Had they had the chance to see, it might have looked to some people that Brett, Kellye, and Meredith spent most of their time messing around. In reality, they didn’t do all that much of it – they had too much to do.

The three of them bore the brunt of the acting in the planned eight plays over the course of sixteen weeks. Though they’d had some lazy times during the first few weeks they’d spent at Curlew Creek, those days were in the past. There was just too much learning of lines and rehearsing that had to be done, and it didn’t look as if it would let up much until the summer drew to an end. A lot of that work could be done at the house, and they even occasionally did some of it out at the swimming hole, but where ever it was done, it was a lot of mental effort.

After talking more about the idea of combining several of Janine’s short plays into one big one, they settled down to work in the living room. Janine got her computer, set it up on the kitchen card table, and started in on the project. She often had a set of headphones plugged into the computer and was listening to music just to keep the play practice in the living from distracting her. As far as they could tell, she looked busy even though they weren’t hearing a lot of key tapping.

When they broke for sandwiches again – meat loaf as the tuna salad had run out – she reported that she thought she’d made good progress so far. At this point it was mostly deciding which of several plays she wanted to use and how they would need to be modified, but she said she had most of it figured out.

In the afternoon Brett gave his part in The Hermit of Walden a serious run-through, with Kellye feeding him Emerson’s lines as necessary, while Meredith, who was directing the play, looked on critically. Brett’s part was far and away the most difficult of the play; as Thoreau he had more and often longer lines than Mike’s Emerson character, they had to be dead solid perfect. Many of the lines involved well-known quotes from Walden, Thoreau’s best known work, and there were bound to be enthusiasts in the audience who would catch any fluff he made with them. Mike got off easy, since the many Emerson quotes in the play weren’t nearly as well known.

By late afternoon Brett was ready for a break, especially as there would be a serious rehearsal of Hermit that evening; Mike had promised that he would be available on most evenings from now up through the end of the run. Janine was busy typing away on her laptop by now, and it looked like she was making progress. When Meredith asked if she’d like to take a break, she was agreeable, since she had a couple of ideas she wanted to think about and run by them.

Meredith suggested that they all hike back to the swimming hole; Janine thought that was a great idea but said that she hadn’t anticipated the need for a swimsuit. Meredith told her that was no big problem, and they went upstairs to find something for her.

It took a few minutes of getting ready, but soon they were wearing clothes over their swimsuits as they hiked up the road to the mill. Brett stopped in to tell Samantha they were heading back to the spot, and Samantha told him to have fun.

Since Janine was a smaller woman than Meredith, the obvious thing for her to do was to wear one of Meredith’s smaller swimsuits, which was about as revealing as the ones her lover and Kellye were wearing. It looked good on her, even though it revealed just how thin and white she was. Quite to everyone’s surprise, though, she didn’t seem self-conscious about wearing it. No one wanted to bet on what it would have been like the week before.

Janine seemed nervous about using the rope swing, but after the others had done it a couple of times, she bucked up her courage and gave it a try, swinging out over the water letting go with a big scream, and dropping in with a splash. “Hey!” she yelled after she stood up, “that was really fun!”

“Told you so,” Meredith grinned at her.

They all played around with the rope swing for a while, then gathered on the bank to let the sun and the warm air dry them off. “I c-can’t b-believe this,” Janine said. “I n-never thought any of th-this would happen.” It took her longer to say what she meant than it would without a stutter, but nothing like it would have been like a couple of days before.

Not to anyone’s surprise, flying so far from home to see her play done had been a tremendous act of courage for her. If it hadn’t been for her desperate desire to actually see one of her works performed she never would have dared to make the trip. “N-now I’m h-here, and so m-many incredible things h-have happened to m-me I can’t b-believe it.”

She snuggled up next to Meredith, which indicated just one of those incredible things, and went on, “A w-week ago I would n-never have b-believed I would be swimming w-with friends, wearing a t-t-tiny swimsuit l-like this. But here I am and I’m h-having f-fun. It may be the b-best I’ve ever felt.”

“Having friends will do things like that to you,” Kellye told her. “I was pretty isolated myself for quite a while. I mean, I was living with my folks and not getting out much except to go to class, and even then I didn’t interact with people very much. But then Brett and Meredith came out of nowhere and asked me to work with them on this. If someone would have told me beforehand that it would come out like this, I would never have believed it.” She leaned over to give Brett a kiss, and it went on for a while. Out of the corner of his eye, Brett noticed that Janine and Meredith were doing the same thing.

They hung around the swimming hole for a while longer before getting their clothes back on and starting the trek back to the house, each couple walking hand in hand. Janine was right; things had changed a lot for all of them in the last few days.

Back at the house, Kellye started on dinner. It was nothing special, just fish sticks and fried potatoes; they didn’t insist on great meals every night, just something different than what they got from the church ladies for three days each weekend. While Kellye got things rolling in the kitchen, Janine returned to work on her computer; though they hadn’t talked about the project very much, it seemed as if the visit to the swimming hole had cleared up some questions all by itself. She was working on it so intently that no one felt like pushing her off the table so they could eat; Kellye just set her dinner down next to her, and the rest ate standing up, trying to not bother her.

