The air was warm if you were still, but gliding over the lake with the wind, Viv felt a little chill all of a sudden.
“Here, slide out from the canopy. The sun will warm you up.” Tag said Viv appreciated his thoughtfulness.
She had trouble getting warm enough lately. She slid out of the shade and let the sun hit her.
How many times had she glided over these waters?
More times than she could count.
The Cleopatraarrived at Nora House like the famed Egyptian Queen touring the Nile. Except there was a horn honk that scared the living daylights out of an unsuspecting family of mallard ducks.
“Fisherman are going to love you,” Joe said.
Viv took in the house. It was the same. The tornado in ’89 took out a tree, and the barn looked redone, but essentially the old girl was the same. It comforted Viv, as an old girl herself, to see the stately beauty of Nora House. It had survived the brutal cyclone that had gutted so much of Irish Hills.
Libby had her hands on her hips on the dock. She was shaking her head asThe Cleopatraslid into port. She was more cruise ship than a pontoon in her maneuverability.
“It’s like theTitanic, for crying out loud. It makes my poor thing look like crap.” Libby’s pontoon boat looked to be the very same one they’d grown up on.
The rest of the Sandbar Sisters were waiting on the beach of Nora House. The new boat got the same reaction from them as she did Viv.
“Wow, you know, you could do dinner cruises on this thing,” said Hope.
“I suppose maybe the guests would like that.”
“No way, I want this available for my personal use whenever I want it,” J.J. said as her husband Dean helped ensure Goldie’s captaining didn’t take out the entire dock. They grabbed lines and adjusted bumpers.
“My son tells me you’re all stretched to the max between the restaurant and the inn.”
It was Keith Brady. Viv gasped a little, taking in the face of another old friend. The same, but better in some ways, weathered a little more over the decades.
WithThe Cleopatrasafely docked, Tag hopped out, and Keith was there with a hand for him and then for Viv.
“I can’t believe it, Viv. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Keith pulled her into a hug.
He was the big brother she never had, the one they all never had. Well, except Libby. She remembered their breakup like it had happened to her. Other girls hadGeneral Hospital, the Sandbar Sisters had the romance of Keith and Libby, and the seemingly worldly way with men that Hope had. For Viv, those two were her teachers.
“One of the first things I remembered when I got into town was our swinging adventure back in the day.”
“Swinging?” Joe said, and he looked shocked.
“Ha, no, Keith and I back on the day we both went flying into the lake on this really cool rope swing, just as the owner of the property we were trespassing on came back and started shooting!”
“Oh, yeah, Ewald started shooting his B.B. gun.” J.J. remembered too.
“Yeah, and we had to swim for our lives,” Keith recalled. He walked with Viv, an arm around her. She put her head on his shoulder. Why hadn’t she kept in touch with all these people? There was a pang of regret at the time lost. And the lives they’d all lived that she hadn’t the first clue about.
They all made their way to the expansive back porch of Nora House. Everyone chimed in with tidbits of memory from that day.
“Ewald called my Aunt Emma and explained how lucky we were that he didn’t call the cops.”
“Oooh, what did she say?” Goldie asked.
“Something about he could kiss her backside. She wasn’t a fan of threats or anyone bossing her around. Still isn’t,” Libby said.
Libby and Hope disappeared inside and re-emerged with beverages.
“The food is all laid out in the kitchen, and Keith has agreed to be my sous chef when anyone’s ready for burgers,” Hope said, coming over to hug Viv. “Okay, where did you get this kaftan? I need one.”
