The next morning, I woke early. I rose out of bed and felt a pain in my right shoulder. I figured it must have happened when I jumped on Missy and Veronica. I smiled to myself… the pain was worth it.
I slid out of bed without waking Ma and made my way to the sitting room where Luke was still sleeping. I quietly sat down in a chair next to his sleeping mat and watched him sleep. I wondered how anyone could look as handsome as he did. I had known him for only a few days, but he was all I thought of. He was constantly on my mind, when I was awake and even when I slept. I wondered if this was how everyone felt who were in love.
I could no longer wait for him to wake. I looked around to make sure we were alone and quietly made my way over to Luke. My heart began beating hard inside my chest as I knelt at his side. I held my hair away from my face with one hand, slowly leaned over, and kissed his lips. Luke awoke to see me hovering over him. He smiled and kissed me back.
“Good morning,” he whispered in a deep sleepy voice.
“Good morning, how’d you sleep?”
“Like a baby.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You were up every two hours?”
“No, I guess I should say I slept like a log.”
“Oh, you woke up in the fireplace?”
“Are you always this chipper in the morning?”
“I have been lately.”
We kissed again. I couldn’t imagine anyone being as happy as I and I wished that this feeling would never end.
“It’s my turn to feed the animals and clean the stalls,” I informed Luke. “Do you want to help me?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Good, then get up off your lazy butt and come with me.”
After three hours of cleaning the stalls and the chicken coop and feeding the horse, cow, and chickens, we rested against the fence.
“Thanks for helping me. It usually takes me until after lunch to finish. What do you want to do now?”
“Whatever you want to do, but I should go down to the river and wash up first.”
“I know a good place along the river where it’s deep enough to bathe. It’s only two whoops and a holler from here. I’ll show you.”
We started across an open field towards my favorite spot on the river.
“Be careful where you step, there’re prairie pancakes all over this field. Those damn free rangers act like they own the whole world,” I warned while hopping over a pile of cow chips.
After a ten minute walk, we reached a section of the river where the water was still deep due to a hollow. Water running down the river dropped into this spot creating a small waterfall which normally wasn’t present when the water level was higher. Both sides of the river were thick with moss-covered cypress trees and lush green plants thriving near the river’s edge, making it a very secluded location. Luke walked down to the shoreline, knelt down, and began washing his arms and face, trying not to get his shirt and boots wet, but failing. He stood up.
“I’m going to take a swim. It’ll be a lot easier to get clean that way.”
He took off his boots and socks and then his shirt. I had seen Pa and Billy without their shirts on and once even saw Randy Johnson without his, and it had been no big deal for me. But, I found myself staring at Luke’s bare chest with a feverish fascination I had never experienced before.
“I need to strip down to my under pants, so you’ll have to turn around until I get in the river.”
I turned around until I heard Luke splash into the water.
“Whoa, this feels good!” he exclaimed.
I sat on a root of a cypress tree and watched Luke swim to the other side of the river and back.
“Come, on in, the water’s fine,” Luke called.
“I didn’t bring my swim trunks.”
“Just go in your under garments.”
“I’m not wearing any under garments.”
“Too bad, you’re missing out.”
I couldn’t believe I was about to do what I was about to do. I knew it was wrong, which was thrilling in itself, but it also felt so right at the same time.
“Turn around and close your eyes.”
“What for?”
“Just do it…and don’t you dare turn around!”
I carefully scanned the woods and, after deciding no one was around, I quickly began undressing. I was no stranger to skinny-dipping, but I had always been alone… until now. I was so filled with an excitement like I use to get when I was younger and was doing something that I knew I wasn’t suppose to be doing, like the time I snuck some of Grandpa’s tobacco and went behind the barn to try some. My hands trembled trying to unbutton my clothes while keeping an eye on Luke to ensure he didn’t turn around.
After taking all my clothes off, I quickly jumped in the river. I resurfaced and looked at Luke who was still looking the other way. Part of me was glad Luke had not tried to peek, but another part wondered why he didn’t.
“You can turn around now.”
Luke turned around to find me smiling at him with just my head and shoulders above the surface of the water and my wet hair clinging to my sun-kissed skin.
“Doesn’t this feel good?” Luke asked.
“Yeah, it does, but it’s not fair that I’m the only one actually skinny-dipping.”
Luke smiled, reached below the surface, removed his undergarment, and tossed it on the shore.
“There, feel better?”
“Hey, fair is fair.”
Luke started moving closer to me.
“That’s far enough. I don’t want you to see anything you ain’t supposed to be seeing.”
