28. Berg
Chapter twenty-eight
Berg
T he breeze is cool, but the sun-heated sand warms the water as the tide creeps back in. It feels nice to walk through the shallows with Caro while the girls stop every few moments to put something in their sand buckets. We’ve stayed longer than we planned to and I’ve promised them all pizza at our favourite place downtown. A squirt of cold water shoots up the leg of my shorts and I make a sound more befitting for one of my daughters.
“Ugh.” I shake my leg like I’m doing the hokey pokey.
“Dig for it, Daddy! Dig for the geoduck!” Natalie yells, running to me with her plastic yellow shovel in her outstretched hand.
I fall to my knees, digging as fast as I can with the rudimentary equipment .
“Faster!” Louisa screams.
Wet sand arcs through the air as I toss it behind me.
“I’m trying!” I yell back, thrusting my fist into the small hole but finding nothing.
I fall onto my butt, catching my breath. “Missed it.”
“Oh, well.” Louisa shrugs, continuing down the beach with Nat toward some other children.
Caro offers her hand. “Valiant effort.”
I humour her, letting her help haul me out of the damp, scratchy sand.
Holding up the yellow shovel, I scowl. “I was at a disadvantage.”
“Obviously, we need more serious equipment for a day at the beach.”
She places her small hands on the waistband of my shorts and pulls me close so our hips touch.
“That was really sweet, Berg.”
“I’m a sweet guy,” I say.
Caro’s lips taste salty as I bend and take her mouth in a kiss. Wind whips my cheeks as I secure some stray curls and suck her bottom lip lightly.
This day is perfect, and I’m so glad I took the day off to join them. Usually the girls would be in day camps during school breaks, and I’d not see them until the end of the day. We wander back to our beach blanket, stepping over clumps of vivid green seaweed and rocks covered in jagged barnacles .
She pauses at the edge of the blanket and I turn her, slipping my arms around her waist. Her soft, warm body fits perfectly against mine.
“Guess what I did this morning?” she asks.
I kiss her forehead. “Tell me.”
“I applied for school.”
“What!?” I lift her until her feet are off the sand, spinning her around until she screams.
“When do you know? When can you choose courses?”
She laughs. “I only did it today! I have no answers for you. I won’t have many options for classes, though. I basically know what I need to do.”
“I’m really damn proud of you, you know?”
She beams at me, pressing a soft kiss to my lips.
“Thank you for never pushing me. You let me make up my mind, and that’s what I needed.”
“How will we ever survive without you?”
I’m joking, but only partly. I’m overjoyed for Carolina, but there’s a small slice of me that’s wondering what this will mean for her and I.
“Find a new one, I guess.” She sticks her tongue out at me to let me know she’s teasing.
I don’t want another nanny.
“I hate the idea of that.”
“Me too. More than you know. The thought of sitting in an early morning class instead of braiding Louisa’s hair or doing a three-hour evening lecture and missing family supper? ”
She swipes a tear away with her sleeve.
“Two semesters will fly by. Seriously. Is everything sorted out financially? Can I…can I help?”
Looking up the current tuition fees for colleges with Caro was a sobering reminder that I have two quickly growing daughters. The same question was on the tip of my tongue when she first told me about the asshole who screwed her over. Caro is generous and kind and she got burned because of it.
“No.” She presses her palms against my chest, letting her fingers roam across my body. “It’s important to me I figure this out. Let me keep working throughout the summer and maybe I can manage to pay for the first semester. Remember, I’m not even accepted yet.”
“You will be.”
I hate that she’s struggling with this. I’m not made of money since our family operates on a single income, but I’m doing well for myself. I’ve made smart choices, bought my house at the right time, and I’d happily part with a few thousand dollars if it meant Caro could finish her education. Regardless of the status of our relationship, I want that for her.
“You’ll probably have to force me back, Berg. Bundle me up and drop me on the university’s doorstep.” My laugh is watery. “That’s how hard it will be to leave you guys. I don’t know if it’s normal to feel so strongly about the kids you nanny for, but I love them.”
A wail turns my head, and we both look to see Lou limping down the sand toward us .
“Oh, no.”
“Wouldn’t be an outing without an injury,” Caro says.
“The…barnacles…scraped…me…” Lou hiccoughs between each word, nose running and tears flowing freely over her pink cheeks.
“Those mean barnacles.” Caro kneels on the plaid blanket, pulling Louisa onto her lap and reaching for a bottle of water.
She pours a gentle stream over my daughter’s knee to wash away the sand, dabbing it with the corner of a beach towel.
“That stings.”
“I know, honey. Bandage next and then you can go back to playing.”
Her lip sticks out a mile. “I don’t want to play anymore.”
Caro smiles, tearing open a colourful bandage I’ve never seen before.
The idea of her shopping for things she thought my daughters would love is too much. I stuff my hands in my pockets, clearly not needed at this very moment.
“What happened to feeling queasy over the sight of blood?”
“Oh.” Caro shrugs. “I honestly didn’t even think about it. Just did what needed doing.”
“You’re a natural.”
“I have a good teacher,” she says.
Despite her protestations, Louisa makes a swift recovery and heads back toward the water with a juice box in hand .
I watch as Caro lay back on the blanket, crossing her legs at the ankles and folding her arms behind her head. “Crisis averted.”