The air of the Applewood Senior Center indoor pool was thick with humidity and the smell of chlorine, neither of which were going to do Lottie’s hair any favors that day as she attended the water aerobics class.The sessions were held twice weekly and with the exception of the last month and anytime she was too sick to join in, Lottie had participated in each one since moving back to her hometown from Florida.It had been a great way to reconnect with some of the friends Mrs.G had left behind when she passed as well as a way for Lottie to feel like she was paying back the woman who had opened her home to her and for all of her generosity.
When Lottie had gotten the phone call near the end of her freshman year of college that the older woman who had been a family to her when she hadn’t had much of one had passed away, Lottie had been heartbroken.University had turned out to be much harder for her than she’d realized, and hearing about Mrs.G shuffling off this mortal coil without Lottie there to say goodbye had made the whole experience infinitely worse.Telling other people’s stories had always been what she’d wanted to do with her life, but it turned out that Lottie cared less for the stories of her peers at university who seemed more interested in partying and getting laid than she had those from the people in her hometown.
Rooming with Willa had been the only bright spot in her otherwise lackluster college experience.The wildly entertaining and happy woman had cheered up Lottie considerably, taking her mind off her homesickness when she’d first arrived.Attending school across the country had been a last minute decision brought about by Nate’s rejection of her their graduation night, and as hard as she tried to get him out of her head by saying yes to any guy that asked her out on a date, Lottie had never been able to completely banish him from her mind or shake the feelings she carried for him inside her heart.It had been the same with the town, and as soon as she’d finished her last class and said a tearful goodbye to her best friend, Lottie returned home to start the next chapter in her life.
Currently that chapter meant getting some much needed movement in with the group of senior community members who were responsible for her knowing more about this town than most of the other residents.Every person over the age of fifty that lived in Applewood seemed to have a memory like an elephant, always remembering even the most seemingly insignificant occurrences.Instead of hoarding that information or using it against anyone, they were always willing to share it as long as you had a listening ear and open mind.Smiling at the group of people that had more wrinkles than her neighbor’s Shar Pei, Lottie tossed her cover-up to the side and stepped into the tepid water, wishing that the temperature were cooler.
It wasn’t just the humidity that had caused Lottie to feel a little warmer than normal that morning, but the memory of all the small touches she had shared with Nate two days prior.As he’d walked through town with her, Nate seemed to always have some part of him touching some part of her.His hand would find its way to the small of her back, her waist, or even occasionally, her face, and when it wasn’t his hand, his arm would brush up against hers or he would shift his stance so that their shoes were right next to one another’s.It was intoxicating, having him so close, and yet he felt impossibly far away at the same time.Not because of anything he’d said, but from just how afraid Lottie was to fall again, to believe that he was finally going to let her in when he’d shown so many times in the past that he wouldn’t.
Brushing thoughts of Nate to the side, Lottie swam closer to the main group, smiling and greeting everyone as merrily as possible, hoping they wouldn’t inquire about her recent bout of solitude.Any hope that would happen evaporated along with the top layer of pool water when she caught the curious glint in Mrs.Kendrick’s eyes.Lottie knew that look, it was probably the same one she wore whenever someone dangled a particularly juicy piece of gossip in front of her.Hoping not to bait the woman, Lottie tried to swim a little to the side, only to be met with the face of Nate’s mother.
“Lottie,” Cora Kemp gushed.Pulling her into a wet hug, Cora nearly smothered her in a way that was actually welcoming.An embrace from the Kemp matriarch was never too much, most likely because it was evident that every emotion the woman felt was genuine and she hugged like she meant it.“It’s good to see you out and about again.”
A smile spread across Lottie’s face.It was impossible not to have that expression when talking to Nate’s mom.Cora was always someone Lottie had wished her own mom could have been more like.Warm, effusive, and loving, Cora Kemp was everything a mom should be.Truthfully, Lottie had envied a lot of things about Nate’s life, like the bond he had with his brothers and a whole apple orchard at his disposal, but his mom had always been at the top of the list.
“It’s good to be seen,” she replied cheerfully.
The swim instructor started talking and the two women quieted down as they listened to him, following his direction to begin walking across the length of the pool for their warm up.As they moved, Lottie could see Cora peeking at her from the corner of her eyes, looking like she was trying to swallow her own tongue to prevent herself from asking a question.Chuckling, Lottie spun in the water and started toward the other side of the pool.
“Just ask your question, Cora.”
Nate’s mom blew out a quick exhale.“I don’t want to pry.”Lottie speared her with a wry look, causing the older woman to roll her eyes.“Fine.I do want to pry.If you really don’t want to talk about it we won’t, but I can’t help but feel like you’re going into hiding has something to do with my son, Nate.”
Lottie opened her mouth to deny it, but there was no point.She’d never been great at obfuscating the truth, especially when faced with someone she admired.Cora’s hand on her arm drew her eyes up to the older woman’s face, trying not to compare the blue of her eyes to those of the very son she was talking about, but it was hard.Cora’s eyes were lighter and friendlier, as obvious as she always made her feelings.Nate’s eyes seemed to hold so much more emotion than those of his mother.If Cora’s eyes were a peaceful lake, Nate’s were a hurricane over the ocean.Though maybe that was the way he looked when he gazed at Lottie.
