Chapter 24

Kelly woke me up on Monday morning. She wiggled as she climbed on my body and began kissing me. We fooled around for a few minutes before taking our shower. Kelly fixed her hair while I sat on the counter watching. We talked about the trip and laughed. Then Kelly asked if I was going to get stuck again.

“No, but you’re going to get stuck,” I said.

“Goody, goody. When are you going to stick me?” Kelly replied as she smiled at me.

I slipped off the counter and moved behind Kelly. Placing my arms around her, I began fondling her breasts. She pushed her bare butt back against my growing hardon. Watching her in the mirror, I slid one hand down between her legs. She moved her left foot and spread her legs. I played with her pussy while nibbling on her shoulder.

“Mmmm, I think I might get stuck real soon.” Kelly leaned forward and wiggled her ass.

I rubbed my cock against Kelly’s bottom. She folded her arms on the counter, rested her head on her arms, and pushed back against me. Gripping my cock, I found her entrance and slipped in to her vagina. I held Kelly’s hips and began to move. She moaned and moved with me.

“It feels so good, baby, but please don’t come in me. I don’t want to leak all the way to the island,” Kelly said.

I moved slowly, enjoying the feeling of Kelly’s warm slick pussy. She rocked her hips and began rubbing her clit. I warned Kelly when I felt my climax building. She moved to her side, knelt on the floor and finished me with her mouth.

After regaining my strength, I put Kelly on the counter. I dropped to one knee and put my head between her wide spread legs. Kelly held my head while I licked and probed her. I flicked my tongue over he clit and mouthed her labia until she reached her orgasm.

Kelly slid off the counter and stood up. I rose up and we kissed. “What a wonderful way to begin our vacation,” Kelly cooed. She kissed me and licked her juices from my chin and lips.

I gave Kelly a hug and a smack on her bottom. “We better get going. Rob and Jenny will be waiting.”

“Let em wait. I want to hug and kiss some more,” Kelly said.

Kelly and I did what she wanted to do. I held her to me and we kissed passionately. A few minutes later, she backed away. “Okay, this will hold me for a little while. I’m almost finished in here,” Kelly said.

Kelly and I dressed in jeans, sweaters, and our hiking boots. She packed her makeup kit and told me she was ready. When we put on our vests, we laughed. “I know, it’s the same thing we wore when I ran the car into the gully,” I said.

In the kitchen, I made a pot of coffee and took a thermos out from under the sink while Kelly made toast. Rob and Jenny came into the kitchen and greeted Kelly and me.

“I made a thermos of coffee too,” Rob said as he came over to the sink where I was standing.

“Good, it will give us two thermoses for the mornings. Are you guys ready to go?” I said.

“Yeah, I put the last of our things in the back of the truck on the way in here. Is there anything I can do?” Rob said.

“Not really. We planned to have toast before we hit the road. I figure we can stop for breakfast later if it’s okay with you and Jen,” I said.

Kelly and Jenny began laughing. Rob and I turned around to see what they were laughing about so hard.

“Kelly told me you guys are wearing the same outfits you wore when you were stranded in the mountains,” Jenny said. “I told her I hoped we didn’t get stuck this time.”

Kelly laughed and said, “Yeah, and I told her I’d already been stuck today.”

The four of us laughed. Kelly carried the toast to the table and I filled cups with coffee. Before sitting down, I started a second pot of coffee.

It was ten after six when I backed the truck out of the garage. Rob and I sat in the front seat so Kelly and Jenny could talk in the back. We stopped after an hour to have a quick breakfast and refill the thermoses.

During the ride, Kelly told us about some things she learned about the photographic business. She explained how the stock photo market worked.

“The stock photo market will allow us to rent our images while still retaining ownership. We can earn money over and over. There are companies who handle everything and pay us a commission. Most of the companies split fifty-fifty,” Kelly said.

“We could provide links from our webpage to the companies,” Rob said.

“Couldn’t we do it ourselves and keep all the money?” I asked.

“Sure, but from what I’ve read, the companies who do it have established clients. They’ve already spent the money to get them. Some of the sites have testimonials about their services from their clients,” Kelly said.

