Chapter 7

Sunday

The Cabin

Harm and Mac woke early refreshed and ready to start a new day. They showered and then sat at the kitchen table eating cereal and toast for breakfast.

"Remember, today is that carnival. Do you still want to go?" Harm asked.

"Yeah, can we make it a little later on? What do you think about going at around lunchtime? I want to make sure I get my sausage hero."

Harm looked up from his cereal. "How do you know what they're going to have to eat?"

Mac shrugged. "It's standard fare at carnivals, Harm. That and cotton candy, candy apples, funnel cakes." She smiled at the thought. "I get excited just thinking about it."

"I get excited when you get excited. Lunchtime it is."

Mac stood up and crossed to the sink to clear her dishes. "I thought I'd sit out on the lounge chair for a while, read a little."

Harm got up and handed her his bowl and spoon. "Whatever you want Mac, it's your weekend. I serve at your pleasure." He said as he made a sweeping bow.

She laughed. "You are so good to me. I could get used to this."

He smiled. "It gives me pleasure to make you happy."

Mac looked up at him and sobered. "You know, I feel badly about shutting you down last night. It must have been important. Do you still want to talk?"

"I respect your wishes, Mac. It was nothing earth shattering, but you were right. It can wait."

She reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Are you sure?"

He squeezed her hand. "I'm sure. Don't worry about it." He leaned over to give her a lingering kiss, then grabbed his keys off the counter and started toward the door. "I'm going to get a paper, I'll be right back."

"Okay, bye." She called over her shoulder. She finished the dishes and went to change into her bathing suit, might as well work on her tan while she's out there.

Harm pulled up to the cabin and Mac looked up from her book. He had been gone for a long time. He exited the car with his paper. "Hey, I was beginning to worry about you."

"Oh, I got caught up talking with some of the local people in town. They sure are friendly around here." He said as he walked past her toward the cabin, stopped and turned. "Do you want anything while I'm inside?"

She looked down at her glass of water. "I could use some more ice." She called over her shoulder.

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Harm entered the cabin quickly. He hadn't really been gone for so long because he was talking. He had gone to the local store to pick up the paper, but then remembered their little talk about the bubble bath. He thought about that again. Oh, so what if it makes a mess. Would you pass up a chance to see Mac in the bathtub again? Nope. I may be slow but I'm not stupid, he thought with a smile. I'm going to indulge every fantasy she has, even if I die trying.

Well, the local store didn't have any bubble bath, so he had been given directions to another store, and of course he got lost, he had to stop twice to ask for more directions. He did finally get some, along with some small votive candles and a lighter. He shook his head, the things he was willing to do to see Mac surrounded by bubbles, but it was worth it.

Not wanting to get caught, he ran to the bathroom with the bag containing the bubble bath and candles wrapped up in the newspaper and hid it under the sink. He was pretty sure Mac wouldn't look under there again.

Harm hadn't asked how many she wanted, so he went to the freezer and grabbed a handful of ice, and headed back outside. Mac was laying flat on her stomach with her head hanging over the edge with the book open face up on the ground. That's a weird way to read a book, he thought, until he got closer and realized it was probably because her bikini top was untied.

"How many?" He asked while perusing her from her head to her toes.

"A couple." He dropped two cubes into her glass. "Thanks."

Standing there, Harm thought he should probably give Mac some space; he didn't want to crowd her. But it was too stuffy inside and the only other place to go was right here, so he dismissed the thought. He could see that Mac was engrossed in her novel.

Harm sat down on the lounge next to hers and set the remaining cubes down on the grass. He pulled the newspaper from under his arm, unfolded it and started to read. It didn't take long for him to get bored....or was it distracted? He never had trouble concentrating before, but with Mac lying next to him there like that, he was finding it hard to remain focused. After about ten minutes and many sideways glances at Mac, Harm came to realize that he had read the same paragraph over about ten times. He shook his head and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Mac asked.

"Nothing, just the article I'm reading." Or not reading, he thought to himself.

"Mmmm."

Deciding to try and read something else, Harm turned the page and picked out a different article, but it was no use. He looked around. It was too quiet, much too quiet. And Mac looked like she wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Hmmm....what to do, what to do.

He looked down to see that the cluster of ice cubes hadn't melted completely yet, and an idea formed. No, I shouldn't, he thought. He looked back at the paper, glanced back at Mac, then down at the ice. Ah, what the heck.

