Ordinary Heroes

"Wow, she exclaimed, "you never said it was a log house. The way you were talking I was expecting some sort of small frame shack, not a two story house. Not to mention a two story, three car garage to boot."

After they stopped Ian said, "Come on, I'll show you around" when they entered the cabin he was pleased to hear a gasp from her.

The main floor was of the entirely open concept. On entering they went through a short hallway with a washroom on one side and the laundry room on the other. From there they entered the kitchen dining area. The first thing that grabbed Maureen's attention was the stone fireplace in the dead center of the house. Ian had the builders put in an air tight insert with glass doors on both sides, so you could see the fire from both the kitchen and living room areas. On the right hand, or west wall, was the staircase leading up to the second floor which was supported by 18 inch diameter logs running east and west. The east side which overlooked the lake, had windows installed with sliding glass doors in each of the main rooms. The second floor had bedrooms on either side with the main bath in the middle. As with the main floor, the east walls of the bedrooms had huge windows. Throughout the tour all Ian heard from Maureen was small gasps with the occasional, "wow." Finally, she said, "How did you ever find this place?"

"A friend at the bank told me about it. The previous owner had started the house, then went bankrupt. When I bought it all that was here was the log structure with the roof on it. I admit I'm very proud of how it turned out, as I designed the interior spaces. I took the chainsaw and cut out all the window areas myself. I probably should have consulted someone first because when I got an engineer in to design the stair case he told me that I had cut out so much of the east wall I would have to support the window openings with structural steel. Anyway I wanted the east side to be as open as possible because I love waking up to the sunrise."

Her response was another, "Wow," followed by, "you designed this? Wow."

Ian was awfully proud of the cabin and thought briefly about expanding on how much work and sweat he put into it, but in the end he simply said, "Yup."

They went out onto the patio deck and she saw the stone barbeque on the southeast corner. Maureen asked, "I suppose you designed and built that as well?"

"No," Ian answered, "the first year I lived here I had a normal gas barbeque. The husband of the woman at the bank who tipped me off about this place is a stone mason. The second summer, his business was slow, so I hired him to put it in. The design was all his. I suspect it should have cost more than he charged, but he wanted to make something that would do justice to the view.

As you can see, the garage is pretty standard except for the rough-sawn boards on the outside. It was done that way to sort of fit in with the house. I have an office upstairs where I do paper work and the like. The bottom houses my toys."

"Can I see your toys?"

"Sure."

The first thing she noticed was his motorcycle. "Nice Harley, but why don't you have any of the Harley Davidson logos on it?"

"Pshaw woman, I should wash your mouth out with soap. The reason there are no Harley logos is it's not a Harley. It's a Yamaha Vstar 1100. Shaft drive instead of chain drive and it is a damn sight quieter."

When she was done looking around they headed back to the house for some lunch. Ian dazzled her with his cooking skills, grilled cheese sandwiches with chicken noodle soup from a can.

The afternoon was hot and muggy with very little breeze, so after lunch they got the canoe out of the garage and took it down to the lake, a trip of about 200 yards from his place. Ian said, "The nice thing about the lake is it's totally surrounded by state lands making my property the only place where a person can drive close to the lake, making it essentially my own private pond."

They paddled lazily along the shore line until they reached the far end which took about three quarters of an hour. The trip was a symphony for the senses. The scent of fir and pine trees filed the air. Unspoiled wilderness was a treat for their eyes and they could taste nature with every breath they took. When Maureen put her hand in cool water it had the effect of counter-acting the humidity, making the trip more enjoyable for her.

They listened to the sounds of birds singing, the buzz of cicadas in the trees and the occasional splash of a fish jumping at a meal, fish that Ian hoped would provide their evening meal using the fishing gear he had brought with them.

Even at the pace they were moving Ian was hot and sweaty when they reached their destination, a flat rocky outcrop jutting out to the deeper water. Ian tied the canoe to a bush beside the outcrop and lifted a small cooler with a six pack of light beer onto the rocks. He opened a couple of bottles and handed one of them to Maureen.

