Chapter 2 #2
Lee navigates the boat to a slower place in the river so that we can drift slowly.
We’re quiet as we grab our rods and prepare them.
We make our first throws, then get ready to settle in.
Beau takes the seat up front like usual, and Lee and I settle into the side-by-side seats at the back of the boat.
The sun slips above the trees, the birds rejoicing at the sight after a long night of darkness.
I sip my coffee that’s now the perfect temperature.
Lee knows just how I like it after all these years.
A nice dark roast with a pinch of sugar, that’s it.
Creamer ruins coffee in my opinion. I want to taste the beans, which is why Lee has always invested in a nicer roast when he’s making coffee for me.
I watch the back of Beau’s head for a bit as he sits patiently and waits for a fish to bite. He’s got some gray hairs at the back of his neck that I’ll have to find the perfect time to give him some shit for. That’s real friendship.
We’ve been on the boat before and never uttered a single word, but I’m not feeling that today. Not after noticing Lee’s nose. Not after being alone all weekend and not getting Savannah back until after school this evening.
“I’m bored,” I say loudly.
“You’re gonna scare the fish away,” Beau whispers, but I can hear the smile in his voice.
“That’s a myth,” Lee points out.
I grin over at Lee in thanks, but his head is still tilted away, as if he’s looking at the river, but I know he’s not. He’s probably squinting and looking at the trees, trying to see if he can spot any new birds. My little bird-watcher. I’m not sure he even likes fishing after all these years.
“Did y’all hear about the drama at the church?” I ask with a little lilt to my voice that I know will capture their attention.
As if on cue, both men turn toward me. Beau’s hat obscures his face a little, but I can see the interest from a mile away, and despite Lee’s obviously broken nose, he wants the drop on the drama too.
“Do tell,” Lee all but begs.
“Okay, well, someone’s been stealing from the tithe plate again.”
“Oh, here we go,” Beau says with far too much interest.
Lee snorts in clear derision. “How would anyone know? We have been down this road so many times.”
“Well.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and making my eyes big and dramatic, which in turn makes them lean a little closer.
“All the parishioners are filling out those little tithe sheets now, putting the cash in the envelopes. They document it and check their tithe sheet at the end of the month that they get from Mrs. Gordon in the front office, right? Well, some of them are missing funds. So they don’t know if it’s someone stealing from the plate in the service or someone in the office stealing funds. It’s a whole big thing.”
“Well, maybe if they were actually good people…” Lee grumbles.
“Let it go,” Beau says with a wave of his hand. “Well, it’s probably one of the kids. We know how that goes.”
“I hope they never find out. Run free, little thief, run free.”
I snort and send Lee a look. “You are such a hater.”
“They deserve it with the shit they preach.”
We all quiet; it’s still a sore spot after all these years.
It’s funny to me that Beau was the one who got kicked out of the church, but he’s over it, and Lee keeps holding a grudge so tightly that he hopes that someone at the church is committing a crime without getting caught.
I’d wanted to burn the place down when the church gave an entire sermon about Beau going to hell after he came out in high school, but noooooo, neither of them would let me.
The fish aren’t biting much today. I only catch two blue catfish; Lee and Beau catch trout.
The catfish will get fried tonight, while the trout will get baked with a nice crunchy parmesan crust. We put them in the container on the boat and make the slow ride back to the dock.
The day has warmed, and the wind is light, blowing through the trees softly and catching sunrays on the water.
I can see the tension return to Lee’s shoulders as he steers the boat.
I’ll have him over for dinner tonight, try to get him to talk to me about what happened.
Savannah can loosen him up in a way no one else can; she can get that man on the floor playing werewolves and howling at the moon.
Beau pulls up in front of my rented bungalow, and I open Lee’s door without question.
Lee only sighs loudly and follows after me.
I look behind him toward Beau, who just has one eyebrow lifted in question, but he tips his hat when I tug Lee to help me get our rods and the cooler out of the bed of the truck.
“Stop by later if you want some hush puppies,” I tell Beau, and he just nods before raising his window back up and backing out of the drive.
I turn to Lee, who is standing quiet and tired behind me.
“You’ll stay for dinner and bedtime. Savi has been begging for some Uncle Lee time. Wanna sleep over?”
