Homecoming (22 page)

They put their clothes back on, but Lizzie didn’t close her shirt. Everyone had things that hit their buttons, things they found surprisingly sexy. Seeing Lizzie’s dark bikini peeking out from that crisp white shirt now had to be added to Jill’s list. It was a day full of surprises.

They walked back towards the parking area, then turned left and started to walk up the road. In a short while they were enveloped by an entirely different climate. The temperature was a few degrees cooler, and the air held the rich scent of growing leaves mixed with decaying matter underfoot. Most people were at the beach on this warm, sun-filled day, leaving the paved surface relatively empty. After a hundred yards the road ended and Lizzie led the way up a trail.

They climbed up to the highest point on the north side of the park, a very manageable peak. They didn’t run into another soul, but Jill had seen people carrying toddlers on their backs during previous visits, underscoring how gentle the pitch was.

When they reached a large, flat, red rock, Lizzie leaned over the railing someone had seen fit to install to keep people from falling. She closed her eyes and breathed in. “Doesn’t it smell great up here?”

“It sure does.” Jill stood next to her and looked down, noticing scrub pine and other tenacious trees holding on along the face of the nearly vertical rocks. “I wonder what 76 means?” she asked idly, looking at the number painted on the rock they stood on. “If it was the class of 1976, the paint would have worn away by now.”

“That’s the height.” She looked at Jill speculatively for a moment. “You haven’t jumped from here?”

“Jumped?”

“Yeah,” she said, laughing at what Jill assumed was her own fear-filled expression. “Jumped.”

“No way. No
way
. I’ve seen people do it, and I hope they’re all resting comfortably in the orthopedics ward, but I’m not going to join them.”

“Oh, come on,” Lizzie said, her eyes dancing with excitement. She grasped Jill’s hand and pressed it to her chest. “You’re turning forty tomorrow. Don’t you want to do something crazy? Something you know you shouldn’t do?”

Inching away from the edge, Jill shook her head vigorously. “I went swimming in ice cold water. I think I’m good.”

“Come on,” Lizzie urged. “You know you want to. Doing things like this lets you keep a foothold in your swiftly fading youth.”

Jill cocked her head. “Have you been reading poetry? Or inspirational books?”

“Maybe a few,” she admitted. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my life. But I honestly think it’s good to do things that scare you a little.”

“This scares me a lot! A whole lot!”

“Okay,” she said patiently. “Let’s move down to something more manageable.” They picked up their bags and switched over to a different path. Lizzie veered off it after only a minute, ducking under branches as she forged her own trail, finally coming to an exposed, flat rock. “Oh, Jill,” she breathed. “You have to do this one. It’s got your number written right on it.”

Lizzie had a point. A big, fat 40 was painted right at her feet. Almost daring her. “If I do it, will you go with me?”
Who said that?

“I would,” she said, sounding very sincere. “But I’d rather take a video. I want you to have a lasting memory you can look back on and remind yourself that taking chances can be fun.”

“Or to play at my memorial service.” She leaned forward and peeked out, shivering with fear. “Make sure they don’t play ‘Amazing Grace’ on the bagpipes, okay? I truly hate that.”

“You’ll be fine!” Lizzie insisted. “The lake’s at least seventy-five feet deep here. All you have to do is be careful to go in as straight as you can.”

Jill started to take her clothes off, with her hands shaking so hard she had trouble with the buttons. Lizzie took over, concentrating on the work, then lifting her eyes to meet Jill’s. She looked so deliciously playful, so full of life. It was almost impossible to restrain herself from taking her in her arms and kissing her senseless.

Now Jill stood at the edge, clad in only her red tank suit. At least the blood wouldn’t show as vividly… She gulped, unable to swallow normally. “Stay straight.”

“Yes,” Lizzie said, all calm and collected. “People get hurt when they’re flailing and land on a shoulder or their neck.” She put her hands on Jill’s waist and looked at her soberly. “You don’t have to push off much. You’ll easily clear the rocks if you just jump. Then keep your legs straight, point your toes, and you’re in.”

“A casket,” she muttered.

“I won’t make fun of you, or lose one bit of respect for you if you don’t want to do this,” Lizzie said, her gaze mesmerizing.

Jill sucked in a breath, gathered her courage and said, “Take my phone and make sure you get the video.” She leaned close and tried to glower. “I will strangle you if you screw it up.”

Lizzie scrambled to pull Jill’s phone from her pants pocket. “Lock code?”

