I had never seen it from the front, and when I did, I thought it was even more impressive.
“I didn’t realize how large your house is,” I said.
“It’s eight thousand square feet and has six bedrooms. Wendi thinks there are two for her. Half the time, she has someone sleeping over.”
“It’s beautiful. I love the stone and the wood and those large windows.”
“They wanted as much natural lighting as they could get. It took nearly three years to finish when you consider all the detailed work inside.”
It was very quiet, with just the sound of motorboats on the lake.
“Is your family here?”
“My parents are visiting friends,” he said, “and Wendi decided to visit one of hers when she couldn’t get to go boating, so for most of the day, it’s just us.”
“And whoever else is on the lake,” I said.
We walked up to the porch. There was a wooden swing wide enough to hold four people.
“This looks so relaxing.”
“Try it.”
I sat on it and looked out at the landscaped front and surrounding trees. Anyone turning into Shayne’s driveway would surely feel as if he or she had left all the commotion and noise of everyday life behind. Between the rear of the house with its view of the lake and this, I wouldn’t care to leave home, I thought. I laughed to myself, thinking of Thoreau. This would be a little over the top for him.
Shayne sat beside me, lowering himself tentatively, with a smile on his face.
“It’s not the hot seat,” I said.
He laughed. “I don’t actually sit here much,” he said. “Actually, I never sit here, but watching you and the way you appreciate everything makes it look more inviting than ever.”
“It’s so peaceful. You’re lucky, Shayne.”
“I know. How else would I have gotten you out with me today?”
“I think that took a little more than luck.”
He smiled. “I hope so. I should have told you to wear a hat. Do you have any sunscreen in your bag?”
“Oh, no. I didn’t think . . .”
“No problem. I’ve got some in the house. It gets pretty hot out there, but the breeze can fool you. I learned the hard way when I was younger. I got so sunburned that I nearly ended up in the hospital. I’ll give you one of my baseball caps. I picked up our subs this morning and have it all in the kitchen. C’mon,” he said, standing up and reaching for my hand.
He led me to the front door and unlocked it. The house was as impressive inside as the outside had promised. It had a vaulted ceiling in the entryway and beautiful tiled flooring that flowed gracefully into the large family room. Everywhere possible, there were windows so that the house was as bright inside as could be. What a contrast, I thought, to the dark, cold home Brayden was trapped in.
I could see the patio doors that led out back and the walkway to the dock. Shayne went to the kitchen to get the subs and drinks and returned with a baseball cap as well as the sunscreen, as I looked around. The fireplace must have taken a long time to build, I thought. It went as high as the ceiling, and these ceilings were at least eighteen feet high. He put the cap on my head.
“Perfect,” he said. “It looks way better on you than it does on me, too.”
“Are you absolutely sure?”
“I’m, shall we say, overly confident, but I’m not stupid. I know beauty when I see it.”
I glanced at him. He looked sincere, but there was still that twinkle in his eyes that kept me from trusting him.
“Speaking of beauty, this is such a beautiful room. It’s large, but it looks comfortable and warm.”
“I’ll show you around when we return,” he said. “We have a great entertainment center.”
“Okay.”
We headed out the back and down the slate steps to the dock. I paused to look around the property, the wide patio, the barbecue area, chaises, and an outside fire pit. Then I turned to look up at the house.
“Now that I’m here and see it close up, I think this is probably the most beautiful home in Echo Lake,” I said. “It’s much nicer that Charlotte’s, even though they have more land.”
“My mother would have it no other way,” he replied. “If someone built one larger, we’d have an addition put on the following day.” He gazed out at the lake, standing with his hands on his hips and smiling.
“Do you like your mother?”
“Like her? Sure. Why?”
“You blame her for a lot.”
“It just sounds like it. Whose shoes would I rather be in?” He nodded at the lake. “Maybe I take this all for granted too much. Glad you’re here. It’s like having my eyes opened. What a day, huh?”
“Yes,” I said, taking in the lake. There were already a half-dozen boats on it and two small sailboats. We could hear the laughter and the screams of people enjoying the water. Someone went by on water skis.
“You ever do that?”
“No. It looks hard.”
“Oh, it’s so easy. I’ll get you up on skis, if not this time, next time.”
I knelt down to feel the water.
“I know it feels cold, but once you’re in it, you’ll love it,” he said.
“I haven’t gone swimming yet this summer.”
“Well, let’s not waste time.”
Shayne explained that his father’s boat was an eight-and-a-half-foot Azure with a 450-horsepower engine. It was white with a thick brown stripe. I thought it looked brand new and said so.
“It is brand new,” he said. “Actually, it’s only a month old. This is probably the tenth time it’s been out. It has an extended swim platform, so we’ll ride around and then anchor and take a dip, okay?”
He helped me into the boat. The white cushion seats were very comfortable.
“Have you been in a boat much?” he asked as I moved nervously to keep my balance. He undid the mooring.
“No, not at all.”
“We’ll go slow,” he said. “Or not,” he added with a smile.
