Take a Deep Breath (Lake of the Pines) (9 page)

“Hey! I wasn’t going to get wet!” Liv fake pouted. Soon they
were all laughing and splashing around. Pup-Pup shook the water from her fur
and once again ran back and forth along the deck of the boat, barking. Moments
later, she launched herself back into the water and paddled over to join the
fun.

“Okay, let’s get you on that tube!” Cam helped Sara climb
into the center of the tube. “Now, hold on tight to these handles. When you are
ready, give me the thumbs up. If you need me to stop or slow down, just shake
your head side-to-side. If you want me to go faster, you can nod your head up
and down.”

Sara nodded agreement, “Got it!”

“She won’t need that last sign,” Liv interjected. “She does
not need to go faster. Slow is good.”

“Come on Mom. I want to go fast!”

“I’m sure Cam will go fast enough.” Liv let her protective
mother instinct kick in.

“So what’re you going to do if you need me to stop?” Cam
quizzed Sara.

“Shake my head, side-to-side, like this.” Sara demonstrated.

“And what else are you going to do?”

“Hold on tight!”

“I think she’s ready to try it now!”

Liv and Cam swam back to the boat, taking Pup-Pup with them.
Once they were all on board again, Cam raised the anchor. Liv moved to the
stern of the boat so she could spot Sara.

Cam looked back at Liv and Sara. “Is she ready to go?”

“Are you ready?” Liv called out. Sara gave the thumbs up and
grabbed the handles of the tube again as if her life depended on it.

“She’s ready!” Liv relayed to Cam. He slowly pulled out of
the cove with Sara floating gently behind. As they came around into the main
part of the lake, he sped the boat up slightly. Liv watched as Sara giggled and
smiled. She and the tube bounced up and down over the wake of the boat. After
going around the lake twice, Cam slowed the boat down again and brought them
back into the cove to moor. Liv pulled on the tow line and brought the tube
with Sara on it back to the boat and helped the little girl back in. Next, Cam
hauled the tube into the boat and unhooked the tow rope.

“That was awesome! Did you see me, Mom? Did you? Did you see
me back there bouncing on the tube?”

“I sure did Sweetie!” Liv loved to see her daughter so
animated and happy.

“You did great out there!” Cam complimented her.

“Can I go again?”

“Sure you can, but probably not today. I have to get the
boat back in a bit and right now I’m starving! Is anyone else hungry?”

“I am!” Sara cheered.

“Me too!” Liv chimed in. And, she really was hungry.

Sara helped Cam get out the picnic basket and pass out the
food.

“Your Grandma sure does make great sandwiches.”

“And cookies too!” Sara pulled out a bag of peanut butter
cookies that’d she’d helped bake.

“After we get done eating, why don’t we take the boat back
to my place, that way you can get your car,” Cam suggested. “Then we can head
back over to your Grandma’s - if I’m invited – and we can sit by the campfire
again.”

“Of course you’re invited!” Liv gushed. “That sounds great
to me.”

“Me too! I want to roast marshmallows again and catch
fireflies too!” Sara piped in.

“It’s all set then.” Cam angled the boat back toward home.
It was just about five thirty when they reached the Preston summer home. He
secured the boat and helped everyone get out -- this time without incident. He
glanced toward the house and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed his
father’s truck was gone. They must have gone to get bait or something. They
unloaded their gear and put the tube back in the shed. Moments later they
headed up the hill and piled into Liv’s car. Sara started singing “Row, Row,
Row Your Boat” as they drove around the lake back to the Adams’. She stopped
singing for a moment. “I have an idea! Let’s sing it in a round! We do that in
music class all the time. I’ll start. Then you join in Mom, when I get to the
first ‘merrily,’ then Cam’ll go when you get to ‘merrily’ and we sing it three
times each!”

“I don’t know Sara…”

“Please Mom! It’ll be fun.”

“Oh all right. Just for you,” Liv gave in. Sara began to
sing and then Liv joined in. Soon all their voices blended together and Cam
finished, “Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.” And for Cam, it
certainly felt like a dream. He couldn’t remember having had a day any better
than this one.

