45. Luke
Luke
It took some convincing to get Natalie to stop freaking out about the snake. The convincing looked like this: Cam hopped off his tube, waded through the chest-deep water toward said snake, and tugged on it, releasing a brown stick from the murky depths.
The girls all stopped screaming after that.
“I feel so bad about freaking you all out,” says Natalie as we sit in the back of the red van shuttling us back to our cars. “It really looked like a snake.” Her face is red from the sun, but also flushed from embarrassment as she chews on her lip.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sandra says, reassuring her by placing a hand on Nat’s shoulder. “I’m also sorry about all the screaming I did too. I’m a sympathetic screamer, and anything can set me off.”
Nat and I chuckle at her honesty, and Tyler taps my shoulder from the row behind me. “You ready for round two?”
I frown. “Round two? On the river?”
“Round two of screaming for the day.” His voice is hushed, keeping the conversation between just the two of us.
My wet shorts squeak against the plastic seat as I turn to face him. The girls are in their own conversation, so they don’t hear us, and Cam is near the front of the van with Jules.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
He ruffles his damp, dirty-blond hair. The color and length is a lot like mine, but his is curlier, especially when wet.
“I have a surprise for Sandra up at Jules’s house,” he whispers behind his hand. “The girls are going to flip. You and Nat can come over, right?”
I nod, wondering what he’s alluding to. “Sure. We’ll go straight there.”
A smile erupts across his face. He bumps his fist against my shoulder and sits back, shirtless against the sticky leather seat.
Once at Juliet and Cam’s house, everyone changes into dry clothes before gathering on the back deck for snacks and cold drinks.
Nat’s mom and dad—who forcefully insist I call them Shirley and Kent rather than Mr. and Mrs. Berns—join us as our group talks animatedly about the river events.
From start to finish, Shirley and Kent listen with their eyes lit up, taking in the joy of having all their kids here in one place.
I wonder what it would be like to have grown kids who enjoy one another and do things together. I imagine it would be fulfilling, if the faces of these two parents are any indication.
“So then Nat is screaming and climbing on top of Luke,” Juliet recounts, poking Nat in the shoulder. “And of course she topples them, and they capsize.”
“Oh, Natalie,” her mother croons. “All that over a stick?” Her words are made playful by a huge smile that shows her pearly white teeth.
“I didn’t know it was a stick, obviously,” says Natalie, sitting back and draping her leg over my knee. She sips iced tea from a glass.
“Well, it’s a good thing that’s all it was,” her mom says, laughing and shaking her head. “You’ve always been scared of snakes. Imagine swimming with one.”
Natalie visibly shivers. “Mom, don’t say that. It makes me want to throw up. I could have been pulled under and wrapped up like a burrito by some giant anaconda!”
I pat her leg affectionately. “There are no anacondas in PA.”
She glares at me. “It doesn’t make the moment any less scary when I’ve seen the movies, okay? Slippery, scaly reptiles can hide under the water like that. There’s no way any of us could have seen what was under us the whole time we were on the river. The day could have ended like a horror movie.”
“Good thing nothing nibbled on you,” adds Ty. I laugh with him, but Nat shoots us a scowl.
“You’re right,” she says. “I don’t think I’ll ever go back on the river again.”
Everyone giggles, drifting into separate conversations, and for the moment I feel like we’re alone. I rest my hand on Nat’s knee.
Her eyes meet mine, lips pulling into a sheepish smile. “Sorry for tipping the tube,” she tells me. “I guess I … overreacted.”
My hand lifts to her face, curling a lock of hair around my finger. “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned for our last few minutes on the river, but … I’ll never forget it.” I wink at her. She swats at my arm with a smile on her face, then turns to watch her siblings.
“Would you want to move here?” I ask quietly.
Her head turns back to me. “What?”
I shrug. “You’ve loved being here this summer. Is it something you want to consider? Maybe getting a house here?”
“I—I don’t know.” Her brows pull into a deep V. “I hadn’t really thought of it as an option.”
“Anything’s an option. We can think about it, if you want.”
She looks back at her family. They’re all laughing with one another, Tyler claiming the center of attention after some joke he must have told. Nat’s sparkling eyes come back to mine. “I kind of miss the beach, if I’m being honest.”
“Me too,” I chuckle. “Don’t worry. It was just an idea.”
She smiles warmly at me, leaning her arm against mine.
“All the screaming aside, this was the best tubing day I’ve ever had.” I shoot her a grin.
She lifts a brow, her smile growing. “It was the only tubing day you’ve ever had.”
“I know,” I say, laying a kiss on her shoulder. “And it was the best.”