“It won’t be long before Ella begins to pick up on your double standards. Also, you’re disgusting.”
“Are you sure I can’t convince you that we would make a great couple?” Gordon poked Samantha.
“How many times do I have to tell you, Gordy?” Samantha said in a slightly playful tone. ”My priority is Ella. And not breaking my heart again.”
“Sorry to be pushy. I’ll drop it. We can just enjoy the scenery.”
“Hurry up with that wine. And make sure it’s a full glass.”
“It’s a half-pint glass.”
“Like I said, one more glass.”
The next morning, Samantha woke up to the sound of the lake tide lapping against the shore and the very welcome sound of bacon sizzling in a pan. She couldn’t remember the last time she had bacon, and her mouth began to water. Realizing that her priorities were somewhat skewed, she remembered to look to her side and found that Ella’s bed was empty.
“Shit!” Samantha yelled and jumped up, banging her head on the side of the tent before remembering to unzip the door. “Where’s Ella? Where the fuck is Ella?”
“I’m not a fuck, Mommy,” Ella replied, and she stopped her latest running circuit around their little campsite. Gordon was happily turning the bacon and watching what Ella was doing.
“The beauty has awoken,” Gordon addressed Samantha. “Pig flesh, my dear?”
“Shut up, Gordy, and give me the coffee.”
“It’s in the flask over there.” Gordon pointed next to his tent.
Downing a significant slug of the coffee, Samantha said, “Okay. Now I can remark on what a lovely morning it is.”
“Did you sleep well?” Gordon asked.
“Actually, yes. Which means that my good mother sensors clearly weren’t switched on. Again.”
“Don’t worry about that. Ella has only been awake for a couple of hours,” Gordon assured her.
“A couple of hours? Shit. I must have been knocked out.” Samantha watched Ella as she played. It was nice to see her out and enjoying nature.
“Don’t worry. She’s been well behaved. I’ve had my eye on her the whole time.”
“That’s very good of you, Gordon.”
“No effort. It’s a pleasure.”
“Mr. Gordon and I went into the lake,” Ella called out, running towards her mom.
“What? You took her out for a swim without asking?” Samantha frowned at Gordon.
“No, Mommy. We went in a boat.”
“You found a boat?”
“They were renting them a little way down the shore,” Gordon chipped in. “Don’t worry. I’m good with kids, and I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Wow, I really did sleep in, didn’t I? You are allowed to wake me up in circumstances like that.”
“I’ll bear that in mind for the future.”
“You said that like there is going to be a future.”
“How about you stop your worrying and put your mouth around this?” Gordon handed Samantha a warm bacon roll dripping with butter.
Samantha took a bite, savoring it. She said, “That’s delicious, Gordon.”
“Actually, it’s fresh Danish bacon. Only the best for you.” Gordon smiled.
“Why, Mr. Ambassador, with this fine bacon, you are really spoiling us.”
“I don’t have any disgusting, chemical-tasting chocolates with me. Sorry. I wish I did.”
“I’ll make do with this incredible sandwich and my coffee. But don’t think I’m happy about it,” Samantha teased.
Samantha watched as Gordon seemed to zone out. He looked as though he were looking back in time, wistfully. Samantha wondered what gave him such a look, and she had some idea. She remembered what they used to have, and she wondered if he was remembering it, too, just then.
She thought about asking him, wrestled with the idea for a while, and finally settled with asking, “What’s on your mind? Your mind seemed to drift just now.”
“Nothing really, I’m just really enjoying this and being with you.”
“I’m enjoying it, too. It’s quite relaxing being here in front of the lake, watching Ella run around without any care in the world. Thank you, Gordon.”
“This is nothing, Sammy. I also needed this, with all the pressures of running a conglomerate.”
“And how’s that going?” Samantha asked, curious about how the Gordon she knew handled such a big business.
“I’m on top of things for now, and I’d rather focus on the now. On this.”
He stared at Samantha. They were sitting close together by the fire. Neither of them said anything as they looked into each other’s eyes. For a while, words weren’t really needed. They moved closer and were about to kiss when Ella suddenly came into the picture.
“Mommy, the boat ride was fun,” she cried gleefully. “You can come with us tomorrow. Mr. Gordon, will you take my mom with us tomorrow?” Ella pulled Gordon’s arm.
Gordon stared at Samantha. “I’d love to.”
Chapter 8
“Ah, there. That’s why I brought you here.”
As Samantha and Ella looked up from their plates at the restaurant into the night sky over the lake, they both gasped as bright lights began shimmering and flashing in the sky.
“Is that…?”
“The Northern Lights, yes.”
For the next few minutes, the three sat in silence, taking in the view, awed and inspired.
“I want to draw it, Mommy,” Ella said.
The three were dressed for a night out. Gordon even had on a bow tie and tux.
“Ella, dear, watch it, keep looking at it, don’t miss the opportunity to see things by trying to craft a perfect picture. Just enjoy the moment.”
“I like it a lot. It’s very beautiful.” Ella was still held spellbound.
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” asked Gordon.
As the natural light show began to dim, Samantha slowly turned her gaze towards Gordon. Gordon’s own view shifted to her. Ella remained staring into the sky quietly. Tears had begun to well up in Samantha’s eyes. She pushed her hand across the table and slowly ran her fingers over Gordon’s hand, eventually coming to grip it. Whilst Ella picked up her spoon and carried on eating her pasta, the two adults remained still.
Eventually, Samantha blurted out, “Did you do this deliberately?”
“As far as I know, all the money in the world can’t buy this.”
“Can’t buy this moment,” Samantha echoed almost in a whisper to herself. She began to stroke Gordon’s hand with a finger, and Gordon started stroking her hand in return before a tiny hand stopped it in its tracks. Gordon pulled his hand away.
“You can’t touch my mommy,” Ella said.
“It’s okay. He can, my dear,” the tears were flowing from Samantha now.
Ella joined their hands together and hugged both of them, causing her mom to let out a chuckle. Somehow it all seemed perfect to both Gordon and Samantha.
Gordon was about to stand and walk to his side of the table, but Samantha noticed him suddenly stop in his tracks, staring at the entrance door to the restaurant, dumbfounded. She turned around and saw an almost mirror reflection of herself in a knee-high blue dress. With the brown ruffled hair framing similarly green eyes, the visage looked like what Samantha saw every day in the mirror. Even the dress the woman was wearing was something similar to what Samantha might pick out.