Chapter 4

So Rhonda continued to heal and I did everything I could to aid her recovery. We couldn't take long hikes because of the cast on her leg, but we managed about an hour of walking every day around the clearing. She was chomping at the bit to get some real exercise, and the cast on her leg was driving her nuts.

We talked a lot about her and Jeremy, how he was doing without a dad. From what she told me, he was as well adjusted as a kid could hope to be. Just about anything a dad could provide by way of outdoors activities, she could do, probably better than most men. She said she'd never seriously been tempted to remarry, although it wasn't totally out of the picture if the right guy came along.

I probably shouldn't have, but I couldn't help remarking that I wished I was finished with college and fifteen years older, that I'd be on my knees in a New York minute offering her a ring.

She stopped and kissed my cheek. "Don't wish your life away like that, kid. You're definitely the kind of man I'd have to consider seriously, but that wish isn't going to come true and we'll likely never see each other again after your grandfather takes you home."

I hadn't thought about it in those terms and I guess I was a little hurt. "Really? We won't see each other again? But why not?"

She stood facing me and took my hand. "Curtis, I don't see anything good coming from that. You have a life to get on with and so do I. Look, I've enjoyed every moment we've spent together. You're a great guy, an awesome lover and a true hero in my mind. I'll always cherish the memory of our time together as one of the high points of my life. I hope you will too."

Of course, she was right and I knew it. I just didn't want to deal with the reality that she was only one episode in my life, and not something more.

I grasped at a straw. "But maybe we could stay in touch, like call each other and Skype."

"You know I'd be interested in knowing what's going on in your life, Curtis, but not if it's going to lead to false hopes on your part. No, I think we should fuck like rabbits until the day you go home, then get on with our personal lives. Clean break! Whadda ya say?"

Her expression told me she wasn't gonna budge, so I nodded my agreement. We continued our walk around the area in silence.

Over the remainder of our time together, I guess I gained a little of that depth Granddad was talking about, but for the rest of that day, I was kind of sad about the thought of splitting with Rhonda permanently. But then I got to thinking about how impossible it would be for us to have any kind of a relationship other than as friends. And that only if I grew up and faced the reality of the situation.

But that woman did more to kick my butt into adulthood than any other person, with the possible exception of Granddad. We kidded each other a lot, we made love a lot, we even shared some tears, but all the time, our relationship was self-limiting, destined to come to an end. Rhonda is the one who taught me that even emotional pain can be a good thing because it can make you open your eyes and see past your fantasies.

Once I got over the fleeting, ethereal nature of our relationship, I actually felt better about screwing her socks off every day. Knowing sex was there for our mutual enjoyment and not a predecessor to a complex involvement in each other's lives, it became even more fun, less encumbered. I was determined to leave her with the impression that I was the best lover she'd ever had, set a bar that was gonna be damned hard for any future man in her life to top. She seemed to have the same goal in mind for me, and that made for some incredibly hot sessions in the sleeping bag.

So our last week together was a pure joy. We laughed, we joked, we washed each other, we made passionate love, and we lived every minute to the fullest. I couldn't remember every being so completely happy to wake up in the morning, and Rhonda said she felt the same way.

Then the day before Granddad was due to arrive, we came close to losing it all.

I was up on the tower talking to Granddad on Rhonda's cell phone. We left it up there because she was able to plug her charger into the power converter. I was telling Granddad how to get to the road that we used, that it would make it a lot easier to bring in the replacement groceries he was bringing along as well as carry down all my and Rhonda's stuff to the 4-Runner.

I was strolling around the walkway, talking on the phone when my peripheral vision caught some movement in the trees. My brain automatically assumed it was probably a deer, and I stepped inside to get the binoculars. But then, it occurred to me that I saw the color blue, and there was nothing about any wild creature I knew of that was blue, not unless there was a mandrill monkey wandering around in the forest.

I said, "Hold on a second, Granddad. I think I see something."

I laid the phone down and looked through the binoculars. I scanned the trees carefully from inside the glass, but I wasn't seeing anything. Until ... yeah! There was a jeans-clad leg visible just behind a tree about ten feet inside the tree line. Someone was hiding and that could only mean one thing.

I grabbed the phone and said, "Granddad, I think the guys who shot Rhonda are out there in the trees watching us. I need you to call the State Patrol and get them up here ASAP!"

"Curtis, are you sure?"

"Hell no, I'm not sure, but I'm not taking any chances. I've got to get down to the cabin and warn Rhonda! I'll call you back if I'm wrong, but in the meantime, you call the cops. NOW!"

I didn't want to alert them that I'd seen anything, so I pocketed the phone and started down the steps, nice and slow like I didn't have a care in the world. I kept my face turned so I could see that group of trees out of the corner of my eye. When I got to the ground, I casually picked up a couple of chunks of wood from the pile beside the cabin before stepping inside.

Rhonda was napping. I turned the deadbolt lock and dropped the wooden bar across the door. Then I drew the curtains on both windows and knelt by the sleeping bag to wake her.

"Rhonda! Rhonda!" I whispered.

She opened her eyes and smiled. Then she saw my expression and sat up. "What is it, Curtis?"

"Um, I'm not sure, but I think the guys that shot you might be watching the cabin from inside the tree line. I'm pretty sure I saw a guy's leg sticking out from behind a tree trunk when I was up in the tower just now. Where's you .22"

She reached under the pillow on the bed and pulled it out, releasing the cylinder to make sure all the chambers were loaded. While she was doing that, I'd picked up Granddad's Henry .30/30 and loaded a cartridge into the chamber, adding one more to the magazine.