Friday Evening 

As Paul worked on getting his charcoal going, and his dinner cooked, his phone kept buzzing with one text message after another.  Each time it did, he took time to write down who, where, and what: Smiths, Sunset 13, water; Masons, High Noon 12 & 14, 2x charcoal, water, 2x ice; Bevins, Sunrise 8, water, ice, etc.  After a while, he had an idea of what to take where.  By 5:45, though, he was tired of waiting for his burgers to cook.  He placed them off to one side of the grill, and lowered the lid, intending to eat them later.  He grabbed the messenger bag he favored over the smaller fanny pack, and headed to the storage shed. 

For some reason, deliveries became more involved.  Howard joined him, as most of the members were checked in by 6:30.  Together they delivered consumables to each campsite as requested.  Howard was extremely happy to have Paul.  He wouldn’t have been able to keep up with it by himself, even with the golf cart.  How they managed without the cart, Howard wasn’t sure. 

The evening did not go without sacrifice, however.  Paul’s burgers, even though they were only getting off-set heat, over cooked, dried out, and burned up.  Deuce was the first to notice, coming over from his campsite, worried that something might be wrong with Paul.  He lifted the cover on Paul’s grill.  Gunnar and Frejdis confirmed that the burgers were ‘toast’.   

While there, however, Deuce got the chance to re-acquaint himself with the Iversen’s.  He was only too happy to have Dr. Iversen examine his empty eye sockets, on condition that he got to “see” Gunnar again in his unique way.  He was happy to “see” Frejdis, but pleasantly surprised when Julia and Junio volunteered, too, if only to turn the tables on their parents, who too often admonished them with “see with your eyes, not with your hands”.   

Kate, already finished with her post-dinner chores, had gone up to the pool to see who was around, and watch for Paul.  After being ‘seen’ by Deuce, the twins set off, too, to find any of their friends from last summer.  Deuce continued his walk about, visiting “old” friends, and making a few new ones. 

Frejdis, feeling badly for Paul, waited until it was almost twilight, the traditional end of camp employees’ workday, added some charcoal to their grill, and cooked the last few fish filets that nobody in her family could eat.  Paul wouldn’t go hungry that evening, and the Iversen’s would have time to get to know him.  Gunnar messaged Howard’s phone for Paul to make them his last delivery, ‘Have Paul bring 1 charcoal, 1 ice, & well-earned appetite’. 

Kate heard Howard tell Paul of his last delivery from the pool, and joined him on his walk down to High Noon 19.  She didn’t want to appear desperate or clingy, but she also didn’t want to pass up an opportunity, one that Miss Martha practically dumped into her lap.  She knew that if motherly Aunt Frejdis was cooking him dinner, more than just fish was going to ‘get grilled’ tonight.  Both Aunt Mom and Uncle Dad would ask most, if not all the questions that Kate, herself, would ask, so all she had to do was be there to hear the answers; she would get the whole scoop, without being accused of being the Chief Grand Inquisitor. 

Another one of the unwritten rules at M&M was that all children, unless they were with their parents, or at the pool, would return to their campsites by, or shortly after, dusk.  Sure enough, the twins returned, having found their friends, Dave and Marty Taylor, over on Sunset.  Dave was a year and a half older, Marty a year and a half younger, than the twins.  Their parents were RV owners, had plenty of room for two more, and invited the twins for a sleep over with their boys.  Gunnar and Frejdis smiled when their children asked if they could go. 

“Well,” Gunnar started.  “I have good news and sad news.  We only got three of our five new summer weight sleeping bags.”  He let it sink in before dropping the other shoe.  “Fortunately for you, kids, two of them are yours.”  The cheers were probably heard by everyone throughout the camp. 

For the Iversen’s, family sleeping in the same bed together was never an issue.  They had slept all five on the same queen-sized air mattress for years.  Now, without the twins, Kate could spread out a little from Gunnar and Frejdis, who slept close together, even on the hottest of nights.  This night would be no different, as it was expected to be a warm evening, the single remaining sleeping bag would be completely unzipped and used as extra padding on the air mattress. 

