Lakeside Cottage

by Susan Wiggs

  A green pickup truck nosed its way toward the house. What do you know? Kate thought. JD Harris had returned.

  She straightened her shoulders but resisted the urge to reach up and neaten her hair. She would primp for no man. But still, she was dying. In a waterlogged Corry’s Slug Death shirt—no bra—and cutoffs, she looked like a white trash wet T-shirt contestant. Note to self, she thought. Don’t dress like such a slob every day. You never know who might come calling. She was exasperated with herself for caring but couldn’t help it.

  “Hey,” she said, casually greeting JD as he parked behind the house.

  He got out of the truck, and Kate maintained her casual air even though her heart tripped into overdrive at the sight of him. There was something about a guy in faded Levi’s, and he definitely had that something.

  It had simply been too long since she’d had a man in her life, she thought. She definitely needed to get out more. The monklike existence of a single mom made her too vulnerable to attacks of unbridled lust. Besides, he’d been rude to her last time they were together, all but showing her the door just because she’d been nosy.

  He held out a plastic creel. “I brought you some trout.”

  It was all she could do to keep her stare above the belt. “I’m sorry… What?”

  “Trout,” he said, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. He was doing a little staring of his own. He seemed intrigued by the Corry’s logo. She resisted the urge to cover up. “I caught them about an hour ago and thought you might like them for supper. As a thank-you for the first aid.” He showed her his bandaged thumb.

  “Did you know you’re supposed to catch and release in this lake?”

  “These aren’t from the lake,” he said easily. “I went to the Elwha River down the road.”

  Apparently, it was too much to expect an apology for his rudeness, if he even realized he’d been rude. Of course he did. Didn’t he? She kept looking for something wrong with this guy, some flaw that would contradict her attraction to him. The reason, she supposed, was that when it came to men, there was always a catch. In her experience, anyway.

  Catch and release, she thought.

  She wondered what the catch would be in JD’s case. She wondered if it was something that could hurt her.

  “Thank you,” she said, peering into the creel. “You already cleaned them.”

  “It wouldn’t be much of an offering if you had to do the cleaning.”

  “True. But I’ll accept this on one condition.” Before she could talk herself out of it, she went on. “Stay and have dinner with us.”

  He said nothing. Kate instantly felt like a fool but covered it up with a bright smile. “There’s fresh trout on the menu.”

  “Sure,” he said. “Thanks. I wasn’t trying to finagle an invitation.”

  “I’d love to have you.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Kate realized the double meaning. “Uh, I mean we. Aaron especially. He’s celebrating a little something today.”

  “His birthday?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll let him tell you.”

  He indicated the outdoor spigot. “Mind if I get cleaned up?”

  “Not at all,” she said. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  She lied. She went straight to her room and put on dry clothes, exchanged her wet things for a pale blue V-neck top and jeans, ran a comb and some styling gel through her damp hair, then put on lipstick—just a touch. She didn’t want the primping to be obvious. She could hear Aaron talking to himself in the shower and smiled. He was probably reliving his adventures of the day. She could hear the downstairs shower running, too. Callie seemed to love endless showers.

  Then she hurried down to organize dinner. On the landing, she glanced out the window to check on her visitor.

  Oh, boy, she thought, suddenly riveted to the spot. He had taken off his shirt to wash up. Water from the outside faucet sprayed like diamonds in the sun, surrounding a body that was the stuff of dreams. He was not a hunk but a work of art, with perfectly muscled pecs and shoulders and abs, brawny arms. Kate leaned so close to the window that her breath steamed up the glass, but he was too far away to see in greater detail. Everything she was dying to know, like the pattern of his chest hair and if he had any scars or tattoos, eluded her. She couldn’t figure out how to get closer without being too obvious. Flushed, she stepped back.

  Snap out of it, Kate, she thought. Easier said than done. This man awakened wild yearnings inside her, reminded her of unfulfilled dreams and all the endless lonely nights she had spent trying to convince herself that everything was fine.