“I think it’s worth checking out,” Jenny said.

“If you two see anything you would like to take pictures of, let me know and I’ll stop,” I said. “Jenny’s right, we should check out some of the stock photo companies.”

“Justin, we need to stop at a sporting goods store or a bait shop. We don’t have a minnow bucket. The girls need fishing licenses too,” Rob said.

“I’ll stop when we find one. Keep your eyes open,” I said.

“It won’t be too hard. A lot of the gas stations sell fishing tackle up here,” Rob told me.

We stopped in a gas station so I could fill the tank. As Rob said, the station sold fishing equipment. I told him to buy two minnow buckets in case Kelly’s dad and Vince didn’t have one.

It was close to noon when we pulled up at the ferry landing in De Tour Village. We waited for the ferry and pulled on when it arrived. During the short ride to the island, Kelly and Jenny got out of the truck to take pictures. Rob and I posed for a photo for the girls.

We found the resort and I pulled up to the office. I registered and the owner told me someone paid for cabins. He grabbed two keys from a board and led us to the small cabins. On the way, he told us his name was Adam and he and his wife bought the resort three years ago.

“Here we are,” Adam said. He pointed at the two cabins we would stay in for the week. “Take your pick. The one on the right has a bigger kitchen, otherwise they’re the same.”

Kelly, Jenny, Rob, and I went into the cabin with the smaller kitchen. We looked around and decided it would be better to let our parents have the larger cabin.

The cabin consisted of two small bedrooms with double beds. A bathroom with a shower stall, a living room, kitchenette, and dining area. There was a fireplace on the sidewall, a couch, two overstuffed chairs, and a square table with four chairs. Sitting at the table, you could see the lake and boat docks.

“The couch folds out and becomes a bed if you need it,” Adam said. He opened a cabinet. “You have a coffee maker, dishes, pots, and pans. There is no fish cleaning in the cabins. I have a cleaning hut down by the docks.”

“How is the fishing?” Rob asked.

“They’ve been doing pretty good lately. The ice has only been out for a few days. I have charts in the office. Stop by and I’ll show you where most of the locals fish,” Adam said.

“What about the boats?” I said.

“Each cabin comes with an eighteen foot boat and outboard motor. I sell gas and bait. When you’re ready, we can go down and I’ll get you set up with the boats,” Adam said.

“We’ll wait until our parents and their friends get here so we can do it at the same time. Where do we get firewood?” I said.

“The wood racks are full. I’ll keep my eye on them and refill them if they need it. If you have any questions, come up to the office. My wife or I will be here. Is there anything else you need?” Adam said.

“Is there a place to do laundry?” Kelly said.

“We have a washer and dryer in the garage. The garage is always unlocked. There are a few places to eat, a grocery store, and a few other shops in town. They have most things you’ll need,” Adam said.

“Thanks, Adam. We’re going to get the truck and unload,” I said.

Adam left. Rob and I walked back to the office to get my truck. I drove back to the cabin and parked.

“These cabins are cute,” Kelly said when Rob and I walked in with some of the luggage. “They have indoor plumbing.”

I laughed and asked Kelly which room we were sleeping in. She pointed to one of the rooms.

Rob and I unloaded the truck. Jenny and Kelly unpacked the bags and put our clothing into the dressers and closets.

“We need to go to town. We need coffee, bread, soda, and a few other things,” Jenny said. “I guess we should wait until Fran and Donna get here though.”

“Justin and I are going to walk down to the docks. I want to take a look at the boats,” Rob said.

I followed Rob down to the docks and we looked at the boats tied up there. Rob stepped off the dock into one of the boats.

“These are pretty nice. They have a good freeboard. I’ll bet these boats cost Adam a pretty penny. They’re not very old. If I owned one, I would have a bigger outboard, but the fifty horse motors should be fine,” Rob said.

I listened to Rob as he told me about the boat. He mentioned there weren’t any life jackets onboard. While we were looking the boat over, Adam came down.

“Where are the life jackets?” Rob asked.

“I keep them in the boathouse. You can get them when you’re ready to go out. I have a stack of five gallon buckets in there to. Help yourselves if you need them,” Adam said.

