Page 31 of A Journey in the Bay

“It’s like that. Sometimes a rider loves a particular horse that someone else just can’t manage. I've tried boards that my friends swear by and wiped out every time.” He chuckled. “Boards are much easier to deal with than horses, of course.”

“They’ll both buck you off, though.”

“They definitely will.” He glanced down onto the rocky water below. “Luckily the ocean around here isn’t too rocky, this place aside. I’d love to say the area was underrated, but I kind of want to keep it that way. That’s a little selfish of me, though.”

“But understandable. I’ve been to restaurants that I’ve adored, little hole in the wall kinds of places, and I only told my closest friends. I wanted them to get business, but I didn’t want them to be overrun.”

“Oh, good.” Michael ran a hand through his hair. “I’m glad it’s not just me. Then again, with food it’s probably different. A lot of people don’t love this area because the water is freezing cold most of the year.”

“You don’t mind the cold?” Caitlin studied him out of the corner of her eye.

“I do, but that’s what wetsuits are for,” he said. “My grandmother used to say that there’s no bad weather—just insufficient clothing.”

“I’m guessing she grew up with New England winters?”

“Yup.” Michael gestured for her to go first in an area where the path narrowed. “But I did too and I still don’t like the snow. She loved it. I only loved it because she baked whenever the weather got cold. The oven warmed the whole house.”

“Sounds cozy.”

“It was.”

They walked more and came to another spot where they could see for miles. A few boats chugged along in the water, leaving trails of white in the water behind them.

“How is Pearl adjusting?” Michael asked.

“Pretty well. She’s loved spending more time with Alissa and getting to know Dane.” Caitlin tried to tame her hair as a strong breeze blew it out of place. “And she’s loving Little Clams too. She went to something similar before we moved here, but it was in the city—she didn’t get to go to the beach or on little day trips into the woods to learn things. It’s been good for her.”

Caitlin chuckled to herself.

“What’s funny?” Michael asked, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

“Pearl’s age group went on a little day trip to the woods not far from Blueberry Bay last week. They learned about mushrooms and some other plant life. That afternoon, she asked if I could make something with mushrooms for dinner,” Caitlin said. “And mind you, I tried to get her to taste some mushroom risotto a few months ago and she refused because ‘mushrooms were icky’—her words, not mine, of course.”

Michael laughed too, pushing his hair out of his face. Caitlin’s heart skipped a beat. He made such simple motions like that look good.

“Mushroom risotto sounds very sophisticated for a six-year-old.”

“It is. She’s still much more adventurous than most kids her age when it comes to food.” Caitlin stopped to look out on the water again. “We tried to expose her to a lot of things when she was a baby, so she loves her veggies.”

“I’m sure it helps that you know how to make them taste good.” Michael tucked his hands into his pockets. “The mushy carrots and peas or boiled brussels sprouts I had as a kid put me off of vegetables until I was old enough to try them elsewhere.”

Caitlin shuddered. “Boiled brussels sprouts? That should be a crime.”

“They should be. When I first tried them roasted, I couldn’t believe they were actually the vegetable I’d grown up hating.”

“Roasted brussels sprouts are some of Pearl’s favorites. Do you want to keep walking?”

“Yeah, sure. There’s a path over here that makes a bigger loop around the lighthouse.”

Michael guided her to the path, which was wide enough for them to walk side by side.

“Pearl has her little obsessions all the time,” Caitlin continued. “It’s always fun to see what she likes and what she doesn’t. Like last year around Halloween, she was obsessed with robots. We put together a costume made out of cardboard and painted it. She loved it and we got a lot of cute photos, but actually walking in it was the hard part. Plus, it started raining.”

“Oh, that stinks. Was the costume ruined?”

“It was, but Pearl wanted to be a robot and a cowgirl, so she had a cowgirl outfit on underneath.” Caitlin pulled her phone out of her pocket—the photo of Pearl in her robot costume, her hot pink cowboy boots poking out at the bottom, was her lock screen background.

“That’s cute. And creative. I think I was a cowboy for a few years in a row but I never had a backup.”

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