"Maybe I should get a part-time job now that both kids are in school," I thought to myself for the 500th time. I was sitting at the kitchen counter, coffee brewing, taking a breather after the rush of getting my girls ready, out the door and on the bus, trying to figure out what I was going to do until 2:40 when they would be home.
I was startled to hear the doorbell ring. The only neighbor who used to come around had recently taken a job and there was nobody else around in the daytime. I went to the door and found a woman standing there, looking a little unsure of herself. She was vaguely pretty, about my size but very fair skin, dirty blond hair cut short, slender.
"Charlotte?" she asked.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"My name is Amber, your friend Becky told me to come look you up when she heard I was coming here for a conference."
"Becky? Becky Johnston?" I suddenly realized why Amber looked familiar; I had seen her briefly when I went to stay with my old college roommate Becky.
"Yes. We're next-door neighbors in Springfield." She smiled shyly.
"I thought I remembered you. You live in that yellow house with the nice garden. Please come in! I've just put up some coffee, want some?"
"Great! Becky said you were really nice."
I smiled. Good old Becky.
"You know, you really look a lot like Becky," she added.
"I know, our housemates used to call us the Kissing Cousins."
"Oh? Why?"
I hesitated, then blushed. "Well, they called us the Cousins at first, and then one night during a late-night 'Truth or Dare' game we wound up making out, and, well, they sort of had to pry us apart. Next day we woke up hung over and never talked about it again, but we got teased about it forever after."
She stared at me for a few seconds, then mumbled, "I can see why she wanted to kiss you." Now we were both blushing. "So where is your family?"
"Oh, the girls are off to school, Bob went to Boston for a meeting. I was going to do a little laundry and then meet the school bus."
"I, um, well, I brought you a present from Becky."