“This is the deepest side of the lake.”
“And you must be one heck of a swimmer,” said Jess.
“I am,” said Jane, dragging her foot in the water and making a deliberate pattern with it on the dry planks of the dock. “And I learned to swim right here.”
Swinging his legs out of the water, Jess rested the weight of his upper body behind him on his hands and squinted up at her. “Must be nice to be a rich kid and get to lie around the cottage all summer,” he said.
It occurred to Jane that he was trying to start an argument. “A rich kid? Is that what you think I am?”
“Well, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not. And you know something? I think you have an attitude problem.”
“So what’s it to you?” he challenged.
“Nothing. But it must get in the way of making friends.”
“So who said I needed friends?”
Jane glared at him. She had half a mind to give him a shove, send him sideways off the dock into the lake. “From the very first time you spoke to me, it was like you were looking for someone to fight with,” she said. “What did I ever do to you? For your information, I started spending summers here the year my parents split up. My grandmother looked after me then, and now my mother counts on me to sort of keep an eye on her. Until you came along, I helped her with some of the heavy work too.”
They seemed to have locked eyes in a furious stare, and to Jane’s surprise, it was Jess who looked away first. “Don’t sweat it,” he muttered, and bent to work the legs of his jeans back down over his shins.
Jane turned to leave.
“Here, you forgot something.” But when Jane reached for the empty plate he held towards her, he made a little gesture to jerk it back again. Jane gripped it firmly, with a sigh of exasperation.
“You really get steamed, don’t you?” Jess said, as she turned from him. “Okay, so I have an attitude problem. Maybe I’m working on it.”
“You need to.” Without waiting for him to get to his feet, Jane walked quickly back up to the cottage.
She spent the rest of the afternoon indoors, tidying the stacks of photo albums on the shelves in the living room, re-arranging the collection of battered duck decoys that circled the room, watching the top of Jess’s head through the side window and wondering what it was that made him so angry.
Jane dropped by the kitchen later, where her grandmother was figuring out what she owed Jess for his afternoon’s work. “So what d’you think his problem is, anyway?”
“His problem?”
“He’s got a chip on his shoulder like you wouldn’t believe.”
Nell lowered her eyes to the scrap of paper on which she was writing. “Well, let me see. His mother died not too long ago. And he moved back here, half a continent away from where he grew up. Maybe that’s it.” Jane wasn’t so sure.
She was sitting on the dock, her towel wrapped around her after a swim, when Jess came back down to his boat about four o’clock. She had been watching two climbers scaling the massive wall of rock which dropped steeply into the lake, west of My Blue Heaven. The rock was a landmark on Sky Lake, the only feature to distinguish this lake from a thousand others nestled in the granite landscape of the Canadian Shield.
“You ever been up to the top?” Jess asked, shading his eyes to look in the same direction.
That he even spoke to her surprised Jane, let alone that he had initiated the conversation. “No, have you?” she asked.
“Sure. All the kids around here have.” So he just wanted to brag. He bent to untie the rope which held the boat to the iron pipe.
“You must have some pretty good mountain climbers around here then,” Jane said, matching Jess’s earlier tone. For an instant, he looked as though he might even smile.
“Oh, they don’t go up the hard way,” Jess admitted. “Only the real climbers go up the face of the rock. There’s an easier way to the top, a trail hidden in a little cove on the other side. It’s pretty steep, but at least it’s not sheer rock.” Dropping the rope into the boat, he held the vessel against the dock with his foot.
“So what’s up there?” Jane asked.
“Not much. Foundation of an old house. But the view from up there is really cool. So long as you’re not afraid of heights.”
“I’m not,” said Jane, amazed at the length of the conversation.
“You ought to get someone to show you where the trail is then,” said Jess, stepping down into the boat.
Jane got to her feet, tucking her beach towel into itself across her chest. “Nice boat,” she remarked. After what Nell had told her, she felt she should say something kind.
“Yeah, well, it’s not mine. My dad lets me use it, but I can’t mess around.” Jess lowered the motor into the water. His eyes met hers briefly. “See you,” he said, looking away.
Jane watched while Jess maneuvered the boat away from the dock, waiting to see if he’d turn and wave. He didn’t, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. She found herself smiling, warmed by a feeling that it might be an okay summer after all.
On Sunday night when the rates were low, Mary called to talk to Jane. “Wonderful news, Janey,” she announced. “I asked Carol if Corrie would like to spend a few days up there with you, and she jumped at the chance. I guess, since this is the first summer she hasn’t spent at camp, she must be feeling a little lost. I can’t imagine why you didn’t tell me Corrie would be home all summer.”
When there was no response from Jane’s end, Mary went on. “I understand how much you wanted to stay here this year, Jane, but since that wasn’t possible, with my Open Houses and everything, maybe having Corrie there will be the next best thing. You’re awfully quiet, Jane. Aren’t you happy at the idea?”
“Sure, that’s okay, Mom. I just thought you might have asked me first.”
Jane remained on the bench under the telephone after the conversation was through. She was still sitting there, picking at the threads on her cutoff jeans, when Nell returned to the room.
“Problem?” she asked brightly.
“Just Mom,” Jane sighed, looking up. “She makes all the decisions for me. Did you know about Corrie coming?”
“She asked me first,” said Nell. “Isn’t it a good idea?”
“It’s not that, really. There’s lots of stuff here I can show her, I guess.” She chose her words with care. “Corrie really isn’t used to cottage life, Nell.”
“I thought you said she went to camp every summer.”
“Not real camp, Nell. Riding camp. Where everyone stays in a lodge, with a dining room and a Jacuzzi and everything. Or computer camp. Where they all stay in the university residence.”
“I see.” Nell drew a carton of milk from the fridge and poured herself a glass, part of her bedtime routine.
“What really bothers me,” Jane continued, “is that Mom never lets me make my own choices. She decides everything for me.”
“She needs to let you grow up a little, you mean,” said Nell. “Milk, dear?”
“Exactly,” said Jane, taking the glass. “Do you know she has even