Northern Proposals

by Julia P. Lynde

  "What about pushy women?"

  "You're not pushy," I told her.

  She grinned at me. "I am dominant."

  "I don't even know what that means."

  "Have you ever asked a guy out?"

  "Sure," I told her. "A few times."

  "Were they guys you were already dating?" I nodded. "So you've never taken the lead in the relationship?"

  "I don't know what you mean."

  She paused, turning to look at me. "Have you ever asked a guy out for a first date?"

  "No. That's just weird."

  She smiled. "If you were gay, and you liked another woman, would you ask her out?"

  I thought about it. "I don't know." I paused. "I instigate things with my friends."

  "With your boyfriends, how often do you instigate sex?"

  "Never."

  "Why not?"

  I didn't have an answer for her.

  "You don't like sex?" she asked.

  "That depends upon my partner," I told her. "Sex with some guys is all right. With others it's dull."

  "Just all right? Take it or leave it?"

  "Yeah, I guess."

  "Then you're doing it wrong." She took a breath. "When I say I'm dominant, I'm kind of like the guys in your relationships. I tend to do the asking. I tend to do the instigating. I tend to be the one making sure that things are happening. I tend to take the lead. That's not an absolute. I also like to be asked and pursued"

  "And you hold car doors."

  "Yes," she said, smiling. "And I hold car doors."

  "But none of that makes you pushy," I pointed out.

  "No, I wouldn't push someone into a relationship if she was letting me know she wasn't interested. Why would I do that? But in a relationship, I'm kind of pushy."

  "Pushing her to do things she doesn't want?"

  "No. That's not fun." She paused. " You got a taste last night of what else 'dominant' implies."

  "The silk?" I asked. Jessica nodded. "That was exciting. And intimidating."

  "You looked hot," she said with a grin.

  "In my granny jammies?"

  "Even in granny jammies you looked hot."

  I laughed. "No one looks hot in granny jammies."

  "Granny jammies made you look all sweet and innocent. Adding my silk made you look vulnerable and trusting." She sighed dreamily.

  "Seriously?"

  "Now you know my deep secrets," she said with a smile. "I like sweet, innocent and vulnerable."

  * * *

  We finished our walk, teasing each other and taking more photos. "What would you like to do?" she asked.

  "Seriously?" I asked. She nodded. "Go talk to a realtor and see if we could look at that cabin you like."

  "Really? It will certainly sell before I can afford it."

  "I think it would be fun, but if window shopping would leave you frustrated, we could just go swimming again instead. I'm sure looking at me doesn't frustrate you at all."

  She laughed. "Jade, I'd love to go see it. I wonder if we can get in."

  We each cleaned up from our hike in the woods before driving into town. There were two realtors in town. "Karen Carlson Realty sounds good," Jessica said. We parked in front of her storefront and stepped into the office.

  "Be right with you!" a woman's voice came from the back of the office.

  We looked around briefly. It was a standard receptionist area. There were six chairs and a coffee table full of magazines. We sat down and talked quietly about cabins. After a few minutes, a forty-five year old woman stepped out and greeted us.

  "Hi," she said. "I am Karen Carlson."

  We introduced ourselves, then Jessica said, "I've been thinking about buying a cabin, maybe on Reece Lake. Is this the right place?"

  "Absolutely," she said. "I can help you with a cabin anywhere in the area, and there are several available on Reece Lake."

  "We're up for the weekend, and there's one I've had my eye on for a while. Is there any chance at all we could see it this weekend?"

  "We can try setting up an appointment," Karen said. "Let's go back to my office and talk about what you're looking for."

  We nodded and followed Karen into a back office. It was small but tastefully decorated in a northern woods scheme. The walls held photos, a mix of what were clearly pictures of her kids as well as scenes from the Minnesota woods. Her desk held several examples of artwork her children would have done in school. We sat down in the chairs waiting for us.

  "Can I get you something? Coffee? Water?"

