As June faded into July, Grandma Daley’s health appeared to be on the upswing. She claimed that the warm weather was good for her bones. On the hottest days, usually in the 80s with high humidity, Levi wished they had an air conditioner. At least the lake was nearby for a refreshing swim if the heat was too much. Grandma usually napped with a refreshing cross breeze blowing through the windows when the weather was hot and humid.

As she dished out the daily oatmeal and finished up frying three eggs, two for Levi and one for herself, Grandma asked, “Is your friend coming back for a visit soon?”

“Do you mean Brandon?”

“Yes, the handsome blonde young man. Has it been about a week since his last visit? I sometimes lose track of time. Everything happens so fast. You’ll notice that as you get older.”

Levi seated himself at the table. “Yes, he’s coming up tomorrow and spending the night. Is that okay, Grandma? I know I didn’t ask if he could spend the night before I invited him.”

Grandma Daley carried the bowls of oatmeal to the table. Levi noted that her grip was steady. It made him smile. Her legs didn’t wobble as she walked either. She said, “This is your home, too. I don’t make all of the rules. Friends are a good thing for a young man. You will need them in the future.”

Levi swallowed hard. He knew that the subtext of Grandma’s comment was that he would need people in his life when she was gone. She slipped the fried eggs onto plates and carried them to the table. Levi quickly stood up and pulled the chair out for her to sit.

“I hope he appreciates what a gentleman you are.”

Levi laughed as he sat back down to eat breakfast. “I don’t know if I’m that much of a gentleman. I follow what mom and dad taught me. They were scornful when I screwed up. It helped stop me from getting forgetful” Levi swallowed a bite of the eggs. “These are delicious. Mr. Walker said that the eggs are from a chicken farm here in the Northwoods.”

“They are the best eggs I’ve seen in a long time. The yolks are almost orange like the morning sun.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Levi said, “I think it’s going to be another hot day. I might go for a swim this afternoon. Are you doing okay with the heat?”

“If I lie down when I get hot, I’m fine. Your grandfather built the bedroom at the perfect angle to catch the breeze. It’s much better than the winter cold.” Grandma ate one more bite and asked, “What will you do when the young man visits tomorrow?”

Levi shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll hang out together. He promised to help me fix the window frame on the shed. Maybe we’ll go for a swim. Time goes by quickly when I’m around Brandon.”

Grandma Daley put her fork down and gazed across the table at her grandson. “He’s more than a friend, isn’t he?”

Levi swallowed hard. He wasn’t surprised that Grandma Daley figured it out, but he was startled by hearing her bring it up over the breakfast table. He said, “Yeah, I think I have a boyfriend. Is that okay? I’m not asking for your permission, but I want to know what you think.”

She reached a weathered hand across the table. Levi reached out to weave their fingers together. She said, “I don’t get to decide issues like that for you. I couldn’t even if I tried. The heart picks its own path. It certainly did when I met Walter. I’ve had a long life, and I’ve learned not to question the heart.”

Levi inclined his head slightly to the right. “Grandma, what was it like to date Grandpa? I don’t think I’ve heard much of anything about it. Of course, Dad wasn’t there to know.”

“It was a whirlwind. He worked in a factory near St. Cloud. Most of my friends were all artsy people in Minneapolis and St. Paul. They didn’t fit well with Walter’s friends, but, in the end, it didn’t matter. Walter and I were a perfect fit. Life is strange that way.”

“How did you know that you fit so well together?”

“Everything that Walter talked about was exciting. He made factory work sound interesting. Then he went home and worked with gadgets. He had all sorts of electronic things that he designed and built specifically for his house. I don’t know if you knew that your grandfather’s parents died young. He inherited their house, and he made it his own.”

“Is that where you lived before you moved up here?”

“It is. My artsy friends thought I was moving into the middle of nowhere when I went to St. Cloud. I can’t imagine what some of them would think of this cabin.” Grandma Daley laughed softly. “They didn’t understand that I was in love. Some of my friends were so skeptical. It was the 1950s, and all of the intellectuals were starting to question everything. The skepticism took over in the 1960s.”

Levi leaned back in his chair. “Wow, sometimes I wish I grew up then instead of now. It sounds like such an exciting time. People acted on their beliefs. That’s what it looks like in all of the news films from back then.”

Grandma Daley squeezed his hand. “Don’t ever wish so hard for something other than where you are or what you have, Levi. You will never be happy that way. I lost so many of my friends when we moved up here. They insisted that I couldn’t be happy here. They insisted that I couldn’t be happy with what Walter and I built here.”

“But you were?”

“I had everything I wanted and needed. I didn’t think about what I didn’t have. I loved Walter, and I painted. I had a beautiful flower garden. What more did I need?”

Levi stared into Grandma Daley’s eyes. They were sparkling. It was a good day. He marveled at the wisdom she shared when they talked.

Levi said, “I feel a little like that when I’m with Brandon. I don’t think there’s anything else I need or want.”