“You’re so beautiful with your hair all wet like that. I just wanted to kiss you.”
I allowed that thought to roll around my mind for a few seconds until I could no longer resist the temptation. It was so wrong, but I wanted him to kiss me…here and now!
“Okay, put your hands behind your back and close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
“Okay.”
Luke did as he was instructed.
“Don’t you dare open your eyes or I’ll drown you!”
I moved closer and soon our bodies were inches away from each other. I slowly leaned my head towards his, ensuring our bodies didn’t make contact, and began kissing him. My heart beat so rapidly, it felt like it was beating inside my throat and my trembling body made ripples in the water.
Abruptly, our romantic world we had gotten lost in exploded into a million pieces when I heard Billy’s voice.
“What are you‘ll doing in there?”
I quickly pushed Luke away and swung around to see Billy standing at the river’s edge.
“Nothing!” I screamed. “Go home!”
“I want to go swimming too…hold on here…,” Billy said when he noticed mine and Luke’s clothes lying on the ground. “Are you‘ll naked?”
“Billy, just go home!”
An evil grin appeared on my brother’s face.
“Okay, I’ll go home.”
He swiftly grabbed all the clothes lying on the ground and ran for home.
“BILLY, NO! COME BACK HERE!”
He just kept running, laughing all the way.
“I can’t believe he just did that! I’ll kill him when I see him!”
Luke began chuckling.
“I’m glad you think this is funny. What if he goes and tells Ma?”
Luke’s laugher immediately turned into concern.
“All right, you stay here and I’ll go get our clothes back,” Luke said.
“You’re naked. What if someone sees you? What if Grandma Viola sees you?”
“Hopefully, I can find Billy and our clothes before that happens.”
“All right, but hurry. No telling who else might show up.”
“I’ll be right back. You might want to close your eyes. I wouldn’t want you to see anything you’re not suppose to.”
I closed my eyes and listened as Luke ran out of the river. T
ry as I might, I couldn’t fight the temptation to take a peek at his bare butt before he vanished into the woods. It was a sight I wouldn’t soon forget.
Luke later told me about his romp through the woods. He said he tried to stay as concealed among the trees as he could, until he came to the open field we had crossed earlier. He would have to make about a hundred yard dash through the open field until he got to a small section of woods directly behind the cabin. He took a deep breath, made sure no one was lingering out back of the cabin, and sprinted across the field as fast as he could, unable to miss all the cow pies.
He made it to the concealment of the woods without anyone noticing him. Then, much to his relief, he saw our clothes lying on the railing of the back porch. He quickly ran to the back of the barn keeping an eye out for any movement inside the cabin. He slid along the outside of the barn wall cautiously, inching closer to his goal. On the ground, he found an old rusty lid to a frying pan which he picked up to cover himself. He made it to the front of the barn and had only twenty feet to go and he would have our clothes. He quickly stepped forward, all his attention on his prize, his hand outstretched to retrieve the clothes.
“Luke!”
He froze just a foot away from the clothes. He turned around slowly and his heart sunk. Coming around the side of the cabin was Ma, Reverend Johnson and his wife.
“Where are your clothes?” Ma alarmingly asked.
“I…I was swimming in the river. Billy decided to play a joke on me and took my clothes.”
“You were swimming naked?”Ma asked.
“I didn’t want to get my clothes wet.”
The back screen door opened. Grandma Viola stepped out with, at first, a look of shock that smartly turned into a sly smile.
“What’s for supper?” she joked.
“Ma, Reverend Johnson is right here!”
“Sorry, Reverend, I didn’t see you standing there.”
“No problem, I just stopped by to look at a plow.”
“Instead you get to look at a plow-boy,” Grandma Viola chuckled.
“MA!”
“I reckon I best get back in before I get into anymore trouble,” Grandma Viola said.
“Reverend, I apologize,” Ma said. “We don’t usually have naked men walking around the place.”
“I’m not here to judge, but shouldn’t we let the poor boy get dressed?”
“Oh yes, of course. I’m sorry. Here are your clothes.” Ma picked up the clothes to hand them to Luke when she noticed something. “Wait one dang second…these are Lizzy’s boots! And these are her cover-alls!” Ma angrily discovered.
“Miss. Cooper, I can explain. It’s not what it seems.” Luke said, his eyes full of fear.
“Lizzy?” Reverend Johnson muttered softly as he looked across the open field.
