Two Weeks in August

by Nat Burns

  “Hell and damnation!” Hazy rose and dimmed the lantern. She turned to study Nina’s face in the dimness, then swept her up from the chair and into her arms. Hazy’s lips captured Nina in a deep kiss that made her legs go weak and planes of crystal pleasure rebound throughout her body. Her arms crept up and pulled Hazy’s head closer, meshing them until she felt the world drop away.

  Finally, Hazy seemed to find the strength to pull away, her breathing ragged, and she pushed Nina toward the door.

  “Go now. Act like you were exploring the boats.” Her voice was harsh and low.

  “But—”

  “Go, I said!”

  Nina turned back and her eyes met Hazy’s. She saw pain and an incredible longing there and it surprised her. She almost rushed back to hold her, would have if Hazy hadn’t extinguished the lantern, leaving them in darkness. Gingerly, she felt her way out of the cabin and onto the deck. The harbor lights helped her find her way off the vessel and she raced toward Aaron’s houseboat.

  Chapter 23

  Nina didn’t see Hazy at all the next morning. She did see Mama New and Heather though, as they worked cleaning the graveled grounds around the cottages.

  As their laughing voices carried through the window where she sat trying to work at the kitchen table, she descended easily into the depths of nagging guilt. How could she let herself feel so much for another woman’s partner?

  Extramarital affairs were something she did not approve of and not just from a moral standpoint. People always ended up hurt. Seeking sex and companionship outside the relationship only bred trouble. Divorce, part or work it out, Nina believed. Then search out a new companion.

  Her overwhelming attraction to Hazy had definitely given her more insight into this particular dilemma and she knew she would never again judge a situation concerning infidelity unless she heard the extenuating circumstances first.

  Why was she falling in love with Hazy? It was a force she could not control or deny, sweeping over her and wrecking her peace of mind. There was some quality about Hazy, something unseen and only sensed, that made her realize this was her companion, the woman she was supposed to be with. And that kiss…those kisses…

  Nina simply could not think about them.

  Hazy was taken, not for Nina to have.

  And Mama New was such a sweet woman. This rankled even more.

  Rising and pacing about the cottage, Nina grabbed her head between her two hands. What was she to do? Her mind kept hearing Hazy’s smooth accented voice as she told her the duck story. The duck story—now what exactly did that mean? From the way Hazy had set up the telling of the story it had urgent importance to her and it was tragic that it had been interrupted by Mander.

  And the kiss on the boat. It was better not to think about that kiss. The passion of that kiss had made all the other kisses she had received in her short life pale into insignificance.

  She kept seeing Hazy’s face just before she turned off the lantern in the cabin of the boat. What were her thoughts then? She had sensed great frustration and need. How did Hazy really feel toward her? Maybe she did have feelings for Nina. Maybe, just maybe, she and Mama New had a bad relationship. Maybe they were even contemplating a breakup. Stop it, Nina! she scolded herself.

  Heather’s piping voice, lifted in song, wafted to her and she suddenly felt trapped.

  Maybe all this was just wishful thinking. She wondered what she would do if Hazy came to her a free woman. Or what if she came to her and swept her into a physical and emotional relationship while still involved with Mama New?

  She fiddled with the cartridge pen lying on the Formica tabletop. Hazy could actually do it, dragging a willing Nina with her, and this scared the daylights out of her.

  Frustrated and unable to keep still, she moved to peer out the screen door. Mama New was on her knees in a small patch of grass next to one of the rental cottages. With gentle, dust-smudged hands, she was trying to coax a weary marigold into standing upright. She finally found a small crooked twig and, pushing it into the ground next to the flower heads, wrapped the leaves of the flower around it for support. Rising from her crouched position, she arched her back with both hands and caught sight of Nina out of the corner of her eye. She waved cheerfully and Nina waved back.

  Moving away from the door, Nina turned and pressed her back into the paneled wall of her cottage. How could she even think these thoughts? What kind of a woman was she? What kind of woman was that blasted Hazy Duncan?