As Paul graciously accepted a dinner plate of hot, grilled fish, foil baked potato, and broccoli florets, he didn’t realize that he would become the subject of a friendly inquisition.  He answered almost everything about his schooling, interests, friends, even previous girlfriends, but on a few subjects, he avoided direct answers, especially those about his parents and immediate family, and his two closest friends, one of which was the girlfriend he had broken up with at New Year’s. 

When Paul had finished his dinner, and his ‘inquisition’, he walked Kate back up to the pool.  The twins grabbed their sleeping bags, and went over to the Taylor’s RV site.  Gunnar and Frejdis found they had the campsite and the tent all to themselves, or at least until Paul and Kate would come back from the pool, probably after 11pm.  Never ones to waste a little “alone time”, the married couple left a lit lantern on the picnic table for Kate, and quietly retired to their tent. 

As 11 PM approached, people at the pool began to head back to camp.  Normally, on a Friday night, the pool would be open until midnight, but with the Board of Director’s meeting and the Member’s meeting after that in the morning, the pool and various camp functions closed early.  Only the showers and the locker room section of the Pump House would still be lighted and available to use. 

Paul and Kate walked back into camp.  They enjoyed each other’s company, talking about all sorts of things: what else they did in college, where they thought they might be in a year, or two, or five.  For a first non-date outing, they kept it light, and had an enjoyable time together.  They shook hands, a safe thing to do for Paul, and headed for their respective tents.  Just as Kate bent to unzip the tent flap however, she stopped, straightened up, and backed up several measured steps. 

Paul saw her do this, and was puzzled.  He started to say something, but Kate anticipated that, holding up one hand in the air, and a finger to her lips.  She turned very quietly, not too hard to do with bare feet, and walked back toward Paul. 

She looked at him, like she was slightly embarrassed, and said “I think they still need a little more time alone!” 

Paul got a questioning look on his face, not understanding what she just said, missing something in the context.  “What?” 

Kate looked at him, again, her face just a little red.  “Can we sit on your picnic table for a while?” 

Again, Paul asked “What?” but seeing her face, suddenly realized what she must have heard.  “Oh. Oh! Oh, yeah!  No problem!” he said quietly. 

A slight breeze blew through the leaves at the tops of the trees, and although it was warm and humid, Kate still felt cool from the pool water, and had a sudden, reactionary, shiver.  Paul thought a moment, quietly unzipped his tent flap, and pulled out his old wool blanket.  Together they stepped up onto the picnic table seat.  Paul held the blanket around both their shoulders, and they sat down on the table, together, pulling the blanket around them, his left arm trapped around her shoulders. 

Quietly, they re-started their previous conversation.  Paul shook his head in disbelief, and chuckled.  “If you told me last week that I would be sitting next to a beautiful, completely nude, woman,” Kate turned her head, and blushed.  “Oh, come on, you know you’re beautiful, right?  Now, where was I?  Oh, yeah.  A beautiful, completely nude, woman, while her parents were busy in the next tent over, and that I would have been nude for the entire week prior, working here at this camp, I would’ve had you committed to the local mental institution.” 

Kate laughed quietly.  “Welcome to the naturist/nudist lifestyle.  It’s not about sex, you know,” pointing back at her tent, “although I hear its better, and more sensual, when your skin has acclimated; but it’s about freedom, being clothes free, feeling air and water and sunshine on your skin; it’s about being in relationship with nature, and the people around you.  You know?” 

Paul nodded, this time in near complete understanding.  “I felt it back on Monday, when Howard was giving me a tour of this place.  I felt sound; and heard things I saw; and smelled what I felt.  A totally weird experience, with all the senses mixed up, but heightened at the same time.” 

