Chapter 1
'Boy it's hot!' Jess said to herself, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she drove down the lane towards the lake. The car's A/C was pretty much shot. It had pumped a feeble amount of cool air while she was driving, but when she slowed or stopped it warmed noticeably. Once she got out of city traffic, opening the windows had provided some relief, but the humidity was still brutal and she stayed damp and sticky most of the trip north.
Jess picked up her key for the cabin at the town's post office, and had to laugh at the note left by her uncle. 'Enjoy your quiet time. Don't get into too much trouble!' it read. 'That was a laugh,' she remarked when she read it. Once the rest of them arrived tomorrow, they'd planned to celebrate, Big Time! It has been almost a year since they'd all been together as a group, having dispersed after graduating college, except in Teri's case, where she decided to continue on with her Master's degree. Jess herself had taken an internship at a big finance company in the city and even though she was enjoying it immensely, she needed a break and a July weekend with the girls at the lake was just the ticket.
Jess left early to beat traffic and make a few stops in the nearby town to get some drinks, snacks and food for the barbeque. This time up she confidently bought beer and coolers at the liquor store, which up till now had been a pretty anxious event, as shop owners were fairly diligent about checking for under age customers. Now, she and her friends were all of age and Jess was able to produce a real ID, where previously she was always concerned that her fake ID would be recognized and they'd be turned away. That was a relief since they all planned to do some serious drinking this weekend and have a bit of fun.
Pulling in beside the cabin, she grimaced as the car sputtered and clunked after she turned off the ignition. 'Crap! I hope I get hired on permanently so I can afford a better car,' Jess thought as she walked up the steps and over to the front door. "Cabin, yeah, right," Jess said aloud as she stood on the wide cedar deck looking out over the clear blue lake beyond. This place was he uncle's pride and joy. About 10 minutes from town on a semi-private lake, he'd bought the property a few years back adjacent to his existing cottage and built this fabulous, four bedroom, open concept log cabin. It was now his home away from home since her uncle's retirement plans had always included spending more time at the lake and in much better digs to boot. Her uncle had started the construction early the previous year, and although Jess had visited a couple of times last summer, it hadn't been ready yet, so she and her college boyfriend had stayed over at the original cottage instead.
Jess's uncle still owned his original cottage next door, which was a great little place in its own right. As she stood at the railing, she could see the cottage's long dock about 100 yards away, jutting out into the lake. Jess had fond memories of the weekend visits with her cousins over the past 10 years since her uncle had originally bought the place. Big enough to sleep six, the cottage had three small bedrooms, two of them with two double beds and a queen in the master. With an open living/eating area and large picnic table on the wide cedar deck, the place was comfortable enough for family gatherings and Jess fondly recalled the numerous times that she and her cousins had chosen to 'camp out' in one of the two small 'bunkies' her uncle had built for guests. Thinking back to the previous summer, Jess felt saddened at the ending of her most recent relationship. Originally excited about the prospects for the future, she'd been seeing a great guy for about two years, but they had found it increasingly difficult to keep their relationship going with the demands of her internship job and her boyfriend's continuing studies. The sporadic times they got together eventually led to him breaking up with her this past spring. Although they still saw each other occasionally at gatherings with mutual friends, and occasionally spoke on the phone, they both knew it was definitely over. 'Oh well,' Jess mused as she pulled out the key and opened the door, 'I guess some things are just not meant to last.'
Surveying the inside of the newly finished cabin, Jess was impressed at the simple design. Having seen it last nearly a year ago, the empty shell was dirty and dusty and it still needed its interior finishings, appliances and furniture. Seeing it now, she loved how it had turned out. The wooden beams and interior ceiling panels were amazing. Set off with rugged, cloth covered furniture, the whole place was very much the 'traditional' log cabin look that her uncle had always wanted. To her left, occupying most of the front corner was the kitchen, separated from the eating area and great room by a wide granite island that had matching paneled cupboard doors. A large central fireplace occupied in the center back wall with a love seat and couch in front, and the large solid wood table and chairs off to the kitchen side could easily seat ten people. Numerous oversized windows on all three sides of the room provided an amazing view of the woods and lake beyond. Finally, the halls on either side of the fireplace led to the back bedrooms, bathroom and the rear exit that lead to a triple car garage.
