Free Summer's Freedom by Ruth Wind, Barbara Samuel

settling in the grass to watch Joel. It didn’t take long to get the kite up, and he reeled it out into the deep sky, tugging at the string at critical moments, backing up and dashing forward until it drifted high above the earth.
    He backed up, pulling the kite with him, until he stood next to Maggie. “Here, you try it.”
    He held out a hand to help her to her feet and put the spool in her hands. “When it pulls hard, give it some line. When it starts to dip or lose altitude, reel it in.”
    Nervously, Maggie accepted the responsibility. When, after a few minutes, the kite showed no danger of suddenly plummeting to the ground, she relaxed and began to enjoy the rhythmic pull on the string.
    Joel fished an apple out of his pack, backing away to let Maggie handle the kite on her own. As he sat down on the ground, he could see the exact moment she lost her nervousness and began to enjoy herself; her stance relaxed and she shook loosened tendrils of hair away from her exotic face.
    The apple was mealy but sweet. Joel savored it as he filled his eyes with her. Her T-shirt clung lightly to uplifted breasts and a slender waist. The jeans were just tight enough to outline a generous bottom and long legs, and her skin showed a hint of rosy dampness from the walk. As he absorbed her, she laughed at some inner thrill of accomplishment, and her jewelry glinted at her wrists and ears.
    She was impossible to resist. Her vibrant good nature was a balm to his weary spirit, giving him a sense of warmth he had not known in many, many years.
    Beyond that, there was an innocent sensuality about her that told Joel she’d never really explored that portion of herself, no matter how long she’d been married. The sultriness in her eyes hinted at the tiger lurking beneath her innocence, and he couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like to set the tiger free.
    Enough, his aroused body cautioned. In accordance with its warning, Joel tossed the apple core into the trees for forest creatures and stood up to share the kite.
    * * *
    Heavy clouds rolled in toward midafternoon, forcing Joel and Maggie to reel in the kite and get back down the mountain. In the truck, he said, “I’m famished. Would you like to stop for something to eat in Manitou? Do you have time?”
    “Are you kidding?” Maggie returned. “If I don’t get food pretty soon, I’ll eat the dashboard.” She sighed, touching her stomach.
    “Great.”
    “I’ll buy lunch, since you’ve so generously introduced me to such a glorious place.”
    He grinned. “Fair enough, I guess.”
    They drove into Manitou Springs, the somewhat Bohemian sister city that joined the western edges of Colorado Springs. Over sandwiches and huge glasses of iced tea, they laughed and talked as easily as childhood friends, a fact Maggie didn’t even notice until they were nearly finished.
    After lunch, Joel led her into a games arcade that was built over the stream that ran out of the mountains and through Manitou. Shops stocked with scenic photographs and souvenirs of Pikes Peak for the coming tourist rush lined the labyrinthine open-air mall. Laughter spilled out of a skeeball parlor.
    “When I was little,” Joel said, “my dad used to bring me here at night.” He paused on the wooden slats and looked down to the creek running below, its water giving a rushing, echoey undertone to the sound of the bells and buzzers on the games. “It used to scare me to death to walk on these boards in the dark and know I could fall all the way down there.” He grinned. “I never let go of his hand.”
    As she stared at the quicksilver water visible between the boards, Maggie touched her forehead and blinked, imagining what it would be like here at night, with red and blue neon flashing and crowds pushing around her.
    Joel chuckled. “Gets to you, doesn’t it?”
    As she was about to answer, a great crack of lightning split the sky, followed almost instantly by a resounding rumble of thunder. Maggie