by Davis, SJ
“Good. Follow me. It’s about half an hour from here.”
She led the way to the Blanchard crossroads, crossed the river, and parked.
“We don’t need two cars up there,” she explained as she opened the back hatch for the dog. “It’s a long way…we might as well save the gas.”
Perched in the passenger’s seat, she directed him up the ridge to the Foss Mountain Road and along the backbone of Breakneck Ridge to the turn-off. Nine miles later, the Suburban pulled down the narrow road that accessed the camp. Lena jumped from the car and unlocked the gate, swinging it wide.
“What’s that thing for?” Alex asked.
“To keep autograph seekers away,” she said. “Go straight.”
Alex winced as a branch scraped along the length of the car. “If we buy this place, we’ll have to do a bit of brush cutting.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Lena smiled as he followed the road deeper into the woods. The road narrowed. It was a tight fit.
“How much farther is it,” he asked a mile later.
The indentation of the derelict driveway appeared on the right as the road ended. “Stop,” she said. “We’re here!”
Alex braked and turned to her, forehead creased in confusion. “Where?”
“Just down that path,” she said, pointing. “It’s the driveway, but it’s a little overgrown.”
She hopped from the car and released Zephyr. The dog bounded off into the undergrowth as Alex slid from the driver’s seat. Lena frowned when she saw his feet; he was wearing a new pair of Adidas, the mesh fresh and white. “Didn’t you bring any boots?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t think I’d need them. The snow’s been gone in Stamford for six weeks already.”
“Oh well,” she said, “it’s too late now. You’ll just have to wash the mud off when we get back to the motel.” She ducked beneath a low-hanging branch and took off down the path, leaving him to scramble through the muck behind her.
When they reached the clearing, she stopped and stood silently as Alex took a long look at the cabin, the lake, and the mountains behind it.
“Holy Mother of God,” he said, softly. “Jesus H. Christ, Lena, you were right! The pictures don’t do this place justice.”
“I know,” she said. “It’s spectacular, isn’t it?”
He shook his head, eyes wide. “It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
She laughed. “Don’t set your standards too high…the interior of the camp kind of detracts from the view.” She led the way across the snow-covered grass and turned the key in the lock, pushing the door open without a word. Alex grimaced as his eyes wandered over the mounds of garbage inside.
“You just have to picture it empty,” she said.
“I’m trying.”
“We can hire someone to help us clean it out,” she added.
“We’ll have to hire a couple of someones from the looks of it.”
“I’ll come up and clear out the junk myself. The next time you see it, the inside of the cabin will be perfect.” She sneaked a glance at his profile; Alex looked less enthusiastic than he had a minute before.
“I guess I’d better take a look upstairs,” he said finally.
Lena took a deep breath and nodded. He’d seen the worst of it and he was going in. “It’ll clean up fine, Alex, trust me. We’ll get new furniture and appliances and it’ll be beautiful in a couple of weeks.”
He was silent as he climbed the stairs to the second floor. Lena pointed out the larger bedroom’s view of the water.
“You’d really be willing to come up here and deal with the dirty work yourself?” he said.
“Yes. I’ll get rid of all of the junk and hire someone to help with the carpentry. Give me six weeks and the place will be as good as new. Better!” She grabbed his hand and tugged him back down the stairs. “Come on and check out the dock. Marge says the fishing’s great.”
“We don’t fish,” Alex pointed out.
She ignored him.
“With a generator for your computer and a satellite for internet, you can work here as easily as you can at home. And look at this.” She held the Gazeteer open to the map of the area. “All the roads around here are logging roads and trails. Half of them are unused. The hiking should be great!”
“Is that the Appalachian Trail?” Alex said, tracing his finger along a dotted red line that crossed the page, bisecting Foss Mountain Road.
“Yes. You can hike all the way to Monson from here. It would take you all day, but you could do it. What do you think, Alex? I know it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn close. At least it’s as close as we can afford.”
