Chapter 26

As on any summer night the Frostee Freeze was crowded, mostly with local kids, but a few summer kids or their families were hanging around as always. There was no curb service slot open of course, so Howie parked the Jeep in the back of the lot. The two went up to get their cones and found a picnic table with some of their classmates hanging around. Many of them were football players or cheerleaders, so the opening of practice was an obvious topic for discussion, one that lasted until well after the ice cream was gone.

About the time it was really getting dark, they decided to pick up and get a move on. Both Howie and Autumn had spent their fair share of time hanging around the Frostee Freeze, of course, but they didn’t live there in the summer months like some of their friends managed to do. As soon as they were out on the street, Autumn turned to him and said, “Howie, I’m not quite ready to go home yet. How about if we drive around a bit?”

“We can do that,” he agreed. “Where would you like to go?”

“Howie,” she said, “maybe this is going to sound a little strange, but I’d like to go out to that pond where we were swimming with Summer and Alan and the rest last week. Do you think you can find it?”

“I’m pretty sure,” he said, “but if we get lost we could be up a creek. I’m not sure I want to risk it at this hour.”

“Well, someplace quiet, then,” she said. “Someplace where we can be alone for a bit.”

“I can think of several good possibilities not far out of town.”

Perhaps fifteen minutes later Howie pulled to a stop well out in the pine barrens east of town, on a mere trace of a two-rut that didn’t lead anywhere in particular, but was in a space open enough they had a good view of the now-darkening sky. The stars were coming out, and they could see the glow of the town in the sky to the west. “Is this all right?” he asked.

“Perfect,” she smiled, “although I do want to get out to that pond after dark with you sometime before summer is over with.”

“Let me try to find it in the daytime sometime, just so I can be sure I can find it and get home afterwards.”

“Maybe tomorrow we can both do it. It’d be fun to go swimming with you alone sometime.”

“If we were to do it tonight, well, I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”

“I didn’t either,” she laughed. “I mean, it wouldn’t be like we need them.”

“You mean . . .”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “I don’t know if I have the guts to do it in the daytime, but I think I can after dark.”

“Fine with me, but Autumn, I’m a little surprised to hear it out of you.”

“Well, me too. But Howie, now that fall sports practices are here, summer isn’t going to be around much longer, so we probably ought to take the opportunity while we can.”

“I suppose,” he shook his head. Something strange was going on here, something unexpected. What was it? “I thought we were going to stay away from that stuff.”

“I know this started out as playing at being boyfriend and girlfriend,” she sighed. “But Howie, it moved past that a long time ago. I want to have at least a little of the real boyfriend and girlfriend stuff, like making out on a lonely country road, and yes, skinny dipping together. In fact, I’ve wanted it for a long time, and I think you have, too.”

“That can go someplace we don’t want it to go, and real quickly,” he replied. “I mean, I learned that from Misty last year.”

“We’ll just have to make sure we don’t overdo it,” she told him as she unhooked her seat belt and slid over next to him, at least as far as the seat in the Jeep would allow. “But damn it, it’s time we let go of the fiction a little bit and enjoyed ourselves some. Now kiss me Howie, and I want to feel your hands on me.”

It wasn’t out of line for being too late when Howie dropped Autumn off at her house after one last, long kiss. They agreed they’d see each other in the morning, and spend at least a little time making sure they knew the way out to the little pond that Jack and the others had taken them to. That carried with it the tacit of unspoken agreement that Jared and Bree wouldn’t be along with them when they did.

As soon as she was inside, Howie drove home in a bit of a daze. They hadn’t gotten anywhere near as far as he had managed with Misty the summer before – not even close – but it was totally different, although Howie would have been hard pressed to put his feelings into words. It seemed as if he and Misty had just been playing – and she’d certainly been playing with him, and somehow he hadn’t quite taken it all that seriously himself. This was different; he and Autumn had been a couple for something like ten months, and had just now gotten as far as he and Misty had gotten on their first “date.” He liked Autumn in a way that he’d never managed with Misty, and he was sure her feelings for him were real, not just using him as a practice dummy.

In any case, he felt like a whole new world had opened for him this evening, one that had been shut off for a while, one that he’d dreamed about with Misty although it never would have made a decent reality. He was a year older now and much more than a year wiser. He still didn’t dare hope that this would work out in the long run – it would be almost six years before they were out of college – but maybe there was a chance. There was no telling where this would come out, but there might be some good times along the way.

The next morning, Howie had some work to do. He’d mowed lawns around the neighborhood for years, and over the course of the summer Jack had turned most of the ones he’d been doing over to him as well. For the most part Howie had been doing the lawns with a push mower, mostly as another excuse to work out, and it had contributed to his being a lot more in shape than he’d been the year before.