As they sat on the rock with their bare feet dangling in the water, Maureen asked with a mischievous look on her face, "Do you bring all your conquests down here?"

"First of all I have no conquests, as you put it, and secondly, you are the only person with whom I have paddled the lake. I often paddle alone for the solitude."

"I was teasing you, but I am glad to hear that I am the first, and only. I feel honored."

Ian turned to look at her and she still had that look of mischief on her face.

"I'm hot after all that paddling," he stated, "let's go for a swim."

She started to protest as she hadn't brought her bathing suit. Ian was amused at her brief discomfort.

"Look around you; do you see anyone else here? I've already seen you naked so what's the problem."

"Well, putting it that way, race you!" she replied.

It was no contest. T-shirt off, shorts dropped, shallow dive and Ian was already in the water while she was still fighting with the clasp of her bra. He did a quick turn around when he broke the surface of the water and decided to do some teasing of his own.

He wolf whistled and called out, "Oh yeah baby, take if off. Take it all off. "

Hearing that, she slowed down to make a show of removing the rest of her clothes. She turned her back to him, peeked over her shoulder shyly and removed her bra and dropped it on the rock. Then, still turned away, she slowly slid the shorts down, lifted one foot out of the shorts then twirled the shorts on the other foot and kicked them to the side. She then grasped the sides of her panties, bent at the waist she slid them leisurely down to the ground rubbing her legs against each other while the cheeks of her ass flexed in unison with her legs, slowly, seductively. She peeked over her shoulder again, laughed then jumped into the water.

It was an erotic show, enhanced by the effect the cool water had on her body, her nipples hardened and her breasts rose to the surface of the water. Ian just stood there staring at her breasts.

Noticing this, she giggled and quipped, "Earth to Ian, those are my tits, my eyes are up here."

He blushed slightly and responded, "Er, sorry, it's just that they're so perfect I can't help but stare."

She smiled, "Considering I thought they were inferior until I got involved with you, you're forgiven. You can ogle them all you want."

She then thwarted his viewing pleasure by swimming up to him and embracing him. She kissed him and whispered in his ear, "Okay, I'm done let's head back to shore."

They lay on the outcrop until they dried with Ian sneaking peaks at the objects of his desire. When Ian and Maureen had dried enough they put their clothes back on, Maureen pointedly put her bra in the pocket of her shorts, giving Ian a sly smile as she did so.

Ian loaded the cooler back into the canoe, held it steady for Maureen as she stepped in, then he got in himself. Before they started back down the lake, Ian asked her if she had ever fished before, to which she replied she had not.

He explained the fishing gear was there in hopes they would be able to catch their dinner. He cast the bait out beside the canoe. Handing her the rod he told that she was to snap the rod back and reel in the line if she felt a tug and not to worry about anything, as he was sitting behind her and could see if she got into trouble. As the lake was relatively free of weeds, he was confident if she felt a tug it would be a bite.

They had reached the halfway point of the trip back to the cabin when Maureen snapped the rod as he had instructed and excitedly yelled, "I got one, I got one!"

Much to Ian's surprise the fish was putting up more of a fight than any he had caught during his fishing excursions. He continued paddling while keeping an eye on her progress. About the three quarters mark of the return journey the fish finally broke the surface just 10 feet from the side of the canoe. He put his paddle down and told her to pull the rod up then drop the tip and quickly reel in the slack. Maureen followed his instructions and in short order he netted what felt like a five pound brown trout.

For the remainder of the trip she continued to bubble over with excitement pausing briefly when Ian said, "You did great. When we get back to the cabin I'll tell you how to gut and fillet it."

Her smile faded briefly, then reappeared with, "No way buster, I caught it, you clean it."

He laughed, "Fair enough."

When they landed at the low beach, Ian told her to wait where she was and rushed up to the cabin, returning quickly with his camera. He took several pictures of her holding up the fish, her face beaming with pride, sitting in the canoe and a couple of her standing beside it.

He later had his favorite shot framed and it sits on the fireplace mantle.

His little secret being that it was his favorite because her excitement had reached her nipples and that picture clearly showed the objects of his delight poking proudly against her braless tee shirt.

