Samantha yawned again, stretching her arms languidly above her head. “Yeah, maybe it’s about time we found a place to rest.” They had decided earlier to get off the highway when they got tired and park on a side road. They would sleep in the car for the first night.
“I’ll turn off as soon as I see a good hiding spot,” he said, turning down the volume.
Samantha couldn’t wait to stop, longing to stand and stretch her legs. They had barely cleared the city limits hours before when they’d both found themselves hungry. Samantha chuckled. Running away is good for the appetite, she thought. While munching on salted peanuts and Granny Smith apples, they’d also established a new twist to their getaway.
Ben had asked again about Calmer Cove and was listening intently to her memories of growing up there, when he interrupted her, snapping his fingers.
“I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. Why don’t you show me around the place?”
“Excuse me?”
“Think about it. We’ll forget about the Argentia ferry and instead, we’ll drive across the island to the west coast. You can show me your hometown and all the places that were special to you. Then we drive down the coast to Port aux Basques and take the ferry to North Sydney from there.”
“You still want to leave the province? I thought we said we were only going to stay away for a short while.”
“I know. But it will be harder for them to find us if we go to Nova Scotia. That’s when we’ll call to tell them we’re okay. They’ll know we really mean to stay together if we go that far.”
Samantha only had to consider it for a moment before she gave her consent. She didn’t want to be dragged back to their homes, and all of their problems, any more than he did. And Ben was being so romantic wanting to see Calmer with her! She experienced a nostalgic wave of homesickness for the little place just entertaining the idea. How could she say no?
They had driven steadily since they left, stopping only once for a pee break at a gas station after they got about three hours past the outskirts of St. John’s. Even before the sun had slipped past the distant, rolling horizon, Samantha had grown anxious and excited, fantasizing about the night that lay ahead.
Ben’s voice brought her back to the present.
“This looks like a possible hideout,” he said, pressing lightly on the brake. The tires crunched on dry gravel as he veered to the left, slowing the convertible onto the soft shoulder of the highway. After several minutes navigating a narrow dirt road that wound into the woods, the car ground to a halt in what appeared to be a small clearing. Deafening silence filled her ears as soon as Ben turned off the engine and the headlights went out.
“Wow. Is it ever pitch-black.”
“We can’t leave the light on, and we better not listen to the stereo either. If we fall asleep with it on, it might run down our battery.” Ben’s arm reached across her lap and nimbly opened the glove compartment. In the next second the beam of a flashlight lit up the interior. “Come on, let’s get out in the back seat.”
After the bustle of opening and closing car doors, Ben reclined in the back, his head propped up slightly on their sweaters he rolled together for a pillow. He pulled Samantha down against him, holding her close so that their bodies lay together and her head rested on his chest. She knew he couldn’t possibly be comfortable being as tall as he was, but he didn’t complain. His hand stroked the waves of her hair as he kissed the top of her head.
He switched off the flashlight. “Are you okay?” he asked gently.
“I’m happy.” She smiled in the darkness, her heart beating faster. “How about you?”
“Never. Ever. Better.” Tilting her face toward him, his soft, warm lips brushed over her waiting mouth. His kisses sent sparks of expectation throughout her total being. She pressed her lips and her body against him, impatient for more.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too.” There. She’d finally said what was in her heart. What she had longed to say. And with their declarations, she sensed his happiness and excitement increasing. His kisses and his arms around her nearly took her breath away, but she never wanted it to end. She craved to be with him now, in every way.
But he hesitated. “Are you sure?” His hand rubbed her back.
She’d never been surer of anything before. She murmured a yes and pulled his head down toward her, kissing his cheeks, his smooth brow, his eyelids, his lips. Yes, Ben. Yes…
***
Samantha was the first to blink her sleepy eyes awake the next morning. The hot blaze of sunshine pouring over them through the car window registered through her incoherent dreams. She squinted up at the bright light. Her lips curved into a smile at the dulcet charm of their natural alarm clock, the mellifluent banter of songbirds, twittering and cheeping their symphony in the trees around them. When she peeked down at their bodies intertwined and their clothes scattered over the floor of the back seat, everything flooded into her memory from their night together, and her face flushed with a swift, pointless modesty.
