For Love, Service and Faith

Summer of Love

Two days later Sam walked into the library and found her favorite table had an occupant.  She looked at the familiar messy head of black hair slumped over the table, flipping through a magazine. “Excuse Me,” she said as pointedly as she could manage, “this table is reserved.” Jake turned, “well I don’t see a sign.” Sam sat down silently, and unpacked her coursework down, trying her hardest not to smile. She went into focus mode, and started working on her accounting homework. About an hour later Jake cleared his throat and Sam jumped. “Any suggestions?” he asked, “I need something to read if you’re this good at ignoring people. Sam blushed “I come here to do work… but I guess I’m sorry. What do you like to read?”

“I’ve never read anything really, so whatever you think.”

 Sam studied the rows of books for a moment, “Try The Amber Room, by Steve Berry. Should be in the 1st fiction aisle on the left, about halfway down, 2 shelves up from the bottom.”

“Well if I can’t find it after that, we’ll staple a map to my head. As you were,” and with that he sauntered off for the fiction section and Sam started on her English assignment.  She glanced up every now and then to see Jake reading The Amber Room intently. When she was finished, she packed her books up and got ready to go. Jake grabbed her bubblegum pink backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “What do you have in this thing, mercury?” he said incredulously. Sam was confused, it was nice that Jake had spent some time with her, but that was about as far as boys went. They came, they saw, they lost interest and they left. “What are you doing?” she managed to vocalize only that portion of her thoughts.

“Well you see, I’m being a gentleman and walking you home. The bag just goes with my outfit.” He grinned at her. Jake walked through the door, and held it open for Sam. She rolled her eyes but said thank you. He was making it annoyingly difficult to stay detached. Though they barely spoke, the three-block walk to Sam’s house went way too fast.  

Over the next week they started to take longer walks after the library, which ended on Jake’s front porch. Sam started looking forward to their walks, more than her studies, which was a new experience for her. She was determined not to let her emotions get in the way of her aspirations, but it was so hard not to spend time with Jake, partially because he just kept showing up, but mostly because when he looked at her, she could feel her heart become lighter.

One night they left the library and started making their way to Jake’s front porch. There was a crash from inside. Jake winced, “I don’t think the porch is an option at the moment.” Sam thought back and remembered the Krav Maga comment, she didn’t press. “Why don’t we just walk? It’s so beautiful tonight,” she suggested earnestly.

“As long as you ditch the backpack. I already did my heavy lifting for the day,” he laughed. They walked the two blocks to Sam’s house from there and she snuck into the side yard. She stowed her backpack underneath the pink rosebush, hoping it would blend. Jake waited patiently, hiding his silhouette behind the big oak tree on the edge of the front yard. They crept back to the street and casually strolled around the neighborhood, making their way down to the lake. They took in the picturesque scene and made their way towards the bench on the north bank. It was as private a bench at a public park as they could manage, positioned between two willow trees. They listened to the bullfrogs and sat unusually close for a balmy summer night. Sam wondered if he was rethinking this whole thing, she was doing an extremely poor job of hiding her nerves. She knew she was wringing her hands but she couldn’t seem to get them to stop. She stood up abruptly, and Jake stood too. He grabbed her hand. “Where are you going?” he said sounding a little hurt. She turned to face him. “I don’t know, I just…”she trailed off. “You just what?”

“I just, I don’t know what you want and I don’t know if you want what I want and I just, I just, I just don’t know.” Jake looked at her, taking in the outburst. He didn’t say a word. Then he took a step closer, put his hand to her jaw and tipped her mouth up to his. Sam was dazed, but let herself follow his lead. He leaned in slow and gently brushed his lips to hers. Before she realized what she was doing, she was on her tippy toes, throwing her arms around him and kissing him with everything she had. Sam loved the feeling in her stomach, and the quickness of her breath. She loved the weight of him against her, and the way he tasted like oranges. When they finally broke apart, they were both stunned. Jake pulled her closed and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. “I think it’s time for you to get home,” he said quietly. They walked home hand in hand and shared another kiss at the corner before her house. This time Sam started it, and she loved her ability to do so, and the way their bodies swayed together. She walked the last half block home on a cloud.

