Hot Wet Canadian Summer Ch. 01

The sand was cooling beneath her feet. The hottest May day she could recall was fading into early evening and the young brunette's wide smile had hardly left her face since her feet had hit the floor that morning. For much of the day, she'd been sharing her good cheer with her crew, but they had long since headed back to their houses or cottages in and around Halifax to get set for the night out. Not her. Mother Nature had given her the type of afternoon that she couldn't get enough of, and this was her favorite part of the day. There would be plenty of time later for shooters with the girls while inhaling their cigarette smoke. Until then, she'd be taking in fresh air.

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. This time of day, the air always carried with it the traces of salt water, diesel oil from boat engines and barbecuing meat; the smells of summer. She loved Long Lake Park both because it was so close to civilisation and because, with a little effort, you could completely remove yourself from it. The brunette dropped her sandals and stepped into them, hardly missing a step. She and her friends had spent the entire day at the populated end of the park and she just wanted an hour or so of seclusion before a night at the Lower Deck or the Dome or Reflections, or whatever other meat market was on the agenda.

As she walked toward the more remote side of the peninsula she checked her bag. Her "safety pack" consisted of a flashlight, her nearly fully charged phone, a warm change of clothes and a cosy blanket. She knew the place like the back of her hand, but she didn't want to be stupid and get caught in the dark and/or the night's chilly air.

After 15 minutes or so, the trail opened into a short stretch of pretty beach, wide open to the last of the day's rays. The trees and thrushes created long, thin fingers of shadows reaching out into the water as if trying desperately to hold on to a day rapidly coming to an end. The young brunette decided she would walk the 500 yards or so to the far end of the line of sand and enjoy the view of the bay for as long as time allowed. As she approached the corner that signified a dead end, she saw a figure sitting in the sand hugging her knees to her chest.

From afar, it looked to be a beautiful young woman sporting a bikini. The brunette raised her eyebrows in surprise. She reached into her side pocket and groped around inside her make-up bag for a mirror. "No sense meeting someone interesting and regretting not getting yourself together first," she thought. Peering into her reflection, she first made sure her hair was in place. It was straight, jet-black and chin-length and she was fond of her layered cut and how it framed her face. She boasted beautiful brown eyes and big full lips that spread into an unforgettable smile. Her high cheekbones and dark complexion gave her an exotic appearance that contradicted her purely Caucasian heritage.

Assured her face and hair were free of sand and seaweed,she straightened out her outfit and set off. Her black triangle bikini top hugged her perky breasts sitting up high on her chest. Over her bikini bottoms, she had thrown on her tight-as-second-skin, bum-hugging yoga shorts. She loved how they felt when she walked, but also loved the ego boost she got watching heads turn to gaze at her walking away. Someday, she even planned to wear them to a yoga class. As she moved toward the woman, she brushed sand off of her taut and toned upper body and her lithe, lightly muscled legs. She smiled to herself confidently and hoped the stranger was beautiful and receptive.

As she approached, the figure suddenly turned, obviously startled. She let out a short, high-pitched yelp, then fell back on her towel, laughing. "I'm sorry, you just scared the hell out of me! I didn't mean to be so dramatic."

The young girl stopped in her tracks. The voice was distinctive and familiar. "Mrs. Garraway?? Is that you?"

The blonde woman squinted in her direction. Then she dropped her jaw. "Kayla? Oh my god, I haven't seen you in so long!" She just stared momentarily as if in shock, then gave her head a quick shake. "Well gosh, come here," she exclaimed, popping to her feet and extending her arms. She embraced Kayla warmly....so to speak.

Kayla suddenly felt a chill all over. She pushed the older woman away and rubbed her arms. "Mrs. Garraway, you're freezing! Did you not bring anything else to wear?"

Mrs. Garraway scanned Kayla from head to toe. "What, and you're dressed for winter?"

Kayla laughed. "Mrs. G, I've been hiking, not sitting here letting the breeze turn me into an icicle."

The older woman shrugged her shoulders and hugged her arms. "Guilty as charged. It was so nice today I couldn't tear myself away, even after my friends took off."

Kayla smiled and nodded. "Oh no need to explain that." She gestured behind her, grinning. "Check out my posse that tagged along."

Mrs. Garraway laughed. "Ahhh, let me guess. A night out at the Liquor Dome awaits?" The blonde was shaking and rubbing her hands together now.

