COMFORT, TEXAS
Sara diced up pickles while the men talked through the cell phone speaker. They were discussing a job she had just landed, and what would happen next. The pickles were the last addition to her beautifully made turkey sandwiches. Her boyfriend entered the kitchen handing her a styrofoam cooler. She mouthed a thank you, licking her fingers full of mustard. She had told the men that she was only available for calls until noon. It seemed better not to explain why. She didn’t want to tell them that she was going on a date.
Sara and Dillon had been dating for sixty-four days. To them, each day was an anniversary. Today was the sixty-fourth. Sara planned to take Dillon to her secret swimming spot in Comfort, Texas. The call was going longer than expected. Dillon sat at his laptop playing chess, while Sara moved around the kitchen gathering things, hiding her stress as she spoke into the phone.
It was the first day the Texas sun was announcing its summer heat. She packed sparkling water and fruit. The cooler was packed to the brim. While the call continued, she put on her swimsuit, muting her phone when she didn’t need to speak, and lathered herself with sunscreen. Last she put on her favorite 90s maxi sunflower dress, one she hadn’t yet worn around him.
She folded the towels they would bring, and set them on the bed, before finally ending the call.
Dillon was in the living room playing guitar. She noticed he still hadn’t grabbed his swim trunks.
“I’m going to need your help carrying this to the car”, she said.
He picked up the cooler and followed her outside. It was a little past noon and she was beginning to worry.
“I think we can still make it.”
“How long of a car ride is it?”, he asked.
”It should take us about an hour and forty five minutes”. As she said it, she saw his excitement fade.
“Is there a swimming hole that is closer?” he asked.
“Nothing like this one,” she said. “It’s really special. I was hoping to take you there before I leave.” Sara was leaving for a month to travel Europe alone.
They hesitated for a moment, deciding whether the drive was worth it.
“Any swimming hole would take at least forty-five minutes”, she said. They might as well go a little farther.
They got into the car.
As they drove, Sara started describing Comfort and how she hasn’t been there for a long time. Her best friend from North Carolina had discovered it, and they had sworn to keep it a secret. Sometimes they would have the whole stretch of river to themselves.
“You know, the last time I brought my friends here, they made fun of it. But this place has some humor of its own. One friend slipped on a tree stump and the other almost got bit by a snake.”
Dillon pressed back the car seat to lay down. “How much longer until we get there?” he asked.
Sara pressed a little harder on the gas.
“Play some music,” she said. “It will help the time pass”. As she took the exit, the car in front of them suddenly braked, making her quickly react.
“You need to focus on the road,” Dillon said. “Stop looking at your phone”.
Sara had been checking the directions, and feeling slightly embarrassed, she handed him her phone. “Here. You tell me where to go”.
Almost immediately the screen filled with new messages. “They want to know if you can take another meeting later,” he said. “Write back and say- yes, your time five”, she said, keeping her eyes on the road. She calculated quickly, they would probably be home a little before seven, just in time for dinner. Dillon sighed and glanced at the map. “We’re almost there,” she said.
A small victory came over Sara, as they pulled into the parking lot of the park. Another vehicle was parked in the shade, and she quietly hoped that its owner wasn’t where they were headed. They stepped out of the car. Dillon lifted the cooler from the trunk. Only then did Sara realize she had forgotten the towels. Dillon laughed. She tried to hold herself together. The nearest gas station was fifteen minutes away. “We’re already here,” Dillon said. Half jokingly, she offered her dress. “It was long enough,” she said. They could use it to dry off. At least she had not forgotten their blanket. Dillon, holding the cooler, nodded toward the trail. “Lead the way.”
As they walked toward the river, Sara felt a tightness in her chest, hoping that no one would be there. A beautiful cardinal swooped through their path, and she took it as a sign. The air was full of insects and the soft movement of leaves. The clearing opened suddenly and the river lay waiting. No one was there. The water was more magical than she remembered.
