44. Luke
Luke
At the river, we park the SUV in the parking lot.
It’s at the top of a short incline that leads to the riverbank.
Two guys in red T-shirts are lining up large inflated yellow tubes on the edge of the water.
Cameron and Tyler stand to the side, watching the guys and talking with them about the rapids, while Juliet and Sandra stand back, arms crossed.
“Hey, guys!” I shout, leaving the dirt path for the pebbly beach we’ll be pushing off from. Nat follows behind me, her hand gripping my fingers.
“Hey, there they are,” Ty says, reaching out a hand. I grip it, and then Ty turns to Nat. “Hey, little sis.” He squeezes her in a hug.
Cam meanders over and claps me on the back. “Good to see you.”
“You too. I’m excited for this.” I point at the river. “We’ve never done this before.”
“It’s a blast. You’ll love it. As long as the girls don’t freak out about any critters in the water, it’s like being on a lazy river at a water park.”
“Now, those I’ve done,” I say. “No critters there, though.” The corners of Cam’s mouth twist into a grin.
“Have you been waiting long?” Natalie asks the group. We’re not late late, but we’re not on time either.
“Nah.” Tyler shakes his head. “The guys here had to patch up one of the tubes; it had a leak. It’s taking a few extra minutes, but I think they’re almost done.”
Jules and Sandra walk over to meet us, both in swim tanks and running shorts.
“Hey!” Natalie hugs them both. “Have you done this before? I’m a little nervous.”
“I haven’t,” Sandra answers. “But Juliet’s a big river girl.”
Jules waves her hand, a smile on her face. “Not so much since having kids, but I used to kayak a lot. In nursing school I didn’t have a lot of time to unwind, but when I could, I’d hike and kayak. Tyler would go with me a lot too.”
“But not tubing?” Natalie asks.
Jules shrugs. “I didn’t really ever see why my butt had to get wet.”
I throw a fist in the air. “I’m with you there, Jules. No wet butts. But …” I look out at the river and then the tubes. “I guess we’re about to see what all the hype is about.”
Natalie pulls my fist down, a twinkle in her eye, and I pinch her side. It makes her giggle, and she steps away from me with a squeal.
One of the guys in the red T-shirts walks over to meet us.
“Alright,” he says. “That one’s patched, and it’ll be fine the whole trip.
Just don’t go running it into any sharp rocks or sliding it across stones when you get out.
” As he turns, pointing out the tube with the patch, I see his shirt says Kittappy River Services next to a logo of a canoe on the breast pocket.
The man is short, with a round jaw and pointy nose.
He has to be in his forties, at least, and he knows far more about this river than I thought possible.
He and his companion give us the rules of the river and what to look out for when we’re in the water.
The girls squirm a little when he mentions snakes and leeches, but they seem relieved as he goes on to say they haven’t had an issue with either for the last five years.
“And besides, the water snakes in PA aren’t poisonous.
” He aims these words at Nat and Sandra, who look the most uncomfortable.
“So if you do see a snake in the water, it probably won’t kill you.
” He chuckles to himself, but the girls don’t laugh.
Instead, they eye one another with wary expressions.
The man rubs his sharp nose and continues.
“Any questions for us before you launch?” We shake our heads.
“Perfect. Four miles downriver you’ll pass under a highway bridge, and then you’ll see a red van parked along the beach to your left.
The van will say Kittappy River Services on the side facing you, and that’s when you’ll know it’s your stop.
We’ll help you get the tubes up the bank.
Just do your best to get to the left side of the river.
When it’s shallow enough, you’ll be able to hop out and wade to the beach with the tubes. ”
“Just don’t let them go,” adds the other man—a skinny, short guy with blue sunglasses that reflect our images back at us. “We don’t want to lose a tube to the Kittappy.”
Tyler salutes. “No losing tubes. And no wet butts. Got it.”
Sandra shoves him, and Nat and Jules roll their eyes.
The men laugh, one of them stating that we’ll definitely have wet butts in a few seconds, and then they guide us to the river’s edge until we’re standing ankle-deep in the water. They hand us each a large tube.
We all shed our outer layers so we’re only in our swimsuits.
The men suggest we leave them behind and get them when we’re driven back to our cars after the trip, so we place our clothes and shoes on the stones.
When everyone is ready, we help our women into their tubes first—with much squealing from them about the cold water—and then we hop into our own.
The chill is a shock against my skin at first, but in the heat of the summer sun I quickly adjust to the temperature.
“Oh, and one more thing,” says the river man. “Have fun!”
We smile and thank him, waving as the guys shove our tubes away from the beach.
Natalie grips a handle on the side of mine so we float together.
The other couples do the same, and a few of us drape our legs over the side of another’s tube to keep our party of six from separating on the gentle current.
Two hours later, I wonder how much farther we have to float before getting to the beach where we plan on exiting. I’ve been staring out at green trees of all kinds as we float past nothing but forest on both sides, and I’m starting to burn in the sun.
“How are you not burning?” I ask Cam.
“Juliet,” he states plainly. “She makes me wear sunscreen whenever I’m near water.”
“Near water?” I ask, amused. “Why?”
“Because,” Jules pipes in, with a tone like duh, “the sun reflects off the water. If you didn’t put on sunblock, you’re definitely going to burn.” Cam gives me a look that says I shouldn’t get into it with her.
I hide my grin and clear my throat. “Does anyone have any idea how much farther the beach is?” I’m hoping Cam or Ty can tell me we’re getting out around the next bend or something. Tubing down the river has been a blast, but the sun is making me ache, and I could use some drinkable water.
Tyler tips his head back on his tube, his hair dipping into the river. “Sorry, bro. I can’t tell time or distance out here.”
