I sat in my car outside the lawyer's office. I was twenty-five, divorced, unemployed, broke, and homeless. It was June first.
I'd met Becky during my freshman year at college. I'd been an introvert, a very dedicated one. Becky had seen something in me; she'd blown through my armor, and I'd never looked back. She'd been my first at the age of nineteen. I'd known I wasn't hers and didn't care. She'd changed me; I'd become more sociable; hell, I'd even gotten good at flirting. We got married the month after we graduated.
When we'd confirmed -- after two years of trying, tests, etc. -- that Becky was unable to have children, she'd changed; she'd gotten into gambling, and that's how I'd gotten to where I was.
I literally had no options. All our friends had left us because Becky owed all of them money. I had worked for her family company, and they were still in denial, so the divorce was my fault.
I didn't want to call Mom. My dad had been killed just over a year before. She had enough to deal with, but the only other lifeline I could think of was my sister, who was living her own great life on the opposite side of the country.
I punched in the number. Mom answered, and I unloaded. I hadn't told her anything, and I heard her gasp more than once. By the end of my story, I was sobbing, I couldn't help it.
"Go to the lake house," she said in that cool, calm voice I remembered so well. "You will be my guest for the summer. By the fall, you'll have found a new job and be back on track, but for now, enjoy the summer. You haven't been there in years, but nothing has changed."
I paused; I'd be making a huge imposition on my recently widowed mom.
"Rex," she said in a near whisper, her voice wavering, "please, do this for me. I want to go up there, but I can't do it alone."
Day One
Monday, I walked through the gate of Compass Point State Park, in which our two houses had been granted special permission to remain. My grandfather and his brother had built identical houses on the edge of the large lake before the area had been declared a State Park. I glanced over at the office window and noticed a sign there that said they were looking for workers.
I'll cut this short. Since I lived in the park, I got a job as the 'night ranger'- no gun involved, which was fine with me. There would also be some daytime duty in the fire tower. The fire danger was so high that they'd put it back in service. The pay was tiny, and I was incredibly overqualified, but I didn't care; I was on my way back up.
I hadn't been to the house in years. It was only one story but elevated for a better view of the lake. There were two bedrooms, one bathroom, one big room that we called the living room, the kitchen, and the dining room. Granddad and his brother didn't have a lot of money. The place smelled musty, so I opened all the windows and doors. In the second bedroom, the rings and rope were still in the ceiling where a curtain had been strung down the middle. My sister and I had to share it.
A screen porch ran on the back side of the house, with doors to each bedroom. The hinges on both doors were rusty and squeaky. I was oiling the hinges on my door when my phone went off. My mother was calling me.
Mom said she would be there late Tuesday, asking me to make sure the hot water heater was full before turning it on. I'd forgotten that, so I hustled to fill it.
I had to walk up to the gate to meet the Door Dash guy, as the park was closed. The house had WIFI, so I watched a movie and went to bed, remembering to leave my phone on 'Do Not Disturb.'
Day Two
I woke up to the sunrise after the best night's sleep I'd had in a year. I had brought coffee, butter, and bagels with me, and I was on the front deck in my new uniform when a car pulled up to the house next door.
A nuclear family unit poured out: a mom, a dad, a boy, and a girl who looked to be around eighteen or so.
The mom saw me. "Hi, we're the Scanlons. We're renting the place for a few days."
I walked down the stairs; the dad offered his hand. "I'm Hank; this is Aubrey, my wife; our son, Karl; and his younger sister, Beth."
Aubrey spoke up again. "You work here? Is the house a perk?"
I laughed. "Yes and no. I do work here; this is my first day, but the house belongs to our family."
Aubrey smiled. "Oh, great! Roy is my partner. We own a gym." I remembered that Uncle Roy and his wife Sharon owned the house.
"Well, welcome to the park," I said. "Sorry to run, but I'm on duty."
Aubrey caught my eyes and, as she touched my arm, gave me a look that could easily have been mistaken for '
I'd love to fuck you.'
"Thank you, Rex," she said. "Hope your day isn't too hard."
I went back into the house.
What the fuck was that about? She was hitting on me.
I made a mental note to make sure I was never alone with her. Homewrecking is not for me.
I looked at my bare wrist and remembered I'd left my watch on the back porch. I stepped out there to look for it. The porch is on the woods side, heavily shaded, and the screening is old, so I was in near darkness.
I could see into the second bedroom of the Scanlon's rental. I did a double-take and froze. Karl and Beth were in there; the door was closed. They were kissing -- not sibling kissing, lover kissing -- and if that wasn't enough, Karl's hands were massaging his sister's breasts through her tee shirt while her hand was gripping his hard cock through his shorts.
What the fuck kind of family are they?
I thought. I grabbed my watch and went back inside.
As I walked along the beach by the lake, heading for the tower. I was in a real 'what the fuck' frame of mind. What kind of family was staying next door? Aubrey hitting on me openly and Karl and Beth kissing like lovers.
That brought to mind all the summers I'd spent there, and I remembered the grotto. The woods behind the lake were very dense, with a lot of underbrush. Our families, over the years, cut hiking trails, but there'd been one that had been a secret - and possibly still was.
With a little difficulty, I found it. I'd heard about the grotto for years as a kid, mostly during hushed conversations among my cousins that I'd overheard by accident. I'd never asked, and, being such an introvert, I'd never gone there to investigate.
The path was narrow and twisted. I noted how convenient that was, since it prevented casual observation.
The path opened to a small clearing. I smiled as I looked around. Two used condoms had been tossed off near the edge of the woods. I also spotted a couple of pairs of panties -- one small, one medium -- and a pair of CK men's briefs.
Okay, so, somebody knows about this place.
I was sorry I'd been so weird as a kid. I immediately imagined everything I might've missed out on.
Half an hour later, I got to the tower, which sat on a hill; I liked that it had fewer stairs. I walked up the stairs and then, using the rope and pulley mounted on the roof of the platform, brought up my cooler. I was in for the day. It was hot, but being up high meant that I at least caught the breeze. I also had a comfy chair on a swivel with a telescope mounted on the frame, plus a pair of binoculars. I put my Park Service radio in the charging base and checked my phone. The cell signal was good, so I opened Spotify and got to work.
The openings in the tower were screened, but they had zippers so they could be lowered down for a better view. I scanned the whole area and saw nothing. Then, on a whim, I looked for the grotto.
I laughed. I found it, and with the telescope, it was like I was right there. I could see the panties and the men's briefs on the ground.
Well, maybe this will be an interesting summer after all.
Being June, the park was not busy. The water was still a bit cold for swimming; there were only three families on the beach.
I looked up from the erotic novel I was reading- Suburban Swinging Moms, one of my favorites- and saw the Scanlons setting up on the beach. I was curious, so I trained the telescope on them. They looked normal, except for the brother and sister touching behind Hank and Aubrey's backs. I'd never thought about incest. My only women had been Becky, who I've already mentioned, and Maude, my married English professor. To my own surprise, it hadn't taken much to make me curious.
Hank had a cooler. He settled in his chair and got out a beer and a novel. Aubrey, in a delicious thong bikini, lay out to tan. I wished at that point that my conscience would shut the fuck up so I could get my hands on that MILF body.