“Do you always swim out here?”
“No, sometimes I use the canoe,” I winked at her.
“It’s a really beautiful house.”
“Thank you,” I said. “After my son passed away, I needed some place to go and just get away from everything and everyone. I bought it on a whim, and now I just love it.”
“You don’t have internet, or a phone, or anything out here?”
“I’ve got electricity from solar panels and a little bit of water to run a shower, but that’s it. Nothing fancy.”
“I love it.”
Delilah leaned into me and cuddled up as she guzzled down her water. I pulled a blanket from the side of the couch and wrapped it around us as we sat there in silence for a little bit and watched the waves hitting the beach.
“It’s nice here, isn’t it? I love how quiet it is and that no one can find me,” I said as I let my arm pull her tighter against me.
“It is pretty cool to be somewhere that is isolated, yet civilization is just a few feet away.”
“Are you all right being here without your cell phone? I wasn’t thinking about your son and if there was an emergency. I’m sorry, we should have brought the canoe.”
“No, no, I’m fine. He’s with his grandparents. If there was an emergency, they are some of the only people I would trust. I’m trying to give Connor more time away from me. I think I’ve gotten too attached to him. School was hard for him to start this year, probably because I cried all the time when I dropped him off. He’s really loving it now.”
“That’s really good to hear. I know how kids can struggle with change. How old was he when his father passed away?”
“Oh, he was only one. Connor doesn’t remember his dad, except he knows him because I show him videos and photos.”
“I’m sorry for asking. I’m not really the best at this first-date stuff.”
Del laughed as she sat up and wrapped the blanket around her. She curled her legs up to her chest and leaned on the couch as she smiled at me.
“I doubt you’re that bad at dating.”
“Oh, trust me, I am. I’m really good at the one-night stand thing, though,” I laughed.
“They are easier than real relationships, that’s for sure.”
“Are you hungry? I’ve got some food in the freezer. Nothing too fancy, but I could whip us up some pasta.”
“I’m starving; that sounds great.”
I pulled out some meat and frozen sauce I had in the freezer. Luckily, the solar panels had held up. One time I had returned to the house and everything was rotten because the connection from the panels to the house had been broken; the memory of that smell still haunted me.
“I do have a throw away cell phone that I keep here if you want to call your family to let them know you’re here. Or give them the number? I don’t mind.”
“Yeah, I’d feel better, thanks,” Del said as she jumped up off the couch and grabbed the old cell phone I had placed on the counter.
I wasn’t really sure how the prepaid phones worked, but I had purchased one in case of an emergency. I didn’t want to keep a nice one at the house because it was so easy for others to break in. Actually, I tried not to keep anything too valuable there just to put myself at ease when I wasn’t around.
It wasn’t very often that I saw signs that people had been up near the house, and even when I had seen signs of people, they seemed to stay out in the cabana area. Only once had I had an actual break in to the house and they seemed to have stayed for a while and slept there, but they were gone when I arrived and I hadn’t had a break in since that time.
“Hi, Mary, I just wanted to check in with you guys and give you the number where I’m at. I don’t have my cell phone right now,” Del said as she talked to her family. “It’s 818-555-9898. I’ll be here for a little while and I’ll text you when I’m back at my phone. How is Connor doing?” She read the number off the paper I had set near her.
I listened in as Del talked to her son for a bit and then back to his grandmother, Mary. Del was sweet and very grateful to her family for watching Connor and my ears perked up when I heard her say her goodbyes.
“I’ll be over tomorrow afternoon to pick him up; you guys have a great weekend. Love you,” Del said as she hung up.
“He’s staying the weekend with his grandparents?” I asked with a sly smile.