Hearts of Steel

Chapter 14: lake day

Lindsey pulled her truck into the small gravel area in front of a hill that led down to an old trailer house that was painted a horrible combination of light tan and bright orange. Emillie immediately hopped out of the bed of the truck and made her way down the slope, a watermelon held tightly in her hands for later.

"Lindsey! Hurry up! I can't unlock the door!" The hazel eyed brunette looked back up at the top of the hill to see Lindsey sliding out of the vehicle with a large book, a container of sunscreen, a laundry basket full of towels, and her phone.

"I'm coming, don't get your panties in a twist!" The woman's unruly long hair was up in a messy knot on the top of her head, she wore a pair of jean shorts and a dark blue bikini top. Her glasses were falling down her nose slightly and her pale arms were wrapped around the basket securely when she met her friend at the bottom. The two men followed them into the house with their eyebrows raised.

"Are we even aloud to be here?" Dean looked around the small house as he stood in the kitchen. It had two bedrooms a bathroom and a kitchen living room combo, as well as a large porch looking out over the lake. The first bedroom had no flooring,  just an old rug thrown over the plywood a full sized bed and a dresser. . The second had white and blue tile a twin bed and a small dresser.

The living  room had an old rundown navy couch, a taped together leather chair, and a light blue recliner. The kitchen and bathroom had all green appliances and the kitchen had a round table, both the living room and kitchen with lament flooring. The bathroom with a sticker-like tile. And, Oh the porch.

The porch was painted a light gray with the same ugly tan and orange painted as accents. It had a small green picnic table in the far corner and a round white table in the center  toward the front with a variety of random chairs surrounding it. A blue playground swing was screwed into the ceiling, fishing poles were scattered around the area as well as random water floats and life jackets. Little lights were strung around the screened in room, some were shaped like fish, others like tools or bunnies. Some were just colorful circles others were skulls and boats. There was a small humming bird lamp hanging from the ceiling and a metal glider on the far right.

" Yeah we're aloud to be here bird brain! It belonged to grandparents. Been in the family just as long as my brother has." Lindsey let the two men look around, she knew the house was old ,run down and a tad crazy looking, but it was sentimental.

She pointed them to the smaller of the two rooms and told them to get ready. She and Emillie went to put on some sunscreen, sit on the old rickety glider on the porch and have a chat about the last week. They'd had a good time, but of course, Lindsey had some issues with it-mainly just her inability to trust men thanks to her ex husband, Caleb.

"Dude not all men are going to just up and leave randomly. They aren't Caleb." Emillie did her best to reason with the blonde but it didn't resonate well with the small woman. Caleb had left deep scars in her and she never had a chance to cope.

"They're hunters Emillie. Just picking up and leaving is what we do." Lindsey was stubborn, but even she'd admit they were growing on her.

"Oh stop. You're being silly! Besides, we're hunter to, Linds, you're acting like your grandmother." Emillie rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen to get the old 'melon pan' as it had been dubbed Patterson family a long time ago.

"...who's Caleb?" Sam ducked under the doorway and made his way over to sit with her.

"My Ex husband. He divorced me about two years after we got married. Said I 'couldn't give him the family he deserved'. He was a douche." The woman looked down at her small hands before standing abruptly like she'd only just thought of something. "We need to find a life jacket that fits you so we can go on the boat. Come on."