It was a beautiful little lake in Lower Michigan, not far from the Indiana border. It was settled in amongst a few rolling hills roughly twenty minutes from anywhere. Fifteen houses occupied two-thirds of its shoreline, with the other third being little more than marsh land. Of the houses, five were occupied by year round residents; with the remainder being vacation homes and cottages of various shapes and sizes.
It was a peaceful lake, good for fishing, swimming and meandering lazily around on your fifteen horsepower pontoon boat. Heaven help the person who'd ever bring a jet ski around to disturb the tranquility.
It was a place where everybody knew everybody; where people arriving for the weekend went out of their way to drop in on a neighbor to announce their arrival, check on everybody's health and share a drink.
It was exactly that tranquility and sense of community that prompted Lars and Karen Widmark to build their cottage there some fifteen years earlier. But that was fifteen years ago. Today, the place was a home, not a cottage, and was occupied year round by Karen, as it had been since shortly after Lars' death.
* * *
It was early Friday evening on a cold, blustery day in late January. Karen was moving about the kitchen in nothing but the old blue robe she always wore -- the one with the slightly frayed hem that fell to just about her knees with the sash that tied around the waist -- and a pair of panties. She'd just finished eating and was about to clean up when she heard the pounding at the front door.
"Hello, anybody home?"
Karen recognized the voice of her neighbor's son instantly. "I'm in here, Danny. Come on in." She automatically checked to see that the robe was closed properly and gave the sash an extra tug.
Danny was the twenty year-old son of Betty and Brad Pulan, who owned the cottage just to her west. They were nice folks, normally residing in a city about an hour and a half's drive from the lake. They rarely came in the winter, so Danny's arrival was totally unexpected.
"Hi, Karen," the young man said as he entered the room, depositing his coat on the rack by the mudroom door. Even though he was 22 years younger than Karen, he'd been calling her by her first name since he was thirteen. That's just the way it was at the lake.
"Well, well. This is a surprise," she greeted. "What brings you up this time of year?"
"John just bought a new snowmobile and wants to try it out," he replied, referring to his best friend. "He'll be up in the morning. I came up this evening to open up the place and relax a little. I was hoping you wouldn't mind my stopping by while the place heats up."
"Of course not, but you should have called. I'd have been happy to open up for you."
"I meant to, actually. But one thing led to another and I never quite got around to it."
There was an awkward moment of silence. "I was just about to clean the kitchen," Karen said, breaking the silence. "There's pop in the refrigerator, help yourself. And if you wouldn't mind throwing another log or two on the fire, I'd be eternally grateful." She gave him a quick smile and then turned towards the sink.
It took less than five minutes for Karen to clean up her mess. When she entered the great room, Danny was just backing away from the fireplace, watching as the flames crackled over the logs and shot up the chimney. Before either person could say a word, the telephone rang.
"Make yourself comfortable," Karen said. "I shouldn't be long."
She picked up the phone. "Hello." It was her sister, Kathy. Karen smiled. Even with Lars three and a half years dead, she'd known her sister would call. After all, today was her anniversary.
A small tear snuck out the corner of Karen's eye as she remembered that day 20 years ago when she'd exchanged vows with Lars. Everything was in front of them then. They had each other and they had love. Somehow, they would find a way to deal with whatever difficulties life had in store.
But Karen had always thought Lars would be there to deal with them with her. Instead, he was the reason the cop came to her door at 2:00 AM that fateful night. His was the body they'd pulled from the mangled car at the bottom of the ditch.
The tears started flowing freely as she relived those days with her sister. She went through a small handful of tissues before finally hanging up the phone. For a moment she just stood there, staring out the window at the lights across the lake. It took a while for her to remember that Danny was still there.
She turned around and saw him standing in the middle of the great room, staring at her. She smiled uneasily, grabbing another tissue.
She finished with the tissue, tossed it aside and entered the great room slowly, still vulnerable to the memories that were flying through her head. Somehow, she managed a smile. "I'm sorry," she said. "You didn't need to hear all that."
Danny fidgeted uneasily. "I didn't realize it was your anniversary." He hesitated a minute. "I shouldn't be here."
"No," Karen said, reaching out for his arm. "Sit with me for a while. I really don't want to be alone right now."
Danny took a deep breath and nodded his head, an uncomfortable look in his eyes. "Sure."
She smiled and pushed him to the sofa. "Sit down," she said, lowering herself onto the seat beside him. She quickly tucked both legs under her and off to the side, leaving her left thigh brushing ever so lightly against his right.
She turned to look at him, finding him staring nervously at the fireplace. When he sensed her staring he turned his head slowly in her direction.
