The Word of a Liar (19 page)

Mason pulled himself up into the boat and then tugged his shirt over his wet torso and pulled on his jeans. He wished he had a towel to dry himself off. When he was dressed, he moved to the center of the boat to pull Ellen up out of the water. Her blue clad buttocks hung precariously over the edge.  Mason couldn’t resist.
Whack!

“Ouch!” Ellen howled, flopping her legs over the side. Her startled brown eyes attacked him.  “What was that for?”

“I couldn’t resist that round rump of yours.” Mason laughed.

“That hurt!  My skin is freezing, and then you slap it!” Ellen’s indignation only made him laugh harder. 

“I ought to throw you overboard.” She stormed toward him.

He fell back on the seat, hands out to fend her off.

“Don’t hurt me!” he begged.

Ellen pushed hard against him, rocking the boat. 

“You know,” he chuckled, “I love seeing your tits swaying back and forth like that!”

Ellen flushed. Stomping her foot, she grabbed her cold wet bra and fastened it around her. Mason pulled her down into his lap. The bow of the boat lifted.

“Mommy, where are you?  I’m freezing.”

JD’s frantic voice startled them.

“Oh my God! JD!” Ellen shot up.

Mason went to the side of the boat while Ellen frantically dressed. Leaning over, Mason reached for him.

“Grab my hand,” he commanded. The boy took hold, and Mason pulled him up.

“I’m freezing, Mommy.”

Lips trembling, JD shivered as he clutched his arms to his chest. Ellen dressed him as quickly as she could, but the clothes stuck to his wet skin. Inwardly she admonished herself for having left JD in the water.
What if he gets sick because I was cavorting with Mason and forgot for a second he was still in the water?
What kind of mother does that? A really bad one,
Ellen rationalized.

“Am I going to freeze to death like Jack on the
Titanic
?” JD asked, his teeth chattering.

Ellen briskly rubbed JD’s arms and then looked at him. JD’s expectant expression reminded her of a child eagerly awaiting his turn to open a gift from Santa. He was obviously thinking this was great fun.

Ellen laughed. “No, you’re not going to freeze to death. Do you see any icebergs out there?”

When Mason started the engine, she sat JD on the floor cushions to shelter him, but as the boat cut across the lake, the brisk autumn air seared their damp skin.

Back at the dock, Ron stood waiting.

“So were the fish biting, JD?” Ron asked, smiling as they disembarked.

“It was like the
Titanic
but everyone was molted,” JD remarked in his flat tone of voice.

“
Titanic
? Molted?  That’s quite a fish story.”

“Yeah. Mason threw my fish in the water… and… and… we had to jump in.”

JD walked over to the dock, lay down on his belly, and allowed his hand to drift aimlessly.

“Come on, JD. You have to come up to the cabin and get some dry clothes on before you catch pneumonia,” Ellen called.

“What happened? Did he fall in?” Ron asked. His eyes took in Ellen’s soaking wet clothes. “Or did he jump in after you?”

“No. He sort of jumped in. Right after Mason dove into the water to find the fish he had thrown back. And then I jumped in after them.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but from everyone’s purple lips, I think I’d better get a fire going in the fire pit. I’ve got a lot of brush to burn anyway.”

“I’ll give you a hand with that, Ron,” Mason volunteered.

The two men headed up to the cottage. Ellen tried to coax JD away from the water, but he didn’t make a move.

“Ron’s going to build a fire, so you better get up there, or you’ll miss all the smoke.”

Immediately JD headed up to the cabin.

“Works like a charm every time,” Ellen mumbled and then smiled as she followed along.

***

After a toasty bonfire and a delicious lunch, the adults sat out on the deck. Once again, JD played by the water, but Ellen kept a close eye from the delightful perch. Ron and Maggie laughed heartily at Mason’s rendition of the fish story. According to him, Ellen had threatened bodily harm if he didn’t jump in and retrieve the fish. Ellen frowned at his retelling.

Mason smiled at Maggie. “That was a great lunch. Would you like some help cleaning up?”

Maggie cocked her head in surprise. “You’re a charmer, Mr. Hackett. I must admit, I never would have guessed that such a gentleman lurked behind all that hair. Thanks for the offer, but I can clean this up.”

“I’ll help you. I need to move around. I think I ate too much,” Ellen moaned. She picked up some plates. “Mason, would you keep an eye on JD? I don’t have any more dry clothes. After I help Maggie, perhaps we’d better head out?  I don’t want to be driving down that road in the dark again. You never know what kind of riff raff you could pick up.” She winked.

“Smart ass!” Mason reached out to grab her waist, but she dodged him. 

Ellen kissed him on his head. “Watch JD, please?”

Mason nodded and then Ellen and Maggie headed indoors to clean up.

“Mason, do you play cribbage?” Ron asked.

“Man, I haven’t played in ages. My dad loves that game.”

“Would you like to play while the ladies clean up?”

“Sure, but I don’t know how good of an opponent I will be.”

“That’s fine by me. I’m not very good either.”

Mason thought Ron was being polite. Ron set up the board and got out the cards. As the hands were played, Mason realized that Ron had told the truth. Mason was easily beating him.

“So, Ellen tells me you work at the mill. Do you like it there?” Ron said as he moved his peg up the board.

“It’s all right. I’m not crazy about shift work, and the monotony gets to me.”

“How long you been working there?  I have a friend who’s been there quite a while. I think he can retire soon.”

“Must be nice,” Mason replied, half listening to Ron’s chatter as he counted his points from the crib. “I think I’ve hit the jack pot this round, Ron. That makes twenty-four!”

Mason moved his pegs forward on the cribbage board. The strategies his father had taught him were coming back.

Ron dealt the next hand and sighed. “I’d better get my act together. I thought you haven’t played in a while.”

