#12 Magazines - Irisi

With Lyle's help we made short work of the set up. Within no time we had the pit lined with rocks we brought from the side of the house. We even found an old wheelbarrow to make it easier and on the way back to the house Lyle let me sit in the base while she pushed me - I only fell out once.

Tony came soon after and drove his truck across the grass to unload a mountain of wood. It was close to eight-thirty when Grace, Dania, and Evelyn arrived at the greenspace carrying a fold up table and trays stacked with s'more supplies. Thank god too because no sooner had they arrived than guests started to pour onto the moonlit field ready for treats and a chance to sit by the fire.

By ten almost half the town had arrived, all of which Grace knew intimately as she launched herself into social butterfly mode - not that she was ever out of it. I watched her flit from group to group as I relaxed with Lyle at the s'more stand. The card table overflowed with treats that Evelyn and Dania restocked more than twice - maybe we would finally start making a dent in our survivalist accumulation of Hershey's bars.

Tony watched the fire with a close eye and added wood as needed, preventing the flames from coming more than a few feet above the rocks. He sat on a folding chair like the other guests busy roasting marshmallows, an empty one next to him for Grace who would eventually come to conduct her socializing from the comfort of the fireside.

Lyle seemed to be enjoying herself. At first I was honestly worried the situation would be terribly awkward. Was she expecting me to play hostess? We'd barely spent more than ten consecutive minutes together as I was constantly called away to grab something from the house or introduce myself to someone I was expected to know. But Lyle found her own work. I noticed her playing a game of bags with a group of seven year olds and roasting marshmallows for some of the senior citizens who visited from the nursing home.

Two hours in I made my way back. Standing behind the slim card table was like a visual time out. It wasn't necessary for me to be there of course, people knew how to make s'mores and they sure didn't need me handling all of the ingredients for them. It was more to make contact, a friendly face Grace explained. Odds were that everyone at the bonfire would want a s'more at one point or another and that was our chance to solidify the connection of the B&B with the event.

"I think I may have overdone it."

I swiveled my feet on the grass tearing some of the roots as I did, I was already too tired to take an actual step. Lyle grinned holding the metal poker with two charred, what I assumed used to be marshmallows. Her hair was pulled back - probably from an intense game of bags - and she motioned toward the table with the poker.

"I usually like mine rare," I deadpanned grabbing two graham crackers and a bit of chocolate to use as tongs, removing the first crisp marshmallow. "But I'll give it a shot."

"It's the thought that counts." She shrugged as I repeated the action to the second slightly less burned one.

"Oh god." I tried to hold back a fit of laughter as I bit into the sandwich. "How long did you leave this in the fire?" I was thankful I'd only taken a small bite of the corner, the gooeyness was virtually nonexistent as it'd been charred to the core. I stole another piece of graham cracker from the table to mute the taste of ash it left in my mouth.

Lyle mumbled something incoherent in response and I noticed she'd chowed down on half of the burnt mess. I cupped my hand to my ear only to be met with a loud cough before she uttered a response.

"It's not that bad." She choked out.

I couldn't help but laugh as she patted her chest a few times and stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Your right you could've burnt the graham cracker too."

Lyle rolled her eyes and underhanded the burnt meal into the flames less than ten feet away.

"Nice shot." A high pitched voice commented.

I suppressed my quiet laughter and looked down to see Nora and her twin William waiting patiently at the head of the table. Although they were seconds apart Nora stood half a head taller than her brother allowing him space to hide behind her. He peaked around his sisters shoulder timidly locking eyes with Lyle before shrinking back behind Nora.

I exchanged a knowing glance with Lyle appreciating his shyness. Lyle waved politely causing William to turn a shade of red that was visible even in the dark hour. Nora, clearly amused by the entire situation and the fact that now she had something to hold over him for the next month or so until another girl came along.

I handed Nora the food and pokers which she passed over her shoulder to William. He held the tonged sticks straight up so that only the two pronged metal was visible just above Nora's head. She looked like a tiny devil in the moonlight and I had to bite back a comment at the twins unintentional placement.

Much to William's thanks Nora stayed off the subject of his earlier tree collision, but still couldn't resist prolonging her brother's embarrassment just a tiny bit more.

She began, mustering what she imagined to be her most mature voice. "What brings you to White Pine?" Her question was directed more at Lyle than I.

"This and that, what brings you two?" Lyle dodged the question expertly.

Nora was unphased as her chirpy voice continued. "Our parents, we pretty much go wherever they go. Do you have a boyfriend?"

I admired Nora and her privilege as a child which allowed her to ask questions so bluntly without warranting an annoyed or offended reprimands. I wasn't entirely jealous though. A pang of dread hit my gut and spread through my organs.

A boyfriend.

I cringed involuntarily as I imagined how embarrassed I would've felt if she'd answered the door yesterday. Of course she had a significant other, why wouldn't she? She was easy going, funny, beautiful and sure a little aloof but that didn't stop me from being attracted to her – would it be the same for others?

"Nope do you?" Her answer left her mouth crisply and I swore for just a second her eyes flitted to look at me.

I fiddled with the individual chocolate bars, pretending not to listen to their very 'adult' conversation. I felt silly for the way my pulse quickened at the subject. And even more silly as a satisfied smile spread to my face.

Nora snuck of bit of candy before answering, then lowered her voice as if she was sharing a secret that was only to be between us girls - and her brother who hid behind her. "I've got my eyes on a few but I am playing hard to get. That's what my magazines say to do."

"I never read those magazines."

