Chapter 7 - Olivia
H ours after her mom left, Olivia was still sitting at the table in front of her empty plate. The sun had gone down, and Ms. Darcy lay at her feet, her big brown eyes staring up at Olivia with mournful neglect. She had gone deep into the rabbit hole that was her phone–email replies, social media posts of pics from the market, and random Google searches about issues she was having with her onions.
And…she still smelled awful. Her mom’s laugh trilled through her mind.
She needed a bath.
“Let’s go, Ms. Darcy.”
She stood and headed to the porch, where she had propped up an old neon pink, ten-speed Huffy she’d found in the garage when she'd moved in. She hopped on and gathered speed, peddling the rusty bike down the gentle slope of her oak-tree-lined driveway toward the country road. The crunching gravel under her fat mountain bike tires cut through the buzzing sound of cicadas. Ms. Darcy ran beside her, tail wagging in wild delight.
At the end of the driveway, Olivia turned the bike right toward the pond less than a mile down the road. Over the last couple of weeks, she had found a quick swim before jumping into bed helped erase the day’s heat from her body so she could fall into a dreamless sleep.
Growing up on her parents’ farm, she had taken the vastness of rural Minnesota for granted, disdaining it by the time she left for college. Now, here she was, relishing the solitude, not to mention the space for Ms. Darcy to roam.
She dropped the bike in the long grass next to the pond. Ms. Darcy knew the drill and began to frolic. Meanwhile, Olivia peeled off her clothes and walked straight into the water without a shiver. Having soaked up the day’s sun, the water near the shore was warm and inviting. She splashed it on her face to wash away the dried salt clinging to her cheeks and forehead.
She had always found skinny dipping liberating and had done it as a small act of rebellion in her youth. As an adult, it still gave her a thrill.
Once fully submerged, she flipped onto her back, face pointed up at the quarter-moon and the stars showing up in droves. She moved her body just enough to stay afloat, relaxing as she glided across the pond’s mirror surface. Her loose hair tickled her shoulders.
The pond was one of the main reasons she had bought the farmhouse. It was big enough that the water was free of algae and cattail weeds and small enough that it hadn’t been overrun with “second homes” owned by wealthy cabin weekenders. Instead, one tiny cabin sat along the shore, which had a healthy buffer of trees before transitioning into farmland.
After driving by the pond for several months, she realized whoever owned the cabin had the kitchen and living room lights on a timer. They turned on from 5 to 10 p.m. every day. Once she’d cracked the code, all bets—and clothes—were off as soon as the temperature hit eighty degrees.
While floating toward the cabin’s dock, she recalled her awkward interaction with Aiden at the market. Yes, he’d teased her, but he’d also been kind. She couldn’t deny thirty-one looked good on him. Unlike his little brother’s soft, youthful beauty, Aiden’s features had gotten more defined with age, all of which had been accentuated by day-old stubble and a V-neck T-shirt. It was both a shame and a relief he lived two hours away. If and when she ran into him next, she was going to be cool as a cucumber. She would stay rooted to her adult self. None of those awkward teen vibes.
This resolve gave her some relief, and her mind wandered to Pam. She was curious about where Pam would leave her business cards. Maybe she could create a recruiting deal where Pam would get a free veggie box for every three new subscribers she recruited. Olivia’s CSA was growing through word of mouth. It was just slow to take off.
In hopes of catering to the local palate, she had tried to keep her produce fairly mainstream with only one unusual vegetable per week. This week, the customers had gotten very standard fare, but next week, she was going to introduce endives and include a recipe for a delicious grilled version she’d stolen from a friend.
A deep voice cut through her serenity, “Hello? ”
She bolted upright, but not finding solid footing below her, she sank. Her limbs flailed about gracelessly, and she accidentally swallowed a mouthful of pond water before popping back above the surface, coughing and sputtering. Ms. Darcy was barking anxiously, and Olivia tried to get control of herself so Ms. Darcy would calm down.
“Is that Olivia Olsen? Are you okay? Do you need me to jump in?” A man stood on the dock, yelling over Ms. Darcy’s barks.
The whole thing was causing Olivia’s brain to short-circuit, but she registered the voice and silhouette.
Aiden fucking Wescott? You have got to be kidding me.
“No!” she yelled back in a panic. “I'm fine! Do not jump in!”
She got her flailing limbs under control and started to tread water, attempting to keep her chest as far below the surface as possible without taking in another mouthful of water.
“Missy, calm down,” she yelled, not actually expecting her dog to relax.
After taking a few breaths, she turned to face the situation head-on.
“Aiden. Hello again. I have to ask, are you stalking me?”
Her attempt at comedic relief came out sounding more like the situation demanded, as though she were living out a nightmare involving public indecency.
“Excuse me, miss, but I believe you’re the one who swam up to my family’s hunting cabin, dare I say, sans clothing?” His voice was full of mirth and contained laughter.
“This is your family’s cabin? Well shit, I didn’t realize anyone used it.” As she said it, Olivia was hit with the vaguest memory of coming to a party here after her senior year of high school when she’d finally let loose.
“Yeah, I usually stay here when I’m in town.”
“Got it. Well, sorry to interrupt your peaceful evening.”
Olivia was dying to extract herself from the scene. The one in which she was swimming around in her birthday suit and having a conversation with Aiden fucking Westcott.
Okay, I need to get over that last part because we’re not in high school anymore.
“Wait,” he said, “why are you here?”
“Oh, umm, I bought the farmhouse up the road, and I wanted to cool off before I went to sleep…and…usually nobody’s here. I wasn’t expecting to get caught, I guess. Ha!” Olivia let out a manic, staccato laugh. “So, I’m gonna swim back over there and get my clothes. It’d be great if you would look the other way. Please.”
She dog-paddled toward shore where she’d left her clothes, praying her ass was safely hidden under the water. As she paddled, it occurred to her that Ms. Darcy was no longer losing her mind, so that was one bright spot.
She glanced back toward Aiden and did a double-take. Her dog was standing on the dock next to Aiden, panting and dripping pond water all over his legs. He reached down to pet her head, and…he was laughing.
More laughter thanks to Olivia’s sudden onslaught of poor choices.
“Missy, what are you doing? Get over here.”
Her words were a mistake because instead of running back along the shoreline, Ms. Darcy took a running leap off the dock to join her in the water. Now they were both dog-paddling away .
Excellent. So freaking great.
“Seriously, Missy?” she chided.
“So, is this not a good time to offer you a beer?” Aiden barely managed to say through his laughter.
“Very funny!” she yelled over her shoulder. “You’re worse than Ethan.”
“Swim safe,” he choked out, apparently needing to have the last word.
Aiden’s laugh tapered off as he walked back up the dock and into the cabin.
As soon as she got to shore, she grabbed her clothes and hastily pulled her shirt over her head. But the motion was useless because she was soaking wet, and everything got tangled and bunched.
“Damn it.”
She sighed and fought with the fabric, conscious her ass was likely reflecting the moon’s glow like a white T-shirt under blacklights. She wrestled into the rest of her clothes and slipped into her flip-flops.
She pushed her bike back onto the road. While peddling home, her mind was stuck on Aiden. He’d gone to the University of Minnesota, studied pre-med, and gotten married to his college freshman sweetheart, according to her mom. At some point during his first year of residency in Boston, they got divorced, and he’d been focused on his medical training since. Add that to what he’d told Olivia at the farmers market, and he was back in Minnesota via Saint Paul.
Maybe she’d take him up on his beer offer next time he was in town, if only to hear the story for herself and regain some of her dignity.