“What you need is a
vacation. You should take the boys and do something fun,” Rene said brightly.
“Like they’ll want to go
anywhere with me,” Dylan whined. “They
think the divorce is my fault. They think I left them. I did leave them. I
suck!”
Rene rolled her eyes. “Jill
kicked you out. It’s about time you told them that. They are old enough to
accept the truth,” she snapped.
“Still, where could I
take them?” he asked, dejected.
“Well, there’s only fifty
states in the union for you to pick from. I’m sure you can think of something,
you goof,” she said irritably.
“Where are the girls?” he
asked only just noticing they weren’t home.
“They went shopping with
Jim’s latest chippy. She’s gonna be a super-model ,” she sang in a cutesy
voice then laughed.
He laughed too. “So, she’s
got no meat on her bones? What does Jim see in that?” he said, shaking his head
in wonder. He stared at Rene’s curvy bottom as she reached up to place dishes
on the top shelf.
Rene smiled
appreciatively. “You really know how to make me feel good, Dylan. Want to stay
for dinner? You know it won’t be no rabbit food with me cooking. I've got juicy steaks.”
He smiled. It was exactly
what he had hoped for. “If you don’t have any other plans.”
“Course I don’t. It’s
just me, myself and I tonight, plus you. The four of us should come up with
something fun to do. You can help me find my tent and camping stuff and get it
all together for next weekend. Not exactly fun but, you know, what the heck!”
“Where are you going?” he
asked in a panic. How could he survive without her around to bring him down off
the ledge?
“I’ve never been to the
Berkshires so I thought I’d take the girls up there for a blissful week of
camping. No Jim, no chippy, no computers, no numbers and no whiney people
asking annoying things about their taxes. I’m not even bringing make-up. That
way I’ll scare away any bears,” she said gleefully.
He laughed again. “Is
that what you think will scare away bears? You need lessons in camping, kid.”
“Oh, really? I’ll have
you know I’m a camping afficionado. I ain’t no novice. I was a senior girl
scout,” she stated proudly.
“Oh, doth mine ears hear a
challenge?” she countered, a sly smirk on her face.
“What do you mean? You
want me to run around your tent?” he asked baffled.
She laughed. “You goof.
That was my way of inviting you to come with us. We’ll see if you can show us
frail, little girls something about manly camping.”
“I don’t want to intrude…on
your girls’ trip,” he said wistfully. He couldn’t think of anything he would
like better, though.
“Chicken. Bet you weren’t
even a cub scout,” she taunted.
“All right, I’ll come.
When we leaving?” he said.
“Saturday, bright and
early. You should bring the boys. My girls can teach them how to fly-fish.”
He snorted with laughter.
“Your girls fly-fish? Little Penny and Kimberly? What have you been smoking?”
She smiled. “My daddy is
a fly-fishing champ and he taught me and I, in turn, taught my girls. They love
it as do I. Want me teach you?”
“I know how to fish!” he
shouted, indignant.
“Fishing off the side of
your boat is way different than fly-fishing. I’m a very good teacher. It’s
mastering that particular flick of the wrist that’s tricky, but I’ll be patient
with you. You’ll see. Grab the steaks. I’ll teach you how to grill, too. We rough
it when we go camping. We only eat what we catch.”
“Are you serious?” he
asked, incredulous.
“Totally. Trout for
breakfast, quail for lunch. Get the picture? Still want to come?” she asked
smirking.
“Oh, yeah. This I gotta
see!”
********
“Dad! Wake up, Dad!
They’re gone,” Chad shouted.
“What? What time is it?”
Dylan said, still half asleep.
“It’s about six but you
gotta get up. The girls are gone,” Ashton said . “They could be hurt or
something."
"You think a bear could’ve dragged them away without us waking up?” Chad asked, sounding frightened.
"You think a bear could’ve dragged them away without us waking up?” Chad asked, sounding frightened.
“What the...what are you
talking about?” Dylan said.
“Rene? Are you sure?” Dylan
jumped up and hit his head against the pole holding up his tent. He stifled a
curse and dragged himself out of the sleeping bag grabbing his boots as he
went. He pulled them on and looked around. The tents looked neat and orderly.
