Page 29 of The Lake House

“You didn’t get good sleep last night?”

She shrugs after sipping on some water from her glass. “I did, but I don’t–” her eyes wander off to Josie, “Hey, baby girl, not too close to the edge… you’re going to fall in.” She shakes her head and then turns to face me once more. “That’s my biggest fear… that’s she’s going to fall into the lake someday, not paying attention as she plays with those dolls.”

“I won’t, Mommy!” Josie shouts.

“I thought she knew how to swim?” I ask.

Liv shrugs once more. “She does, but I don’t know. It’s just a fear of mine that she’ll freak out as she falls into the water and forget how.”

“I think her instincts would kick in then.”

Liv smirks. “Maybe, but that’s a chance I’d rather not take.”

I chuckle lightly. “Yeah, I guess not.”

Dave walks over with a platter of burgers and hot dogs right off the grill and then places them in the center of the table.

“Dinner, Josie!” Liv calls.

“Coming, Mommy!”

Dave takes a seat next to his wife as she passes around paper plates.

“All right, everyone dig in; don’t let it get cold,” he says.

I take a plate from Liv and grab a cheeseburger and a hot dog from the platter.

Josie sits to my left and Liv hands her a plate with a burger—no cheese—and some chips on it.

Dave stands back up and picks up a plate of macaroni salad, then he inserts a serving spoon in it. “Giules, you’ve got to try this.” He scoops up a generous portion and dumps some onto my plate.

“It’s his mother’s homemade recipe; it’s delicious,” Liv says.

“Mema’s famous macaroni salad?” I ask with a smile. I’d heard so much about it, but never actually tried any of it.

“That’s the one,” Dave says, attempting to add some to Liv’s plate, but she lifts a hand, stopping him. What’s up with that? If it’s so good, why doesn’t she want any of it? Liv is not the one to pass up food, especially something like this, and homemade.

For her small size, it still amazes me how much she eats. And yet, lately she’s been acting funny. I hope she’s not feeling ill. I’ll ask her about it later.

I pick up a fork and dig into the macaroni salad. As it hits my mouth, the flavors explode. I chew and then swallow, already getting ready to go in for another bite. “Wow, that’s amazing.”

Dave chuckles happily. “I told you.”

* * *

“Ispoke to Declan last night.”

Liv and I are still sitting on the patio. I’m nursing a Coke, while she looks like she’s ready for bed at only 8 p.m.

Well, that was until those last six words left my lips…

Now I’ve got her full attention, and she looks wide awake, sitting up in her chair.

“What?!” she urges.

I giggle lightly. “I spoke to Declan last night,” I repeat, and now she’s smiling from ear-to-ear.

“Oh my God! Giules! Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?!” I’ve never seen my best friend beam so hard from something that had happened to me.

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