Ma turned and looked in the direction the reverend was looking. Luke told me Ma’s mouth dropped to the ground, for running across the open field was her daughter, naked as the day she was born. I had gotten cold waiting in the river and also grown tired of waiting for Luke to bring my clothes to me. I thought the coast was clear when I started sprinting across the field only to discover it wasn’t but it was too late to turn back around. I covered what I could and ran faster than I ever had. Ma covered her face and just shook her head. After several long seconds, she forced herself to look up at Reverend Johnson and his wife like a women defeated.
“Reverend Johnson, I don’t suppose there’s really a lot to say here. I hope we’ll still be welcomed back in church after all this, but I would understand if we weren’t.”
“Don’t you fret any about this. Believe me, I’ve been witness to worse things than seeing two naked people running around,” Reverend Johnson assured her. “I’ll come back another day to look at that plow…when everyone has all their clothes on.”
“Thank you, Reverend.”
“Maybe we’ll see you’ll at the town dance tomorrow. And hopefully, we’ll be seeing a little less of Luke and Lizzy.” Reverend Johnson joked which made Ma feel a little better about the whole situation.
“Thanks again for stopping by. Have a safe trip.”
After Reverend Johnson and his wife left, Ma turned around to face Luke. Her forced smile instantly transformed into an angry frown.
“Get yourself in the barn and get dressed. I’ll take Lizzy’s clothes to her myself.”
Ma handed Luke his clothes and he shamefully walked to the barn using his clothes to hide his bare butt. Ma made her way towards the woods she had seen me run into. By this time, I had seen Luke standing with Ma, Reverend Johnson, and his wife. I knew he had been caught so I just hid behind an outcrop of bearberry shrubs waiting for everyone to leave when Ma found me.
“Hey, Ma,” I said with shameful humility.
“Get your clothes on and both of you meet me on the front porch.”
The tension was thick as Luke and I sat on the front porch watching Ma paced back and forth trying to gather her thoughts through the fiery forest of anger burning inside her. She finally stopped to address us.
“Please tell me what you two were doing naked together.”
“Nothing,” I insisted. “We were just swimming.”
“Just swimming…naked…and nothing else?”
“We kissed.”
“And Billy saw you?”
“Yes.”
“And if Billy hadn’t stopped you, what would have happened next?”
“Nothing, Ma! We were only kissing! You have to believe me!”
Tears filled my eyes now. Not for being caught naked with Luke, but for the disappointed and hurt look on my mother’s face.
“Do you realize the shame you would bring to this family to be with child and unwed. Do you know how ashamed of you I would be? More than I am now!”
“We were only kissing, nothing else! I would never do anything like that!”
“Miss Cooper, I would never be with Lizzy unless we were married. I respect her too much to do that. And I would never intentionally bring shame on this family. I know what we did was wrong and I take full responsibility for it. And if you ask me to, I’ll leave right now.”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” Ma said.
“No, please, No” I begged as I got up from my chair and dropped to my knees, tears starting to run down my face. “Don’t send him away! Please, I’ll do whatever you want! Just don’t send him away!”
“I’ll need some time to think about it. Luke, you go help Billy water and weed the crops. Lizzy, you start cleaning the cabin from top to bottom.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we both answered in unison and left the porch like two scalded pups with their tails between their legs.
“Come on out. I know you were listening,” I heard Ma say, so I stopped and listened from just around the corner.
Grandma Viola walked out from inside the cabin and took a seat on the porch swing.
“Go ahead, give me your thoughts. What should I have done differently?” Ma asked.
“I think you handled that just fine.”
“But…”
“But, Lizzy is a good girl. She has always been very responsible, a little hot-headed like her ma, but always responsible. I don’t think you have to worry about her. Besides, she'll be seventeen in a few months. She needs to start thinking about getting married and starting a family of her own before she becomes an old hag. Luke's the first boy I’ve ever seen her interested in. You might think twice about sending him away.”
“But what are folks going to say about Lizzy and Luke seeing each other while living under the same roof, not married.”
“Annie Wilson Cooper! Since when have we ever cared what folks think?”
Ma smiled at her mother and agreeingly shook her head.
“You’re right, Ma. You’re always right.”
“And it’s taking you this many years to realize that?”
Ma chuckled.
“So, whatcha going to do? You going to send the l
ove of Lizzy’s life away?”
“I don’t know. I’ll let them stew in it for a little while until I make a decision.”
“That’s my girl!”
Ma went back inside, leaving Grandma Viola on the porch.
“You still ease-dropping, Lizzy?”
I came around from the side of the cabin.
“How do you do that? I was quiet as a church mouse!”
“I suppose you heard everything?”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks for sticking up for me.”
“No problem, but a word of advice. Be real nice to your ma for the next couple of days if you want Luke to be allowed to stay.”
“I will.”
Chapter 7