Chalk Dirty to Me (Madd CrossFit 3)

The lake itself was called ‘Lake Crook.’ It was a shitty, small, muddy-watered lake that looked like it’d just been dug yesterday. Each time it rained, the water—a deep, muddy brown—would turn a more orangey brown.

Today, after the rain over the last two days, it resembled red mud soup.

But that didn’t mean the area wasn’t still pretty.

Sure, our lakes didn’t compare to lakes that were up north. But what we had in ugly lake water was made up with beautiful scenery—surroundings that didn’t have every available space covered with buildings, or shitty fumes dirtying the air.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Cannel making her way down the length of the dock.

I hadn’t expected her to be out on the dock, and my gaze had been on the setting sun, not the Adirondack chairs that were on the dock.

Meaning, she startled me slightly when she appeared when I hadn’t expected her to.

“What do you think?” she asked curiously.

I pursed my lips. “I think that this lake would be so much prettier if we could find a way to make it look cleaner water-wise.”

She rolled her eyes, then turned around and stared at the water almost shoulder to shoulder with me.

“I used to swim in these waters every single day over the summer,” she mused. “There was this one time that I was swimming right around this very dock and a pair of water moccasins came barreling out from underneath the dock. My papa slapped them with his cane pole, stunned them, and allowed me time to grab them with my bare hands.” She paused. “My papa had them for dinner that night.”

I snorted. “That’s… invigorating.”

I saw her smile out of the corner of her eyes. “I think I’m immune to the ugliness of the water since I’m used to it.” She began. “But at least we don’t have alligators all over here like we did back in Alabama.”

“Alabama?” I asked.

“Alabama,” she confirmed. “That was where…” She hesitated. “That was where Beau and I lived when we were engaged to be married. After, I was taken to Arizona. Then, after I was… I lived with my friend Traci and her husband, Kansas. Kansas and Traci were stationed in California. But there… I didn’t like the air I was breathing. It was always smoky. Even when there were no forest fires. I just couldn’t handle the air anymore. I needed freshness. I moved out here a couple of months ago and decided to give the rental cabin thing a try.”

“Any success?” I wondered.

She glanced to her side. “I haven’t been able to open up the cabins for use yet. I’m scared.”

I wanted to wrap my arm around her and haul her into my side.

The quiver in her voice made me want to do a lot of things—those things like making sure she was always safe by handcuffing her to my side and never letting her out of my sight.

“My nieces… they would have a damn heyday here,” I admitted. “I’m talking, they would go wild. They love to fish, camp, hunt, swim. This has all that they’d ever need or want.”

She turned to stare at me, inching slightly closer to my body as she did. “You’ve taught them well, then. Some of my favorite memories I can remember revolve around my papa and this place.”

A gust of wind blew her hair into my face, and I caught a stray lock and twirled it around my finger for a few seconds before I let it drop.

She had a hint of a smile on her face when I asked, “And your papa? Is he still here?”

“He’s here.” She noted. “Just not here. He lives in town with my aunt and uncle now. They didn’t really want anything to do with this place because it was too much work.” She continued. “And it is. I spend almost every single one of my days off doing upkeep around here. Mowing. Weed eating. Pulling weeds out of my flower beds. You name it, I’ve done it.”

My lips twitched, and I ran my finger down the length of her bronzed skin.

“That’s why you’re so tan. You’ve been spending all your time outside when you have time,” I mused.

“That, and my father’s blood gave me the ability to tan very, very easily. If I spent any more time out here than I do, I’d be even darker.” She paused. “My brothers don’t tan as well as I do. They take more after my mother than my dad.”

I let my finger drop from her skin, and on impulse, reached out and caught one of her fingers up with one of mine.

She shifted, but otherwise allowed the touch with a small smile on her face.

“Go ahead and ask me about my brothers so we can get this discussion out of the way.” She hesitated. “Just don’t freak out.”