Lee gets shifty again but sighs, which is his form of not arguing.
Lee is pretty easy to convince these days, although sometimes he gets his back up and wants to no longer have sleepovers, like my house isn’t half his anyway.
We head inside in wordless agreement. Lee tugs off his hat when the crisp air-conditioning washes over us, and his wayward light brown wavy hair is even messier than normal from sweating on the boat.
In tandem, we slip off our shoes and head toward the kitchen.
We work together to clean the fish, a system we’ve had down for almost twenty years now.
I put the fish in the fridge to hold them for frying later in the evening, then shove Lee toward the guest room.
“You smell so bad,” I tell him while continuing to lightly shove him.
It’s not true; Lee never really smells bad.
I like the smell of him after a long day outside because he smells the most like himself then.
Like hard work and determination, softness and shy smiles.
“Take a shower and put on some of your clothes that always ends up back at my house anyway.”
“Rude,” Lee says with very little bite.
“We can go pick up Savi from school together. She’ll love that.”
“She’ll want to get a slushy from Tom’s.”
“And she can have one.”
Lee turns toward me in the guest room doorway, all happy puppy eyes. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, sure,” I say with an easy smirk. “If you pay.”
Lee laughs loudly and disappears into the guest room to shower and change.
I head into my room, rubbing my hand over my chest. I don’t know why Lee’s laugh does that to me, makes me feel like I could pick a car up and throw it.
Savannah’s laugh does the same thing. I’ve given up trying to explain it.
Must just be because I love them both the most out of everyone in the world.
By the time we’re both showered and dressed, it’s time to go get Savannah from school.
Lee sits in the back seat of my SUV because that’s tradition when he’s with me to pick up Savannah.
When the three of us are together, I take a back seat and Savannah becomes the focus of Lee’s world, which has always made me feel something inexplicable that I can’t really explain.
It’s lovely to know that my best friends love my little girl almost as much as I do.
I keep glancing in the rearview mirror to watch the excitement on Lee’s face grow the closer we get to Savannah’s elementary school.
On her first day of school, he’d joined us, and I’d caught him surreptitiously wiping away tears when we drove away.
Lee feels so much but keeps it all buried down as far as he can, where he thinks it’s safe.
As we pull into the car line, I slip the hanging sign onto the rearview mirror so the teachers can see Savannah’s information.
Not that I really need it. All the teachers smile and wave as I make my way slowly through the line.
I flick my eyes up to the rearview mirror to catch Lee rolling his eyes—he’s always found all the attention I receive annoying.
Sure, I’m pretty, but it’s important to not be an asshole.
I know I’m good looking, and half of it is my smile and me not being an asshole. That’ll get you very far in life.
Savannah walks out, gripping a teacher’s hand, as I pull up to the front doors of the gym at the car loop.
Savannah’s blonde curls glint in the sun and I grin at her while waving.
The teacher assists in opening the door while Savannah is busy talking her ear off, only noticing Lee once he’s helping to buckle her into her booster seat.
“Unc-Lee!” she yells while grabbing his shirt and tugging him close for kisses.
My heart swells and my stomach trembles at the sight, so I turn my attention back to the road and guide us out of the school parking lot. Savannah combined Uncle and Lee as a kid, turning his name into “Unc-Lee,” which is far cuter than I ever could’ve imagined.
“It’s a full moon tonight, Mom told me,” Savannah says very seriously.
“Well, I know what that means,” Lee says just as seriously back.
“You have to sleep at our house so that the werewolves don’t get you. Those are the rules.”
“Hmmmm… but I didn’t pack a bag.”
“That’s okay,” Savannah says sweetly, clearly angling to get her way. “You can wear some of Daddy’s clothes.”
“Savannah—”
“You can!”
“I’ll spend the night, sweetheart. I have spare clothes.”
Savannah gasps in clear shock. “But you were arguing!”
“I was teasing,” Lee carefully clarifies.
“I’ll stay the night. We’ll have fried catfish and hush puppies for dinner.
” The car gets quiet and I can hear Lee leaning forward as I pull onto the county road that’ll take me back downtown to my homely little bungalow that feels a lot more like home when they’re both there with me.
“And maybe Daddy will make those double chocolate cookies that we both love so much.”