“He had a restless night and now he’s fallen back to sleep. Sometimes there are things like muscle spasms or contractures—tightening. Sometimes his legs hurt and jerk. A little massage helps.” She sipped her coffee. “It helped more when his mom did it but he’s stuck with me.”
“This must be such a hard transition. For both of you.”
“It’s going to take a lot of getting used to. But he’s so brave and good-natured. If I toss and turn I wake up mean as a bear.”
Owen grinned. “Were you ever married?” he asked. “No, wait, that was personal. I apologize.”
“You’re okay. No. I was engaged. Twice. I’m glad I discovered it wasn’t a good idea before the vows. You?”
“I went through a divorce ten years ago, but I’m still on friendly terms with my ex, though she remarried.”
“That must be a little awkward...”
“Nah, it’s okay. We didn’t want any of the same things but she’s a very good person. A good friend. We rarely see each other but she checks in sometimes, asks me where I’ve been lately. I check on her sometimes, less often. I’m not as outgoing or social as she is. She married a man who loves being around lots of people and I live on a lake in the mountains and travel alone.”
“You’re not that antisocial,” she said. “You’re sitting on the porch with me and it’s not even seven. We’re having a coffee klatch.” She pulled her feet up and held her cup with both hands. “And while you didn’t intend to impose, I’m very happy for the company.”
“If you ever need space, just say so,” he said.
“Oh, I will. I’m not some withering flower. But honestly, with the situation as it is right now, having another adult to talk to is... I don’t know... Fortifying. A little later today I’m going to run over to the Crossing and say hello. As I was leaving your place last time I stopped there for coffee and met the owner and his wife. Nice people.”
“Helen and Sully are a couple but not married. Wonderful folks. You said something last night about your girlfriends? About Noah and your girlfriends? I’m not sure I got that reference right...”
“We went to college together, four of us. Me, Erin—that’s Noah’s mom—Sharon and Kate. We met freshman year and hit it off. We were actually a few of the poor kids—we couldn’t afford to live on campus or join sororities. We all had jobs and as many credits as we could carry, not to mention loans. By our second year we could afford to share a crappy off-campus duplex because none of us could stand living at home another minute. We helped each other study, find jobs and boyfriends, became each other’s therapists and confidantes, and I swear, without each other, we would not have gotten degrees. Sharon and Kate are both married with kids and Erin and I were in their weddings. Erin never did get married. And I had to call off two weddings. I am not planning a third.”
“But Noah...?”
“Suffice it to say, there was no man in the picture.” And she closed the door on that topic.
But Owen was stubborn. “Where’s his male influence? Grandpa? Uncle?”
“Erin had many good friends and if you’d known her you wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that there were even a couple of really nice ex-boyfriends at her memorial. She was close with a lot of people from work, from her neighborhood. She was active in the community. She was involved with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and a couple of other support groups. Noah had been with the same babysitter for a long time and she has a lovely husband and a few kids. Saying goodbye to her was almost as hard as saying goodbye to his mom. But at least we can Skype and visit Linda and her family.” She glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “Noah’s grandpa is dead and his uncle is a bad person. Erin was very clear in her will and to her friends, her half brother is not to be part of Noah’s life. Erin and her mother have been estranged for years. That’s all I have to say about that.”
“I didn’t mean to pry,” he said uncomfortably.
She lifted one corner of her mouth in a sly smile. “I wouldn’t want you to think I kidnapped him.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” he said. Then he grinned. And he could see in her eyes that she knew he had probably checked her out as much as possible.
“Good for you,” she said. A bit of a ruckus behind her caused her to turn and see Noah struggling out the door, using his crutches. “Good morning, cowboy,” she said, getting up. “Oh, good for you, using just the crutches. You feeling kind of strong today?” She looked at Owen. “The braces give him more independence and freedom but the crutches help him with the balance. He’s building muscle strength in his legs. It’s taxing, though.”
Noah completely ignored her as he went straight for the dog. Romeo sat up and gave Noah a good-morning kiss.
“If you’d been up a little earlier, you would have seen Romeo chase off a couple of deer,” Hannah said.
“It was very rude of him,” Owen said. “Those ladies were just grazing, not bothering anyone.”