Not wanting to chase that thought any further for fear it wouldn’t be true, Lottie tried to shrug it off and address Cora’s question.“You know that Nate and I have always butted heads a little.”She pushed her arms through the water, hoping that the gentle resistance would keep her upright.Lottie’s body tended to get a little shaky anytime she talked about Nate, or thought about him, or any time he was even tangentially related to anything she was doing.“He just needed a little space, and I tried to give that to him.”
Cora nodded and tucked a strand of her graying brown hair behind her ear.“I see.”She didn’t speak again until they were back in a military-like formation and performing arm curls under the water.“You know, I find it interesting that in giving my son some space, you ended up giving him the whole town.I don’t think he liked that very much.”
Lottie’s eyes flicked over to Cora’s.“What do you mean?”
Lottie had retreated from nearly all aspects of her normal life when Nate had asked her to stay away.He had meant fromhimspecifically, but Lottie had taken it a step further and given him all the space she could.She’d been too afraid of running into him at the market or on the street, too nervous that she would overhear something about him while she was out and about to do more than that.Even now that they were on somewhat normal terms, Lottie was still considering moving just to try and get away from whatever hold Nate seemed to have on her.People sometimes thought she was a witch with how easily she could predict people’s behavior, but maybe it was him that was casting spells.Lottie certainly felt like she’d been under his for at least thirteen years.
Cora smiled sadly.“Nate is strong-willed, as are you.That's what's always made the two of you such a good match.He pushes you, but you push back, and when you don’t, it threatens his worldview.When he asked for space, that was a push, but you didn’t push back this time.”That much was true, and Lottie wasn’t sure what made that time different from the others.Maybe she was just finally tired of always chasing after someone else’s affection.“You see, Nate views the world one way, and when you challenge that, he fights it.Like an animal with his leg caught, Nate will chew off his own limb rather than face the truth of the situation.”
Lottie studied Nate’s mom.Cora spoke with love for her son even though she was perhaps pointing out a tremendous flaw in his personality, but Lottie wasn’t sure what that had to do with her.“Why are you telling me this?”
Cora smiled sagely.“Because when you disappeared, I think it broke his brain a little bit.It seems like the two of you might be better now, but I just thought you should know that if he feels trapped again, he’ll chew at whatever limb he thinks will set him free, including one he holds more dear than he’ll let himself or anyone else acknowledge.”
Lottie nodded, still unsure of what all of that information meant or how it would impact her, but she appreciated the woman’s insight nonetheless.“Thank you, Cora.I’ll keep that in mind.”
Cora nodded and the two women went about the class, jumping in the water when instructed and doing scissor kicks against the side of the pool, laughing when Mr.Frinkle got his swim trunks caught in the nearby ladder.They were just starting the cool down portion of the session when Lottie ended up floating backwards right into the pool wall, startling when she realized the wall had arms that were holding onto her and helping her stand upright in the water.When she turned around, her eyes drank in the sight before her.
Nate’s bare chest dripped with water, and Lottie tracked the path of each droplet like a disk traveling down a peg board.She hadn’t seen this much of his body since high school, and she couldn’t help but notice the changes.Back then he’d been athletic, but his body now reflected time in a gym and all the running she knew he did around town.A smattering of dark hair was unable to hide the firm muscles of his chest and torso, and his thick biceps and sturdy forearms looked more than capable of holding her up as he pounded her against the wall of her living room.Shaking the lustful thought from her head, Lottie looked up at him, trying not to roll her eyes at the smirk on his face.Apparently her admiration of his physique hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“What are you doing here?”she demanded haughtily.“I have never seen you at one of these classes before.”That was something she wouldn’t have forgotten and in fact would have marked her calendar as the day her spank back was forever filled with images of him.
Nate shrugged and stepped closer to her, the water rippling around them as his chest nearly bumped into hers.“I would have been here sooner, but Kirk Beecham called to complain about his neighbor’s Christmas light display and I got a little caught up.I thought coming here would be a good way to interact with the community.”He reached up and brushed a wet piece of hair off her cheek.“Isn’t that what you told me to do?”
Lottie frowned.During their downtown excursion, she had mentioned that it would be good for him to do things around town in an unofficial capacity, but she hadn’t thought he would infiltrate her safe spaces with his presence.She was already off kilter from talking about him with his mother.Now he was there looking like a half-naked, wet lumberjack and all Lottie could think about was how badly she wanted to use his body as a slip and slide.
“I say a lot of things, but usually you don’t listen to them.”Lottie started to swim toward the side, seeing that while the class was now over, everyone in the pool had stuck around and had their eyes glued to the two of them.Two of those eyes belonged to Nate’s mom, but instead of assessing them like everyone else was, she looked downright tickled at them interacting with one another.
Nate caught Lottie’s hand and dragged her back in the water toward him, spinning her around and drawing her into a hold that reminded her of a waltz before he proceeded to dance them around the pool.“I told you I would follow your lead.”
Lottie scoffed and gestured to their joined hands.“This seems like you leading me around again, quite literally in fact.”She’d always had a difficult time taking a backseat to anyone, though it was nice to let go and just be for once.
Nate’s smile was blinding even through the hair of his neatly trimmed beard.“I can’t let you be in charge ofeverything.” He leaned down to her ear, his breath fanning across her wet skin and causing her to break out into goosebumps.“I told you I like to be bossy.”Lottie shivered and tried to dislodge herself from his grip lest she get caught up in him all over again, but he tightened it and brought her closer.“Don’t go.Not yet.”
