Blue Heaven (Blue Lake)

by Cynthia Harrison

  “What? In there?”

  “Yep. It’s great. You’ll see.”

  “But why?” Her arms were covered in goose bumps and she let his hand go, clumsily zipping up her hoodie while holding a blanket.

  The flashlight was big and shined a powerful light. Daniel grabbed her hand again and pulled her toward the old building.

  She wanted to know what the hell he was up to, but when she asked again, he said “You trust me, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then come on.”

  Once they were inside the barn, he shined the light around the big empty space.

  “See? Nothing to fear.”

  “I wasn’t afraid.” But she was, just a little bit, when Daniel’s light shone on a set of stairs. “Stair steps seem to be an essential component of our relationship.” She said it to calm herself down. She hoped he wasn’t planning some middle school horror monster joke.

  Daniel laughed low, as if not to disturb whatever creatures lurked above. He guided her to the stairs and took the first step.

  “No. Really? We’re going up?”

  “Perfectly safe. School kids come here all the time to drink beer, smoke cigarettes, and make out.”

  She giggled exactly as if she were a school girl. It was part parody and part real. Daniel made her feel that way. So young and carefree.

  “It’s perfectly legal for us to do those things in more comfortable places.” Despite the complaint, she followed him up to the roofless room on top of the barn.

  Again, he shined his light around the four walls. A discarded blanket. A few empty beer cans. Daniel picked a spot in the center of the room to lay down the blanket. She stood there, unwilling to lay down in case a mouse or a bat or something decided it wanted to make a nest in her hair.

  “Come on, lay next to me. The stars are amazing tonight!”

  So she lay down next to him, using her purse as a pillow against creeping creatures. Then she gazed up at the sky. It left her breathless. Here was a world, a galaxy, a universe, all around them. It made her feel very small but also a part of the largeness. Now scientists talked about multiverses. Universe after universe, reaching out toward infinity.

  “Where’s the moon?”

  “New moon tonight.”

  “I never knew what that meant.”

  “It’s because we see moonlight, which is really a reflection of the sun off the moon’s surface. The moon doesn’t really glow. It orbits around our planet. The moon, sun, and earth get into new patterns of orbit. When sunlight is blocked from the moon, we say “new moon.”

  “A friend of mine always did a new moon ceremony. Where she let the old go and blessed whatever new was entering her life.”

  Then they were silent for a time, star-gazing, making their own new moon beginning.

  “Thank you,” she finally said, turning her body on its side, facing him. “This is lovely.” She doubted high school kids watched the stars in here, but maybe some did. Daniel turned his body to hers, closed her in his arms, and kissed her. Her fingertips smoothed through his hair and she opened her mouth to his. She could kiss him until the next new moon.

  He pulled back but kept his arms round her. He gazed at her like she was a star. He brushed her cheek.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  She wasn’t, but it was a sweet thing to say, and she knew he meant it. She leaned in for another kiss. His hands didn’t roam her body, he gave everything to the kiss. His body touched hers from head to toe, so she knew he wanted to make love, or his body certainly did, and yet, he held back. He was going slow, as she’d asked.

  His kiss made her dizzy with desire, but then they heard a car door slam, whispers, and giggles stumbling up the stairs. They took a final look at the star studded sky, then rolled up the blanket and descended back to earth.

  Four kids, not much younger than Lily, piled in the doorway like a litter of puppies. One guy held a Bic lighter high as if saluting his favorite band.

  “Oh, hey, man, sorry.” Bic guy flicked off his light for a second, then relit it.

  “You guys want a beer?” The other guy held out a can while the girls giggled and whispered to each other with their hands over their mouths.

  “No, thanks.” Daniel declined the beer. “We’re just leaving.”

  “Later,” the beer guy said.

  Eva was okay with the kids interrupting them. She wanted her first time with Daniel to be special. On a soft mattress. But this had been a bit of fun, like high school, when she and her love of the moment and all their friends tried to find a place to be alone and act like adults when they all lived with their parents. That’s what Daniel had been up to tonight. He wanted them to have a high school experience. He was building memories. But what memories was she creating for him? She needed to seriously up her game.

  ****

  Eva stood outside in the sunshine, a box of kitchen things in various shades of blue for Blueberry Cottage in her arms, watching Bob stripping and painting headboards. Every frame had been assembled, every mattress delivered. Since all the structural work was finished, she and Lily had been adding little touches, filling the tiny kitchenette cupboards, adding toiletries to the bathroom cabinets.

  She was in a great mood despite the frustrating interruptions she and Daniel seemed to suffer every time they were getting to that place. The ultimate destination for two people in love. Not that he’d said he loved her. She hadn’t said it either, but she’d thought it. Maybe he was thinking it, too. Making love would happen at the right time, but last night, Lily had decided to sleep on the sofa bed in the living room. Daniel handled his exit discreetly, flushing the toilet and coming down the hall to say goodnight to both Eva and Lily.

  Lily’s room in the bungalow was painted and she had already appropriated the best of the headboards Bob had been working on for herself, a curving iron piece that Bob had lovingly removed the rust from and painted a pretty off-white to match Lily’s walls.

