Our Secret Valentine Retreat

A generous thank you goes out to Duke0467 for his editing assistance on this story. Many thanks for his guiding hand.

*

Elena hums as she prepares a hearty breakfast for the four of them. She stirred the oatmeal, flipped the heart shaped pancakes, and then cracked open two more eggs, spilling them on the skillet before turning to face her family.

"Breakfast will be ready in a moment everyone. So does anyone have anything planned for tonight? It's Valentine's Day you know."

She starts preparing the plates as her question is met with apathetic silence. "Oh come on now. Someone must have something planned. I mean you two kids are both way too nice and sweet not to being enjoying Valentine's Day with a sweetheart?"

Twenty year old Ellie, the elder of the two kids, speaks up first. "I had plans and now I don't. Me and Tommy split up just about a week and half ago."

Jimmy, two years younger than his sister, chimes in cheerfully, "Yeah I heard he dumped your ass." The truth is, like many a little brother, Jimmy maybe always had a thing for his older sister, although he might have been loath to admit it. This naturally led to a bit of jealousy on his part over any guy lucky enough to date his beautiful sister.

"Yeah so. His loss right, Daddy?"

James peers over the Wall Street Journal at his lovely young daughter smiling. "Exactly sweetie. He will regret it someday."

The conversation dies down as all four of them dig into breakfast. Finally, after pushing her plate aside, Elena turns to Jimmy, "So what about you. Have a date for tonight, young man."

Before he can answer Ellie is all over the question. "Are you kidding? He hasn't had a date in like forever. He is still carrying a torch for that slut Lisa who dumped him . . ." She turns to Jimmy fixing him with an evil grin. "Like a year ago. You know what I heard--"

"That is enough Ellie!!" James interjects. "Help your grandma clean up the breakfast table."

"Oh yeah he can tease me about being dumped but I can't say a word back. I see how it is!!" She picks up her plate and with a loud bang tosses it into the kitchen sink.

James sighs loudly retreating to the den with a fresh glass of orange juice so he can finish reading his paper in peace.

Later on Elena has a chance to talk to Jimmy alone and finds out the sad truth. His sister was right. He hasn't dated at all since Lisa dumped him a year ago almost to the day.

Seeing the look of abject grief pass over his cute face is too much for his nana to endure. Of her five grandchildren, Jimmy by far, is her favorite.

While Jimmy may be relatively average in every way: five eleven, 185 pounds, sandy brown hair, a light complexion that burns too easy in the sun, he does have a couple things going for him that is exceptionally above average-- a super warm heart and generous caring personality. It is those two traits especially that his Nana Elena finds supremely irresistible in him.

"Look, Jimmy, don't feel bad. Your grandmother doesn't have plans for tonight either."

There it was; an opening you could drive a truck through. "So why don't we go out tonight and maybe do something."

"You mean like a date?" Elena says coyly while almost bursting with joy that Jimmy is showing the nerve to suggest such a thing.

"Sure." Jimmy fidgets nervously. He has only been in one relationship and that did not end well. The word "date" kind of scares him as it implies a whole lot of pressure on him to make a women happy.

His grandma, with a keen sense of women's intuition recognizes this. "Hmm, I can see by the way you are fidgeting the word date is probably not what we should call it. How about this . . . let's just hang out together. Maybe do something is all. No pressure just a young man and his nana spending some quality time together."

"Yeah, OK, but I have money so we can go out and do something. My treat."

"Sounds lovely my dear. What did you have in mind?"

"It's your treat. Maybe you pick Nana E."

"OK. I will think of something nice and surprise you."

"As long as you let me pay."

"Oh you will pay alright. Your nana is not a cheap date." She stands up brushing her fingers along the side of his face before leaving the room conveniently forgetting already they weren't supposed to be calling it a date.

Elena's annulment, in the works for almost two years, had just been finalized a few weeks ago back in the Philippines. Her husband, Mannie, had been cheating on her for some time, and finally Elena, despite her strong Catholic beliefs in the sanctity of marriage, had left him and come to America on a ninety day tourist visa in the mood to celebrate her new found freedom.

Arriving in America just in time for the holidays, Elena felt it finally time to live a little. In short order, she got several tattoos, colored her pretty black hair with blond streaks, and went to a noted plastic surgeon where she received several treatments of Botox along with having her boobs enlarged.