I sat up front, and he handed me the sunscreen. I began to dab it on my face. When I was finished, I handed it back to him. “Thanks.”
He reached out to spread some around my lips and around my nose. “Can’t take any chances with this face,” he said. Then he put some on, too.
“Whose face did you mean?” I asked, and he laughed.
“You know what’s going to happen if I keep seeing you?”
“I have a few ideas.”
“No, happen to me, I mean. I’ll develop an inferiority complex.”
“If I could accomplish that, they’d probably send me to the CIA’s psychological ops department.”
He widened his smile. “Where have you been all my life?”
“Two feet back, covered in the long shadow you cast.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, holding up his hands. “I surrender. I won’t even celebrate my birthday . . . more than once a year.”
It was my turn to smile. Could he be charming, after all? Maybe it really was just a case of everything coming too easily to him. I sat back and closed my eyes a moment to feel the breeze and the warm sunshine. The lake had a freshwater aroma that came from the plants around it and the fish that swam in it. It was as if every green leaf radiated the scent of life itself, flourishing, rich, and healthy. Suddenly, I felt his lips touch mine. It was surprising but soft and warm. I opened my eyes as he pulled back.
“Couldn’t help it,” he said. “You are too beautiful to resist.”
“Why do I think you’ve used that line before?”
“You’re just naturally skeptical. That’s all right. I’ll wait.”
“For what?”
“Your faith in me, in my honesty.”
“Let’s hope it happens before either of us reaches social security age.”
He roared and then got behind the steering wheel and started the engine. He backed up, slowly turned, and headed out toward the middle of the lake. Try
as hard as I could, I wasn’t able to hide my excitement. I squealed with delight as the boat bounced when he sped up and the water spray sprinkled my cheeks. After we made one large circle, he slowed down.
“You want to try it?”
“What, steer?”
“All of it. It’s easy. C’mon,” he said, stopping to change seats with me.
I eased into the driver’s seat, and he showed me how to accelerate. I started very slowly.
“Watch where you’re going,” he advised as I kept dropping my eyes to my hands. We were heading for one of the sailboats. He reached around to help me turn the wheel. Our cheeks were touching. “Go on, you can go faster now,” he said. “That’s it.”
I was really having a great time. He sat back and watched me with a wide smile on his face.
“What?”
“I just love the way the excitement radiates in your face.”
As we crossed the lake, I thought of something. “I want to show you a place on the lake,” I said, and turned the boat so that we headed toward the small lagoon Brayden had taken me to.
“Don’t get too close here,” Shayne advised. “There are stumps and large rocks. We never come down this way.” He reached over to turn the wheel a bit. “So? What’s the big deal?”
“It doesn’t look the same at night,” I said, not hiding my disappointment. I didn’t see as many birds, either.
“You were here at night? With whom?”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t see it the same way. Sorry.”
He studied the shore suspiciously. “Let’s get back out to the middle,” he said. “We’ll take a nice dip and then have some lunch.”
I slipped out of the driver’s seat, and he took over. As we accelerated and turned away from the lagoon, I looked back and was positive that I saw Brayden standing very close to where we had been and looking out at us. He was so well hidden by the leaves of the bushes that I was sure that Shayne couldn’t have seen him. Even before we turned too far to see him, he was gone.
The sight of him quickened my heartbeat but also seemed to bring me back to earth. Shayne looked at me and saw the difference in my face.
“You all right? You’re not getting seasick or something, are you?”
“No, I’m fine.” I forced a bigger smile.
He glanced back toward the lagoon. “You know who owns that lot? Your wild friend Charlotte’s family.”
“She’s really not much of a friend.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“Why is the lot undeveloped?”
“Her father thinks it will double in value or something. That’s what my father says. He tried to buy it once from her father. Did Charlotte take you there?”
“No.”
“So, if Charlotte didn’t take you there, who did?”
“Nobody,” I said. “I just took a long walk one day.”
He nodded, but I could see that he didn’t believe me. I wondered myself why I hadn’t told the truth. It was almost as if I wasn’t sure if I really had been there or I had dreamed it.
Or maybe I was feeling guilty again for enjoying myself with a boy who could do what he wanted and had no dark and dreary life pulling him back into the shadows, where only loneliness and sorrow dwelled.
Suddenly, I had become a keeper of secrets, and for some reason, that made me feel even closer to Brayden.
8
Birdsong
The water was cold, but Shayne was right. After swimming for a while, it didn’t feel bad at all. He had some tubes and even a raft. He helped me up onto it, and then, holding onto the raft and kicking, he pushed me in a circle around the boat as I lay there soaking up the sun and feeling like a queen. He returned to the boat and plucked a soda out of the box onboard. He poured it into a plastic cup and brought it to me on the raft.
“Your Majesty might be thirsty,” he said.
“Thank you, Prince Charming. I am.”