“How’d you know they were ladies?” Noah asked. “You look under ’em?”
Owen laughed. “I didn’t have to go to that much trouble. The bucks have antlers and the does don’t. Same with the elk. The guys get the headgear and they use it to fight each other. Or to defend themselves and their does. You’re going to learn a lot on this vacation, aren’t you?”
“I guess,” he said, not taking his hands off Romeo. And then the big dog flipped over on his back, making his belly available. “What are you gonna do today?” he asked.
“Well, I’ll take Romeo for a hike, I’ll work in my shop a little while, I might fish. You like to fish?”
“I only did it once,” he said.
“If you’re not busy later, we can go out on the dock. About that dock—you have to be with Hannah or me. The water is pretty deep. If you lost your balance and fell in with your braces on, you’d sink. A life jacket would be a good precaution but even that might not be enough. You can’t flap your feet with the braces. You have to be with an adult who can swim. Noah, did you get that?”
“Uh-huh,” he said, scratching Romeo’s belly.
“What did I say?” Owen pushed.
“I can’t go on the dock without you or Hannah because I could sink and drown.”
“That’s good enough,” Owen said.
“Want some breakfast, buddy?” Hannah asked.
“Can Romeo have some breakfast?”
“He eats only dog food,” Owen said. “I’ve got it at the barn. He doesn’t look like he’s starving.”
“I’m going to mess up some eggs,” Hannah said. “Would you like to join us, Owen? In your house,” she added with a laugh.
“Now, it’s not my house for two weeks. I don’t want to get in the way. But okay, I could eat. Then we can start our days.”
What lies behind us and
what lies before us are
but tiny matters compared
to what lies within us.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
3
Noah did not seem at all intrigued by the possibility of going to a campground until they got there. Hannah had completely forgotten about Beau, Sully’s yellow Lab.
“Well, howdy do,” Sully said when he saw Hannah. “I heard you were coming back, without the executive team this time. Nice to see you again.”
“Good to see you, Sully. Sully, this is my best guy, Noah. We’re a team now. Noah, this gentleman, Mr. Sullivan, owns this campground and this is Beau, his dog.”
Noah was immediately rubbing the dog behind his ears. “Does everybody here got a dog?”
“Nearly,” he said. “How do you like my lake?”
“Is that whole lake yours?” Noah asked.
“Nope, but I claim the part of it that’s up against my land and have the use of the whole thing. Would you like to throw the ball for Beau? Or would you like a cold drink or something to eat? Or would you like to be left alone?”
“Can I throw the ball, please?” Noah said.
“You bet.” Sully stuck a hand under the counter at the cash register and pulled out a tennis ball. The second he did that, Beau started to prance. “My advice is throw the ball into the yard before you go down the porch steps. Beau sometimes gets ahead of himself and knocks people down.”
“I will,” Noah said.
Silence hung in the air while Noah and Beau went outdoors. Noah clip-clopped in his heavy shoes that held the braces, and Beau’s nails against the wooden floors went tickety-tickety-tickety. Then they heard Noah yell, “Go get it!”
“I didn’t know you had a child,” Sully said.
“I didn’t,” she said, keeping her voice down. “Right after I met you my best friend passed away. She got sick, had complications and in just a matter of days she was gone. Noah was her son. Years ago she asked me to be the guardian to her children if she was ever lucky enough to have them and I said yes. Of course, I said yes. And I asked the same of her. Neither of us had family to do that. So here I am, a few weeks later. Noah has always known me as Aunt Hannah, a girlfriend auntie he saw a few times a year. I woke up one morning and my whole life had changed.”
“Damn near that same thing happened to Helen,” he said.
“Really?”
“She is Aunt Helen, raised her niece from the age of four. Her niece is Leigh Shandon, the town doctor at the urgent care, so it all worked out in the end. I’ll get her to come over on her break. She’s writing on the porch.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and texted Helen.
“Want to get a drink and sit on the porch, where we can keep an eye on the boy and his dog?”
“Excellent idea,” Hannah said. She reached in the cooler for a diet cola and followed Sully. By the time she was sitting at a table with him, Noah was working that dog like a trainer. When Beau returned the ball, Noah had him sit, stay, fetch. Then Beau returned the ball again and Noah rewarded him with many hugs and petting.