Admiring the place, Jess sighed. Her uncle had really done a great job and she certainly felt that the cabin had that 'sit back and relax' feeling. She could see herself spending some time up here with a cup of coffee, enjoying the solitude and getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city. "Good times," she said to herself as she walked down the hall to drop off her bag in the bedroom before getting starting to get things organized.
Jess had unloaded the groceries from the car and was filling the cooler with drinks, thinking about changing for a swim when the phone rang.
Recognizing the number on the call display, Jess answered "Hello, uncle."
"Hi sweetie. Everything alright?"
"Yes, wonderful. Thanks again for letting us use the place this weekend, I really appreciate it."
'Oh, you're more than welcome. Just glad you could get away. I know how hard you've been working lately," Jess's uncle responded, genuinely pleased that Jess and her friends could use the cabin. "You just let me know any time you want to come up, Ok." He added.
"Thanks, I'll definitely take you up on that." Jess responded, knowing that she would.
"Oh, by the way," her uncle continued, "a nice young fella will probably be coming over in the next little while. His name is Josh and he is the son of a buddy of mine at work. His weekend plans got screwed up so I let him use the guest cottage. Kind of a last minute thing. If you could give him the spare key, he will be around for the weekend with a few buddies."
"Oh? Um, ok," Jess said curiously. She knew that her uncle occasionally had friends visit but wasn't expecting anyone around this weekend. He had also mentioned that part of his plan was to occasionally rent out the guest cottage in order to help pay for the upkeep and taxes. 'Just a little something to keep him busy' he'd explained because she knew he didn't need the money. Having done pretty well with a couple small businesses, Jess knew that other business ventures were never far from his mind.
"Do you know when Josh will be here?" Jess asked, trying not to sound too interested.
"Well, he said he'd try to get up a bit early and would probably arrive well before dinner time, but you know what it's like with traffic. You must have left early to be there already?"
"Yeah, I wanted to get a jump on the rush and have the evening to myself before the girls arrive, plus Thursday traffic is not as heavy as Friday so I made good time. Probably what Josh was thinking, too."
"Yeah, probably" Jess's uncle responded. "I hope you don't mind Josh and his friends being there, they probably won't bother you, but don't feel shy about saying hi anyway."
"Thanks uncle. Is he cute?"
Jess's uncle laughed, knowing what young women were like, especially a rather pretty one like his niece. "Well, I've seen some pictures on Greg's desk that are probably a few year's old, so I'd say Josh is fairly good looking, but I'll leave it at that. Have fun and just leave the keys on the hook when you lock up. Bye."
"Bye uncle and thanks again." Jess hung up and checked the clock. It was 4:00 and Josh could be here anytime. She was sweating from getting things organized and needed to freshen up before he arrived. Dumping a couple bags of ice into the cooler she packed in some beers, closed the lid and headed for the bedroom to change into her swim suit. It was time for a nice, refreshing swim to wash off the sweat and dirt of the trip.
Jess climbed the ladder and dripped water along the dock as she walked gracefully to the lounge chair that sat just on the grass at the edge of shore. The swim was great! The water was warm and she always loved the way swimming in the lake refreshed her, especially today with the heat and heavy humidity. Retrieving the towel from one of the chairs, she bent over at the waist and started to dry her long, dark hair when she heard someone clear their throat. Looking up towards the cabin, Jess stood frozen for a second as the handsome young man approached.
Josh took a moment to mentally compose himself as he approached the young woman near the shore. He'd just arrived from the city to get things ready for a raucous weekend with his friends, and counted himself lucky because it almost didn't happen. The call he'd received on Tuesday from the rental agency telling him that his reservation for this weekend was mistakenly double booked, and that it was no longer available, had seriously annoyed him. Furthermore, although the agent was profuse with apologies, it didn't help that they didn't have anything else for him as an alternative.
Josh had mentioned the mix up to his father that evening and how he felt really bad that he had to call the guys to cancel their long awaited gathering. Surprisingly, his dad told him to hold off, that he might have something else for him, but not to get his hopes up just yet. Luckily, a few hours later his father called back and said he had a place they could rent and Josh had received the details by e-mail an hour later. What a savior. He owed his father big time. Now it was Thursday afternoon and he had just arrived to pick up the key, and felt even luckier as he approached this gorgeous woman in the skimpy peach bikini. Since she appeared to be the only one around, he figured she was his dad's friend's niece, Jess, and he was to ask her for the keys to the cottage. Seeing her leaning over, drying her hair, he was very eager to make her acquaintance.
