25. Tea
Chapter 25
Tea
A week after birth, loon babies can already dive and swim, but their favorite mode of transportation is riding on the backs of their parents.
They rely on their parents quite a bit during the first weeks of their life.
They are fed by their parents for the first six weeks, and they don’t take flight until week eleven or twelve.
By the end of the summer, the juvenile loons leave the nest and habitat in coastal regions until they are ready to breed and claim a lake environment of their own.
She wondered if it was a stupid idea.
Then she remembered this was Archer , whom she would have never hesitated to do this to before.
She grinned and stood there in her swimsuit, watching him sleep soundly in his bed.
Then she took a deep breath and jumped on him.
Archer bolted upright and grasped her arms, eyes wide, hair sideways from sleep.
When he noticed it was her, he relaxed.
“You monster. What time is it?”
“Midnight.”
He groaned, letting go of her and falling back onto his pillow.
“You better have a good reason for waking me up an hour after I went to bed.”
She crossed her arms. “Archer Vincent, what day is it?”
“The day I kill you,” he grumbled.
“Nooooo. The day .”
“Um.” He twisted to his right and tapped his phone screen.
“August twenty-second?”
“Not the date. The day.”
He looked at her with a quizzical expression.
Then she watched the lightbulb go off, his face full of glee.
“Move.”
She did as she was told, giving Archer space to jump out of bed and open up his dresser.
When he stripped off his boxers, she slapped his bare butt.
“You little—”
She didn’t wait to hear the rest. She bolted from the room and ran out of his cabin.
In a matter of seconds she heard the slam of the screen door, then pounding feet as Archer chased her from behind.
It was pitch-black outside.
The cabins were dark and no one was out on the lawn.
Smoke swelled from the fire pit that had been snuffed out.
The moon was the only light to guide her as she ran for the lake, not stopping as her feet reached the water.
The water made her slow, but she kept at it until she was able to dive in, Archer close at her heels.
When she came up for air, hands grabbed her ankles and yanked.
“ Eeek! ” she shrieked.
Archer pulled her closer and covered her mouth.
“First rule of the night swim?”
“Don’t wake everyone up,” she mumbled into his hand.
The night swim had been their tradition for years.
It started when they were ten.
Tea had looked out her bedroom window in Cabin B and noticed Archer’s lights still on in his room.
He waved at her, then made a swimming motion.
She cocked her head, then patiently watched as Archer snuck out of the house and ran for the lake.
She changed into her suit and joined him for a secret night swim, a tradition they kept going every last Saturday of their summer at Wild Pines.
Archer smirked and dropped his hand.
“Second rule?”
“Float under the stars and contemplate how much life is going to suck for nine months until we’re back.”
He chuckled.
“And third?”
She pursed her lips.
He lifted a brow.
She sighed.
“Confess your deepest, darkest secret.”
“Bingo.”
“I don’t think either of us truly followed that last rule if we were pining for each other for years.”
He paused then tipped back.
“We eventually got there.”
They lost track of time, the two of them floating in the water, eyes on the sky.
The lake water felt warm compared to the chilly air, with fall lingering among them like an omen.
The night swims were always her favorite part of her summer, but they also made her sad.
The same was true even eight years later.
“What’s your deepest, darkest secret?” he asked her.
She paddled her feet.
“That I want to find the loon nest.”
“That’s not a secret. Nor is it dark or deep.”
“ Fine. ” She thought about it for a minute.
“I don’t know what having a home feels like anymore.”
Archer didn’t say anything, giving her room to continue.
“When we moved out of the house, Mom’s apartment never really felt like home. It felt like hers. My dorm room certainly didn’t feel that way, and I barely spent time in my apartment in Chicago because I was so busy with my program. Plus, my bedroom was the size of a matchbox.”
“What about here? Silver Falls?”
“There are parts of the cabin that feel familiar, but…I don’t know. I’m looking forward to having a place that I can really settle in, like how the loons have their nest they return to every year.” She paused.
