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Lauren

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I was 23, it was early June

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The first time Lauren Midland entered my life, was at the University of Montana's campus in Missoula. The weather was cool for this time of year.

I sat alone on a concrete bench with my head buried in a well-worn study guide, lost in my thoughts. The letters GSAT against a red background peeped through the coffee stains.

This beautiful girl plops down on the end of the slab and drops a load of books that made the structure shudder.

A woolen beanie covered her long, dirty blond, hair and she wore a light green windbreaker with deep pockets she stuffed her hands down. She scooted closer to the edge of the seat and laid back stretching long slim legs out in front of her. Tight black leggings disappeared into calf-high leather boots with fringes around the tops. The girl crossed one foot over the other, laid her head back, closed her eyes and sighed.

I returned to my reading.

After a while, she glanced over and tossed her chin toward my book. "Grad School?"

"Eh, I'm not sure yet, I won't keep my options open, I just took the exam, and I'm checking some of my answers against these examples."

"Ah, you did fine, you look like a clever boy."

I smiled at her reply. "Well, I don't know, but I'd like to think I am."

She grinned back. "Well, smart guy, I tell you what, if you carry these books for me, I'll buy you a cup of coffee."

She got to her feet and stuck her hand out, "I'm Lauren, by the way, and you are?"

"Uh, Marty," I said, getting up.

I placed my study guide atop of her load of manuals and picking them up followed her across campus.

We talked while she tidied up the small office space assigned to her. I learned Lauren was working on her doctorate in geology and taught a summer class as an assistant to the head of the department. She had a boyfriend that worked the oil field in Wyoming, and she had grown up in Casper.

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True to her word, she bought me a cup of coffee at a favorite shop just off the university. We spent several hours chatting. It seemed like old friends visiting by the time we parted. I drank enough java to last the next eighteen hours. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her if I ever needed any help. I took the slip of paper and tucked it into my billfold.

Unfortunately, there were no openings for the autumn. The department head told me about an opportunity in January. Guaranteed if I wanted it.

What would I do in the meantime? My parent's home in Kansas was an option, but perhaps a job until then was a better alternative.

From a pay phone, I called my folks. Dad said he knew an old navy buddy that might help me. The man lived close by and might see a place I could work for a month or two. I redialed home a few days later, and Papa gave me directions to his old friend's ranch just southeast of Missoula. He said the guy expected my visit.

Old Gus sat rocking on his front porch when I pulled up. I was surprised because he appeared to be much older than my father. His wife had passed on years earlier, and his only son died in a farm accident as a teenager. No one ever learned the particulars, only that a tractor had crushed him. A spanner wrench found near his mangled body.

Gus surprised me with a job offer before I could properly introduce myself. The pay wasn't high, but I could stay in the rundown bunkhouse for free with weekends and holidays off. Meals would be furnished if I didn't mind eating with him and I could use the place like my own.

I accepted, the position with a handshake, and started that afternoon. Then I exhausted the rest of the summer and fall getting that place back in shape. The old man had slowed down, but we worked well together and formed a bond that lasted until he died many years later.

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Lauren appeared again near the first part of October. I was on a grocery run for Gus when we ran into each other at a supermarket. She was shopping with two other girls whom she introduced, but I've long since forgotten their names. They were buying wine and cheese for a girl's night out when I rounded the aisle and we almost collided.

"Uh, Martin? Right?"

"Yeah, it's me! You're still Lauren, right?"

She laughed, "yep, still the same. "

We exchanged pleasantries, and she asked how my classes were going, so I explained I wasn't enrolled yet and told her my current circumstances.

We said goodbye, and they turned to leave then she peeped over her shoulder and put a finger to her mouth and ear and mouthed the words "call me."

Two nights later, at the ranch, I rang her up. I told her how I felt about calling a girl whose boyfriend was absent.

"Oh, he's absent alright! Absent with his new girlfriend!" she explained.

"Well, in that case, how about dinner and a movie?" I asked her.

"I pick the restaurant, and you choose the show?"

We saw the Love Story with Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal. She cried.

Lauren and I went out several times during the next few weeks, and I enjoyed being with her. The University always had classy events to attend. We went to symphonies and plays and even a flamenco performance. She looked fabulous in an evening gown, and I noticed a lot of jealous stares when I escorted her into a crowded room.