“I’m not sure where the four-mile mark is either,” adds Cam. “But we can’t miss it. We’re waiting on a bridge, so …”
“Are you burning?” Natalie asks me. “I should have thought to give you my sunscreen.”
Jules splashes Nat with her foot, sending water across both my and Natalie’s tubes. The cool trickle down my chest and torso feels good against my baking skin.
“You gotta take care of your man, Nat,” Jules says, her lips twisting into a smile. “You should know by now that they don’t think about things like sunscreen.”
Nat splashes Jules right back, and soon Tyler is in on the sibling water fight.
I sit back and let them have their fun as we drift along the river.
Sandra screams with joy, kicking her feet wildly to out-splash the rest of them, and when I open my eyes against the onslaught of splashes, I meet Cam’s eyes.
He’s smiling, rolling his eyes and smoothing back his wet hair before placing his hat back on top.
At least he had the bright idea of wearing something to shade his eyes.
Then Cam frowns. He points at Nat. “Hey, uh … your tube is deflating.” He says it so calmly that it takes a moment for the statement to register.
Natalie stops kicking the water. She looks down at her tube, her head whipping back and forth as if she can find the hole in the yellow rubber.
“What do I do?” she says, her voice an octave too high. “What do I do? We might not be close yet! How did this even happen?”
I pull her tube closer to mine. “You must have gotten the tube with the leak.”
“But they patched it!”
“It must not have held,” I say. “Don’t thrash around anymore. Maybe the tube has enough air to make it to the end.”
Natalie remains statue-still, but after several minutes her body is half sunk in the river. The tube droops around her, and more of her body sinks into the river with every passing minute.
“This isn’t staying up,” she cries, her expression one of alarm. “I’ll be swimming soon. This tube isn’t going to last much longer.”
“She’s right,” says Tyler, scanning the water around her. “Can you climb onto Luke’s tube?” he suggests.
“Great idea.” I pat my lap. “Hop on up here, baby.”
She stares at me.
“What?” I chuckle. “You’re my wife. Get over here.” I pat my leg again.
She glances at her sister, who shrugs and looks away with a smile.
Nat huffs. “Fine.”
Her orange swimsuit bottoms slide up over the side of the sad tube, and before she dips into the river, she throws herself awkwardly over my lap. But instead of sitting on me like a lady, she flops across my lap on her belly.
“Oh, this is perfect,” I say, resting my hands on the back of her thighs, laughing through my words. “Great view.”
“Luke!” She squirms. “Help me turn around.”
The girls snicker at the display, and the boys laugh.
“Dude, that’s my sister,” Tyler announces sternly through his laughter. “I don’t want to see that. Get a room.” He shades his eyes with a hand. “I think there’s something in this water that makes everyone horny,” he mumbles.
“Oh yeah, that kayaking trip?” Cam points to Tyler, who rolls his eyes about a story I mustn’t have heard yet.
I stare at them, hoping they elaborate.
Nat taps my arm frantically. “I’m waiting.”
“Oh, right.” I put my hands around her waist, guiding her as she flips around.
The tube rocks as she squirms to roll over.
I help her until she’s sitting on top of me, both of us dipping deeper into the center of the tube.
But it isn’t half as bad as her leaky tube, which I hold onto so it doesn’t get taken by the current.
“Thank you,” she huffs, finally seated across my lap.
I wrap my arms around her middle. The scent of her coconut sunscreen mixes with the warm familiar smell of her, filling my nose.
Resting my chin on her tan shoulder, I breathe her in shamelessly.
She notices, looking back at me, and leans against my chest. We sit this way for a while, and I close my eyes against the sun.
“There it is!” Sandra shouts, smiling and pointing toward the bridge.
A few minutes later, we drift silently under a large stone structure; the sounds of cars rushing over us echo across the water.
When we emerge on the other side, there’s a sixteen-passenger van waiting for us near the shore.
A small rocky landing that can only slightly pass as a beach stretches into the water.
Still connected by draped arms and legs, we paddle our cluster of tubes toward the riverbank.
Without warning, Natalie starts screaming. “There’s a snake!” She pulls her legs out of the water and thrashes, screaming and bumping me with her elbows.
“Natalie, stop!” I say, but she can’t hear me over her own voice.
She scrambles in our tiny space, unable to actually go anywhere. And like a yawn, her screams are contagious. Sandra screams, then Jules, a chorus of high-pitched shrieks and twisting in tubes. It’s the domino effect in action.
“Where?” I demand, balancing my weight in an attempt to keep us afloat. I try to hold Nat in place, but she won’t calm down. Cam and Ty look at the water too, their eyes darting, like mine, to find the snake.
“There!” Sandra lifts her rear end from the water, planking across her tube. It’s actually quite impressive. She points a long finger at a shadow in the shallow water.
Natalie keeps screaming. “We’re moving toward it!” Her body is heavy as she bounces on top of me, trying to climb me like a tree. This could be sexy if she weren’t screaming in my face. I can’t even see around her body to glimpse what she’s actually looking at.
Cam’s voice sounds over the shrill squeals. “Nat, I don’t think it’s a snake, I think it’s just a—”
I don’t quite hear what he’s about to say, because without warning Natalie is trying to stand up. On the tube. It’s wide and made of thick material, but it’s still just an unstable rubber band filled with air.
Natalie puts a foot on either side of the tube, her heels brushing my fingers as I grip the handles. She begins straightening to a standing position.
“Natalie, don’t stand up. You’ll make us tip!” I shout.
She doesn’t listen. “Don’t let it touch me!” she shrieks. Nat’s right foot unbalances the tube, tipping us until we go into the river with a splash, the tube flipping out from under my legs. She screams as she falls, and then I go under.