For a moment, she let her mind slip to a time when that daylight and that smell meant it was going to be a great day on the raft. When she had no reason to fear the day or the future. When she couldn’t wait to get to the water.
Viv would try to hold onto that outlook today. There didn’t have to be a dark cloud. She didn’t need to be the dark cloud.
Viv pulled on a loose skirt and tunic, along with her favorite flip-flops. These days she couldn’t stand to be even remotely uncomfortable when it came to clothes. She’d cared less and less about coordinating her look and more and more about moving without pain or binding or chafing.
She wandered into the lobby closer to lunch than breakfast.
A young guy manning the lobby introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Jaden. We’ve got a lunch spread out in the dining room for our guests. If there’s something else that seems more appealing. I can get it for you.”
Jaden was tall, thin, and had A Flock of Seagulls type asymmetrical hair situation. He had to be over eighteen but didn’t look it.
“Jaden, thank you, I’m sure it’s all wonderful.”
“We’ve got iced tea, lemonade, soda pop, whatever you’d like. I can bring it out to the veranda if you’d like to enjoy lunch with our best view.”
“I would love some coffee and a little ice water. Does that work?”
“Sure does.” Jaden put out an arm so Viv could enter the dining room. She hadn’t had an appetite lately, but the lake air, the late hour, and who knows what else had fired up her hunger. Dr. Hinkley would be so proud.
She put a chicken salad croissant, some grapes, and a few pieces of cheese on her plate.
Jaden wasn’t lying. The veranda was screened in, but it didn’t inhibit the view. Lake Manitou stretched out before her. It wasn’t crowded yet. It was serene. But there were a few boats, one or two small ones, sitting in the water, hoping for fish. A pontoon floated slowly by, waving to a few guests sitting on the lawn. Viv had the urge to paint the scene.
She regretted not having her sketch book.
She smiled. She wanted to paint? Her creative side had been dormant for the last few months. She’d had no desire to sketch. Nothing had felt worthy of her time. But just now, a little ping, just like she used to have. She shook her head. She recognized when she needed to express herself after a lifetime of manifesting her imagination into something real.
Jaden found her with the coffee and water. She sat on a comfy Adirondack chair and used a little side table next to her. She felt lighter inside. It was a bit unfamiliar. Waking up in a good mood, without having to marshal “good vibes,” was not her life these days.
Maybe it was best not to question that. It was best to just try to enjoy it.
Viv took a deep breath. She savored the buttery croissant, and she inhaled the aroma of the coffee. This was it. This was the way to peace: fluffy pastry.
Without cynicism, she actively directed her mind to work the techniques they’d been aiming at her in her cancer support group. She was in the moment. Siena would be so proud.
“Ah, there she is. The creeper!”
The loud, male voice cut through her moment of attempted Zen.
She spilled a bit of coffee on her shirt and cursed under her breath.
And then the body attached to the loud voice ambled directly in front of her view.
It was the man from last night. He had one crutch and the boot she’d seen. And he had a big smile on his face. It was charming, despite his obnoxious comment.
“Do I know you?” she asked.
He leaned forward and tilted an ear toward her.
She repeated her question. “I said, do I know you?’
“You know what I look like in the moonlight, darling. What more is there to know?”
Viv took a breath. She needed to defend herself. She hadn’t planned to be a Peeping Tom. It just happened. “I’m not a creeper! I just happened to be out on the balcony, and you were there, showing off.”
He laughed. “You got me pegged immediately. Iama showoff.”
Viv had not expected to win this exchange so quickly. She also did not want to be in this exchange, or any actually, with this stranger.