After their lovemaking last night, she had lain awake for what seemed like hours, too keyed up and excited to sleep, too happy to let the day end, unwilling to miss a moment. She’d nuzzled up close to Ben’s chest, listening and counting each of his breaths as they slowed and deepened into slumber. She remained there in repose, scarcely believing everything that had transpired in the last twelve hours and how remarkably alive she felt with her emotions laid bare, now that he’d plundered her, body and soul. She was his girl.
It was about so much more than losing her virginity to him. They had declared their love, at first with words. Then, in the sweetest, most intimate act available to them, they’d fulfilled their attraction. And of course, they’d used protection. There had been an initial awkwardness and some discomfort, but Samantha had no regrets.
She studied Ben’s sunlit face while he slept on. Inches from her own, she marvelled at the way his long, dark eyelashes fanned against his tanned cheeks, the little scar under the new stubble, and the way his mouth still had a semblance of a half-smile, even in slumber. He had been tender with her last night, so endearing and gentle, knowing it was her first time. She knew, no matter what, she would never forget how he’d made her feel.
Briefly, she mulled over what her mother might be doing. By now she must have seen my bed hadn’t been slept in. She must be worried and upset. Samantha pushed the scrap of certain knowledge from her mind with effort before it found a place to grow.
Ben’s sleepy eyes flickered open. “Morning, gorgeous.”
She smiled. “Morning to you too, gorgeous.” Hot damn, he was seductive. A big part of her wanted to forget the whole world and stay in this back seat with him forever, making love again and again. She blushed for the second time that morning and she hadn’t even raised her head yet.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Thirsty, mostly.”
Ben yawned and stretched his arms. The muscles in his bare chest flexed, then relaxed. “Let’s go find some breakfast.”
Samantha averted her eyes, much too bashful to observe his nakedness as he gathered up his clothes. She reached for her own and dressed inside the car while Ben got out and looked around. When she joined him, she laughed. “Ha! First time I saw you with bed head.”
“Oh yeah? Is that right? And how many combs did you crack off this morning?”
“Oh, crap.” Peering into the side-view mirror, Samantha combed her unruly mane with her fingers.
Ben suggested they pick up some food at a coffee shop and eat it on the run. Parking the convertible and enjoying a leisurely breakfast in public would be too risky, especially if the police were alerted to be on the lookout for them. It was a distinct possibility, he cautioned Samantha, that one of their parents had raised an alarm by now concerning their whereabouts, so they needed to do their best not to draw attention to themselves.
Half an hour later, they pulled out of Grand Falls with baco
n and egg sandwiches, a large coffee for Ben, and an orange juice for her. Samantha couldn’t resist sneaking sidelong glimpses at her companion as he drove and munched on his second sandwich; his lean, shirtless chest filled her with a renewed yearning. Is it possible he doesn’t know that the sight of him half-dressed makes me want to play all sorts of naughty games with him? Samantha tore her eyes away and drank her cold juice in a feeble attempt to douse her passion.
“Before you know it, we’ll be in Calmer,” he said, smiling down at her. “We’ll need to be incognito there too, sweetness. We don’t want anyone recognizing you.”
“That’s not going to be easy. It’s a very small place and everyone knows me.” Samantha thought of Leah. If only she could see her old friend, just for a little while. How nice it would be to give her a hug, catch up, and show off her gorgeous boyfriend!
Ben frowned. “Our visit will have to be short, of course. We need to get to Port aux Basques, hopefully by tonight, to check the ferry schedule. I’m expecting tomorrow morning we can get off the island.”
The next hours passed as if in a giddy, carefree dream. They drove on, listening to tunes, joking and laughing in between singing along with the soundtrack of their escape. With the convertible top down, the humid breeze played havoc with Samantha’s hair again, tossing it about her face in a wild, tangled frenzy, and she was never happier.
