Rainy Night In Georgia Ch 06

This is not a paint by the numbers romance. If you've read anything that I've written and call romance you'll know that I believe real romance is messy, difficult, and honest. Happily ever after tropes aren't my thing... okay sometimes, but not always.

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I'd grabbed my camera and straddled her. She kept hiding her face and laughing. She would peek out from behind her hands to see if I'd put it down and I would take her picture. Eventually the wrestling got less playful and more intense. I set the camera down and we made love again.

We didn't crawl out of bed until ten. I was nearly as exhausted as when I went to bed last night, but it was worth it. Izzy walked ahead of me into the kitchen.

"Tell me all about being a high-end fashion-less model in the big city." She stopped in front of the fridge and leaned over her shoulder hugging her against me as I too looked to see what there was for us to eat.

"Same as always, show up, do make up, take off clothes." She sighed. "Boston photographer want to work outdoors. It was minus eight degrees, I tell him no chance." She laughed. "My Georgia not very cold, it snow sometimes up in mountains. Good skiing." Issa laughed and backed into me, turning around with the eggs.

"I need tell you when I am coming so you can get food." She scolded me.

"I'll go today." I laughed. "Though I did say I'd go to Sarah's and take some photos for her baby book." Izzy tilted her head, eyes wide as she pulled out a pan. "What?"

"I have seen photos like that, she nude?"

"Hell no!" I laughed. "She wouldn't do the nude magazine cover shoot thing, and if she asked I would have told her to find someone else. I don't need that kind of mental trauma in my life." Izzy shot me a disgusted look and cracked the eggs into the pan.

"You have plan for tomorrow?"

"Nope, nothing going on this weekend. Unless you meant other than spending it with you."

"Good." She smiled as she plated the eggs.

"What did you have in mind?"

She glanced at me with that little smirk of hers and gave the slightest of shrugs. At her insistence the first thing was grocery shopping. She made several surprise additions to the cart which I didn't think we would need. I shrugged it off figuring I'd eat it eventually. When we got home and started putting things away she started a pile of items on the counter as if she was getting ready to pack a picnic.

"What are you doing?" My question more curiosity than annoyance.

"Surprise." She grinned. She went into the closet where the washer and dryer were and brought out my portable cooler and set it on the counter. She opened it and saw it was clean.

"What surprise?"

"Come, we need go visit Sarah so you can photograph." She was cagey, changing the subject every time I brought up this surprise of hers.

Sarah welcomed us when we arrived. She looked like she was hiding a pillow under her outfit and I told her so. She gave me a half-hearted smack. The truth is she was glowing. She gave Izzy a hug, a move that surprised me as Sarah had never been overly demonstrative of her like of anyone besides family.

They had a sliding patio door into the yard that gave a lot of indirect light and I'd been using it to our advantage. I'd shown her the first few photos and you could slowly see the angle of light changing and I'd pointed out that it's a very subtle way to show time elapsing. She'd opted for a loose sundress today and I got setup. One of the regular stereotypical photos we'd been shooting is her cradling her belly gently to show the growth. Sarah positioned herself after scanning for anything out of place. She stood still and looked out the window and cradled her stomach. She even got Dave into it this time as he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. I glanced over at Issa who had a beautiful smile on her face as she watched them pose. When we'd run through our standard poses I saw Sarah glance at Issa and felt something had been communicated.

"Joshua. May I have camera please?"

"David. Why don't you take Josh down to the man-cave and show off your new video game."

He nodded knowingly and looked at me. "C'mon Josh, you're gonna love this."

"What's going on?"

"I tell you later. Please?" Issa held out her hand for my camera. I looked up and Sarah nodded. The other shoe dropped and I felt myself face warm.

"Yeah, sure." I handed Issa the camera and went to show her how to use it and she just pushed me in the direction Dave was walking.

We went down to their finished basement were Dave started the game system and his big screen TV.

"I'm guessing by the red face you guessed what they're doing."

"Izzy asked me if I'd do something like that. I said I could but I'm not sure about doing it for my sister."

"Sarah wasn't too keen on that part either, but she was intrigued by the idea. I guess they'd cooked it up on their way back from the airport. If possible, you may want to learn where it is if she needs a ride come April, Sarah's not going to be up for that at seven months."