  Lily kept her cottage, too, so Eva never knew exactly where the girl was sleeping, but that would all be over soon. In a little over a week’s time, her first guests would arrive, and Lily would be in the bungalow for good. This thought didn’t bother Eva like it once would have.

  She went into Blueberry and arranged the tea pot and mismatched china cups and plates, then went back to the office. She turned on her laptop, intending to work on the Bryman House website, when she gave in to temptation and checked her email.

  Marcus. What the hell. Curious, she opened the message.

  “Heard about your little venture,” he wrote. “My news? Moving to New York next week to take charge of a boutique agency.”

  No Good luck, no Sorry, no It wasn’t you it was me.

  Damn him. She clicked off email and into her bank account. Her work crew had been paid and thanked. Now it was just Daniel and Bob doing finish carpentry upstairs and the occasional odd job. Bob refused to take a paycheck anymore, because he split his time between Bryman House and Blue Heaven, and he was just here “hanging out” and “helping Daniel.”

  It was probably a good thing, because she only had about $10,000 left, and she needed that as an emergency fund. It was less than Suze Orman said you needed, and until paying guests arrived, she’d be buying groceries with it.

  With the way Bob ate, next time he offered, she’d let Daniel pay for the pizza. Daniel. He’d made her forget about this venture. She needed to focus on her business and be very careful with her money.

  “You should have a party,” Jane said, coming into the office. Eva hadn’t even heard her car come up the driveway. She turned off her laptop and got up to greet her friend.

  “Very nice,” Jane said, running her hand along the refinished wood counter, checking out the gleaming bannister and the curved staircase, the newly papered walls, the little sitting area Eva had arranged just that morning.

  “A party?”

  “He’s almost finished, right?” Jane pointed upstairs. “
Invite the town. It would be a good way to thank the crew, and let their families see what they’ve been doing for the past six weeks.”

  “I would, but I’m on a budget here,” Eva confessed.

  “You’ll be fine,” Jane assured her. “You’re fully booked June, July and August. You’ve even got the fall leaf peepers booking early.”

  Eva knew Jane was right. Everything had been done according to plan. Everything would work out.

  “So like an open house? With soft drinks and cookies?” She would love to see Meg again. Luke and the others, too.

  “Potato salad and burgers, maybe beer and wine.” Jane added to Eva’s modest list.

  Eva was happy to do more to thank her crew. Inviting the town would be good for business and for her personal life. But what would a bash like that cost?

  “It’ll be fine. Everyone brings a side dish, Eddie donates a keg, you get the rest at Costco.”

  Eva loved the idea. “Okay.”

  ****

  Daniel stopped sanding the window sash when Eva came up and stood in the middle of the empty room. He wanted to hug her she looked so worried. He wanted to tell her everything would be okay. He wanted to tell her to please not start seeing Luke after he left town.

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing. Really.”

  “It’s something. You never just come up here. You hate sanding grit.”

  “Jane thinks I should have an open house. For the entire town.”

  “And this has you worried because?”

  “I’m trying to watch my budget. I mean, I really do want to do this, but should I? Maybe I should wait until Labor Day and hold a ‘Thank You’ barbecue instead.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Daniel said. “You know how the video has been getting crazy hits? Well, we can get my buddy to videotape the Open House. Imagine if every person in Blue Lake sent the link to the video to every one of their family members who live downstate or even out of state? You’ll be booked YEARS in advance.”

  She sat on the hearth.

  Daniel sat next to her. He reached over and put one hand on her knee.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. He wasn’t sure why he said it. To her, it might seem like it came out of nowhere, but she was all he could think about. How sweet she was. How hard she worked. How stupid the guy who dumped her was. How, for him, she was the right woman at the wrong time.

  “Sorry for what?”

  “Us. Me leaving town instead of settling down to raise babies like Meg and Steve.”

  She was so still next to him, he knew he’d hit a nerve. He was used to her always being in motion.

  “What smells so good in here?” she said, avoiding the subject again. He had no clue how to get through to her. He could feel their connection, why couldn’t she?

  “It’s the apple wood.”

  “It’s not even lit.”

  “I know. Imagine how it will be with a fire going.” Daniel decided to try out the fireplace. After all, he had to know if the room was going to smoke up before the open house. He drew a pack of matches from his pocket and lit the kindling he’d laid underneath the apple wood.

  “Why are we lighting a fire? Why are we chatting about old times, before we even knew each other? We have so much to do before the Open House!”

  Daniel grabbed Eva’s hand as she started to rise from the hearth.

  “I want to see if the chimney draws right,” he said. “And we can take five minutes to talk.”

  “About what? Us? Can we please just wait to go any more public than we already are until after the opening? I feel like everything is moving so fast. It’s finally here.”

  Daniel didn’t know where else to go with this. Why couldn’t they just date openly and see where it went once they were in it? How did you say that to a woman without sounding like she was being evaluated?

  She squinted.

  “Do you see smoke hovering up there around the light fixture?”

  “No.” Daniel felt frustrated but he also could sense the pressure Eva was under. So okay, he’d back off for a few days.

