Brent
“I’M TAKING YOU to the cabin.”
Vivian looked pained. “Um, Brent. I’m pretty sure I’ve used that exact same line in one of my books. Except the guy who said it was about to take a girl to a cabin and kill her. Are you trying to get rid of me already?”
I gave her my best ridiculous look. “If I’d wanted to get rid of you, it would’ve already happened. Remember? You wanted to get rid of me the first day we were married. I could’ve agreed immediately and none of this would’ve ever happened. You could’ve left me like you did all those years ago.”
She absentmindedly played with a book in her lap. “I was shocked. I was scared. I was angry and didn’t really know what to do. I’m…I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. It wasn’t you. It was me.”
“Maybe one day we can work through all of that. I hope that we can be totally honest with each other. I don’t want to live my whole life wondering.”
“One day we will. I promise.” She smiled at me. I’d watched her over the past few weeks. It wasn’t the robotic smile she gave everyone else. The smile my wife gave me came from somewhere that no one else had touched.
“So, let’s go.”
“Why? I like it here.”
I chuckled. “I know. But I think you like it a little too much. You haven’t been writing. Instead, you’ve been helping with the horses and doing work around here that you’ve got no business tending to. You need to write. I won’t be the reason that you have stalled out writing.”
“I’m just taking a break.”
“I know. And I love that you’re enjoying yourself here. But as a fan, I kind of want you to get back to work. I need to know what happened to Deidre from the last book. You kind of left us hanging.”
That got her going. She stood up and put a hand on her perfectly shaped hip. “That was a cliffhanger, Brent. Every author does it.”
“I know, but I need to know what happens. Wait!” I took a few strides toward her and got closer to her than I had in days. I hadn’t allowed myself to get close to her. I knew I would kiss her again and I wasn’t sure she wanted that to happen. If she did, she hadn’t made it known by her words or actions. I reached down and took her hands in mine, threading our fingers together. “Do I get some kind of insider first look information since I’m your husband? Or...does that require a bribe?”
Her eyes became glassy as if she was on the verge of either crying or losing herself. I hoped it was the latter.
“No?”
Yep, I had her.
“No what? You won’t accept a bribe or no you wouldn’t deny your number one fan a sneak peek?”
The entire time I spoke, I focused my gaze on her plump lips. Even when she was working in the stalls, she kept some kind of lipstick on them that made them look like the ripest berry, ready to pluck from the vine.
“Isn’t there anything I can do?” I pressed further, bending down and breathing the question into her ear. She shivered in turn. This close to her neck, she smelled like something between morning dew and the sweetest honeysuckle that we used to eat as kids.
“Brent, I, wait, no!” She suddenly remembered what I was asking of her.
“No? Not even if I do this?” I lowered my mouth to her neck and placed a line of chaste kisses in the direction of her shoulder.
“I’ll let you read the first draft. That’s something no one gets to do. But it has to be finished first. No peeking before I type the last words.”
“Deal.” I pulled back in an instant and broke our spell.
“You’re really mean,” she said, playfully slapping my behind.
“You’re one to talk.”
“Just show me the cabin so I can write, or you can kill me there, whichever it is.”
She was already killing me slowly. She probably didn’t even know it.
It was a two mile hike to the cabin and it was primitive, to a point. It had all the comforts of home without the frills. There was a king-size bed and a huge claw tub. Hot water, a phone, and even internet was installed.
But everything else was simpler.
“This is great. Wait, wasn’t this…”
“Yep. Grammy and Pap’s honeymoon cabin. He claimed that every one of his kids had been conceived here. That’s probably why no one ever used it after that.”
She laughed. “You had it cleaned, right?”
“Definitely. That’s even a new bed. I couldn’t keep that old one. It was just…” I shuddered at the thought.
“I think it’s sweet. He built this for them to...show each other how much they loved one another while they were here. You don’t see that kind of romance anymore.”
“I’ve got an idea,” I said and instantly thought better of it. She probably wouldn’t want to go. It was stupid of me to even ask.
“Yeah?”
“How about a swim tonight? Just you and me and the lake.”
Viv looked at the floor and the slightest of blushes crept up her cheeks. “I don’t know. I came here to write, not to swim.”
“It could be your reward for making your word count. You do that. I know you do. On your Facebook feed, you were always talking about giving yourself a reward for meeting your word count.”
“It was usually a Hershey kiss. Twenty-five calories of pure bliss.”
“I can bring those to the swim, or maybe a different kind of kiss.” My wife sighed beside me and I knew I wouldn’t win anything by pressuring her. “How about this? How about I go take care of my business and you write the heck out of whatever you’re writing and tonight, about seven, you either meet me at the lake’s edge or you don’t. You remember the place, don’t you?”
Her blush bloomed fully and I knew that she did. I wouldn’t forget that place as long as I lived.
