You Belong To Me (13 page)

Back from the grocery store, Mitch carried the bags into the cabin. As he started unloading the groceries he saw Danielle resting in one of the patio chairs outside. Going out to join her, he caressed her arm.

“Hey babe, how are you feeling?

“Oh, hi honey, I'm feeling much better now that your back,” she said. Mitch leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "Good afternoon babe.”

“Good afternoon handsome. Let me help you with the groceries.”

“I'm all set; just have to put everything away.”

“Okay well let me help you.”

Heading into the kitchen, Mitch and Danielle were soon joined by Shayla and Jason. After they all helped put the groceries away and joked about the girls getting ill, the four of them decided to take a walk down to the lake.

“You girls go get ready and meet us back downstairs.”

“Okay,” they said as they retreated back to their bedrooms.

“Hey Mitch did you get the champagne?”

“Yup, I got a couple bottles, one for you guys and one for us; I figure I'll bring it when I take Danielle on our walk to the lake tonight.”

“That’s great buddy what do I owe you?”

“It's on me Jason, don’t worry about it.”

“You sure man?”

“Yes I'm sure now let's go hide this so the girls won't ask what’s up.”

The we
ather was unseasonably warm and Danielle decided to take advantage of it. Throwing on a pair of denim caprice and a pink tank Danielle put her hair in a loose ponytail and put some gloss on her lips. I look much better than last night, she thought to herself as she put on her white keds. She and Shayla finished getting ready at the same time and as they came down the stairs chatting away, they seemed back to their old selves.

“Looks like you guys are feeling much better.”

“Yes we are thank you guys for taking such good care of us.”

“No problem ladies, let's head on out.”

With Jason and Shayla in the lead, Danielle and Mitch followed as they walked towards the tree lined path.

“Mitch, this is really something,” said Danielle as they walked hand in hand.

“How long has your family owned this place?”

“Oh let’s see, since before we were born. It’s been in the family forever.
  My great, great grandparents bought it on a whim actually, while they were visiting some friends up here. There have been many generations of Conway’s here but the last is my brother, sister and I.

But once we all started to grow up, we didn’t want to come up here with our parents so they usually came alone, but they never stayed long. They didn’t want to leave a house full of bickering teena
gers home alone for any long stretch of time,” Mitch let out a reminiscent chuckle.

“And once my brother went off into the military and I took off to New York, the place stayed pretty vacant until I returned here after my break-up.
  We were all planning a family vacation when we found out that my brother was killed while he was stationed in Iraq, so that pretty much nixed any hopes of returning. At least for my parents anyway, they said it held too many memories and my dad said that mom was just too fragile to have deal with it. So they stopped coming all together and even as the years went by they never changed their minds.”

"Mitch I'm so sorry, I had no idea that your brother passed away,” Danielle frowned. “Do you feel like telling
me about him or am I being too pushy?” She asked with sincerity.

“No, I don’t mind telling you about him at all Danielle.

Gabriel… Gabe was the baby of the family and we were not only brothers, but we were the best of friends. The second he turned eighteen he started talking about enlisting, but my parents talked him into weighing his options first. You know, maybe travel a little and see what the world had to offer. So that’s what he did, and what was supposed to be a month long backpacking trip through Europe, soon turned out to be an almost three month long hiatus. He’d met a woman while in Amsterdam and swore he’d fallen in love, never to return. But when she told him that things were getting to serious, and broke it off with him, he came back with his tail between his legs. It was then that he made up his mind to enlist.”

“I don’t want to bore you with all of this, are you sure you want to hear this?” He asked.

“Of course I want to hear it Mitch, I want to know everything about you and your family. Now continue please,” she said giving him a gentle squeeze.

He smiled at her. “Alright,” he said. “Now where was I? Let’s see, so he came back a broken man, but ready to enlist and do his duty for his country. He’d been in the military for just a little over
three years and had done several tours. It was a few days before he was to come home on leave when his platoon got hit with enemy fire.

Gabriel was a weaponry cannoneer and his unit was acting as temporary military police outside of Baghdad. He had volunt
eered to man a .50caliber machine gun in the lead vehicle of the convoy. The convoy came under heavy and intense fire but Gabe, always staying true to his platoon, returned fire and covered the entire convoy, until he was shot and killed. 

Danielle put he
r hand on him to stop him from walking. “Mitch, I am so, so very sorry. Being an only child, I cannot imagine the incredible loss you and your family must have felt. Must still feel,” she cried.

He put his arms around her then. “Danielle, yes it was a ter
rible loss but my brother wouldn’t have had it any other way. He died protecting his unit and he was awarded a purple heart for it. Even though he’s been gone now almost eight years, I still think about him. And oh how I wish you could have met him Danielle, you would have loved him,” Mitch couldn’t help but grin at the thought of his younger brother giving him the two thumbs up sign if he had met Danielle.

She didn't know what to say; instead she took him in her arms and held him tight. “I'm sorry,” she wh
ispered in his ear.

“Don’t be. I know that my brother is always with me and that’s good enough for me,” he smiled warmly.

Taking his hand in hers, she said, “I know it’s been almost eight years, but how is the rest of your family taking it? No matter how long it’s been I imagine you never get over the loss of

losing a child.”