Harm put the paper down quietly, then sat up and hung his legs over the side of the lounge. He leaned to pick up the ice cubes and broke a section off with a small snap. He quickly looked up and was relieved to see that Mac hadn't moved except to turn the page.

Ice in hand, Harm quickly put it on the small of her back and ran it all the way up her spine before she had time to react.

"What the...." Mac pushed herself up, but remembered that her bikini top was untied. She covered herself quickly, looking around to make sure no one saw her. She stared at him, her mouth open. "You did that on purpose."

"Sorry, you looked hot, I was just trying to cool you off a little." He said sheepishly, but not really feeling it. Inside he was smirking.

"You're not sorry, I can see it in your eyes. Cool me off, my foot. Come over here and tie me, please."

Harm stood, walked over and bent to tie her straps, allowing Mac to sit up. With lightening speed, she tackled him. He landed on his back, almost knocking the wind out of him. Before he knew it, Mac was straddling him and had pinned his arms above his head.

"Come on Mac, have a sense of humor. There's no one around. I checked first. I just wanted to see your....." The words were out of his mouth before he realized his mistake.

She clamped her hand over his mouth, her face inches from his. "Hah. This was premeditated, you just admitted it yourself."

Harm looked into her eyes. "I was bored. I've got nothing to do." He admitted as he brought his head up to kiss her, but she pulled back.

"I thought you were reading."

He asked for her understanding. "If you were me and you were wearing that, would you be able to read?"

A small smirk fought its way to her lips. "You are such a.....a.....boy. Your poor mother, you must have been a little terror growing up. What are you going to do next, pull my pigtails?"

"If you had pigtails, I'd think about it." He said with a wide grin.

Mac shook her head and giggled. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm sure I'll like it." He said and tried again for that kiss. This time she let him.

"Come on, let's go to the carnival."

They found the carnival without any problems, paid the entrance fee and hand their hands stamped. It was a pretty small affair, but there were plenty of games to play, rides, and food to eat, and they even had a little petting zoo for the kids.

Mac dragged Harm under the tent and bought some food in little Dixie cups for a quarter apiece to feed the little baby animals. "Aww, look at the little piglets! They're so cute." She said as they made their way around the tent. She was so adorable, Harm thought inwardly as Mac delighted in pointing out the animals to him, as if he hadn't seen one before. He hadn't seen her this happy in a long time, it was so good to see her like this.

Mac got some hand sanitizer on the way out and cleaned her hands. They made their way in a circle around the carnival, playing some of the games along the way.

"Oooh, Harm, I want you to win me one of those." Mac was tugging on his arm and pointing to a giant bear that was hanging inside the tent.

"Have you ever known anyone who could win one of those things, Mac? They make it practically impossible, you know."

"I could do it." Mac taunted.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If you want it to be." She replied.

Not one to back away from a challenge, Harm grabbed a roll of quarters from his pocket and snapped it in half, giving one to Mac. "Here. Knock yourself out."

This game was one that Harm had never seen before, so he was at a disadvantage, because Mac knew just how to play this one. Of course, she didn't tell him that.

In this game there were a bunch of bears on the ground, lined up in a circle, and directly behind each of them, a large glass plate stood on a pedestal. It was easy enough, the attendant told them, all you had to do was toss a quarter on the plate and get it to stay there, and you win. He gave them a demonstration and each time, he got it to stay.

So Harm shrugged and thought, okay, this looks easy. Trying different ways to pitch the quarter, he used all of his up in about 30 seconds. Well, so much for that. He looked across the tent to see how Mac was doing, she hadn't hit anything either, but she still had several quarters left.

Harm made his way over, and the next thing he heard was "We have a winner, folks." He looked to see Mac clapping her hands with a big smile on her face. She saw Harm and grabbed his hand. "Hey, I won! Which one do you think I should get?" Harm looked at the plate, and sure enough, the quarter was perched on top.

"How did you do that?" He wondered out loud.

Mac giggled, "Told you it was easy." She nodded to the attendant, "I'll take that one there." She pointed to the panda bear.

Harm eyed her. "You've done this before."

"Maybe." She relented. The attendant reached bear out to her, but she pointed to Harm. "He'll carry it for me, thanks."

They walked away, Harm propping the bear on his hip with his arm around it. "You're not going to tell me how you did that, are you?" he asked.

While they continued walking, Mac looped her arm in his. "Nope."

