Come Home with Me

by Susan Fox

  “Yes, it is.” She held her arm out and both boys stared at it, fascinated. He waited for Caleb to say that his mommy hadn’t had any tattoos, but both boys seemed for once to be struck dumb.

  Miranda moved away, shooting Luke an amused glance, and he put Ariana in the booster seat. She squealed, “Doggies!” and reached toward Honey and Pigpen.

  “You can play with them later,” he told her, securing the fastenings and hoping she wouldn’t pick now to have a tantrum. Fortunately, she kept quiet.

  Miranda climbed into the front with her backpack. “Your vehicle’s versatile,” she commented as he got in beside her and started the engine.

  “Yeah. It’s old, but it’s solid and it meets our needs. I bought it when Candace and I moved back to the island after I finished my vet training.”

  “How many years of school did that take?”

  “Six years of post-secondary.”

  “Wow, I’m impressed.”

  “The first three were tough, because Candace stayed here. I came back for holidays and worked for Viola. But when Candace and I turned twenty-one, we got married that summer and then she came with me. She took cooking classes, worked for caterers, and developed ideas for the business she wanted to run back here.”

  He turned on some music, which he’d found was the best way of keeping the kids happy while he was driving. As soon as the boys heard “The Wheels on the Bus,” they began to sing. Ariana sang, or at least babbled, along as well.

  Under the screen of the music, he said quietly to Miranda, “I’ve told them a lot about Candace. I want them to know their mom.”

  “Of course.”

  He wondered what, if anything, she’d told Ariana about her absent father. “After I graduated, we came back to Destiny and Annie and Randall gave us that house, a belated wedding gift. They offered to buy me a vehicle as well, because I was taking over Viola’s practice, but I drew the line at that. Bought this one, which was a few years old, from a guy who was leaving the island and gave me a good price.”

  He’d felt like life was unfurling perfectly in front of him. “Candace was pregnant. We knew she was carrying twin boys. The SUV would meet our needs—the family ones and my work ones.” In the world he’d envisioned, Candace would have been sitting in the seat beside him. By now, there might well have been another child. Given his family history, it would likely have been another boy. If so, he and Candace would’ve been talking about adopting a cute little girl like Ariana.

  After a minute or two of silence between him and Miranda, listening to the kids now singing “Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” she said, “You took over the vet practice as soon as you graduated?”

  “Yes. I’d been working for Viola since I was twelve. Half my life. I knew all the patients and their owners. She was excited about working with Veterinarians Without Borders.” He always loved hearing her stories about her animal adventures in foreign countries, like her most recent trip to Tanzania.

  He glanced over. “Viola wouldn’t take any money for the practice. She said all she cared about was knowing that the island’s critters were in good hands.”

  “And they are,” she said with certainty.

  “That’s nice of you.”

  “I saw you with that bunny. He’s still doing okay, right?”

  “He’s a quick healer. His injuries were straightforward. I’ve treated far more serious things than that. And”—he glanced in the rearview mirror to ensure the kids were absorbed in their song and not paying any attention—“I’ve lost some, I’m sad to say.”

  “If they could have been saved, you’d have done it. You’re good, Luke. You have a gift.”

  A pretty woman was complimenting him on a career that was way more than just a job to him. He wasn’t going to argue; he’d simply bask in the warm glow.

  One nice thing about Destiny Island, it was never far from point A to point B. Soon he was pulling into the parking lot at Thuqulshunum Lake Park, finding a spot among shade trees and rolling down the windows a few inches so the dogs would be comfortable.

  “The lake has an unusual name,” Miranda commented.

  “It’s an anglicized version of the First Nations word for ‘rainbow.’” The forest-fringed lake was undeveloped but for this park and the Rainbow Days resort down the road. The park was simple but nicely maintained with its coarse sand beach, scattered shade trees, dozen picnic tables and barbecues, and restrooms with showers as well as toilets. There were a number of vehicles in the lot already, people at a couple of the picnic tables, and more on the beach and playing in the shallows. At the boat launch area, two men in fishing vests were putting a rowboat in the water.

