He shot a sloppy grin at his reflection in the mirror.
“Handsome devil, aren’tcha?” he said.
A couple of swipes with a comb and Tim was ready to rock.
Leaving the bathroom, he found Lesley brushing her hair back into a wet ponytail. She wore a thick white terry cloth bathrobe over cotton pajamas. With the ponytail complete, Lesley went into the bedroom and reappeared carrying a brand new leatherette holdall adorned with a round glass bauble on the front. She pulled out a tube of hand cream and sat the bag on one of the chairs near the sofa.
“Want another beer?” she asked when she was done with the cream.
“Sure,” he said.
Tim was never one to abandon a party in midstream.
Lesley pulled open the fridge and got them each a can. Tim took a good pull on his and watched while Lesley walked to the sofa with hers. She left damp footprints on the linoleum as she went. Her pajama bottoms covered most of her legs, but man didn’t she have amazing ankles.
“Tim,” she said as she sat down. “What are we doing here?”
Tim looked at her cautiously. He hesitated before answering.
“Escaping,” he finally said. “You know, getting away from all the pressure at home, like we talked about.”
“Getting away, huh?” Lesley took a small sip of her beer. “Feels like running away, more like it.”
Tim looked at the armchair and the spot on the couch next to Lesley. He optimistically chose the couch.
“Either way,” Tim said as he plopped down next to Lesley. “At least you don’t have reporters bugging you.”
“Amen to that,” she said, “and I’m glad we came. I’m already starting to relax.”
Tim grinned. “Even with all the dirt?”
“The dirt’s all gone,” she said. “Now we can just enjoy ourselves.”
Tim held up his can toward her.
“I’ll drink to that,” he said. After they clicked cans, he did just that.
Leo picked that moment to hop up onto Lesley’s lap. He pushed up appreciatively when she scratched the top of his head. She stopped, so he jumped off and dashed away again.
“You know what I was thinking about when we were driving up here?” she said. “Our first date. You remember that?”
Like it was yesterday.
“We went to a movie,” he said.
“That James Bond one.”
“Quantum of Solace.”
“Right.”
After another sip, she grinned and said, “And I hated it.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
“You told me you had a good time.”
Lesley bumped her shoulder against his.
“I did,” she said. “I just didn’t like the movie. Too much fighting and guy stuff.”
“I’ll have to make it up to you somehow.”
She raised one eyebrow and looked at him with a quizzical grin.
“What do you have in mind?” she said.
“Maybe when we get back to town I could take you to another one.”
“You mean like a date?”
Even in his current hazy state, Tim recognized that one as a potential minefield. He searched her face for clues as to what answer she wanted to hear.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Just seems like the right thing to do, seeing as how you didn’t like the other one.”
“Well I’m not sure,” she said. “Depends whether you’re offering guns and car chases or something more suited to my delicate feminine sensibilities.”
“Oh, we’re definitely talking delicate.”
“Really?”
“And sensible. Very sensible.”
When she didn’t respond right away he added, “In fact, you can pick the movie.”
Lesley looked down at her hands and sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. “Everything just seems so complicated right now.”
Tim felt a pinprick of disappointment, but decided to press forward regardless.
“Well things may be complicated back in Boston,” he said, “but they don’t have to be that way here. As far as I’m concerned we should forget everything else and just recharge our batteries. What do you say?”
She gave him a tentative smile.
“Okay, that would be nice.”
Lesley sipped again, so Tim happily followed suit, only his was much more than a sip. Afterwards he felt a beer belch rising and did his best to let it out quietly.
“Do you find it hot in here?” Lesley said. She put down her beer, stood up, took off the bathrobe and draped it on the back of a nearby chair.
Tim caught a glimpse of cleavage when she bent over to pick up her beer, but not quite enough to tell whether she was wearing anything under the pajamas. He would have given anything to find out.
“So what are we going to do all weekend?” Lesley asked as she dropped back down on the couch beside him.
“I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” Tim said.
“Is it supposed to be nice out tomorrow?”
“I think so.”
“Maybe we could take Leo for a long explore in the woods.”
“Sure.”
“Other than that,” Lesley said, “I just feel like vegging out and trying to regain some sanity.”
“Whatever you need.”
She leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Thanks for understanding,” she said.
Tim reacted more with drunken instinct than conscious thought. He turned his face towards hers and tried to return the kiss. Lesley recoiled sharply and turned her head. His lips found only her cheek.
An immediate sinking feeling of dread washed through Tim’s gut. Had he just blown everything by moving too fast?
“Hey,” he said, “I’m sor—”
But Lesley cut him off by placing two fingers over his mouth.
“No, don’t,” she said gently. “There’s no need to apologize. It’s me, I’m … I’ve been through a lot.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, feeling hope surge within him again.
“I just need …” She pulled both knees up to her chest and hugged them. “I need lots of things, I guess.”
Tim had no idea what needs she was talking about, but if she let him know he would certainly do everything in his power to satisfy them.
Lesley reached over for her beer and took a drink. Tim gratefully used the opportunity to drain his can.
She offered him a weak smile.
“I guess what I need right now,” she said, “is a new can of beer.”
“Now that I can do,” Tim said, bouncing up off the couch.
Once he got moving he found he needed to pee quite badly. When he was finished and emerged from the bathroom, he was surprised to see that Lesley had folded the couch out into a bed and was lying on her side.
Tim grabbed two cans from the fridge and walked over to the couch. Leo was lying on the bare mattress next to Lesley, busily licking his paws and washing his face. Tim stood there awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to do.
Lesley settled the matter when she lifted the kitten out of the way and patted the mattress. “Could you just hold me?” she said.
Rob stopped the Pathfinder in the middle of the dirt track and sat there with his engine idling. With no clouds to get in the way, the half moon provided plenty of light. He could see one corner of the cabin through the trees ahead. Lights were on in the windows and Tim’s car was parked out front. Now that he was this close, however, Rob suddenly had a full-blown case of the guilts.
Sheila’s words kept playing in his mind: Are you sure you want to barrel into the middle of that?
It had seemed like such a good idea back in Boston. He would go straighten everything out. But now he could imagine any number of disastrous consequences. Lesley wanted some breathing room to set her world upright. How much would she hate him for barging in and dumping all her problems right back into her lap?