“My life kind of feels like this right now. Floating, not exactly sure where the water will take me.”
Tea waited for Archer to say something, but he remained silent.
She lifted her head, wondering if she’d floated too far from him and whether he heard any of her last few sentences.
He was still right beside her, his face to the sky, deep in thought.
She dipped her hair back in the water.
“What’s your deepest, darkest secret?”
He didn’t respond.
After a beat, she heard the rustling of water, then tender hands reaching for her waist. She righted herself as Archer pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.
He kissed her, his body warm and solid.
She kissed him back, taking her time, enjoying the way he cradled her, like holding a precious piece of art.
When they broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers.
“I’m still in love with you,” he whispered.
The sound of those words bloomed in her chest, warming her to her core.
“Still?”
“Still.” He pecked her lips.
“I did my best to ignore it for so long, tried to move on from you. But then I saw you get out of your car at the beginning of the summer, and I couldn’t help it. You’re even more beautiful than I remembered, and I felt devastated. I realized that my feelings had never changed. All I did was turn them off for a little while.”
She swallowed.
“And now?”
“Now…I don’t think I’ll ever be able to switch them off again.”
He kissed her, soft and slow.
“Don’t say it until you’re ready,” he continued.
“I’m a patient man. I can wait.”
She felt every emotion in the book, and she wasn’t sure which one to grasp onto.
She was ecstatic. Sad.
She felt grief. She felt passion.
She felt longing. She felt scared.
She felt hope. Did all of these things equate to feeling love?
Was that what people meant when they said it?
“What is that feeling like?” she asked him cautiously.
He kissed her cheek.
“You know that feeling you get in your gut right after you jump in the lake? You’re floating in the air, waiting to hit the water?”
“So…feeling love is feeling absolutely terrified?”
“Well, yes.” He chuckled.
“It’s more that freefall feeling. There’s exhilaration and excitement, but also fear. It feels like you don’t have control. But you have to trust that the water will catch you, that everything will be okay.”
“And what about when you hit the water?”
She waited as he thought about it for a moment.
“I guess…that’s where you’ll find the relief, and hopefully, the joy.”
She nodded.
She understood that feeling well.
Tea felt like she had been freefalling since the day her dad died.
She waited for some kind of relief, yet still after eight years, she never found it.
Or…she wondered if what she was experiencing was more like floating in the lake, completely aimless.
At least Archer had taken a leap in a certain direction, and now he was freefalling, waiting to see what would happen.
He went for it, and she was the only one who could give him that relief.
He grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his waist as they floated in the inky black lake.
“What are you thinking?”
“I-I don’t really know what I’m thinking.”
He kissed her shoulder.
“Maybe we should dry off and go to bed?”
“Okay,” she whispered, her gut twisting.
For some reason, she felt like she’d failed him.
Or maybe she failed herself.
The sound of muffled voices echoed from across the lawn.
Archer and Tea turned toward them.
He chuckled. “Hello, Romeo.”
The two of them watched as Chris stood underneath a window at Cabin G.
His arms were raised, poised to catch Ashley as she crawled out of her window and shimmied down the roof.
She grabbed the nearest branch of the tree.
“Why do I feel like this is not going to end well?” Tea mumbled.
“ Shhh .”
They continued to watch as Ashley attempted to elegantly climb down the tree, until her foot slipped.
She dangled from one of the branches as Chris reached up for her waist. She slipped into his arms, the two of them tumbling down to the grass.
“Should have been taller,” Archer teased.
“Arch, stop it.”
He looked at her with that mischievous grin.
“Oh come on, this is gold. ”
“May I remind you that we used to sneak out? For years ?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t ever like this. ” He huffed.
“Even though I always wanted it to be like this.”
They continued to watch as Chris helped her up, kissed her delicately on the mouth, then grabbed her hand as they raced across the lawn.
Ashley was the one who slowed, realizing who was in the water.
She pulled on Chris’s arm, who stopped.