“What do you use the buckets for?” I asked.

“To put the fish in,” Rob replied.

“The tanks are full. If you take gas, write down how much and I’ll add it to your bill. The same goes for the bait. I have minnows and crawlers. I charge a buck for the crawlers and a dollar fifty a dozen for the minnows. If you want, you can pay twenty dollars and take all the bait you need,” Adam said.

“We’ll pay the twenty,” I said. “Add it to our bill.”

“It’s twenty dollars per boat,” Adam said.

I nodded and told him okay.

Adam went into the boathouse. Rob and I saw Kelly and Jenny heading our way and waved.

“Mom and Dad are here. They’re unloading their car,” Kelly said.

“Great, I’m going to go say hi,” I said.

The four of us walked up the hill to the cabins. I gave Mom a hug and then shook hands with Dad and Vince. After a brief greeting and introductions, Rob and I helped them unload the car and carry their things into the cabin.

“These cabins are cute,” Mom said.

“We decided to let you guys have the cabin with the bigger kitchen,” I said.

“I suppose you expect Donna and I to do the cooking,” Mom said with a chuckle.

“We’ll help, Mom,” Kelly said.

“I know. I was yanking Justin’s chain. How was your trip?” Mom said.

“It was great. Justin managed to keep the truck on the road this time,” Kelly said as she put her arm around my waist.

“Come on, it wasn’t too bad was it?” I said.

Kelly turned to me. She grinned and gave me a kiss. “No, baby, it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was wonderful.” Kelly gave me another kiss.

“We need to make up a menu and go shopping,” Donna said. “Fran and I brought a few things, but only snack food.”

Once the car was unloaded, we went into the cabin. The table had ten chairs around it so we could all sit together. Mom took a small pad of paper and a pen out of her purse. She began writing while the four women decided what we would eat. Vince mentioned we would be eating fish if we were lucky.

“I’ve been looking forward to this week ever since Fran called and asked if Donna and I wanted to go,” Vince said. “I used to come up to Cedarville to fish for perch, but it has been years. Now I do most of my fishing on Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie.”

“Do you have a boat, Vince?” Rob asked.

“Yes, I have a twenty four foot center console. I keep it in a marina, but I have a trailer so I can take it to Lake Erie when I want to,” Vince said.

“So, what is the plan for the rest of the day? Are you boys going fishing?” Donna asked.

“Isn’t it what we came up here for?” Dad said.

“That’s one of the reasons. Jenny and I are planning to take a bunch of pictures too,” Kelly said.

“We have to see if we can get a good map of the island so we don’t get lost,” Jenny said.

“Donna and I want to go fishing, but we’d like to go exploring with you girls too,” Mom said.

“Why don’t you girls go shopping? We’ll go fishing for a few hours and then we can have dinner,” Dad said.

The four women agreed. They left for the store and we walked up to the office. Adam gave us a chart of the bay and small islands near us. He marked a few of the places he felt we could catch fish.

We changed into warmer clothes, grabbed our gear, and headed to the boats. Adam met us and got us equipped. Rob suggested we take one of the boats and all fish together. Adam filled one of the minnow buckets with bait and gave us two dozen night crawlers. He told us the perch preferred minnows, but sometimes the fish would bite on the worms.

Adam helped us cast off and we were on our way. Vince sat at the helm while the rest of us sat on the other seats. He used the chart and compass to get to one of the areas Adam suggested. We saw a few other boats and Vince anchored near them.

“Don’t the other fishermen mind us being so close?” I said.

“No. The more bait we have in the water, the longer the fish will hang around,” Vince said.

Rob helped me rig my rod. He showed me how to hook the minnows so they looked natural in the water. Vince and Dad both knew what they were doing.

“Lower the sinker until you feel it hit bottom. When it does, reel up about a half foot of line. You want the sinker to tap the bottom. Perch bite gently sometimes. It will feel like a tick. When you feel it, pull up to set the hook. Don’t jerk too hard though,” Rob said.

I lowered my line. Feeling the sinker hit the bottom, I reeled in a little line as Rob told me. A moment later, I felt a bite. I reeled up the line and pulled in my first perch.