It cost a pretty penny, but Elena looked and felt great afterwards, especially after getting a gym membership. After dropping nearly fifteen pounds since joining the gym, Elena was now down to carrying 106 pounds on her small five foot one frame. She had already looked young for her fifty one years of age even before she had the Botox, but now, after the treatments her natural beauty really shines.

After she leaves the room Jimmy plops down on the couch relieved he would be able to keep his promise to his dad. Earlier in the week James had come to his son and explained how his grandmother was feeling a bit lonely lately, and was kind of experiencing what one might call a midlife crisis.

He suggests if he did not have plans for Valentine's Day he should invite his grandmother out and make her feel special. At first he thought he might have been joking but then he catches the deadly serious expression on his face as he begins to speak.

"Your nana has a dreamy heart full of romantic notions so being alone on Valentine's Day would be painful for her even if she wouldn't show it. So maybe you could do something extra special for her, be with her, hang out, and if you are feeling brave maybe do something a little bit romantic for her."

The five crisp one hundred dollars bills to help pay for whatever niceties he might want to do for his nana shows Jimmy just how serious his father was about entertaining his nana for the evening.

But James was doing a bit more than handing out suggestions and one hundred dollar bills to his son as he was playing both sides of the fence so to speak. Not only had he went to his son to suggest he ask his grandmother out, but he also secretly went to his mother-in-law, and told her that Jimmy had been feeling down as of late. It was coming up on the one year anniversary of when that little bitch Lisa broke his heart dumping him the day after Valentine's.

James suggested to Elena that she should maybe drop a hint about wanting to hang out on Valentine's Day. Elena, quite agreeable on the matter, promised she would try her best as she simply adored her youngest grandchild and would relish a chance to mend his broken heart.

That afternoon Jimmy takes the money his dad gave him, along with another two hundred dollars he had saved up himself, and uses it to buy her a nice diamond necklace.

Having a flash of inspiration he stops at a gift shop and buys a little cute brown teddy bear, and a single red rose. Back at home he sneaks off to his bedroom and slips the diamond necklace around the teddy bear's neck, and uses a piece of invisible tape to affix the rose to the bear's paw. He carefully places the bear back in the little pink stripped bag it came in from the gift shop ready to present it to her at some point in the evening with a grand flourish.

Driving to the restaurant in his dad's flashy silver Altima 3.5 SL, Jimmy feels absurdly good. His grandmother looks pretty in her usual understated way. She is dressed casual wearing a white loose fitting off the shoulder sweater and a pair of rather tight looking jeans. He would have never guessed she was fifty one years old.

At the restaurant, a casual Italian pizzeria, they enjoy a pleasant dinner that grows more interesting as Elena starts to get a bit tipsy. She downs two glasses of red wine with her veal Parmesan allowing the underage Jimmy to take furtive sips from her glass from time to time. The alcohol loosens up Jimmy just enough to where he is feeling quite charming and full of bravado as the night wears on.

After dinner, Elena suggests going on a little sightseeing tour of the old historic Maple Hill downtown section before heading home since it was such a pleasant evening with the temperature being an unusually warm 59 degrees.

After spending an hour window shopping and stopping at an ice cream parlor for a pair of cones they decide to head home. On the way home Elena suddenly has a whim. Although it's just starting to get cloudy she wants to go do a bit of star gazing. Jimmy thinks he knows just the spot . . . maybe, if he can find it again.

Lookout Point was a local landmark of sorts. It was actually nothing more than an old logging road that wound its way up through the pristine pine forests that surrounded Maple Hill and ended in a wide turnout that had a clear view of the surrounding countryside, and most especially of the small town.

It had once been a hot spot for teen lovers, back in the day long ago, but now it was mainly used by stargazers to watch the night skies over Maple Hill. Jimmy had been up there one time years ago with his family on their own star gazing adventure after his dad had spent about a thousand dollars on some fancy new telescope.

"Jimmy, hon, I think we are, maybe not on the right track here. Shouldn't we be climbing I mean to get to Lookout Point."

