“Do me a favor, Sammy,” he said. “Don’t fight me on this. Just follow me out of here when I leave.”
I followed Doc for ten miles down Route 50, then he turned off onto the main highway. When we got to the Alpine Valley Resort, I parked my car next to his, then got into the passenger seat beside him. Was this what Doc wanted? Well, I did, too.
I went straight into his arms. “I’ve missed you. God, I don’t know how much more of this I can stand,” I confessed.
When Doc spoke, his voice made every cell in my body sing. “I know we’ve talked it to death, Samantha. Maybe it’s wrong, but I just don’t care anymore. I’m fifty years old. I love you more than I love anything in this world. I want to be alone with you. Please say you’ll come away with me.Now,Samantha.”
Jennifer, it was like exhaling after holding my breath for years. Suddenly the moment was there. All I had to do was grab it. What I’d dreamed about but hadn’t dared believe could happen.
“Yes,” I whispered against Doc’s cheek. “I’ll go away with you. Let’s do it right now. Before I can even think about changing my mind.”
Fifty-one
Jennifer,
No one else knows about this—only you.
Doc and I held each other for a long time in that parking lot. We were probably trying to keep up our nerve. I had no idea where we were going, but a few moments later we were on our way.
We held each other for the entire trip, and a hundred different, crazy thoughts were racing through my mind. What if we were caught? What would it mean to our lives? Could Doc and I make it through a whole weekend together?
We had been traveling for eight hours when aWELCOME TO COPPER HARBOR, MICHIGANsign appeared in the headlights.
“This is it,” Doc said. I squeezed his hand tightly, then scooched up and kissed him.This was it, all right. For the record, Copper Harbor is at the tip of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, surrounded on three sides by Lake Superior. It’s a staggeringly beautiful place. The air was cool in August, and I was wearing only shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Doc took off his jacket and draped it around my shoulders.
“It’s called Raptor Lodge, and it’s very small, very special,” he told me. “I’ve wanted to bring you here for a long time.”
I laughed. “And I’ve wanted to come with you, anywhere at all. Butthisis beautiful.”
We walked into the main building and registered. I’m certain that we looked very much in love, and, Jennifer, we were. I generally don’t like couples who are all over each other, but I couldn’t help myself, and neither could Doc.
We walked to our room from the main lodge, and I couldn’t let go of him. The night was alive with hoots and whistles and a light crackle as animals stepped through the underbrush. Nothing mattered to me but Doc and being close to him and what was going to happen next. In my whole life, I had been with only Charles, and look how that had worked out.
We finally saw our cabin in a moonlit clearing carpeted with pine needles. My mouth was suddenly dry as Doc fumbled with the key. My legs were shaking, too. Then he swung open the door and pulled me into his arms.
“Finally,” Doc said, and smiled.
We kissed and started to pull at each other’s clothes. Doc was kissing and touching me in ways I’d never experienced before. If this bothers you, go to the next letter, but it was so good for me. I was melting in his arms, and all my doubts about myself were dissolving, too. I felt sexy and wanted, beautiful, and even pretty good in bed. I had never known it could be like that, because it had never been even close to that good for me. I felt alive and free anddesirable. I felt like a woman, and I loved every second of it.
Finally, Doc cupped my face in his hands and stared deeply into my eyes.
“You havenoidea how beautiful you are, do you?” he asked, and seemed amazed at my naïveté.
“No,” I told him, “no idea at all. Not until I met you.”
Fifty-two
Jennifer,
I do have a few juicy details that I won’t share with you, but that night with Doc was everything I had wanted it to be and so much more. I woke up in his arms and for the first time I could remember, I felt I was where I belonged. “Morning, Samantha,” he whispered. “You’re still as beautiful as I remember from last night.”
I wasSamanthato Doc—only to him.
We stayed in our cabin for most of the next two days. The truth is, we didn’t want to be anywhere else. Everything was so new for us, and the exploration was, well, so much fun. On the second night, a ringing telephone jarred us awake.
I held on to Doc’s arm and I started to shake a little. No one knew we were there. Had Charles found us?
“Very good. Thanks,” Doc spoke into the receiver. Now I was even more mystified. I didn’t understand why he was smiling about being woken up from a sound sleep at quarter to two.
