CHAPTER 9, Part 1: “You’re in the honeymoon phase…”
“You’re in the honeymoon phase,” said Frieda. “Enjoy it.”
Katherine moved the phone to her other ear. “I am. I’ve forgotten how wonderful it can be having someone. I actually have a private life again! My day doesn’t end when work is over any more. We usually have dinner together, and then the whole evening, and then the night.”
“Yes?” prodded Frieda with a smile in her voice.
Katherine put her feet up on a kitchen chair. “It’s just wonderful. I’m not getting much sleep - ”
“Oh my,” teased Frieda.
” - but I wake up feeling…”
“Wonderful?”
“Marvellous.”
“You feel marvellous and I bet you look marvellous, too.” She drawled the word.
Katherine grinned. “All right, I know I must be a pain going on about him like this, but he’s really special. Did you like him when you met him?”
“He’s good looking, he seemed nice, and he really seemed to like you. That’s the most important thing as far as I’m concerned.”
“Yeah, I think he really does like me. It’s wonderful - amazing,” Katherine amended.
“So? Details please.”
“About what?”
“You know what I mean. What’s it like?” Frieda sounded as if she were humouring her.
Katherine took a deep breath and felt herself blushing slightly. “Well, he’s nothing like most men in their 40s I hear about.”
“Oh thanks.”
“I don’t mean Douglas. I mean men who aren’t interested in sex at all any more.”
“Rick’s interested,” Frieda guessed.
“Yes. We both are. It’s not routine. I mean sometimes he doesn’t stay over, you know?”
“But you still…”
“What I really like is that sometimes it’s unusual. It’s not always the same time, the same place. Sometimes it’s before dinner.”
“Shocking,” mocked Frieda.
“Does this gross you out?”
“Not in the least. Go on.”
“He’s just really spontaneous.”
“Kama sutra and all that?” Frieda was laughing and Katherine joined in.
“No, we’re too old for that. But we can still…enjoy it.”
“You’re not getting wild, are you? In public and so on?”
“Not in public!” Katherine was shocked. “Not where anyone can see us!” Then she added “Well, is outdoors in public? It was private property, but not my land.”
“You vixen!” Frieda teased. “Outside, at this time of year?”
“But one Sunday, some weeks ago, the weather was perfect,” said Katherine. “We had Indian summer, remember?” The details rushed back.
The air was warm, the sun shone bright in a clear blue sky, and the mosquitoes had vanished after a frost some nights before. Rick had driven up in the early afternoon with Goldie, but he had refused to kiss Katherine when he put his arms around her, saying only “Put on your hiking boots. I want to show you something.”
As they passed his truck, Noodle and Goldie bounding on ahead, he reached into the cab and pulled out a checked blanket, which he slung over his shoulder with a slow smile.
“What are you up to?” Katherine asked, tugging on his arm. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head.
They walked across the empty fields from one corner to the other. The ground was now dry and firm to walk on. Sometimes they held hands and swung arms. A rabbit shot out from the hedgerow, startling the dogs into freezing for a moment. Then they raced after, with high barks of excitement. A big black bird soared lazily high overhead.
“Turkey vulture,” said Rick. “You can tell by the turned-up tips of its wings.”
Katherine gazed up into the sunny sky, thinking two hours outside of Toronto, and I’ve got myself a mountain man. She looked over at him and wanted to nibble his earlobe.
They climbed a fence and passed into land that she didn’t know. High weeds as tall as people surrounded them. She recognized the ripe milkweed plants, but was amazed at all the flowers that were still in bloom. Purple petals surrounding yellow centers hummed with insects, and magnificent yellow spires bent as they waded through.
“Wild asters and goldenrod,” Rick said from in front of her. Goldie and Noodle, panting and having given up on the rabbit, brought up the rear, taking advantage of the trail they were breaking. Sometimes, when Katherine slowed down, she felt Noodle’s head push against the back of her legs, urging her on. Now and then she reached out and touched the back of Rick’s shirt.
Rick stopped and pointed, and Katherine pressed herself against his back, her arms winding around him. She looked over his shoulder and saw a huge mound that loomed abruptly out of the ground, a steep hill in the middle of gently rolling landscape. “That’s a kame.”
“What did you say?”
“Kame.”
“Who came?”
“You naughty girl. We have come to the kame,” he said grinning. “K-A-M-E. And now, come on.” He switched the blanket to his other shoulder and started taking short steps up the steep side.
Katherine shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” At first she enjoyed watching his blue-jeans-covered butt work, but as she toiled up the incline behind him, she started panting and a fire seemed to burn in her thighs. The grasses grew shorter up the slope, and the dogs tore ahead of them. Katherine put her head down and felt her legs grinding.
The ground levelled out, and Katherine put her hands on her hips, breathing in deeply. “You okay?” asked Rick, and she nodded. A lovely wind blew against her hot cheeks.
All around them stretched rolling countryside, right to the horizon. Neat fields looked like a patchwork quilt surrounding a few widely-spaced farmhouses and barns, and squares of green forest dotted the landscape. A creek snaked across the land, sometimes flashing in the sun, but was mostly hidden by scrub and trees. Katherine slowly turned around, and the view was similar in all directions.
“Beautiful,” she said in awe. “Incredible. I thought it was more built up around here.”
“Not yet. It’s something, isn’t it? I love it here. That’s why I wanted to show it to you.”
They turned and looked their fill, and Katherine felt as satisfied as if she had consumed a good meal. She sank down onto the grass and leaned back on her arms, turning her face up to the warm sun. “It’s heaven.”
Rick sat beside her and quickly kissed her nose. “Almost perfect.”
“Almost? What more do you want?”
“You.”
She looked at him swiftly, warmth already flooding between her legs. “You mean here?” Her heart began thumping again.
Rick pulled the blanket off his shoulder and spread it out. “Right here.” He kneeled on the blanket and took her hand, pulling her over toward him.
Katherine glanced to the left and the right. “We can’t here in the open, can we?” But she was already feeling very slow and heavy, unable to move.
“The plants are nice and high,” said Rick.