She is right. The narrow dirt lane they are on has been sloping downhill for at least a good two miles now. "Yeah I think I maybe should have went right at the fork a while ago. Like I said it's been a while since I was up here. Sorry, but I think I am kind of lost now."

Actually there is no "kind of" about it. He is lost. The fact it has started to rain adds to his growing discomfort. The once clear night skies started filling with dark rainclouds almost as soon as they started heading toward where he thought Lookout Point should be located.

Jimmy had suggested turning back, but Elena said she still wanted to see the famous Lookout Point even if it was becoming too cloudy to do any real stargazing.

He is starting to get more than a little worried although his Nana Elena seems rather unconcerned by the whole thing. Another ten minutes pass with the rain coming down harder. The narrow dirt lane they are on seems to have no end as it winds its way among the tall pines of Maple Hill. Maybe worse still, there has thus far been no decent spot to turn around the car and head back.

Jimmy curses and bangs his hand on the steering wheel; they have finally come to the end of the narrowing winding road. Unfortunately the end is a dead end. Despite there being precious little space to turn the car around he will be forced to try to do so anyway.

He eases the car to the right as far as he dares before turning the wheel sharply and then backing up. Forward again, another sharp turn of the wheel and then . . . more cursing as the back tires have slipped off the road and into a little trough of slick gravel.

"Shit!" I am going to have to get out and push while you give it some gas, Nana."

Elena slides across the seat. "Which one is the gas again hon?" she giggles.

"The one on the right. Just be careful and gentle on the gas. Wait till I say go."

Jimmy climbs out of the car cursing he didn't bring a jacket. He rubs his hands together and walks around to the back of the car.

"OK . . . Give it some gas," he yells pushing hard. Elena gives the gas pedal a gentle tap and the car lurches forward.

"Good, no more," he yells as the back tires clear the edge of the road. Elena emboldened by the car finally moving forward, and thinking Jimmy said, "More," taps on the gas harder this time.

The car shoots across the narrow lane and slams nose first into a wide ditch on the other side of the road. Jimmy, thrown off balance by the car suddenly shooting forward, is thrown face first to the ground. Fortunately he is able to get his hands under his body somewhat breaking his fall.

He jumps to his feet unconcerned with his own pain worried about his nana. Rushing up to the driver's side, he lets out a sigh of relief when he sees her smiling faintly at him.

"Oops," she whispers.

"Well," he walks around to the front of the car. The nose of the small car is angled deep in the wide ditch. "We are defiantly stuck now and going to need a tow. Let me guess." He pulls his phone out of his pocket as he climbs into the car next to her slamming the door shut in frustration. "No signal."

"So what do we do?" Elena asks. "I guess I really screwed up huh?"

"Oh shit, Nana I'm the one who got us lost in the first place so if it is anyone fault its mine."

"Hmm . . ." She reaches out and brushes a hand through his hair, "Taking the blame for the ladies screw up. How very chivalrous and charming of you young man."

He smiles faintly at her before responding. "Well right now I am not feeling very charming as the way I see it we have three choices. None of them good."

"Tell me?" she says smiling disarming at him.

He smiles back starting to relax. She seems totally undaunted about their predicament. On the other hand, if this had been Lisa setting next to him she would be fucking freaking out and demanding he do something . . . right . . . now . . . to solve the situation. It is a pleasant change to say the least.

Still they could be in a spot of trouble up here as he sighs preparing to explain their choices as he sees them. "One, we could wait and see if someone comes along. At this hour on a Tuesday night late, I don't see that happening. Second, we walk back to town . . . now . . . in the rain. Or, finally, we wait in the car and see if it stops raining and then walk. Thing is the rain . . . it's coming down harder and I don't think it's going to let up anytime soon."

Elena seems to be not listening; she has her head turned and is staring back across the road seemingly intent on trying to see something in the dark.

"Maybe there might be a fourth option hon. I thought just a bit back I seen a mailbox on the side of the road."

"Really, a mailbox out here?'

"Yeah, there are houses up here aren't there?"

"Yeah, a few, I suppose."

"Well, if there is a mailbox, then there is a house nearby, and maybe someone could help us. We could use their phone and call for help maybe."

"You sure you seen a mailbox, Nana. Was it close?"

"Yes, pretty close. We should at least go see right?"