  “I thought we were in love,” she said, out of nowhere.

  Daniel felt a jolt of electricity, fear or excitement, maybe a combination of the two, until he realized she wasn’t talking about the two of them, but about the other guy, the older one from her past.

  “You’re helping me, like he did. You’re showing me the ropes. You’re giving me free labor and materials.”

  “It’s a trade. You’re going to help me with the museum.”

  “Still. It feels the same.”

  “And that’s bad because?”

  “Because it ended.”

  She wasn’t looking at him, but at the flames of the fire.

  He thought about that. So, she wanted a guarantee. Talking about Georgia and how he couldn’t wait to get out of town had not helped his case. Of course that would bother her. She was not the hook-up type. She was the dive right in and do it, get married and have kids, type.

  And then he remembered how he’d told her his parenting days were over. Right before he’d said that, she’d been warm and open. The next day she told him he couldn’t kiss her anymore. She’d made the excuse about work, but now he got it. He saw clearly who she was and what she needed. The question was, did he want to step up and give it to her?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Eva had just confessed her feelings about Marcus to Daniel when Jane came up the stairs, carrying a bottle of wine in one hand and three glasses in the other. He probably didn’t understand what she’d been talking about. He’d gone silent in the way men did when they were clueless.

  “This is gorgeous,” Jane said. Eva loved Jane. She’d become her best friend in such a short time. She cared about Daniel too, but he wouldn’t always be here.

  Looking from Jane to Daniel, Eva wondered about their shared past. They seemed so casual around each other. You’d never know they’d been lovers, that they’d raised Bob together. At least according to Jane.

  She noticed their interactions as Daniel accepted Jane’s glass of wine, pointing out the features of the room to her. Like old friends. Like family members. Not like lovers at all. Why did she keep looking for signs that were not there?

  She studied them for a few minutes. Did Jane touch Daniel’s arm out of friendship or unrequited love? Did Daniel use his shorthand way of talking to Jane because they grew up together or because he trusted her to understand his reference points?

  Just when Eva was starting to think that the two of them seemed so cozy and oblivious to her, Jane turned and grinned. “So, what’s the plan for the Open House? How can I help?”

  Daniel asked if anyone wanted to split a pizza.

  “Eva and I were going over to Fast Eddie’s for burgers,” Jane said.

  “What’s Bob doing?”

  “He and Lily had their eyes on a box of macaroni and cheese in the pantry,” Eva said.

  “You can join us,” Eva finally said, when Jane didn’t.

  “No, no, that’s okay. I want to finish sanding the mantel and get a coat of stain on her.”

  Jane looked at Eva and they both laughed.

  “What?” Daniel wanted to know.

  “You referred to the mantel as ‘she’ like it was alive,” Eva said.

  “Like ‘she’ was your girlfriend,” Jane teased.

  “Just go have dinner. You can bring me back a carry out. If that’s not too much trouble.”

  “No trouble,” Jane and Eva said at the same time.

  ****

  Eva and Lily had spent the day at the Costco in Port Huron, buying supplies for the Open House. Would four cases of wine would be enough? Eddie from the bar was going to donate a keg of beer. He also said he’d man the tap. One more worry Eva could cross off her list. She hadn’t known how she’d keep the teenagers from drinking.

  So far, the RSVPs were up to 200. Jane said more people would show up, not bothering to RSVP, or not knowing that it was even
required. Not everyone had a computer, not everyone had a cell phone. And Open House did sort of mean “come whenever if” or so Jane explained to Eva.

  She’d pulled a couple thousand out of the bank for food and paper products. Then worried over her bank balance. No need, she’d told herself, adding up the total for her first week’s renters. Still, a part of her would not be happy until she’d proved she could repay that loan not by reservations, but by cash in hand.

  They came home with a loaded down car and started unpacking. Bob helped, telling her he had finished staining the gazebo, a gift from the Bryman brothers. Eva had of course argued that the gazebo gift was entirely unnecessary, but they’d insisted, and she’d felt churlish about saying no so she finally accepted it with as good grace as she could muster. It was just that they were doing so much for her. It never ended. But she had to admit, the gazebo would be a great little place to sit with a summer drink, looking over the water without going down to the beach.

  Right now it sat under a huge canvas tent, just in case of rain. The side that was open to the water had been screened with canvas, and if it actually did rain, Bob could lash the other three canvas sides into place.

  “I’ll take the canvas down in the morning if the sun is out,” Bob said. Eva had no doubt that the sun would shine down on her party.

  Bob helped Lily get the rest of the party supplies unloaded and stored. He’d offered to man the barbecue at the Open House, and had asked for a certain kind of grilling charcoal, which they’d found, so he was happy.

  Eva went to the street to get her mail and saw the stack of dreaded credit card bills.

  She opened the bill that said “IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNT” on the outside of the envelope first. It said her interest rate had been doubled. Another card that had guaranteed zero percent interest for a year had raised her rate to 18%. She quickly did some numbers in her head. She hadn’t counted on the extra expense of these interest rates. She felt like she was drowning. She knew this was happening to people all over the country, but she couldn’t believe it had happened to her. Or that she’d let it.