“We’re going on a boat ride.”
We had yet to use it. There wasn’t any particular reason for that, although seeing the life jackets, there probably should’ve been. We’d found some old ones my grandfather had which had seen better days. I suspected they were no longer as buoyant as they should be, given they were crinkly.
Daddy helped me get my life jacket on, and I adjusted his—not that he needed my help, but any excuse to touch him. “Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.”
“I had the caretaker put the boat in the water for us. Climb on in.”
“I think I’m going to be a passenger prince,” I told him and held up the oars.
I think we can do better than that.” He stepped down into the boat and reached along the side.
“Have you ever sailed before?”
“This boat has never had a… What do you have there?” A mast with a rainbow-colored sail wrapped around it. Not a big one, but it was plenty large enough for this boat.
We sailed around the lake, looking at the different houses, including the one he’d stayed in with his friends, the one that inadvertently brought us together. Daddy said we’d have met sooner or later, and I supposed that was right. But then again,Rowan and his daddy had been together a long time now and we still hadn’t, and we belonged to the same club and had never met, so who knew what decade that meeting would’ve taken place in.
Daddy showed where he first found our boat. Our boat, because it was ours now. Big items like the boat and the house, were no longer his or mine. They were ours, something that made me very happy.
He lowered the sail and leaned back. “I just want to sit here for a while,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”
He was getting no argument from me.
“It really is. When I was little, I always thought the place was full of magic, that I’d see a fairy or gnome, but now, I see the magic is in the beauty.”
“Hey, look.” He pointed to the side of the boat where a spring azure had landed. “A butterfly.”
“It’s gorgeous.” I memorized the image, wanting to draw it later.
“It really is.”
“It’s called a spring azure.” I told him all about the butterfly who’d stopped for a rest, and how this was the small window when we’d be able to see them here and how he probably was near the end. He listened, pretending it was the most interesting thing in the world, just like he always did when I went off on all things butterfly.
A drop hit my nose.
“I think it’s gonna rain.” Another drop. “Scratch that, Daddy, it’s raining.”
He let me help him with the sail and start back, arriving at the dock in a light drizzle. By the time we reached the cabin, it was a steady rain.
“Looks like it’s inside work today.” I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad in the long run, but it was what it was. So much for the weather map knowing anything.
“Nope.” He tapped my nose. “Change of plans.”
“What do you mean, change of plans?” Sometimes Daddy talked in riddles.
“I mean, we’re gonna go inside and listen to the rain together.”
“Just listen?” It didn’t sound like fun, but knowing Daddy, he’d make it better than it sounded.
“That was my entire plan.” He shrugged. “Did you have something better?”
“I did,” Or at least I did now, “but my idea requires taking off a lot more clothing than we’re wearing now.”
“I vote we go with your idea.” Daddy kissed my cheek. “My smart, smart boy.”
I wasn’t sure how smart I was, but we did have a much better afternoon in bed as the rain tapped against our new windows than we would’ve painting. So there was that.