  "We're good," Jessica said.

  Karen chatted with us for a while. "Are you two a couple?"

  "No, coworkers," I replied. "Yesterday I begged Jessica's help this weekend on a project, but she had arranged the weekend up here, so we fit both in."

  "Oh, how lovely!" Karen said. After that, she oriented the discussion on Jessica. She took out paper and asked a bunch of questions, taking notes. Jessica clearly had thought about what she wanted, but then Karen asked, "Do you need a garage?"

  "Not really," Jessica said.

  "Actually," I said. "It would be preferred. Or at least enough land to add one."

  Jessica looked over at me.

  I smiled.

  Karen made a note.

  Karen asked some more questions before finally asking, "Have you thought about price range?"

  "I think I need a little more down payment money than I have," Jessica said. "But I was hoping to find something for around two hundred thousand."

  "Maybe as much as three hundred," I added.

  Jessica looked over at me again. "I don't want payments that big, and it would be forever before I could have the extra down payment."

  "Maybe I'm looking, too," I told her. I looked at Karen. "So maybe only two hundred, but possibly three hundred." Karen nodded and took more notes.

  Karen had just a few more questions. I didn't interrupt. "Well, the good news is, there are cabins in the range you want. We also have good lots available, which might give you the opportunity to have your dream cabin built just the way you want." She talked about what she had. Then Jessica described the place on Marcy's lake.

  "Oh, that's a lovely cabin," Karen said. "I know just the one. The owner just lowered the price to one-ninety-four-five. There is no garage, but it's a deep lot, and you could build a garage." She paused. "Arlys Benson lived there year round, so it is even winter ready. Would you like to arrange a visit?"

  "Yes, if at all possible."

  She turned to her computer and typed for a moment, squinting at the screen. "The home is part of an estate sale. The owner died, and her daughter lives in California. She's hired a local handyman to keep the place up for her, but she just wants to sell it. I have no other appointments this afternoon. Let me see if I can set something up."

  She picked up her phone and dialed a number she clearly had memorized. "Hey, Lane, it's Karen. I have a couple here who would like to see the Benson cabin on Reece." Pause. "Today." Pause. "Excellent. Thanks, Lane." She hung up and turned to us.

  "Did you want to look at others today?"

  "Let's start with that," Jessica said. "And then while we're there, we can talk some more."

  "Perfect." Karen got up and led us to her car. I climbed in back. Karen asked us where we were staying, and Jessica gave an abbreviated answer. The two of them made small talk during the ten-minute drive to the cabin Jessica wanted. Karen turned off the dirt road onto the dirt driveway leading to the cabin. There was an area for parking but no garage.

  We got out and I got a look at the back of the cabin. It was just as cute as the front. I liked it. If I looked, I could see the neighbors on both side, but they weren't right next to us. There was some privacy both from distance plus trees and bushes between us, including a few evergreens. Even in the winter there would be some privacy.

  Karen led the way to the back door. She did the magic realtor things to open the door then led the way inside. We followed her in. Karen passed thro
ugh the cabin to the front and opened the front doors, giving us a cross breeze that quickly aired the cabin out. Then she gave us a tour.

  It was small, about the same size as Marcy's with two bedrooms and a single bathroom, but it was cuter. It was bright and cheery, and I immediately loved it.

  "Is there a furnace?"

  "Yes," Karen said, looking at the data sheet. "There must be a basement." She looked around but didn't see a door that might lead to the basement.

  I stepped back outside then hollered, "There's a root cellar door." I opened it, descended a steep set of stairs, and discovered the basement was just a utility room. It didn't extend under the entire cabin but was just big enough for the furnace and well. It was musty and had cobwebs.

  I climbed back upstairs and reported that to Jessica.

  "I don't care," she said. "But I want it available all year."

  "Mrs. Benson lived here," Karen said. "It should do very well in winter."

  We looked around some more then stepped outside and stood on the front porch.