But there was no reason to try to do everything on his list in one day. About eleven, with the day heating up uncomfortably, he decided he’d had enough, what with football practice that afternoon. He was about to get another shower to cool off when an idea hit him. He went to the phone and called Autumn. “How about if we take swimsuits, lunch, and something to drink and go out to see if we can find that pond?” he asked.

“Sounds like a good idea,” she replied. “If you want to bring a cooler with some pop, I’ll put together some sandwiches or something.”

“Be there shortly,” he told her.

Fifteen minutes later they were headed out into the woods again. It was a beautiful day, with the blue sky already filled with puffy white cumulus clouds. The first part of the route out to the little pond was easy, but he was a little less clear about the second half, which had a couple tricky turns along the way. He missed one of them and went a couple miles before he realized he’d passed it, but fortunately he found it on the way back. The last part was down a narrow two-rut with loose sand, and once again he was glad he had four-wheel drive on the old Jeep.

“All right,” he told Autumn when the blue of the pond showed through the trees ahead of them, “I guess we made it after all.”

“I was beginning to wonder,” she said. “I guess I’m glad I didn’t insist that we come out here last night.”

“Yeah, we might have regretted it,” he said as he pulled the Jeep to a stop not far from the water’s edge. “I don’t know about you, but I’m all for getting in the water. I’m still hot and sweaty from mowing lawns.”

“Not wanting to be personal, but I think for once I’m glad this is an open Jeep,” she smiled. “But that’s why we came out here, isn’t it?”

They got out of the Jeep, and Howie busied himself by pulling off his T-shirt and the shorts he’d worn over his swimsuit. He wasn’t paying a lot of attention to Autumn, but when he looked up he could see that she had on a different bikini than the one she’d had on the last time. This one covered less than the other one – a lot less, especially in back; her butt cheeks were totally bare, and there was just a tiny triangle of fabric above the crack of her sweet fanny. “Holy shit!” he said. “And you were the one who said you didn’t want to go skinny dipping in the daylight.”

“It’s almost there, but not quite,” she turned and looked at him. There was more of the bikini in the front than there was in the back, though not a whole lot more. “Do you like it?”

“Holy shit, do I ever. Where did you get that?”

“I made it,” she smiled. “This morning. I figured you and I would get out here by ourselves sometime and I wanted something special for you to remember this winter.”

“It sure manages that. Holy crap, that looks sexy on you. Did your mother know you were making it?”

“She knew I was making something but didn’t know what. I don’t plan on letting her find out, either. I wouldn’t have worn it if it hadn’t been just you and me.”

“Does it fall apart when it gets wet?”

“I don’t know. I hope not, but let’s find out.”

It sounded like a great idea to Howie – he was still hot and sweaty, after all, and that swimsuit was just adding to the stress – so soon they were in the warm, clear water of the shallow pond, swimming a little, splashing a little, and just fooling around.

After a while they got tired of that, and were getting hungry anyway, so they headed back to shore. Howie laid out a blanket from the back of the Jeep in the shade of a nearby tree, and they settled in to work on their lunches.

While Howie hadn’t been doing a great deal of thinking the last few minutes – what energy he hadn’t put into playing had gone into taking in the great view of Autumn in that tiny bikini – he was aware that something was still strange. The session they’d had the night before gave him plenty of warning on that; while it was nice, it wasn’t like the Autumn he’d gotten to know over the last several months. Maybe this was the time to explore it a little.

“That bikini sure looks great on you,” he said, “and I’m pleased that you decided to wear it for me. But Autumn, what brought this on?”

“I’m not sure, Howie,” she said. “I guess I just thought it was time for us to move forward a step or two. In fact, I’ve felt it’s long past time, but when practice started I realized that if I was going to do something like this before summer ends I was going to have to get serious about it.”

“Well, I certainly appreciate it, and as far as that goes, I guess you’re right. We started out just playing that we were going to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but I’ve been thinking about it, and you’re right, we’ve moved past that. But like we were talking last night, I think we want to be careful about not letting it get too far, at least just yet.”

“Oh, I agree. I’m not quite up to where Summer is, which is to say sleeping with her boyfriend every chance she gets, but I can see the time coming.”

“I sort of suspected she was sleeping with Alan, just like I suspect Jack and Vixen are doing it,” he nodded, “but I didn’t know it for sure.”

“I’m not exactly totally sure about it myself,” she agreed, “but the signs all point that way. Why would they all be getting that apartment together otherwise? Boys’ room and girls’ room? Like that’s going to happen.”

“Well, when you put it that way I guess I have to agree. I’ll tell you what, though. A year ago, when I was going with Misty, I sure thought I was heading for some sack action with her. I didn’t know she was just playing with me. I guess that’s made me a little careful.”