  When he came into the kitchen, his hair damp and finger-combed, his T-shirt molding itself to his chest, she pretended not to notice. His massive size dwarfed everything in the kitchen, his broad shadow falling across the floor. Even so, he looked at ease here, as if he belonged. He was looking around the place, his expression unreadable.

  A person’s surroundings said a lot about her; Kate knew that. The lakeside cottage was a repository for generations of family history, from her grandfather’s prized photographs of both Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt to last year’s photo collage, which Phil’s wife had made of their kids.

  “My world and welcome to it,” she said. “I’ll just start dinner.”

  “What can I do?” he asked.

  And just like that, she had a partner. Some people were lost and awkward in the kitchen. Not JD. He seemed perfectly at ease preparing ears of corn for roasting, slicing tomatoes onto a platter and carving a watermelon. It felt utterly natural to work alongside him, and reminded her of other times here, when preparing supper was a family affair. The kitchen was designed to make meal preparation a group activity, with a center island and plenty of room to maneuver.

  “This is quite a feast,” he said.

  “I hit a roadside stand on the way from doing errands in town.” She emptied the creel into the sink and turned on the water. He’d done a professional job filleting the fish with almost surgical precision.

  Music from the radio drifted from Callie’s room, and Kate hummed along with a tune by the Libertines while brushing melted butter on the fillets. “That girl is obsessed with music,” she said to JD. “Smart about it, too. I brought a collection of CDs from home, but I know she thinks they’re hopelessly uncool.”

  He finished peeling off the last strands of silk from the ears of corn. “Does she have any kind of plan? For the end of summer, I mean.”

  “Callie? I haven’t pressed her for one.” Kate seasoned the fresh trout with lemon, salt and pepper. JD held the door for her while she headed outside to fire up the grill. “I have a feeling she wants to keep a low profile until she officially turns eighteen. She’s probably worried they’ll stick her in another foster home she doesn’t like.” She considered telling him what she’d learned about Sonja Evans but immediately talked herself out of it. She was tempted, though. For some strange reason, it felt perfectly natural to discuss the kids with him. She needed to snap out of it. He wasn’t her partner in this. He wasn’t her anything.

  While the fish and corn were grilling, they set the outdoor table. She wondered if it was her or if this whole scenario felt incredibly domestic, like something they had been doing together for a decade instead of ten minutes.

  “I was going to ask you something about Callie,” he said, distributing the old speckled enamel plates. “Do you think she’d like to earn some extra money at the Schroeder place? Off the books,” he added. “I’d pay her cash for maybe a few hours’ cleaning each week.”

  Kate couldn’t help herself as a huge smile unfurled on her face. Her heart felt different. Fuller, warmer. She knew he didn’t need a weekly cleaning service at his place. He just wanted to help Callie out. She was starting to get a read on this guy. He was like her favorite kind of candy, a hard outer shell and a sweet mushy center. “All right,” she said. “You’re busted.”

  “Busted?” Even with sunglasses on, she could tell he was sc
owling.

  “I knew you’d been hiding something, but your secret is out now,” she said.

  He dropped a fork to the table. “Look, Kate, I—”

  “You don’t have to explain yourself,” she said. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She decided then to go for broke. “I’m glad I found out the truth about you.”

  He picked up the fork. “You are?”

  “Of course. You don’t have to pretend around me. But I’ll keep your secret, I promise.”

  “You will?”

  “Sure. Although why you’d want to hide this is beyond me. I think a guy with a heart of gold is incredibly attractive. Why would you pretend otherwise?”

  She could see him let out a long, slow breath as he went back to setting the table. “Good to know,” he said.

  “I just said I think you’re incredibly attractive,” she reminded him. “Did that make any impression on you?”

  “You said a guy with a heart of gold is attractive. I didn’t assume you meant me.”

  At least he was a good listener. “Well, you do have a heart of gold.”