They came upon another game and Harm steered them over. Now this was a game he thought he could win. "Let's try this one."

"Okay."

This was a shooting game where the object is to completely shoot out a little red star imprinted on a small square of paper with a limited amount of ammunition. No red may show in order to win. Harm paid the attendant for both of them. They each got into position, held up their guns, then aimed and fired.

Harm came out the winner on that one. Mac had just enough red showing that knocked her out of the game. "Nice shooting, Harm." She said, bringing her arms around his waist in a hug. He picked out a big teddy bear with a red bow and a big red heart on its chest, and handed it to Mac.

She accepted it with a warm smile. "That is so sweet. You've got a big heart too, you know that?" She said as she pulled him into a tight hug. "That is, when you're not trying to pull my pigtails."

Harm chuckled at that and returned her hug, then picked up the other bear and they continued their tour of the carnival. They went on several rides, then came upon the Ferris wheel. Mac had left her stomach at the last ride, she thought, so the Ferris wheel was a nice reprieve. "Let's do this one."

They left their bears with the attendant and got on and strapped themselves in. Then they inched slowly up to the top while the other riders got on. "I can't wait to get to the top." Mac said.

"Why, what's at the top?" Harm asked.

She gave him a coy smile. "The view.....you."

They finally made it to the top and stopped and surveyed the view. "Wow, this is beautiful." She marveled at the view of the skyline and the surrounding mountains.

Harm reached for her chin and turned her head to face him, then searched her eyes. "Beautiful." He said as he leaned in and captured her lips. She moaned and deepened the kiss.

They reluctantly broke apart when the wheel started its descent. Harm put his arm around Mac and she curled her arm around his waist, her head resting on his shoulder. They stayed that way for the remainder of the ride.

They stopped for a bite to eat before they left, Mac got her sausage hero, Harm had gotten a couple of slices of pizza, and they shared a super size diet coke. They finally gathered up the bears and headed back. It was getting late, and somebody wanted a bath, they just didn't know it yet.

Mac had bought some cotton candy for the ride home and offered some to Harm. "No thanks, I don't want to get my hands all sticky."

Not to be deterred, Mac pulled off a piece and held it up to his lips. He started to protest, but when he opened his mouth she pushed it in anyway. Harm grabbed her wrist and held her fingers there, sucking the sticky candy off of them. "Mmmm."

He let her go finally. "More?" she asked.

"No, don't get me started. Any more of that and I'll get in an accident."

Mac shrugged her shoulders and ate the rest by herself, occasionally smacking her lips in the process. They made it home just as she was finishing up. Harm stopped the car and went around the back and pulled both bears out. They made their way up to the cabin, Mac holding the door open for him, and then following him inside.

Mac put Harm's keys and her purse down in the kitchen area, washed her hands, then settled on the couch and grabbed her novel while Harm put the bears in the other bedroom. He exited a short time later, went into the bathroom and shut the door.

Harm pretended he was going to take a shower. He turned on the water in the sink so Mac would think he was shaving, and turned on the bath and filled the tub slowly so he wouldn't make too much noise. He filled it a little over half way and dropped a very small amount of bubble bath in, thinking he could add more if needed – who knows how many bubbles this thing could produce when the jets were turned on. To set the mood, he took out the candles and placed them around the tub, and satisfied with their placement, he lit them.

Mac was lying on the couch after retreating to the bedroom to change out of her clothes and into her nightshirt and a robe. She had just picked her novel back up when she thought she heard her name. She looked up and didn't see Harm, but she could hear the shower running. Mac thought maybe she was just hearing things until she heard him more clearly.

"Hey Mac, could you come in here for a second? I need your help." He called from behind the closed door.

She made her way over and opened the door to find the light off and the candles burning, making shadows on the walls. It hadn't been the shower, but the Jacuzzi running, she realized. She peered around the door and saw that Harm was waiting for her, covered up to his neck in bubbles.

Mac's face lit up slowly and she released a small giggle of excitement. "Wow, this is....."

"For you." He motioned her with his head, "Come here, I want you." He held out his hand.

Mac stripped down quickly and made her way into the tub, sitting down facing Harm, resting her legs over his.

"You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet. Thank you for this, Harm." She said with tenderness as he pulled her closer to him.

They didn't care that the tub overflowed, or that suds were all over the room. All they could see was each other and that's all that mattered.