“I know it has,” she smiled. “And if it hadn’t, you wouldn’t be seeing me in this bikini, and you wouldn’t have been making out with me last night. I don’t think I’m ready for it yet, and I may not be for a while. But I can see it happening with us someday, and I’ll come right out and say it, rather than just try and lead you on like Misty did. What I’m saying, Howie, is that I think you learned your lesson from her.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Maybe I learned a few things from her, too. Like I said, I’m not going to lead you on. I think we can manage to be fair with each other without playing games. You’re my real boyfriend, Howie, not a practice boyfriend like you were with her, and I want us to be a real boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“I think we’re getting there.”

“I do, too,” she smiled. “Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’m just a little bit concerned. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be back in the next few days, especially if they decide to keep Lethbridge in jail, and I’ll bet the first thing she does is take a run on you, just to see if you’re available.”

“I hope she doesn’t but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Me, either. But when she does, I want you to know what a real girlfriend is like. Now, let’s see what those sandwiches are like.”

“How about if we put it off for a couple minutes so I can kiss you?”

“Sandwiches first,” she teased. “If we don’t eat now and get started making out, we might not get to eat them before we have to leave for practice.”

“You drive a hard bargain.”

Rather reluctantly both of them turned to their lunch, which was just sandwiches and chips, although they tasted pretty good. While much of Howie’s attention was on Autumn and that tiny bikini, he was also aware that it was still a very nice day, with the sky full of cumulus. The wind was strong but shifting around a lot, blowing hard with periods of calm. “You know,” he said at one point, “I have to wonder if Bree is out with the sailplane today.”

“I didn’t talk to her this morning, but if she’s not out with it, she’s missing a bet,” Autumn agreed. “I think I’ve learned enough from her over the last few months to make me think this looks like a pretty good day.”

“Just because it looks good doesn’t mean it actually is good,” he replied, thinking that the statement applied to Misty, as well. The difference between Misty and Autumn couldn’t be greater, and he realized that was the purpose of the bikini Autumn was wearing: to remind him of that fact. It wasn’t something he’d forget easily.

Actually, they didn’t do that much making out that afternoon. Oh, there was some kissing, some fondling, some caressing, and some hugging, but it was all very casual since he and Autumn were comfortable with each other – there were things they were not going to do, and that was that, but they could enjoy the preliminaries. In the days a year before when he’d been hot and heavy with Misty, much of his mind had been on the prize between her legs, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen with Autumn anytime soon. If and when it did happen, it would really mean something. Once again, he was very aware of the difference and was much happier now than he had been.

All good things must come to an end, and so did this afternoon. He was aware time was passing, and a couple times got up to check the dashboard clock in the Jeep. Finally, he told her, “We need to get going pretty soon. What would you say if we took another dip before we head back to town?”

“I think maybe we’d better take a pass on that, mostly because I don’t want to have to put my clothes on over a wet swimsuit,” she said. She grinned and added a tease: “Not that the seat of my shorts could get wet from this butt floss, but it might be a little hard to explain to my mother. It’s pretty dry now, so it ought to be all right.”

They took their time picking up, and soon were headed back into town. It was a lot easier to find their way back to town than it was to find the pond in the first place, and all too soon they were on the street where Autumn lived. “That was fun,” he told her. “I probably should do some more lawns in the morning, but maybe we could do it again tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me. There’s not going to be much summer left and we might as well enjoy it. Maybe I could come over and help you with your lawns.”

“I’d like that,” he grinned as he pulled to a stop in front of her house. “I’ll call you after practice. Maybe we can do something this evening.”

“Sounds good,” she replied, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the lips – her mother might be watching, after all, and there was no point in giving her any ideas. “See you later.”

A moment later Howie was driving the Jeep toward home. Good God, what an afternoon! He still couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten into Autumn. It was not the casual, almost fictitious boyfriend-girlfriend relationship they’d been sharing for months. This felt like the real thing, and he wondered what this meant and where things were likely to be going. Things had the possibility of getting a lot more serious than either of them had intended, back last fall or even earlier in the summer, not that he was complaining.

No one was home when Howie pulled into the driveway; he thought Jack and Vixen must be out looking for birds somewhere, but didn’t think much about it. Besides, he had other things he needed to be doing. It only took him a few minutes to change clothes, grab his gear bag, and be back in the Jeep again, headed for the football field as he tried to get his mind off Autumn in that tiny bikini, and onto things like the new plays Coach Reardon had planned. Some of them were going to really catch their opponents off guard, that was for sure!

He was plenty early for practice, but wasn’t in the mood to just hang out with the guys until they got down to business. There was no sign of Jared, but Jimmy Gogolen was there, and he suggested they toss a ball around for a bit, just to get loosened up. Jimmy agreed it was a good idea, so the two of them headed out onto the field.

It was close to time for practice before Jared showed up. “Hey, guy,” he said when they got a chance to get together, “I was beginning to wonder where you were.”

