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Archer eyed the fire pit in the distance, an idea springing to mind. “How about this…”
Danny jumped up with bright eyes, blond curls bouncing. The kid looked like a hopeful golden retriever ready for a treat.
He crossed his arms. “Your moms might deny who leaves the candy wrappers in the bonfire every night, but I’m not stupid.”
“Wasn’t us,” Danny denied at the same Chris said, “We’re sorry.”
Archer smirked. “It takes me over an hour to clean that damn pit every day because of you, so if you leave the fire pit spotless every night…and I mean spotless—”
“Done,” Danny said with a salute, in almost the same way his mother did earlier.
“We’ll clean them up,” Chris added.
“Not just the wrappers,” Archer continued. “I want that fire pit to look as clean as when I do it, maybe even better. If you can do that…well, I can’t guarantee that we’ll have jet skis, but I’ll mention them during the meeting.”
Mention was a lot safer than a promise of any kind. And it wasn’t like they could avoid the topic, historically speaking.
Danny thrust his hand out in front of him. “You have a deal.”
Archer shook it, then laughed as the boys chased one another back to their cabin, howling at their success. They ran up to the rest of their gang: Kelsey, Liam, Ashley, and Michaela. They shared the news and they all cheered. Archer watched closely as Chris eyed Ashley, the two of them blushing at one another as Chris bumped her shoulder with his.
His mind drifted to summers spent here, long days playing lawn games, tubing behind his father’s boat, sailing early in the morning, or swimming late at night. Riley was always meant for Austin, despite the two of them never wanting anything “serious.” Quentin had a thing for Deanna, but she’d been clueless, and he was distraught when her parents sold Cabin G after that last summer before college.
And then there was him and Tea.
As if his wandering thoughts made her magically appear, Archer heard the screen door of Cabin B open and close. Tea was in blue pajama pants and a soft grey sweatshirt, a frosty bottle of white wine in one hand and a glass in another. A small book was tucked underneath her arm.
His eyes gravitated to her as she wandered over to the fire pit. She curled up in an Adirondack chair, poured herself a glass of wine, and flipped open her book.
It was the same nightly routine he’d watched her commit to summer after summer from the windows of Cabin A. Comfortable clothes as she waited for dinner, book by the lake, her cup of tea now replaced with a glass of wine. He used to run outside and distract her from those moments, convince her to play another round of corn hole or go water skiing. She never minded his distraction. She never said no.
He didn’t take note of how long he stood there, staring at her from a distance, but at some point she finally looked up. He couldn’t see her piercing blue eyes from this distance, but he could feel them. Those same eyes he would catch from their cabin windows. The eyes that’d blinked up at him the night everything went to shit.
“Archer, sweetie!”
He jumped at his mother’s voice and whipped around to face her. “Yes?”
Larissa Vincent crossed her arms, the sleeves of her faded yellow Silver Falls hoodie bunched at her elbows. “What, no ‘hi, Mom, how are you, Mom?’”
“Hi, Mom. How are you, Mom?”
She perked up. “Fantastic. Even better if you’d actually join us tonight at the dinner table.”
He leaned down to pick up the power tool near his feet. “Probably not tonight. I still have three hours of sunlight to utilize.”
Her frown was louder than any words she could have spoken in response.
Archer gestured toward the lawn. “This place isn’t going to weed-whack itself.”
“Archer Vincent, if you don’t sit down at my table tonight and eat a slice of lasagna, I’m going to weed-whack that sorry little—”
“Mom, Jesus.”
“You don’t need to bring the Lord into this.”
“Yeah, well, the Lord understood serving others, and that’s kind of what I’m doing here.”
“He also said to respect thine mother and father.”