Alex hesitated before he answered. “You know I won’t have time to help you fix it up, Lena. Once I sign the new contract with HarperCollins, I’ll have to deliver on it.”
“I know.” She took his hand and squeezed his fingers. “Please Alex. I want this more than anything in the world. Please can’t we make an offer?”
Alex closed his eyes. She studied his expression anxiously.
“I know it’s a lot of money and the camp needs some work,” she said. “I know we should use the insurance money to pay off our mortgage in Connecticut, and I know it’s totally impractical. But please? I need this right now. I don’t know what I’ll do without it.”
Alex sighed. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. We’ll make a first offer of $320,000. If we can get it for $330,000 or less, we’ll buy it. We’re prepared to pay $360,000 anyway, so that will give you $30,000 to get it fixed up and we’ll still have money left over from your dad’s life insurance to invest. How does that sound?”
Lena didn’t reply; she pushed him back against the splintered boards and kissed him.
“Mmmm.” Alex grinned up at her and pulled her down beside him. “It’s too bad the cabin’s so full of crap…we could christen it right now.”
“Too bad,” she agreed.
His next suggestion took her by surprise. “How about if we christen the dock instead?”
“Isn’t it a little cold for that?” she asked.
“I’m game if you are,” he said, tugging at his belt.
“Okay,” she said. It was cold on the dock and wide open. She lay back and shimmied out of her jeans after a cautious glance behind her. “What if someone comes?”
“Relax. There’s no one up here.” Alex hovered above her, his pants around his ankles. “This is what I meant when I said we had to relax. No thermometers, no calendars, no oysters or four leaf clovers. Just you and me in the great out of doors…it doesn’t get any better than this, does it?”
“As long as you’re a fan of sub-forty temperatures and a lot of splinters,” she muttered.
Alex ignored her. The dock creaked and groaned beneath them in the calm of the cold afternoon. Lena closed her eyes and went through the motions. Once upon a time, sex had meant love. It had meant hope. It had meant the possibility of a baby. Now, sex was just sex. She shivered in the cold afternoon air as Alex moved faster, feeling nothing but cold.
Across the pond, sunlight glinted off glass, unnoticed.
Chapter 6.
“We made an offer!”
Annie paused; she looked up from the cooler she was restocking, a beer in hand, and flashed a quick smile. “Hey there, Alex. Good to see you.”
“You too, Annie,” he said. Smoothing his flawless black hair into place, he reached across the bar to kiss her on the cheek. “How’s life treating you these days?”
“Great. Yourself?”
“Couldn’t be better. I take it Lena told you about the camp?”
“Yes.” Annie disentangled herself and took a step back, turning to Lena. “You really put in an offer?”
Lena nodded. “$320,000. Marge Quimby said it’s acceptable…she’s cautiously optimistic.”
“Congratulations!” Annie poured two shots of Jack Daniels and a shot of cranberry juice and placed them on the bar before her. She lifted the cranber
ry, clicked glasses and knocked it back. “Here’s to you guys. Welcome back to the Great North Woods of Maine. I know it’s supposed to be bad karma to celebrate before the deal’s signed, sealed, and delivered, but what the hell… let’s celebrate anyway.”
“Don’t jinx us, Annie,” Alex said. “We’ve only made an offer. It hasn’t been accepted yet.”
“If someone offered me $320,000 for a cabin in the woods, I’d take it in a heartbeat,” she said, turning away to mix a rum and coke for the lunch waitress.
“Are you off tonight?” Lena said. “Alex and I are going to the Greenville Inn for dinner. We’d love it if you could join us. It’s kind of another pre-celebration, celebration thing.”
“Sorry, sweetie, I would, but I’m busy.” She winked at Lena and bent back to the cooler.
“Some other time?” Alex said.
“Absolutely. Have fun. Are you planning to stick around for a couple more days?”
“Just tomorrow,” Lena said. “Alex has to be back in the city by Saturday. He’s got an appointment with his agent that can’t wait.”