  “One of the nice things about this lake,” he told Miranda, “is that they don’t allow power boats. It’s not only safe here, it’s quieter and more peaceful than Montague Lake.”

  As they extracted their children from the back seat, she asked, “What about the dogs? Surely they don’t come kayaking.”

  “No, they can nap in the SUV. Then we’ll liberate them and they can play while we have a picnic lunch.”

  She set her daughter down and straightened, hands on her hips. “You didn’t say anything about lunch.”

  “Sorry. Did you have other plans?”

  “No, but if you’d told me, I would have brought something.”

  “It’s our treat.” He corralled his kids, a hand on each one’s shoulders. “We have PB&J sandwiches, carrot sticks, cheese, crackers, apples, lots of good stuff. Oh, and there might be cookies.” He shook each shoulder gently. “But only if everyone’s good.”

  Releasing his sons, he said, “Okay, boys, you can play on the beach but don’t get wet. You know how icky it is if you have to sit in wet jeans.”

  “Tell me how to help with the kayaks,” Miranda offered.

  “I’ve got it. They’re light.” His and his neighbor’s were cheap plastic tandem kayaks for beginners. In a year or two, Luke would buy the boys their own mini kayaks. “You look after Ariana. Oh, and bring warm sweaters. It’s often cooler on the water.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said with a mock salute.

  “Sorry. Guess I’m used to bossing the kids around.”

  “Don’t worry. If you get too bossy, I’ll tell you.”

  He opened the back of the SUV and reached for the life vests, holding the eager dogs back so they couldn’t escape. “Later, guys. Right now it’s nap time.”

  He dumped the vests on the ground and reached up to untie the ropes securing the kayaks to the roof rack. After lowering the first kayak, he piled the two adult vests in it, hooked a hand into the side of it, and hefted it down to the water. By the time he’d locked the SUV and brought the second kayak and the kiddie vests, everyone was assembled.

  Down the beach, a family with kids and a golden retriever was wading close to shore and a couple of teenage paddleboarders were setting out.

  “How are we going to do this?” Miranda asked, a tinge of nervousness in her voice. “I’m not that experienced.”

  “That’s why I’m putting you with the boys.”

  “Daddy!” Brandon protested. “We kayak with you!”

  He squatted down to be on eye level with his sons. “I need you guys to look after Miranda. She’s pretty new to this, and you’ve been kayaking since you were smaller than Ariana.”

  “Want to go with you,” Caleb said softly.

  Miranda squatted down too. “I really hope you two can help me. Ariana’s too small, and like your daddy said, I’m not very experienced at kayaking. If I had a couple of big boys helping me, I’d feel a lot better about it.”

  Caleb studied her with huge, solemn eyes, and then pronounced, “I’ll help.”

  Not to be out-big-boyed by his brother, Brandon promptly said, “I paddle really good. I’ll help you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, her voice not betraying any of the amusement Luke guessed she was feeling. “I’m grateful to you. I imagine this is going to be worth at least one cookie each
. If,” she added in a warning tone, “we get back safely.” She rose and turned to Luke. “You’ll be careful with Ariana?”

  “Of course. We don’t want the swim fairy going for an unscheduled dip.”

  “I swim!” Ariana said.

  “You swim in warmer weather,” Miranda said. “And from the beach, not the middle of the lake.”

  “Okay,” Luke said, “now that we’ve got all of that settled. Vest up, everyone.”

  He helped Miranda put a small vest on Ariana and then checked that his sons had secured theirs properly. He cast an eye on Miranda and saw that she knew what she was doing with the vest, but he said, “Give me your phone.” She’d been taking pictures, and had stowed the phone in the pocket of her capris.

  “Not because I think you’re going to tip,” he clarified as she handed it over. “But water can drip off the paddles. I have a dry bag for the important stuff.” He put her phone, his, and his wallet and keys in a waterproof orange bag, sealed it, and stowed it, along with a couple of old towels, in the storage compartment of the borrowed kayak. Then he pulled on his own vest. Having grown up by the ocean, he never used to wear one, not unless he was out on a rough sea, but now he had to set an example for his kids.

