They met at breakfast. Whenever their eyes locked, they laughed at each other like guilty children who shared the delicious secret of having committed some mischievous transgression and gotten away with it. Indeed, they had. Unseen, he had walked her back to her cabin just before dawn.
Edna eyed them suspiciously, but they were unaware of it. The other adults were too despondent to notice anything except the rain outside. Rain spelled disaster to a camp counselor who would be forced to spend the day indoors with two hundred cantankerous children.
Thank heaven for Walt Disney, for he was on the agenda for today. They would show one movie in the morning, have lunch and then show another movie after crafts session in the afternoon.
Erik took the change in itinerary with the gladheartedness with which he was accepting everything this morning. “I can show how you handle a rainy day. And I’m not quite finished looking over those files,” he explained to Edna.
An hour later, the children were seated around a large-screen TV. The film was started over much hand clapping and foot stamping. Erik set his camera on the tripod, but the moment he turned it on, he knew that it was malfunctioning. He cursed softly under his breath, but the soundtrack of Lady and the Tramp made it inaudible to anyone except Kathleen, who was standing with him.
“It’s too difficult to explain,” he told her when she questioned him about it. “But these cameras are so specialized that when the least little thing goes wrong, they’re out of commission. I know what’s wrong, but I don’t have the part that needs to be replaced.” Agitated, he raked his hair as he said another low “damn.”
“What can you do?” Unseen in the darkened room, she slid her hand under his sleeve and up the inside of his upper arm.
“Stay in bed with you all day,” he suggested with a comical leer as he leaned toward her.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She cleared her throat authoritatively. “I mean about the camera.”
“Oh, about the camera.” He pretended sudden enlightenment. “Well, I’ll have to go to St. Louis and have it fixed.”
“Erik,” she whispered despairingly.
He cuffed her under the chin and said, “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He left her and slipped out the door.
Forlornly, she watched the cavorting, singing characters that flickered on the moving screen, but couldn’t even appreciate the ingenious animation when she thought of spending the day without Erik.
When he came back, his walk was jaunty despite the fact that his shoulders and hair were rain-dampened. “I called the airport in Fort Smith. They have flights to and from St. Louis today. If we leave right now, I can catch a two-thirty flight, get my business done and return tonight. I’ve called the engineers at the television station. They’re tracking down the part I need and will have it by the time I get there.”
“You’ll be gone all day,” she moaned.
“And you’ll be with me. At least, part of it.” He pressed a finger against her lips when he saw the rapid questions forming there. “I asked Edna if you could drive me to Fort Smith. She said because of the rain, you could be spared. That is, if you don’t mind fooling around in Fort Smith until I come back tonight.”
“Oh, no, Erik. I’ll go to a movie or do some shopping. And we’ll have all that time in the car together.” Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his damp shirtfront.
“Careful,” he whispered as he disengaged himself. “The movie won’t be all that engrossing if we’re providing a better show, and besides, we have to hurry. I’ll pick you up outside your cabin in fifteen minutes. Okay?”
“Yes,” she answered eagerly.
When he honked the horn for her in the specified amount of time, she dashed to the Blazer wearing a tight pair of jeans, a green silk blouse and a clear plastic windbreaker as protection against the rain.
“Do you always look sensational?” he asked as he leaned over to caress her firmly on the mouth. What had been intended as a brief, perfunctory kiss became as passion-filled as all the others. With the merest contact, their mouths became hungry for each other and wouldn’t be denied. When at last they breathlessly pulled away, Erik grumbled, “This is going to be the longest day I’ve ever spent in my life.”
She gave directions to the highway that would take them to Fort Smith and he drove as fast as the rain-slickened road would allow. It took them the better part of three hours to reach Fort Smith, and that barely allowed Erik time to catch the 2:43 flight to St. Louis. He picked up his reserved ticket at the counter and turned toward Kathleen. “I’ll be on the flight arriving at eleven-ten tonight. That’s almost nine hours. Can you entertain yourself for that long?”
“I’ll think about last night.”
“That ought to keep you busy.” He grinned. Then his face sobered. “Keep an eye on the Blazer. I’ll have the camera with me, but all my other stuff is in there, so lock it up if you leave it.”
“I’ll guard it with my life.”
“Don’t ever say that.” He placed his camera on one of the turquoise vinyl and chrome sofas that were scattered through the small air terminal and gripped her shoulders. “Our lives are too precious now to be gambling away.”
“Oh, Erik,” she pleaded, “kiss me.”
Impatiently, he looked around the waiting room. Outside the large plate-glass windows, he saw the arrival of the turbo prop airplane that would be his flight. “Come here,” he said as he grasped her hand and dragged her toward a telephone booth.