Phillip had been bothering Amy ever since his return from the Caribbean. He had a growing attraction to her and sought her out daily where she worked at Sunshine Resort. He completely misinterpreted her lack of interest for him as playing the teasing game of hard-to-get and he assumed she was more attracted to him that what he felt for her. All women were attracted to him, Phillip believed, and wanted to be with him. Several times, Amy had to forcefully push Phillip away from her, once causing him to fall backward into the lake, but it was all part of the game in Phillip's mind, especially because he believed there were no witnesses to his falling in the water. Amy was very strong and wondered how long she would have to put up with Phillip's behaviour if she didn't succeed in convincing him that she really and truly was not interested in him.
It was one of the last warm days of the summer and Amy was slowly easing into the lake water at her favourite swimming place. The water was always cold. It was completely calm and there were no pesty flies any more. She put her hands into the water, fascinated by the water retention bulging on the surface around her wrists. Then she slipped into the lake making as little disturbance as possible. The creeping light of dawn was forcing the darkness into shadow. She opened her eyes underwater and stayed under as long as she could, then she surfaced only just barely enough to get air and submerged again. Memory took her back to her childhood because she had never grown out of her love for swimming and swimming underwater most of all. She would be in a world of make-believe in the blurry vision under the surface. She would pretend that she was a gymnast and did all the moves she wished she could do in the gym. She was not athletic and never got more advanced that summersaults, but underwater she stood on her hands, did flips and cartwheels. Other memories flooded her mind and she stood up in the water that reached her neck. Suddenly, it had come back to her who Phillip was. She had been fifteen when she first met him and at that time she did not know who he was, he was older than her and to her he was a guy, like any other, except that when she first stood beside him, her hormones raced and she felt a powerful sensation she had never felt before. It was love, love at first sight, and it dominated her. As she spent time with him, her love grew. On his part it was desire and when she would not 'go all the way' with him, he dropped her, ignoring her, and she was utterly devastated. Amy's mother had no understanding of what changed Amy from the once happy girl to one with a depression that would not abate. Amy would not go to school any more and her mother had no idea what to do with her, so Amy was sent to live with her father's sister in another town far away; she went to school there and money was given to her aunt for Amy's room and board. Amy never felt that love she once had for Phillip ever again. Now here he was, once again in her life, and apparently he did not recognize her at all. Amy had physically grown and filled out, no longer the petite fifteen year old. If only he would lose interest in her again like he had before.
Lisa returned secretly after her son was born, whom she named Bruce. Her mother, under an assumed name, stayed in the closest city and took care of Bruce, while Lisa would inform herself of the situation in the Mayer town. Lisa took a cabin at the Sunshine Resort. No one there had actually seen her when the family group left with Amy on the fishing trip and she stayed out of sight once she discovered that Phillip was showing up at the resort and flirting with Amy. Lisa wondered whether Amy was trying to get Phillip to lose interest; or whether Amy was pretending a lack of attraction for whatever reason. Understanding that Amy could only be attracted by real love was beyond Lisa's capacity.
One night, very late, Lisa broke into the Mayer main business office Her flashlight was small and the blinds were drawn but from his own home nearby, Kayliff had clear view of the business office windows and while standing on his narrow porch in the dark, he noticed mysterious faint lights coming from there. He had to find out what was going on. There was no security system for the office at all as Phillip couldn't believe any was necessary since no money was kept there. Kayliff sneaked up on the office and to his amazement found the door was unlocked and went inside.
