He spent the next few hours by the river. Contemplating life, wondering what changes it had to offer him if he was brave enough to make them. Wondering where he would start, when something caught his eye. Someone was swimming towards the pontoon. He pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head and squinted at the figure as it glided through the water. It was impossible to tell who it could be from this distance, it was rare to see anyone else out there.
His sister was away at school, not that she would swim in dirty lake water. She refused to go past her knees in the pool and that was cleaned weekly. She preferred lounging by the side, sipping cocktails and working on her tan.
The nearest neighbors were a fair distance from here and truth be told if they wanted to swim, they had their own section of the river. Not that there were any steadfast rules but people usually kept to themselves around here.
Getting up he wandered over, closer to the water's edge. He could see now; it was a woman. She floated at the edge of the pontoon, her hair a weird shade of pink. Like some sort of mystical mermaid. She pulled herself up onto the pontoon, he was almost surprised to see long, lean legs and not a tail. Shaking her head from side to side, drops of water broke free, clinging together to create an arc. Who was she? And was she real or had she materialized from his dreams of meeting a wild, beautiful woman?
Leaning to the side she twisted her hair, round and round, wringing it out at her feet. She glanced up and made eye contact. He couldn't have looked away if he wanted to. A huge smile spread across her face and she waved towards him. He turned slowly, reluctant to break eye contact, to look over his shoulder, then the other. No one else was around. She was waving at him. Gradually raising his hand, he threw a brief wave back.
She turned her hand the other way and summoned him over. She had to be crazy. He was dressed in cream chino slacks and a shirt. He couldn't possibly just swim out there—she gestured to him again. No, he couldn't, that would be ridiculous, he decided as he pulled one black, leather, Burberry loafer of his foot. What was he doing? Why was he removing his shoes? Put that shoe back on this minute. He thought as the second shoe thud against the ground.
He practically ripped off his shirt and threw it towards the tree he had previously been lounging under. His skin sizzled under the heat of the sun that beamed down from a cloudless sky. He dipped his toes in the water and felt instant relief. Fully prepared to dive down into the lake for this gorgeous stranger, he took one last brief look at her.
Standing straight with one hand on her hip, her other hand was held outstretched and she waggled her finger at him. He furrowed his brow and raised his shoulders. "What" He mouthed. She pointed to the chinos. "Lose the pants." She yelled, her voice soft and sweet despite the power she pushed it out with.
She had to be kidding, there was no way he was getting down to his briefs for a stranger. He thought as he kicked his ankles free and flung his chinos onto the pile of his belongings. He dashed into the cool water and dived down, fully submerging himself. Swimming along the river floor, he started to doubt his rash decision. He didn't even know this woman and she had him practically naked and covered in dirty sludge from the river.
"Dangerous territory. Turn back." His brain practically screeched at him. Yet his legs continued to kick, propelling him towards the pontoon. Reaching the floating wood, he broke out and gasped for a large intake of air.
"Glad you could make it." The angel practically sang. Well maybe not exactly, more like laughed hysterically. "Do you always strip off because a stranger tells you too?"
"When they let me." He said with a wink and flashed a cheeky smile. "So what're you doing out here?"
"Hunting elephants." She said. There was no expression on her face to indicate she was joking. Although clearly, she was. They were in Virginia. It would be a challenge to find an elephant around here, and even if she did, he was sure it was illegal to hunt them. She made her way over to the far end of the pontoon and sat down, dangling her feet in the water.
He jumped up and rushed to join her. There was something about this strange girl that had his heart pounding and his mind whirling. She was so exciting, so different. He plonked himself down next to her. "Seriously, who are you?"
She seemed surprised by the question. Like she thought it shouldn't matter or possibly shocked that he cared at all.
"Hi, I'm Tess." She said it with a smile. "I work at the obnoxiously huge house up the bank."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Obnoxious hey? How so?"
"It just seems so... look at us, we have money, we have everything you can't, come, worship us." She swung her feet back and forth in the water causing small splashes.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's what you believe?"
She shrugged her tiny, milky white shoulders. "Who knows, maybe they're lovely. The mother seems okay. But in my experience, wealth like that always goes to people's heads."
He smiled, amused now. "You're probably right."
"Lucky for me."
"How so?"
"Well if they cleaned up after themselves, I wouldn't have a job." She sprang to her feet and grabbed his hand. He felt a jolt of electricity run between them seconds before they even actually touched. She didn't seem to notice as she yanked him to his feet.
"Come on." She said and jumped into the air, wrapping herself in a ball and dive-bombing into the previously still water, taking him with her in an undignified belly flop .
When he broke through the layer of water he couldn't see her, the sun hit the water, causing little ripples of light, catching his eye but it wasn't her. Panic gripped his chest, he began to think she would never surface. Images of police cars and rescue vehicles flashed through his mind. The river would need to be dragged.