That girl fits into country life too. I often came in from work to find her and Gus laughing in the kitchen. He wouldn't let her take over the cooking, but she chopped vegetables and made side dishes for him. The ranch became her second home.

Snow fell the third week of November, Lauren's folks were in Europe, and I didn't want to drive to Kansas for Thanksgiving. Gus and Lauren planned a big spread for us. We had turkey and all the fixings.

Saturday morning the girl drove up to the bunkhouse in her jeep.

"Come on Cowboy, let's go for a picnic!"

"Say what? There are six inches of ice on the ground and 26 degrees! Are you crazy?"

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"Could be, but you're coming with me anyway," she said wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me!

I grabbed my warmest jacket from the hook inside the door and jumped in the passenger seat of her four-wheel drive.

She headed west toward the mountains. An hour later we were climbing switchbacks higher into the rocky heights.

Lauren pulled off the main road and shifted the jeep into low gear. We drove up a dark path until it widened into a parking lot.

"Let's go!" she said getting out.

From the rear hatch, she handed me a basket and grabbed a bag.

We left the vehicle and ascended a snow-dusted trail for about fifteen minutes. Suddenly Lauren disappeared into the thickest fog I ever saw. I walked after her into the mist and picked up a whiff of sulfur. Hot springs!

Soon we came to a small stream and hiked downhill until we went to a small pond formed behind a rock dam. The place was surreal. Steam swirled off the surface of the lake, and a constant trickle of running water made a peaceful, relaxing background noise. The brook was freezing meltwater that mixed with scalding rivets that someone had channeled into the pool. Rocks had been strategically placed to combine the cold water and the flow from the hot springs to regulate the temperature. Soft green moss grew right up to the edge of the water.

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"Welcome to my secret place!" she said.

"Turn around Cowboy!

"What?"

"Turn around silly, I'm getting in," she said pointing to the steaming water.

"Oh, oh yeah!" I said.

I turned my back and said, "I didn't bring my suit."

"Neither did I, garments are optional."

"Hmmmm, Okay."

She waded into the water behind me.

"You can turn around now. Put your clothes over there with mine, and I'll look this way."

I piled my heaven coat on the ground beside her's and got undressed, and it was freezing! I heard her giggle and when I turned around she was watching me!

"Hey, no fair!" I said covering my crotch.

I hurried into the water and sat down. The warmth was wonderful.

"Don't be shy, silly." She stood up on the shallow bottom, and her full breast rose out of the water. She waded slowly toward me and wrapped her arms around my neck. Her warm skin pressed against me and when she kissed me, I was knocked off balance and fell backward, and our heads went under the hot water.

Until now, our relationship hadn't progressed further than petting. I tested the limits, I was a young man, of course, I checked the limits, but she was firm about how far she allowed me to go. The present situation suggested those boundaries had been adjusted more to my liking.

Lauren showed me that the closer you got to the farther bank, the warmer the water became. She coaxed me into hotter and hotter areas of the pool. The temperature reached almost unbearable before she stopped at a convenient rock and, submerged from the neck down, we soaked. The swirling currents were ecstasy.

We whispered and did some heavy petting. The thrill of being so close to this beautiful girl in such a compromising state had me frantic with desire. I started shivering with excitement!

"You can't be cold Cowboy! What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? WHAT"S WRONG? I'm only about to die with desire, that's whats wrong, don't play with me like this."

She giggled, "Don't worry Sweetie, you're going to get lucky, you're just not ready yet."

"I'm not ready???"

"Let me see your hand."
I lifted my hand from the water. It came up wrinkled. Lauren's hand passed down the flat of my stomach, and she smiled when she touched me.

"Okay, you're ready, follow me." She pushed off and swam to the far shore then ran into the snow. I was right on her heels. When we got to an open area, she shoved me down into the soft ice. Surprisingly the sensation was thrilling. She climbed on top of me and took my face in both her hands and while she kissed me deeply I felt myself slide inside her.

We lay in the white powder panting, looking at the gray, foggy sky. A snowflake as large as a silver dollar fell from the heavens and settled on her eyelash. Back in the warm water, we watched the world go white, and a quiet descended on the place.

We had a picnic in that place of fire and ice! We made love a bit less desperately again that day and many times afterward too.

Lauren was my second love, and I miss her.

I hope you liked the second in this series.
Thanks for reading!
CARRY ON!

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