"Maybe that's why you don't have a boyfriend."

Lyle bit back a laugh. "I don't think that's the issue."

"I'll loan you one of mine sometime, how long are you staying?" Nora posed innocently with a mouthful of candy causing her words to come out with a thick indistinguishable accent.

"A few days."

"You don't know what you're doing or how long you're staying?" Puzzled Nora scrunched her eyebrows down over her large blue eyes.

In my mind I was jumping up and down. Nora was voicing the exact sentiment I'd felt for the last two and a half days. I waited for her to react in the same way I had, possibly a child's scorn could force Lyle's hand.

Instead she let out a cheerful shriek throwing her hands in the air. The wrapper to her Hershey's bar inadvertently flew out at the same time and I watched as it floated to the ground.

"That sounds like soooooo much fun. My parents have everything planned down to the second." She gushed as she looked expectantly at Lyle as if she were some type of angel who descended at Nora's call.

Just then William snapped his head back to look in the direction of the bonfire.

"Nora," He tugged on his twins dark purple fleece jacket. "Mom and Dad are calling us."

She ignored him keeping her focus on Lyle.

"You're cool miss Lyle. I like you almost as much as my brother likes you." She declared, then turning to William who immediately turned a shade of red they trotted to the other side of the fire pit where their parents sat comfortably close to the flames.

Lyle smiled smugly.

"What am I chop liver?" I grumbled throwing my hands in the air in exasperation.

Lyle scratched the back of her neck in humble amusement. "You really do need to work on your branding."

I threw a piece of cracker at her but couldn't help but laugh as she played off my own smart ass remark.

Was it odd that Nora found it cool that Lyle was so mysteriously unattached and I found it so curious? I watched as Lyle greeted a family of five, giving special attention to the kids who couldn't have been more than eight, slipping in a piece of extra chocolate for the youngest.

After her conversation with Nora she seemed so normal - not that I'd thought there was something wrong with her - just something missing. It was as if I was seeing her up close. I didn't feel removed from her in anyway as I watched the interaction play out with Nora's innocent curiosity.

Nothing out of the ordinary, maybe I truly was blowing out of proportion.

"They were cute." Lyle commented after the family left.

"Yea, I think they're from town. I see them at the farmers markets occasionally." I absently mindedly tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

Nora's comment left me feeling increasingly self conscious and I found myself nervously fidgeting with my bun, undoubtedly making the messy do even more chaotic. I, of course, had been flirting with Lyle intentionally and I felt that she'd been flirting back. But what was I expecting to come of it? Yes I was attracted to her and yes my interest in her was intoxicating but she was passing through.

I took a deep breath, so what? I'd always been the person to act now and ask question later, or more specifically ask questions while I was doing the possibly inane action. What was the point of having dreams or curiosities if you weren't prepared to take risks for them?

"I wouldn't joke about taking Nora up on her magazine offer, I've seen the girls collection. She knows what she's talking about." I tried to calm my hands and eventually set the awkwardly to my sides.

"She did seem pretty serious about finding me a man. I'll have to break the news to her that I am not in the market." She winked at me and I felt my stomach swell with butterflies.

For once I was speechless. Was I reading too much into her comment? Bu she winked right at me.

Lyle didn't follow her statement up with anything. A satisfied grin rested on her face as she took in my unfiltered reaction. I could only imagine what my muted sputtering's looked like. She had meant her comment intentionally, to get a reaction. Was that the reaction she was looking? Was she looking to confirm something?

I wanted to turn away, to break our eye contact, but I couldn't.

She interested me, which I'm sure sounds oddly scientific as if I was studying her - that was a mutual trait anyhow. But I suppose people say that sort of thing on dating sites too, they want someone who 'interests them', not a bland persona.

Lyle was anything but.

We took in the moment of silence which neither of us found awkward, but rather necessary as we studied each other, weighing our next move. Her light green eyes were more profound in the dark and I wondered what the world looked like through them.

The moment was short lived.

I uttered an expletive a little louder than I should've as an object flew across the sky drawing both our attention away from each other. We watched as it flew over our heads and land inside the tree line past Grace and Tony's cabin.

"Was that a UFO?" I shouted a bit too enthusiastically. I swiveled my head in the direction it'd come from and did a double take. A herd of children rushed toward us, their eyes intently set on the tree line. I braced the table for impact when they came to a halt centimeters from the edge, a few bumping into it knocking some candy over the edge. To their credit it didn't go to waste and was greedily snatched from the ground and pocketed.

"Miss May," A girl in the front of the pack of ten or so kids spoke up. I recognized her from our breakfasts and knew her name to be Cindy - or maybe Sandy. She was around nine years old, with wispy red hair that fell in loose curls around her freckled face. Her voice was lower than the other girls her age and thick with a southern accent that mirrored her Georgian parents. Placing her hands on her hips she puffed her chest out as she stood in the middle of the huddle of children.

"Our frisbee flew over there, can you get it? Miss Grace said we can't go beyond the tree line on account of there being foxes. I think she's making it up, but could you go check for us anyhow." Her chubby finger pointed a line directly between Lyle and I. We peeked over our shoulders toward the dark wall of foliage.

"No problem." Lyle answered for me, popping a candy bar into her mouth.

"Be careful ... just in case there are some foxes out." She warned wringing her hands nervously at her side. The kids behind her nodded in agreement and exchanged worried glances with each other.

Apparently Grace had put the fear in them, I just hoped they didn't have nightmares.

-

It's October for me and I am in the mood for a good old fashion bonfire!!

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