“I had to go over to the cross-country practice and hunt up Coach Emerson,” Jared reported. “Bree wanted me to tell him she’s not going to be at practice today.”

“Out flying? I thought it looked like a good day for it.”

“It is,” Jared smiled. “I’ve been hanging out with Bree’s aunt. Bree made the turn point at Greenwood a couple hours ago. It was far enough off that she had to call in with her cell phone to report it. She was just getting back into radio range when I had to leave. The last I heard it was getting a little softer, but she said she’d seen a thousand feet a minute a couple times.”

“Looks like she’s going to get her diamond.”

“Sure does. I guess you know I’m headed right back out to her place as soon as practice is over with.”

“I’ll try to grab Autumn and come too.”

Practice got under way not long after that. They weren’t allowed to use pads just yet, but that just meant the hitting was minor while they worked on their formations and how the plays would develop. Jared didn’t do any kicking, but Coach Kulwicki said they’d be working on that a little after they got into two-a-days next week.

Partway through practice the coaches called for a break. Howie and Jared took the time to get a drink and just relax a minute; once again, unlike last season, they weren’t totally exhausted when the rest period came. As they stood there, their eyes scanned around the sky – the clouds were getting thinned out now, and they were flattening, not like the puffy cumulus they’d seen earlier in the day. Both of them knew what that meant: the strong lift of the day was weakening, dying out. If Bree wasn’t back home yet, she needed to be pretty soon.

“Hey, look!” Jared suddenly cried, pointing up into the sky.

Howie took a look in the direction Jared was pointing. It took a bit of searching, but there far above them was the white cross of the 1-26, running straight as an arrow, still several thousand feet in the sky. It seemed to be moving pretty slowly, as all airplanes do at altitude, but both of them knew it had to actually be moving pretty fast. “By God,” Howie yelled exuberantly, “there’s no question she’s going to make it back now.”

“Hell, no! I’ll bet she’s going to do the finish gate thing again. Too bad we’re not going to be there to see it this time.”

“Boy, I’d like to be there,” Howie replied exuberantly. “She’s going to be just plain tickled pink.”

“Boy, you know it. Even if we blew off the rest of practice we couldn’t be there in time,” Jared sighed. “But damn, she’s worked hard enough for it.”

“All right, Marlins,” they heard Coach Kulwicki call. “Let’s get back at it.”

The rest of the practice seemed to last forever, as bad as some of those agonizing days the year before – not because it was tough, but because both of them had somewhere else they would have liked to have been. The minute the coaches called it a day, Howie was running for his Jeep and Jared was running for his pickup.

A few minutes later Howie screeched to a stop in front of Autumn’s house. He hadn’t even gotten out yet when Autumn came running out of the house. “Howie!” she yelled as she piled into the Jeep. “Did you hear about Bree?”

“Jared and I saw her going overhead about halfway through practice. It looked like she was heading toward the finish gate.”

They got out to the Gravengood house a little behind Jared, who didn’t have to stop to pick someone up. The 1-26 was sitting in front of the hanger, one wing down like always; Bree, Jared, and Bree’s parents were sitting on the deck in back of the house, all with huge smiles on their faces. “I hear you made it,” Howie called even before he got out of the Jeep.

“Oh, did I ever,” Bree exulted. “This was the best day I’ve ever seen! I wish now I’d set the turn point farther out so I could have done it as a diamond distance. It might have been a little questionable if I could have made it back, but days like this don’t come along very often. I averaged over forty, and that was just screaming! I saw over a thousand feet a minute several times. God, what a day! I even ran porpoise mode for a while.”

“Porpoise mode?” Autumn asked. “That’s a new one on me.”

“That’s where you don’t stop to circle, you just pull up going straight and grab what lift you can, then get the nose back down to keep on running. It takes wide thermals to be able to do that, but I hit this one line of clouds where the lift just kept going for miles. I gained over four thousand feet going straight!”

“Wow, that had to be something,” Howie said, recognizing Bree’s excitement. Well, she had a reason to be excited. “I guess it’s just as well we weren’t chasing you on the ground. We’d never have been able to keep up with you.”

“Yeah, it worked perfectly, at least finally. I’ve sure tried it enough the last month or so.”

“So,” Jared said, “that means you picked up your gold and diamond goals. What’s next?”

“I don’t know how I can ever manage to do the gold and diamond altitude gains around here. That leaves diamond distance, and that’s going to be a tough one. I might have been able to do it today if I’d gotten a really early start and scratched for every inch. It’s going to take a day this good and I’d probably have to have someone chasing me to do it at all.”

“That’s going to be tough to do now that practice has gotten started.”

“I know,” she sighed. “We’ll just have to hope we get a day like this on the weekend, if I’m going to get it in this year. But there’s always next summer, and there might be another angle on it if I don’t start from here. Maybe we’ll have to take a swing at it somewhere else next summer.”

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