  Chapter 24

  Emma Loreli was a very tall, very thin woman and she towered over Nina as she welcomed her with a bear hug. Heavy winds, laden with salt, had given her skin a weathered ruggedness but her smile was still youthful as she pulled back to grin at her visitor.

  “So tell me the news. How is your ma?”

  Nina shrugged. “I haven’t seen her in a week now, although Dad called the other day. He says she’s doing fine.”

  “And your da?” Mrs. Loreli asked, her head tilted to one side.

  “He’s fine. He sent me a new book.” Nina’s eyes were darting around Mrs. Loreli’s small trailer, avoiding the older woman’s penetrating gaze.

  “All right, all right,” Mrs. Loreli said firmly as she pulled Nina to the scarred kitchen table. “Sit here a minute.”

  Nina sat anxiously as Mrs. Loreli systematically filled the silver teakettle with water, placed it onto a lit gas burner, and prepared two cups with tea bags. The silence between them was companionable and Nina watched gulls scrabble on the ground outside the window.

  Soon the two women had steaming cups of tea before them and a plate of homemade cookies to share.

  “Now, tell me what’s troubling you.”

  Nina smiled sheepishly, “It’s nothing. Really.”

  “It’s got to be something. I’ve never seen you mope so. You look like a fisherman who just lost a whole net of tuna.” She leaned forward, and using a ploy Nina remembered from when she was a young girl, caught Nina’s eyes and said very seriously, “You better tell old lady Loreli.”

  “It’s just a little trouble,” Nina said with a laugh.

  “So what’s Mander done to you? She always was an impetuous girl.”

  Nina’s head snapped up. “How do you know about Mander?”

  Mrs. Loreli baptized Nina with a secretive wink. “This is a small island, love, everybody knows everything. Someone saw the two of you together at Duffy’s and it’s not hard to put two and two together. Or in this case, one and one.”

  Nina didn’t answer for a long while and the two sipped their tea.

  “You know the woman who runs Channel Haven?” Nina asked finally.

  “Sure, Hazel. Hazel Duncan,” Mrs. Loreli answered eyeing Nina curiously.

  “What about her? She’s with Mama New, right?” She hung her head, embarrassed to have asked the question.

  “Now there’s a sad tale,” Mrs. Loreli said, reaching for a cookie.

  Nina looked up. “How so? You mean Hazy’s family?”

  “Mama New. Well, and Hazy, too.”

  The younger woman squirmed with curiosity. “Tell me about it.”

  Mrs. Loreli chuckled. “You never could resist a good story, even when you were ten years old and out here visiting Tom for the summer.” A wave of sadness washed across her features as she mentioned Nina’s grandfather.

  Nina laid a comforting hand along Mrs. Loreli’s forearm. “You really do miss him, don’t you? I do too.”

  Mrs. Loreli stared out the window, her eyes dreamy and unfocused. “He was my life for so long. Now that he’s gone, I feel empty.”

  “Me too,” Nina replied. “I thought I saw him the other day, standing on the porch of the house.”

  “I see him in my garden, where he used to stand gazing out over Little Oyster Bay,” the older woman confided with a fond smile.

  “Why did you two never marry?” Nina asked hesitantly, hoping Mrs. Loreli wouldn’t take offense at the prying.

  Mrs. Loreli sh
rugged. “We didn’t feel the need. We were happy.”

  She abruptly straightened her back. “Now, enough of that foolishness. About Mama New. Her husband was Seth Newcomb, who everyone called Newt because he was so quick to scamper up the mainsail, and he was like a brother to Hazel and her brothers and sisters. The group of them played cards every Friday night, come hell or high water. Except when one or the other was at sea, of course. Seth worked as a commercial fisherman on the Roving Eye.

  “Then one fall, when they were starting out the season, he was killed trying to loosen a net snare near the main ship. He went into the water to get a better hold and the waves snapped his craft around and crushed him between the two boats.”

  She sighed and continued. “It damn near killed everybody else too. Mama New almost lost her mind, the grief was so great. Hazy suffered mightily. There was nothing anybody could do though, except give him the best funeral possible and get on with life. Hazy has been living with Mama New ever since.”

