Chapter 23: The Blue Room

Snow was falling over Lake Wallenpaupack when we got to the house.

It came down in slow flat flakes on the dock, and the water under it was dark grey.

Odette had left a note on the kitchen table, under a plate of cookies.

It said, Blue room. One bed. Don't touch the thermostat.

Geoffrey read it twice and set it down.

"She's a menace," he said.

"She's the best person I know."

"Both can be true."

We carried the bags upstairs.

The blue room had a window onto the lake and a bed with a quilt.

Through a half-open door was a bathroom with a claw-foot tub the size of a rowboat.

I put my bag on the floor and looked at the tub.

"Don't," Geoffrey said.

"I didn't say anything."

"You looked at it like a general."

"Run the water, Professor."

He ran the water.

While it filled, I lit the stub of a candle on the sink and turned off the light.

The room went gold and steamy.

I undressed in front of him, slowly, with the lake going dark behind the window.

He stood against the wall with his hands at his sides, and he watched.

He did not touch me until I stepped into the water.

Then I held out my hand.

"Come here."

He got in behind me, and the water sloshed over the rim, and I leaned back against his chest.

His arms came around me and held tight.

For a while we only breathed.

His mouth found the place where my neck met my shoulder, and the heat of it went all the way down.

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