Chapter 21 #3
“At home, being an obedient eight-year-old,” Arden said, with such precise innocence that Maren laughed out loud. “I wasn’t recruited as a scout at all.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I watched the whole thing from the riverbank.” Arden shook her head in fond horror.
“They launched the raft and it immediately began to spin because Ben had engineered it for buoyancy, not steering. There was a brief debate—you could tell from the arm gestures, since the river drowned out their voices—and Ben’s arm gestures had a distinct I told you so quality even from a distance.
Sean produced the map as evidence that steering was someone else’s problem.
Then the current caught them good and the debate became irrelevant. ”
Maren was already laughing.
“Gabe was the first one in the water because he was in the lawn chair and it slid right off. Shane went in about a second later, though to be fair to Shane, he jumped in voluntarily because he said afterward he wanted to ‘control the situation,’ which I always thought was generous framing.” Arden looked up at the mountain ridgeline, like she was watching it happen all over again on the horizon.
“Then Bear and Waylon followed Shane. Elias somehow managed to ride the raft all the way to an eddy near the footbridge before he bailed. By now the rest of them had made it to shore. Elias grabbed the raft and half-dragged it to the riverbank. Sean and Ben stepped off like they’d planned the whole thing.
Ben immediately crouched down and started checking what had held and what hadn’t. For next time.”
Maren covered her mouth. “There was a next time?”
“There were four next times. The third time they actually all made it to the park.” Arden held up her hand for full disclosure. “I was on that one.”
“You were not.”
“I was. Sean talked me into it. He added me to the map. I had a duty.” She shook her head slowly.
“I was the lookout. And I believed him when he said the lookout position was critical to the mission’s success, and I did not think through the fact that the lookout position was on the raft, in the middle of the river, with no better view of anything than standing on the bank would have given me. ”
She held Maren’s gaze with great seriousness before laughing. “He was just making sure that I couldn’t tell on him without ratting myself out.” She shook her head fondly. “The jackass.”
Maren burst out laughing so hard she had to set her glass down. “He played you.”
“He absolutely played me.” Arden smiled at the mountains. “I love him so much.”
“So what happened?”
“I fell in exactly where Gabe had fallen in the first time. Almost the exact same spot. Ben told me afterward it was the weakest structural point of the raft and he’d been meaning to reinforce it.” Arden paused. “He did not mention this before we launched.”
Maren wiped at her eyes.
“Sean immediately jumped in after me. He got me on the bank, sat me down, put his jacket around my shoulders, and told me I was the bravest lookout he’d ever had.” Arden’s voice went quiet for just a second—not sad, but soft.
Kyle lifted the grill lid and transferred the burgers to the platter without a word.
“Burgers are done, babe.”
“Great. Let’s go in to eat. Getting a little chilly out here.”
Arden went in first, followed by Kyle with the food, then Maren and Colin. Just before she went inside, Colin placed his hand on the small of her back, and Maren didn’t think she could ever feel happier.
“Juni,” she called. “Dinner’s ready. Juni?” She didn’t answer.
“She probably didn’t hear us. The bedrooms are this way,” Arden said, heading toward a doorway at the far end of the great room.
Maren followed her toward a darkened hallway.
Arden flipped on the hallway light and stopped at the first bedroom door.
She put her hand over her mouth and looked back at Maren.
She stepped quickly to Arden’s side, worried.
Until she looked into the room.
Juni lay curled up beside her stuffed animals, fast asleep.
She’d turned down the covers with great care and tucked herself in on the left side of the bed, leaving the right side for her animals.
Mr. Kibble was propped against the pillow.
Snoopy was beside him, with the Blue Fairy on the edge, her painted smile catching the light from the hallway.
All three of them were covered to their chins with the edge of the quilt, neat and deliberate.
Camo was at the foot of the bed. He was lying with his head on his paws and his eyes on the door, steady and certain, like a soldier on watch. He looked up when Maren and Arden appeared in the doorway. His tail wagged once, a soft thump but otherwise he didn’t move.
I’ve got her, he seemed to say.
Arden made a small sound beside her.
Maren slipped quietly into the room, eased the quilt up over Juni’s shoulder, and pressed a kiss to her temple.
Juni didn’t stir. Maren straightened and looked at Camo for a long moment, then slipped back out into the hallway.
Arden turned off the hallway light and pulled the door almost closed, leaving it open just enough for sound.
That’s when Maren realized Arden was crying.
She took Arden’s arm. By now, Kyle and Colin had joined them quietly, both men looking worried.
Arden took one look at Kyle and tilted her head toward the door.
Kyle looked inside. He froze, then stepped back and took Arden in his arms, his eyes wet.
“What’s wrong?” Maren whispered.
“You…no one told you the story, did they?” Arden looked up at Kyle who shook his head. He guided his wife back down the hall toward the great room, keeping his arms around her.
Maren looked at Colin to see if he understood. Again, he put his hand on her back and smiled softly.
“What story?” Maren asked Arden again once they were at the kitchen table.
“Sean’s last mission. The one he never came home from. He, Charlie, Shane, and the rest of their crew were trying to exfil a SEAL team under fire. Camo was with the SEALs. Sean came ashore and was…shot, trying to save a SEAL. Camo was with Sean when he died.”
Arden took a deep breath. “Camo stayed with his body. He wouldn’t let anyone near him, not even after…”
She stopped and took another deep, shaky breath.
“They had to tranquilize Camo to bring him home. Even then, they said he woke up looking for Sean.” She looked toward the hallway, toward the big dog keeping his vigil in the dark.
“Just seeing him watch over Sean’s daughter like it’s the most natural assignment in the world…
except she’s, she’s alive… He looks like he’s at peace.
Like he’d just been waiting for her to come home. ”
Maren pressed her fingers to her mouth and didn’t try to stop the tears this time.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For telling me. She can stay the night,” she added softly. “As long as Camo needs.”