He looked at her and Archer with wide eyes.
The four of them remained silent for a long beat.
Archer then smirked and saluted Chris.
Chris grinned and saluted back, then pulled Ashley to the woods.
“Time to go inside?” Tea suggested.
“Only if you’ll slap my butt again.”
She dug her toe into his butt cheek, which made him yelp.
He chuckled as he walked to the shore, still carrying her as he stepped out of the water.
“Come on, my Sweet Tea. Let’s get you to bed.”
Tea entered her cabin early the next day.
Archer promised his father he would help clean the gutters for Cabin F, which apparently was a job that required Archer’s full attention at eight o’clock in the morning.
So Tea shuffled over to Cabin B, wearing his T-shirt and sweatpants, ready to crawl into her bed.
That was until she stepped inside and found Nan standing at the counter with a cup of coffee, waiting for her.
She stilled. “Sorry,” she said reflexively.
“Oh honey, I’m not angry that you stay over there. I’m glad you two are together.”
Tea sat on her usual stool, in front of a basket of strawberry rhubarb muffins fresh out of the oven.
“You are?”
“Of course. Your father and I were always convinced the two of you were meant for each other.”
She felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“He thought that?”
“Yes. He loved that boy like his own. He knew he was a good one from the start.”
Tea glanced at the cabin next door, watching Archer climb up the ladder, his father holding it steady at the bottom.
“Yeah, he’s a good one.”
Nan poured Tea a cup of coffee, then slid it across to her.
“What I don’t understand is why you still haven’t told your mother. It’s been, what, a month?”
She wanted to crawl into a hole.
“She’s been so busy.”
“And yet I’ve had no problems getting her on the phone this week.”
Tea paused.
“Did you tell her?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
She placed her face in her hands.
“Crap.”
“Well, gal dang, kid. I don’t get it.”
Tea looked up.
“Get what?”
Nan placed her hands on her hips.
“Why would you not want to tell your mother? Are you angry at her or something?”
“What? No!”
“Are you ashamed of him?”
“No, not at all.”
“Then what is it?”
Tea froze, not sure how to respond.
Nan sighed as she stepped around the counter, then took Tea’s hands in hers.
“Listen, honey. I know these years have been so hard. I knew coming to the cabin was going to be a lot for you. Being in this place helps me to remember all the happy memories of my beautiful son, but I knew that wouldn’t feel the same for you and your mom. So I gave you both the space you needed. But now…now I’m going to be Tough Grandma.”
Tea looked down at their hands.
“Tough Grandma is going to admit the truth: that your father would not want his death to be the reason you don’t live life to the fullest.”
Tea blinked up at her grandmother.
She pointed to the window and the man cleaning the gutters outside.
“That boy is in love with you. It’s clear as day. I think you’re sitting here unable to admit to yourself that you love him too. Because you are afraid of what that would require you to do.”
“And what would that be?” she muttered.
“To actually go out there and live your dang life.”
“My life is back east. With Mom.”
Nan shook her head.
“No. Your life is what you make it. Only you can decide what you want it to be.”
Before she could respond, Nan placed a muffin on a plate and handed it to Tea with a napkin.
“Now I will go back to being Nice Grandma. But be warned, Tough Grandma will make an appearance again if you do something stupid.”
“Like what?”
She fixed her with a sobering look.
“Like make a huge mistake.”
Tea knocked on the back door of Cabin F.
Archer stood in the kitchen next to his mother, chopping tomatoes for the salsa she was making.
He glanced up at her as he slid them from the cutting board into a bowl, a smile slowly forming across his cheeks.
He rinsed his hands.
“Tea, dearest!” Larissa mixed them into the bowl.
“Want to join us for tacos tonight?”
“Oh! I think Nan is making hotdish…”
“Nonsense. I’ll tell her to put it in the fridge for tomorrow and they can come over too.”
“In that case, sure. Thanks missus—”
Larissa looked up and glared at her.