Something tugged at his underwear, and the white cotton began to slide down on his hip a little. He grabbed for it and yanked it back up, taking a deep breath he bobbed underwater, only to see Tess, with bulging eyes and puffy cheeks looking at him. She poked out her tongue and swam off.
That cheeky wench. He immediately set off after her. They swam, they splashed, they laughed. Until eventually they swam back to shore and collapsed under the tree. With no care for the fact, they were lying their wet heads on his dry clothes.
They lay quietly at first, the only sound, their labored breathing. In and out, in and out. Until she turned to him and asked. "So who are you anyway?"
He hesitated, "I'm one of the obnoxious show-offs from the main house."
Her eyes grew large and she sat bolt upright. "You're kidding? You couldn't be. I've met them and trust me, you are not one of them."
"Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?" A smile played on his lips.
"I... I'm so sorry, I didn't know... I just..."
He laughed hard now, while her cheeks burned red. "It's okay, we are obnoxious. It's genetic. My name's Cole Washington." He sat up and stuck out his hand.
Slowly she reached for it and he gripped it tight as his father had always taught him to do and shook it vigorously. He held it a little longer than strictly necessary but she didn't seem to notice.
"Oh God, I'm so embarrassed, my mouth always gets me into trouble."
His gaze automatically fluttered down to her lips. Plump, ruby rose petals that rested against flawless, creamy skin. "I bet it does." He murmured.
She shifted in her spot, "How come I've never seen you before?" She asked after clearing her throat. He watched the visible transformation from a carefree fun spirit to ultra-polite, employee.
Damn it.
"I work in New York. I come back to visit from time to time. When I need a break."
"I see." She readjusted the straps of her bikini top and positioned her arms for maximum coverage. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Mr. Washington. But I should be going." She stood up and took a few steps away.
"Don't start that bullshit." He said gruffly.
"What? What bullshit?" She turned back to face him.
"We were having a nice time when I was the mysterious underwear guy, but now I'm Mr. Washington?"
Her hand flew up to her mouth, covering a giggle. "I must admit it will be a shame to see him go. I was quite fond of underwear guy."
"Oh, they all are." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Hey." She objected. "Well Mr. Underwear, I've got to go. I have to go to work for the obnoxious family up the hill." She winked and he watched as she continued to stroll away, seductively swaying her hips and shaking her peach shaped bottom in the tiniest bikini bottom he'd ever seen.
"The river turned your hair pink." He called after her retreating back.
"It's always that color," she yelled back over her shoulder.
Exactly what he hoped she'd say. He'd never met anyone with that color hair before, it was rebellious and exciting and it suited her. He couldn't imagine her with a mousy, sleek bob cut and sensible shoes. Her long, uneven curls and crazy color, summed her up perfectly.
Later that afternoon he had called in the head of housekeeping and made orders for Tess to be in charge of his wing of the house. Anything to see her again. It wasn't long before a secret affair started.
Now a year later laying under the tree where he had first spotted her, his heart was heavy. Tess was back in his life but the more time he spent with her the more he realized how complicated their relationship had become.
She was hesitant to let him in. He could see it. When she allowed herself to be in the moment, he caught glimpses of the girl he'd fallen in love with. Then a haze would fall across her eyes, almost like she drew a curtain and put up the closed for business sign.
His heart cracked more and more each time. It would swell with hope in the way she responded to him, only to be thrown down again.
He needed to work out if she left when she found out she was pregnant because she got scared of what would happen when their secret affair became not so secret. If she was worried he would freak out or if she left because the thought of being tied to him for the rest of their lives was something she wanted to avoid. Maybe she'd thought he would be a nice fling. Someone to have some harmless fun with. But when she fell pregnant she panicked at the thought of being stuck with him. The obnoxious son of the obnoxious Washington family.
His heart lurched at the thought, causing real physical pain. Maybe after all this time he should admit his mother had been right. Marriage without love seemed a lot less complicated at this point. Ruining his reverie, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He tore his hand away from the scarred, bark heart and jumped up and away from the tree, digging his phone from his pants.
Glancing at his phone, he saw Marigold's name flashing menacingly on the screen.
Shit.
He ignored it and slid it back in his pocket. She'd been trying to call him for days. He had no idea what she could possibly want. It was not like they were friends or anything. Sure, they'd known each other forever and their parents were close, but he liked to keep their socializing, isolated to awkward family dinners. The ones he couldn't get out of at his parent's insistence.
Making his way up the bank he decided to pop into the guest house. Tess and his mother should be done shopping by now. He knocked on the door but there was no answer, so he plonked himself down on the front step to wait. How long could two women shop for anyway?