"I didn't know she'd asked Sarah. If I'd known I would have gone to get her myself yesterday."

We played a little while, Dave beating me easily as he played regularly and it wasn't my type of game, but I tried to figure it out.

"Y'all can come up now, or when Dave's done kicking your ass." Sarah called out. It had been about an hour and I gave up giving Dave the controller and heading upstairs.

"All done?" I asked.

Sarah nodded. I saw that they'd had packed up the reflector which was in it's bag next to my camera on the kitchen table next to a laptop. Issa came back from the direction of the bathroom.

"I asked Izzy if you were able to stay for dinner but she said you had plans." There was a definite question in her statement.

"Don't feel bad, I don't know what they are yet either." I laughed. "It's a secret." I said in a clearly loud whisper.

Issa walked up and gave me a poke in the ribs as we all laughed. Sarah gave me a hug too when Issa and I left for home.

"You deleted the photos from the memory card?" I asked after a few turns. I just heard a chuckle.

"No worry, photos on laptop now. I show where she can order print online. You not have to see."

"I'm not opposed to naked women as you well know, but, she's my sister." I shivered dramatically for Issa's benefit. A few miles went by and we were back in Athens when Issa pulled out her phone and made a call.

"We are back in Athens. Should be home in a few minutes if you are ready."

I wondered who she was calling since the only person I thought she knew besides my family was Cassie and the band. I nearly asked as I saw her disconnect the call and slip her phone back into her pocket. Was it my place to ask? It dawned on me that she'd invited someone back to my place so I felt it was my place.

"Who was that?"

"Cassie."

"Oh, cool." That answered that but more questions came to me. I chose to bite my tongue and see what this surprise was going to be. I immediately thought that she was planning another photo shoot and ran down the equipment I might need. I pulled into the driveway and one of those small crossover SUV's pulled in behind me.

"Come, we need to pack." Issa called over the hood as I saw Cassie get out of the other car.

"Pack? Where are we going?"

"Surprise." Issa stood by the door bouncing on her toes waiting for me to unlock it. I did so and she scooted past me into the house. Cassie said hi and I turned to greet her to see a huge grin on her face too.

"What have you two cooked up since I know she's been chatting to everybody I know. My sister knows more about what's going on than I do these days."

Cassie kept walking until she was almost against me and gave me a little peck on the cheek. "Not to worry Josh, you're going to enjoy yourself." She winked and walked in the door ahead of me. That statement got my imagination humming.

"Download photo and get extra card, light, reflector." Issa started directing. "Get warm clothing for be outdoors. One day enough."

"What is going on?" I may have sounded a little annoyed since they both stopped and looked up at me. Cassie glanced at Issa for guidance.

"Two girl, cabin in woods, nature, costume, photographer." She looked just as annoyed, and her demeanor changed suddenly to concern. "This okay?"

The look of shock on my face and the sudden grin from Cassie must have been my answer.

"Um, yeah, that sounds awesome. I'll get my stuff." I heard a laugh behind me as I went into the bedroom and pulled my backpack out of the closet and started throwing clothes into it quickly. I checked my phone for tomorrows weather and it showed partly sunny and in the fifties by midday. I pulled out some sweatshirts in case Issa needed one and stuffed those into the pack. I wondered if I'd need them and pulled the drawer open and to find the box of condoms was missing. Issa's rolling case stood on the other side of the bed all zipped up. I was about ready to check when she came into the room and rolled it out behind her. These two moved like they'd been with the Army. Issa had my bag with the portable lights and camera bag together next to the cooler by the door and we'd only been home fifteen minutes.

"Come, we stop for dinner on way." She shooed me along as soon as I came out of the bedroom.

"Okay, okay." I said laughing. We started carting things out to Cassie's car and stowed the gear and cooler.

Issa called shotgun, I ended up in the back. It was getting close to dinner time and as planned by the girls we stopped at a pub not far from campus for a quick dinner, but not as quick as we thought with the Saturday night crowd. We didn't dally over our beers, Issa was on a mission to keep us moving, even getting an eye roll from Cassie at one point.

