“Like when you pour a sugar packet into iced tea?” Lily asked.
“Bless you heart.” Avery placed a hand to her chest in feigned shock and conjured up her most delicate southern accent. “Sweet tea is not iced tea with sugar, darling. It’s carefully crafted.”
Mimi had always added a pinch of baking soda and slowly dissolved the sugar in the water before adding the tea. Avery made the Easton’s sweet tea now because her family agreed hers tasted exactly like Mimi’s recipe. She needed to make some for Miles and their friends. Miles would love southern food. Grits, country ham biscuits, pimento cheese, cucumber sandwiches, lemon bars. She couldn’t wait for him to taste it all.
She and Lily sat quietly surveying the bustle of waterfront activity over at Montressa. Children played Marco Polo and parents stood along the beach shore, supervising their toddlers. People came and went in kayaks and stand-up paddleboards. The ski captains were giving lessons. Casper slept on the main dock under the Montressa flag, flapping and snapping in the breeze. The lodge looked happier with people around.
“Surveying your work?” asked Lily.
“Our work.” Avery nodded. “You, me, Miles, Nate, Wes, and then some.”
All of them contributed to the success of Montressa, and none of it would’ve happened if she and Miles hadn’t moved past their rocky start in May. Now her relationship with Miles reminded Avery of holding hands while running down a steep hill. Exhilarating at first. But they’d reached the point where their bodies were moving faster than their feet, and the hurtling pace felt unstoppable. It remained to be seen whether they fell or miraculously reached the bottom together.
Earlier in the day, Miles seemed ready to topple over the second Anna mentioned their hypothetically cute children. He couldn’t leave fast enough. Yes, he and Hayes had an appointment with their realtor to see the retreat, but he’d peeled out of the parking lot and left her standing in a cloud of driveway dust.
Avery’s focus drifted to Lily, who lay on her back, eyes closed, soaking in the warmth of the midday sun. Ever since Lily and Nate started dating, they’d worked toward a shared future. The wedding planning seemed easy. Within twenty-four hours of their engagement, Lily andNate had set a date and booked Montressa. Avery and Miles were the only attendants. Lily and her mother bought the dress before her mother left to hike the Appalachian Trail with Miles’s father. Once she and Nate married, Lily planned to keep teaching, Nate would run the resort and every summer, they’d run Montressa together, just like Sam and Laurie had done. An entire shared future fell into place with little effort.
Avery didn’t know what she and Miles were doing six weeks from now when she left to start her MBA. At some point, the shared calendar conversation would become whether they wanted similar things out of life.
A dragonfly landed on Lily’s thigh. She shaded her eyes with her hand and studied Avery. “You’re thinking about something.”
Avery let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed a droplet of water off her freckled thigh.
“Lily, do you and Nate have your whole lives planned? Not just that you’ll live here. Things like how many kids you’ll have?”
“Kinda.” Lily took a sip from her mammoth water bottle. “Not that we agree. He says four children. I say two and then decide. We’ll run Montressa, but I don’t know how long I’ll keep teaching. I may burn out or maybe I’ll want more time with Nate. So, I guess the answer is yes and no.”
So maybe they hadn’t etched every detail in stone, but at least they agreed that they’d be together. Avery watched another dragonfly hover over the surface of the water as she smoothed out her towel.
“Miles and I have no plan past mid-August.” She picked a loose towel thread. “When we’re together at the lake, we’re on the same page. It’s all little things, like whether to make blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes. I’m afraid to ask the bigger questions because I’m catching glimpses of his answers, and I think I assumed things that aren’t correct.”
“Like what?” Lily asked.
“I’m not sure he wants a long-term commitment.” A tear stung thecorner of Avery’s eye. “And I don’t care if we get married. I’m okay with that. But I want a partner who’s in it for the long haul.”
The door to the Red House slid open and Anna Catherine emerged carrying Lennox who looked adorable in her tiny swimsuit and a floppy hat.
“Hey.” Anna Catherine grinned from under a matching floppy sun hat as she bounced Lennox on her hip. Her other hand held a small pink inflatable swim float. “I thought I’d take her for a swim.”
Anna Catherine passed the lounge chairs and walked to the edge of the dock.
“I want to get in, but I don’t know how to do it with the baby. Can one of you help me put her in this little floatie?”
“Sure.” Avery held Lennox as Anna Catherine slid into the water and kept the tiny inner tube still. Lennox’s eyes grew large at the sensation of the cool water as Avery lowered her into the tube.
“I can’t tell if she’s petrified or happy.” Anna Catherine snickered as she guided Lennox’s tiny feet through the leg holes. She pulled up the collapsible sunshade and spun Lennox around so she could see Avery. “Say thank you to Avery, Lennox.”
Lennox cooed and splashed her hand in the water. Anna Catherine steered Lennox back and forth in front of the dock.
“That floatie is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Lily.
“Miles bought it,” Anna said. “He had everything ready for us. Diapers, Boudreaux’s Butt Paste, this, and a portable crib so she could nap inside it while we hang out. It has a mobile with little moose and fish, which is so Miles. He’s the sweetest.”
Lily smacked Avery’s arm. “See! That’s not something a man who wants to stay solo does.”
“Wait, what did I miss?” Anna Catherine asked.
“Avery thinks Miles doesn’t want a long-term commitment.” Lily offered.
