Free Take a Deep Breath (Lake of the Pines) by Shar Dimick Page A

anything, so he didn’t need to push himself every day. The
path started to make an incline up as it wound around the lake and the
surrounding hillside. His heart-rate increased as the path grew steeper. He
slowed down when he heard voices around the bend. At the top of the loop – the
half-way point – there was a scenic overlook of the lake. That was where Liv
had ripped out his heart all those years ago…
    The summer was drawing to an end and he still hadn’t found
the courage to reveal his feelings to her. The moment never seemed right and
the fear of her not feeling the same was too great. He’d taken a walk to clear
his head. He just needed some time alone with her away from everyone’s prying
eyes. He found himself on the Big Loop trail – the place they’d met. He was
almost to the lookout when he thought he’d heard someone weeping. He picked up
his pace and jogged the rest of the way up the incline and around the last
bend. He could see a familiar-looking woman sitting on the bench hugging her
knees to her chest. Her long hair covered her face, but he immediately knew it
was Liv. His heart rate quickened.
Perfect
, he thought.
Thank you,
God.
Just then she turned to look at him; tears glistened in her eyes, but
she gave him a weak smile. She stood and walked toward him and leaned against
one of the large boulders that lined that part of the trail.
    “Hey, girl. What’s wrong? Are you crying?”
    “No, I’m okay.”
    “No you aren’t. I know better than that. What happened?” Cam
took his thumb and wiped a tear from her cheek. She looked so beautiful and so
vulnerable.
    “It’s just that summer is almost over. And, and I haven’t…”
She fumbled for words and glanced down.
    Cam lifted her chin up and met her eyes. “Shh, it’s okay,
I…”
    The air between them stood still. He looked down at her soft
mouth. He placed a hand against the boulder above her. He caught her eyes again
to be sure.
Yes
, he thought.
She wants me to kiss her.
He
lowered his head and leaned into her. She tilted her mouth up toward him. Their
lips were only centimeters from each other.
    A loud burst of laughter interrupted the moment and he
jerked back.
    “Hey there Cam-er-on!” called his brother, his girlfriend,
Leah, in tow behind him. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt you two love
birds!” Brad then started making kissing sounds at them.
    Damn. Leave it to Brad to ruin the moment; my one
chance.
He scowled at Brad and clenched his fist. He wanted to trounce
Brad and beat the crap out of him. Of course that wouldn’t help the situation
and most likely he’d be the one to get his ass kicked as Brad outweighed him by
a good twenty pounds.
    “Funny, Brad,” Liv spoke up. “You know Cam and are just
friends.” Her voice sounded unreal to him as a stabbing pain arrowed through
him. He studied her face in confusion.
Did she say they were ‘just’
friends? She wanted me to kiss her, didn’t she? Maybe he’d been wrong, but it
felt so right.
    He turned back toward his brother. “Yeah, Brad, we’re just
friends,” he emphasized, trying to keep his pride intact. This must be her way
of subtly telling him that she didn’t have the same feelings for him. He felt
stupid now and angry.
    “Whatever you say,” Brad called over his shoulder as he
disappeared around the bend with Leah.
    An awkward silence fell between them. They walked back to
the main road together without talking. He watched her out of the corner of his
eye.
Should he say something? Pretend the moment by the boulders hadn’t
happened? Maybe he should wait for her to say something first.
    Finally, Liv spoke. “I’ll see you later?”
    “Yeah, you bet.”
    Liv winced at the gruffness of his voice. He hadn’t meant to
take his anger out on her. It wasn’t her fault if she wasn’t in love with him.
The fact that he loved her was his problem. And at that moment, it was too
painful to be with her. Later that week he’d gone to her cottage