Janie and Lars on your mind and I’ve been rattling on about them. What’s up with Dirk?”
“I’m pretty sure he can barely read and write.”
Very little shocked Bull, but this definitely took him by surprise. “You mean he’s illiterate?”
“I think he’s semiliterate, maybe at a second- or third-grade level. At least, what would’ve been third-grade level when you and I were in school.”
“How’d this come up?” Bull suddenly looked old and rather weary and Merrilee realized they weren’t spring chickens anymore. “He say something to you?”
“No. He wouldn’t. And I think he’s done a great job of compensating and hiding it over the years. But I was helping him write an email, which is another story, and it was pretty apparent.”
“Hmm.”
“I know you tell me to mind my own business most of the time.”
“Which you ignore most of the time. But this is one time you shouldn’t.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. I’m just not sure how to approach it because there are self-esteem issues involved. I think it needs to come from you.”
“I’m thinking we should both sit down with him. But we need to have a game plan in place to present to him as an option.”
“Okay.” Merrilee could pull together a plan. She was good at that.
“Do you think Liam or Tansy know?” Bull continued. “They both work with him.”
“I don’t think they have a clue. It’s not anything either of them would ignore.” Merrilee gave way to the component that had made her angry ever since she’d recognized Dirk’s handicap last night. “Damn, his mom was a teacher, for crying out loud. How did Laurie not notice?”
How did a mother who taught English for a living not realize her son was practically illiterate?
“Probably because Dirk was always more interested in outdoor stuff—hunting or riding a four-wheeler and skipping school. I think she finally threw her hands up and let him do what he wanted to do.”
Merrilee wanted to cry for Dirk. “Yeah, you’d skip school, too, if you couldn’t read at the same level everyone else in your class could.”
“On top of it all, he’s always been awkwardly bigger than everyone else,” Bull said. And yeah, that would just make not reading all the worse. “Maybe it’d be best coming from Lars. They’ve always been close.”
“I don’t know. He’s going to know it came from me. That’s at least three of us who will know his secret.”
“Things become overwhelming when you keep a secret bottled up. Not that he needs to take an ad out in the paper, but I think it might actually be a relief to him if he’s aware that the three of us know.”
“You’re a good man, Bull Swenson.”
“I know.” She swatted playfully at him. “I’m one lucky son of a bitch.”
12
SHE SHOULD GET UP. She should do something. Instead she just lay there after Lars left, luxuriating in feeling so good.
The sheets, rumpled beneath her cheek and the rest of her body, bore his scent, while the air smelled like sex. And what sex! It had been intense, fun, naughty with people right outside the door...and incredibly satisfying.
She smiled into the pillow. This must be what a crack addict felt like. Because as good as it had been, she wanted it again. He was just a man, but what a man he was!
Lars had looked at her as if she was off her rocker when she thanked him, but he had no idea what he’d given her. She laughed and stretched, enjoying the soreness between her legs. While the back-to-back orgasms had been truly noteworthy and fantastic, he’d given her something better still. He’d helped her find something she hadn’t known she’d lost.
He’d restored her sexual sense of self. Heck, he hadn’t just restored it, he’d uncovered a depth to it unknown to her until now. It was as if her sexuality had roared back to life and was running rampant.
She was faintly horrified when she realized she’d just been intimate with lake water dried on her. She wasn’t germaphobic, but as a nurse she was cognizant of good hygiene. That roused her out of bed.
The original plan had been that she’d arrive on Friday afternoon and have the weekend to unpack and set up her cabin. But since she wouldn’t be in that cabin until later in the week, her day was wide open.
She knew firsthand that the other guests were out on a fishing trip. It was the perfect time and opportunity to relax in the claw-foot tub next