Page 79 of Nothing But It All
“But what about Maine?” she asks.
“What in the hell is in Maine?”
She elbows me in the side. “It’s beautiful there. And maybe the timing will be perfect, and we’ll catch the leaves changing colors. I’m not sure when the kids are off on fall break, but maybe it’ll work out.”
I smile at her. “Or we could go alone, and we wouldn’t have to coordinate any school schedules.”
“You would do that for me, Jack Reed?”
I lean across my shoulder and kiss her nose. “I could be convinced.”
“But what about the kids and fall break?”
“I don’t know. How do you feel about South Carolina?”
I exhale a sigh of relief.
“I’ve seen pictures of Grandma,” Maddie says, oblivious to the thoughts in my head. “She seems like she was really sweet.”
“She was,” Dad says. “I just wish I wouldn’t have waited until she was gone to realize it.”
Oof.
Maddie snaps the knife closed and turns to face us.
Dad takes it from my daughter.
“Good job, kiddo,” he says. “Now you’re immortalized in the tree with the rest of us.”
“We just need Michael and Mom to come out.”
Dad nods approvingly. “Yes. We do.”
I clear my throat. The woods are suddenly suffocating.
“You ready to go back?” I ask. “It’s getting awfully sticky out here.”
“Pops says the best berries are always the farthest back,” Maddie says.
“That’s a lie,” I say, winking at Dad.
He braces himself against the tree and slowly rises to his feet.
“It’s still early enough that if we go back, I can probably swim with my friends at the lake,” Maddie says, looking up at the sky.
“What are you looking at up there?”
“It’s probably eleven thirty,” she says, lowering her chin.
Dad balks. “Who taught you that?”
“Daniel. He sent me a link on how to tell time and direction when you’re in the woods.” She grins. “Isn’t that sweet?”
Dad begins to walk back the way we came. “At least he’s good for something.”
“He’s good for many things,” she says.
“Name three,” I say, unimpressed.So, the boy knows how to tell time by the sun. I’m pretty sure wild animals can do that.