  “Boys,” he said, “you and Miranda take our kayak, since you know how it works.” To Miranda he added, “That’s the orange one. Let’s get you launched and then Ariana and I will climb into the blue one.”

  Both kayaks were sit-in ones rather than sit-on-top, chosen because the design kept the paddlers dryer—and the water here, be it lake or ocean, was cold. He hauled the orange kayak into the water and steadied it. “Miranda, you climb into the back seat.” As she obeyed, he was reassured that she seemed comfortable as she got settled.

  “Caleb, you start out in the front seat, with Brandon in the bow ahead of you.”

  He braced the boat as the boys clambered in, rocking it far more than Miranda had. Then he handed her a paddle, and gave Caleb a smaller, lighter one. “He’ll paddle,” Luke told Miranda, using the term loosely, “and Brandon’s your scout. We’ll stop partway through our outing and the boys will switch.” This was the way he resolved the twins’ argument over which was the preferred position. “All set?”

  * * *

  Was she all set? Miranda wasn’t particularly nervous about kayaking with the boys, but her maternal instinct protested at being separated from Ariana. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Luke, but this was a new experience for her daughter. Who knew how she’d react? And it was a big, cold lake.

  Miranda gazed up at Luke as he held on to the edge of the orange kayak, ready to shove her and the boys away from shore.

  Maybe he read uncertainty in her eyes, because he said, “Don’t worry about Ariana. I won’t put her up front. I’ll start her out sitting between my legs. She’ll be secure and be able to get accustomed to the feel of the kayak. The chances of her falling out are really slim, but it’s possible. Absolute worst case scenario, she gets to play swim fairy and I rescue her and we dry her out.”

  She liked that he hadn’t said there was absolutely no risk. She wouldn’t have believed him. Instead, he’d acknowledged it and reassured her. “Okay, then. Boys, what do you say? Brandon, are you ready to scout? Caleb, are you ready to paddle?”

  They gave hearty affirmatives, their excitement over the adventure clearly outweighing any doubts they had about her presence.

  Luke pushed the kayak away from shore. Caleb’s paddle was already flailing, sometimes even getting into the water. Miranda grinned as she paddled forward, getting a feel for the long paddle and for how the craft responded.

  Backstroking on one side and forward stroking on the other, she turned the kayak back toward shore and saw Luke paddling toward her, with Ariana beaming. “Mommy! I kay-ak!”

  Oh, how she’d love a picture of that. So would Aaron and Eden, and Mrs. Sharma in Vancouver. “You sure are kayaking, sweetie. You look great. So, guys, where are we heading?”

  “Down to Rainbow Days resort,” Luke said. “There aren’t many spots on the lake where you can go ashore, and it’s one. It gives us a chance to stretch and the boys can swap seats. It’s about a kilometer and a half away.”

  “That shouldn’t take long.”

  “Figure on half an hour.”

  “Really? I could walk it faster than that.”

  “The point of kayaking, at least the way we do it, isn’t to cover distance but to enjoy what we’re doing and seeing. Besides, since you’re a beginner, we don’t want to tire you out. Right, boys?”

  Caleb was “paddling” now with great intent, a few cold drops flicking back on Miranda’s legs. She began to stroke as well. The turquoise kayak pulled up beside them and then a little ahead, where it held position.

  “Hi, Mommy!” Ariana said.

  “Hi, sweetie. Isn’t this fun?”

  “Fun!”

  For the first few minutes Miranda was kept busy finding her rhythm and figuring out how to adjust to Caleb’s frenetic paddling and Brandon’s occasional lurches as he saw something and cried out. “Paddleboarders!” “Fish!” But soon she grew comfortable enough to gaze around.

  As they left the park behind, the shoreline changed from beach to reeds and rushes. Very wildernessy, as was typical of this island. As a teen, she’d shunned Destiny’s lack of development, but now she was learning to value it.

  A distinctive trilling birdsong made her search the rushes, finding a red-winged blackbird perched on one. In Vancouver, her bird identification had consisted of robins, pigeons, gulls, ducks, and Canada geese. Here, there were so many nature lovers that she’d absorbed knowledge as if by osmosis and had added a dozen or more species to her list.

