Saturday morning Nils slept in, waking not too many minutes before noon and immediately noticing that Jamie’s side of the bed was empty. She wasn’t in the bathroom, she wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room or the studio. Not in the basement or the attic. He chanced to look out the back window and there she was, wearing only a bikini, apparently washing her car.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What are you doing, out here with no clothes on?” Jamie answered.

“Oh. Right.” Nils looked around. “Well, no one can see. Probably.”

“If you say so,” Jamie said. “Anyway I’m washing the car. There’s this volunteer car wash for charity tomorrow at the church, and I thought I’d practice. Actually I’m all done, all but some final buffing.”

“Well, it looks like you did a great job,” Nils said. “Except for one thing.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Aren’t car washers supposed to be topless? To get the full effect.”

“At the church?” Jamie questioned.

“Naked in the sight of God,” Nils said. “Doesn’t the Bible say that somewhere?”

“I don’t know, but you certainly qualify,” Jamie said, removing her top, then slipping out of her bottoms. “Now come over here and buff me. For the full effect.”