Mason scrutinized his hand, tossing two cards in the crib. “I haven’t.”

Mason grinned.

“I forgot how much I enjoyed playing. Who did you say your friend was at the mill?” Mason asked as Ron took his turn.

“Pete Miller. Do you know him?” Ron looked up.

Mason’s stomach turned 360 degrees. He swallowed to keep down the sudden burst of nausea. He knew Pete Miller only too well. Pete was the only person who knew why Mason had quit.  With a steady hand, Mason picked up a card and then rolled his head to lessen the tension. He spoke casually. “Yeah, I know him. He’s the foreman of my crew. A great guy.”

Mason played a card he knew he shouldn’t and Ron picked it up, immediately laying down his hand.

“That’s fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, fifteen eight,” Ron said and moved his peg.

“So do you see Pete often?” Mason shuffled the cards, waiting for Ron to make the cut. “I’ll have to tell him I met you and saw your place.”

Mason smiled, but his heart hammered in his ears.

“I see him on occasion. We run into each other once in a while. We use to get together more often when our sons played on the same hockey team. That was years ago,” Ron said as he stared at his cards.

Mason felt his pulse rate drop as he exhaled. He lost all interest in the game and wished Ellen would get out there so they could leave. Ron won the next three hands, allowing him to peg out. He hooted enthusiastically over his victory.

“I can’t believe I won!” The smile on Ron’s face ran ear to ear.

“Talk about coming from behind!” Mason groaned. “I don’t know, I guess the gods didn’t stay with me long enough.”

“Next time,” Ron consoled him.

Just then, Maggie and Ellen returned and to Mason’s relief, they were soon on their way home.  Riding back, Mason noticed that the trees had lost their glitter and that the autumn air had turned cold and damp. Ron being friends with Pete Miller nagged him. His sixth sense had warned him not to go, but he hadn’t heeded his instincts. Now he worried how long it would be before Ron uncovered his deception
and shared it with Ellen. What lie could Mason tell her when she discovered the truth?

***

That night, after receiving a text from Ellen signaling it was safe to come down and bed her, Mason walked to her house fuming over her puritanical logic for this ridiculous charade. Ellen argued she wanted to protect her reputation and her son. What if someday JD wanted to invite a date to sleep over? How could she refuse? Mason admired her high-minded principals, but to believe JD would ever be savvy enough to consider such a thing or be capable of handling a relationship was insane. The whole thing annoyed the hell out of him, and he couldn’t understand why he put up with it. He cursed himself again for getting involved with a mother.

At the house, Mason fixed himself a whiskey and then retired to Ellen’s bedroom. Lying naked under the down comforter, he pulled her close. “I’m freezing and it’s your fault for making me go home and then come back. I’ll probably catch cold.”

He wrapped his legs around Ellen’s. She squealed.

“You are cold! Your feet feel like ice cubes.” She held him tighter. “You know, Mason, you’re kind of delicate for being a member of the Sons of Thunder.”

Ellen smiled.

“I think I should report your fragile stature to the rest of the brothers. Surely that would be cause for the boot line and would even the score for slapping my ass earlier.”

Mason laughed.

“Shhh! You’ll wake JD,” she scolded, but then she, too, laughed. “It’s not funny. That stung.”

“I know.”

Mason grinned and then kissed her. The gentle, lingering kiss shifted his mood in a millisecond. A sudden seriousness gripped him like an epileptic seizure. He hid his face in the curve of Ellen’s neck.

She stroked his hair.

“Mason, thank you for coming today,” she whispered. “What you did for JD in the boat… it meant a lot to me. You’re the first man I’ve dated who gets him.”

Mason didn’t respond. He couldn’t. He could only smell the soft, rosy scent of her hair and skin. Inside a battle waged. He wanted to confess his deceit, but he knew if he did, he would lose it all.

“What’s wrong?” Ellen asked.

He rose, lifting his head to his hand and looked into her eyes. The worry he saw there compounded his guilt. She touched his temple, and it shocked him to feel her wipe away a tear.

“Mason, please tell me what’s wrong.”

He laid his head on her chest and listened to the steady rhythm of her heart. He knew one truth and it had to be spoken, but he doubted he could do it. He swallowed and closed his eyes. The unfamiliar words escaped so quietly he hoped she heard because he might never be able to repeat them.

“I love you, Ellen.”

CHAPTER eighteen

Ellen’s fingers flew across the keyboard of her laptop.  She should have been in the gym overseeing the construction of a spook house for the Halloween Carnival that night, but her superintendent wanted this report by Monday. Mason had the weekend off, and she didn’t want to be bothered with work. Between his erratic schedule and her running a school, their time alone—not even alone, there was always JD—was very precious. The intercom buzzed.

“Now what?” Ellen moaned, hitting the speaker button. “Yes, Doris.”

“Your son’s school is on line one. They say it’s an emergency.”

“Thanks.”

Ellen took a deep breath and then hit the flashing red light. Halloween was always hard on JD and being in a new environment made it worse.

“This is Ellen Abrams.”

“Ellen, this is Megan. I’m afraid JD is not doing well. He got all upset because he couldn’t go to the library today because of the Halloween party this afternoon, and I’m afraid he lost it. He started tearing up the classroom. I had to evacuate the students so he wouldn’t hurt anyone and physically restrain him. I think you need to take him home.”

Ellen closed her eyes. “I hate to do that. He’ll be throwing fits all the time if he figures out it gets him out of school. Can’t we think of something else?  Can you put him on the phone? I’ll talk to him.”

“I’m afraid if I let him near the phone he’ll throw it.”

“All right, but I can’t possibly leave now. I’ll call a friend and have him come to the school. If he can’t get JD to settle down, he can take him home.”