  “Yeah, that’s me. Twenty-four-karat gold. Don’t make assumptions about me, Kate.”

  “Then tell me about yourself and I’ll know.”

  “Nothing to tell. I’m taking some time off, considering my options.”

  “Like medical school.”

  “That’s right.”

  “You were so touchy about that.”

  “Didn’t mean to be. So, about Callie…?”

  He was shutting down now. Kate sensed that she’d pushed hard enough—for now. “I bet she’d jump at the chance to earn some extra money,” she said.

  “I’ll ask her tonight.”

  “JD!” Aaron leaped out onto the porch and ran down to the yard.

  “Hey, Aaron.” JD shook hands with him.

  For a moment, Kate could only blink at her son. Finally, she had to ask. “What did you do to your hair?”

  “Callie did it.” He touched the spiky bristles that crested his head. “It’s called a faux-hawk.”

  “That’s great, buddy.” Kate turned quickly to the grill, hiding the look on her face.

  “I’ve been jumping in the lake all day,” Aaron informed JD.

  “Sounds like fun.” JD handed him a sack of corn husks. “Take that out to the trash can, will you?”

  Kate watched her son willingly do the simple chore. A simple chore that would have taken her a half hour of nagging to make him do. JD could have no idea that it was actually a big deal to get Aaron to do chores. She found herself wondering what pretense JD was practicing, if any. Perhaps none. Perhaps this was who he was.

  She turned off the propane grill and saw that JD had put out glasses of ice water. She was momentarily rattled, accustomed to going it alone.

  Aaron returned from taking out the trash and rang the brass ship’s bell on the porch, signaling dinner. JD sent him to wash his hands. Callie made an appearance, seeming a bit bashful as JD greeted her.

  “We’re having fresh trout from the Elwha,” Kate said, transferring the fish from grill to plates.

  “Is it safe?” Callie asked, then blushed. “I mean, I’ve heard certain fish have a high mercury content…”

  “You’re right,” JD said. “Not freshwater trout, though. Scout’s honor.”

  “Cool. I’m starved. What can I do to help?”

  “It’s all done,” Kate said. “Have a seat.”

  Callie looked momentarily nonplussed, then sat down at the picnic table. Aaron went for a spot next to JD. Kate noticed JD giving him a discreet, wordless warning to wait until she sat down. Only then did JD give Aaron the nod to proceed. As she murmured a quick, simple blessing over the food, Kate privately thanked JD for knowing what manners were.

  Dinner was a feast, topped off with bowls of salmon-berries gathered from the bushes along the driveway. Aaron chattered on about swimming in the lake, Luke the ghost boy, skipping stones and kayaking. In between stories, he managed to eat everything on his plate, a rare occurrence for her usually restless son.

  “When it’s my birthday,” Aaron said, “I get to say what’s for supper.”

  “So what do you pick?” asked Callie.

  “Pepperoni pizza and white cake with chocolate frosting. Every year. What about you?”

  “I don’t get to pick.”

  “Why not?”

  “You want to know something weird?” she said.

  He perked right up. “Of course.”

  “I’ve never had a birthday party.”

  “No way.” Aaron’s eyes bugged out.

  “Way.”

  “That sucks.” Aaron glanced at Kate. “I mean, that stinks. It really does.”

  Callie shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Where I grew up, we were told that being born was a natural, everyday process that doesn’t need to be validated by artificial means.”

  Kate couldn’t help herself. “That’s just absurd.”

  “It’s the way things were.” Callie ate the last of her watermelon. “When I found out the day I was born, I always had a secret celebration for myself. It wasn’t the same as a birthday party but I did it anyway.”

  “Good for you, Callie. You matter in this world. Every person matters,” Kate said, privately cursing Callie’s mother. “I’m glad you’re with us now.”

  She flashed a bashful smile.

  “When’s your birthday?” Aaron demanded.

  “The fifteenth of July.”

  “You’re going to have the best birthday this year,” he vowed.