The only thing that nibbled on the corner of her conscience now and then was concern for her mother. It was Sunday. Would she attempt to look for her? Or would she simply drown her anxieties in the only way she knew how? Her daughter’s disappearance could very likely spark another bender. Would Ronnie care about any of it? Or would Randy be there to drag her from a downtown pub this time and make sure Darlene got home in one piece? And how safe was she around Randy and his reputation?
Ben’s voice broke into her rumination. “Hey, what gives? Why do you look solemn all of a sudden?” he asked.
“No reason, just thinking about my mom.”
“Don’t fret. You’ll be talking to her as soon as we get off the ferry tomorrow. Okay?”
Samantha didn’t answer right away. After a minute, she nodded in agreement, laying her hand on his thigh. Ben gave her a casual glance.
“I think it’s about time we made another stop,” he said with a trace of a grin. “I feel this need coming on to lie down, for some reason.”
Instantly dizzy with reignited excitement from his innuendo, and her heart hammering in her throat, Samantha nodded and helped him scan for a place to turn off the highway. Five minutes later, they found another narrow dirt road that took them into a densely wooded area. The convertible bounced over the ruts and through the potholes, branches scratching at her sides as they drove in silence until the road opened onto a small bluff overlooking a quiet, undisturbed pond. A tiny piece of paradise for us to share.
This time when they parked, Ben got out, opened the trunk, and took out a red woollen blanket. In one careless yet fluid motion, he spread it out on the patchy grass near the crest of the bluff, then pulled her down on top of him.
With her legs straddling his waist and her hands splayed out on his warm, bare chest, Samantha looked down into the smouldering eyes gazing back at her. How helpless she was when he regarded her like that! And she suspected he was well aware of it. His mouth curved into a teasing smile as he pulled off her tank top and unhooked her bra. As he held her locked in his gaze, long, tingling seconds passed between them. The sun and the warm breeze caressed her bare skin.
“My sweet Samantha,” he said before she leaned down to kiss him. “I wish time would stop, and we could live in this moment forever. Then no one can break us apart.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Reserved people often really need the frank discussion of their sentiments and griefs more than the expansive. The sternest-seeming stoic is human after all…”
- Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Samantha checked her wristwatch. It was 6:35 p.m. The sun and wide blue sky had disappeared, grown overcast with white, wispy mare’s tails and silvery, dappled clouds that folks back in Calmer thought resembled fish scales. Mare’s tails and mackerel sky, clouds to warn a storm is nigh, Daddy used to say in his fishing days.
They hadn’t made good time due to the long stops they took along the way, the most recent one at an Irving station just outside of Deer Lake for a top-up of gas and a bathroom break. By then, Ben was hungry again, and indicated with a grunt and a look of disdain in his knapsack that he didn’t want to settle for any of the snacks he brought along. After disagreeing on where to stop, they compromised and drove until they pulled into Corner Brook for something to eat.
When he rejoined her in the car with his arms full of soft drinks and Styrofoam containers filled with cheeseburgers and fries, she wondered if he was spending their pooled funds too quickly, but said nothing once she caught a tantalizing whiff of the hot food that made her mouth water. Again, they ate while he drove, with the plan to make it to Calmer before nightfall. After realizing the delays they had created getting this far, Ben recalculated. They wouldn’t make it to Port aux Basques for the morning ferry; rather they would plan for the afternoon departure tomorrow instead.
By the time they’d finished eating, a heavy mantle of grey, cumulonimbus cloud loomed in the sky westward, rolling slowly toward them. Samantha sensed the origins of a headache coming on, probably due to the change in barometric pressure. Me and my sensitivities, she moaned to herself.
“I bet we’re having a downpour soon,” she said. “Is that why you put the top back up?”
“Yep. The guy at the restaurant told me we are in for a thunderstorm and a lot of rain.” Ben tipped his head back to drain the last of his root beer.
