The Book of Leah

Jukebox Hero - Chapter 10

Monday, June 8, 1992, Bass Lake, Wisconsin

"Hey, LT," Jake called out as Lana was out in the water with the boys.

"What, Jake?" Lana hollered back, assisting Nick with his floating ring.

"How much longer do you think you wanna be in the water? Maybe you and the boys should take a break?" Jake suggested.

"Why?" Lana asked, glancing back to check on how far out Matt had gone in the water.

"Well," Jake paused, "maybe I want to go across to the diner."

"Why?" Lana responded dryly.

"You know..." Jake trailed off, hoping Lana would catch his drift.

"We've already had lunch, Jake, and I don't think we have enough cash to buy more food for all of us, unless you have more with you," she said as she came up to the shore. "I mean, I guess we could take a break if you give me a minute. I need to get the boys back up here, and I'd like you to spend a few minutes with Nick and help him."

"I don't need help," Nick protested. "I'm not a baby."

"I wasn't saying you were, buddy," Lana reassured her youngest cousin. "I was just suggesting to Jake that he give us a hand before he takes off to flirt with girls. I'd hate to tell my mother that he left us all alone to clean up, and I had to carry everything back to the cottage by myself along the highway," Lana said, now fixing her gaze on Jake.

"Okay stop," Jake said, raising his hand in defeat. "I'll help get all the bags picked up, and we'll all walk back to the cottage. You'll have a chance to relax and get changed. I just want to head over to the diner for a few minutes."

"I know exactly what you want," Lana said. "You want to be the typical guy and show off your moves to that hot girl from Georgia," she said loudly enough for one of the nearby moms to glance over her People magazine and stare at Jake.

"Oh my gosh," Lana taunted, "you are blushing. Oooh, I was right."

In a hushed tone, Jake admitted, "Okay, yes, I want to go and talk with the girls. I haven't seen Bonnie in a while, and she is one of my few non-related friends out here, and yes, her cousin is umm, pretty," said Jake cautiously.

"Okay," Lana said, as she started gathering all the bags together, and Jake called Matt and Brian back to shore. Soon, they were all back at the cottage, the boys getting changed upstairs while Lana loaded the items from the fridge back into the cooler.

"Okay, well, I'll see you in a few," said Jake, trying not to miss his window to go say hi to the girls.

"Just to make sure you aren't gone too long," Lana said, calling upstairs. "Hey, Matty?"

"Yeah, Lana?" Matt called back.

"Are you dressed?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go," Matt replied, coming down the stairs with his bag.

"Would you be the coolest cousin in the whole world?" Lana asked sweetly.

"Of course, Lana, what do you need?" Matt replied proudly.

"Well, Jake here is going over to say bye to Mrs. Beck and Bonnie," she said as she grabbed her purse. "Would you bring me back a super cold Coca-Cola, please?"

"You betcha," Matt said as Lana handed him two bucks.

"And get something for yourself too," she said, smiling her biggest smile.

Matt smiled back, relishing the fact that he was Lana's favorite among the other cousins. "Thank you so much," Lana said with a wink at Jake. "You boys have fun."