9. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Cara
The following afternoon, we head to The Bait Bucket to rent kayaks from Tuck.
“Perfect timing,” Tuck says. “Jared and Sean are putting their kayaks in the tidal creek in twenty minutes. I’ll have them take two kayaks for you, too.”
The hopeful look on Victor’s face is almost too much to bear. It’s painfully obvious that he just wants to spend time with Jared.
Tuck wraps his arms around his mouth like a megaphone. “Jared, we’ve got two more paddlers for you!”
Jared emerges from a back room, and his eyes are bright with curiosity. When he spots Victor, his expression immediately becomes guarded and closed off.
“Hi, Jared,” Victor says.
Jared bobs his head in greeting.
“Have you met Cara? She’s your aunt Margo’s best friend, and she’s my partner for the week’s activities.”
Jared’s gaze shifts to me, and his eyes become much friendlier. “Aunt Margo talks about you all the time,” he tells me.
Tuck holds out two lifejackets for me and Victor. “Wear these at all times if you’re on the water.”
I twiddle a strand of hair nervously. “Is the water rough?”
“Not on the tidal creek,” Jared says quickly, “but it’s still smart to always wear a lifejacket.”
A half hour later, Jared and his friend, Sean, help Victor and me launch the kayaks into the creek. We paddle forward, waiting for Jared and Sean to launch their boats, too.
“Have fun,” Jared says, waving from the shore.
“Aren’t you coming, too?” Victor asks.
“Nah. Sean and I want more of an adventure, so we’re going to kayak in the ocean today.”
I glance at Sean, and he looks uncomfortable. It’s obvious that Jared’s ditching Victor, and Sean doesn’t seem to approve.
“We’re not experienced paddlers,” I say uneasily.
“You’ll be fine in the creek,” Jared assures me. “Just be sure to be off the water in three hours or so. Any longer than that and you’ll get stuck in the mud at low tide.”
Victor digs his paddle into the water and turns away from Jared without another word. I’m tempted to tell Jared off, but I turn to follow Victor. We paddle in silence for several minutes before he speaks.
“I’m not sure how much more of this I can endure,” he says. “I moved here for him . But if he doesn’t want me here, what’s the point? I can go back to New York, where I’m wanted.”
I’m tempted to say, “Yes, please! Come back to New York!” But it would be selfish to take him away from his son. If he moves back to the city, it has to be on his own terms. Otherwise, he’ll always be resentful, wondering what kind of relationship they could have had if he hadn’t given up.
I try to distract him by pointing out various shore birds, but it’s no use. He’s completely distracted. Soon, I start snapping pictures of anything and everything around me. We paddle past houses, and I spot the house I’m staying in. Before long, we’ve left the houses behind and paddled into a wildlife refuge.
I keep my eye on the time, remembering what Jared said about the water receding with the tide. Victor paddles deeper into the refuge, and I start to get nervous.
“Maybe we should turn around,” I suggest.
Victor glances back at me, a look of surprise on his face, as if he’s forgotten that I’m here. “Okay,” he agrees, digging into the water with his paddle and executing a perfect turn. I do the same, though less gracefully, and we head back toward my rental house.
My paddle knocks against something, and I realize it’s scraping along the ground. “It’s almost low tide!”
Victor’s eyes widen. “Does your dock have a kayak launch?”
I haven’t spent much time at the dock at my rental property, but I remember hearing Tuck mention the kayak launch as he was showing me around the property.
“It does.”
“Then that’s our destination,” Victor says. “I don’t think we’ll have time to get all the way back to where we put the boats in the water.”
We scramble to paddle as quickly as possible, but it’s getting harder and harder as the paddles scrape the bottom of the channel. Within a few more minutes, we’re sitting in just a few inches of water. It’s nearly impossible to move now that we can’t paddle.
Victor swears under his breath. “Just perfect.”
“Are we stuck?” I ask, my voice taking on a panicked edge. We’re still in the wildlife refuge area, not a house in sight
“Yep,” Victor confirms. “Hold out your paddle. I’ll see if I can pull your boat closer to mine.”
I hold out my paddle and he grips the end, pulling me closer before the water disappears. Within minutes, we’re surrounded by nothing but mud and mussel beds.
“It’s okay,” he says calmly. “We’re just not going anywhere for a while.”
“For how long?” I ask.
“At least six hours, I’d guess.”
I gulp. “Six hours? The sun will set in one hour.”
“We’ll be okay,” he promises. “We’re not afraid of the dark, are we?”
Maybe a little… “Are there alligators?”
“I doubt they’d be hanging out in the mud,” he assures me.
“We’re not far from the bank. Maybe we could just walk back to my place?”
Victor shakes his head. “Someone tried that last year. He got stuck in the mud and drowned when the tide came back.”
He rests his hand, palm up, on the side of my kayak. “It’d make me feel better if you’d hold my hand.”
I glance at his face, and he’s sporting a shy smile. Returning his smile, I entwine my fingers with his. His skin is soft and warm, and the contact makes me feel safe and protected.
“It’s going to get really dark,” I say.
“We’ll stargaze together. It’ll be romantic.”
We chat for a while before falling into amiable silence. I stare at his profile in the setting sun. I realize that Margo was right. He’s everything she said he was—and so much more.
“I’m sorry that Jared’s not giving you a chance to be his father,” I say quietly, squeezing his hand.
“I wish…” His voice trails off.
“What?” I ask.
“I wish I’d met him when he was still a kid. He may have needed me then. I think that’s the problem. He’s all grown up. He simply doesn’t need me now.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” I say. “He may think it’s true, but it’s not. Having another person in your life to love you and support you is something we all need.”
It’s certainly something that I need. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him to move back to New York. To be with me. Maybe we can even have a child together, and then he’ll get the chance to be the dad he’s always wanted to be.
As darkness descends, I grip his hand more tightly. Panic threatens to overwhelm me again.
“We’re fine,” he says again. “Just relax.”
I lean back in the kayak and stare up at the stars. After a while, they grow blurry with sleep, and I doze off. I don’t wake again until Victor leans over to stroke my face. It’s still dark, and the moon shines brightly in the sky. Then I realize we have buoyancy again.
“The water?” I ask, my voice thick with sleep.
He smiles. “We can paddle back now.”
It’s hard to tell when we reach the correct dock, but Victor manages to guide us where we need to be. He pushes his kayak onto the landing and steps onto the platform. Climbing the ladder, he cranks the lever to raise his boat out of the water. Then he lowers it back down for mine. When I’m finally standing on the solid dock, I breathe a sigh of relief. Victor holds out his arms and I crush myself against his chest.
“See?” he whispers into my hair. “Everything is fine.”
He lowers his lips to mine, and the rest of the world fades away.
He lives in Friendly, and I live in New York… this is probably a gigantic mistake. But right now, I don’t care. I let the sweetness of the kiss carry me away.