“Advil still in your knapsack?”
“Yeah, help yourself. What’s wrong?”
“Bit of a headache, that’s all.” She reached behind the front seat and snatched up Ben’s khaki bag. Another possibility was her impending period, which, more often than not lately, gave her a migraine. She washed down the tablets with the last of her Coke.
Closing her eyes, Samantha leaned her head back and rubbed her temples. Yet another probable cause for her pain was one she didn’t want to examine. She was certain Ben would be angry with her if he knew what she did at the Irving station in Deer Lake, while he’d been distracted pumping gas and cleaning the windshield.
The first crack of thunder ricocheted around them when they took the turnoff to her hometown. As rain began to pelt on the roof of the Thunderbird, a torrent of memories capsized her thoughts. The small, green road sign reading Calmer Cove came into view. Tears sprung, unbidden, when she admitted to herself how much she’d missed the place. She hurried to wipe them away.
Flicking on the wipers, Ben ventured a conspiratorial smile in her direction as he navigated and climbed the precipitous and narrow access road; the two of them bounced inside the car when they hit some bumps and dips. The road, paved many years prior, was in dire need of resurfacing. “Yikes! I could’ve sworn we weren’t coming back up from that last pothole. St. John’s got nothing on this place.”
When at last they reached the crest of the incline, Samantha scanned the charming, albeit water-soaked scene below. The first tiny houses came into view, dotting the landscape in soggy welcome.
Automatically, her gaze fell on the saltbox abode with the heritage-yellow clapboard near the coastline. My house, she thought numbly. Why does it already look different to me somehow? No longer my home; now it’s simply an artist’s sketch upon a ragged page, torn from my memory. A white flash of lightning illuminated the scene, outlining the solid old two-storey in sharp relief against a leaden sky and the churning Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A peeling bungalow with green shutters about a gunshot away from her former home beckoned to her. Situated at the top of the lane that led from the main road to the ocean, the little house with the red brick chimney had an all-terrain vehicle parked beside it
. Samantha thought she spied a curl of wood smoke rising from the chimney. Leah’s momma was probably baking bread in the wood-burning range, just like my Nana used to. Some things never change. Life goes on here despite the collapse of the cod fishery; the remaining souls stubbornly making a living the best way they can. Even though my entire world has changed, Leah’s life seems to have remained essentially the same. Has it really only been a couple of months? Should we have stayed instead of trying to run away from our problems? So much has happened since the day I said goodbye to this little cove and the only life I’ve ever known…
“Samantha!” Ben’s sharp intonation brought her back to the present. “Did you hear what I said?”
Samantha jumped, startled. “Sorry. I was thinking about when—”
“Hey, I get how it’s hard for you to see this place, but we need to hide the car. Know of a good hiding place?” His knuckles clenched white on the steering wheel and he chewed his lip. The wipers were on their fastest speed, but the torrential downpour washed over them like a curtain, limiting their visibility. Ominous thunder boomed and rumbled again, audibly closer.
She remembered the idea she’d formulated earlier. “As a matter of fact, I do. Do you see that dirt road to the left at the bottom of the hill? Turn there and it will lead us to my Poppy’s abandoned barn that you can park behind. We should be well out of sight then.” It would be dark soon, which would also help keep them hidden from prying eyes.
“Okay. Good.”
The little village looked deserted. A ghost town. Nana’s white clapboard church with its narrow bell tower stood in the centre of the community, silent and apparently empty. Abandoned boats studded the grassy banks above the wharf, dories and punts lying upside down like beached whales, paint scaling from their hulls. Samantha’s gaze raked the landscape, partly relieved no one was about who might see her in the passenger seat, and partly disappointed to see such little activity. Then again, it was Sunday and a rainstorm raged, so naturally, most of the locals remained indoors and the church service would be over for the evening. Still, she wondered how many others, besides her own family, had pulled up stakes and moved on to greener, more productive pastures.
Calmer Girls Page 21
