“Turn around. You don’t want to miss this.”
“Oh, right.” I twist my body half way, my butt never lifting off the canoe seat. When I can no longer hold on to the edges of the boat, I hurry to move the rest of the way. And I’m glad I risk my life for the view.
The canoe gets closer and closer to the island Bennett pointed out, but as my eyes adjust I’m able to see it’s not just any island. The island is the fort. The whole thing. From the way we approach, giant stone walls reach up toward the sky. Two sets of windows with one on top of the other spaced perfectly apart line the tall structure. The green trees that were visible from afar are not actually on the island, but growing on top of the Fort. The bricks of the front wall jet up right out of the water without an entrance in sight. I have no idea how Bennett and I will make it onto the actual fort for this picnic. There is no door or docking point.
Bennett turns the canoe again as he guides us around the imposing structure. “Isn’t she amazing?”
“Uh-huh.” I nod my head unable to give a better response as my eyes follow every rock, and brick structure created by this amazing fort. Rivers of red rust lines run down from the windows in what was once a modern giant in construction. Yet on top of the stone structure, the lush green overgrowth bridges two worlds together. One of strength in hard concrete and the other, nature as she works to take back her land.
The canoe continues on to the side of the fort where we turn with a ninety-degree angle at one of the sides. As of this point I spot the small stretch of land we will use to get on the island. It’s not very large and is mostly sand and some rocks, but at the end of it, smack dab in the middle of a long stretch of the fort, is one tiny door. It’s the only point of admission to this so-called park I’ve seen.
The canoe hits the shore hard, my tired fingers latching on to the sides to stop me from tumbling overboard, but it’s not needed. With a twist and turn Bennett positions the boat to his side, jumping out, and pulling us to shore before I even realize what’s happening. When more than half the boat is on dry land, I scoot to the middle and step out. Bennett wraps the backpack around his shoulder and takes my hand before heading to the small doorway cut out of the large fortress.
The overbearing stone doors open and Bennett walks through like he knows exactly where we’re going. There is darkness as we walk through the sole enclosure, under an archway of smooth rock.
“Oh my God,” I whisper when we reach the other side and daylight falls on the space. The middle of the fort — and the island — is a lush green tropical expanse of land. A green carpet of forest floor surrounded by the walls of the fortress. And unlike Bennett’s earlier statement, someone has definitely been here and mowed. The grass is cut short to the ground and smooth, making the area around us a symposium of straight lines — the intersection of man and nature.
Bennett stops walking, but I continue until our hands stretch out between us. “Do you like it?” he asks.
“Do I like it?” I spin in a circle making sure to get every single view. “I love it. How did you know I’d like this?”
Not every girl would. A bird flies overhead — probably a seagull — squawking and throwing a fit before it heads back out to the ocean. I smile watching it fly away. I love this place, it’s like its own little hideaway from the rest of the world.
Bennett laughs stealing my eyes from the sky. He pulls me to him with one flick of his wrist and kisses me. Quick but tender, enough I want to forget the landscape and spend the rest the afternoon with him somewhere private.
Before I suggest the option he pulls away. “I don’t know. But the eight episodes of ‘The Most Beautiful Places in the World’ you made me watch on the Travel Channel was a clue.”
It’s one of my favorite television shows. I made Bennett watch the reruns every night after Liam went to bed when I was at his home.
“But this wasn’t one of the places.” I’d remember if this had been on one of the episodes.
Bennett twists me around, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “No, but it’s one of the most beautiful places I know.”
“Can we go anywhere in the fort?” The place we stand, created by tall stone pillars and arches breaking up every single section of the wall, catches my attention again. I’m already eyeing one of the openings in the corner edge.
Following the line my eyes travel, Bennett walks us in the same direction. “We can explore everywhere if it’s open. I’ve heard more than one cannon was left behind and you can find them in the overgrown bushes.
“A cannon?” I ask excitedly as we walk underneath the first arch. “We are definitely finding the cannon.
Bennett lets go of my hand allowing me to walk a little way ahead.
“You lead and I’ll follow,” he calls after me.
The opportunity to spend the day with Bennett exploring an old abandoned fort on a random island off Maine’s coast was worth the concern of leaving Tabitha in charge of the bakery for an afternoon.
**
“Are you ready for lunch?” Bennett jumps down from a pile of rubble a few feet from where we found our third hidden cannon. It was lying deep within the underbrush and I almost walked right over it if he hadn’t told me to stop and look down. He takes my hands and I jump off the rock. His palm lands on my ass when he helps settle my feet as they hit the ground.
I decide to let it go rather than call him out on his handsy action. “Here?”
He drops what I assume to be a military-issued green and grey camo backpack on the ground. Bennett unzips the top and pulls out an assortment of supplies. Cups, bowls with lids, and a Ziploc baggie full of silverware.
He hands me a large rolled up blanket. “Can you put this down?” he asks without looking at me for confirmation.
I snap the blanket out to the side so we have a great view of the interior of the fort. Two pieces of dark blue fabric fall out and land on the grassy ground. I retrieve them and pass them on to Bennett who lays out an assortment of food on the blanket. “Cloth napkins?” I didn’t take him for the type of guy to have anything elaborate.
He takes them from me for only a moment before dropping them on the ground. “Liam said cloth napkins are fancy and if I want to win a girl, I should use them because girls like fancy stuff.”