  "I wanted it," Jessica said quietly to me when Karen wasn't right next to us.

  "I want to know what another hundred thousand would get," I told her.

  "I can't afford much more than this one."

  "I'm curious." I paused. "You couldn't write an offer today?"

  "No. I don't have the down payment."

  "Let's go talk to her. I'm just curious."

  "All right," Jessica said.

  We collected Karen and stepped back inside. I began asking questions. I started with, "How does this compare to other cabins in the area for a similar price?"

  "It's always hard to judge," she said. "Lot sizes vary so much. The lakes are all different. And no one builds tract house cabins, so every cabin is unique. Some have garages, some don't. Many are larger but don't have even a tiny basement. Many aren't insulated or have a furnace."

  She paused. "For similar money, I can find a bigger cabin on a smaller lot. I can find a similar cabin on a larger lot, but this is a really nice lake. This is a good size lot, and you could expand the cabin and build the garage you want, when you decided to do that. In my opinion, this is priced properly, and I'm surprised it hasn't sold."

  We talked for a while. Jessica was puzzled at my questions, but I ignored the looks she gave us. Finally I was down to one remaining question.

  "Do banks give loans to unmarried couples?"

  "All the time, if they both have good credit."

  That's when Jessica realized what I was doing. "You want to buy it with me."

  I smiled at her. "Maybe. This place is really cute and I love it, but I would want us to be able to invite friends. If you and I each have a bedroom, where do our friends sleep?"

  I turned to Karen. "Clearly we haven't talked about this. Until yesterday, we've never socialized together. But I think we're becoming friends. Is this weird?"

  "I can't comment on your friendship," she said with a smile. "But it's not uncommon for two families to buy a cabin together. It's not necessarily common, but I wouldn't call it rare. It makes a lot of sense. Share the expenses, share the work, and most people don't use a cabin even half time, so sharing it with someone else doesn't need to be onerous, even when it's two families. Neither of you are married?"

  "No," Jessica said. "So I expect we'd come up together a lot." She looked at me. "Are you just teasing me?"

  "No, but I'm not ready to commit to anything, either," I said. "We don't really know each other well enough to enter into something like this yet." I turned to Karen. "Are there standard agreements for something like this?"

  "I've had a few clients who have purchased houses together like this. It is common to write a contract outlining what happens if one of them wants to sell." She talked about it with us for a while.

  "If we were willing to spend another fifty or a hundred thousand, would we find something much better?"

  "You would find a little bigger cabin and maybe a garage. This is a beautiful lot, and you won't improve on it without spending a lot more."

  "So if we come back in a few months or next year and are ready to buy something, this cabin might be available, but probably not. But you could find something we would like, especially if we're willing to spend a little more."

  "Yes. Definitely."

  After that we got up and roamed around the cabin for another couple of minutes. Then we locked up, and Karen drove us back to her office. She gave us a little more information, and we thanked her for her time.

  In the car, Jessica turned to me. "You're serious."

  "I'm not teasing. Have you ever been somewhere and loved it immediately? I love it up here. But we would need to know each other better. This is a big commitment." I paused. "And I would want a boat, but I don't know the first thing about them, like what they cost or how to take care of them. I don't even know how to drive one."

  "You're really serious."

  I smiled. "How do you feel about it?"

  "I love it. Did you really want a different one?"

  "I loved that place," I told her. "But unless we're sharing a bed, how would we have guests?"

  She nodded.

  "If you have a girlfriend or I have a boyfriend, then we can't both come up plus bring guests, unless people sleep on the sofa or the floor."

  She turned away and started the car. She waited for a chance then backed out and drove us back to Marcy's. Neither of us said anything. When we got home, Jessica said, "We should fix that."

  "Fix what?"

  "I should teach you how to drive the boat. We have time before dinner."

  "Oh, and I want some more swimming."

  * * *

  It was fun learning how to drive the boat. Jessica had me do everything, and it was a lot easier than I expected. "There are more complicated boats. This one is pretty simple."