Later that night after Sara was tucked into bed, Liv drove
Cam back home. The gravel crunched under the tires as she pulled into his
driveway. The security light was on, but the house looked dark.

“Do you want to go inside for a minute and have some coffee
or something?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Liv smiled and turned off the
car. Cam came around the driver’s side and opened the door for her. “My, aren’t
you the gallant one.” Liv teased Cam as she got out of the car.

“Not really.” Cam pushed her door close. “I’ve just been
waiting all night to do this again.” He backed her up against the car, cupped
the back of her head with his hand and covered her mouth with his. She met his
tongue with hers and deepened the kiss. Her arms embraced him, pulling him
against her lean body. Cam could feel her heart beating as quickly as his
beneath the thin white blouse she was wearing over her camisole. He couldn’t
get enough of her taste. He finally broke off the kiss before he couldn’t stop
himself.

Breathing heavily, he whispered in her ear, “Let’s go
inside…” and kissed her neck again.

Remembering how far things had gotten earlier, Liv
hesitated. “Cam, I want to. You have to know I do, but I can’t. It’s, it’s just
too soon for me.” She pushed back from him.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant," Cam said in a rush,
although in the back of his mind he knew that was totally what he meant. He
wanted her with his whole body.

“You mean you don’t want to?” Hurt and confusion crossed her
face.

“Of course I
want to
. God help me, I’d make love
with you right here, right now given the chance. Damn, I’m saying this all
wrong. I’m sorry Livvy. I’m really making a mess of this, aren’t I?” Cam looked
like a worried school boy standing under the light.

“No…” Liv moved back into Cam’s arms. “You aren’t.”

He looked into her eyes. “I know the time isn’t right, yet.
I want you to know I’d never do anything to hurt you or rush you. At least not
on purpose…”

“I know Cam. Did I ever tell you, you talk too much?” Liv
cut him off as she brought her mouth back to his for more.
Maybe I am
ready,
she thought.

“Hey, is that you up there Cameron?” A loud voice boomed
from below them. Cam and Liv quickly jumped back from each other. Cam hadn’t
heard the powerboat come back in. “Who’s that with you?” Max called. “For a
second there I thought I might have to dump this bucket of fish water on you
two. It looked like things were getting pretty heated up.” He laughed loudly.

“Okay, Dad, very funny.” Cam put his arm protectively around
Liv. He could sense her embarrassment and wished he could spare her this scene.
For that matter, he wished he could spare himself the scene.

“Well aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Max
continued as he walked up to them. Cam could see the other men down below
unloading the fishing gear from the boat.

“Dad, you remember Liv?”

“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Preston.” Liv offered him
her hand, but he didn’t seem to notice. She dropped it back down by her side.

“Good to see you again too, Livvy. You’re looking good. No
wonder Cam …”

“Dad, it’s getting late and it looks like Uncle Roger could
use a hand with the fishing basket down there. Looks like you got quite the
haul.”

“We sure did! You should see how many fish we got. I was
really pulling them in!” Max bragged.

“That’s great, Dad.” Cam successfully changed the subject.
His Dad could never pass up an opportunity to talk about himself.

“Well, I should be getting home.” Liv reached over to open
the car door.

“Okay, I get the hint. When you’re done saying goodbye to
Liv, how ‘bout coming down and helping us clean those fish.”

“Sure Dad.” Cam watched as his father made his was back down
to the dock. He turned back toward Liv. “I’m really sorry about him.” Cam
apologized as he stroked the inside of her arm with his finger.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I really should get back,
though…”

“I know...” Cam kissed the palm of her hand.

“Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Count on it.” He let her hand go and brushed his lips
against her forehead before he found her lips one last time.

Liv broke the kiss before Mr. Preston made good on his
promise to throw a bucket of fish water on them. She slipped through the opened
the door and slid into the driver’s seat. She pulled the door close and rolled
down the window. “Bye Cam.”

He leaned in through the window and kissed her again. “Good
night, Liv.”

“Good night…”

Liv shifted her car into reverse and backed out. Cam stood
in the driveway watching until her tail lights disappeared into the dark.

“Mom, Mom…” Liv rolled over and cracked open one eye to see
her daughter standing illuminated in the doorway by the hall light.