She nodded. “I remember. Let’s see how much I get done.” I stood there, caught up in the storm of memories. “But you have to leave so I can work. Scoot.”
Before I knew it, Viv had pushed me out of the cabin and slammed the door behind me. I heard the bottom of the desk chair scratch the floor as she pulled it from its resting place.
She was getting down to business and tonight it was about time I get down to mine.
I TOLD HER seven, but I actually came down to the lake about six to bring a few things with me and get them set up.
The sun set just as seven approached but she didn’t show for a while.
“I made it!” She squealed. “I wrote five thousand words straight for the first time in a long time. It’s so quiet and peaceful here. Thank you.” I intended to turn around and congratulate her but before I could, her arms were wrapped around my waist, and her face was against my back between my shoulder blades. My hands entangled in hers and she hugged me tighter.
Vivian was getting kissed tonight one way or the other.
“I’m so glad. I knew it would help you. That cabin is now officially yours. I never used it for anything anyway.”
Her breaths were hot through the back of my shirt and they grew steadily faster.
“Brent? Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything, darlin’. I thought we covered that.”
“I was wondering…well…after I left…you never married or anything?”
I turned around in place, making sure her hold on me stayed put. “I dated some. Maybe a year after you left Jessie set me up with some girls. It never went past a date or two. There was something about them that wasn’t…”
“That wasn’t what?” Her eyes brewed tears that hung in the corners of her eyes like my answer might cause them to spill.
“They weren’t you. That’s all. There wasn’t anything wrong with them. They just weren’t you. What about you? Any hot dates up at the lonely cabin?”
“A few in college. Nothing ever seemed right though.”
We were breathing in the same air. There was a cloud of warm air between us and I could hear the crickets chirping in the distance. The sun had finished setting but a few hues of tangerine and plum framed her face.
“And now, Viv? Does this feel right?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, her head laid on my chest like it had the night I first kissed her as my wife. There were some things I remembered about that night. They came back to me in bits and pieces. And kissing Vivian after our vows was one of them.
I knew what her answer was. She didn’t even have to say it. “I brought some dinner and some towels. It’s getting kind of chilly at night.”
“I’m starving,” she said and I left it at that.
We feasted on what I could throw together in a pinch. Cold cuts and cheese and a big loaf of french bread along with some vegetables and dip.
And, of course, the kisses.
“I’m stuffed. That was exactly what I needed. Thanks, Brent.”
“You’re welcome. Now it’s time to work it off.”
Her eyes grew to the size of biscuit cutters.
“Viv, swimming. Get your head out of the gutter.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m not gonna swim. I’m just going to stay here. You go ahead.”
I squinted and stayed as serious as I could. “You want to get a good look at the goods before you buy, right? Maybe you should’ve thought of that before we got married. Come on. Don’t make me swim alone.”
The tears appeared in her eyes again. Something else was happening.
“What’s wrong, Viv? You can tell me anything. There’s nothing in the world you can’t say to me and we will fix it together.”
She hid her face with one hand as the words came out. I couldn’t believe her. I would never think any part of her was less than breathtaking.
“Viv, look at me, sweetheart. This is something we need to talk about. I need you to look me in the eyes.”
I gave her all the time she needed, which was ten minutes. Maybe she thought if she didn’t give up I would go away.
The woman needed to have a little faith in me.
“When you and I were in high school, things were different. I knew you didn’t care how I looked but now it’s like I’m all messed up. There’s stretch marks without ever being pregnant and wrinkles without age. It’s…it’s just not what I want you to see.”
I ran my hand in circles on the small of her back. This wasn’t the whining of a spoiled brat woman. What she was expressing to me was something buried deep that she exhumed just for me.
Vivian Rush didn’t just do that for anyone.
“Viv, I know you won’t believe this but none of that matters to me. What matters to me is that you trust me enough to share with me even the things that scare you. But I see that we’re not there yet. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to take my clothes off and jump in, keeping my back to you. If you choose to, come swim with me.” I dropped my mouth down so that my lips skimmed the rim of her earlobe. “I really hope you do. If you do, that’s great. If you don’t, that’s great too.”
I stood and as fast as I could I stripped bare and did what I said I would – swam a good distance until my feet barely touched the muddy bottom.
I looked to the trees.
I looked up at the moon.
I heard the horses in the distance.
No Vivian.
I tipped my head backward and stayed there for a few seconds, trying like hell to make the water cool me off and stop myself from looking at her.
When I came back up, I heard the first sloshes of water.
“I’m glad you decided to trust me.”
She giggled. “I’m not sure about that. I just figured in the dark and under the water, you can’t see much.
I turned slightly. “I can see your face, your beautiful hair, but mostly your blush tells it all, Viv.”
“You’re still the same guy, Brent.”
Her fingers brushed mine under the water and I knew we’d taken a few steps forward.
“Now, how long can you hold your breath?”
She screamed before I picked her up and tossed her into the deeper water.