Kayla laughed and set down her bag. "You got it Mrs. G. Now, sit down and take these." She produced a fitted pink jacket and the blanket from her pack.

"Kayla, if that's your jacket, there is no way I'm fitting in it," giggled the blonde woman. "But I will take the blanket." She bent over to straighten out her towel and sat back down. Kayla shook her head. Mrs. Garraway was being modest about fitting into her clothes. She did some quick math in her head and calculated her age to be roughly 45. Nonetheless, she doubted many women over 25 could get away with the bikini she was rocking. You couldn't bounce a quarter off her stomach anymore, and there were some minor stretch marks, but Kayla found it lovely. Her beauty was all natural. Real. And real was always more attractive. She had an easy, comely smile and dimpled cheeks that made her look 10 years younger. Her light blue eyes and beautiful blonde curls added to her youthful appearance.

If there was a spot where Mrs. G. might have a point about the jacket, it was the chest area. Kayla's perky 34Cs were no match for what the young girl imagined to be DDs at least. What little droop age had brought about was hardly visible and left her with curves a woman of any age would die for.

"What are you waiting for, throw me that blanket." The older woman grinned up at Kayla and snatched it. "Brrrrrr!" she exclaimed, quickly unfurling the warm linen fabric and pulling it up to her chin. She patted the spot next to her, encouraging Kayla to sit.

Suddenly, Mrs. Garraway's texting tone pierced the silence and both women jumped with surprise. Giggling, the blonde woman turned onto her stomach and grabbed it. The blanket was hooked on her feet and it rolled with her, exposing her body to the air once again. Kayla gazed at her lower half and just shook her head again. Mrs. G's bum was still high and round, and her legs were long and slim. Throw in the tight bikini bottoms with the flirty ties on either side and Kayla was convinced she'd have a tough time telling her apart from most of her 19 and 20-something beach buddies from behind.

"Kayla, have a seat." The younger girl was snapped out of her trance and saw that Mrs. Garraway was holding out her cell phone and covering herself once again in the blanket. Kayla quickly threw on her jacket, lay next to the older woman on the towel and grabbed the phone. The name on the text read "Favechild1". Kayla laughed and turned to Mrs. G.

"So Kyle is Favechild2?"

"That would cause too many problems. No, he's bestkid1."

"If I know Jessie, and I do; she wishes that there WAS a competition and SHE was Favechild1. It would mean she was winning something."

Mrs. G's omnipresent smile only grew wilder. "You DO know Jessie. And you used to be such good friends! Talk to her!" She gestured toward the phone and mimed texting. "Oh, and since you're a 19-year old lady and not a little girl at my house after soccer practice having pizza, can you please call me Kate?"

"Seriously?

"Kayla, it's my name and you're an adult.....I'm sure."

"Mrs. G......Kate, sorry...Jessie and me, we talk pretty regular, we're just busy." Kayla looked down at the phone as the tone sounded again. What she saw raised her eyebrows.

"Kayla there? Say hi 4 me! I miss her and make sure you watch out! She came out recently n she always teased me about my hot mom, lol!"

Kayla froze, unsure whether to make things uncomfortable with her friend or with her mother. She held out the phone for the older woman.

"Ummmm, here Kate. If I text Jessie now, she'll feel awful."

Kate furrowed her brow in confusion and read the message. A wide smile spread across her face. "Kayla, she's not going to care. You know how easy-going you both are, just have a laugh about it."

Kayla propped herself up on her elbow and turned to Kate. The older woman was still on her stomach, kicking her feet behind her like a teenager talking to a girlfriend. "And what about us? Can we laugh about it too?" Kayla asked.

Kate glanced up, obviously confused. "Sweetie, I can take a joke. This would only be an issue if you were actually attract......." She stopped and smiled. It was obvious that Kayla was staring at her breasts. The younger girl absentmindedly licked her lips and glanced up, suddenly aware of the silence. She saw Kate's knowing smile and watched her as she looked down at her breasts pressed against the blanket and the acres of cleavage it created. As Kate lifted her head up and looked at Kayla again, all the young girl could do was shrug her shoulders.

"Caught in the act huh?"

Kate hesitated. She had always known she was a topic of conversation amongst her daughter's male friends who so blatantly flirted with her, but this was different. She was close to this girl. She loved her. "So you just came out?" she asked tentatively.