“What’s wrong honey?”

“I’m scared. Can I sleep with you?”

“Sure. Turn out the light and come on in.” Liv moved over to
make room for her daughter. Sara flipped the light switch off and scurried over
to the bed. Liv held open the covers and Sara scooted in. She snuggled in close
to Liv, pressing back against her mother and tucking her head under Liv’s chin.

“It’s okay.” Liv wrapped an arm around Sara. “Did you have a
bad dream?”

“No, but I heard a noise outside my window. It sounded like
‘chhh, chhh, chh…’”

“It’s probably just the wind blowing a branch against the
window. It sounds like it’s really picking up out there. It used to scare me
when I was a little girl too. Try to go back to sleep.” Liv waited to hear the
sound of her daughter’s quiet, even breathing before she closed her eyes again.

“Mom, are you still awake?”

“I’m trying not to be.”

“Were you and Cam best friends?”

“Yeah, we were, but that was a long time ago.”

“Why did you stop?”

“Well, our lives just took different paths, Honey. That
happens sometimes,” Liv said as sleep pulled on her eyes.

“But if you were best friends, why didn’t you marry Cam
instead of Daddy?”

Good question,
Liv thought. “Well, if I hadn’t
married Daddy, I wouldn’t have you.” Liv kissed the top of Sara’s head.

“Well, I like Cam. I want you to marry him now that you’re
best friends again. I want him to be my new Dad. Can I be a bridesmaid? I want
to wear a blue dress and carry a basket of flowers.” Sara turned over to face
Liv as she made plans.

“Wait a second, Sweetie. I like Cam a lot too, but it’s way
too soon to talk about getting married. We’ve only just started to get to know
each other again. It’s only been a couple weeks since he came back into my
life.”
The best two weeks of my life,
she thought before continuing.
“Besides Cam lives in Chicago and we live in Ohio. We’ll each be going back to
our own lives once the summer’s over. But for now, we’ll spend as much time as
we can with Cam. And I promise we won’t lose touch with him this time.” Liv’s
heart squeezed at the thought of them going their separate ways in only a
matter of weeks.

“But, I want a new Dad. I like Cam better. He’s more fun!
The boat ride last week was the best!”

“Now Sara, that’s not a very nice thing to say about your
father. Your Dad loves you very much.”

“I know Mom, but it’s true.”

“Well Dad and Cam are two very different people. They each
have their good qualities and their bad ones. Everyone does. That doesn’t make
one better than the other. Just different.” Liv didn’t want to be accused of
turning the girl against her father; he was capable of doing that all on his
own.

“I guess so, Mom. But, Mom…”

“Shh! It’s still night time. Go back to sleep now.”

“Okay, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you back, Sara.” A few moments passed and Liv
finally heard the quiet breathing that told her Sara was asleep. A few minutes
later, so was she.

A bright flash of lightning immediately followed by a huge
crash of thunder woke Liv only a few hours later. The storm was right on top of
them. She could hear the wind roar as the rain pelted the windows. A few
moments later she heard hail ping off the roof. She put the pillow over her
head to block out the sound to no avail.

“Mom! I’m scared! Is there going to be a tornado?” Sara was
awake and from the whining and scratching coming from the kitchen so was
Pup-Pup.

“I don’t think so. It’s just a little thunderstorm. It’ll be
over in a few minutes. In fact, I think it’s already passing by.” Liv rubbed
her daughter’s back. She looked over to see what time it was. The clock read
3:23 AM and then went dark just as lightning lit up the room and thunder
crashed again shaking the cottage.

Sara started to cry. “It’s okay, baby girl. Mama’s right
her.” Liv soothed Sara, blocking out her own fear of storms.

“Will you tell me a story, Mommy? One about me? I love your
stories. They always make me feel better.”

“Okay. Let me think here…” Liv paused. “Once upon a time,
there lived a beautiful princess with long brown hair and twinkling blue eyes.
Hmmmm. What was her name?”

Sara giggled in anticipation.