The fishing was great. We all caught fish and sometimes caught doubles. It was thrilling to reel in two fish at a time. Twenty minutes later, the fish stopped biting.

“What happened?” I said.

“Perch travel in schools. They’ve moved, but they’ll be back. We’ll wait a few minutes before we move the boat,” Vince said.

Dad looked in the bucket and smiled. “Looks like we have about twenty,” Dad said.

“We have eighteen,” Vince said.

“You keep track of the fish we catch?” I said.

“Yeah, it’s weird, but I have always done it,” Vince said with a chuckle.

We moved the boat several times. Each time we moved, we caught a few more fish. At four o’clock, we headed in. Vince told me to sit at the helm and taught me how to operate the boat. He showed me how to shift into forward and ease the throttle so the boat came up on plane. Vince also showed me how to trim the motor so the boat obtained the proper angle in the water.

When we approached the dock, Vince helped me pull in and stop. Rob grabbed the dock and pulled the boat against it. I shut down the engine while Rob and Dad tied it to the pilings.

We left our rods in the boat. Adam told us he never had a problem with theft and our gear would be safe. Dad carried the bucket of fish to the cleaning hut so we could fillet them. Vince went to the cabin and then returned with a small tool box. He pulled out a strange looking device and Rob told me was an electric scaler. Vince gave me the head of the scaler after he hung the motor on a hook. He showed me how to remove the scales from the fish.

Rob and Vince filleted the fish as fast as I could scale them. Dad rinsed the fillets and placed them in a bowl Vince brought down with his knives. A half hour later, we went to the cabin. Vince and Dad placed the fillets in plastic bags after rinsing them again.

Mom, Donna, Kelly and Jenny hadn’t returned yet. Dad made a pot of coffee and we sat around the table waiting for it to brew.

“We forgot coffee,” I said. “Kelly said she would buy some when they went shopping.”

“I figured we’d need coffee so I brought some from home,” Dad said.

Dad poured coffee for us. He sat down and said, “It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bet it’ll be cold in the morning,” Vince said. “The weather reports call for mid-thirties in the mornings and fifty to sixty in the afternoons. It doesn’t matter, we have warm clothes. We have to be careful though, if you go overboard in heavy clothing you can drown in a matter of minutes.”

The women pulled up outside the cabin. Rob and I went outside to help them carry in the groceries. Kelly waved us off, telling us they could handle it. I took a couple bags from Kelly and told her I didn’t mind. Rob gathered up a few more bags and we carried them inside. Rob and I sat down while the women put away the things they bought.

“We can have fresh fish tonight if you’d like,” Dad said. “We did pretty good out there this afternoon.”

“Sounds good to me,” Donna said. “We bought chicken and beef, but I’d rather have fish. We can make a batch of coleslaw and have boiled potatoes. There was a nice little bakery in town. We picked up fresh bread and donuts.”

“Looks like I’m cooking tonight,” Vince said. “I always cook the fish. At home, I cook it outside because Donna doesn’t like the smell in the house.”

“I don’t mind the smell, it’s the mess I don’t like,” Donna said as she hugged her husband from behind. She kissed the top of his head. “I don’t care if we cook fish in here, not with all these strong men to do the cleaning.”

Vince fried the perch fillets after the potatoes were cooked. Kelly and Jenny made the slaw while Rob and I set the table. We sat around the table and gorged ourselves on the fresh fish.

“The meal was marvelous,” I said. “I’ve had perch in a restaurant, but this was much better than any I’ve ever had.”

“There’s nothing like fresh perch. It is by far my favorite fish,” Dad said. “It’s been years since I’ve been fishing. I think this is going to be a great week!”

“Jenny and I found a lot of places where we can take pictures. Mom drove around for a while so we could check things out,” Kelly said.

“This island is almost all rock. They mine dolomite for making cement,” Jenny said. “We saw some of the big trucks today. Kelly and I want to see if we can find a place to take some pictures of the quarries.”

Vince went to his room. He came back with a bottle of liquor. “Would anyone care for an after dinner drink? I have a bottle of Cognac.” Vince placed the bottle on the table, went back to his room, and returned with a box. He opened the box and began taking out brandy snifters. “Can’t drink Cognac out of paper cups now can we?” Vince began placing the glasses on the table.

