Chapter 24: Thank You

I was too excited to sleep. It was still dark out when my eyes popped open, but regardless of the time, I knew I was awake for the day. A check of my watch showed that I still had over an hour before I really needed to be up.

Then again, sleep was just time away from Heather at this point. She would be coming to pick me up after dropping her parents off at work, since they had allowed her the use of the car for the day. I figured I could pack up my stuff now, so that I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it later.

Just as I was about to get out of bed, Lara came into my room. I made a surprised face at her, although she probably couldn’t see it in the darkness. She was never up this early, unless there was an unavoidable reason.

“What are you doing up?” I asked her.

“I went to sleep early, right after dinner,” she explained as she came to my bed. “Move over.”

I slid toward the wall and Lara lay down next to me.

“What’s up?”

“What time did you get home last night?” she asked.

“I don’t know. It was after midnight, though.”

“I got up to pee around two, and Frej was still here!” Lara whispered excitedly. “He was out on the porch with our parents!”

“Damn! I told them not to stay up too late,” I said with a laugh.

“Maybe they’re not just flirting.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on. It’s kind of strange, since Frej seemed like he still missed his wife, when he was talking about her on the boat. I got the feeling he missed her like crazy. But he seems to like our parents.”

“But we live so far from each other,” Lara said. There was a pause, and then she spoke again. “Do you ever wonder if our parents want to find someone else?”

“You mean a man?”

“Yeah.”

I shrugged. “Maybe. It’s been a long time since Dad died.”

“What do you think of Frej?” Lara asked me.

“Frej? He’s really cool. I like him.”

“Me too,” Lara agreed.

“And obviously our parents do too,” I added.

“Well, I guess we’ll see what happens. What are you doing awake, if you got in after midnight?” Lara asked me.

“Heather’s coming in a little while to get me. I’m going to pack up my stuff so I’m ready.”

“Oh, cool. What are you two going to do today?”

“We’re going to go out to eat tonight; other than that I’m not sure yet. Heather’s got the car, so we’re just going to hang out, have fun. You want to come along?” I asked.

“No, Matt, you should spend the day with her. You’ve already been really nice to let me come on the fishing trip and stuff. But you’re sweet for asking.”

“All right. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, go into town, swim, whatever. Maybe this year I’ll pack the day before.”

“Instead of ten minutes before we leave?”

“Or something like that,” Lara said with a laugh.

“All right, move out of the way. I’m going to get to work.”

Lara yawned. “I might stay here. Your bed is really comfy. Next year I get this room.”

“We’ll see. But I have to pack now.”

“Go ahead, I’ll just snooze. Don’t worry about me,” Lara said, already turning around and settling into a snuggled position.

I shrugged, and then climbed over her and out of the bed. Packing took a little longer without light; but fairly soon, I had my clothes put away, and my Walkman and books in my backpack. Lara was sound asleep again.

I was on my way to the kitchen to find a drink when I stopped in my tracks, my mouth falling open. For a few moments, I just stared. Then I quietly but quickly crept back to my room.

“He’s here!” I whispered urgently to Lara, shaking her shoulder.

“What?” Lara croaked groggily.

“He’s still here!”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Frej’s car is still in the drive!” I said quietly.

Lara seemed to come out of her sleepy state, and she sat up. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“No way.”

“Go look,” I challenged.

“No, I believe you,” Lara said, slowly.

There was a long moment of silence as we considered the meaning of this.

“Maybe they drove him home,” Lara said. “He was pretty buzzed.”

“So were our moms, probably even more than he was. But maybe they did drive him. Either that, or he stayed the night. Or walked? Maybe he lives nearby.”

Again there was some silence. The room seemed to glow ever so faintly due to the first morning light coming in through the windows.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

“I guess they were horny,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“Lara!”

“What? They do have sex, you know.”

“I know that,” I said emphatically. “But with Frej? Right after meeting him?”