Janine did take her computer over to the theater for that evening’s rehearsal of Hermit with Mike. She set it up at the same table where Meredith sat while she was directing, but she had her earphones on and was mostly oblivious to what was going on around her.

The rehearsal went well. Mike, David, and Rachelle all had their lines down, and they were well into working on the nuances of the play, though, as before, they couldn’t work out all the details until they could have the set to practice on. Though it was obvious to everyone that they still had a ways to go before opening night barely a week and a half away, it was also obvious that they would be ready when it came.

Janine hadn’t said much during the rehearsal; she’d been concentrating on her project, and as far as anyone could tell it was coming along well. They walked back over to the house, and to everyone’s surprise, she didn’t set up on the kitchen table again, saying that she thought she’d had enough of it for one day. Besides, she said as she grinned at Meredith, she had something else she’d rather do just then. No one doubted what she was talking about.

Brett and Kellye weren’t quite ready for bed – they were anxious, but not quite that anxious – so they decided to take a couple of the lawn chairs outside to watch the sunset, which would get them away from the sound of the two busy lesbian lovers upstairs. To help them relax, they each took a can of cold beer with them, something of a surprise because of the wine they had gotten used to having around. The sunset was going to be a colorful one, with the high clouds of an oncoming storm in the distance.

“Wow,” Kellye said, her fingers wrapped around a cold one. “I guess I’m kind of like Janine. A week ago, I didn’t expect any of this to be happening.”

“It came out of the woodwork for me, too, in case you’re wondering,” Brett told her. “Not that I’m complaining about any of it, mind you.”

“Me, either. But I can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen. I mean, Janine has already been here longer than she intended, but she has to go home soon. I don’t think she’s going to be very happy about that.”

“I don’t either. What’s more, I don’t think Meredith is going to be very happy about it, either.”

“You think they’re serious?”

“Shows all the signs,” Brett sighed. “I mean, it’s pretty clear that Janine has it pretty bad for Meredith. The heck of it is, it’s easy for me to see that Meredith has it pretty bad for Janine, too.”

“You really think so? I mean, I can’t help but think that Meredith is just playing with her and is getting in a little too deep.”

“I don’t think so,” Brett shook his head. “You’ve only known Meredith for weeks. I’ve known her for years. Kellye, lesbians are like the rest of us. Yes, some of them are looking for short-term action, and there are some who are looking for a serious personal commitment. I’ve had the feeling for a long time that Meredith is one of the second kind, and now she’s acting like she found it. You remember when she went over to Coopersport that time? She wasn’t looking for sex, she was looking for love.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“I’ve been able to see for some time that Meredith has been reaching for that kind of commitment,” he replied slowly. “There for a while this spring I had hopes that she might finally overcome her hang-ups about men and reach out for me. It hasn’t happened, except just as friends, and after the first few weeks I’d given up hope that it ever would happen. Don’t get me wrong, Meredith is a friend and I hope she stays a friend. But at the same time I’d be quite happy if this all works out for her. It’s too soon to tell, but there’s a chance it might.”

“Brett. I’ve been reluctant to bring this up, but is it too soon to tell about us?”

“Damn good question,” he stopped and shook his head. “Look, Kellye, there are practical difficulties that could get in the way, both for us and for them. Let’s face it, Janine is going to be heading back to New York after next weekend, unless she really surprises everyone, including herself. Meredith will still be here, at least through the summer.”

“Most likely,” she agreed. “But I’ll bet that as soon as the summer is over she’ll be heading to New York.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I know she would like another shot at the big time, and there’s no way in hell she can get it living around here. She’s just been marking time, doing little shit like this and trying to work up whatever it takes to give her another swing at it. This could be what it takes. I don’t know. We’re only barely past Memorial Day, and whatever happens won’t happen until Labor Day.”

“What happens if Meredith takes it into her head to dump this and head off to New York with Janine?”

“We’d be in a world of shit,” he said flatly. “I don’t think Meredith would do it, since she knows what’s involved here. In fact, she helped create a lot of it. But I agree. If the two of them are still an item when Labor Day gets here, I doubt that I’ll be seeing Meredith around here again soon.”

“You have to wonder how having to go back to New York is going to affect Janine,” she observed. “I mean, she’s sort of like a kid with a new toy. She’s really happy with it, and it’s obviously opening doors for her. But when she doesn’t have Meredith around, what’s going to happen?”

“Again, a damn good question, and I don’t think we’re going to know the answer until we see it happen.”

“Yeah, probably not, and there’s not a lot we can do but wait and see how it comes out.” She let out a sigh, shook her head, and after a few seconds went on, “Then there’s the other part of that question, Brett. I’d really come to like you since I’ve been here. Then came last Friday night, and wow, things got a lot better than I’d ever dreamed. You’re just about everything I was looking for that I thought I’d found with Darrin. But I can’t help but wonder what happens when Labor Day gets here with us, too.”

