“Thanks.”
Angela spotted the bottles of sunscreen, and remembered she still had yet to put any on. She grabbed a bottle and took her cover-up off. No one was looking anyway.
As she slathered the sunscreen on, looking at the beautiful lake, she felt eyes on her. As she turned around, she saw Michael staring at her; he didn’t even attempt to look away. He looked at her for a second or two.
“So, you going in?” he asked her, taking off his t-shirt. She barely had a chance to look at his nice back as he jumped in the water.
Feeling suddenly conscious of her bikini, she grabbed the life jacket and put it on. She sat on the edge of the dock, dipping herfeet. The water was as cold as she had predicted. She wasn’t sure she was going to go through with this.
“The water’s great,” Michael told her as he swam close to her.
Yeah, right.
“No really, I’m good here,” she said, suddenly remembering the dock spiders Michael had mentioned. She had the urge to jump but she still couldn’t do it.
“It’s like a band-aid,” he told her. “You’ve got to jump right in,” he explained as he grabbed her arm and pulled her in.
The shock of dropping into the cold water made her breathless. Her heartbeat raced. Thankfully, she was wearing the jacket and hadn’t gone in too deep.
“I can’t believe you,” she yelled at him. “You are such a...”
“A what?” He laughed.
“...a pain in the rear.”
“You would have never done it,” he told her as he swam to her. “You would have sat on that dock all day.” He looked even better with his hair wet, off his face. She stared in his grey blue eyes, lost for a second. She had already forgiven him. It was hard no to.
“You’re ok with the jacket? You feel comfortable in the water?” he asked, suddenly concerned.
“Yes, this is not so bad,” she joked, threading water. “I’m kind of glad you threw me in.”
He smiled and looked at her, in the way that he would sometimes, a little twitch in his jaw, his eyes intense. This look made her melt. She could melt and disappear right there in this fantastic lake.
Michelle and Eric made their way back; they had gone off quite a ways. They were strong swimmers, and Angela envied them a little.
“That was so funny,” Eric said, in his broken French accent.
“No, it wasn’t.” Angela disagreed, laughing.
Dot sat on her lounge chair, enjoying the show.
“Hey Mum, you better get in here or I’ll do the same thing to you,” Michael told her.
“Oh ,you would never do that to an old woman.” She knew she was secure in her position.
Michael took off his wet trunks, looking out through the window of his cabin, at the lake. He didn’t see the lake since he only had one thing on his mind. He couldn’t help being a little irritated with her.
Was she purposely trying to make this weekend unbearable for him; showing up on the dock in that sexy white bikini. She was being cruel. She deserved to be thrown in the lake; payback.
He couldn’t shake the vision of her, standing there on the dock, the curves of a Goddess, perfectly round and soft; the contrast of her olive skin against the white of her bikini. He couldn’t help but imagine her in the cabin next to her, slipping out of her bikini, her long hair still wet.
He felt a surprising frustration; a tension in himself. He was mad at everyone; at his mother for masterminding this whole situation, at Angela for wearing that bikini, but mostly at himself for not having the discipline to stop thinking about her. He was resentful for being put in this situation; he felt like a child standing at the window of a candy shop, looking at all the colors and flavors, mouth watering, but not allowed to go in. She was definitely going to drive him to insanity by the end of the weekend.
Before dinner, Angela and the kids went blueberry picking towards the center of the island where the trees shaded them from the sun. Angela got to chat with them a little more; Michelle seemed to take quite a liking to her. She suggested theyteam up for a game Boccee Ball against Eric and her father; determined to beat them.
They spoke both English and French; both practicing their second language. Angela was surprised by the amount of blueberries they managed to pick; enough to make blueberry muffins or pancakes the next morning.
Michael was grilling steaks, chicken and hamburgers for dinner. Angela and the kids helped set the patio table; Michael had suggested eating outside and everyone was in agreement since it was such a wonderful night. Angela filled the glasses with lemon ice water.
