Bruce ran his boat to the edge of the bay, to the little inlet where the sea and the quiet inner waters joined. The waves rocked the little boat gently, the air was cool and the night star-studded.
“We better do something or I’ll fall asleep,” Gale declared. “It is too peaceful here. Isn’t the moonlight glorious?”
“Mmm.” Bruce started the motor.
“Let’s go to the island,” Gale proposed. “We will officially open it for the summer.”
The prow of the boat cut through the water like a giant knife sending a light spray back over the two occupants. Twice Bruce circled the bay, the thrill of speed and wind exciting them. Finally he drew up to the island and they went ashore.
Quite a while passed as they strolled along the beach. They sat for a time on a box that had been washed up on the shore by the waves and watched clouds slowly darken the moon. Wind whispered with increasing volume in the tops of the trees, occasionally an owl hooted from his post in the darkness.
Gale sighed audibly and thought of Brent far away in Washington. It was on such a night as this they had gone strolling in the garden at the Country Club. There would never be another night as wonderful as that, she was sure. If only Brent wasn’t so far away!
From Brent her thoughts went again to the college days that were so close. Only a little more than two months and she would be taking the train for Briarhurst. She had always dreamed of college some day, but it seemed unbelievable that those days should actually be here.
“We better go back, Gale, it looks like a storm,” Bruce’s voice recalled her to the present.
The moon was darkly hidden. Trees were swaying with the wind of a sudden approaching storm. In the east thunder rumbled heavily; a flash of lightning illuminated the dark waters of the bay.