“What?” She looked coyly. “Didn’t you say it was only a taste?”
She smacked her lips. “Hmm. Kind of salty, but not much flavor.”
Robin fixed her eyes on his. “Seriously, Jay. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Me either.”
“I don’t mean telling bird jokes and solving riddles with naked strangers.”
“Me either.”
The rest came out in a rush of words. “That’s the first time I’ve ever touched a boy’s…boner. Or tasted his stuff. Jay, I’ve never been with, I’m still a, I’ve never had sex.” Her eyes dropped and her shoulders drooped.
“Me either.” He said it more deliberately this time, making sure she understood what he was telling her. Her eyes came back up to his.
“Really?”
“Really?”
Oh, Jay, my knight.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face against his neck.
“Robin, my day.” Nothing like another pun to break the tension. “But there is one thing you should know. I wasn’t telling the whole truth.”
She pulled back, her face showing just how vulnerable her confession had made her.
“I have actually touched a boy’s…boner before.” He paused just an instant. “But only when I was alone.”
She pushed him away, that heart-melting smile back. “You brat!”
“Guilty as charged.”
He took her hand, gestured toward the path with a sweep of his free arm. “By the way, did you notice Phoebe’s necklace?”
Robin nodded. “Beautiful.”
“Yes, you are. But off topic. Do you think if it had been her with Cliff in the barn, she might have made a sensual vibration deep in her throat as she swallowed him?”
“What? Odd question. But sexy. Why?”
Jay wiggled his eyebrows in as much of a Groucho Marx imitation as he could muster. “I might have misidentified her earlier. She could be a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.”
Robin groaned, pulled him close to her hip and leaned her head against his shoulder. He caught a whiff of her hair and scent as she a muttered in mock disgust. “Bird-brain.”
The two followed the path until it looped back toward the main, open part of the festival. Puzzled, they retraced their steps, finding a small gate to one side that neither had noticed. Ivy half-covered a small hand-painted sign with Tom’s unusual warning to trespassers.
Jay found the combination lock with four numbered wheels on the bottom.
“But he didn’t tell us the combo.” Robin sounded disappointed.
“Yes he did.” Jay quickly dialed in 1-0-6-6.
“A Hastings Lock.” Robin shook her head. “Silly me.”
“Dad uses the same combination on our side gate at home. Must have learned it from Tom.”
The path on the other side was narrow and invisible until the gate swung open. It headed into thicker woods, winding up a low hill. They made sure the gate was re-locked before continuing.
Once the two had crested the hill, sounds of activity reached them. Voices and laughter followed by a splash. Soon a roof showed through the branches.
At least a dozen people sat or stood in a small clearing, where a half-dammed creek continually filled and flushed water through a deep swimming hole. Phoebe held a pitcher of what looked like iced tea, filling glasses at a round metal table with a colorful mosaic top.