Free Two Weeks in August by Nat Burns Page B

Nina. And she loved books, obviously, a passion the majority of women Hazy had dated knew nothing about.
    Hazy could have kicked herself. When she had begun to think of Nina naked in the shower, she shouldn’t have allowed her thoughts to linger. But the pleasure of the imaginings…Why had she looked at Nina then, exposing herself that way? Stupid! Stupid. She might as well have handed her a knife and exposed her jugular.
    She pressed her forehead into the worn blue clapboards of the office wall and groaned. Oh sure, right-o, she had everything under control. She had really thought she could ignore her as she had the others. She was sure of one thing now: she was in deep trouble.

Chapter 14
    The next day Nina straightened up the cottage, took a shower, and then pulled on shorts and a T-shirt. She was still feeling homesick after talking with her father and knew that the only remedy for such maudlin thinking was some sort of activity requiring her full attention.
    Eagerly she packed a small backpack with a jug of water, insect repellent, sunblock, field glasses, informational pamphlets about the islands, a sack lunch and, especially, her digital Nikon camera with its telephoto lens.
    Donning hiking boots and a biking helmet for safety, she slung her pack over her shoulder and fetched her bike from its resting place in the bedroom.
    Pedaling fast along the wide bike trail that paralleled Beach Road onto Assateague Island, Nina fully enjoyed the wind in her face, rich with sea and marsh smells. She waved to the guard, a familiar face she couldn’t quite place.
    As she pulled onto the wide asphalt loop that ran through the wildlife refuge, she realized she probably would have it all to herself because today the road didn’t open to vehicles until late afternoon. Delighted, she pedaled on.
    Pausing at the first overlook, she walked her bike to the podium-style platform. Pulling the field glasses from her pack and, leaning her elbows on the platform, she gazed out across the marsh. Few animals seemed active in this particular area of the marsh. When only one black skimmer passed her by with a disdainful squawk, she moved on.
    Just as she was about to wheel her bike from the pull-off area, a second bike and rider whizzed by at dangerous speed, almost colliding with the front wheel of her bicycle.
    Nina watched his retreating back with disgust. “Your black helmet suits you,” she called after him. He was certainly a bad guy. Mounting her own bike, she followed at a more leisurely pace.
    At the next overlook, she discovered a large lagoon filled with black ducks and Canadian geese. Watching through field glasses, she was pleased to see the ducks play at mating; females following and dipping their heads almost shyly as they proved their interest in this or that male.
    The bathing ritual the ducks displayed was also a treat. Nina watched with fascination as one duck dipped its head into the water with a serpentine motion then used the wet head to smooth its back feathers. Plucking and grooming the feathers all along its sleek body was the next motion on the agenda and the duck accomplished this in a small flurry of flying down feathers.
    A mother duck following a small brood of half-grown ducklings was winding her way through the tall marsh grass. Holding her head high with pride, she approached the other ducks, soon losing herself, and her adolescent babies, in the dark crowd.
    The geese were very noisy as they flocked in a large group that reached all the way across the small pond of water. These large birds didn’t seem to be in any kind of social order or pairs, although Nina knew they mated for life. They were lazily milling about, calling with their noisy honking voices.
    Rugged Chincoteague wild ponies were grazing off in the distance and every now and again a young white-tailed deer strode into view, warily eyeing the highway that passed within a half mile from its grazing range.
    Enchanted, Nina traded the eyepieces of