Nick Scipio
Family Ties
Summer Camp Swingers: Christy Series Book 2
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Book 2
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
About the Author
More Summer Camp Swingers
Also by Nick Scipio
PREFACE
Hello and welcome to Camp! If you’ve been here before, let’s talk about some changes.
First, the book titles. They’re new. Duh. But why? For starters, they’re more descriptive now. The old Volume X titles didn’t tell you a thing about the books, other than their order in the series.
The new titles are mostly for new readers. If you’re a fan from before, you probably don’t care what the books are called. But new readers don’t know me or my stories, and titles are an important part of the sales pitch.
Next, the series and universe, Summer Camp Swingers. Why the change?
Amazon. Specifically, their search and recommendation algorithms. I don’t want my books to appear beside ones about regular summer camps. Adding Swingers should make it clear that mine are for grown-ups.
Okay, that’s enough about the changes. If you’re new to Camp, let me tell you how this all began.
Back in the summer of 2002, I had a story growing in my imagination. It started as a simple fantasy that sprang from events in my real life.
My family vacationed at a nudist camp in the seventies and early eighties.
My parents were swingers at the time, although I didn’t figure it out until much later. And when I was a teenager, I knew a woman who was similar to Susan. As an adult, I always wondered what would’ve happened if she’d been more like the woman in my imagination.
So this “what if…?” story was growing in my head, and I kept remembering things and adding new details. It quickly became too much to keep track of, so I decided to write it down. I finished the first few chapters
and posted them online. People liked them, so I kept writing.
In the process, my coming-of-age story evolved into something far bigger than I’d ever imagined. I added an overall plot: Who died? Who’s the wife?
Then I sketched out the people and events in several more stories. Other writers wanted to play in my world, so I created the universe, Summer Camp Swingers. My own stories grew into books, and the books became series—
five of them, as it turned out.
So, where are we now, with this book? Christy is the fifth and final series in the main Summer Camp Swingers saga. You don’t need to read the first four series to enjoy this one, but they add a lot of background for the people and events here. If you’re interested, the earlier series are available on my website.
Whew! That was a lot of introduction. Yeah, sorry. I’ve been writing Summer Camp Swingers since that fateful day back in 2002, so we’re talking about 30 books, nearly 2.5 million words. In any event, I’m sure you’re ready to start reading. You bought the book, after all, so let’s get to it!
Nick Scipio
August 1, 2020
INTRODUCTION
Summer Camp Swingers has always been a serial, published a chapter at a time. So the books in this series don’t begin and end like normal ones do.
They’re meant to be read as a complete story, one after the other. When you reach the end of this book, pick up the next one and keep going.
And when you get to the end of the series, the Epilogue will wrap up the whole saga and answer the two big questions from the very beginning—
who’s the wife and who died?
Book 2
Chapter 7
I met up with Christy, Wren, and Trip after lunch on Wednesday. We’d all gone to class, even though half the university had left for Thanksgiving already or was in the process of leaving. The day was gray and pensive—the sky couldn’t decide if it was going to rain or not—which reflected my mood perfectly. The others talked about the party the night before, while I was content to walk along in my own little world.
Christy’s “future husband” introductions had unnerved me. Sure, we’d been joking about “not until we’re married” for a while, but she seemed to be moving a lot quicker than I was. I still had a million questions about her, and none of them had easy answers, much less quick ones.
Wren seemed to sense my unease, and for once she didn’t needle me about it. She’d probably had time to think about things too, and even she’d have to admit that Christy had jumped the gun a little.
I desperately wanted to talk to Wren and find out how Christy and Simon had become engaged. I kept remembering what her brother Danny had said, that she’d simply declared him her fiancé. At the time I’d thought he was just teasing her, but all of a sudden I wasn’t so sure. Had the same thing just happened to me?
Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of a way to talk to her alone before we left. She and Trip had to pack for their drive to Atlanta. Christy and I had to do the same for our flight to San Diego. So unless I wanted to answer some awkward questions from Christy, I needed to leave it alone.
I felt like I was flying blind into a relationship with her, but I didn’t have much choice. I didn’t have charts or nav beacons. I didn’t even have
instruments! Was my engine running too hot? Was I flying too low? Too slow? The metaphors alone were enough to drive me crazy.
So I kept my questions to myself and responded with a smile when Christy silently asked if I was okay. She realized that something was going on in my head, even if she didn’t know what. So instead of bouncing around, she walked silently beside me.
“Are you nervous?” she finally asked. “About meeting my family?”
“What? No, not at all. Sorry, I’m just making a list in my head. Stuff I need to pack. Running clothes, something dressy, stuff like that.” It was a white lie, but less messy than the truth.
“Oh. Okay.” She glanced up at me. “They’re going to love you, though.
Mom says…”
She chattered on nervously, and I didn’t have the guts to stop her. I felt guilty for letting her worry, but then again, it probably wouldn’t hurt for her to realize that something was up between us. We’d have to talk about it sooner or later, although I had no idea when.
At home we headed to our separate bedrooms. Wren and Trip weren’t planning to leave until later in the afternoon, but Christy and I had a flight to catch. So I packed my clothes and toiletries in my suitcase. Then I added some books and few other things to my backpack, and I was ready to go.
Christy took an hour and a half, and I finally went to check on her when she still hadn’t come downstairs. I knocked on her half-open door and then gently pushed it open.
Her room looked like her dresser and closet had both exploded. Two large suitcases stood by the door and she was doing her best to close a smaller one.
I looked at my watch.
“Um… we need to leave in about fifteen minutes. Anything I can help with?”
“Oh, thanks! Would you take those downstairs for me?”
“Wait… these?” I gestured at the large suitcases. I’d thought they were empty, just standing by in case her things wouldn’t all fit in the smaller suitcase.
“Yes.” She caught my expression. “What’s the matter?”
“You know it’s just four days, right?”
“Of course I do. Please don’t give me a hard time about all my clothes.
I’m taking a bunch of summer outfits home so I can return with my winter clothes.”