Grandma Daley smiled. “It’s a wonderful thing when you have someone so close. Fortunately, I know that Walter never did go away for good. As you know, he often returns in my dreams.”

“That’s so wonderful, Grandma.”

She squeezed his hand again. “I have a question for you. Are you happy here? Do you want to leave the woods?”

The question hit Levi suddenly like a blindsiding blow. He couldn’t remember Grandma ever asking a question like that. He struggled to wrap his mouth around words. “I…I don’t think so. I’ve been here for three years now. It’s home. I’m more relaxed here than I’ve ever been.”

“Is that because you’ve escaped something that you didn’t like? Or is it because you truly love the woods?”

Grandma’s question was like a missile seeking Levi’s heart as a target. He knew that he loved the escape from those who bullied and tormented him back home, and nobody asked embarrassing questions about what he was doing with his life. Understanding that part was easy, but he didn’t know the answer to the last part of her question. True love was something different.”

“I guess I don’t know. How would I know how my heart feels about the woods?”

Grandma’s face appeared thoughtful as she considered the question. Levi knew that she was thinking deeply about a response. She said, “Life is so strange sometimes. It’s often hard to know the depth of your love until something is gone. When it’s gone, you can no longer experience the joy you had when it was there. It is a breathtaking contradiction.”

“Is that how you know how much you loved Grandpa?” Levi shivered when the question came out of his mouth. He couldn’t believe that he’d asked his grandmother such an intense question.

She tittered slightly. “I suppose that is true. I knew that I loved him when he was here, of course. Sadly, I never appreciated that he was my breath of life itself.”

Levi let the comment hang in the air. Grandma sipped her coffee, and Levi ate the last bite of his fried eggs. He said, “I’ll clean up the breakfast dishes. I want to work on the end of the dock today. Have you been out there recently, Grandma?”

She smiled. “I don’t think I’ve seen the lake since March when it was still frozen over.”

Levi stood up from the table. He collected his dishes and picked up Grandma Daley’s dishes after he asked if she was finished. “Will you come with me out to the dock today? Everything is so green. You would love taking a look at the lake.”

Grandma Daley wiped her hands on her napkin and dabbed at the corners of her mouth. She folded her hands back in her lap and said, “I think I will. Let’s go as it’s getting dark. You can bring a flashlight, and I want to hear the loons. I can hear them from the cabin, but it’s not the same as when you’re looking out over the lake.

“It’s not the same at all.”

Grandma Daley was usually in bed for the night by the time the sun dipped below the pine trees in the summer. Having the opportunity to escort her to the end of the dock at dusk made it a special day for Levi. He worked in the afternoon to secure the last two loose boards at the end of the pier. He ended up entirely replacing the last board with scrap wood piled out behind the shed. He knew that the difference in color between the boards would be a highly visible sign that the dock was in use, but it also felt like a new day was dawning for Lone Cedar Lake.

Levi held onto his grandmother’s elbow as she stepped out onto the dock. He said, “Please be careful as you walk along.”

“I think I’ve walked on dozens of docks placed at the edges of lakes in my lifetime. My best guess is that I canoed on at least one hundred lakes in the Northwoods with Walter. Every single one is unique. A lake his its own personality.”

“Can you hear the loons?”

Grandma Daley smiled. “How can you miss them? So mournful and haunting.” As she stepped onto the two final boards, she pointed a finger out toward the water. She said, “Right about there.”

“I don’t see anything. What’s there?”

“That’s where I found Walter. He was floating.”

Levi shivered. He didn’t want to bring up the tragedy by escorting his grandmother to the lake. He hoped that they would focus on the trees, or the rocks, or anything but Grandpa Daley’s death. He wanted to change the subject, but he knew better than to disrupt her train of thought when she was processing memories.

Grandma Daley pointed toward the other end of the lake. “Do you see that low flat platform that extends out from the shore? It’s the huge slab of rock.”

“Oh, definitely. I like to sunbathe there early in the spring. The rock gets so warm in the sun even when the air is still chilly. I’ve laid out there with my shirt off when there was snow on the ground.”

She reached her arm out and wrapped it around Levi’s waist. “My grandson, the sun worshipper. It was a favorite spot while Walter was here, too. We dived off the end of the platform. I’ll tell you a secret, Levi. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone about this.”

Levi turned his head and smiled at Grandma Daley. “I’ll keep all of your secrets. I’ll guard them with my heart.”

She squeezed with her arm and said, “We went skinny dipping in the lake. We were two old people in love at our favorite place in the world. This lake was ours. There was no one else around but the fish and the loons. Your grandfather stripped off his clothes, and he said, ‘Come with me, Isabel.’ And you know what, Levi?”

“What, Grandma?”

“He was sixty years old, but he was never more handsome to me than he was at that exact moment. He stood there naked asking me to join him celebrating us in the cool waters of the lake. I’ll never forget that day. It was the essence of Walter.”