THE MAN FROM THE FAR SIDE OF THE LAKE

By Atonia Walpole

Part One:

Things happen sometimes so fast you don't realize exactly what did happen. Steps you go up and down each day can turn on you. Did you miss a step, slip, how exactly did it happen? But there it is, wrapped in yards of cotton and ace bandages, the ankle broken in three places. Plates, pins and screws holding it together. The damned painful thing that has taken over your life, changed life as you knew it.

There was nothing for it, she couldn't possibly remain in her apartment. There were the steps again, and now they were non-negotiable.

"I've been thinking, Lynn. You can't go back home and it looks like you're going to be down for the summer. How about coming out to the lake with us? You can have Davey's old room. Really, we'd love to have you. There's Mazie, of course, but she's no problem, keeps to herself mostly. What do you think?" Jen Martin was making her case to her sister.

"I don't know. I hate to be a problem...ha...I am a problem! What am I thinking? If you're sure Miles won't mind?"

"Of course not. What's family for? Miles is gone most of the time anyway. Summer is his busy time, you know."

"I hate to say it this way, but I have no choice. Really I don't." It wasn't easy for Lynn Sommes to ask for help. She was an independent, self-sufficient woman. For the first time in her thirty years she was unable to take care of herself.

"Good, then it's settled. I'll go by your place and pack up your clothes and things, turn off your fridge and clean it out for you. I'll be back in the morning and pick you up...all being well with you." Jen rose and gave her sis a hug.

"Thank you, Jen." She smiled as her sister closed the hospital room door. One more night in this place and she was out. The intravenous pain killer just gave her another hit and she settled back on the pillow, hoping to get some sleep between interruptions.

Of course it would rain the day she went home to her sister's lake house. Getting from the car across the gravel drive was tricky with the wobbly crutches, but Jen stayed with her until she was inside and seated on the sofa with her leg propped up. Pain medicine made her unsteady and drowsy. Drowsy was a good state for the afternoon and she slept most of it away. Covered in a crocheted afghan, she woke in the semi-darkness of the room and pulled herself upright on the sofa, keeping the ankle elevated. Silence...it was so quiet here, no near neighbors she could see out the large windows the lake, whitecaps showing as the spring storm worked its way across the water.

"Hi, didn't want to disturb you if you were still out. Like a glass of iced tea?" Jen stood in the doorway to the kitchen,

"Love it! Could you turn on a light?"

"Sure thing. Want anything else?"

"No," Lynn replied...nothing but my two legs. She looked down at the bandaged foot.

It wasn't fair but things like this never take in consideration that you might just have made plans, reservations, plane tickets bought. Her whole summer gone down the tubes. She saw Mazie walk from one bedroom to another down the hallway. Mazie was Jen's mother-in-law and suffered from dementia. Lynn always felt a little strange around Mazie, never sure what world she inhabited. It was sad.

"How's Mazie doing?" she asked as Jen brought her drink.

"Good days and bad. She's fine now as long as I get her to take her medicine. See, she's carrying her purse from room to room. Poor thing doesn't know where she is. Mazie..." Jen was up and down the hall.

Lynn thought Jen had infinite patience. She knew she could never be a caregiver... and wasn't a particularly good patient, either. Perhaps an unhappy patient.

Three weeks later she had a hard cast and was able to get out a bit. She lay on a lounge chair with her foot propped up in the grassy lawn near the water's edge. Jen found an umbrella, stuck it in the ground near her chair and supplied her with a stack of books and magazines and the postcards arriving from Italy. They were in Rome, her two friends. She would have been with them except for the ankle.

She watched a boat leave the dock across the cove. It seemed to be full of people and a dog, out for a day of fun. It was a large house, newly-built and partially hidden by trees that occupied the space behind the dock. There were several boats up in the boathouse. She'd seen different ones being launched.

"Have you everything you need?" asked Jen, bringing her a small cooler of cold drinks.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. Oh, Jen, who owns that house across the cove?"

"I don't know his name. He's not down here very often. Usually brings a bunch of people when he comes. I think he might be a musician, at least he brings it with him. Well, I should be back with Mazie in a couple of hours. You've got your cell phone. Call if you need me. I can leave her at her doctor's office if I need to."

"Thanks, Jen. Go on, off with you!" laughed Lynn, waving her sister off.

She looked back at the house across the cove. Someone was on the deck leaning over, so she picked up her binoculars and looked to see who it might be. Not having a life of her own this summer, she was interested in what was going on across the cove. It was a man in swim trunks and sunglasses leaning over the railing, smoking a cigarette. His hair was dark and his skin looked to be lightly tanned. Was this the owner or a guest? Suddenly as if aware he was being watched he looked up across the cove and Lynn dropped her binoculars.

Part 2: 

Brett Houser looked across the cove. The woman was back again, the woman with a cast on her leg. Not a good way to spend the summer. He knew that very well, having broken his ankle a few years ago. Took a chunk out of his life...slowed him down a bit. The house had cleared out at last and he enjoyed in the morning alone. The sun had just come around to his deck and he walked down the steps, out to the pool and dove in. The water was fresh and cool on his warm skin. He swam three lengths of the pool then pulled himself out on the side. Inside his house the maid was vacuuming. He could hear the sound and frowned. Noise.

