Northern Proposals Read Free

the boat is fun. Jon has it rigged for swimming, partying and fishing. He thought about it a long time before he rebuilt it. He keeps two large coolers up there with wheels. You can roll them all the way from the cabin down onto the boat and into a cubby underneath two of the benches. There are spots everywhere for putting your drinks. He built a platform that folds up against the side of the boat most of the time, but you can lower it, and when lowered, it sits right at water level for climbing back onto the boat. It's great."
    She talked for a while about making s'mores and listening to the loons.
    We continued to talk as we drove up Highway 169, eventually reaching Lake Mille Lacs, a large lake that can be considered the gateway to lakes country in northern Minnesota. We talked about family; mine was all still in Iowa. Hers was all local. We talked about friends and our social lives.
    "Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked me at one point.
    "No. I did, but after a while all he wanted to do was play his computer game, some online game. I would come over to his place, dressed a lot like you are now, and instead of paying attention to me, he'd play his game."
    "Did you ever play with him?"
    "No."
    "I had a girl friend who was a gamer," Jessica told me. "She had all these online friends, all undersexed boys, and when we would voice chat while gaming, you could practically hear them drooling."
    I laughed. "So you play computer games?"
    "I did with her. It was fun, but not something I could obsess over. She was into it a lot more than I was. She went to conventions and would dress up for them. She was very popular."
    "I bet that's why she did it."
    "Partly. She did like the games, but she liked the attention more. She didn't get much of it in high school. Even I found it was flattering, and some of the guys were kind of cute, if guys are your type." She paused. "Hang on, need to make this turn."
    We had reached the northern end of Lake Mille Lacs, driving up the west side of the lake. She pulled into the left turn lane, waited for an opening, and made the turn. "How about a quick stop?" she suggested.
    "Sure."
    We pulled into a full service station, and she drove to the pumps. "We don't need gas, but I may as well fill up anyway." We climbed out. She began pumping the gas then switched to cleaning the windshield. I watched and talked to her.
    Right then I decided something: I liked her. Not wanting to have sex with her sort of like, but just liked her. And admired her. She was dead sexy, I had to admit, especially the way she was dressed, but she wasn't paying attention to anyone else while she was taking care of her car. I wasn't sure what that meant, but it gave me something to think about. Plus she didn't act like she needed someone to take care of her. I liked that about her. She exuded an aura of quiet competence, I guess.
    She paid for the gas at the pump but then headed towards the store, giving me a playful little bump as she stepped past me. "Salt," she said. "And maybe some empty calories. Calories don't count this weekend."
    "Yeah, right," I told her. "You don't keep that figure with that attitude."
    "I'm going for a ten mile run in the morning," she said. "Will you join me?"
    "Ten miles? Seriously?" She nodded. "You know, I'd like to go with you, but I don't know if I can keep up, and ten miles might be more than I would like."
    We stepped into the convenience store. We each found some salt, some empty calories, and things to drink. When we got to the register, Jessica took everything I was holding and paid for it.
    "I should have paid for that," I told her when we stepped outside. "You're paying for everything else."
    "I promised you a no-expenses weekend," she said, smiling at me.
    "But-"
    "I'm happy you're here, Jade." She put an arm around me and hugged me, shoulder to shoulder. Then she held my car door for me again. Most of the guys I dated didn't open my car door, but she did. It was nice.
    She got us on the road