Page 20 of Lakesides and Longing

Paige heaved a sigh of relief. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t going to get involved with Blake anyway, but at least he wasn’t a cheater.

“You’ve had a career since then, so what happened next.”

“A few years after that I took another job in Europe, consulting with a university in Italy.”

“Let me guess. Debbie was there.”

Blake nodded. “New last name again. This time though, I played things differently. You see, the other times we hooked up we couldn’t date openly because she was my professor, but now she wasn’t. Instead of jumping in bed with her, I asked her out for dinner. We dated for three months before we slept together again. I didn’t waste any time after that. We moved in together and were happy for two years.”

“Two years, huh. That sounds serious.”

“It was. I planned on proposing. Had a whole scheme worked out. My buddy from Egypt flew up to Prague to help me pull it off. But she never showed up. Called me and told me she needed a break and met an Italian. She told me I could clean out my stuff from the apartment the next weekend because she would be staying with her new boyfriend.”

Without thinking, Paige reached over and squeezed his hand. “That must’ve been hard for you.”

“It was. I left her alone for a while after that, but I just couldn’t stay away. Just before I came out here, I went to win her back, but discovered she was getting married.”

“Wow. I thought I was the only one with a messed up story.”

Blake chuckled a little. “Nope. I’m pretty messed up too.”

Paige let out a breath. “Enough of this heavy stuff. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your travels? It sounds like you’ve been all over the world.”

“Do you want to hear about the time I got bit by a Brazilian wandering spider or nearly drowned off the coast of Australia?”

“Both.”

As they neared Kitch-iti-kipi, Paige realized that she hadn’t minded the drive. In fact, the two hours had flown by. Blake had kept up a stream of stories of his travels.

The parking lot was empty, which was unusual for early summer, but it was a Wednesday. They parked, and Blake put Tria on a leash. She cowered away from him as he latched it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her on a leash.” Poor girl. She’d probably love to roam free out here. She certainly did at home.

“She hates them. You’d think with as much traveling as we do that she’d be used to them, but she’d much prefer to run on her own. Once she gets a whiff of something interesting, she’ll be fine.”

They walked down the boardwalk and came around a corner. The idyllic spring-fed lake came into view, and a large boat sat tied to the dock.

“Come on,” Paige said, excitement bubbling in her stomach. She hadn’t felt this way in a while, but she was eager to see Blake’s reaction to the water. It was like nothing else on this earth. Though she hadn’t been all over the world, so maybe there was something like somewhere else and he’d seen it. She’d be so disappointed if he wasn’t awed by it.

On the lake the single boat was available for anyone to board and take across the lake. It was on a rope that spanned the lake and when you turned the big wheel the boat went in a straight line along the rope and back again. It was only about a five-minute ride to the middle of the lake if you went slowly.

It appeared more like a flat barge, with a wooden roof and rails all along the side.

When it was busy a ranger manned the boat, but on slow days it was up to the passengers to figure it out.

She pushed open the gate and held it for Tria so she could get on the boat. Blake followed.

“You can let her off the leash if she won’t jump in the water,” Paige told him.

He did, and she grabbed the wheel to take them to the center of the lake. She cranked the big wheel slowly.

Blake glanced over the rail.

“Wait,” Paige yelled.

“What?” He turned, and Paige was acutely aware of how close he was to her.

“Don’t look yet. It’s better if you get the full effect in the center.” She wanted to see his reaction and the best part was in the middle.

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