My Friend's Dirty Uncle

“Thanks,” I said awkwardly. “That means a lot, Aunt Melanie.”

“By the way, we prepared a special dinner for you tonight,” my aunt continued as she stood in front of what looked like the kitchen. “Chef Mona has gone all out in your honor.”

I could feel my eyes widen. They had a personal chef?

“You didn’t have to go through such lengths,” I said, laughing nervously and feeling even more awkward. My hands started to fidget. It was what I did when I was nervous, but Aunt Melanie didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh, it was no trouble at all!” she burbled. “It’s such a special occasion. We’ve missed you, honey.”

As I opened my mouth to reply, Justine came up to my side and grabbed my arm. “Dani has had a long trip. I thought I could show her to her room so she could rest for a bit before dinner?”

“Of course,” Aunt Melanie said comfortingly. “You must be really tired. Get some rest, sweetheart.” She looked down at her watch, which was encrusted in diamonds. I felt almost blinded by the sparkle. “It looks like we have an hour before Craig gets home with the twins. Be sure to be ready by then.”

“Of course, Mother,” said Justine, as she started to drag me down the hallway past the kitchen. “We’ll be sure to be down by then.”

I turned to wave at my aunt before Justine took a sharp turn, taking me down another hallway leading to another stairway. “Wait, more stairs?” I asked in awe.

“Yes. These stairs lead to mine and the twins’ suites. The front stairs are to the master bedroom and a few of the recreation rooms.” She turned and pointed to another hallway. “There’s another hidden stairway at the end of that hall. They lead to staff housing.”

“You have staff?” I stammered. Already being here was much different than I’d expected.

Justine shrugged. “Only a few of the staff are live-in, just a couple of maids and the twins’ nanny. Others come whenever we need help. Like Chef Mona.” She started to walk up the stairs and I followed her.

When she got to the top, she pointed to a few doors on the left. “Those are the twins’ bedrooms, and that’s their play room,” she said, pointing to the door in front of us. The twins were twelve years old, but when I’d moved away they had been two. It was strange to think that I had only seen them through the family portraits in their annual Christmas cards.

Justine walked around to a row of doors on the right. “This is my room, and over there is the guest room that you can use for the night,” she said.

When she opened the door, I let out an audible gasp. The room was so much bigger than my space at home. It had a large bed in the middle, with a dresser on one side and a desk on the other.

“We actually share this bathroom,” Justine said, as she closed the door behind her and turned towards another door on the left. “So my room is through that door,” she added as she pointed to the archway on the opposite end of the biggest bathroom I had ever seen.

I was too shocked to realize she had taken my duffle from my shoulder and laid the bag on the bed. She opened it up and started to rifle through my clothes. “Oh wow, you really don’t have much to work with.”

Breaking out of my trance, I walked over to her. I tried to grab the bag to close it. “What do you mean?” I asked, defensiveness slipping into my voice.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean to offend. I just mean, these aren’t really clothes that are going to give you the best summer of your life.”

I tilted my head, feeling confused. “But these are the only things I have.”

“Well, tonight you can borrow my clothes, and then tomorrow we can go shopping,” she announced with finality.

I sucked in a breath. I didn’t bring much with me – only a few hundred dollars I had saved from my job back at home. I was hoping to spread out the money for as long as I could, but it would seem that my cousin had other ideas. “Um, I appreciate it, but I don’t really think it would be such a good idea.”

“What do you mean? I think it’s an excellent idea.”

“Well, I just think it’s not the best time,” I hedged.

Justine looked at me closely.

“Is this about money?” she asked slowly.

I stared at the floor. “No,” I stammered out, even though that was a lie. Of course it was all about money.

Justine rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about cash,” she said nonchalantly. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s not even my mine.”

“That does not make me feel better,” I said, as heat crept up my neck.