Pushing Her Boundaries by Julia Rachel Barrett

I swear I won’t fall over the railing. I doubt I’ll sleep much anyway.”
    Maggie shook her head and shot Mace a look of warning. “Uh-uh. Don’t think we’re going to pick up where we left off.”
    “Did I say that? All I said was, I doubt I’ll get much sleep. Don’t jump to conclusions, woman.”
    You’re disappointed, aren’t you? You were hoping he did want to pick up where the two of you left off.
    “Where are Lynn and Jeff?” Maggie asked.
    “Down at the guest cabin.”
    Maggie gave a little snort. “Lucky them.”
    “Yeah, well, there’s only one bathroom, and you heard the rules, so I doubt they’ll feel lucky, at least not until we leave in the morning.”
    If I have to, I’ll just use the woods. We’ll see how they like those apples .
    “Did you say something, Maggie?”
    Did I say that out loud? “Uh, no, sorry, I was just thinking. We’re supposed to meet Robert at the boathouse. Do you know where it is?”
    “Yeah, I got the full tour. C’mon.” Mace rose to his feet. Reaching for Maggie’s hands, he pulled her up with him. “Let’s go see what other surprises our hosts have in store for us.”
    A little shaken, not only by the circumstances but by Mace’s obvious attempts to make her feel better, Maggie followed him down the stairs, holding tight to the narrow metal rail. She planted each foot carefully on every tiny stair, feeling her way down. It would be very easy to lose her balance and end up doing a major face plant into the kitchen below.
    How on earth did I get myself into this, and how do I get myself out of it?

    * * * *

    Robert lovingly caressed his brand-new, lightweight, fiberglass canoe.
    “Isn’t she a beauty?”
    Maggie nodded dutifully. What’s the big deal? It’s a canoe. They all look alike to me .  
    “And look at this set of paddles. We ordered them from Costa Rica, hand carved…gorgeous, don’t you agree?”
    Again, Maggie nodded. Robert reminded her of one of her cousins, a woman who never required an answer because she always agreed with herself.
    Mace reached for a second set of wooden paddles. “So are these ours?”
    Robert snatched them from his hands. He laughed. “No, this is our extra set; they’re far too valuable to be…”
    What? Used by the likes of us? What a jerk.
    Mace looked confused. “So what are we using?”
    Robert reached behind a work bench. He pulled out a set of ratty, old, black plastic paddles. They looked like they’d been chewed up by a motor boat propeller. Maggie caught the expression on Mace’s face. To say he looked annoyed would be an understatement. “Which is our canoe? This one?” He pointed to the second fiberglass canoe fitted on its shelf beneath Robert’s pride and joy.
    “Oh no…” Robert mumbled something unintelligible.
    “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Mace’s voice was tinged with irritation.
    Robert mumbled again, something about the trim needing to be refinished.
    Why is he mumbling?
    “No, your canoe is out in the yard, over by the swimming rock. C’mon, I’ll show you.”
    The three of them left the far-too-neat boathouse, Maggie and Mace following Robert along the narrow path leading to the lake. “There.” Robert stopped and pointed. “There’s your canoe, the Grumman over on the cement blocks.”
    Maggie saw a large, silver aluminum canoe with a big dent in the keel. “What’s a Grumman?” she whispered to Mace.
    “A piece of shit left over from the fifties,” he said, his voice low, and he strode to the canoe. He turned to Robert. “How long have you had this thing?”
    “Oh, years,” said Robert. “It can do anything, go anywhere.”
    Maggie walked over to stand beside Mace. The canoe was covered with leaves and moss, and strung with spider webs. She brushed some of the pine needles from the weathered surface. This does not bode well .
    “When was the last time you took it out?” Mace asked.
    Maggie could tell Robert didn’t want to answer them. “I take it