“Christ, I wish I knew,” he said. “Kellye, that just happened. I wasn’t looking for it, but I’m very glad it happened. The hell of it is that it opens up the question of what happens next, and it’s not a simple one. Even before this happened to us, I didn’t want to go back home to live with my parents again. I’d have to get through another winter on substitute teaching and substitute milking, with maybe a little theater work thrown in here and there, and probably making peanuts at it if I’m making anything at all. So far, this summer has been like a dream to me, Kellye, and I’m not even including you in that statement. We’ve been working hard, sure, but we’ve been doing just exactly what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m doing it with good friends. That’s going to be hard to see come to an end.”

“There’s a chance that Marty and Samantha could invite us back another summer.”

“I suppose,” he sighed. “And if I’ve been doing the substitute thing all winter again, I’d probably take them up on it. This has been a good deal for me, Kellye. This is what I really wanted to do. A little small-bore perhaps, but still, my dreams have pretty much come true for the summer. The hell of it is that while I’m making good money for me this summer, it will soon come to an end. When Labor Day is over with I’m probably going to be stuck with the same old winter grind. On top of that, you still have a year of college remaining, and you’d be a fool to not carry through with it.”

“What I want to do, and what I should do are two different things,” she said. “I agree, I should go ahead and finish it up. Want to is a different story, especially since I know there are other things I want to do. I mean, like be with you.”

“Shit, I don’t know,” he sighed. “Hell, it’s only a couple hours from my folks’ place down to Greenville. I suppose we could make it through the winter on seeing each other only on the weekends.”

“Maybe,” she shook her head. “But that leaves the point open that you’d still be living with your folks, and I’ll still be living with mine. We are not going to get the privacy to do what we want to do at either end of the line.”

“About all I can say to that is that my folks might be a little flexible on that. But you’re right, I’d feel uncomfortable about it.”

“Probably not as uncomfortable as I would feel around mine.”

“Well, you’re probably right, but that still leaves the question of where do we go from there? Back here next summer, maybe and maybe not. There’s no telling yet. Kellye, I think you’ve heard me say before that I feel like if I get involved in a serious relationship I need to be able to offer my partner some stability in my life. That doesn’t mean substitute teaching, substitute milking, and wandering around from theater to theater for the sake of the love of it and maybe making a few bucks if I get lucky. Now, here I am. I feel like I’m heading into that kind of serious relationship I’ve tried to avoid for years. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy about what it represents, but the future doesn’t look as bright to me as it needs to be.”

“Jesus,” she sighed. “I know damn well that we can’t just say, let’s do it, let’s make it work, love will find a way, because I know it doesn’t work that way. I learned it when I was with Darrin. So I guess I’m like you. I don’t know what comes next. All I can say is that we’d better enjoy it while we’ve got it.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he smiled. “In fact, that might be the best idea. Who knows? Something might come up and let it work for us, and we do still have most of the summer to see what happens. Maybe the smart thing to do is to quit worrying about it for now, watch the sunset, and then go inside and enjoy what we have.”

“Works for me,” she agreed. “I guess Meredith and Janine shouldn’t be the only ones around here to enjoy what they have while they still have it to enjoy.”

Tuesday went much the same as Monday; the only exception was that it was rainy and damp, so they had no desire to head out to the swimming hole. However, when Brett, Kellye, and Meredith finished the afternoon run-through of Hermit, Janine came to them and said she had finished a rough cut of the first act of the play, and asked if they could give her an opinion on it. Brett made a copy of the file and put it on both his and Meredith’s computer; he and Kellye read it together on his computer.

They didn’t rush through it; in fact, several times he and Kellye did a reading out loud, to see if the lines sounded as good spoken as they read. It was pretty good, although they did have a few suggestions, and so did Meredith.

Janine seemed pleased with the input and indicated that she felt as if she was on the right track. She was doing well, she told them, and hoped to have the second act pulled together by the next day.

Her enthusiasm was up and rolling now; she worked hard through the Hermit practice, and to everyone’s surprise, she set back up on the card table and got to work as soon as they were back at the house, leaving Meredith looking a little frustrated. However, she didn’t work long, and she was soon upstairs with Meredith. Since they couldn’t watch the sunset that evening, Brett and Kellye decided it was time to go to bed, too, and it was time well spent.

Janine finished up her rough cut of the second act right after breakfast the next morning – she said that there were a few minor changes she’d decided to make overnight. Rather than get to work on rehearsing again, the other three settled down to read the draft over. As before, there were a few changes, but not very many.

“It’s not d-done yet, not quite,” she told them. “And I’m sure more c-changes will be c-coming to me, b-but they won’t be b-big ones.”

“All right,” Brett said. “I think we’re approaching decision time. Janine, go ahead and incorporate the changes we’ve been talking about, and spend a little more time going over it. Tomorrow, let’s take the whole file over to Samantha’s office and run off a few copies.”

“What do you have in mind?” Meredith asked. “A read-through?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I don’t know if we can get the whole gang here tomorrow night, but we should be able to get some of them. I think a read-through by someone who isn’t as familiar with it as we are may be able to tell us if we have something here. And fresh eyes might point out some issues to Janine that we haven’t noticed.”

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