Ian cleaned and filleted the fish while she looked after the veggies. She cleaned and cut up potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and onions. After they were cut up, she wrapped them in aluminum foil.

In short order, Ian had the barbeque going and the fish and vegetables on. As they were cooking, he nipped into the house, grabbed a bottle of Pinot Grigio white wine and a couple of wine glasses.

They stood close together looking after their respective parts of the meal. And when cooked, they sat on the patio enjoying their picnic. They chatted in an easy conversation, learning about each other's likes, dislikes and hobbies. Besides golfing and skiing, they discovered they were both avid readers and enjoyed science fiction. Not the sword and sorcery stuff, except, of course, The Lord of the Rings, but the full-blown 'future tech, space travel, alien invaders' type of Sci-Fi. They discussed the various merits of the Enterprise Captains, and in the end agreed that each Captain was perfect for their time. Ian couldn't remember a better meal or a better time with anyone. It was not just the food but the company that made it so special.

As the sun started to set, they cleaned up their dinner dishes and moved to the south extension of the patio which allowed them to watch the sunset. Ian looked over at Maureen as the sun's rays turned to red and was stunned at how their reflection made her auburn hair shimmer, seemingly on fire. The most beautiful vision of who he now thought to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

Ian went back inside opened another bottle of wine and put on a tape of classical music that he immersed himself in when he felt contemplative: Bach's Air in G, followed by Beethoven's Sonata Number 8, Satie's Trios Gymnopédies, with several of his other favorites, ending with Pachebel's Canon. The only vocal piece was Lakme's haunting flower duet.

They listened to the music, drank their wine and watched the sunset without saying a word, lost in the music and their thoughts. When the sun set, they lay on their backs and holding hands looked up at the stars.

When the music ended she whispered, "That was the most incredible music I've ever heard. That last piece was so poignant, I could almost see the lovers coming together, feel their passion grow, their making love, the afterglow, and then them drifting off to sleep in each other's arms. Thank you for the most wonderful evening of my life."

Ian stood up, took her hand in his, walked her up to the bedroom, removed their clothes and took her to bed. He lay on his back, and she snuggled up to his side, put her arm over his chest and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

*** Ian awoke the next morning to the sunrise, as he always did in the summer months. Naked, he crept quietly downstairs so as not to wake Maureen, went to the bathroom, started a pot of coffee and went back to bed. He left the bedroom door open so the aroma of the coffee would waft its way into the room. When he could smell the coffee, he gently kissed her eyelids, then her lips and then laid his body alongside hers on the bed. She sighed and whispered, "Just when I think this weekend couldn't get any better it does."

Maureen rolled her body on top of Ian's then eased onto his abdomen, her legs straddling him leaning her torso and head toward his lips. Her first kiss was gentle. Each successive kiss became more passionate, until she glided down his body toward his now erect member. It slid into her as easily as a key into a lock. Her passion enveloped her and she began a furious dance up and down his cock. At that pace, Ian knew neither of them would last, and it wasn't long until she shouted, "YES!" and collapsed across his chest. With her vocal ejaculation, Ian experienced the most intense orgasm of his life. The combination of the scent of her arousal, the intensity of her voice and the heavenly feel of her vagina around his penis, drove his semen out with a force that, had he not been solidly encased within her, he swore that his ejaculate would have hit the ceiling.

After they had recovered, Maureen surveyed the room, considering the four-poster for several minutes before she said, "I like this bed. When I look at the posts, I think of wonderfully naughty things." She laughed in a wickedly thoughtful manner.

The bed was solid knotty pine with a head board, foot board and side rails of two inch thick slabs and corner posts turned from six by six beams.

"Yeah, I like it," Ian responded, puzzling briefly over her tone and comment, then turned his attention to her delicious body nuzzling and nibbling and enjoying her groans of pleasure.

After a lazy morning, they chatted, ate lunch then headed back to Walla Walla.

During the ride back they talked some more. Ian wanted to tell Maureen how he felt and awkwardly began, "Maureen, I want to tell you one of my favorite quotes, as it has a profound effect on how I think of relationships."