“Why not?”

“It just seems so ... fast.”

“How long until after you kissed Julie did you start having sex with her?” Lara asked simply.

“What? I don’t know. A week or something? But so what? I’ve known her forever. Even with Heather, it took a year.”

“All right, true,” Lara admitted. “But they’re adults. We’re all leaving tomorrow. Maybe they were just, you know, having some fun.”

I sighed. “It’s weird.”

“Why? I thought you liked Frej.”

“I do. It’s not that. It’s just so ... obvious! Too obvious. They’ve never done anything close to this.”

“They don’t need our permission.”

“No, but ... How are they going to explain Frej still being here in the morning?”

“I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to find out, though,” Lara said, sniggering slightly.

Right at that moment, we heard some footsteps in the house. Clearly someone was trying to be quiet. Then the front door squeaked, and closed. The low gurgle of Frej’s car coming to life rumbled our ears next, and then it faded away as he drove off.

“Sneaking out, that’s how,” Lara said, in answer to our question.

I laughed. “I thought only we did that.”

“Guess not.”

“You’re not bothered by this?” I asked.

“It’s a little out of the blue, but whatever. I think Frej is cool.”

I stood for a little while longer, looking around in the gloom, and then shrugged. “Back to packing, I guess.”

“I’m going to sleep in a little more,” Lara said lazily.

“I thought you went to bed early last night?” I teased.

“Heh, maybe I wasn’t quite ready to get up after all!”

“Sleep well then. I’ll see you later, sometime.”

“Bye!”

I went to the porch to collect my guitar and a few other items that had gotten strewn around the house over the three-week stay. On the porch couch was a pillow, a couple of blankets, and a note. The paper wasn’t folded, so I took the opportunity to read it.

Sarah, Melissa,

Thank you for the wonderful meal last night (and a place to sleep off the spirits). Today’s clients are waiting, so I have to slip out early.

Until later, Frej

Again I hurried back to my room. “Lara, wake up!” I whispered.

“What!” she said, somewhat startled.

“Frej slept on the porch.”

“What?” She seemed more asleep now.

“He slept on the porch, not in our moms’ room.”

“Oh.”

“I think he just stayed because he had too much wine,” I added.

“Fine,” she murmured.

“Okay, bye.”

She’d already drifted off.

When Heather arrived a little later, we shared a long, quiet kiss in the entryway before we said anything.

“That’s the way to start the day out,” I said, savoring the remnant of her lips.

“Mm hmm, definitely. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah. I packed all my crap this morning, so I don’t have to do it tonight. Except for sleeping, I can be with you until I leave tomorrow morning,” I announced proudly.

“Do you have to sleep?” she asked mischievously.

“Well, I guess not.”

She just smiled and gave me another kiss. “Let’s go. Bring your camera.”

“Oh, all right. Let me get it.”

I went to my room and grabbed the camera bag. Despite trying to be as quiet as possible, Lara stirred when I knocked something over on the dresser.

“Jeez, last time I ever sleep in your room,” she muttered, sounding annoyed.

“Sorry.”

“I was just kidding. Are you out of here?”

She was not annoyed, after all.

“Yeah. Heather is waiting in the living room.”

Lara got out of bed. “I’ll come out and say hi. Might not see her before we leave,” she explained.

I followed her out into the living room.

“Hi, Lara,” Heather said happily.

“Morning,” Lara replied. She inadvertently yawned as she pulled her into a hug. “Sorry! I came to say goodbye, in case I don’t see you later.”

“I don’t work tomorrow morning, so I’ll come by to see you off,” Heather said.

Lara pulled abruptly out of the hug. “In that case, no hugs!” she joked, before giving her another tight squeeze.

Sarah appeared behind us, looking like she was still half-asleep. “Hi, Heather. I thought it was you. In case I don’t see you tomorrow—”

“She’ll come by when we’re leaving, Mom,” I said impatiently.

