David
The sandpipers darted in as the wave subsided, plunging their long beaks into the boiling foam to rootle about for crustaceans before darting back up onto the drier sand by the next oncoming wave. They kept a wary eye on me as David approached their formation.
It was a gray day, and the beach was thinly populated. With the tide out, there was plenty of flat wet sand. It wasn't hot and David was making good time. It was a perfect break in his day, feet crunching in the sand, responsibilities temporarily left behind.
As he reached the place where the beach curled around towards the boat launch, he passed a lady going the other way. She was tall, maybe a couple inches below six feet, with long straight blonde hair held in a wide mauve headband. She was wearing a nylon shell and thick leggings. The jacket was baggy and didn't show off her shape while the leggings were stuffed with curvy thighs. Sunglasses hid her eyes, but her mouth had thick pink lips and she had a strong chin, almost masculine. He smiled and greeted her (as he did nearly anyone he passed). She wasn't conventionally attractive and made no special impression, save that they met again later.
His path swung around, past the various fisherfolk prepping their boats and passing the little store ("live bait... ice... cold beer"). Rather than walk back on the beach, into the teeth of the wind, he would walk inland a bit and pass through the trailer park behind the dunes. This was always a slice of life. Campfires burning, dogs barking, ATVs roving. The long parade of beige plastic-clad vehicles with wild sounding names: Rogue and Nightrunner and Explorer.
The road was unpaved and strewn with gravel, but the footing was firm. He pressed to make up time here that he'd lost slogging through the soft sand earlier. Most of the campers were close to the boat launch, bathrooms, showers, and store. There were a lot fewer people along the entrance road or close to the gate: only on busy weekends would the whole campground fill in. There were always one or two campers, though, who wanted more privacy than convenience and decamped (as it were) to these less populated stretches.
This is where he ran into the blonde again. As David walked down the road, he watched her puff over one of the trails from the beach, rest for a minute on a picnic table bench, and then, as he approached, turn her attention to her gear. Her Jayco trailer, with its jaunty bluebird logo, and her white Dodge pickup were all packed up, as if she were just coming or going. David guessed it was coming because he didn't recall seeing this space filled the day before.
"Hi again," she called out to David, as he drew abreast of her site. "Hey mister, could you help me for a minute?"
"Hi. What'cha need?" David paused the fitness tracker on his phone.
"I'm Cindy. Nice to meet you," she said. She extended her hand and David shook it automatically. She had big hands and a firm grip. "I could use an extra pair of hands with the trailer. I can do it on my own, but it goes much faster with two."
"Sure, no problem," he said.
"First we have to do the side-to-side leveling," she said. "Block the wheels while I use the gizmo to level it."
David moved to place the wheel chocks and gave her the high sign. She stood in the doorway of the trailer and poked a button that made the trailer adjust the suspension.
"The only rolling in my bed should be the intentional kind," she chirped. She'd taken off her aviators and her blue eyes glittered. She handed David a couple of plywood squares to put under the jacks and he helped her crank out the legs that leveled the trailer front-to-back. It really was a two-person job.
"Thanks, partner. Can I show you my appreciation?"
"I was happy to help."
"No, really, you saved me a lot of running back and forth," she said. "Why don't you come in for a minute and warm up? We can check that the bed is level," she added with a teasing wink.
"I should get going," David told her, preparing to depart. The trailer had a slide out section, which clacked into place. She stepped back down off the step and walked over close to him.
"Are you sure?" she asked, standing closer than was maybe socially acceptable.
"That's... flattering, but my wife is waiting at home. I can see how it'd be annoying to do this on your own. I was glad to help, but it was no big deal."
"You sure? My coffee is hot, and I'd appreciate the company," she pleaded.
"That's tempting," David said, not really considering if it were tempting.
"I'll be here all week," she said, but David was restarting the fitness tracker app.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow," he said, again somewhat automatically, waving and moving off.
"I'll be waiting," was her reply.
Andrea
Andrea was sitting at the computer, working her way through the grant proposal. Since she'd retired, she'd given more and more of her time to causes that really mattered to her, especially low-level local political candidates and environmental issues. The recognition she received gave her satisfaction that thirty years of accountancy never had.
"I'm home," David called, entering the house. He poked his head into her informal office, one of the guest bedrooms.
"Did you see what this idiot, McClintock, is proposing?" she chirped. In spite of being in her early sixties, Andrea felt every bit as vital as when she'd met him thirty years ago. But David didn't really care about McClintock, he was only humoring her discussion. It was depressing that he wouldn't show interest in important things.
Andrea looked over at herself in the guest room's closet door mirrors. She was still as slim as a rail, even if her wavy curls had gone silver. David stepped up behind her to massage her shoulders, but that made her squirm and shrug, her mouth forming a moue of distaste.
"Go clean up and get back to work," she told him.
When she finished up and went out she discovered that David had made a nice light dinner. She was tired from a long day at the computer, so it was a luxury to retire early to watch TV while he stayed up a little while. She could watch her political shows in peace while he watched shoot 'em ups or whatever. She turned off the light early.
David