Annie smiled and grabbed her arm. “Then we still have some time to catch up. Stop by tomorrow morning and we’ll chat while I get the bar open.”
“We’ll be here,” Alex said.
Annie frowned. “I was hoping for a little alone time with Selene, Alex. Girl talk, you know? Think of it as an extra hour to sleep in.”
Alex shook his head. A lock of hair fell across his brow. He pushed it back into place and tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking on his heels. “Girl talk. Right.”
“You’re sure about tonight?” Lena said.
“Positive. Have a good time and I’ll see you in the morning. Ten o’clock.”
Lena nodded and took Alex’s arm as she led him from the bar.
“What was that all about back there?” he asked when they reached the sidewalk.
“What?”
“The ‘love to but I’m busy’, wink-wink, nudge-nudge routine. Since when is Annie busy on a Tuesday night, pre-season?”
Lena shook her head. “I’d tell you, but I’m sworn to secrecy.”
“She’s not back with Jake, is she?” he asked.
“No, she’s not back with Jake.”
“Too bad,” he said. “I always liked the guy.”
Lena laughed. “You’re lying and you know it.”
“No I’m not.”
“You are, too,” she said. “You’ve always been jealous of Jake. And cut the ‘I love your best friend like a sister’ routine while you’re at it. I know you think Annie’s hot.”
Alex turned up the hill toward the Greenville Inn, walking fast. Lena jogged a few steps to catch up.
“I wish she was back with Jake,” she added. “I thought they were good together.”
“So who is it then?” he said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, Lena, she’s positively glowing!” He turned to face her, grabbing her by one arm. “Who’s she fucking this time?”
“I’d tell you but I’m sworn to secrecy,” Lena said, pulling away. “How’d you know there’s a guy involved, anyway?”
Alex started back up the hill. “Annie’s always got some poor sap on the hook. Why wouldn’t she? She’s drop-dead gorgeous. Blonde hair, blue eyes, nice tits, great ass. Shit, Lena, she’s got it all…the whole package.”
Lena frowned. “Nice of you to point it out. Again.”
He shrugged. “What do you want me to do? Lie? Annie’s hot. Everybody thinks so! So come on, tell me…who’s the lucky guy?”
“That’s it,” she said, tapping her foot on the sidewalk. Spinning around, she headed back down the hill.
“Where the hell are you going?” he said, starting after her.
She walked faster, slapping his hand away from her arm. “Annie’s my best friend, Alex! I’ve known her all my life.”
“So?”
“So, I know you think she’s hot and I know you want to fuck her, but you could at least pretend that you don’t, for all of our sakes.”
“That’s not true, and you know it. God! What is it with you? We just placed an offer on the camp of your dreams. This should be a happy occasion!”
She sneaked a glance over her shoulder. Alex was staring after her, his arms crossed against his chest and face flushed.
Shaking her head she continued down the hill. “Annie doesn’t even like you!”
Alex’s response was clipped and angry. “Alright, then, go. I’m sorry you don’t like being teased about your girlfriend but I didn’t mean anything by it. You want to blow off dinner? Fine. We just committed ourselves to a quarter of a million dollar contract, why spend any more on food?”
“It was my dad’s money,” Lena shouted back. “I’ll spend it how I like!”
Alex caught up to her a minute later.
“Wait,” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad. Please…forget everything I said. Let’s start the evening over. I love you. I’d like to take you out to dinner.”
She hesitated. Ahead of her, the sky was flooded with pink and purple as the sun sank behind the mountain. “Why, Alex? What’s the point? All we seem to do these days is argue.”
“We’ve been under a lot of stress lately, Lena. Between the infertility treatments, my new contract, and your dad’s death we’ve been stretched pretty thin.” Alex smiled. “Listen, I’ve already said I’m sorry. Come on… have dinner with me, please? We’ll drink some wine and have a good steak and forget about all the crap for one night. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a call back from Marge and have a real celebration.”
“No more Annie talk?” she said.
He shook his head. “No more Annie.”