  “But are they together? Like, you know…” Nina persisted. Was there a chance they weren’t involved?

  Mrs. Loreli eyed Nina with certainty. “Of course. How could they not be together that way? There’s something mighty going on between the two. People have been speculating about it since before Newt’s death and some even said if he’d had his mind on his work that day and not on what might have been happenin’ at home, he might never have gotten himself killed.” She nodded her head emphatically. “Besides, I’ve never seen Hazy turn down a pretty skirt.”

  “Oh no, I thought so,” Nina murmured with a deep sigh.

  “See here, you’ve not got designs on Hazy now, do you?”

  Nina studied Mrs. Loreli. “Why? I just thought…”

  “Well, don’ ye think no more about it.”

  Mrs. Loreli rose and paced to the kitchen sink to rinse out her cup. Her movements were angry. “I’ve seen the people hurt by that woman. She’s a devil, I tell you. The youngest Grenier gull was led astray by Hazy. Oh, the stories she’d tell about Hazy’s anger and abuse. Her parents finally sent her to the mainland and she’s married to a nice young man now, doing well.”

  “She can be an ogre,” Nina agreed sadly, “I’ve seen that firsthand.”

  “Well, mark my words, young woman, I warned ye. Watch out for her. She’s too much a man by half, crashing in an’ takin’ what she wants, then movin’ on, with nary a look back.”

  She studied Nina, amusement entering her eyes. “Feel better? I sure can cheer it up now, can’t I?” Her laughter was warm and deep.

  Nina allowed a small smile. “Yeah, I feel a lot better,” she said sarcastically.

  “Well, come on out here in back and get your mind off what’s troublin’ you.” Mrs. Loreli beckoned, holding the screen door open invitingly. “I don’t know why none of the young island women won’t appeal to you, like Mander there. You’ve such a beauty about you and can have any of them, I’m sure.”

  They walked around to the back of Mrs. Loreli’s trailer and into the lovely garden she had designed and planted there. Large, strangely luxuriant scrub pines shaded the area and provided a separated alcove from the bay that reached within several feet of Mrs. Loreli’s home. And though the water could only be glimpsed briefly through foliage, the gentle slap of the water carried easily to them.

  Mrs. Loreli bent and swiped viciously at her calf. “Darned bugs, they love ta heat.”

  “Why have you never moved from the island?” asked Nina, her voice pensive. She was propped atop a rock wall on the far side of the garden.

  “Move from the island?” Her tone was one of incredulity. “Why would I want to do that?”

  Nina shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. To escape the insects, the hurricanes, the isolation.”

  “Why, Nina Christie! Tom must be rolling in his grave. We both thought you had the island in you, else he never woulda left the house with you.”

  Nina felt chastened. “I’m sorry. I was just curious about your life. I understand why you love it here, I do too. Really.”

  Mrs. Loreli studied Nina with arms folded across her chest. “You are in a rotten place today, aren’t you? About my life, it’s nothing too glorious. You know most of the story. I came ta the island from the shore as Chester Loreli’s wife back in ’fifty-two. We bought this land here when land was still agoing dirt-cheap and started buildin’ rental houses. We was lucky too, you know, because we got in right on the crest of the tourism wave. There were still a lot of ponies then, and the pony penning had only been held a couple of times regular. We did well, able to make a livin’ without Chester having to go out on the boats.”

  She paused and deftly pruned pale leaves from a lush myrtle bush. “I never felt any urge to leave, even after my Chester died. The island is my home and I have the trailer here till the day I die,” she finished. She turned to Nina. “It’s your home now too, you know.”

  Nina stared out at the bay. “Yes, and I’m glad.”

  Mrs. Loreli nodded curtly. “Good then. And don’t let the tourists get to you. They come in like a lion but they peter out like a lamb. They come and they go. A good way to mark time.” She chuckled as if admiring her wit.

  Later, as the two women walked along Little Oyster Bay, Mrs. Loreli shared the history of the islands with Nina, much as she had done when Nina was a child and they had walked with Grandpapa Tom. They speculated on pirate’s treasure. Mrs. Loreli held a firm conviction there was still much gold buried on Assateague Island while Nina pooh-poohed the idea.

