Rachel looked to the stairs leading to the entry arch, then to her boys screaming up an entire hour of pent-up third-grader energy. “I’m on duty.”
“I’ve got the boys,” Dave said from the top of the stairs. He waved Travis and Rachel away. “You two have a nice chat.”
Rachel turned a bit of side-eye toward Travis.
He squirmed.
What could she say? She was a pro at side-eye. It came with being a mother.
“He’s in on whatever you’re going to want to talk to me about, isn’t he?” Rachel asked, not thrilled about the idea of taking off with Travis or having him and Dave tag team her on parenting choices.
“He is.” Travis apparently succumbed to the tug of the wilderness and moved toward a trail at the east edge of the property.
“The boys need to run around for a while longer before they go inside,” she said to Dave.
He nodded. “Got it.”
“And no sugar before dinner.”
He nodded again. “You’re the boss.”
“Don’t let them unpack the suitcases until I get back. I have a system.” It was a good system that ensured the clothes didn’t get all tossed into one pile in the middle of the room. Which was the way they’d prefer to live.
Dave saluted. “Consider it not done.”
Travis paused at the entry to the trail, apparently waiting for her to catch up. She hurried to meet him there. He, however, didn’t seem in a hurry to talk.
They walked in silence for a bit, the crunch of pine needles under their feet, the rustle of the trees, and a bird chirp here and there the only sounds.
The peace was…peaceful.
April would totally love it.
She made a mental note to tell April all about it the next time they talked. She needed to check in with her friend anyway, since her husband had been taking extended work trips over the past month. Rachel understood more than most how it felt to manage everything alone. To have the whole world fall on her shoulders.
Travis still said nothing. Of course he didn’t. She had his number. He was waiting for her to talk first. Negotiating with her mini-tyrants had taught her a lot about keeping her mouth shut and waiting them out.
The trail opened up to a vast swath of beach along one edge of the smaller lake. A sensation of falling hit her as she took in the view.The jolt of mountain gorgeous seriously knocked the air out of her.
She gasped. A good gasp. The kind of sound that came from witnessing beauty of this magnitude. Unlike the house that was in-your-face enormous, the panoramic view was pure serenity.
Rachel gaped as she turned a semicircle to take in the lake, mountains, and endless sky. “I forgot how beautiful this place is.”
A breeze blew light ripples along the surface of the water,and only a few boats in the distance disturbed the scene. Insects made touch-and-go landings on the ripples, risking their lives for a taste of the water.
Risking their lives because at any moment a rainbow trout could pop right up like the Puffle Yum Momster and grab its dinner.
Still pretty, though.
“The new dock is around those trees. We spend a lot of time on the lake during the summer. I’ll teach the boys to water-ski this year if you want,” he said.
Water-skiing?
“I’ve never been.” Rachel started toward the dock.
Travis shoved his hands in his pockets, like he seemed to always do around her. “Then I’ll teach you.”
The offer snagged in the air between them. He wanted to teach her to water-ski? What would his mother’s fake cat have to say about that?
