Chapter Seventeen
Sammy
It was planning time for what had become Daddy’s friends yearly fishing trip, and it was hard to believe nearly a year had passed since I unknowingly lost my boat and we met.
Last week, Daddy in full romantic style, with flowers in hand and a handmade teddy bear friend for CB by his side, had asked me to officially move in with him.
Given the fact that we didn’t spend a night apart, and he’d given me a key a while back, the gesture had been more about picking which place we were going to put all of our things in than whether we wanted to commit to one another. We’d already done that.
It was sweet. I cried. And we made plans to have everything moved over when his lease expired in two months.
We opted for my house because it was larger, and, while it wasn’t ideal for his commute, it was better than my commute from his place.
I also had the bonus of space to build out, if we decided it was too small.
The decision had felt like a very natural progression of our relationship. We met, fell in love, and now it was time to commit. That didn’t detract from the joy and importance of it, but it didn’t feel as huge as our other big life decision.
Despite my family doing exactly what I suspected they would, begging me to sell, Daddy and I decided to not only keep the cabin but to fix it up as well. We had a full inspection, which gave us a much longer list of things that needed to be done than I’d originally expected.
We subcontracted out the things that we either couldn’t or didn’t want to do.
We had the windows replaced, the roof redone, and the porch rebuilt, all by professionals.
We probably could have done the roof with some help from friends, but we both had professional jobs, and it was worth the time saved to have someone else take care of it.
If we were going to spend time with friends, we didn’t want it up on a rooftop.
The porch needed far more help than I’d originally thought. There was dry rot and, on top of that, the support beams had been installed using concrete, and getting them out was a task neither of us wanted to deal with.
It was our first time back since all the work was done, and it almost looked like we picked the wrong drive when we pulled out.
If we hadn’t decided to paint it ourselves, the project for this weekend, I might not have recognized it.
The new porch was a gorgeous wraparound and I was excited to sit out there and watch the sun set across the lake.
We’d considered having it painted but opted to do it ourselves when we got the first estimate. It was one story, and we could handle it. Had it been two stories, it too would be in the hands of a contractor.
The windows were the biggest surprise for me.
I’d had neighbors at home get all new windows, and they always stood out like they didn’t belong.
The white was too white or maybe it was the material they used.
Whatever the case, I feared it would be the same here.
The salesman swore that wouldn’t be the case, but who trusted them?
Their job was to get our money. I was shocked when we pulled in at how well they blended in.
They weren’t the original wooden ones, but you couldn’t tell that from the distance.
I’d miss the whistling in the wind, as much as I complained about it.
On the porch were all the supplies the local hardware store had delivered.
Paint and brushes, and a roll of vinyl for the kitchen floor, a bag with new knobs for the cabinets, and random things like that.
Just looking at the mountain of products had me wondering if maybe we should change the order of the products to get all the small stuff done right away.
“Should we still paint first?” I asked.
“Nope.” Daddy went to the trunk of the car, leaving me confused by his answer. Not the nope part, but what did it have to do with the trunk?
I tried to remember what we had back there, since our suitcases were in the back seat. Then he shut the trunk and held up two life jackets.
“We’re going on a boat ride.”
We had yet to use it. There wasn’t any particular reason for that, although seeing the life jackets, there probably should’ve been. We’d found some old ones my grandfather had which had seen better days. I suspected they were no longer as buoyant as they should be, given they were crinkly.
Daddy helped me get my life jacket on, and I adjusted his—not that he needed my help, but any excuse to touch him. “Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.”
“I had the caretaker put the boat in the water for us. Climb on in.”
“I think I’m going to be a passenger prince,” I told him and held up the oars.
I think we can do better than that.” He stepped down into the boat and reached along the side.
“Have you ever sailed before?”
“This boat has never had a… What do you have there?” A mast with a rainbow-colored sail wrapped around it. Not a big one, but it was plenty large enough for this boat.
We sailed around the lake, looking at the different houses, including the one he’d stayed in with his friends, the one that inadvertently brought us together.
Daddy said we’d have met sooner or later, and I supposed that was right.
But then again, Rowan and his daddy had been together a long time now and we still hadn’t, and we belonged to the same club and had never met, so who knew what decade that meeting would’ve taken place in.
Daddy showed where he first found our boat. Our boat, because it was ours now. Big items like the boat and the house, were no longer his or mine. They were ours, something that made me very happy.
He lowered the sail and leaned back. “I just want to sit here for a while,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”
He was getting no argument from me.
“It really is. When I was little, I always thought the place was full of magic, that I’d see a fairy or gnome, but now, I see the magic is in the beauty.”
“Hey, look.” He pointed to the side of the boat where a spring azure had landed. “A butterfly.”
“It’s gorgeous.” I memorized the image, wanting to draw it later.
“It really is.”
“It’s called a spring azure.” I told him all about the butterfly who’d stopped for a rest, and how this was the small window when we’d be able to see them here and how he probably was near the end.
He listened, pretending it was the most interesting thing in the world, just like he always did when I went off on all things butterfly.
A drop hit my nose.
“I think it’s gonna rain.” Another drop. “Scratch that, Daddy, it’s raining.”
He let me help him with the sail and start back, arriving at the dock in a light drizzle. By the time we reached the cabin, it was a steady rain.
“Looks like it’s inside work today.” I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad in the long run, but it was what it was. So much for the weather map knowing anything.
“Nope.” He tapped my nose. “Change of plans.”
“What do you mean, change of plans?” Sometimes Daddy talked in riddles.
“I mean, we’re gonna go inside and listen to the rain together.”
“Just listen?” It didn’t sound like fun, but knowing Daddy, he’d make it better than it sounded.
“That was my entire plan.” He shrugged. “Did you have something better?”
“I did,” Or at least I did now, “but my idea requires taking off a lot more clothing than we’re wearing now.”
“I vote we go with your idea.” Daddy kissed my cheek. “My smart, smart boy.”
I wasn’t sure how smart I was, but we did have a much better afternoon in bed as the rain tapped against our new windows than we would’ve painting. So there was that.