Part of her thought she should be splashing back in alarm, but most of her just gave in to Seth as he cradled her gently and smiled down at her, like the archangel Michael carrying a lost child. Instinctively she brought both of her hands up and laced them around Seth's neck. He lightly kissed her, pulling his neck back to look into her eyes some more.
"I've missed you," he said. "You have no idea how much I've looked forward to coming to see you."
"I'm glad you're here," Linda said softly.
Some younger teenagers who were tossing a ball made a splash that distracted them. Linda was almost grateful, and took the opportunity to lighten up the situation. "So when did you cut your hair?"
"Just a few weeks ago," he replied. "It was getting straggly and looking like shit. Nowadays the only guys who have long hair are rednecks. Or queer. And I ain't either one." They stayed in the water only a few minutes longer. When they strode onto the beach to find their towels and eat their picnic lunch, Linda searched her mind for something meaningful to say.
"Do you have any girlfriends in Cincinnati?" she asked, wincing as the words came out of her mouth, since they seemed too blunt. Yet, she remembered him carrying Jeannie on his shoulders during the concert.
"No," he said after swallowing a bite of a salami and ham sandwich. "I don't have time for one, really."
"Don't you ever meet anyone? Like through your job."
Seth laughed. "How many women do you think come through a motorcycle shop?"
"Not many," she said.
"What about you? How many guys do you have stashed away?"
Linda's turn to laugh: "None."
After they'd had their fill of sandwiches, potato chips and soda, neither of them wanted to go into the water again. The scenery of the gaggles of people splashing about in the lake, the large brown sign, and the feeling that her skin was on fire wore on Linda after awhile. It was only one o'clock, yet it already seemed as though they'd spent a whole day together. "Do I look like I'm getting red?" Linda asked, turning to show Seth her upper back and shoulder.
Seth took a moment to study her skin. "No. I don't think so. Don't you want to get sun? Get tan?"
"No, I've got too much of my mother's side of the family in me. She's German and Danish. You can't get any more white than that."