"Relax we're only an hour away." Cassie pointed out. "We'll make the store in Lavonia with time to spare."

Issa ran down what she had in the cooler and the girls brainstormed what we would need for breakfast and a portable lunch since we had to check out by eleven tomorrow.

"How did you know about this place?" When I found out about the state park where were headed to.

"Oh yea, you don't know that much about me. I forgot." Cassie laughed. "It's always hi, take off your clothes and get on the bed."

Issa laughed aloud at that, a sound I didn't hear often enough.

"My dad is a park ranger for the state of Georgia. This isn't his park but he knows people. He retired from GP after twenty years and couldn't stand being indoors. He's always been outdoorsy, fish, hunt, camp, and such so he applied for a ranger job. His time at GP working in forest management got him in quickly. He's been there for about four years, up at Tallulah Gorge. It's a little chilly in February for tent camping overnight so he found a cancellation at Tugaloo State Park for a cabin on the lake."

"Nice!"

"If you didn't have to stop by your sisters this afternoon, we would have been on the road this morning." I could see the grin on her face from this angle.

"So you two have been planning this a while?"

"We had been talking about the renaissance fair off and on, and I told her I'd made a costume for her if she wanted to join us that weekend. I only need to get your measurements to get you set up. I was thinking of a court jester outfit for you."

Issa snorted.

"You made the costume?"

"Yeah, I've been sewing since I was ten or eleven. My mother is a costume designer for a company that works for the film studios around Atlanta."

"That's cool!"

We'd been on the road just under an hour when Cassie pulled off the highway and turned into Lavonia. We made our way into town to find a small grocery still open though it was after eight.

"See I told you we'd make it." She stuck her tongue out at Issa before getting out. We got a few apples, a package of croissants, a small container of butter. They went back and forth about lunch finally agreeing that the three croissants would be for breakfast and the other three would double as sandwich rolls for lunch. They picked out items and filled the basket I carried. They argued for a moment, Cassie wanted a bag of chips, Issa pointed out the trail mix with dark chocolate and cherries was healthier, a weakness of Issa's. We ended up with both. A six pack of bottled water later and we were headed back to the car.

"I didn't think shopping for two meals would take that long."

"Issa is right, if I want to keep this body I should treat it better than with pizza and burgers."

"If you want to keep modeling, but then you fitness coach too." Issa laughed and leaned into Cassie bumping shoulders with her.

"Just be glad I didn't get a pint of ice cream. It's nearly time for me to begin raging."

"You have when you get home." Issa said giving her a one armed hug. The two of them must have really bonded since their first communication, and first meeting last night, but then I wasn't surprised. Issa had a very warm personality. She was easy to get to know, and deeply intuitive with others.

We drove for another fifteen minutes or so where the turn off for the park was located. We entered the property. There was a sign stating the gate closed at ten. We made it by an hour.

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Oh yea, it's not my first time. Dad's buddy said the key would be under the mat since check in was like five hours ago. We pulled up to a cabin where there was a dim yellow bulb on the corner of the roof shining down on a wooden ramp from the drive to the porch. "Let me go and find it and get some lights on." Cassie stepped out and popped the back hatch so we could gather the baggage. A few moments later the lights in the camp came on and Cassie rounded the corner to help us with the bags.

The camp was a two bedroom, two bath cottage with a full kitchen, cable and wood stove.

"If camping had been like this when I was a kid I would have stayed in the scouts." I let out a low whistle as I looked around.

Cassie laughed. "If you want, there are tent sites not far from here, but I'll be here staying warm." A woosh of warm air began to fill the room. "I turned up the heat but I'm sure you two will be stay warm." She rolled her eyes.

I put my stuff in the bigger room figuring Issa and I would take this rather than the other with the twin beds. I checked out the bath to find a large shower. "Big enough for two," I thought. It seemed awfully quiet so I made my way back to the main room. I heard murmuring coming from the other bedroom and wandered closer to find the barn door style door slid closed. I went back to my bedroom and put my camera gear on the bed and unpacked it. I checked the batteries figuring if any were low I'd top them up while I had power at hand. I carried the camera and started looking at different angles here in the bedroom. It was very plain and not decorated short of the furniture. I opened the outside door and walked out onto the screen porch. It was chilly and getting colder, but the faint sliver of moon lit the ripples on the lake beyond the trees. The air was cold, but smelled of both living things and the slowly dissolving leaves of winter. There was a faint whiff of a wood smoke, probably from another camp nearby. There was a small fire pit in the yard with some Adirondack chairs around it, and down the embankment even further was a dock in a small cove.

