Skip to content Nobody said anything.
Emma stared at the ground.
She was seventeen, and suddenly she looked deeply embarrassed by the situation her parents had put her in.
Jake looked toward Jim.
“Dad…”
Jim finally spoke.
“Charlotte, I know this looks bad.”
“How exactly does it look?”
He hesitated.
“Bad.”
“It looks like you’ve been using our hot tub while we’re away for nearly a year. It looks like Lisa came to our house pretending to complain so she could find out whether we knew. And it looks like even after you noticed the camera, you kept coming because you assumed we wouldn’t check.”
Jim sighed.
“I can explain.”
“Go ahead.”
What followed wasn’t really an explanation.
It was a collection of excuses.
The hot tub wasn’t being used.
He thought we probably wouldn’t care.
He had always intended to ask.
There had never seemed to be a good opportunity.
I let him finish.
Then I said:
“We’ve paid for the electricity, the chemicals, maintenance, and service on this hot tub for four years. We assumed it was sitting unused because we hadn’t had time for it. Apparently, our neighbors decided that meant they could use it without asking.”
Jim nodded.
Then Tom finally spoke.