Kate shifted her weight at that moment, the length of her right leg from her hip to her ankle coming into perfect contact with Paul’s left leg.  His arm still around her shoulder, holding the blanket, the side of her breast edged into his chest.  His physiological response was predictable, but before anything could be seen, he brought his thighs together just in time, and sat up just a bit straighter.  Kate noticed his shift in position,  

Despite his potential embarrassment, however, she felt Paul was understanding what she wanted him to know what she thought about nudism.  Her excitement for him, and his understanding, was almost palpable.  “Like this old wool blanket,” she said, holding it against her skin.  “Most people would cringe at having itchy wool like this directly against their skin, but I think and feel that it’s quite fabulous.  Where did you get it?” 

Paul got suddenly quiet.  His eyes got a faraway look; and his smile disappeared.  Kate knew he was looking inside, remembering something, or someone. 

“A friend!” was all he said, the sadness of his voice hung in the air like the humidity.  Something in his voice told Kate not to pursue this part of their conversation, for now. 

Their silence was broken by laughter, and the unzipping of the tent Kate was about to go into just minutes ago.  Out stepped Gunnar and Frejdis, looking at each other with loving eyes, and holding hands.  They took several steps each, realized that they weren’t alone, and that they were being watched. 

Frejdis saw them first, and reacted.  “How long have you two been sitting there?” 

Paul tapped his cell phone.  “Only about twenty minutes, or so; it’s just eleven thirty.” 

Frejdis and Gunnar held each other’s hands tighter.  While they weren’t embarrassed by this turn of events, they felt they should have been more mindful of Kate, who would share that same bed in a little while; and of Paul, who not only was their neighbor, but an employee of the camp, and as members of the board, he worked for them, in a way.  Both saw that he took time out of his evening to see that Kate was taken care of.  He could easily have gone to bed, and left Kate to herself, waiting for them, but he didn’t.  That, and his answers from his earlier Q&A, gave them a greater, and more favorable, opinion of the young man.  

This time Gunnar spoke first.  “Sorry, Kate!  We obviously weren’t expecting to go this long.” 

Kate snorted, but wasn’t accepting it.  “Sorry for what?  Sorry for being a loving, happily married, forty-something couple, enjoying some time without the children?” 

Both Frejdis and Gunnar laughed.  Frejdis explained.  “Being forty-somethings is why it took “some time”.  If it were like the time before children, we’d have finished our love-making, and been asleep, hours ago.”  Everyone, except Paul, laughed at that. 

Frejdis noticed Paul’s eyebrows seemed to have disappeared under his hairline.  “I think Paul’s learning a little more than he wants to know about us right now.” She smiled, ‘Poor Paul.’  “Are the shower lights still on?” 

Paul nodded.  “Just the lights on the locker room side.  Howard and I connected the outside shower lights with the pool lights.  Turn one set off, they all go off.” 

With that, Frejdis and Gunnar headed off to take their showers.  Kate and Paul said good night to each other, again, and headed to their respective tents. 

Paul crawled onto his air mattress, holding his cell phone in one hand, the wool blanket close in the other.  He reset his phone alarm, and with the blanket folded over, laid his head upon it, using it as he had for much of the week, as a pillow.  It smelled different.  Then he realized that it must have Kate’s perfume, or scent, or sweat, or something.  But it was Kate’s, whatever it was.  He breathed deeply, relaxed, thought of her, and drifted off to sleep. 

Kate got into her tent, and crawled to the far side of the mattress from the tent corner entrance.  Frejdis and Gunnar always slept on the side closest to the entrance, with Frejdis near the edge, and Gunnar in the middle.   Kate always slept to Gunnar’s right side, so that when he turned, his left arm would cradle her against him, protectively, and in colder weather, warmly. 

Kate remembered as a little girl she would often wait for them to go to bed, get up quietly, and run around the back deck in the middle of a cold winter’s night.  Then she would run in to their bedroom, complaining of being cold.  Gunnar would roll-over and wrap his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest.  He was so warm.  But he and Frejdis were onto her game. 

Frejdis and Gunnar entered the tent a few minutes later, still damp from their shower.  Frejdis crawled in first, sliding up to the top of the mattress, giving Kate a hug.  Gunnar, having zippered the flap closed, sat down at the bottom edge. 

Frejdis peered into Kate’s eyes, despite the relative darkness.  “Are you alright?” she asked, concerned for what just happened. 