"Well to some people. A few have known for a couple of years......like Jessie."

"Wow. Well she keeps secrets, good friend."

"The best."

"So did her text leave anything out that you're comfortable talking about?"

"Well she skipped the part about you knowing and me being embarrassed."

"Ok, well I think it's silly to be embarrassed. Anyone who loves women would be crazy not to find me hot. I'm hot!" And she laughed that easy, all-is-right-with-the-world laugh.

Kayla relaxed a little and wanted to tell her it was more than innocent attraction, but fought the urge. "Kate, if you were my age you might JUST be a hottie. The fact that you look like that at....." She paused and smiled, raising her eyebrows as if encouraging Kate to finish the thought.

The older woman sighed and shook her head. "I'm 48 you little brat."

Kayla did a double take. "MY GOD, seriously?!" The younger brunette shivered at the thought of being so attracted to someone 29 years her senior. "I was going to be complimentary, but I think that the fact you look like that at 48 actually makes you some sort of alien."

The older woman frowned and appeared hurt. She rolled over and pulled the blanket to her chin, staring out across the water.

Kayla smiled. "Kate, I'm joking!! I basically called you so hot, you're out of this world. You know, a compliment? A cheesy one, but...."

Kate smiled sorrowfully in return. "Kay, it's not...I...I was out here because...." And she sighed deep and long. She looked back at Kate and said but one word to make Kayla understand. "Ray."

Kayla nodded in understanding. She and Jessie didn't talk daily anymore, but her old friend had called for comfort when her parents had split. It had been more than 6 months and it just hadn't occurred to Kayla that is was still an issue. She suddenly felt silly and selfish. "Kate I'm sorry, I should have asked how you were doing."

"Oh don't be so silly, but you're sweet to say so. It's just....when you called me a 'hottie' before......Ray used to call me that all the time." She paused a long time. "He USED to." She gazed out into the Gulf again. "He also used to bring me to this very spot from when we were first dating." Kate grinned across at the younger girl. "We used to go skinny dipping like 3 times a week." Kayla laughed, but Kate's grin faded. "He hadn't brought me out here in about 5 years." Then almost inaudibly she added. "I should have known."

Kayla wasn't sure what to say, but felt deeply for this woman she'd known as long as she could remember. "Kate, I haven't had the chance to fall, like, REALLY in love with someone, so I probably have no clue what I'm talking about. But from what I see now, and from what Jessie says about you, you're doing amazing! You started your own business right? And you're sitting here remembering good things about you and Ray? And you had friends out here with you today I'm guessing?"

"All true."

"Well then, I don't think you're doing too badly." She reached out and stroked Kate's shoulder and the older woman grabbed her hand and smiled at her.

"You always were the mature one of the group. Sorry I laid all this on your lap." Her face brightened. "Hey, how is university? I heard you made the soccer team? And does the football team call you 'Minka' like they did in high school?"

Kayla laughed as she shivered and pulled the collar up tighter around her neck. The breeze from the water was starting to cut through the humid day's air. Kayla estimated another hour or so before the trail back was pitch dark. "Actually, pretty much any guy who plays football anywhere walks up to me and calls me Lyla; her name on the show. Then they laugh like they're the first to say it. It's SO entertaining." The young brunette rolled her eyes. Kate was referencing her resemblance to Minka Kelly, something that had become equal parts flattering and annoying. She changed the subject. "The soccer season was amazing actually. I made the conference All-Freshman team too, so that was pretty unexpected." A strong gust of wind off of the bay had her shivering again.

Kate pulled up the corner of the blanket. "It looks like it's getting chilly out there, hop in," she said, the joyful lilt returning to her voice.

Kayla hesitated. Her name was Kate and they'd been sitting having a mature, adult conversation, but she was still Mrs. Garraway and she was still lying there in a bikini looking all kinds of sexy. In the end, Kayla decided couldn't pass up a cuddle with someone looking like that, no matter who she was.

She lay down, and Kate pulled up the blanket over their heads. Things were suddenly very dark. Kayla reached into her bag and switched on her flashlight. She stuck it a couple of inches in the sand. It propped up the blanket somewhat and illuminated everything; like a lantern being switched on in a tent.