No bear could’ve taken them without leaving some mark. But how about a more
dangerous animal, like man?
“Did you boys hear
anything? See anything? Have you checked around?” Dylan asked, trying to stay
calm even though he felt close to panic.
“Well, they made coffee.
The fire’s blazing again. You put it out last night, didn’t you, Dad?" Ashton
asked.
“Of course, I did. Maybe
they went for a walk?” he said, totally unconvinced.
“In the dark?” Chad asked
making a weird face. “The sun’s hardly out yet.”
“Hey, look! Their fishing
stuff’s gone. They went fishing. They must be by the lake. Let’s go see,” Ashton
said. He took off with the other two following.
Fifteen minutes of mostly
running through the woods got them down to within sight of the clear, sparkling
lake. The sun was now peaking over the evergreen mountains. The crystalline
water reflected the sky in swirling sherbet colors.
“I hear them,” Ashton
said pausing in mid-stride.
“Holy crap! They’re swimming.
Are they nuts?” Chad said, astounded.
“Oh, yeah, they’re nuts,”
Dylan said as he caught a glimpse of the three girls splashing around and
having the time of their lives.
“Can we go in, Dad?” Chad
asked already sitting down and pulling off his hiking boots.
“Depends if
they’re....they wouldn’t,” Dylan muttered.
“What?” Ashton asked.
“You boys stay here,” he
said cautiously.
“Why? We wanna go in,
too,” Chad whined.
“Mr. Crenshaw? Is that
you?” Kimberly shouted from the water. Rene turned and smiled. She did have a
bathing suit on. It didn’t look like it from the back. Dylan felt both
disappointment and shame; disappointment that she was indeed dressed and shame
that he wished she hadn’t been.
“Sorry if I scared you
girls. We thought maybe you were skinny-dipping. Didn’t want to bother you,” he
said sheepishly.
Rene laughed. “But spying
on us was okay? I’ll have to remember that.”
“Can we go in now, Dad?”
Chad asked, already down to his boxers.
“If it’s okay with the
ladies,” he answered.
The boys ran around the
bushes and jumped into the lake. They let out whoops of shock.
“It’s freezing!” Ashton
shouted.
“You girls are crazy!”
Chad said through chattering teeth.
“It’s not that bad.”
Penny said dismissively. “What are you, a wimp?”
“Ain’t no wimp!” Chad
said, indignant. He splashed her full in the face and a mad splashing contest
ensued, girls against the boys. Rene walked slowly out of the water and went up
to Dylan dripping in front of him like a goddess.
“You just going to stand
there? You should come in. The water’s great,” she said, her smile brighter
than the sun.
“Somehow I don’t believe
you,” he said as he pointed at her arms. “Goose pimples don’t lie.”
“It’s just cuz of the
breeze,” she replied.
“You scared us, you know,”
Dylan said, his tone suddenly angry. “The boys thought a bear came and took you
and the girls away. I was thinking more along the line of a human animal. What
are you doing sneaking out like that?”
She cocked her head to
the side watching him, the smile never leaving her face. “You big, strong men
all worried about us weak little girls? How sweet,” she said giggling. “But you
see, someone had to get breakfast and you boys were out cold.”
He frowned. “You got breakfast?”
he asked, incredulous.
She took him by the hand
and went to a bucket sitting by the water. “More than enough for all of us. But
in case you and the boys don’t like trout this early in the morning, I brought
cereal bars. Don’t want my protectors starving.”
He stared at her aghast.
“You caught these while we were sleeping?”
He smirked. “Miss your
cushy bed and blankets, sissy girl?”
She laughed. “No, I love
being out here. So much to do, so much to see. Fresh air invigorates me,” she
shouted with glee. She threw her head back laughing at the newly risen sun and
spread her arms out as if to encompass the whole outdoors.
Damn, but she looked good
when she did that. He wanted to take her deep into the woods and do nasty
things with her. He gulped. He wasn’t supposed to think of that now. The kids
were here and they were only friends. But man, he never thought girly camping could
be this good.
He attempted to clear his
head of these lascivious thoughts—failing miserably--and muttered, “Yeah,
invigorating... that’s the word for it.”
Beautiful story, Glory--this is exactly why we like camping better...You write SO well! ":)
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