“Oh, that’s right. Her name was Sara. Princess Sara had
three little dogs. A black one, a white one and a brown one. She just loved
dogs.” By the time Liv finished the story, the storm had blown over. Somewhere
in between, they both dozed off again. The next time Liv woke up it was to the
smell of bacon cooking. She rubbed her eyes and stretched as she looked around
for her robe. The clock was now flashing 12:00 AM. At least the electricity was
back on. Careful not to wake Sara, Liv got out of bed.

“Good morning, Gram.” Liv kissed her grandmother on the
cheek. Pup-Pup sat patiently waiting at her feet, hoping for a bit of dropped
bacon. “What time is it?”

“Oh, it’s about 8:30.” Hannah placed the bacon on a plate
and put it on the table next to the scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast. Liv
went over to the refrigerator and got out the milk, butter and orange juice.
Next, she started gathering plates, cups, silverware and napkins to set the
table.

“That was quite a storm this morning,” Liv commented.

“I’d say. It looks like we’ve got quite a few branches down
out there. The large birch tree out front has a big limb off it. Good thing you
parked off to the side last night.”

Liv pulled the curtain back over the kitchen sink to assess
the damage.

“Mom?” Sara called.

“We’re in the kitchen Sweetie. Grandma almost has breakfast
ready.”

Sara padded down the hall, dragging her bedraggled stuffed
teddy bear with her.

“You better make sure you put Boo-Boo bear up before Pup-Pup
chews her up.”

“I will,” Sara said and set the bear up on the kitchen
counter. Liv frowned.

“I’ll take him back to my room after breakfast.” Sara
slumped into one of the orange vinyl chairs around the kitchen table. She
scrunched up her nose and made a face. “I don’t like eggs.”

Great,
Liv thought.
She’s in a mood.
“Well, I at least want you to try a couple of bites.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes, you do. Grandma went to a lot of trouble making
breakfast for us and the least you could do is taste it.”

“But, I hate eggs.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind. I can get her some cereal or
something else,” Hannah said.

“No Gram. I mind. She’s going to at least take one bite of
eggs.” Just then they heard the gravel crunch in the driveway as someone pulled
in. Sara jumped up and ran to the door.

“It’s Cam!” Sara reported. Moments later he was standing in
the kitchen.

“I thought you guys might have some storm damage.” Cam
smiled when he noticed Liv was still in her pajamas. “I brought my chainsaw and
thought I’d help you clean up. It looks like the east side of the lake got hit
hardest this time. We only had a couple of small branches down at our place.”

“That’d be wonderful, Cam. We’d really appreciate your
help,” Hannah said. “Why don’t you sit down and have some breakfast first.
We’ve got plenty of eggs left.” She winked at Sara.

“Thanks, but I already ate.”

“I’m sure you could eat a little bit more.”

“Well, maybe just a little. Everything sure smells good.”
Cam took the empty seat next to Liv.

“Would you like some orange juice?”

“Sure.” Their fingers brushed as she passed the pitcher over
to him. Liv ate her last bite of eggs and set her fork down.
It feels so
good to have an appetite again,
she thought.

“I’m going to go throw on some clothes and then I’ll be
ready to help you outside.” Liv picked up her breakfast dishes and placed them
in the sink.

“Do you have to? I kind of like what you have on now.”

“Ha. Ha. I’ll be back in a minute. Sara I want you to go get
dressed too.”

“Okay, Mom.” Sara raced down the hall past her.
That was
too easy,
Liv thought. Then she realized that Sara had gotten away without
taking her bite of eggs.

When Liv returned to the kitchen, Cam was just finishing the
dishes. “Where’s Gram?”

“She ran up to the store to get some groceries for lunch.”

“What about Sara?”

“She and Pup-Pup are outside picking up the sticks in the
front yard.” Liv peeked out the window and saw her pulling a red wagon around
the yard with the puppy at her heels. She had a bundle of sticks in her hand
and dropped them in the wagon. She picked up another stick and threw it for
Pup-Pup. The little dog trotted around with the stick in her mouth as Sara
continued to pick up more sticks and small branches. She was wearing her purple
flip-flops again. They were her favorite shoes of the moment. Along with the
flip-flops, she had on her purple denim shorts and a pink and yellow flowered
tank top. She’d pulled her hair up in a ponytail without brushing it. Liv
smiled. Her daughter had a fashion sense of her own.