  Another point of contention was the ponies; Mrs. Loreli said pirates brought them, while Nina held that the Indians rescued them from an English ship. Neither believed they were of Spanish stock as the brochures allowed.

  When the sun’s shadows lengthened across the bay, Nina took her leave of Emma Loreli and headed for Main Street. She browsed for some time in various clothing and souvenir shops, finally purchasing a wind chime for her new house and a new pair of silvered sunglasses.

  She tried very hard not to think of Hazy. She almost succeeded.

  Chapter 25

  Hazy was in the living room of cottage eight when Nina returned to Channel Haven later that evening. She sat on one end of the sofa, one bare foot on the floor and one on the sofa cushion. Her hand, holding a smoldering cigarette, dangled from the upraised knee.

  She seemed oblivious to the rapidly darkening room so Nina crossed to the light switch and turned on the overhead light. Only then did Hazy look up at her.

  “You forgot to lock your door,” she said softly.

  “And you decided to come in and make yourself at home?” Nina wasn’t fond of having her privacy invaded and her voice displayed this fact.

  “Just protecting my livelihood. You get ripped off, I get ripped off.” She took a deep drag from the cigarette, the red tip blooming into new life.

  “Well, thanks,” Nina murmured. She glanced to the desk to verify her computer was still there.

  She moved into the bedroom and laid her bags on top of the bureau. Then she re-entered the living room and studied Hazy doubtfully.

  “I didn’t know you smoked,” she said as she crossed to the refrigerator.

  “Don’t,” Hazy replied, her tone curt. “Just felt the need for one.”

  “I don’t have beer, will soda do?” Nina asked returning with two cans.

  At Hazy’s nod, she handed her one, then pulled a chair from the kitchen table and sat facing her.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Nina caught a glimpse of an extraordinarily beautiful sunset glowing behind the picture window. “Would you look at that,” she sighed. “That red-orange is an incredible color. I’m glad my grandfather lived on Chincoteague. I can’t think of a better place to live.”

  “When will the house be ready?” Hazy asked, crushing her cigarette in the ashtray she had placed on the windowsill.

  Nina watched as Hazy took a deep swallow of the soda. She loved the clean line of her jaw. “Mander talks l
ike it’ll be complete before the end of next week. My folks are bringing my furniture out next weekend so I hope to move in officially then. Who told you about the house?”

  “No one, and everyone. It’s a small island, if one person knows, everyone knows.”

  A silence fell then. Nina watched the sunset.

  Hazy placed the canned soda on the windowsill next to the sofa and let her foot drop to the floor.

  “Come here,” she said softly.

  Nina turned wide eyes her way. “What?”

  “Come here.”

  She motioned Nina over with a sideways nod of her head.

  Nina retreated, a little frightened. “Why? What do you want?”

  Hazy sat forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “I want you, Nina, because you’re driving me crazy. I can’t stop thinking about you, imagining what it would be like to…just come here.” She extended a hand.

  Nina was confused. She wanted, with her whole being, to fly into her arms and let Hazy fan the fire that was suddenly suffusing her body, but this desire frightened her. She’d never been so consumed. It was daunting.

  Hazy stood and moved sensuously, like a panther, toward Nina. Gaining Nina’s side, she leaned back and pressed a palm to the side of Nina’s neck and jaw, under her long hair. The smell of the cigarette on her was somehow sexy and Nina inhaled deeply as her eyes closed.

  The sensation of the hand against the tender skin there almost made Nina stop breathing. The hand was hot, strong and callused. Nina felt surrounded by seawater, from the scent and the power of Hazy.

  “Don’t you want me, Nina?” she whispered as she came closer, falling to her knees and pushing the trunk of her body between Nina’s unresisting thighs. “Don’t you want me the way I want you?”

  She pressed her lips to the left of Nina’s breastbone, above where the frantically beating heart moved the fabric of her shirt. The electric shock made Nina gasp aloud.