  "Simple is good. We wouldn't need anything complicated. Would you want a ski boat?" I asked her.

  "We would have to talk about whether we wanted a pontoon boat or a ski boat first. I wouldn't mind having both. If I could only get one, I'd probably get a ski boat. If we were going to have a bigger cabin and have more than four of us up at a time, then a pontoon boat is a better party boat."

  I drove us to go look at "our" cabin again. She turned to me beseechingly. "I want it."

  "I do too," I told her. "But we may hate each other by this time tomorrow."

  She paused and sighed. "You just told me not to seduce you. We can buy the cabin as friends, or we can buy it as lovers, but we can't buy it as failed lovers."

  I thought about it for a bit, considering the implications of buying it and then having a falling out. "If you had the down payment, could you make payments without me?"

  "Yes. I wouldn't be able to buy a boat for a while though. I'd probably find a cheap canoe or rowboat. I can fish from a rowboat, and I can go motor boating when Jon takes me."

  "Let's go swim," I said. She nodded. I motored us out to the middle of the lake and killed the engine. "Why don't you swim from shore?"

  "I do," she said. "But this is fun, and I like sitting on the deck of the boat letting the waves rock me. It's hypnotic and relaxing."

  There was a little more boat traffic this afternoon than there had been this morning, but it was still quieter than I would have expected. I stripped down to my swimsuit and dived into the water. Jessica was right behind me. She followed me a distance from the boat, then I smiled at her, slowly backing away closer to the boat.

  "If you can catch me, you can kiss me," I said playfully, then immediately dived under the water and began swimming back to the boat.

  I didn't bother looking back but headed straight for the boat. I didn't know if she was behind me or wondering where I was. I did her trick and came up underneath the boat, being careful not to hit my head. My heart was racing as I imagined what she would do with me, what we might do together.

  Then I felt her hands on my legs, and she rose up next to me, immediatel
y wrapping her smooth, athletic legs around me. I slipped under the water, and she pulled me up. I was sputtering from the sudden dunking.

  "Sorry," she said.

  I smiled and grabbed the boat for extra flotation. "It's okay," I said, my heart thumping. "You caught me," I told her. I sounded breathless, and I found myself staring at her.

  "What are you doing?" she asked. Her green eyes gleamed at me. Drops of water glistened in her eyelashes and ran down her cheeks.

  "Flirting," I breathed.

  She pulled herself closer, wrapping herself more completely around me. My heart was pounding as I stared into her compelling eyes. Her legs and arms enveloped me completely. I'd never been held like this before, especially not by a woman, and I decided I liked it. A lot.

  She studied my face, watching my reactions. Surely she had to know my heart was bursting. I wanted her to kiss me. I licked my lips.

  "I don't know how I'll feel on Monday," I told her, my voice cracking. "Right now, it's just a kiss."

  She pulled closer and I closed my eyes. Her lips brushed mine tentatively and withdrew.

  I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was studying me, perhaps wondering how I was about to react.

  "I don't understand," I told her.

  She looked away, but she hadn't stopped holding me, and my heart was still pounding, but I felt myself growing upset and feeling rejected.

  "I thought-" I said. I interrupted myself. "Never mind. I should have kept my mouth shut about the cabin. Now you're all freaked out."

  She looked back at me. "You raised the stakes awfully high."

  "If you were only risking a broken heart, would that have been a real kiss?"

  "Yes."

  "Either kiss me properly, Jessica or unwrap yourself."

  I closed my eyes again and waited. Either she would kiss me or she had damned well better unwrap herself from me.

  She started to loosen, and my heart began to break, but she was only adjusting her grip, and soon I felt her legs curl further around me, her body pressed more tightly to mine, and then her lips were on mine.

  I wrapped my free arm around her, pulling her against me, my heart thumping madly in my chest. When she flicked her tongue against my lips, I parted for her, and I felt her tongue slide between my open lips.