"Fine, just let me grab the flashlight out of the glove compartment, and we will go," he replies although he thinks the chances of someone being home, someone willing to answer the door at this hour, are remote.

Elena was right after all. They barely had went thirty yards maybe when he spots a mailbox, and a narrow opening for a driveway just off the road.

Although they did not have to walk far the whole thing is still quite the ordeal. Elena is wearing a pair of four inches heels defiantly not made for walking on dirt roads slick with rain making the going slow as he has to hold onto her the whole way. Making things even worse is the rain is coming down harder still and they are getting soaked to the bone.

When the driveway opens up they spot the house, which is not a house at all, but instead a cabin, and Elena lets out a small whoop.

"See I told you hon."

"Nana don't get too excited. I have been thinking. It's a cabin, not a house. A summer cabin that is probably only used . . . you know . . . in the summer."

"Oh, right."

"I think most of the houses or cabins up here are that way mainly just summer retreats for rich people."

"So no one is home."

"Doubt it. Maybe if it was the weekend might be a better chance, but now mid-week." He shakes his head no as they slowly approach the front porch.

"But we can at least knock and see. Besides the porch is covered and we can get out of this damn rain."

They knock on the door. Of course, there is no answer.

"Now what. Like I said, no one is home and probably won't be for months." Jimmy says turning to Elena. His heart breaks as she looks miserable standing there shivering in the cold rain.

"We need to go back to the car turn it on and get the heater going. I am freezing."

"Hmm see the thing is . . ." Jimmy is looking around as he contemplates what to do next. "Nana there is not much gas left in the car. Not enough to last the night anyways and it's only going to get colder."

"So what we walk. Jimmy I am not sure I can make it. I . . . with these heels on and the rain . . . Jesus."

"OK . . . so . . . there is another choice." He says slowly turning to look at the door. Its looks sturdy unfortunately.

"You're not thinking of breaking in hon. What if they have an alarm."

He starts to laugh hoping to ease her fears before telling her cheerfully, "Well, then I guess we will be arrested and rescued all at once. And if they don't have an alarm, then we have a nice quiet and dry place to spend the night. I think we have no choice."

He tells her to stay on the porch while he goes around back trying to find an easier way in without trying to batter in the front door or busting the picture window out in the front.

A minute later Elena hears a small shattering noise and her heart leaps with relief. Another minute passes and he is at the front door letting her in to the cabin.

They take a quick minute using the flashlight, the power is not on of course, to explore the interior of the cabin holding hands going room to room. The cabin is smaller than it looks from the outside and only has four rooms.

After sitting her purse down by the front door, Elena whines she really has to go pee. They locate the cabin's only bathroom, a spartan half bath, just down a short hallway and off the cabin's only bedroom. Jimmy gives her the flashlight as she shuts herself inside the bathroom.

He doesn't wander far from the bathroom door as the interior of the cabin with the curtains all shut is extremely dark. He waits patiently slumping down on the bare hardwood floor shivering. The interior of the cabin is cold, but at least it dry and will keep the rain off their head. If they are lucky maybe they can find some blankets or something to help keep them warm.

Hearing the door open he gets quickly to his feet. "Ready to explore our new home, Nana?"

"You mean our secret Valentine retreat. Maybe it has a fireplace and I can tell you a love story later."

"Well, the day is perfect as is the settings for such a story. Yeah, secret Valentine retreat I like that Nana."

Taking her by the hand he leads her out of the bedroom before she stops. "You know if we get in trouble for this . . . it's all my fault."

He takes the flashlight from her and shines it briefly in her face wanting to show no fear. "Yes, it will be your fault, but in the meantime . . . we have not been caught so . . . lets explore."

"You are right hon, we haven't been caught and actually . . . hmm this is kind of exciting. Let's explore and pray this old fashioned little cabin of ours has an equally old fashioned brick fireplace. Jesus, I am cold."

"Yes you are. Your hands feel like ice," he whispers as he leads her down the short hallway to the front room. He doesn't know why he is whispering but somehow it just feels right to do so inside the small dark cabin.

Emerging into the front room, Jimmy plays the small beam of the flashlight up one wall and down another. "Jackpot!" He exclaims as the light picks up a fairly large stone fireplace against the far wall.