Page 80 of Second Round

“Oh my gosh, we just saw whales.” Kayla pointed out towards theocean.

Charlotte’s eyes went wide. “Where?Where?”

We all watched the ocean and waited for a long time. Tristan informed us that whales could dive for over an hour, which was not very encouraging. And I remembered with a guilty start that Charlotte had wanted to see whales and I had forgotten to arrange a trip. Maybe a whale sighting now could make upforthat?

Still, sitting in the sunshine on a cliff with a beautiful ocean view made me feel pretty damn good. I hadn’t thought about workallday.

Then Hannah exhaled and said softly, “There.”

Her sharp eyes had spotted something nobody else could. Then a dark fin breached the surface. And another. The distinctive black and white bodies cut through the surface of water and rose in a beautiful ballet. There were five whales altogether, moving inunison.

“Oh Papa!” Charlotte was jumping up and down in excitement. “They’reorcas!”

“Killer whales,” Tristan agreed. “Thecoolest!”

We all stood together, watching the whales playfully cut through the water. They were swimming quite fast away from the shore. I reached for Jackie’s hand. Montréal was still my favourite city, but beautiful British Columbia was fast finding a place in myheart.

29

Fun intheSun

Jackie

Ilookedout the kitchen window. The ocean was lapping at the beach in front of the house, and there was a crimson freighter in the misty distance. I could see the heads of Hannah and Kayla as they poked in the tide pools. Occasionally Charlotte’s blonde ponytail would pop up too, but she was mainly hidden by the low bank of the shore. I wasn’t worried though; the ocean was placid there, and the girls would look outforher.

I could also see Sharon, snoozing in a hammock with a sunhat over her face. Our two weeks of holidays had gone by in a blur. The first week we spent enjoying the island: kayaking, swimming, picnicking, finding new beaches, and lazing around. Then Sharon and her new boyfriend Neil arrived, and every night turned into a party with long dinners and muchlaughter.

Neil Boyd was a hilarious Scot, and I could never tell when he was telling the truth or kidding around. They’d met when Sharon called him out on an error in a house inspection reporthemade.

“Tore a strip down one side of me and up the other, she did,” he told us. “But I like ‘emfiery.”

However they met, he was a good match for Sharon. He saw past her tough exterior to the jelly doughnut inside, and he appreciated her properly. After finishing the dishes and drying off my hands, I searched for a sweatshirt so I could join the others outside. I tucked my mini-sketchbook and markers into a pocket. Out in the backyard, I heard the muted shouts of the boys. They were in the driveway playing hockey. I came around the corner and saw Leo lift his stick and explain something to Tristan. My son nodded, and they started moving towards the makeshift hockey net at the end of the driveway. Neil, who had zero vanity, was wearing an oversized life jacket and a bike helmet to play goal. Leo passed to Tristan, who immediately shot, lifting the ball above a sprawling Neil. Score! Leo and Tristan cheered and high-fived each other. I smiled and an unexpected tear rolled down mycheek.

Don’t be a total wuss. But Leo coaching Tristan in hockey was so unexpectedly moving to me. I tried hard, but there were some things I could never help my son with. Tristan was now as dedicated to hockey as he used to be and had insisted I sign him up for the league in our newneighbourhood.

I sat down on a rickety lawn chair and began sketching the lighthouse in thedistance.

“Hey, Hannah said that it’s Charlotte’s birthday soon. Is that true?” I whispered to Leo in bed thatnight.

I still didn’t feel completely comfortable sleeping together in the cabin, with kids in the rooms on either side of us. But nobody else seemed to think it was a big deal, especially Leo. He thought that sex was a natural, healthy part of our relationship and nothing to hide. I only wished I could be as relaxed as he was. Whenever we did have sex, I was constantly shushing him, worried that we would wake up one of the kids and scar them for life. And one night when there was a bad thunderstorm, both Charlotte and Tristan ended up sleeping in our bed. Dr. Freud was welcome to sort that one out as soon as he masteredreincarnation.

“Yeah, her birthday’s on Tuesday. I’m meeting Sophie for dinner that night. We’ll go out to a niceplace.”

“Well, it’s Hannah’s birthday in a week too. She’s going to be on vacation with her dad then. So, I was thinking, why don’t we have a surprise party for the two of them tomorrow? It’s the last night for all of us to betogether.”

“You have the best ideas,” Leo said andkissedme.

So the next day, we left Sharon and Neil in charge and under the guise of going out for a lunch date, we headed into the little village forprovisions.

To my great surprise, it was Leo who went nutsshopping.

“Look at these decorations.” He pointed to a dusty rack of party supplies in the back of the general store, apparently left over from the seventies. “We should get all of them. Look, they have those letters that spell out HappyBirthday.”

He began piling streamers, balloons, and party hats into ourbasket.

“Calm down,” I said, removing a couple of packages. “I cannot blow up that many balloons withoutpassingout.”

“Sorry.” He beamed at me. “This is the first time I’ve been able to plan a birthday party for Charlotte. Usually it’s Sophie, or else my mothertakesover.”

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