A May-September Wedding (21 page)

Tim returned
to help them get settled in the two halves of the cabin. The boys
shared one side and the girls had the other just like last year.
But this year they were not in mourning and Phyl had her sights set
on getting Cal to acknowledge that they were really a couple. She
glanced at the two large suitcases she brought and got a predatory
look on her face.

The welcome
supper was the usual boisterous affair. The girls abandoned them to
join with a group of other teenage girls at a table near the gang
of teenage boys. Despite all of the notices reminding the young
people that this was a Christian camp and chastity when single was
expected neither group could resist flirting.

Cal's first
surprise was the following morning. Phyl was not in the water when
he got to the beach. In fact, she wasn't there at all.
Strange.
He set down his towel and took position to act as
lifeguard to the small horde of kids after seeing his girls sitting
on the edge of the dock gossiping.

He almost
missed Phyl's grand entrance. Seeing a couple of the teenage boys'
eyes widen in the direction that he'd last seen Felicity, he turned
around wondering what she was up to. He had to concentrate to not
let his jaw drop.

Phyl
approached with a towel artfully draped over one arm, which was
almost normal, but the rest was not. Her hair was up in careful
braid that showed off the lines of the neck that he fantasized
about nuzzling. But it was the jewel green swimsuit that was
causing his insides to tumble. It was the skimpiest one-piece he'd
ever seen her wear. The sides were cut out to show off her toned
flanks and smooth skin and the bottom part was right at the edge of
acceptability for the camp. The colour reminded him of fine
emeralds and showed off her lightly tanned skin and ash blonde hair
perfectly.

Phyl saw the
interest that Cal was desperately trying to hide. "Good morning,
Cal. Sorry I'm a bit late."

Cal tried to
make his tongue work. Phyl looked smug. She made a show of placing
her towel next to his and lightly held onto his shoulder as she
took off her sandals. Strutting out to mid-thigh depth she dove in
to the water, directly away from him, emphasizing that she was very
definitely a woman to all onlookers but especially to Cal.

Cal blinked a
few times to clear his head.
Surely she didn't wear that for me,
did she?
His knees suddenly weak, he sat down on his towel,
watching as the blonde braided bun moved steadily toward the end of
the dock.

Felicity poked
Lydia. "Did you see your Mum?"

Lydia grumped.
"She wouldn't let
me
have any nice swimsuits." Then she
said, "Did you see your Dad's reaction?"

"It was the
same as all of the other guys. They couldn't take their eyes off of
her." Felicity sighed. "Do you think that boys will ever look at us
like that?"

Lydia frowned.
"I don't think I want that. But I think Mum is trying to get your
Dad to notice her."

"Dad noticed,
all right. He's been noticing for months. But is he going to do
anything about it this time?" Felicity asked.

Lydia crossed
her fingers. "Oh, I hope so. They are, like, so in love with each
other."

"I know, it
would be funny if Dad wasn't so stubborn."

"He doesn't
have a chance now. Mum's decided she's going after him. Your Dad
won't know what hit him."

Phyl emerged
from the water and did a slow stretch to display her bosom while
squeezing the water out of her hair in a classic B-movie pose.
Every male eye was riveted but she was looking straight at Cal as
she walked to where he was sitting, making everyone absolutely
certain that she was only interested in him.

By the time
she reached him, Cal was calm enough to ask, "Good swim?"

Phyl lay down
on her beach towel. "It's the best part of the days here. The loons
on the lake, the kids splashing happily, and a good looking man to
talk to."

Cal swallowed.
"So what do you want to talk about?"

Phyl smiled
impishly, "Oh, nothing in particular. I'm just enjoying the view."
She rolled over on one elbow and made a show of admiring him.

Cal nodded and
made a point of watching the kids. Phyl tested his resolve by
stretching cat-like as she settled down a bit closer to him while
watching him clench his hands. Taking pity on him, she asked, "Have
you seen the program for the week?"

"They're
calling it 'Trusting God, Trusting Each Other.' It's another
couples kind of theme." Cal sounded resigned.