Kate nodded and laughed.  “Oh!  Of course, I am!  How many times did I barge in on the two of you when I was a kid?  Before you learned to actually lock the bedroom door?”  She laughed again.  “And when was the last time I surprised you?  I can tell you.  I had my college acceptance letter in my hand; almost five years ago, now.”  She chuckled.  “Believe me, it’s nothing new.  I’m just glad you two are still so in love with each other.  I have friends and colleagues at college who, sadly, can’t say the same.”  Her demeanor became more serious.  “I suspect Paul is in that group, too!” 

Both Frejdis and Gunnar picked up on the change in tone.  “Really?” said Frejdis. 

“Yeah!  You didn’t notice?  Every time you asked him a question about school, or rowing, or botany, it was all he could do to get everything out coherently.  But when you asked him questions about his family, he said only enough to answer you, but volunteered no more, and deflected just enough.” 

Frejdis and Gunnar knew enough about psychology to know that she was right.  Kate’s own studies in social work had prepared her well. 

Frejdis, who always thought the best, even in the worst situations, took a positive tack.  “Well, let’s hope it’s nothing more than some hard feelings that time, and God, will heal.” 

They hugged and kissed each other good night, and settled themselves in.  As Frejdis laid down next to Gunnar, holding hands, and interlocking her leg with his, she said a silent prayer of thanks that she had such a loving family, and had married into an equally loving one.  She watched as Kate got herself comfortable, laying on her back, but turning her head, looking in the direction of Paul’s tent. 

Frejdis thought about Paul for a few minutes.  He seemed very polite, well mannered, and respectful, ever since they met him six hours before. 

She got Gunnar’s attention and whispered, “What do you think?” pointing in the direction of Paul’s tent. 

Gunnar smiled, put his arm around Frejdis’ shoulder, and whispered back.  “Seems to be a fine young man.” 

“I was thinking the same thing.”  She raised her head to see over Gunnar.  Kate was out like a light, sleeping peacefully. 

Gunnar saw that she was looking over him at Kate.  “What are you thinking?” he asked, coyly, knowing full well what she was thinking. 

“Never mind!” Frejdis replied, impishly. 

“You’re hopeless,” Gunnar said, with laughter in his voice.  “A hopeless romantic.  Kate is barely out of one relationship, and you already have her in another.” 

“It’s been over three months since what’s-his-name dumped her.  She hasn’t been out on a date, or even talked with a boy her age, since.  Be that as it may, Paul seems to fit right in, and for all the right reasons, too.” 

Gunnar saw his chance to put the brakes on a bit.  “He’s only been a nudist since Monday, remember? Not even five whole days!” 

“True!!  But he carries himself well, and he seems to have a right attitude about naturism.”  She sighed.  She and Martha talked about Paul Wednesday evening, after Martha went shopping with Paul, and shared their discussion with Frejdis.  “Besides!!  He’s cute!” 

The phrase ‘He’s cute’ would be said numerous times about Paul over the next few days. 
 

Pastor Linda closed the notebook, sat back, and looked at the comatose Mr. Jacobsen.  He was the same as before; hadn’t moved at all, the monitors still showing the same numbers, levels, or indications, as they had before. 

“What lesson are you trying to teach in this chapter, Mister Jacobsen, if there is one?  ‘The family that plays together, stays together?’ That can’t be right.  The twins weren’t there; they went to spend the night with their friends.  Maybe ‘There is a time and place for everything?’  That certainly worked out well for Gunnar and Frejdis.  And maybe perhaps Paul and Kate.” 

She shook her head.  Perhaps she was a bit too tired to understand it all.  Why was this man in a single car accident to begin with?  What is the purpose of his writing?  Why was she, a Lutheran pastor, brought up in a strictly conservative house and education, being exposed to something like this?  What was the purpose of it all?  She closed her eyes for a moment, and prayed for answers to these and many other questions.  She knew that understanding God’s will was a lifetime achievement, but she could pray for some understanding, couldn’t she? 

* * *

End of Memorial Day Weekend - Friday

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