“This is so peaceful,” she said. She un-scrunchied her long hair and let it hang free.
“It is,” Brad said, and exhaled as his eyes took it in.
There was a comfortable silence for a short time as they sipped their nightcaps. Conversation came gradually, but easily, and after the initial small talk about family and jobs and friends, it soon moved on to more intimate territory, to places it hadn’t gone before.
“Do you have a girlfriend these days?” she asked.
“Naw,” he said. “Not much opportunity for that. There are some female rangers and park employees, but most are married, plus a couple lesbians and interns. And management frowns on that anyway.”
“Frowns on what?”
“Relationships between employees. And who else would I meet? Some unattached camper or ranger groupie? Plus, not many women would want to live where I do: in a cabin in the forest a half-mile from the trailhead. I have to hike it in from there. That’s no fun hauling in groceries or supplies.”
“Don’t you get lonely?”
“Sometimes. But mostly I like the peace and solitude and nobody is hovering over me. I’m trusted to do a job, and as long as I do it adequately, they leave me alone.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Maggie said.
“What? Really?”
“Oh yeah. I lived in a mud hut for the first twelve years of my life. A log cabin in the mountains with heat and indoor plumbing sounds good to me.”
“Are you happy? Doing what you’re doing?”
“It’s good,” she sighed. “I’m making decent money. But I’m working for Dad, you know?”
Brad hesitated, took a gulp. “You should come for a visit sometime,” he said.
“Why?”
“See if you like it.”
She looked at him, curious. “What happened to your old college girlfriend, what was her name, Lila?”
“Yeah, Lila. We broke up after I got my job. She was cool when we were in college, but we split after I graduated. She knew I’d never make much money as a park ranger. She hooked up with a law student named Lawrence.”
“Lawyer, huh? Asshole?”
“Big time,” he chuckled. “And the funny thing is, she couldn’t stand the guy when we were together. Money talks, I guess, or the prospect of it.”
“All for the best,” Maggie said.
“Yep, it never would have worked.” He turned his body slightly toward her. “How ‘bout you? Are you divorced yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, just haven’t gotten around to it, I guess. And Giles is too lazy and too cheap to initiate things. I think he likes it the way it is. He can screw his bimbos and has an excuse not to make a commitment.”
“You should beat him to the punch,” Brad said. “Catch him off-guard.”
“Yeah, I know, and I will, maybe after the first of the year. Lawyers don’t work much over the holidays and I’ll be busy as hell at the store.”
Another pause as they each took a sip and placed their drinks on the table.
Brad cleared his throat. “Do you think about your baby?”
“Every single day,” she crackled. She hesitated, in thought. Tears formed in her eyes. “Everyday.”
Brad reached for her hand and held it. “I’m sorry, Maggie. It’s none of my business.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said. “It’s good to talk about it sometimes. It just makes me sad. Because I know in my heart that the reason I lost my baby is because of the stress I was under: My husband was a loser, he didn’t want a baby, he didn’t love me, I didn’t love him, and I knew I would be bringing the child into a bad marriage with an uncaring father.”
He squeezed her hand. She squeezed his back.
Brad had been a teenager at the time. He remembered their wedding. It was an informal rush job, with not much of a crowd, maybe forty people. He served as an usher, though ushers were hardly needed.
“Why did you marry him?”
She pivoted her butt on the cushion, turned her body to face him and grabbed his other hand.
“Our parents,” she said, earnestly. “I thought you knew that. Dad laid down the law, told him he wasn’t going to ride off into the sunset. He was going to do the responsible thing, he was going to marry me. It was a shotgun wedding, Dad made sure of it. I shouldn’t have let it happen, but I did. I was scared. I went along.”
“That sounds like your father. He did what he thought was right and best for you.”
“I know.” She wiped tears from her cheeks.
“But parents aren’t perfect. They do their best, but they make mistakes.”
Maggie nodded. She sniffled.
After a long moment of silence with their four hands laced, Brad asked, “Do you want another baby?”
“Yes, someday. When the time is right. With the right man.”
Brad didn’t say anything. Maggie was looking down at their four clenched hands. He wanted badly to kiss her but he didn’t want to screw up.
Then she said, “It feels good to talk to you, Brad,” and looked up. “Thank you.”
“Yes,” he said. “That’s how I feel. I feel like I can tell you anything.”
They were facing each other in the dark, their silhouettes outlined in soft, second-hand light. Brad broke his grip with his right hand and stroked her hair with his fingers. He gently pulled her head toward his. She didn’t hesitate.
Their lips met and instantly parted. Their first kiss was like a time bomb going off. Their tongues were electric, touching, exploring, tasting. Their arms surrounded their bodies and their hands felt their ways along new terrain. Both were surprised at the spontaneity of it, but there was no holding back. Their first kiss would be one to remember. Brad had been thinking about Maggie for many months, about wanting her, but fearful of rejection, not sure if it could ever happen, not sure if it should. Now he had no doubts. She’d been thinking of him too.
When his tongue left her mouth, he peppered her with kisses on her neck, her ears, all over her face.
“I’ve fantasized about kissing you,” he said with bated breath.
“So have I,” she whispered.
Their hands roamed. His held her breast, firm and perked, through the soft fabric of her sweater, and he thumbed her erect nipple. Hers delved between his legs, rubbed his thigh, lightly brushed his cock. He was hard, she was wet.
“Stay here tonight,” he said softly into her ear.
“No, I can’t,” she said firmly. She squirmed back on the seat and straightened up. “Not here. It’s not right.”
“Can I see you tomorrow? I could come by the store. Take you to lunch.” He leaned back and sat up. His cock was swollen to the max, her hand long gone.
“No,” she said. “It’s Black Friday. We’ll be too busy.”
“Uh, okay,” he said, rejected.
Then she said: “How about dinner? That way I won’t be rushed and have to go back to work. We close at six. Would that be okay?”
Relieved, he said of course it was.
Brad walked Maggie out to her car and they kissed goodnight, a wing-dinger, right out in front of the house beneath the overhead street light. Maggie drove home with damp panties, thinking about their deep-dish kisses. It had been a long time since she’d given herself to a man and she was amazed and excited that the man might be her stepbrother. It had been a while for Brad too, and he had similar thoughts of hungry anticipation. He took his boner to bed and jerked off.
—-
They met for dinner at a chain restaurant down the street from the store. It was the biggest shopping day of the year, so the place was jammed and the waitstaff were already in the weeds. They were about to get on the waiting list for a table when Maggie spoke up.