“Oh, good. I didn’t know if we’d see you today, since you’ll be out and about.”

“Yeah, I’ll stop by in the morning, don’t worry,” Heather explained again.

“Can you pass the word, so everyone else doesn’t get up too?” I said exaggeratedly. “Else we’ll never get out of here!”

Sarah chuckled. Suddenly she glanced at the porch. “Is... ?”

“No, he left,” I answered before thinking.

“We didn’t feel good about letting Frej drive home last night, so we put him up on the couch,” Sarah explained.

“That’s cool,” Lara and I both said at once.

Too quickly, perhaps, since Sarah looked at us oddly for a second. “Well, I’m back to bed. It’s too early to be awake!”

“Yeah, totally,” Lara said through a yawn. “Getting up early really isn’t for me,” she added. “Don’t know how you two do it.”

I rolled my eyes. I followed Heather out the front door, so my mom could lock up.

“That was quite the greeting party,” Heather quipped as she backed out of the drive.

“Yeah.”

“So Frej stayed the night, huh?”

“Apparently.”

“On the couch?”

“Apparently,” I repeated.

“Sounds like they were partying late.”

“I think so.”

“You sound a little bit weirded out.”

“No. I actually think it’s kind of neat,” I said slowly.

“Why?”

“When we were fishing with Frej, I really liked hanging out with him.”

“I could tell. You spent more time with him than with me!”

“Hey!” I exclaimed, but then I noticed the grin on her face.

“It’s all right, I didn’t mind. Plus I got to know Lara a little more,” Heather added happily.

“Mm. Anyway, I like Frej. I’m not saying anything is going to happen between my parents and him, but maybe. I wouldn’t mind seeing him more. And, there’s an added benefit, you know.”

“What’s that?”

“If he comes to visit my parents...”

A large smile crossed Heather’s face. “I like that line of thinking, Matt.”

“Or we may come here more often than once a year.”

“Ooh! I hadn’t thought of that! Then again I didn’t know he’d slept over, either.”

“I’m probably just dreaming,” I said, waving my hand vaguely, “but if there is something going on, I don’t mind. Where are we going, anyway?”

“Let’s go to the lighthouse and get some pictures.”

“You know, I’ve never actually been here,” I said, as Heather drove up the short lane that led to the hilltop on which the beacon stood.

“Really?”

“Never really had reason to, I guess.”

“It’s cool. We’re on the very tip of the island, now.”

She parked and we walked around the side of the tower. Despite the early hour and a slight breeze, it was quite warm. The sun was just beginning to touch upon the grounds. No other cars were present and the surroundings were empty of people. It felt like we were the only two humans on earth.

“It’s taller than I thought,” I remarked, looking up the side of the red-banded white tower. Perhaps ten stories high, it was surrounded by a few smaller buildings.

“They built this almost two hundred years ago.”

“Cool. Do they still use it?”

“Oh yeah, for sure.”

“I didn’t know if nowadays the boats all use radio or whatever.”

Heather shrugged. “I’ve seen it on at night.”

“Ever seen it in a fog?” I asked.

“I have, a few times. The beam cuts right through and swings around through the night.”

“Neat. It must be a relief to see that light if you’re out on the ocean at night,” I said, imagining myself standing on Frej’s boat in the pitch black, unaware of my location.

“I’d say. Frej has seen this from twenty miles out.”

“Serious?”

“Yeah. The lens is like three feet wide.” Heather pulled my hand. “Come on, let’s take some pictures while the light is soft. I want some good ones of you to look at while you’re gone.”

“Same here,” I agreed. I touched my forehead. “How’s my bruise today?”

Heather examined it with a grin. “Very cute.”

We set up our cameras and Heather took some photos of me first. I much preferred being behind the lens since I felt a little self-conscious about posing. As soon as the time came to stand casually, my limbs seemed like awkward props and my face could not find a relaxed position! But Heather seemed satisfied with how I looked.