Both women lay on their sides and shuffled closer together to prevent the blanket drooping down between them as a barrier. Kate giggled as she wormed her way closer and it was all Kayla could do to keep from pulling her all the way in. She longed to feel all that bare skin pressing into hers, warming to her touch. The young brunette was scared her desire would be obvious and thought it would be best to keep the atmosphere as 2 old friends catching up. "So all the moms thought I was the mature one of the bunch?"

Kate nodded. "Oh yeah. You were the only girl in the group we trusted when we knew you were all headed out drinking and the one we all hoped our sons would bring home." She burst out laughing. "Wow, that sounded awful. No one needs drunk goggles to bring you home...not that you would let that....oh, can we forget I started this thought?"

Kayla laughed and nodded. She flashed to Jessie's brother and worked unsuccessfully to suppress her smile. "You hoped Kyle and I would have your grandchildren?"

Kate laughed. "He would have had to have shown an interest in something other than Grand Theft Auto first huh?"

"Look on the bright side, I would have broken his heart and he'd have gone through life thinking he pushed me into lesbianism." She paused as the women battled hard with a case of the giggles. "The moms might not have loved me so much if one of their daughters had brought ME home."

Kate managed a deep breath. "Well some of them would have gone running to Bayers Road Baptist, but most would have been ok with it. It would have broken Tammy Reese's mom's heart though. She had a crush on you."

Kayla flashed an exaggerated shocked face. "Kate, that's quite a thing to say!" She laughed and continued. "Hey, Mrs. Reese is super-hot too! Is that why you picked her? To tease me?"

"I wasn't teasing Kay; Rebecca Reese is my best friend. She is 100% in the closet but I know she thinks YOU are the cat's meow." She put her fingers to her lips. "Mum's the word on that ok?" Kate's face was still soft and welcoming, but she wasn't smiling as big and she'd taken on a more intense look. "Now it wasn't anything weird, don't worry. As you grew into a beautiful young lady, she just talked about how much she admired what a woman you'd become."

Kayla dabbed at her forehead with her sleeve. She realized how warm it was under the blanket with her jacket on. She reached out toward Kate. "Pull the sleeve please." The 2 ladies worked her jacket off and a confused look spread across the young brunette's face. "Kate, why are you telling me this?"

"I dunno. I guess randomly running into you here and seeing that you're openly gay and still happy, it makes me sad for her. She's still with her husband, waiting until the kids are all grown and out the door before she worries about being happy. It's ironic that it's you who's doing what she never could."

"She told you all that?"

"She's my best friend, she tells me everything." Kate flashed her widest smile yet and winked. "Plus we share a bond in this area."

Kayla's shocked look was genuine this time. "But you were just talking about Ray....."

Kate waved her hand. "Don't tell me that entire year in Toronto, you didn't meet anyone like me? She smiled and paused. The young girl just gaped back at her. "Kayla, I'm not gay. I just like women.....also."

The next few seconds felt like 10 minutes to Kayla. She was feeling a spread of warmth everywhere and her head was swimming. She didn't know what to say and was thankful when Kate continued.

"When did you realize you were a lesbian?"

Kayla took a deep breath and tried to relax. Neither she nor Kate was moving. Their arms were glued to their sides as if afraid to touch the other. The younger girl took a closer look at her older friend. There was no chance she was cold at this point, it was a veritable sauna under the blanket; yet she was still shaking. Kayla quickly glanced between Kate's legs and saw that the yellow fabric had a ring of moisture spreading from between her legs. The young brunette did a quick assessment of the situation in her head.

"She is bi, all alone with a much-younger, awfully hot girl that she's known for years. It's got to be taboo and exciting for her. Plus, being married, she has to have passed up on some opportunities to act on this over the years so she's likely not much more experienced than I am. Plus, there is that connection with Rebecca she mentioned...."

She ignored the older woman's question. "Kate, when you mentioned the bond you had with Mrs. Reese....?"

"Uh, yes?"

She slid over, closing the gap between them even more. "You bonded over me a little bit, didn't you?"

Kate said nothing. She simply nodded slowly. Kayla flashed an assured grin, her suspicions confirmed. Kate was even more nervous at the moment than she was and it was Kayla who was in control of the situation.

"So you were neighbours and became friends," Kayla continued, "and friends talk about their kids' friends right?"

Kate nodded again.

Kayla brushed Kate's hair back. "So there you were one day, talking about the girls. And my name came up. You both know the other one is into women; and one of you sees something while talking about little ol' me; a gesture, a look, something.....how am I doing so far?"