"That sounds
like it could be fun." She rolled over to invade his space. Her
head propped up on one hand, she said, "We might not be called a
couple, but we do make a good team And I do trust you."

Cal leaned
back so he could look Phyl in the eye. "I suppose we do make a good
team, Mrs. S."

She smiled
smugly as she rolled over onto her stomach as close as she felt he
could handle.

The girls had
been sitting at the dock watching Phyl with amazement. Lydia spoke
first. "I don't believe it. Mum's acting like Tabitha's mum did
toward your Dad. Does she have to be that obvious?"

"Well, Dad's
been pretty obtuse up to now. He thinks he's way too old for your
mum, but he isn't at all interested in anyone else. He thought
Tabby's mom was, what was the phrase he used,... ah, 'overly
familiar'. But he's not running away from Mum, is he?"

Lydia couldn't
look away from the scene in front of her. "No. He's not." Lydia
gasped and put her hands over her eyes. "Don't tell me I'm seeing
that."

Felicity
looked up at her father gently caressing sunscreen into Phyl's
exposed skin. "He's just putting sunscreen on her."

"Yes, but he
doesn't have to rub it in until it disappears. Or look like he's
enjoying it that much." Lydia peeked again and caught her mother's
satisfied and smug look. "I told you. He doesn't know what hit
him."

Tim came by
and tried to splash water at his sister. "What's up, Lid?"

She just
pointed at their mother who looked like she was purring as Cal was
massaging sunscreen into her shoulders.

Tim shrugged.
"No biggie. Everyone knows they help each other out."

Felicity and
Lydia looked at each other in alarm. "You don't think..." Felicity
said in a shocked tone.

Lydia said,
firmly, "No way. Your Dad is too good a Christian to behave like
that."

Felicity
relaxed. "Well, so is your mum."

Tim asked,
puzzled, "What'd I say?"

Phyl spoke so
that only Cal could hear. "I think we're scandalizing our
daughters, Mr. Richardson."

Cal looked up
to see the girls look quickly elsewhere. "I thought you said we
were a good team. I just want to make sure that my partner doesn't
suffer from the sun."

Phyl purred.
"Thank you, partner."

Cal said. "My
pleasure."

The rest of
the week went by in a haze for Cal. Phyl seemed to have a new
outfit or swimsuit for each time she changed and got more beautiful
each time. The turquoise halter dress she wore to supper on
Wednesday with the matching low heeled sandals stopped all the
adult conversation in the dining room as she made her entrance just
before the grace was said. Cal was suitably gobsmacked and smiled
like a fool all evening that such a beautiful woman would take this
much trouble to dress for him.

The Thursday
morning trust exercise tested Cal's restraint to the absolute
limit. They had to do a high ropes and obstacle course in pairs and
for the better part of an hour they were in some sort of physical
contact. Several times during the course Phyl plastered herself
against Cal and hugged him a little too long. He had to steel
himself not to kiss her, especially since the other couples were
kissing occasionally.

Friday evening
was the talent show. Phyl surprised Cal by stepping up to the piano
and leading the room in two old hymns,
Great is Thy
Faithfulness
and
Come Thou Long
Expected Jesus,
in a lush mezzo-soprano
voice
.
Cal had the room in stitches
telling some old vaudeville jokes full of double entendres in a
broad Scottish accent.

Sitting at the
same small cocktail table drinking their decaf coffee and eating
the special treats the teenagers had prepared was very comfortable.
It brought back memories of previous talent shows with the four of
them around a larger table, but by the end of the evening the only
thing Cal could picture was Phyl.

Cal studied Phyl as she was singing along with another
performer. In the candlelight her sun-bleached blonde hair was
sparkling and he caught himself admiring the fine wrinkles around
the corners of her mouth and eyes – wrinkles that told of a woman
who knew how to laugh and smile.
How to love.

In return,
Phyl had been examining her friend. She was irrevocably in love
with this frustratingly honourable not-so-old man. In the
candlelight the scattered grey in his short hair twinkled as he
turned his head. He had been the soul of kindness all week making
sure that she was well taken care of and the kids were getting
along.