When it was my turn to shoot, I took my time, trying to remember the things I’d wanted to correct after looking at my last batch.

“Being methodical is the trick,” I said, as I snapped a well-composed picture of Heather. “I think that was a good shot of you.”

“Cool. Set up your tripod so we can get some of the two of us,” she suggested.

I realized we only had a few shots of us together, including the ghostly one at the swings. “Good idea.”

Setting up the timed shots was a bit more challenging, but we managed to frame what seemed to be good ones of us. For the last picture, Heather pulled my head to the side and kissed me just as the shutter clicked.

“I think I’m going to have a surprised look on my face for that one!” I said.

Heather grinned. “Let’s go closer to the water.”

We gathered our things and made our way down the grassy slope to the top of the rocky seawall, against which the waves pounded.

“What did you ever do with that roll?” Heather asked.

“Which roll?”

She raised a brow.

“Oh, that roll,” I drawled. I patted the side of the camera bag. “I still have it, in here.”

“Are you going to develop it?” she asked innocently.

“How?”

“You need to find a darkroom.”

“There’s one at my school,” I said, “but I don’t think I can just use it.”

“Now you have a reason to, though.”

I laughed. “Maybe.”

“Come on, I know you’re dying to see what that picture looks like.”

I shrugged, smiling slightly. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“Whatever!” she exclaimed. “I want to see it too. You have to get it developed.”

“Why do you want to see it?”

“It’s my first nude shot. I want to see how it looks,” she explained simply.

“You make it sound like it’s not your last,” I observed.

Heather giggled. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“On you.”

“Me?” I asked, arching a brow.

“Yeah.”

I watched her carefully for a moment. “How’s that?”

“If you want to take more,” she said coyly.

“Sure ... Oh, you mean now?”

She gazed at me expectantly. I instinctively took a look around, before catching myself.

“That’s a little risky, isn’t it?” I asked, realizing how obvious my words were the second they left my lips. “And that’s why you want to do it,” I added, in response to her mischievous nod.

I sighed, trying to calm the arousal that was threatening to take over from reason. But why listen to reason, really? We were both willing, and we’d seen each other naked. At worst the pictures would sit on an undeveloped roll for years, in a suitable hiding place. At best...

“Right now?” I repeated.

“Sure.”

I glanced around again. There was no one in the area. “What about the lighthouse? The operator could be watching us.”

“Nah. They automated the lamp a few years ago. I don’t think anyone is here. Besides, I’m probably not going to strip totally nude.”

“Probably?”

“Are you going to take them, or not?”

With that, she proceeded to remove her shirt, leaving her pink bikini top in place. She walked to a rock and sat, stretching her legs out before her. She whistled innocently.

“Well?”

I broke out of my stare and snatched at my camera, fumbling with the lens cap. “But the pictures that we already took on here...” I stammered. The photos that I’d just taken of her clothed would be locked away, if I didn’t change rolls.

“How many are left?” she asked.

“Four.”

“Take them, quick,” she urged.

It was hard to be ‘methodical’ for those four shots. I wasn’t sure if I even had the aperture set right. Once finished, changing rolls seemed to take hours. I started pulling out a color roll from its case, losing the gray cap forever to a crag in the rocks beneath my feet. Then Heather reminded me to use black and white, or I’d never be able to develop it. Then I couldn’t get the tongue of the film to engage the cylinder in the camera. Then...

Meanwhile, Heather removed her bikini top, draping it neatly on the rock next to her. She hummed contentedly, wearing a little grin while I hurried to advance the initial void frames. Her arms were folded across her front, hiding her breasts from view.

For a second, I forgot about the camera and just gazed at her. I took a deep breath, trying to etch this moment into my head. She looked beautiful! Her soft, smooth skin was set off against the dark, jagged rocks of the seawall, with the whole scene surrounded by the navy background of the ocean.