“This is what I call my living room”, she said stepping onto a small platform of roots at the bank. “You can hang up your things on this tree”. She turned to Dillon but he was unimpressed. They placed the blanket in the center of the cove. She took off her dress. She was already breaking a sweat. “We can use this dress as a towel,” she said once more, setting it down next to him.
Sara dipped her toes in the water. It was refreshingly cool. She stepped a little farther in. “Are you getting in?” she asked. Dillon sat with his arms crossed over his knees. “No”, he said. “I don’t think I will get in the water”. Sara pictured the towels she had left on the bed. “Are you sure? It’s so hot out. We’re going to be here for a while.”
“I’ll watch you swim”, he said.
“Is it because of the towels? Please use my dress.”
“It’s not that, I just don’t like the color of the water.”
Sara floated a few feet away from the bank and watched a family of deer approach to drink across the river. The water was perfectly still, reflecting a canopy of cypress trees above it. Where the dappled sunlight could not reach, the surface held a pale green tint. “Maybe it’s blue-green algae,” she said. “But it should be fine.” She had never wondered what made the water this color. “I guess I’m used to Tennessee water, it’s not quite this green.” Sara looked downriver, trying to measure its end, but the reflections blurred the distance.
She climbed out of the water, and dried herself with her dress. She opened the cooler, took out some grapes and unpacked the sandwiches. Dillon wasn’t hungry. She took a bite of her own sandwich. She took out her phone and tried to google harmful algae, waiting for the signal to load. The heat was unbearable. After a moment she set her phone down, and went back into the river.
She swam out toward the middle of the river. From there the bank looked farther than she expected. Dillon sat exactly where she had left him. The need to share what once felt like magic began to shift into a strong urge to defend it. She thought about how days ago, they had swam in the crowded Barton Springs, the water there was darker, and the moss didn’t bother him. She thought about all of the Texas water holes, and the subtle differences in color. She looked at where she swam, noticing little fish swimming by. She could see her hands in the glimmer of the water, the algae looked like particles of sparkly dust. For a moment she imagined Dillon there years later, jumping into the river easily with another woman beside him. She would never know this version of him. The thought caught in her chest, and brought sudden tears. She turned toward the bank, and her words came out faster than she could control.
Dillon began to laugh. “How can you be jealous of a woman who isn’t even here?” he said. “I’m with you. I’m sorry I don’t want to get into the water. It’s just not my thing. I’m perfectly happy.” Sara stepped out of the water. She wanted to believe him. She told herself this was simply something about him she’d learn to love.
She sat beside him. He kissed her, pressing her back onto the ground, and slipping off her swimsuit bottoms. Above them the sky broke into fragments between the tendril-looking limbs of the cypress trees. Sara stared upward, feeling the hard ground beneath her and the twigs tangled in her hair. “I can’t wait for us to have a daughter,” Dillon said. A rock pressed against Sara’s back. It began to hurt. “Turn over” he said, and she did.
Sara held her breath to suppress the piercing pain, and then it quickly passed. “I love you”, he said. “I love you too,” she said.
She went back to the water and washed herself. When she came out, Dillon was already packing the cooler. She put on her dress and they began walking toward the car. Halfway up the trail, she realized she had left her keys by the river. “Go ahead,” she said. “I’ll go get them.” She ran alone.
The keys were lying where they had made love. She picked them up and took one more look at the river. She had a strange feeling it would be a long time until she returned. A wave of tears came back. She gave herself another moment before saying goodbye.
When she reached the parking lot, Dillon was waiting beside the car, skipping lightly and singing the last lines to a Frank Sinatra song. “The record shows, I took the blows, and did it my way... Yes it was my way.” He smiled and gave her a wink. Sara lifted the keys and smiled faintly. “You know,” Dillon said. “I checked out the public part of the river. It’s much clearer over there. You should have shown me that part, I would have gotten into the water”.