  Other kayakers were out, and someone was casting a fly line from a red canoe. A couple of rowboats held more fishermen. And, as Brandon had observed, there were paddleboarders.

  “Ducks!” Brandon yelled, and she saw a pair of birds swimming swiftly away from the kayaks. Not mallards, the most commonly seen ducks, but the sleeker, more elegant pintails with their lovely cinnamon-brown heads.

  “Let’s stop paddling,” Luke said, “and all be really, really quiet. I see more ducks up ahead and we don’t want to scare them away.”

  She rested the paddle on the sides of the kayak and rotated her shoulders. Though they’d only been paddling for fifteen minutes or so, she didn’t mind the break. She was strong from toting Ariana and handling stock at the store, but kayaking used her muscles in a different way.

  The boat drifted and the surface of the water settled to stillness, reflecting the few clouds in the blue sky. Sunshine warmed her shoulders through her sweater. The only sound was the chirping and twittering of birds in the reeds and scraggly bushes along the shore, and an occasional call or laugh drifting across the water from the teen paddleboarders.

  A cluster of half a dozen ducks swam lazily past, their webbed orange feet visible through the clear water. These were mallards, and the flashy green heads of the males were dazzling in the sun. The boys pointed and grinned, but kept their mouths shut. They were darned cute.

  She glanced over at the other kayak, to see their dad leaning forward to whisper something to Ariana. The sight of his chestnut head so close to her black-haired one tugged at something in Miranda’s heart.

  It was a perfect moment, one she’d happily have held on to forever.

  I’m happy, she realized with surprise. This is what happy feels like.

  Luke paddled closer to shore and reached up to tug a twig off one of the bushes. The ducks had gone by now, the ban on speech over, and when he held up the twig, he said, “Pussy willow,” and gave it to her daughter.

  Ariana stroked it and said, “Soft.”

  Miranda steered the kayak closer. “What’s that?”

  “You don’t know pussy willow?” He gave his head a brief shake. “No, I guess nature was never a big part of your life.” Reaching again, he separated another twig from a branch, and extended it
toward her.

  She put the paddle down again and reached for it. The twig had no leaves yet, just furry gray buds. Gently she stroked one. It felt like the fur of a tiny, smoke-colored kitten. She smiled at her daughter. “Soft like a kitty, Ariana.”

  In front of her, the boys had turned around, curious. She extended the twig to Caleb, who put down his paddle and touched a bud with a cautious fingertip. “That’s cool.”

  “Very cool,” Luke said. “Right, Brandon?”

  “I guess. Can I paddle now?”

  “In a few more minutes,” his dad said. “We need to get to Rainbow Days, where we can go ashore.”

  They resumed paddling, and perhaps ten minutes later rounded a small point and entered a cove with another beach, the sand brownish and coarse like at the park. On a slope of rough grass was a string of ten or twelve log cabins, each with a picnic table and barbecue in front. A wooden dock extended into the lake, and nearby she saw colored kayaks, canoes, and rowboats. On the beach, children played and a number of adults lay on deck chairs or towels.

  “Tourist season’s already starting,” Luke said. “This place is always full from May through the Labor Day weekend.”

  “That’s the story of the island, isn’t it?” She’d learned that the islanders had a love-hate relationship with the tourists. While residents felt proprietary about Destiny and hated having to share it with transients, many local businesses and artists only survived because of those tourists.

  “Let me go ashore first,” Luke said, “and get Ariana safe on the beach, then you and Caleb can paddle in and I’ll help you get out.”

  “The kayak tips,” Caleb said. “You can fall when you get in or out.”

  “Thanks for telling me,” she said. “Let’s stop paddling, Caleb, and we’ll drift. Brandon, you keep a watch and let us know when your dad’s ready for us to come in.”

  “Okay,” he agreed.

  Luke was quick about getting himself and her daughter out of their kayak and tugging the craft a few feet up the beach. He took the orange bag from the storage compartment. When he gestured to them, Brandon said, “Paddle now!” and she obeyed, with Caleb contributing his best efforts.