The shower was almost scalding hot, but she loved the way the water caressed her. It raced down her body in endless streams, warming her as she shook off the winter chill. She tilted her head and enjoyed the feel of the pulsing showerhead as the water careened off her throat. Turning around, Maggie let the water sift through her hair, those long mahogany tresses turning ever darker under the water.
The water dribbled to a stop as she stretched. Her skin was buzzing with warmth and the thick terrycloth robe felt like cashmere against her. Her hair was bundled neatly up in a matching towel, and she padded out of the bathroom in her bare feet.
'Damn the cold' she thought to herself.
She sauntered out into the living room and clicked on the light, settling in to watch the news. Her feet propped up, she barely registered the first ring of the phone.
"Hello?" The silence of alone time was shattered as her friend Dawn squealed on the other side. "Heya Maggie! Guess where I am?"
Maggie shook her head, not even bothering to glance outside. If Dawn was calling and bragging, she had to be somewhere warm. She started imagining palm trees even before Dawn squealed out, "Honolulu!"
Maggie laughed as her friend began to excitedly recount her week's activities. Dawn was her oldest friend, and a direct contrast to Maggie. Dawn was petite, and full of boundless energy; her job as a flight attendant seemed tailor-made for her. Sometimes, even talking on the phone to her seemingly wore Maggie out. She went on and on about her layover in Honolulu and the perfect water and sun. Maggie shot another look outside at the frosted windows, and silently cursed her friend.
"And so then, we went to this place, the North Shore, they call it? Ohh, god, you should see these waves they have crashing in! So huge! And all of these surfers running around, tight little bodies...oh, wow, that's right, I totally forgot..."
"Hmmm?"
"Dean McAlister said hello."
Maggie's breath caught in her throat. Why was that name so familiar? Her mind sifted through the archives...digging through all of the names she could. If the name was not that important, why did her stomach slowly roll over in an ache that she hadn't felt in quite some time?
"Dean..." Her hesitance caused Dawn to giggle uncontrollably, and she finally laughed, as she gave her the hint. "Lake Winnipeg?"
All of the memories came flooding back in a torrent, and she closed her eyes for a moment.
+++
As far back as she could remember, her family would pack up and head to Lake Winnipeg for two weeks every summer. It was an arduous journey, but well worth it when they arrived. Each day was perfect, rain or shine, the unmitigated beauty of the area only challenged by the peaceful silence they were afforded.
She and her sister would spend the days goofing off, picking the local blackberries and blueberries. She spent time with her grandfather fishing, her grandmother baking cookies and muffins, chasing her cousins around, and watching thunderstorms roll in. Each day was its own paradise.
All of the men would routinely spend their whole days fishing, and then, in the evenings, they would sit around playing cards. On more than one occasion, she sat on her grandfather's lap sipping some rye and ginger as he showed her the wicked ways of poker.
Every summer was better than the last. They had the second to last cabin on the road, and became accustomed to the silence. The last cabin was never filled during their two week stay.
That was, until her fourteenth year.
+++
Dawn's dynamic almost frustrated her. Maggie was half in her daydream, and half expecting Dawn to belt out the information she craved. "So, how is he?" Dawn, ever the story teller, brought her along slowly.
"He is good...great, actually. He lives down here, although, on Maui, he said. Owns his own little business." Maggie smiled and drifted off...
+++
The summer she was fourteen, a dancing workshop cut into her precious vacation. Her mom stayed behind, and waited until it was completed, and then drove Maggie and her sister up three days later.
That day, as they arrived, the talk was about the last cabin on the road. Slightly smaller than all the other cabins, it had never been occupied in their previous stays, but this summer was different.
An older couple with a small child had rented it for a week. They were Americans, and very nice, but quiet and kept to themselves most of the time. Near the end of their stay, they were invited over for a cookout by Maggie's grandfather. The couple were older, in their fifties, with one son who was eleven. It didn't take long for him to fit in, running around with the other kids.
+++
"So, what? You just going to tease me all night?" Dawn just giggled away. "Oh, and I suppose you have his number, right?" Dawn just giggled again, and Maggie knew she did.
"Why? Would you want it?" Dawn was trying to play coy, but it was becoming difficult with the giggles setting in.
"Yeah, I would...I think it would be great to say hi to him."
All Dawn did was laugh. "Yeah, say hi...right." Maggie laughed, twisting her head and burying it into the pillow.
The conversation moved onto other topics, and before she hung up the phone, Dawn just told her, "Don't worry. I will keep your gorgeous friend company until you show. Expect an email soon." The line went dead, and just like that, Maggie was left to sit there with her memories.
+++
Every summer since, she would spend her time hanging out with Dean. She came to discover that they were born just two days apart...and that though he was three years younger, he was only two years behind, having skipped second grade.
He would spend every morning fishing with his dad, and then invariably find Maggie. Her older sister would have nothing to do with the younger boy, so it would just be Maggie and Dean, and occasionally one of her other cousins.
They quickly became good friends, eventually trading addresses and keeping in touch as penpals. She didn't see his age as an issue. Even as she went through high school, she came to love the two weeks where she would hang out with Dean and just shoot the breeze.
+++
Monday morning, after teaching her first dance class of the day, Maggie went into her office. The administrative part of her job wasn't the most fun, but a necessary evil. She logged on, and checked her email.
The standard work-related emails were there, in addition to one from Dawn. She smiled to herself as she opened it. In typical Dawn fashion, it was straight and to the point.
'Here you go...hope you have fun!'
Below, Dean's contact information was listed. Email. A website. Telephone numbers.
Bringing up a browser, she typed in the URL for the website in the email. The browser returned an informational site, much to her surprise. IT consultants. She pursed her lips, then did a search on the web for the name of the company. A little more information was revealed.
The company he founded donated heavily to different charities in the area, and his name had been prominently mentioned in a couple of articles. She took her time reading, a slow smile languishing across her lips as she read about her old friend.
She glanced at the clock on the PC and then checked the time zones. He was four hours behind her...so...it was only 6:30am there. She then checked her schedule. She had another dance class at 11am, then some quiet time for lunch and her administrative duties. Then another class at 1:30pm.
"Noon." It came out as a whisper. As if she had to tell herself to call him. She almost blushed as she went out to the foyer to meet the next group of students.
+++
When she graduated high school, like many of her friends, she wanted to get out and experience life on her own. And she put those vacations to the lake on hold. After her freshman year, she and Dawn spent the summer following a band around Canada. She wasn't able to make it to the family cabin. The following year, she broke her foot at a party just a week before her family was to leave for the lake, and missed that vacation as well.
Her mother would perpetually brag about the fun times they had, and Maggie would always hint around, asking about Dean. Her mother would coyly play along, talking about how great he looked or about how much his mother was bragging about him.
Maggie finally made it up to the lake after her junior year. She had dragged Dawn with her, as the two of them would have to leave early for a shopping expedition to Montreal they had planned all winter. That flitted right out of her mind when she saw Dean. The fifteen year-old boy that she had once known had grown about four inches over the past three years and added roughly fifty pounds. His blue eyes had magnified, growing a deep shade of sapphire, and his first year of college had not treated him poorly, to say the least.
Despite the obvious physical attraction the two shared, they kept it rather simple, just enjoying their usual late evening talks. Dawn would join them, and the three would sit around the small campfire in front of her grandfather's cabin, content to pass the time drinking and talking about anything.
At the end of that vacation, addresses were again swapped, and they went their separate ways.
+++
