“Now? It’s like midnight.”
“Exactly.”
Her smile is slow to come, but once it’s there, it lights up her entire being.
Hell, it lights me up too. You could power something big with Rae’s smile.
“Give me a sec,” she says, going back inside and reappearing a moment later with her coat, hat, and scarf.
We head along the well-marked paths for a bit and then strike out through a dark, forested area that smells like pine needles. I take her hand. Just to help her navigate the dark, obviously.
At the lake, she settles into a canoe. I take off my shoes and socks and roll up my jeans, walk into the water to pull the thing out, and sputter as I get in.
“You okay?”
“Can’t feel my feet.”
As I struggle to dry my feet with the blanket, Rae picks up the oars and rows us in circles, giggling madly.
Finally, she hands them to me and slides forward to warm my toes with her soft little hands.
A couple of long strokes and we’re away from shore. The cabin lights grow smaller and smaller. A few more strokes, and the night forest noises go faint, the smell of lake water overtaking pines and wet dirt and dead leaves.
I’m sitting in the back of the boat, and she’s facing me on the wooden bottom, my feet in her lap, one blanket covering us both and another around her shoulders.
At about the middle of the water, I set the oars down and just sit. Breathe.
The air is still and cool. “Smells like Vermont,” I say, out of the blue.
“Is that where you’re from?”
“No.”
She doesn’t reply, and I don’t plan to add more, but then I do. “I was born in New Jersey. Summit.”
“I’ve never been there.”
“I don’t remember it. I then moved to Pennsylvania and then back to New Jersey. Boston. For a while. Then Vermont.” My favorite. Calm. Simple. “My mom’s a dentist. Well, she was. She’s retired now.”
“She picked up and moved you that much?”
“Yep.” I don’t bother adding the obvious: that each and every move corresponded to a new husband. “What about you? Always Richmond?”
“Midlothian.”
“Ah.”
“Don’t look like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’ve cataloged me into a Midlothian-shaped life.”
“Okay. So, how was it?”
“Well, you know Midlothian’s kinda fancy. Safe neighborhood. Good schools. Great place to grow up. All the euphemisms.”
“Right.” I envision massive brick houses, huge yards, and tasteful landscaping. Nice, if that’s your thing.