Lena turned around and started back toward the Inn as his cell phone began to ring.
“Should I answer it?” he asked.
She shrugged. “It could be important. It’s the number you left with Marge, isn’t it? What’s the area code?”
“207.”
“That’s Maine. It’s either Marge or Annie. My bet is Marge.”
“Alex Walker,” he said, answering after the third ring. He listened for a moment then nodded to Lena, his eyebrows raised as he listened.
“Yes…yes, I see…Okay...uh huh...We’ve discussed the possibility…we’ll offer $330,000…Yes. $330,000...That’s right…Thanks, Marge…Sure thing.”
“You were right,” he said, hanging up the phone. “It was Marge Quimby.”
“And?” Lena waited, barely breathing.
“The owner counter-offered…$340,000.”
“And?”
“And I played the game, just like we said we would.” He grinned and brushed back his hair. “I countered his counter with $330,000. Marge was excited. She seemed to think he’d accept it.”
“We’re going to get the camp?” Lena said, their argument forgotten.
“It sure looks that way.” He took her arm and led her up the stairs. “Might as well order a bottle of champagne or two with dinner. I mean, if we’re going to celebrate, let’s celebrate!”
Lena nodded. When they were seated, Alex ordered a bottle of Cristal and she raised her glass for the first toast.
“Here’s to us and our future on Blackwater Pond,” he said. “May we spend the happiest days of our lives there.”
She leaned forward and touched her glass to his. “To Blackwater Pond,” she repeated. “And happiness.”
Beneath the table, she kept her fingers crossed.
Chapter 7
Lena shook her head as she studied her best friend the next morning. “Love agrees with you,” she said, sighing.
“It isn’t agreeing with you this morning,” Annie countered. “What happened? Were you up late?”
“A shot of Jack Daniels, a bottle of Cristal, and two Irish coffees happened to me.” Lena slumped across the bar, her head in her hands. “I think I’m dying.”
Annie lau
ghed. “If you’re dying, where’s Alex? Sleeping in?”
“Walking Zephyr.”
“Thank God for small favors and dogs.”
Lena reached for the condiments, took an olive from the tray, and put it down. “Uh. I feel like shit.”
“I can fix that.” Annie poured tomato juice into a tall glass and spiced it up with horseradish and Tabasco. “Vodka?”
Lena shook her head. “It’s only ten o’clock.”
“Bloody Marys work better, but a Bloody Shame will help. Drink it. You’ll feel better.” She stirred the juice and placed it on the bar. “Did you get any response to your offer yet?”
“Marge called when we were at dinner…the owner countered.”
“That’s a good sign.”
“Uh huh. We countered his counter. Now, we’re waiting.”
“Waiting’s always the worst part, isn’t it?”
Lena nodded. She sniffed the drink and took a sip. “Alex guessed your secret last night,” she said, holding her breath as she swallowed.
“You told him?” Annie put aside the rag she’d used to wipe down the bar and turned back to Lena with a frown.
“Nope. He knew it as soon as he saw you. I lied and told him you’re not getting laid, but he said he could spot it a mile away.”
“Getting laid?” Annie shook her head.
Lena shrugged. “I could have said fucking.”
“Fucking? I mean, really, Selene. How about ‘making love’?”
“Okay. Making love.” She swallowed the rest of the drink and shoved the glass away, reconsidering the olive. “So, how about it? Are you going to tell me about him or not?”
Annie crossed her arms and rocked back on her heels. “Our secret this time?”
“Swear. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Okay,” she said, dropping her voice. “His name’s Thor Anderson and he’s 38.”
“38...”
“Don’t look so shocked! I’m 29…he’s less than ten years older than me.”
“I guess I was thinking he’d be a little younger than that,” Lena said. “Go on.”
“I already told you he’s a botanist. Let’s see… what else? He’s from Minnesota, he’s not married, he’s absolutely gorgeous, and he thinks I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. He likes to fish, and hike, and snowshoe, and ski. He’s absolutely perfect!”