She began to cry, a small bleating at first, then great racking sobs, fat tears rolling down her face.
Andrew stopped thrusting. ?What is it? What?s wrong??
?Nothing. Keep going.?
?But??
?Keep going!? She wrapped her arms around his body, pulled him against her.
He humped until he came, collapsed against her. She held him tight, sobbed against his shoulder.
* * *
They lay naked on the rock, the sun baking them. Her eyes were closed, and Andrew wondered if she?d drifted off. The encounter had been abrupt but intense. He felt he could use a nap himself.
He looked at her and now thought she was beautiful. Her curves, white skin, even the Chinese dragon. He?d always been one to fall easily, never all that popular with women, and here was a mysterious stranger, a chance encounter deep in the Oklahoma woods.
Maybe he?d write a song about it. Probably not.
?That probably freaked you out a little.? She didn?t move or open her eyes.
?You can freak me out like that anytime you want.?
A slight smile at the edges of her mouth.
Andrew said, ?But it was a little sudden.?
She opened her eyes, turned her head toward him. ?It?s been a sudden couple of days. As a matter of fact, it?s been a very strange time for me.?
?I don?t know why I started crying,? Lizzy said. ?I didn?t even like my sister. I really don?t care at all if she?s dead. But still?? She put her hand on Andrew?s thigh. ?It was sort of rushed, wasn?t it? It?ll be more normal next time.?
They dozed. Birds circled. Clouds wandered across the sky.
?We?d better get dressed,? Andrew said.
?Why??
?The sun?s bad here,? he said. ?It?ll scorch the skin right off us.?
?Okay.?
They dressed and headed back down to his uncle?s valley.
Something had changed. Andrew didn?t miss New York quite so much. He didn?t really know Lizzy, but he made guesses about her and felt they were right. She was strange and wonderful and scary and new and everything he didn?t realize he wanted until now. At least that?s what he hoped, that was the fantasy that delighted him as they made their way down the ridge hand in hand.
And anyway, it was a hell of a lot better than being shot at.
33
Linda wrapped a towel around her, bathroom still steamy from the hot shower. She felt better. A little. The last few days had been strange and stressful. She wished Mike would call. She worried about him. He was the only friend she had in this wilderness. His nephew seemed like a good kid, but she hardly knew him.
That?s almost exactly what Mike had said. His own nephew was a stranger.
