Page 6 of A Summer Mismatch
“Joos!” He tugged on her arm as he said her name, pausing to navigate his talker. The communication app on his talker provided a grid of digital pictures for him to press, and the talker would say the word for him. He searched his groups, then the preprogrammed stories section for the right string of words. “Elephants,” he pressed. “Adia. Lulu. Lulu. Lulu.”
Julia spotted her keys on the counter, half-covered by some mail she still needed to sort through. Summer was supposed to be the time of year she got caught up on organizing her life, but so far, she’d hit the ground running at full speed this summer.
Julia’s mom must have programmed the elephants’ names into his talker. Julia’s mom and Cameron went to the Southern Florida Wildlife Conservation Center every single Tuesday, and it was important for Cameron to keep his schedule as normal as possible. She knew from checking out their website that Lulu was the new baby elephant, and Julia was excited to go see her too.
Julia glanced at her cell phone on the counter and debated leaving it. But leaving it at home wouldn’t keep the words of Timothy’s text from rolling through her mind since she’d read it that morning.
I’ve decided to take the plunge and open my own practice after all. Let’s take a break and reconnect in the fall.
Reconnect in the fall? This summer was supposed to be different. They were going to go to a play in Orlando she wanted to see next month. They’d tentatively scheduled a day for Tucker to take them out on a helicopter tour. She’d planned on spending quiet evenings with him after work while they hung out with Cameron.
And he was calling it all off… with a text?
Growling, she chucked her phone into her purse. Her mom might call to check on Cameron and would get worried if Julia didn’t answer. This was the first time she’d ever left Cameron for an extended period of time. Julia’s parents were on the trip they’d dreamed of going on their entire marriage—a two month long tour of Europe. Julia’s mom had worried about leaving Cameron, her sixteen-year-old son with Down syndrome, but after a year-long campaign of convincing her mom that Cameron would not only be okay with her, but that they’d have a blast together, her mom had finally decided to go.
Julia knew what kind of trust her mom was showing her by leaving Cameron for so long, and it filled Julia up to the brim with that warm-squishy feeling of someone having confidence in you. Julia may have had a problem saying no overall, but spending the summer with Cameron was one thing she was thrilled to have said yes to. It definitely filled her summer—the time it took to go to his doctors and therapy appointments alone were like a part-time job—but the extra time with her brother was worth every minute.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she told Cameron.
Cameron let his talker hang around his shoulder on a strap so he could clap his hands and laugh in his contagious, excited way.
She locked the door behind her and followed Cameron as he carefully made his way down the stairs and to her bright blue car. They got in, buckled up, and she let the top down. The wind blew through her hair as they drove to the wildlife conservation center thirty minutes away.
Tuesday afternoons at the conservation center must have been a non-peak time, because they were able to find a parking spot right in front. It made sense that his mom chose that time; Cameron adored people, but crowds of them—along with lots of noise—could make him feel overwhelmed and cause him to either shut down or act out, depending on the day.
“Welcome, Cameron!” The older woman at the front window, her nametag said Deb, took the membership cards Julia’s mom had given her and scanned them.
“Vet? Vet? Vet?” Cameron pressed the button over and over, something he did when he got really excited.
Deb laughed, her short, curly white hair bobbing. “I’ll let him know you’re here, hon. You must be Julia, Cameron’s author sister. How’s Flora’s trip going?”
Of course Julia’s mom had made friends with Deb. She had the uncanny ability to make friends with everyone and anyone she met. Julia and Cameron’s sister, Eliana, was the same way. Cameron, too. Even with his limited ability to verbally communicate, he had a gift of making people feel loved and seen. Julia took more after her dad and tended to be a bit reserved until she got to know someone better.
“Good so far,” Julia said. “They started in Italy, and they’ll be there for another week. Mom said Rome was incredible, and she and Dad are loving every minute.”
Deb sighed dreamily. “Oh, to be young and in love.”
This made Julia smile. She’d hardly call her parents young, but then again, Deb looked to be in her seventies, so perhaps being in your early fifties did seem young at that age.
“Well, go on back. Raza’s still under veterinary care, but the rest of the elephants are out today.”
Cameron grabbed Julia by the hand and fairly dragged her onto a dirt path she assumed would take them to the elephants. Julia had never been to the wildlife center, and she was impressed by the scope of it. She’d read online the night before that they not only specialized in providing animal refuge, but they also focused on plant and vegetation conservation. The center was staffed mostly by volunteers, except for the specialized staffers who worked with the animals and rare plants.
Late spring blooms surrounded the walking paths, permeating the air with the sweet scents of white gardenia and jasmine. She inhaled deeply. This exact scent was one of her very favorite parts of living in Florida.
She spotted a lively bird sanctuary that she’d love to explore later, and another path was labeled The Butterfly Trail, but Cameron was determined to follow the elephant signs and see his favorite animal. And a vet, as well, it seemed.
Her students would absolutely love this. She needed to see about scheduling a field trip out here for them next year.
The dirt path turned to stone, and they stepped onto the walkway leading to the huge elephant enclosure. The strong floral scents mingled with dirt and a hint of manure. Huge oak and mahogany trees, filled abundantly with green leaves, shaded the walkway, providing a much-needed relief from the heat of the day. The sound of a rushing waterfall greeted them as they rounded the corner.
Julia caught her breath at the sight of three elephants grazing in a large, grassy field—one of the three, a baby.
“It’s so cute!” she said to Cameron, her voice an octave higher than usual. Who could resist an elephant baby? She watched it toddle about the lawn, attempting to carry a large stick with its trunk that it kept dropping. The other two stayed close to the baby, one playing in the mud, and the other eating some grass.
Cameron found a shaded wooden bench facing the elephants and sat with his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze laser-focused on the animals. She knew he could sit like this for hours, and was always impressed by his ability to be still with his thoughts and be in a quiet moment in a way she could never accomplish.
She sat by him for several minutes, watching the elephants interact, before giving in to the urge to pull out her phone and reread Timothy’s text. Timothy had needed a break from dating every summer they’d been together—whether it was to build his client list, travel, or work on extended learning without distraction, the reasons always made sense. But she’d thought this summer would be different.