She glanced
over at Cal and let him see her unguarded desire for a second
before her head overruled it.

Cal caught the
look, the same one he'd seen from Brenda many times over their long
marriage. His head was telling him she was younger than Mark and
that David was still irrationally obsessed with her. But his heart
had noticed the laugh lines and the firm loving way she treated the
kids. His body reminded him of the feel of Phyl in his arms as they
went through the obstacle course. He was close enough to smell the
orange-mango shampoo and baby powder scent that always threatened
to overrule his good sense.

The show ended
and they walked slowly down the path toward the cabin in
companionable silence. Without any conscious thought, Cal offered
his arm and Phyl took it. Passing the cabin, they could see that
Tim was already asleep on the top bunk with the lights on and a
book on his chest and they could hear four excited soprano voices
nattering in the other side of the cabin amid many giggles.

Cal said,
"It's a nice night for a walk. Why don't we let the girls natter
for a while?" Phyl nodded and they continued walking in silence for
a while.

"I wasn't sure
I wanted to come here again, but the kids needed to get away from
the house, I think. Maybe we did, too." Phyl snuggled a little
closer into Cal.

"There were so
many reminders of Brenda here last year. I didn't visit our meadow,
though. That would have been too hard. I did go this year."

"And I didn't
swim out to the raft last year, probably for the same reason. But I
am glad we came."

Cal turned to
face Phyl. "So am I."

They stood
there facing each other for a while, studying each others' face in
the moonlight. Phyl broke the silence. "Are you finally going to
kiss me?"

Cal stood
still gazing into Phyl's eyes for a while. "Would you be angry if I
did?"

She put her
arms around his neck. "I'd be angrier if you didn't."

He leaned
slightly down to capture her soft lips. With a hungry sigh, Phyl
moved one hand down to draw Cal closer. Cal's heart was racing,
hyperaware of the combination of Phyl's lean muscles and womanly
softness.

He began to
trail kisses across her jaw line and down the side of her neck. Cal
could feel the catch in Phyl's breath as she tilted her head to
give him better access. Cal kissed his way back up to Phyl's lips
and nibbled on her lower lip. Phyl responded by running the tip of
her tongue across Cal's upper lip and then tried to deepen the
kiss.

Snick! They
jumped apart as they heard voices on the path in front of them.

Hand in hand,
they resumed their stroll before returning to the cabin. Cal,
apologetically, said, "Thank you, Phyl..."

She frowned.
"I hear a 'but' coming."

Cal took both
her hands. "I don't think it's wise to do that again."

Phyl said,
fiercely, "To hell with being wise, Cal Richardson. I wanted more
kids with Harry but he convinced me that having only two was wise.
We ate right and exercised so we'd have a long healthy wise life
together. But he made an unwise decision and left me a widow. Don't
you get it? You're only fifty-six and you're in good health. We
could have a month or we could have fifty years together. I don't
want to hear about wisdom. I don't want to hear all the logical
arguments, Cal, I just want to hear you breathing hard the next
time we kiss."

"I'm sorry,
Phyl, but I can't right now."

"As long as
it's not 'never again' I can live with that."

Cal swallowed.
"Okay. I won't say 'never again.' But don't expect anything."

Phyl reached
up and drew Cal's head close. She gave him a soft lingering kiss on
the lips to demonstrate the depth of her yearning and said, in an
intimate tone, "Don't imagine that I'm letting you go without a
fight. Good night, my love. Sweet dreams."

Cal said,
wistfully, "Good night, dear heart."

The girls were
still up when Phyl came in. "You look distracted, Mum. Is something
wrong?" Lydia looked like she was going to get up.

"Nothing
important, lovie. Just thinking about tomorrow and having to go
home." Which wasn't totally untrue.

"We've had a
great time, Mum. I mean, I still miss Dad, but it's been lots
better than last year."

Felicity said,
happily, "Lydia and I took a walk around to Mom's favourite birding
place on Wednesday evening and last night Tim came with us when we
went to see Harry's favourite places."

"You were
right, Mum. It's better to see all the places and remember the good
things. It didn't hurt this year...well, not near as much as last
year."