“2031,” she said, her mouth so dry she could hardly spit the words out.

The camera emitted a “ping,” meaning it was on. Jill looked right into the lens and said, “They say to live fast, die young, and leave a pretty corpse. Mine is going to be mangled, but at least I’ll still be in my thirties. Tell everyone I did this of my own accord.” She slapped her face with her hands, adding, “Even though Lizzie totally pushed me!” Then she moved back, took a big step and pushed off, free falling. The sensation was…remarkable. Time slowed as the scenery rushed by. She was so fascinated and terrified that she almost lost track of where she was. But Lizzie’s words stayed with her and she grabbed her nose with one hand, tucked her elbows close to her sides, and pointed her toes. Then icy water whooshed past her and she had a moment of panic when she realized how far down she was diving. As soon as she stopped descending, she started to kick, breaking through the water in seconds—that felt like minutes. “Whoa!” she cried out, sticking an arm up in triumph.

“Swim to the rocks,” Lizzie yelled. “I’ll come get you!”

Jill blinked the water out of her eyes, stunned that she’d done something so dumb. So reckless! She didn’t have any idea how to exit the water from this spot. Had she lost her mind?

It didn’t take long to swim back to the rocks, but she had to wait for what seemed like a long time for Lizzie to arrive.

“Down here,” she called, and Jill gamely swam a few dozen yards to reach the spot.

Lizzie was standing on a rock, bracing herself by holding onto a thin tree. “Take my hand,” she instructed.

Jill did, surprised at how easily Lizzie lifted her from the water. She stood on the rock, every sense alive. “God damn, Lizzie,” she panted. “That was friggin’ awesome!”

Lizzie put her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “I
knew
you’d love it. I’m so proud of you for being so…crazy!”

“Now it’s your turn,” Jill said. “I assume you want the seventy-six footer?”

They’d been scrambling along the rocks, heading for the path. But Lizzie stopped and stared at her. “Are you mad? I’d never jump off a cliff!”

“But you made me!”

“No, no.” A playful grin lit her face. “I encouraged you to have a mastery experience. That was all about opening yourself up to the unexpected.”

Jill grabbed for her, catching only Lizzie’s maniacal laughter. “You’d better open yourself up to the unexpected! Like getting your ass kicked!”

“Gotta catch me first!” She got to the path and scampered up it like a mountain goat. When Jill realized she couldn’t catch her, she slowed down and let Lizzie wear herself out. Her lilting laugh carried down the hill as she ran, with Jill finding herself as happy as she’d been in years. That damned Lizzie Davis had thoroughly gotten under her skin.

Jill slowed down, reflecting on how she felt. For a change, she tried to turn off the warning messages and just let herself experience her feelings. They were good. Really good. Nearly every minute with Lizzie was pleasurable—to her mind and her body. Why was she fighting this so hard?

She’d gone past the higher jumping point, and finally found Lizzie sitting on her towel on a big rock, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. She patted the rock playfully. “You look like you need lunch.”

Jill went close to the edge, saying, “Why isn’t this a jumping spot?” Then she saw that the rocks jutted out just below the peak. “Oh. Well, that would sting a little.”

Lizzie grasped her hand and pulled her down. “I’m amazed at how you gutted it up and jumped. I
know
you didn’t want to.”

“No, I didn’t,” Jill admitted. “But I wouldn’t have let you talk me into it if I didn’t have a little desire to do something crazy.”

“Good. I’d feel bad if I thought you’d done it only for me.” She took Jill’s phone out and turned the screen towards her. “The video’s awesome.” When she hit the play button Jill watched, snickering at how terrified she looked.

“Yeah, that’s when I almost wet myself,” she said, pausing the action. “Maybe I did. I should play it in slow motion to see if there’s anything flying out of me when I cleared the rocks.”

“You were grace under pressure,” Lizzie said, beaming a smile.

Jill started to laugh when she heard Lizzie on the video, urging her on. “Go, go, go!” she cried. Then, “Awesome!” at top volume.

“You almost blew my speaker out,” Jill teased. “Am I the first person you’ve coached?”

“I guess so. I’ve been with lots of people who’ve jumped, but you’re the first I had to talk into it.”

“Boys, right?” Jill asked.

She laughed at that. “Of course. It’s tough to talk a woman into jumping. Women are generally smarter…”

Jill got up and put her clothes on. “I’m smart enough to keep those pine needles from pricking my butt. Other than that, I make no guarantees. You’d better have something good to eat in that bag, though. Almost killing myself really worked up an appetite.”

