Page 12 of Mine For The Winter

But this time he wouldn’t take her heart with him.

* * *

Kris, Age 13

“You need to keep a grip on the tiller and keep it steady,” North said, pointing to the stick jutting horizontally from the outboard engine. They’d been begging North to let them take the boat out all summer. His older brother hadn’t had time to take them until now – he’d been too busy working at the Inn for their grandmother and hanging out with his friends to pay much attention to three thirteen year olds’ desperate need for adventure.

It was a blistering hot day, the sun was shining down on the lake, the surface dappled with diamonds as he looked out on it. He was wearing an old t-shirt and some jersey shorts – Gabe’s hand-me-downs because his mom was annoyed that he kept growing too fast – and Lyle was in a basketball tank and shorts that his dad had bought him for his birthday.

Kelly was in cut offs and one of Kris’ old t-shirts. His Green Day one. She’d always loved it.

And now the three of them were hanging on North’s every word, barely able to hide their excitement at being allowed to take the boat out on the lake.

“If you want to go forward you pull this arm forward,” North continued. “Push it into the middle for neutral and back for reverse.”

“Got it,” Kris said, nodding. North had to be at work in an hour and he’d ridden his bike down to the lake with them, so he didn’t have long to show the kids what to do. Beside him, Kelly was listening intently. Lyle, on the other hand, was throwing stones in the water, already bored with North’s lecture.

“And don’t forget to push the tiller in the opposite direction you want to go. Left for right, right for left.”

“Port,” Kelly said. “Isn’t that the right word for right? And starboard is left?”

North turned his attention to her. “Yeah, that’s right. But I thought this lumphead wouldn’t know those.”

“I didn’t.” Kris shrugged. “Right and left are fine.”

“This is the engine cut off.” North pointed at a curled plastic pull attached to a switch. “Use it if you need it. And clip the front end to your shorts.”

Kris took a deep breath. He knew all these things. But North was an annoying older brother who liked to show him up in front of his friends.

“And don’t go too fast,” North said.

“We won’t,” Kelly assured him. And North smiled at her.

“Thank God one of you is sensible,” he said, and Kelly beamed like the sun above them.

“Can we go now?” Kris asked, rolling his eyes.

“Yep. I’ll keep an eye on you from here for a minute. Once I think you’ve got it I’ll head off. Make sure you tie it up when you’re done, okay?”

“Sure.”

“And don’t tell Mom and Dad I let you do this. They’ll kill me.” North caught his gaze.

Kris nodded. They barely told their parents anything. Even if they did, they probably wouldn’t listen. They were too busy playing bridge with their friends to pay attention to the boys.

The three of them clambered onto the boat, Lyle putting his arms out to steady himself as he headed for the bench seat in the middle. Kris took the low seat next to the engine at the back and Kelly sat next to him, watching as he started it up the way North showed him.

He slowly pushed the tiller forward and the engine hummed as they moved forward slowly.

“Kel, come see this,” Lyle called from the front of the boat.

“What?” Kelly asked, scrambling forward. Kris kept his hand steady on the tiller.

“That’s an otter, see?”

Kelly shaded her eyes with her hand, following the direction of his pointed finger. “It can’t be. Otters don’t swim in lakes.”

“It is,” Lyle insisted. He put his hand on her back and for some reason that pissed Kris off. Maybe it was because his two friends were having fun while he had to carefully steer the boat.

---