He paused considering what he was about to say. "It goes: 'Finding someone worth waking up to is better than finding someone to sleep with.' There's a reason none of the women I've dated since the divorce lasted longer than three dates. None of those ladies passed the test in the quote. After being with you these past few days, I am sure there never has been, or ever will be, anyone that I would rather wake up to than you."

He waited nervously for her response. Light heartedly she stated, "Silly, I knew you were worth waking up to after our first dinner. That you can drive me crazy in bed is just a bonus."

Buoyed by her response, Ian plunged fearlessly into the idea of marriage and immediately regretted it.

"Whoa, slow down cowboy. It's been wonderful but we barely know each other. Usually, I end things before I let someone get as far under my skin as you have. That I haven't found your fatal flaw yet doesn't mean it isn't there." Her angry tone dampened the mood leaving Ian both hurt and confused.

The atmospheric change was dramatic and chilly. They ended up spending the rest of the trip in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

When they arrived at her house the mood seemed to lighten. She kissed him and said, "Thank you for a wonderful weekend," followed by, "Damn, with all that happened I forgot to tell you Dr. Smith has scheduled you for a CT scan in Spokane, Wednesday at 2:00 in the afternoon. He also has you scheduled to come in Friday at 4:00."

For the first time in many years his stoicism failed Ian. He began to over analyze the weekend, trying to find an answer for the dramatic change in her attitude. He couldn't remember anything that would justify the way she had turned on him. Maybe he missed something important she had said or he heard it, but it didn't register. Possibly he heard but didn't understand the importance, considering what she said to be a simple offhand remark. Maybe he had said something stupid. Lord knows he was capable of such remarks when he wasn't considering how others might interpret what he said.

The weekend had seemed so perfect. He went over everything he had said and done and nothing egregious came to mind. She had been so receptive to his every move, and yet, she backed away from relationship talk like a cat cornered by a coyote. Maybe she thought he was a bull-shitter just pretending so he could get his rocks off, or perhaps he was nothing but a four day fling and having had her sex-drive sated, she was looking for a way to break things off.

And just to get perfectly paranoid, he began to wonder if she knew something that he didn't and that's why she waited to tell him about the CT scan appointment, when he was at her door saying good bye. Telling him about the CT scan made no sense as she must have known either Doctor Jones or the receptionist, or both would have told him about it.

Ian spent the rest of the trip home mulling all this over, and got nowhere.

He did what he always did when a woman seemed to be acting unreasonable to him, he moped.

*** Tuesday morning he woke up feeling a little better, reminding himself that he was too damn sensitive and thought way, way, too much. Okay, if it wasn't him, and for the life of him he couldn't think of or remember anything that he did that would cause the freeze, so were there any clues as to what it could be?

There was the CT scan and that she used to be a critical care nurse but was getting burnt out. Maybe there was a connection there. Ian had no idea what a critical care nurse did. He had just assumed she assisted doctors in the emergency room. He decided he had better find out in case there was something about that profession that may explain what had happened.

While eating breakfast he looked out the window to see what the weather was like. The day was cloudy and overcast, perfect for a little detective work but not nice enough to take a chance riding the Vstar.

Ian hopped in the Jeep and headed for the Spokane Library, reasoning with Spokane being the home of Washington State University it would likely have the most comprehensive literature on the subject.

He spent the morning and well into the afternoon reading books and papers on critical care nursing. He was stunned. Before reading these materials he had what is probably the same impression that most people have of nurses. That they are Junior College graduates there to assist the doctors. The idea that his ignorance on the subject just may have something to do with the swift attitude change became stronger and stronger the more he read.

He learned that to become a critical care nurse they first had to obtain a Bachelors of Science degree in nursing from a recognized University. He had a B.Sc. degree in astrophysics so he knew the difficulty in the type of courses she would have studied. She then would have had to go back to University to take a specialized program that amounted, to in his opinion, to a Master's of Science Degree. He definitely decided he had not given her profession the respect it was due. In short these women, and men, were charged with the care of people who were on the edge of dying and it was their job to ensure the patients stayed alive, if they could, while doctors determine what medical treatment was necessary.