They fell into an easy routine. During the day Jake cut lawns and Sam went to classes at the community college, or worked at the ice cream parlor. They met up at the library after dinner and stayed until closing. Jake was reading whatever he found struck his fancy and finally settled on to tackling some of the classics. He was less than impressed with Holden Caulfield, disturbed by A Separate Piece, and was getting into the Odyssey. Around 7 they would walk back to his porch and kiss and laugh and talk about anything and everything, making sure Sam was home by 9:30. Once a week, on Saturday nights, she would find an excuse to leave the house, whether she walked the dog, or went to a friend’s, or picked up an extra shift; whatever excuse Sam needed to get out of the house. She would walk to Jake’s house and walk around the neighborhood with him, usually strolling down to the lake to their bench on the water. They sat and listened to the bullfrogs and crickets, and tried to not get eaten alive by mosquitos.

That bench became their sanctuary; with Jake’s dad drinking more the porch seemed like less of a viable option as the summer progressed. They sat on the bench and talked and kissed and let the hours melt by. They talked about the stars; they talked about Jake’s dream to be a Marine. They talked about Sam’s wanderlust that went hand and hand with her fear of leaving her sister. They talked about philosophy and religion and politics, anything that came to mind. The conversation just flowed between them and even the pauses seemed perfect to Sam, usually because they were closely followed by kisses.

One late August night her parents were upstairs and Sam relished the opportunity to stay up late on the couch and watch old movies. She pushed My Fair Lady into the VCR and thought she heard a gentle tap on the window. She whirled around, her eyes strained to see into the darkness past the TV’s reflection in the glass. She could have sworn she caught a flash of white. Sam opened the window tentatively, praying it wouldn’t squeak. She popped her head out and was surprised to feel a kiss on her lips. She closed her eyes and felt the butterflies in her stomach and the tingle of peppermint on her lips. She pushed Jake away, “hold your horses!” She pulled herself up and gingerly climbed through the window, with her butt resting on the ledge and her legs dangling over the side of the house. She reached out and draped her arms around Jake’s neck. He grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He pushed her back up against the house and kissed her deeply. “Oh Jake” Sam let out a soft moan. Jake let her legs slip down slowly, and held her waist tight as her feet touched the ground. He spun her around towards the street, “time to go,” he whispered in her ear. He took her hand and they hurried off down the street. They cut through the path and were soon at their favorite bench by the lake. She sat down, and tried to catch her breath. She was so curious to know what it would feel like to satiate this burning desire, but at the same time it scared the hell out of her.  She folded her knees up to her chest. Jake sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her and gently caressed her arm. “Whatcha thinking?”

“I actually don’t know, my brain is a jumble.”

“I have to tell you something. I’m enlisting as soon as I turn 18.”

“Jake your birthday is in September. You have to finish high school.”

“No Sam, I’m no good at school. This is what I want to do. This is what I have to do.” Sam stared blankly at him. He has said before he was going to enlist, but there was never a time frame; she always assumed he would enlist after graduation. She tried to hide the shock on her face. Jake smiled at her, and she tried to look calm.

“Douglass MacArthur said, “Whoever said the pen was mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.”” He said confidently. Sam managed to laugh. “Whatever you do, I’ll wait for you. Please don’t doubt that for a second, and please don’t try to talk me out of it. But you need to finish high school.” They stared at each other, but knowing the other would not budge. Jake put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest. After a while he said, “I’ll think about it.” They walked home silently hand in hand, and their kiss goodnight was brief. She tossed in her bed thinking, the summer was coming to a close, it was time for this to come to an end. Sam had figured this had been just a summer romance, just like in her novels. She never meant to fall in love, but she was sure that she had. She needed to be focused for school, but even the thought of it made her so despondent she couldn’t bare it. When the sun started to peak through her window she knew she couldn’t end it. That summer had passed quickly, but she knew it was the start of her real life.