Brett bought the property and had the house built two years ago, a hideaway at the time. He needed the down time and thought this sleepy little community would be a good place to go...when he needed a place. He could walk down the streets unrecognized. There weren't many places he could do that anymore, not since the Oscar.

His house had turned into a party house this month. He didn't mind. They were his mates, band members, friends. They would leave at the end of the month. He still hadn't decided whether to leave with them or stay on for a while. He had a stack of scripts to go through...but they packed as well as his clothes.

Leaving the pool, he picked up a towel by the pool house and dried himself off. He looked back across the cove before going inside. She was still there under the umbrella. He stopped and looked at the house, an old rambling one-story lake house with a wide screened porch. He smiled slightly and went inside. After a quick shower and a pair of shorts and tank top he went outside to his garage and rolled his bike out. 

Lynn was reading a book and underlining passages she liked, making notes to the edge of the page. This was a habit of hers, being a writer herself. If something spoke to her, she wrote down why. She checked her watch. Another hour before Jen would be back. Maybe she would take a nap. Trying to adjust the back of the lounge chair, she nearly tipped out and caught her self just in time. That ankle did not need another jolt. Now the chair was flat. That would never do.

Brett wound along the narrow roads, in and out around the cove, looking for the house he'd seen across the water. It was a strange thing for him to do. He never mixed with locals. Maybe he was in sympathy for the woman? Whatever the reason he persisted until he found the drive that led to the green-shingled lake house and pulled his bike right up behind her chair.

Lynn heard the bike coming and turned in the uncomfortable lounge, watching him pull up right behind her chair. He sat there on the bike for a moment after turning off the motor before getting off. "Are you looking for someone?" she asked. He was obviously at the wrong house.

"I thought I'd come visit, if you don't mind," he said still on the bike.

"Oh, well, not at all. Do you live near here?"

"Over there." He pointed across the cove.

"Oh," she said, a little embarrassed. Had he seen the glasses?

"What happened to your foot?" he asked, throwing his leg over the bike and coming to sit in the grass beside her.

"Fell down some steps and broke my ankle."

"Pity that, with the summer."

"Yes, took away my trip to Italy." She gave a crooked smile. He had an accent.

"You're not from here. Where's home?"

"Australia is home, but I don't get there very often anymore."

"That's a long way. How did you end up here?"

"Good question...I don't really have an answer for. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Do you live here, this your place?"

"No, it's my sister's. Well, it belongs to her husband's mother. She's ill and lives here, too. I'm just here for the summer, until I can get back on both feet."

"Bummer that. I did the same thing a couple of years ago. It takes a while. What's your name?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm Lynn Sommes."

"Brett Houser." He watched her face and saw the recognition.

"Very nice to meet you. I really wasn't spying on you. I just like to see what's around here. Looks like you have a house party."

"Yeah, few of my mates around for a few weeks. Want me to fix your chair?"

"If you don't mind. I can't seem to make it stay. That's good, thanks." Brett Houser for God's sakes! "Would you like a cold drink? Jen left more than I need."

He took a coke. Thanks. You don't mind being left out here?"

"No, not really. I'm going to be left somewhere. This isn't bad. At least the weather is nice...not too hot yet." He was quiet for a moment, looking over toward his house across the cove.

"If I come get you sometime, would you like to come over to my house?" He said it quietly and she turned her head toward him.

"You'd come get me? Well...yes." Lynn was surprised and flattered that he would come for her.

"I know what a drag it can be stuck in one place...tomorrow. I'll come over tomorrow on the pontoon. You'll stay dry that way." He smiled and stood up. "See ya, Lynn." He was on his bike and gone.

Brett Houser, the actor...how could it be he was here in this cove? Lynn smiled. What a surprise he turned out to be. She couldn't wait to tell Jen who lived across the cove.

Brett stopped by the marina for a beer and cheeseburger. He thought once about buying one for Lynn and taking it to her, but decided against it. She was nice, and pretty without trying, simple, and he hoped uncomplicated. You couldn't tell anymore about people. He'd been stung too many times. He liked her honest face, her brown eyes and long dark brown hair.

Jen pulled up in the drive and got Mazie in the house and settled before she came down to see about Lynn. "I'll bet you're about ready to go in."

"Lynn, I met your neighbor, the one across the cove. You'll never guess in a million years who he is!"

"Okay, so I won't try and you're dying to tell me." She sat down in the grass.

"Brett Houser...the actor."

"You're kidding me! How did you meet him?"

"He rode over here on his bike and introduced himself...and invited me over. Says he's coming to get me tomorrow."

Jen looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You sure that's a good idea? I mean those people move in some pretty fast crowds, Lynn."

"Well, it's for sure I'm not moving fast...besides he was nice...he really was," she smiled.

ON TO PART 3

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