She had always wanted a younger sibling, but given the choice, she’d have picked a sister in a heartbeat. Luci looked nothing like her. Her eyes were dark and curious, just like her mother’s. And Luci did not speak. At least not out loud. But as far as Emma was concerned, Luci spoke plenty with her eyes and her toothy grin. With her squeals of delight as she leaned over the boat and pointed. At the blue heron standing on one leg in the shallows of the shore. At the massive four-story Adirondack-style timber house on the hillside that Uncle Jake called Paul Bunyan’s mansion. At the water-skiers and tubers skipping across the lake’s choppy surface. Because of the good weekend weather there was a lot of traffic out there, and Jake had to concentrate.
Emma was still fiercely hungover from the night before. Bleary-eyed, really. She’d kept her sunglasses on all day so that her parents wouldn’t notice. She had not wanted to get out of bed and come on this family outing. She was tired and likely even still drunk from the night before with Sully and Kyle and Amanda and Courtney. But she was glad she’d rallied.
Luci pointed to Jake. “What?” Emma asked, softly. “Do you want to drive the boat?”
The little girl shook her head.
“Do you want to help Jake?”
Luci nodded. Emma wished Olivia were here to see that. She knew it would make her eyes water with hope.
“Hey, Uncle Jake!” she called. He turned, a big smile on his face. That was the thing with her uncle: he was always so happy. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was related to her father. “Can Luci come sit with you and help steer?”
Jake slowed the boat to a standstill. Tentatively, across the rocking boat, Luci made her way over to him. “Come on, Lu,” he said, petting his lap. Emma smiled as Luci climbed onto him behind the wheel.
“Hang on,” she said, grabbing his phone from where he’d set it down on the seat. “Let me take a picture.” She’d have to show Olivia later.
Emma watched Uncle Jake hold Luci on his lap. Pointing out all the sights along the shore. A natural, Emma thought. Luci didn’t have a father, but he would make an excellent one. She couldn’t wait for Jake and Olivia to get married.
“Hey, Em. I’m thirsty. Toss me a beer, will you?”
Emma reached for the cooler. She was also hot and thirsty, desperate for a bottle of water or an iced tea. But the only thing left in there was beer. She handed her uncle one, relishing the feel of the cold can in her hand. The label was neat, two bright green and blue lizards. Double IPA. She wondered what it tasted like.
She glanced at Jake, whose back was to her. He was always so cool, but she doubted he’d be cool with her having one. Even though the stories about him at her age suggested otherwise. Still. It was so hot out. And her throat was so dry. He wouldn’t mind that much, would he?
Ahead of them was a pontoon boat full of people. As they pulled alongside it, several pointed at them and waved.
“Gorgeous boat,” an older gentleman called out.
As Jake thanked him and waved back, Emma slipped her hand into the icy depth of the cooler and grabbed two cans. Quickly, she stuffed them in her beach bag by her feet. It was almost too easy.
The sun beat down and her mouth watered. “Let’s drive along the shore,” Jake called back to her.
Emma tried to keep her voice even. “Sounds good.”
As he steered them along the shore, she pulled her beach bag onto her lap and reached inside. Quickly, she popped open one of the cans and took a big gulp. The beer was strong, but cold. With her eyes on Jake and Luci’s backs, she tipped the can to her lips and guzzled the rest of it, careful to tuck the can back into her beach bag. A few moments later, she reached for the other one.
As they motored along the shoreline, Emma leaned back against the bench and let the wind tousle her hair. It wasn’t so long ago that she was riding the bus home on the last day of school, feeling like she had nothing to look forward to. She closed her eyes.Summer is looking pretty damn good, after all, she thought.
Olivia
When the emergency room doors slid ajar, the first thing she noticed was the arctic blast of cold air. It smacked her in the face, stilling the urgent heat that had coursed through her skin since the call from the paramedics had come through.
Olivia had no recollection of sprinting across the Goodwins’ yard for her car. She would never recall the drive in, or how she got there ahead of the others. What she would forever remember about that moment was the initial surge of hot panic turning to ice as she stumbled into the lobby of the emergency room. How everything swerved to a sudden frozen halt.
The receptionist looked up. “May I help you?”
“I’m looking for my daughter, Luci Cossette. And my fiancé, Jake Goodwin. They just arrived in an ambulance?”
The receptionist glanced around her desk at paperwork, then checked her desktop monitor. Finally, she typed something into her computer.
“From where?”
“Lenox.”
“You are the girl’s mother?”
Olivia nodded hastily.
