The cabin was just as Josh remembered from the family vacations of his youth - a sturdy, inviting structure built of native logs, concealing within its bowels three bedrooms and all the amenities of a full-sized house in the city. At least two or three times a year, from as early as he could remember and until his family moved to another state when he reached middle school, he had come here as a guest of the Thorntons. It was the home away from home where he and their daughter Maya would explore the woods for hours on end while their parents played cards or whatever it was adults did when the kids were scarce. With enough begging, they could usually coax the parents to take them down to the lake a mile away for an afternoon of boats, beaches and sunburns. All in all, it was the source of most of his happier memories as a young kid.
"Hey there, strangers!" Mr. Thornton said, stepping out on to the front porch to greet them as they unloaded the car and stretched their legs from the long drive. "It's been too long."
Mrs. Thornton was right behind and the two of them helped carry their bags into the cabin. Josh looked around for Maya, but saw no sign of her. After the way their last visit went some three years back, he was almost relieved.
"So, Josh, how's it feel to finally be done with high school?" Mrs. Thornton said, holding the door for him at the end of the line.
"Great," he said. "Graduation couldn't have come quick enough."
"Been keeping busy during the summer?"
"Yeah," he said. "Mostly working at my dad's office to make some money for college, but I've had a little time to hang out with some friends before we go our separate ways."
"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to rest and recoup here. Might be on your own a bit, though, since Maya decided not to come along this year."
"Oh?"
Mrs. Thornton looked resigned and maybe even a little sorry for him. The girl who had been his closest friend until his family moved had done little but give him a cold shoulder during his last vacation here, spending all her time talking on the phone and scarcely having a word to spare for him except when their parents forced everyone to play a game or go to the beach together. In spite of that, though, Josh couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at her current absence - Maya's presence was inextricably linked to everything that this place meant to him.
"Yeah, she said something about having finally found a lead on a possible job for the end of the summer," she said. "But, between you and me, I think she was mostly staying because of her boyfriend Brad."
From her tone, Josh was quite sure that she didn't approve of Brad. He just gave a sympathetic shrug.
"That's ok," he said. "I brought my laptop and a stack of books I've been meaning to read. I'm sure I'll manage."
"Good. Oh, and we had a pool installed since the last time you were here, so you've got that as another option."
"Mmmm...sounds nice."
* * * * *
Josh found himself feeling like the odd man out for most of the first day there, in spite of his parents' and the Thorntons' efforts to try to include him in their conversation. The two couples had been good friends since college and there was always a lot to catch up on now that they lived hundreds of miles apart. He was soon excusing himself to find quiet places to read or hike. Luckily, the cabin was surrounded by hilly forest with countless little trails that meandered under the cool canopy. After the mad dash to the end of the school year and the hubbub with graduation parties, he actually relished the little bit of solitude.
By the third day, he had settled into a routine of sleeping in late, hiking away the rest of the morning, swimming and reading by the pool, and then dinner with the parents. The adults were usually driving in to town to shop for antiques or art, or stopping at any of the numerous vineyards in the area, none of which interested him. Once he was able to convince them that he was perfectly happy being alone, everyone was finally able to relax.
Late afternoon of the fourth day, with the parents off on another excursion, Josh finished his afternoon swim and went back to his room. He flipped on his laptop where it rested on his bottom bunk and queued up an old Queen album. To the strains of "Somebody to Love," he shed his damp suit and hung it over a hanger in the closet. As he exited the closet, the bedroom door swung open and there was Maya, bags in both hands and a shocked expression on her face. When her eyes dropped down below his waist, his own shock wore off enough to remember to grab his towel to cover up, flushing furiously in the process. When their eyes met again, she wore a look of embarrassment mixed with humor that annoyed him more than it probably should.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry," she said, turning her head away but not leaving.
"Don't you knock?" he said, regretting the tone of his voice even as the words came out.
"I said I'm sorry," she said, defensively. "The door was cracked open and my hands were full."
"Yeah, well...you could have still said something so I knew you were there before barging in."
Maya looked back at him, her half smile gone and expression hurt. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but changed her mind and closed her lips tight. She set her bags in an empty corner beside the bunk beds, turned on her heel, and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
"You dumbass," Josh muttered quietly to himself. Regardless of how things had been between them three years ago, he was pretty sure that it wouldn't improve after that. And this time it was his fault. In that first moment when their eyes had met, he saw his old friend and playmate, the one full of energy and ready for adventure. Had he blown a chance to reclaim some of that old friendship?
He dressed quickly while his heart rate came back down. On top of replaying his own overreaction, he marveled at how Maya had changed in other ways. Three years ago, at fifteen, she had already grown into a beauty, though in a girlie cute sort of way. Now, however, she had the same tall, lean frame, but carried it with an aura of maturity and confidence. Those blue eyes were sharp and smart, and the smile that tended to favor one side of her mouth was genuine and disarming.
But for as much as she he might find her attractive and desirable, Josh knew there was little point in giving it further thought. He was intimidated by beautiful girls. And with Maya, their relationship would always be defined by their childhood, before the physical attraction between opposite sexes could taint them.
One thing about her arrival was certain - the sense of complete relaxation that he had been enjoying was now over.
* * * * *
Their parents returned soon after Maya's arrival, giving Josh the opportunity to avoid any sort of one on one conversation for at least a little longer. She wasted no time in getting caught up with his parents, while he sat and listened from the kitchen table sidelines. Unlike their last visit, Maya seemed to have shed much of her shallow youth and was now perfectly comfortable and fluent in adult conversation. Truly, she had changed, and he couldn't help but keep looking at her.
"Isn't that exciting, Josh?" Josh shook his head when he heard his mom say his name.
"Sorry, what?" he said, having dropped the thread to his own thoughts.
"Maya's going to be going to Oregon State next year with you," she said.
"Oh! Really?" Josh had not heard that, but it gave him just a little thrill to hear that they would be attending the same college and living in the same city again. It had never occurred to him to wonder what she was doing now that she had graduated as well.
"What made you decide to come back to your old stomping grounds, Josh?" Maya asked, her eyes engaging and perhaps seeking deeper meaning from his answer. "There are plenty of good schools in California."
"Guess I always felt like Oregon was home," he said. "Besides, it's sort of a family thing with it being my parents' Alma mater. Suppose I just always assumed that's where I'd probably go."
"Cool," she said, sounding genuinely happy. "We'll have to compare notes about the whole class registration thing. It's kinda overwhelming...in a good way."
Their parents took the conversation back over while they finished preparing dinner. Josh and Maya exchanged looks frequently throughout the rest of the evening, even if they spoke little. Whatever may have happened earlier, she seemed to have gotten over it, and that gave Josh hope for the rest of vacation not being a total loss.
* * * * *
Josh stripped to his boxers and slid under the sheet of the lower bunk bed. He tried to do a little reading by the small light clamped to the bed post, but found his mind too distracted to focus. He could hear the water turning on and off in the bathroom next door and knew that Maya would be coming back to the room at any moment.
