me and my wife. With two seven-year-old girls in the house, there would be little time for Rebecca and I to have to ourselves, so I determined that for the rest of the day, I would devote all my time to her, even if that did mean washing the dishes and mopping the floors.
I entered the house at last, finding that she had definitely cleaned the kitchen and the living room while I was working outside. The cool air inside was a very welcome respite from having been in the sun for several long hours, and actually made me shiver slightly. But, to my surprise, I did not see nor hear my young wife.
Perhaps I should have called for her. But instead, I slowly roamed the house, trying to remain as quiet as possible to sneak up on her and surprise her, much like I used to do when we were seven-year-old kids in the old neighborhood. She was not downstairs, nor was she in the basement, and I began to wonder if she had decided to take a bath.
If that was the case, I planned to join her, for I certainly needed a bath... or at least a shower.
When I came to the top of the stairs, however, I knew that she was definitely not taking a bath.