“You don’t plan to smoke one of your cigars in here, do you?” Donna said.

“No dear, I’ll go outside,” Vince replied with a chuckle. “She hates the smell of cigar smoke.”

Vince poured a small amount of the amber liquid into four of the glasses. He gave Kelly, Jenny, Rob and me a glass before filling four more half full. “Try it and see if you like it,” Vince said.

I tasted the fragrant liquor and found it fruity. It warmed my insides. Kelly took a sip and then smiled. She said she liked it. Jenny didn’t care for the Cognac. Vince told her he also had whiskey and vodka. Jenny asked for whiskey and cola.

Vince refilled Rob’s, Kelly’s, and my glasses. I watched as he swirled the liquor and inhaled the aroma. Mom and Donna sipped their drinks. Dad drank his, but switched to whiskey and water.

“Larry tells me you kids are going into business,” Vince said.

Kelly nodded and said, “Yes, we’re starting a photography business. Jenny and I take the pictures and Rob is going to take care of our website.”

“What is Justin going to do?” Vince asked.

“I’m going to learn about running a business and do the bookkeeping,” I said. “I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with the business.”

“Justin’s the banker,” Rob said. “He put up the money to get it started.”

“That’s a business transaction, Rob. I borrow money from the bank from time to time. They don’t have anything to do with how I run my business,” Vince said.

“I still feel funny about it,” Rob said.

“Would you feel funny if the money came from a bank or investors?” Vince asked. Rob shrugged his shoulders, thought for a moment, and shook his head. “You shouldn’t feel any different about Justin. If Justin can keep his head and he doesn’t try to use the fact he provided the seed money to try and run everything, it’s no different from getting the seed money from a bank or another source. The only difference is he’s a friend.”

“I didn’t think about it. I kind of felt we were taking advantage of Justin,” Rob said.

“The money is from Kelly and me. She’s in this as much as anyone,” I said.

Kelly smiled at me. I knew she didn’t like me to talk about the money as ours, but that’s how I felt. Vince talked about his business and gave us tips on forming ours. He told us a few of the pitfalls to avoid too.

Jenny and Kelly talked about their ideas. They told everyone they wanted to publish a coffee table book about the Upper Peninsula someday.

Dad built a fire in the fireplace. Mom told us they would have breakfast at seven o’clock the next morning. We decided the woman wouldn’t fish in the morning. I sensed the adults wanted us to leave so I got up, took Kelly’s hand, and pulled her to her feet.

“We’ll see you in the morning. I want to get some sleep so I can get up early,” I said.

Jenny, Kelly, Rob, and I said goodnight. We went to our cabin, Rob and I stopped to grab some firewood. I built a fire while the girls changed their clothes.

“I think my mom and the others wanted to be alone,” I said. “Besides, I would like to relax with you and the girls for a while.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m going to get out of these jeans,” Rob said.

I went to the bedroom and took off my sweater and jeans. I put on a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve tee shirt. Kelly put on a pair of pink and white flannel pajamas. We went out to the great room and sat on the couch. Rob and Jenny came out and joined us on the couch. We sat quietly watching the fire and snuggling.

“This is almost as nice as the cabin in New York, isn’t it, baby?” Kelly said.

“I think this is much more comfortable, sweetie,” I said.

“Maybe, but I still liked the time we spent there.” Kelly snickered. “That’s where you made me your woman.”

I laughed. So did Jenny and Rob. Kelly wiggled closer to me and rubbed my thigh. I put my arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm. We talked about our day. Rob and I told the girls about fishing and they told us about the time they spent with Mom and Donna.

“Donna is really nice. I kind of remember being at her house,” Kelly said.

“She’s cool. Donna and your Mom are so different from most of the other women their age I know. They’re way different than my mom,” Jenny said.

“I like them too. Vince and Larry are cool too. Vince seems to know a lot about business,” Rob said.

“Yeah he does. I hope you listened to him tonight,” I said.

“I did. What he said makes sense now,” Rob said.