"Josh."

I turned to see Cassie in the doorway. She beckoned me inside. She turned and crossed her arms and turned back to me. I only peripherally notice she'd closed the door to the bedroom.

"I'm sorry. I was out of line... that day." I saw her throat move as she swallowed.

"What day?"

She rolled her eyes and a tear broke free. She brushed it away. "The first day we met. I got out of hand, did some things..." She swallowed. "I'm not really the slut you think I am."

"What?" I was genuinely surprised. I don't know where she had gotten the idea that I felt that way. "I never thought that about you, ever."

She was shivering, and I didn't think it was from the cold. More tears followed the first and I felt myself reaching for her. She melted into my arms. The first thing I noticed was she felt cold and I rubbed her back.

"I don't exactly strip off my clothes and, well..."

"Shh, it's fine." I whispered into the mass of blonde hair at the nape of her neck.

"I'm a bitch." I felt the sob wrack her body and pulled her tighter. "I knew you and Issa..."

"You couldn't have known."

"I did. The way you see her, the way you photograph her, it's pretty obvious Josh."

She pushed against my shoulders and stepped back, brushing at her cheeks. Her eyes looked bigger than I'd ever seen them, her lips soft and full, and I wanted nothing more to pull her to me again.

"Either way, it was a shitty thing to do, which goes with the personality I guess. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?"

She laughed and brushed hair out of her face. "Aren't the cheerleaders usually the ones in the stories that are super popular and hoarding the best guys for themselves? Seriously Josh, it's a trope an old trope. Taylor Swift even wrote a song about it."

It wasn't my kind of music so I shrugged but I did understand what she meant.

"I get it though. She's so big, full of life. She's been on magazine covers, even a centerfold. Athens isn't exactly the big city, but you don't have to go far before you can hear banjos playing." She laughed at her own joke. "You've been in love with her since before you even met.

I must have had a curious look because before I said anything she said, "She told me, you had a copy of a magazine she was in, and suddenly she was there in your car during a downpour. It's a real meet-cute story. She's alone and in trouble and you swoop in and save the day."

I didn't know what to say, but I felt the corner of my mouth lifting. Cassie turned and headed for the door but stopped and looked back over her shoulder "She's not your happily ever after Josh. She loves you, but she can't stay. She's a gypsy." She nodded and slid the door open and left.

I got ready for bed and Issa still hadn't come over from the other room. I get the feeling they were talking some things out and I didn't want to interrupt. I climbed into bed and laid back thinking about that day. How would things have turned out if I had taken Cassie up on her offer. It wasn't for Issa things would have definitely been different. If I had taken her up on her offer things might be very different.

The problem with sleeping soundly is that it's easy to be startled awake. That was me this morning when a girl jumped on the bed calling out my name telling me to wake up. I started awake and tackled her and gave her a deep kiss, it was returned soft and eager. I pulled up realizing quickly this wasn't the sensual hunger Issa kissed with and saw Cassie grinning.

"Well if that's how you wake up I need to come over more often." She reached up to pull me down for another and I stiffened. Her smile faded knowingly. "Breakfast is almost ready. We need to get going soon if we're going to be done for checkout time." She angled her body out from under me and I noticed she was in loose pajamas bottoms and a tee. As she walked towards the door she shot me a look over her shoulder filled with regret. She slipped through the partially open door and slid it shut.

I fell back staring at the ceiling in the dim light. I looked up at the clock on the dresser to see it was half past six. I wondered why we were up so damn early but I got out of bed and looked outside to find a beautiful fog over the lake which would set the mood wonderfully. I washed up quickly and stole into the kitchen quietly, finding a plate with a croissant sandwich on it and an apple cut into wedges. I heard the girls at the other end of the cottage talking. I began eating standing at the counter and realized just now that Issa never came to bed with me last night. I began to wonder if she was angry with me for something.