  “Whatever.”

  Callie didn’t have much more to say, but she had plenty to eat and insisted that she and Aaron clean up after dinner. Once again, he helped without complaint. As they sat outside watching the sun touch the mountaintops at the west end of the lake, Kate could hear the two of them inside, talking and teasing.

  “They’re like old friends,” she murmured to JD. Almost, she thought, like brother and sister, but she didn’t say so aloud.

  Callie had turned up the radio and was offering a detailed critique of Velvet Revolver’s “Sucker Train Blues.”

  “She’s very savvy about music,” Kate observed. “I think she’s incredibly smart, but she hasn’t had much of an education.”

  “It’s not too late for that,” JD pointed out.

  Their silence was companionable. Kate considered opening a bottle of wine but rejected the idea. That was getting a little too…romantic. Not yet, she thought. But maybe someday. She was cautious when it came to men and romance, but she had her reasons. The biggest one was Aaron. He tended to form an early, intense connection with men she dated, and when a guy stopped coming around, it was harder on Aaron than it was on her. She smiled a little, shook her head.

  “Something funny?” JD asked.

  “I tend to overthink things,” she admitted.

  “Like what?”

  “Like us.” She laughed aloud at the expression on his face. “It appears you aren’t even aware that there’s an ‘us.’” She waited for him to respond, but he didn’t. Unlike her, he seemed perfectly content to sit in silence. Too bad, she thought. She had questions. “When you were in the military, what did you do?”

  “I was a medic.”

  “And you worked with Sam?”

  “Sometimes. We started off in different units but crossed paths a lot.”

  A medic, she thought. So he already had a medical background. His interest in medical school made more sense than ever.

  “Dishes are done,” Aaron yelled through the screen door. “Can I have dessert?”

  They had ice cream with caramel syrup, and afterward, Kate noticed Aaron rooting around in a cupboard for board games.

  “You should escape while you can,” she murmured to JD. “Otherwise you’ll get roped into Chutes and Ladders.”

  Despite the music from the radio, Aaron overheard. “No way,” he said. “We’ll play Scrabble.”

  �
�What’s Scrabble?” asked Callie.

  Aaron rolled his eyes. “Duh.” He set up the board for three players—Kate, JD, and for himself and Callie as a team. “She’s new and I’m a kid,” he explained, “so we get to work together.”

  “You don’t have to stay,” Kate said to JD.

  “I’ll stay,” he replied.

  Covering an inner thrill at that, Kate started with “gamble,” not exactly inspired, but at least it used her three best letters. After a whispered consultation, Callie and Aaron attached “gas” to that. In a stunning move, JD added “adenoma” to that. “Time to open a can of whup-ass on the Scrabble board,” he said, very nearly smiling.

  “Whup-ass,” Aaron said under his breath.

  “Adenoma,” Kate said, frowning. “I’ve never heard of it. Are you sure it’s a word?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s a word. And give me my thirty-nine points.”

  “Thirty,” said Kate.

  “Look again. The M gets a triple-letter score.”

  He was right. One of his tiles occupied the coveted square.

  Kate refused to give up without a fight. “I’m looking it up.” She grabbed the old yellowed paperback dictionary and flipped through the well-thumbed pages. “A noncancerous tumor,” she conceded. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Thirty-nine points,” he reminded her.

  It was only the beginning of her humiliation. For someone who made a living with words, she should have done better. The tiles were cruel, though. She drew a Q, but no U. She even had the sought-after X, though the board offered no place to attach it. She took so long deliberating over each move that both Callie and Aaron started yawning, their eyelids drooping. They both seemed relieved when the tiles ran out and the game ended. The final tally added up to victory for JD.

  “I’d better get going,” he said. “Quit while I’m ahead.”

  “JD, wait,” Aaron said, sounding a little desperate. “How are you at fixing things?”

  “What things? Like raccoons?”

  “Bikes. We got the tires all pumped up, but the chain on mine keeps falling off.”