“So it’s just us, then?” Liv turned back to Cam.

“Yep, it’s just us.”

Liv reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from
the sink.

“What should we do about that?”

“What do you want to do?” Cam raised his eyebrows as he
raked her body with his eyes. She’d left her hair loose. The light blue, V-neck
t-shirt she wore revealed a hint of cleavage. The color looked good against her
tanned skin. The paleness that had clung to her only a week before was gone.
Instead of baggy capris, she wore a pair of khaki shorts that hugged her bottom
perfectly. Still in her bare feet, Cam noticed she’d painted her toenails a
bright pink.

“Come a little closer and I’ll show you.”
This is not
like me,
she thought. But she couldn’t help herself. “I think you got a
little egg or something on your shirt there.”

As Cam looked down she tweaked him on the nose and just as
quickly planted a lingering kiss on his mouth when he looked back up.

“Gotcha,” she whispered.

“I like your style.” Cam kissed her gently on the mouth
weaving his fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes and leaned it to him,
pressing her body against his chest. She felt his body respond to hers and
smiled. She angled her mouth slightly to deepen the kiss, moaning as his tongue
entered her mouth and he sucked her lower lip. His hands cupped her bottom and
drew her even closer to him. He backed her up against the counter as she moved
her hands under his shirt and tugged it upward over his head. She longed to
feel his flesh against hers. Sara or her grandmother could walk in on them at
any moment, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. Her body wanted more. She
wanted more. Cam pulled her tank top up. His eyes widened when he realized she
didn’t have a bra on underneath.

“The tank top has a built-in bra.”

“I like tank tops.” Cam lowered his head and left a trail of
hot kisses from midriff to her neck and back to her mouth. If they didn’t quit
now, they’d be making love in the middle of her grandmother’s kitchen. Liv came
to her senses and pulled back.

“We better go outside, before someone comes in and finds
us…”

“I know.” Cam kissed the side of her neck again, tickling
her with his tongue. “That would be so bad.”

“Very bad.” She kissed him on the mouth one more time.

“We have to stop,” he agreed, returning her kiss.

“We really do.” She forced herself to step back from his
embrace.

Cam helped her readjust her clothing. She finger-combed her
hair and took a deep breath. She found her shoes, while Cam put his shirt back
on and finished cleaning up after breakfast.

“Ready?”

“Always…”

Cam held the door open for her. “Lead the way darling.”

Liv glanced around the yard, while Cam headed to his truck
to get his chainsaw. Gram was right. There were quite a few branches littering
the yard. Luckily none of them landed on the cottage. The large birch tree in
the side yard took the biggest hit. One large broken branch was trapped in
another branch of the tree. It teetered, precariously balanced, ready to fall.
They needed to cut it down so that it didn’t hurt someone. Another of the birch
tree’s large branches lay on top of the tire swing that was tied to it. Liv
felt nostalgic looking at the mangled swing and tree limb. She’d spent many
hours swinging in that tree. Hopefully, they’d be able to find another branch to
hang the swing on. Sara would be disappointed if they didn’t.
Sara. Where
was she anyway?
Liv suddenly realized she hadn’t seen her when they’d come
outside.

Something didn’t feel right to Liv. In fact Liv
instinctively felt something was very wrong. Fear began to prick her as she
scanned the yard looking for Sara. The little girl wasn’t in the front yard
anymore and her wagon of sticks was abandoned by a fallen branch near the edge
of the yard and the woods.

“Sara! Sara! Where are you?” No response came. “Sara! Sara!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find Sara.”

“Maybe she went back inside?”

Liv made a dash for the house. “Sara! Sara! If you’re in
here, please answer me.” Liv was frantic. She went from room to room, but Sara
was nowhere to be found. Liv ran back outside and almost plowed Cam over.

“She’s not inside.” Tears flowed freely down Liv’s face.

“We’ll find her. She and Pup-Pup probably just took a little
walk down the road.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re probably right.” Liv took a deep breath,
staving off the panic before it took hold.

“You go around back towards the Big Loop trail and I’ll
check the park.”