I took a long sip and looked out at the lake, the beautiful houses, the other wealthy people enjoying their boats. It wasn’t hard to see yourself as special when you had all of this at your beck and call, I thought. It had a way of seducing you. I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t be as arrogant as he was if I lived this way.
“You look too pleased with yourself,” he suddenly declared, and turned over the raft.
I screamed and used the emptied cup to heave water on him. We frolicked about until he pulled me to him and kissed me while I held on to the edge of the boat. He pressed his body against mine and told me to hold on or we’d both drown. He was fooling, of course.
“You’re taking unfair advantage,” I said.
He shrugged. “I don’t know what else to take,” he said, kissing me again.
I broke free and kicked back.
“I’m drowning!” he shouted, pretending to be pulled down under the water. When he came up, he spurted at me like a whale.
I screamed and splashed at him. He went under again and then came up beside me, but he didn’t touch or kiss me again.
“Let’s eat. I’m starving,” he said, and climbed up onto the extended platform, reaching for my hand and helping me on. He threw me my towel, and we settled down, unwrapping the sandwiches and opening our drinks.
“How many other girls have you taken out on the lake?” I asked.
“You’re the first.”
I tilted my head with a skeptical expression.
“It’s the truth.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know. Yes, I do. I knew you would appreciate it more. Most of the other girls I know would rather hang out at the mall or . . .”
“Or?”
“Do other things,” he said with a sly smirk.
“What makes you think I don’t?”
His eyes widened a bit, and then he laughed.
“No, I’m serious. I’d like to know why you said that.”
“I don’t know. When I look at you, I think, That girl has class.”
“Which means what?”
“Why this third-degree questioning?” he asked. I saw that he was looking a bit uncomfortable.
I looked out over the water toward the lagoon. Really, why was I asking these questions? Even I could feel the antagonism in my voice. It was almost as if I wanted this to fail, this budding relationship. It was too good. We looked too perfect. Whatever the reason, something was gnawing at me.
“You want to try waterskiing?”
“Not today,” I said, which assumed that there would be a tomorrow.
He nodded. “How about I take you to this restaurant in Greenwood tonight?” He smiled. “My dad’s an investor. We eat for free.”
Greenwood was a large town about twenty miles southeast of Echo Lake. I had been there only because it had a well-developed mall with some large department stores.
“Okay,” I said. “What time?”
He looked at his watch. “My parents and my sister could come back anytime soon. Let’s get back to the house so I can show it to you without being interrupted, and then you’ll tell me how much time you need to get ready to go to dinner. I am your loyal servant,” he added with a mock bow.
“Okay.”
The truth was, I hated leaving the lake. I thought I could stay out there until nightfall and maybe even after that.
“We can do this again next weekend and stay much later on the water if you want. Maybe by then you’ll get your courage up for a waterskiing lesson.”
“Maybe,” I said.
He cleaned up a bit and then raised the anchor and started the engine. I sat back as we started off toward his dock.
All of this had come as a real surprise. A little more than twenty-four hours ago, I would have laughed at the idea of Shayne Allan and me becoming what Ellie called “a thing.” In the meantime, I had met Brayden and, especially after our short time in the woods, imagined that we might become “a thing.”
Did this all happen as suddenly and as surprisingly to other girls as it
was happening to me? I wondered. For most of my teenage life, most boys were little more than an interesting distraction. I had begun to worry that something might be seriously wrong with me because of my reluctance to get too involved with any one boy and my failure to get very excited about anyone. I knew I seemed “different” to so many of them, and I was seemingly either above or simply outside of everyone else’s experiences and needs. It was how I had earned their nickname for me, Prudence Perfect, but along came Brayden, and I could feel a change coming over me. Was it simply a case of belated maturity? Or was something magical finally happening to me?
A part of me was afraid to think too hard about it, for fear that it would all go poof in a sudden cloud of smoke. Maybe certain things in life, certain things that you do and feel, shouldn’t be analyzed at all but just enjoyed for what they are. Besides, I thought, thinking a little more about Brayden, everyone is entitled to his or her own little secrets, whether they are secret feelings or secret fears. Perhaps I had been too severe a judge. So far, this afternoon with Shayne certainly made me feel guilty for looking down on him and ridiculing him. Just the little I knew already about his family made me think that he was under different kinds of pressures from the pressures other boys at our school endured. Rich or poor, everyone had his own particular burdens.
I helped him tie up the boat at the dock, and then we headed back to the house.
“You can use one of the spare bedrooms to change out of your wet suit,” he said. “Or you could use mine.”
“I’ll use the spare one,” I said.
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“Then why did you offer?”
“To see if I was wrong. I can hope, can’t I? You shouldn’t be afraid,” he added. “It’s as easy as waterskiing.”
“But the landing isn’t as soft when you fall,” I said, and he laughed.
“Okay, go on and be a challenge. I can take it.”
Can you? I wondered, or will you find a convenient excuse to abandon the effort?
He took me upstairs and showed me the guest bedroom. It looked as large as my parents’ master bedroom. He explained that his father had designed the house so that all of the bedrooms had a view of the lake.
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