Worth the Weight (2 page)

Over time, the girls’ critiques of the movies went from “isn’t he dreamy” to “the use of the wide angle lens by the director was really effective.” Although isn’t he dreamy never
really
went out of style. They had progressed from parents’ pick up and delivery service, to being old enough to walk on their own, to driving their parents’ cars, to driving their own.

Now they were back to walking across the bridge from Hancock to Houghton, but this time for the exercise. The Big Boy had long closed down, but Lizzie fully expected the Pavlovian
response of craving hot fudge the moment the credits rolled.

Except tonight
,
she
wasn't immersed in the movie. “He didn’t even know me. Not a flicker of recognition,” she said out loud, as much to herself as her friends.

“SSSHHHHH,” came a voice from behind them.

“My plan centers around him, and he has absolutely no idea who I am.” She could hear the dismay in her voice. She put her head in her hands slowly shaking it. Then she grabbed hold of herself, snapped her head up and concluded, “It may take a little longer than I thought, that’s all.”

“SSSHHH,” repeated the voice.

“Get a grip, Lizard, we’re being shushed,” Alison whispered. “I don’t think he even saw you, you were so quick getting your popcorn. We’ll figure it out at the Big Boy. I mean, wherever we go after here.”

Apparently Alison was still programmed
,
too. The thought cheered Lizzie.

Finn
looked up from the desk when he heard people leaving the theater. He was in the office going over how to fill out a time sheet with one of the new workers. As he heard the small crowd leaving, he quickly tried to wrap up his tutorial and get out to the lobby.

The three women had just passed the office. Another view from the back. It was a hell of a view, but not the one he wanted. Damn, he wouldn’t
get a chance to solve the mystery of from where he knew t
he women
. The Viking was telling a story and as she finished, the other two laughed.
He
froze at the sound of the dark-haired woman’s laugh.

He knew that laugh. Nothing dainty or feminine about it. Loud and boisterous, it came from the gut, full of heart.

He dashed out the doors trying to catch the women. “Elizabeth
?
Liz?” he yelled after them.

A few steps down the sidewalk, Lizzie turned to face
Finn
. Excitement buzzed through her. Triumph…he did remember her. Her excitement was quickly replaced by nerves.

Now what? Should she play games? Pretend she didn’t know him? No, she decided, it had to be honest or she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. Her plan was cold-blooded enough without bringing deceit into it as well.

“Hi,
Finn
. I thought that was you, but I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”

It felt surreal. Face to face with
Finn
Robbins after eighteen years. She moved closer to him and tried to take him in. His face, which in his youth had seemed chiseled, was now angular and hard, his blue eyes still deep and vivid
.
He stood right around six feet. Lizzie had always loved his height, it fit so perfectly with her own five nine. His then lanky build was now muscular. His hair, still close cropped and sandy brown, was sprinkled with sun streaks and just a touch of gray.

Even though it was only early June, and summer hadn’t even begun in the Copper Country, his neck and forearms were tanned a golden brown. He wore old jeans that looked like a pair any teen would wear, but Lizzie guessed the holes and stains weren’t placed there for fashion. Some brown substance splattered the front of his white shirt.

She couldn’t believe it
.
Eighteen years
later
and she was still drawn to him. Still wanted to touch him, wanted to place her hands on his chest, wrap her arms around his neck and press her body into his.

She
held out her hand
instead
.

“I didn’t see you when you first came in
.
It was hearing your laugh that tipped me off.”
He
shook
her
hand, but didn’t release it, just held it awkwardly, as if he couldn’t believe she was real. She felt the same way, and she’d known she was going to see him. He must really be surprised. Pleasantly, she hoped.

“God, Liz. I… I can’t believe it’s you,” the shock was evident in his voice. “You’re so…so…old.” His hand left hers as he covered his eyes, shaking his head. “I mean. I didn’t mean.”

He placed his hands on his hips and let out a deep sigh. “What I mean is, it’s been a long time, Liz. I guess I still think of you as
eigh
teen. But, here you are.” As if trying to put himself out of his misery, he finished, “It’s incredible to see you, Liz. You look beautiful.”

He should have seen her three years ago.
But that was then, and this is now. And right now
Finn
Robbins was telling her she looked beautiful.

Take it and run.

“God, it’s such a shock to see you. Did you move back to town?”

“No. I live in Detroit now, have for quite some time. I’m just home visiting.
Finn
, do you remember my friends Alison Jukur
i and Katie Maki, though Katie is
Lipton now.”

Finn
nodded to Katie and Alison and they nodded in response.

“And are you still Hampton, Liz?”

It took
her
a second to figure out what
Finn
was asking. “Oh, yes, still Hampton. I’m not married. And you?
”
She held her breath. She had known of one divorce, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t remarried somewhere along the line.
Finn
had never traveled in the same circles as she and her friends, so they wouldn’t necessarily have known if he had.

And Google came up woefully short on Finn Robbins searches over the years.

“Married and divorced, about, let’s see, seven years ago, I guess.”

So it had only been the once, she happily thought, and that had ended seven years ago. She mustered up her courage. She could do this. If she couldn’t ask out
Finn
Robbins, how on earth would she hold her own with someone like Davis Cummings? And that’s what this plan all boiled down to.

“Listen,
Finn
, we have to get going…but I’d love to get together sometime and catch up on what’s been happening with you. I’ll be in town for a couple of months, at most.” She added the last part so he wouldn’t feel like she was trying to start anything permanent with him. She also brought her hand to his and squeezed, just so he wouldn’t think her interest was only platonic.

