"Yeah, I've had this dream where I'm in a thunderstorm and it's raining really hard. It… it sounds like pebbles when it hits the ground. I can hear it and I try to block out the sound with my hands over my ears only it doesn't work. It just keeps getting louder and louder and then the rain turns to blood… and—and the blood washes away in little rivers and the sound stops."

She shook her head and shivered as drops began to splatter around them.

"It's just a dream," said Jack.

"Yeah, I know." Marcie grimaced. "I'll call it my shower dream."

Lightning flashed. Jack laughed.

"Hey… this is no dream. Come on, we're gonna get soaked."

He led her into the cabin as the wind whipped across the lake, bending the treetops. He turned off the flashlight as they entered the cabin. They were alone in the dark. Marcie pushed up against him, kissed him seductively and slowly started to unbutton his shirt. Jack shut his eyes and swallowed. It seemed like it had been building up to this for a long, long time but he had never thought it would happen. He couldn't believe how much he wanted her. He thought about the conversation he once had with Neddie. 'Just because you want something, doesn't necessarily mean you should have it,' he had said.

Now, here he was with Marcie in the dark in an empty cabin on a secluded lake with thunder crashing and lightning flashing in the sky, and Marcie was afraid of thunderstorms. He remembered somewhere that some women were excited by thunderstorms and by fear. Was he taking advantage of the situation? No, he told himself. She's ready. She's making the choice. He had waited. He had never pressured her. He had allowed her to make the decision, to pick the right time and place.

He ran his hands over her breasts. Her nipples were hard. She broke the kiss and made her way over to the bottom bunk, feeling her way in the dark. He sat down beside her and reached over to the night stand, picking up a small candle and lighting it. She unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them down. She was wearing white bikini panties. He was afraid to speak—afraid to break the spell—afraid she'd changed her mind at the last minute. He'd die if that happened.

Alice pulled back the curtain and peered out the window of the main cabin. The storm was making the surface of the lake boil. It was raining so hard, it sounded like hail hitting the roof.

"Jack and Marcie are gonna get drenched!" she said.

Bill smiled. "Not if they're where I think they are."