Lizzie reached into her tote and pulled out a couple of containers, a paper bag and a big knife, the blade wrapped in cardboard and affixed with duct tape.

“What in the hell are you planning on doing?” Jill asked. “Hunting and skinning rabbits?”

“I wanted fresh bread, so I have to slice it myself.” She started to work, eventually laying out thick slices of multi-grain bread from Jill’s favorite bakery, equally thick slices of tomato, and a good helping of basil. Then she took out a plastic tube, shook it and squeezed something all over the open-faced sandwiches. “Olive oil and balsamic vinegar,” she explained. “I can’t eat a sandwich without it.”

Jill’s mouth was watering as she watched Lizzie finish her preparation. As soon as she had the bread in her hand, she took a big bite, and closed her eyes in pleasure. “Mouthgasm,” she purred.

“Definitely a mouthgasm,” Lizzie agreed. “I’m going to steal that, by the way.”

“Be my guest. I hope you brought a bushel of tomatoes. I could easily have six or seven of these.”

“I can fill you up.” She reached over and patted Jill’s belly. “I think. The tomatoes and basil are from the old homestead. I loaded up when I was down last weekend.”

“Well worth the trip.” Jill shifted to be able to look across the lake to the Adirondacks. “This is the life. How do we do this every day?”

“Move to Florida?”

“Nah. I’d miss the mountains. And the snow. Summer’s good because we have to wait for it. I kinda like delayed gratification.”

Lizzie waited until Jill looked into her eyes to respond. “I’m learning that about you. But it’s cool,” she added. “There’s nothing wrong with waiting for something you want.” She reached into her bag and pulled out another container. “I almost forgot the wine! Wouldn’t a crisp, mineral-laced Sicilian white be perfect with this?”

Jill looked at her curiously. “Do you know a lot about wine?”

“Nope.” She put the bottle between her legs and unscrewed the cap. “But the guy who sold me this bottle said it would be perfect for our lunch.”

Warmth spread through Jill’s chest as she watched her carefully pour wine into plastic cups. “You went to a lot of trouble to make lunch. I want you to know I appreciate it.”

Lizzie handed her a cup and they touched them together. “I had fun organizing the day. Here’s to us and our very significant birthdays.”

“Let’s declare this our birthday weekend. From here on, August the fifteenth through the seventeenth is the official Lizzie and Jill weekend, no matter where it falls in the week.”

“I’m in.” Lizzie held the cup to her lips and took a big sip. “Fantastic,” she said, nodding. “I’m going to buy all of my wine from that guy. Both bottles I’ll buy this year,” she added.

“I think we both prefer beer, but it’s a bitch to take on a picnic.”

“I’m glad I bought wine. It’s just right,” Lizzie said, sighing as she wrapped her arm around her raised legs. She was flexible enough to rest her chin on her knees, something Jill wouldn’t even try. Instead, she lay down on the rock and carefully tilted the cup to avoid spilling it.

They didn’t speak much, both of them happy to relax in the filtered light, with the cool breeze making the leaves in the surrounding trees flicker. “A damned good day,” Jill said after a while.

“Let me top you off.” Lizzie poured a little more wine.

“Not much. Oh, that’s right,” she said, brightly. “I’m not driving.”

“I am, but I promise we’ll stay until I’m perfectly sober.” She topped off her own cup and took another drink. “See how smart I was to park outside the lot?” She tapped her temple. “Planning.”

Eventually, the wine was gone, as were the tomatoes and all but one heel of the bread. Lizzie was leaning a little to one side, with her head getting closer and closer to her shoulder.

“Someone needs a nap,” Jill said. “Want my lap?” She slapped at her thighs.

“Yes. But that’ll put me at a funny angle. If you let me share your towel, I can turn mine into a pillow.”

“My towel is your towel.”

Lizzie scooted across the rock and lay on her side with her back pressed up against Jill’s leg. Then she fussed with her towel until she had it just the way she liked it.

“Don’t let me sleep too long,” she said. “A half hour is my max.”

“I’ll set an alarm.” Jill did, then lay down as well, linking her hands behind her head for a makeshift pillow. She hadn’t felt this peaceful and relaxed in a while, even though her vacation had only been two weeks ago. Lizzie had the ability to make her feel both full of energy and completely calm. That was a damned nice combination.