“Oh we’re all doing fine. I mean my mom still has her moments, you know during holidays and birthdays but we get each other through it.  We are a close family and that helps a lot. But I will admit, ever since my brother passed away, my mom has been extra protective of my sister and I. It’s caused some problems in the past so she’s eased up a bit, but she still insists on keeping a watchful eye over us and everything we do,” he said with a frown. “I know that she means well but sometimes she can be a bit overwhelming and meddlesome.”

“I'm sure it can’t be that bad Mitch, she just loves you guys so much. I'm sure she wants what’s best,” Danielle said.

“Hey you guys coming or what?” Shayla shouted. She and Jason had found their way down the path and were already nearing the lake.

“Yeah, yeah we’ll catch up, don’t worry about us guys, we’ll be right there,” Mitch shouted back.

He was enjoying talking to Danielle, and didn’t want it to end just yet.

“You know, looking back now, I wish we came here more often, but when you’re a teenager you don’t want to spend your summers at some cabin with your parents.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, but believe me if my parents even had anything like this, I would have been the first one in the car waiting to go,” Danielle said, laughing. “Oh but don’t get me wrong, I had plenty of wonderful family vacations with my parents,” she smiled. “But I imagine vacations being a lot more fun when there are siblings involved.”

“Well, all of us kids totally took it for granted,” he said while thinking back on it.

“Well you still use it so it's not wasted babe.”

“Does your sister come up here at all anymore?”

“My sister? No, she lives in Pennsylvania so she and her family don’t get up this way much, except during the holidays of course, she and her husband will be here this holiday season, staying at my parents. My sis is pregnant with her first child so it'll be exciting.”

“Mitch, that’s wonderful, you’re going to be
an uncle!”

“I know I have to admit I'm pretty excited about it all.”

“When is she due?”

“She's due right around Valentine’s Day.”

“Awww, they must be so excited.”

“Yeah they are, you'll meet them on
Thanksgiving, my sister is gonna love you Danielle, the whole family already knows all about you,” he said curious as to what her reaction would be.

“They do?”

“Of course, I couldn’t wait to tell them about you.”

“Oh my gosh Mitch, here it is only summer a
nd I'm nervous already.” She chuckled.

“No need to be Danielle, I just can't wait to introduce you that's all.”

“Well I'm flattered Mitch and I hope I live up to their expectations.”

“Danielle, your wonderful, beautiful and have made me incredibly happy, t
hat's all the expectations they need,” he said stopping and taking her into his arms.

“Hey what’s with all the chatter you two? Take a look around, we're here!”

Glancing over Mitch's shoulder, Danielle was in total awe of the gorgeous lake that was miles wide. The sun dancing upon the water made it glisten even more. Walking on the dock, the couples gazed over at the other side of the lake where families sat near the shore watching and laughing as their children splashed and played in the water.

“What’s tha
t over there Mitch?” Asked Shayla.

“Oh that's a set of summer bungalows that a local family here owns, not too many but they are usually all booked throughout the season, after the weekend they’ll close them all up and head back down south where they’re fr
om.”

“Looks cool,” said Danielle.

“Yeah, but here is much better,” said Jason. “Ain’t that right buddy?”

“Oh yeah, no tourists, no noise and you can go skinny dipping if the desire arises,” Mitch said winking at Danielle.

“Oh is that so?” Laughed Danielle, “Well we just might have to explore that option further,” she said in a sexy whisper.

“The water is so warm you guys,” said Shayla as she slipped off her flip flops and walked into the water’s edge. “Wow, I know that I shouldn’t be saying this, but global
warming must definitely be holding something over mother nature’s hand because weather this warm, this early is crazy, but I love it,” she said splashing a handful of water at Jason.

The rest followed suit.

“Ahhh, this feels nice,” they all said.

“Daniell
e, I wonder if you’d join me later on tonight and come back out here, just the two of us?”

“I'd like that Mitch,” she said with a wink.

Nodding at Jason, Mitch let him know that the plan was in motion.

Walking back towards the cabin, Danielle felt like she
was being watched, she quickly turned her head in the direction of the lake and found no one there.

“What is it babe, you forget something?”

“Huh? No, it just felt like someone was watching is all; I guess I get spooked easily these days.”

“Babe, there's
nothing to worry about here, you’re totally safe.”

“I know. I know,” she said hugging him.

Almost got caught
, thought Ethan as he kept himself hidden behind a giant oak tree. I bet if she wasn’t with Neanderthal she would have run right into my arms.
I think I'll stay here for a while, make sure they are settled in the house before I go back. Then once nightfall comes I’ll come right back to this spot, I want to be able to see my girl get ready for bed,
he thought to himself.

Back inside the cabin, Shayla
began going through the fridge.

“Okay guys, what's it gonna be for dinner?”

“You sure you feel like eating something solid babe?” Asked Jason.

“I am starving Jason, how about you Danielle, you feel like eating a real meal?”

“Actually I do just no more diner food for a very long time!” She said to them all as she patted her stomach.

“I totally agree,” said Shayla.

“Well in that case, I was thinking, we head into town and find a nice restaurant for dinner?”

“Sounds like a plan,
” said Mitch.

“Great,” said the girls, we can get all gussied up and make a night of it.”

“Not too late,” said Jason, who looked at Mitch.

“Why not hun, we're supposed to be on vacation, remember?”

“Oh it's nothing like that,” said Mitch. “It's just that Jason and I were planning on going fishing at first light.”

“Ohhh, why didn’t you say so? In that case we'll make it a somewhat early evening.
  But we're still getting gussied up, come Danielle let's go upstairs and see what we've got packed.”