Chapter 11

When we got back to the cabin Jennifer came to stand in front of me and with a very solemn face asked “Did you really mean what you said - about the addition to the cabin?”

I smiled and took Jennifer’s face in my hands. “Yes, my dear, I did. We’ll start collecting salvage logs and we can start laying out where the room will go. I can’t get anyone out to help me – yes I know you’ll help, but those logs are heavy and I need a few guys to do the work. I can’t get the guys until spring since they’ll be sleeping in tents.”

Jennifer was so happy she was quivering. Suddenly she grabbed me and gave me a big kiss and not just on the cheek. “Oh, Oh, Wow!” she finally said.

I managed to disentangle myself from Jennifer’s hug, smiled at her and thought ‘well here goes nothing’. I took Jennifer’s hands in mine and, after taking a deep breath, continued, “Jennifer, I’ve slowly come to the realization that in the short time we’ve known one another, I’ve fallen in love with you.”

It was interesting to watch the expressions on Jennifer face when I said that. First a look of confusion, then as what I’d said sank in, a look of delight. I paused and braced myself before I continued. “If – and only if - if you feel this way about me too, once you’re legally an adult, I’m going to ask you to be my wife. Now, we can’t do anything until you’re legally an adult so you’ve got to wait for a year and a bit.”

I had to brace myself again as Jennifer let go of my hands and launched herself at me, almost knocking me off my feet. I couldn’t speak because her lips were glued to mine. Finally I managed to get a break and looked at Jennifer. She was beaming from ear to ear and had tears – tears of joy I’m sure – running down her cheeks. “I take it you’re comfortable with that plan?” I said, smiling. That last comment cost me a slug on the shoulder – Jennifer has a mean right arm.

Over the next few months as weather permitted, Jennifer and I would search around on the shore of the island looking for suitable logs that had washed up. Some logs had a company stamp on them and those we couldn’t take. These were logs that had come from a ‘boom’ of logs, usually one that had broken up in a storm. Any logs with no stamp though, we were free to take. Jennifer became good at sizing up a log and deciding whether it would be useful to us or not. It got to the point where if Jennifer said ‘take that log’, I took the log without a second look.

During this period, things got real interesting. As Elizabeth had asked, I had waited until Jennifer was outside with Maggie then unwrapped the package she’d given me and discovered a box of condoms with a note – unsigned – saying simply ‘Be careful’. I found a place where I could hide the box and said nothing.

At first, Jennifer came and joined me in my bed on the floor in front of the heater. One evening, Jennifer told me she’d had enough of sleeping on the hard floor and that ‘WE’ were going to sleep in the bed behind the curtain. I realized that I was so in love with Jennifer that it was futile to argue with her, so that night my bed on the floor never got used.

As the days passed, I noticed that Jennifer was becoming less modest and would often do her ‘sponge bath’ while I was in the room. Usually all I could see of her was her back side, but on occasion she would move so that I could see some or all of her front. She did this without embarrassment and without any comment. I decided that the wisest thing to do was to keep my observations to myself. While I hadn’t been completely celibate since the breakup with my wife, any incidents of a sexual nature had been very infrequent and since coming to Haida Gwaii had been non-existent. Seeing a naked Jennifer caused me to have some natural reactions and I had a hard time trying to keep my erections hidden from her. I suspect from the occasional smirk that my efforts weren’t completely successful.

One day I got a message that Ron would be over the next day so I made up the bed on the floor and slept there that night. “Jennifer, we must make sure Ron sees nothing that would lead him to believe that there is anything untoward happening. He needs to be able to tell Edith that I’m sleeping on the floor and you’re sleeping in the bed behind the curtain. If he asks we can honestly say that was how we were sleeping.”

Ron came over, and as he’d said, just gave us the paperwork, both for the distant learning and for the fostering, and had a cup of coffee with us. He was much more relaxed here than he was back on the main island and we had a lot of fun chatting and getting to know one another more. At first Jennifer was a bit nervous but it wasn’t long before she was teasing Ron and trading puns with him.

We showed him what logs we’d collected and where we were going to add the extra room. He volunteered to put the word out and when we were ready, to help get the crew over to assist us in the construction. I’d left my pile of bedding neatly folded and but readily visible. I saw Ron look at it but he never asked any questions or asked to see where Jennifer was sleeping. Of course we never said anything either.

Before Ron left, we filled in the distant learning paperwork and asked Ron to mail it off for us when he got home.

One night when I got into bed I discovered Jennifer had not put her nighty on but had come to bed wearing only her panties. “Uhh, where’s your nighty?” I asked.

“It’s too hot. I’m just going to sleep like this tonight,” Jennifer replied.

I wasn’t real comfortable with that but having a set of naked young breasts snuggling up to your back was something that was hard to resist.

I’d not forgotten Jennifer’s birthday and had managed to purchase a card, some balloons and a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner. The morning of her birthday I managed to get the banner and the balloons up on the wall while she was out at the biffy. She was overcome with happiness when she came back in. “I’d almost forgotten that today was my birthday and I thought you’d forgotten too,” she said through her tears.