Page 31 of Lakeside Little
He scoffed. “You have no idea how much you saved me with that.”
“Let me save you again because that pancake batter looks—questionable.” I glanced into the water mess where it was beginning to separate. “We might have to start again. Assuming you want pancakes as a late-night snack, with Daddy’s permission.” I winked at him.
“Yes, please. I’m not the best at making food, which isn’t the biggest deal when it’s just for the dolls, but if I can eat it instead, then one million percent, yes.”
“And the magic word?”
“Pweese, Daddy.”
I was always going to help him making the miniature pancakes, and I knew the video he was talking about. While I might not have been attached to my phone as often as him, I was definitely aware of certain trends that crossed the internet. I could sometimes get sucked down a hole looking at videos of what people were able to do with their carpentry skills and that often led me down rabbit holes of people cooking.
We both knew our time together was coming to an end. It wasn’t the absolute end, we were in control of what we did once the cabin rentals were up, but it was that in between; the distance both of us knew would soon be between us.
There were phones, cars, and so many other things that made the inevitable change about to hit our lives a whole lot easier, and of course, the doll house. The one I was excited to make for him—although scared because his plans were grand, and I was no architect, but how hard could building a doll kingdom for him truly be?
13. JACK
We spoke a lot about what was going to happen, and the eventual day came. Daddy had lived in my cabin with me for the extra couple days, and it was the first time I was seeing my life with someone else. I liked the way it looked, and I didn’t know how to say that to him without trying to ask for his hand in marriage. We were still very new in this relationship together.
The last day in town was spent visiting the stores, and the soon-to-open cafe, which had a redsoldsign stuck over the front glass of the window. We walked hand-in-hand, we ate ice cream and drank the most delicious, iced coffees. There were still weeks left of summer here, and it felt like it was just starting, but for us, our trip to Pineberry Falls was nearly over.
“You know we’re gonna have to come back next summer,” Daddy said as we sat in the shade under a tree, the same tree we’d been under before.
“I wish we could carve our names here,” I whispered. “I know you shouldn’t do that anymore, but I need people to know we were here.”
“Maybe nobody else has to know, I think all that matters is we know,” he said. “And I wouldn’t want to make others jealous.”
He knew the right things to say to me. I could’ve cried, not because of the words, but because we were about to leave, and my body’s way of processing that emotion was through the tear ducts alone.
“So, next year, we’ll be here again, and before that, I’ll be at your place, and then you’ll be at my place, and then—”
“Snowflake Springs in winter,” I said.
“Where’s that?”
“This place like an hour away from here, it’s just as accepting and full of rainbow flags, but they have a natural hot spring, and they’re big on winter sports,” I said. “Maybe no fishing or grilling.”
His laugh petered off. “I’m no good at winter sports, but I can do that thing, you know where you use a that plastic and just zoom from the top of a snowy hill down to the bottom.”
“Tobogganing?” I said. I only knew that from winters at Snowflake Springs. “And don’t worry, I cannot ski, but I can ice skate.”
“I like making plans with you,” he said.
“Well, I’m a planner, it’s how I know you’re not getting rid of me that easy,” I told him. I pulled out my phone. “I’m visiting you first because I want to see where you live and the space you promised me, and that’s next weekend.”
“Unless I sell the place,” he said.
“Ok, unless you sell, but I’m not sure if you will.”
“Don’t be too sure, the thought of being able to move is exciting,” he said, holding out his hand. “I wanna see the rest of these plans. When do I come over and build this kingdom?”
“After Labor Day. I don’t know if you have plans for then, and we’re gonna need time to plan and buy material for it,” I told him. “Also, since I’m pretty much an expert at social media, self-professed, sure, but I’ve also added in a little something here about us talking.”
Daddy squinted to look at the calendar on my phone. “You planned time for us to talk?”
“Specifically, about building you a social media account, which I could manage.”
His face lit up, it was strange because I didn’t think that was how he was going to react. I didn’t want to throw all my ideas at him at once, I knew they could get a little overwhelming.“And what sort of stuff would I post?” he asked. “Like videos of me doing stuff?”
