Bear Flesh Delights

Chapter 2

Amelia was wearing a one-piece, pale blue swimsuit with a matching robe and water socks. She had her long, golden curls pulled back into a ponytail that hung neatly down her back to just past her shoulder blades. And, she was feeling as self-conscious as possible about it. It was nine-thirty in the morning, and she was standing frozen near her front door despite her best efforts to force herself to step outside.

“This is so stupid,” she muttered with a shake of her head. “Just do it, already!”

With one foot at a time and a lot of effort, she managed to step out the door. Her heart pounded violently at the thought that her mother would turn over in her grave if she saw what she had on, but she reminded herself that she was a grown woman and she wanted a man. She surely wasn’t likely to get noticed wearing knee length bloomers and a floppy shirt that practically covered her arms.

She walked briskly down the path, intent on reaching the water and diving in before anybody caught sight of her shapely legs or her nicely-rounded backside. For a moment she could hear her father’s voice at the back of her head joining her mother in calling her Jezebel, but she pushed all of that out and replaced it with positive affirmations instead.

I look awesome. I look beautiful. I might meet the man of my dreams today!

The man of her dreams? What did that look like, exactly? Well, somebody who wanted to have s*x with her sounded like a good start. It was only natural she wanted that since her libido had kicked into overdrive recently. Now that she realized she was completely single and she had no other obligations right this moment other than to herself. And it was about time, too, her body screamed in reply.

Coming out of her reverie as she walked along a dirt path that eventually sloped down to the beach below, Amelia became aware of the songbirds flittering about in the trees, squirrels and rabbits scurrying from her path, and the rather large tree that dominated a huge portion of the forest beyond. It had a skull and crossbones spray-painted onto it along with the words ‘keep out’.

“No problem,” she commented dryly as she skirted past and continued on her way. The place gave her the creeps, making her feel like someone was watching her, and she checked more than once to make sure she was still alone. Still just her and forest creatures. No nefarious men exuding with bad intent. She was just being paranoid.

As she broke free of the trees Amelia could see the vast expanse of water that was Moosehead Lake before her, sparkling blue in the light of the morning sun. Up here in the area known as the Birch Street cabins, there were twenty homes that lined the water itself, and about just as many more which ranged the other side of the road. Her cabin was one of the latter.

She skimmed the beach with her eyes, seeing about a hundred people there. She finally spotted Judy and four other women who looked almost identical to her. They were all standing around by a dock where a big sailboat was currently moored. Its sails were currently tied shut, waiting for them to board.

Dutifully Amelia picked her way across the beach and went to join them, plastering a big smile on her face. She carefully avoided all the other people on the beach as she went, blushing whenever she made eye contact with any of them. She chastised herself for it as she did so, but she still couldn’t seem to convince her brain she was there to be sociable. Maybe she really should just stick to writing the book if this was how it was going to be.

“Oh my, Judy, you’re right,” said one of the women who stood waiting with her. “She is quite pretty. I wonder if any of these men will notice us at all with her around.”

Amelia blushed again as she stopped in front of them. She asked, “What is it with your family and talking about finding men, anyway? Is that all your trip here is about?”

“Pretty much,” said yet another one of them with a chuckle. “Hi, I’m Annie.”

“Amelia Friar,” she replied, shaking her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Judy said, “These are my sisters and mother, Annie, Kathy, Mary and Ashley.”

“Wait, one of these women is you mother?” Amelia asked, looking each of them over curiously but unable to spot the older one. “I have no idea which of you it is.”

“It’s me,” said Annie with a chuckle. “Can you believe I’m actually forty-seven?”

“No way! You don’t look a day over thirty!” Amelia grinned. “And anyway, I think with all you brunettes around, a blonde like me probably won’t get any attention at all. Guess that plan is dead in the water.”

“What plan?” asked Annie with interest.

“Well, based on everything she’s told me about herself and her dating life, I’ve determined that poor Amelia’s practically a virgin!” Judy chuckled. “Plus, the last guy she was dating didn’t even know she thought they were a couple at all, if you can believe that! So, she and I have decided it’s high time she learned to live a little. Right, Amelia?”

“Uh, yeah,” she agreed shyly. “I did kind of rent the cabin with the idea of meeting somebody special in mind. My last year working as a teacher at a private school was terrible, and I really want a change. It’s so beautiful out here, too. I wish I could afford to stay a lot longer. Of course eventually I’ll have to go back where the jobs are, since I doubt there’s one around here that would pay enough.”

“Wow, it’s so hard to believe you’re single, looking at you,” said Annie. “You’re just such a cute girl. Well, in any case, we’ve rented this boat and eventually we’re going to have to take it back to town to drop it off after we’ve had our fun. Maybe we could grab something to eat in Greenville before heading back. I personally will have to drive the car back, but you girls could easily walk home. You’re bound to see somebody interesting on the way back if you do.”

“So, you girls just walk up the road checking out guys all along the way or something? Why do you make it sound like I’d be looking almost the same as a grocery display?” Amelia chuckled.

“In a way, you are,” Annie laughed. “This place is crawling with hunky guys if you know where to look for them. They mostly do things just outside their cabins and hope to see women walk by, too. It’s kind of like a game around here that the young people play. You get to see them all day every day if you want to, so you should be able to take your pick.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say ‘crawling’, Mother dear,” Judy corrected her with a little frown. “There’s barely even a thousand guys in the entire area. At least, not local ones. And who wants to hook up with some tourist, when they won’t be around long enough to make it worth the time? No, it’s the permanent residents you’re going to want to ogle, Amelia, especially if you’re hoping to stay.”

“Wow, you really have done some homework, haven’t you?” Amelia laughed. “What more could a school teacher ask for? Well, other than a school, of course.”

“You have to understand, Amelia, we’ve been coming here every year since I was four,” Judy explained. “It’s only natural that I would have picked up a lot of details in that amount of time.”

“Well, enough about this topic for now,” said Annie then. “How about we get into this boat, hit the middle of the pond, and dive off the end?”

“Now that’s one thing I can do,” Amelia grinned.

They spent the greater part of the afternoon playing in the water, and eventually sailed the boat south and checked it back in at a little marina just outside of town. Amelia got her first look at the little town of Greenville as they stopped off in a small restaurant and ordered a meal.