“That’d be great, but I’m pretty swamped right now with berry season...”
Finn
didn't want to let her go. The shock of seeing her after all these years was wearing off and he now looked at her through new, older, eyes.

She was breathtaking, but he’
d always thought so. He wanted her, and if her body was sending the signals he thought it was, she wanted him too. He did some quick juggling of events in his head. He had a night off from the theater on Wednesday, but he’d have to do something about Annie. He’d figure that one out later, he wasn’t going to let Liz go without a firm date.

“How about dinner Wednesday?” he asked.

She stepped closer to him, her bountiful breasts nearly grazing his chest. She gave his hand another squeeze. Damn, he’d sure like to squeeze
m
ore than just her hand.

“
That sounds great
. Meet at the Commodore at 8?”

“I’ll see you then, Elizabeth.
”
He dragged out her name into four long syllables, just like he
used to, years ago. Only then, it would be a soft whisper, breathed close to her ear, prompting an answering sigh.
He
was the only person who ever called her Elizabeth. He mostly called her Liz, but he never called her Lizzie as everyone else did. He didn’t want to be just like everybody else to her.

She’d been
like nobody else to him.

He felt her shudder. He’d always had that effect on her. Back then, she’d been too innocent to know how to hide it. It was refreshing to see that she still couldn’t mask her attraction.

She smiled, placed a soft kiss on each of his cheeks then pulled away from him and returned to her friends. The women walked down the sidewalk toward the bridge. Leaving
Finn
staring after them. And counting the
hours
until Wednesday
night
.

“I did it! I did it!” Lizzie muttered to herself while the women walked home. The early summer was warmer than usual, a soft breeze drifting off the canal. It was warm enough for shorts and tee shirts, yet not muggy. It never got too humid in the Copper Country, the breezes off nearby Lake Superior saw to that. “If I’d known how easy it was to ask a man out, I’d have done it before.”

“That’s the first time you asked a man out?” Katie said incredulously.

“Oh, big talk, how many men have you asked out? You had boyfriends who came after you all through high school. Ron asked you out freshman year in college, and y
ou married him after graduation.
So, don’t be playing all Miss
Sex and The City
with me,”
she
good naturedly
shot back at Katie.

“What was with the cheek kissing? Very European,” Alison piped in.

“Milan, Paris, the Copper Country…we do it in all the chicest places,” Lizzie answered. “Honestly, I don’t know where that came from, I just…” She let the thought slide away.

“You just what?”

“I just…I needed to…I wanted to smell him, okay?” It came out sounding defensive, and she
quickly
continued, feeling the need to justify herself. “He always had this unique scent about him. I wouldn’t even call it a good scent. Not clean and fresh, but…I don’t know, he smelled of work, Brut, a little of horses, and what I assumed sex smelled like.”

“Oh, brother,” Alison said. “Brut? Are you kidding me? My dad used to wear Brut, and that was
thirty
years ago.”

Katie nodded her head, seeming to understand the intangible quality Lizzie was trying to describe.

“How about that ‘Liz you look so…so…old,’ God that was priceless,” Alison hooted.

Lizzie cringed. “Too much to hope for that you guys didn’t hear that, eh?”

Katie laughed. “Oh, we heard it alright. But don’t worry, we won’t bring it up if you don’t. Because if you look old, I guess that means…”

“Speak for yourself,” Alison said. All three laughed.

They walked on in silence, until Katie asked, “Lizzie, are you sure about this plan of yours? Are you sure it’s something you want to do? It’s so unlike you.”

Lizzie nodded her head. “Yes. I’m sure.” At her friends’ skeptical looks, she continued, “Look, I’ll be up front with him. I’m in town for a couple of months, I’d love to spend some time with him…” she paused wiggling her eyebrows, “
intimate
time with him. Then I’m gone. No strings, just a summer fling. Either he’s in or he’s out.”

“Or in and out, in and out,” Alison said, her voice a mocking sexual tone.

“If I’m lucky,” Lizzie said.

“But why
Finn
? You guys didn’t even date that long. I didn’t even remember his name when you called us last month with this plan of yours,” Katie said.

“You’re right, we didn’t date that long, it wasn’t all that serious, but…” She stopped for  a moment, gathering her thoughts. “You know how they say you don’t regret the things you did in life, you regret the things you didn’t do? Well, I regret not sleeping with
Finn
back then.”

“Why didn’t you? I mean, I know you were still a virgin, and you hadn’t planned on ‘doing it’ until college,” Katie said
, making air quotes.

“The life plan of Lizzie Hampton, I remember it well,” Alison teased.

A sad smile curled on Lizzie’s lips. “Funny how that life plan worked out. But, much as I was attracted to
Finn
, I was determined to stick to my plan back then. The irony is that he dumped me because I wouldn’t sleep with him, and I desperately wanted to.”

“The jerk,” Alison said.

“No, not really,” Lizzie went on. “I’m sure it was the real reason he dumped me, but the excuses he gave at the time were actually true.”

“Like?” Katie asked.

“Like I was going off to State in the fall. Like we came from totally different backgrounds. Like he didn’t want to get too serious because he wanted to leave town as soon as he could. ” She spoke of it clinically, like it had happened to someone else. In a way it had.
That girl
was a different person. “He was absolutely right, though he probably didn’t realize it at the time.”