Tea’s shoulders relaxed.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Archer dried his hands with a dish towel, then tossed it to the counter as he approached the door.
“Mother, stop harassing my girlfriend.”
Girlfriend.
Were they using those words now?
“It’s not harassment, son , it’s called manners.”
Archer swung it open, then grabbed Tea’s face and kissed her hungrily on the mouth.
“Something the two of you should probably learn! My god, chill it out there.”
They both laughed and broke apart.
Archer rubbed his thumbs into her cheeks.
“I missed you, Sweet Tea,” he said softly, only to her.
She rolled her eyes.
“You saw me this morning.”
“Too long.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Mmhmm.” He nuzzled her nose.
“I’m okay with that.”
She tilted her head back and pointed at the lake.
“It’s glass out there.”
Archer lifted a brow.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“If it’s to watch me make one last failing attempt at water skiing, then yes, that’s what I’m saying.”
He slapped her butt with both hands.
“Let’s go.”
She righted herself in the water and gripped the bright blue handle.
The sun was gleaming across the lake, making it almost impossible to see Rhonda and Archer in the boat.
But she wasn’t going to let anything stop her today.
She had to get up. She had to.
“You got this!” Rhonda cheered.
“Hold on to your bottoms!” Archer yelled.
“I’m in my one piece, jackass!”
His laugh boomed across the lake.
“Ready?” Rhonda yelled.
Tea took a long, deep breath, then nodded to herself.
“ Hit it! ”
Rhonda pressed on the gas.
Tea kept a firm grip on the handle, the pressure of the water at her feet propelling her up.
It felt like too much, enough that she was ready to call it quits for good.
Then her body lifted, the grip in her hands gave a little, and she was floating on the lake.
Archer lifted his arms. “ Yeah, baby! You did it! ”
Tea grinned, jerking her head back to get her hair out of her face, and finally— finally —glided across her favorite place on earth.
It was easy to get back into it, moving across the wake of the boat as it sailed across the water, letting each turn propel her to the side so she could soar along.
The feeling was freeing.
It felt like heaven.
It reminded her of all her happiest moments.
Road tripping with Mom and Dad to Silver Falls, the promise of a full summer at Wild Pines ahead.
Lying on the couch in Cabin A, tucked tightly in Archer’s arms.
Eventually her forearms ached and she couldn’t hold on much longer.
She let go of the handle and sank slowly as Rhonda killed the engine ahead.
Tea was undoing the water ski on her foot, waiting for them to make it back to her, when she heard a soft cooing on the shore nearby.
She paused, her movements slow and quiet as she turned to the sound and eyed the three loons by the nest at least five yards away on the shore.
One of the loons was much smaller, its feather a mix of juvenile brown and black adult colors.
The baby. Pebble.
“Tea?” Archer called to her.
She abruptly turned to him and held a finger to her mouth, then pointed to the nest.
Archer’s mouth fell open, followed by Rhonda who joined him at the side of the boat.
The three of them remained quiet, watching as the family settled into the nest. Rhonda snapped a picture with her phone, a big fat smile on her face.
Eventually Archer let down the ladder and silently helped Tea into the boat.
He wrapped a towel around her and kissed her wet lips.
“You did it.”
She tilted her head.
“Did what?”
“ All of it.”
They sat down on the back bench as Rhonda slowly puttered the boat away from the loon nest. He kissed her again, and the feel of his arms and his lips made her stomach flip flop.
After they docked the boat, Archer gripped her waist and kept her close as they walked back to his parents’ cabin.
He kissed her temple, then looked up.
His body stiffened.
She pouted.
“What? What is it?”
He didn’t glance down at her, or even say anything.
She turned toward where he was looking.
A petite woman stood on the porch, with short burgundy-colored hair and bangs, looking rumpled in athletic shorts and a tank top with a mustard stain down the center.
Her entire body lit up.
“ Mom !”
Tea jumped out of Archer’s grasp and ran for her mother.