Page 44 of Connected By Souls

Stopping in front of my 21ft Key West, I lower the cooler into the boat before hopping in. Turning to Emma, I take her bags before taking her hand and helping her down.

“This is a really beautiful boat. I love the white with the blue trim color. It matches my Bronco.” She trails her hand along the boat and grins.

“It does match. Huh, I didn’t realize. Another thing we have in common.” I wink at her and check the battery. “I bought this boat about three years ago. We use my dad’s larger fishing boat with the twins on the back for our big offshore trips, so I went with something smaller. I can still do some inshore fishing and go to the islands for beach days. Do you like to fish?” I ask, storing the bags in the hull and securing the cooler.

“I do. It was mostly on lakes with my dad when we were in Tennessee. I’ve never been offshore fishing.”

“You’ll love it. I’ll have to take you with us next time we go. There’s nothing like the thrill of catching a big tuna on your line. We mostly get grouper, red snapper, and hogfish, but when you do get a tuna, it’s game on.” Lowering the lift, I trim the motor and start it up. I slowly guide us through the channel to open waters.

“I’d like that. It’s so beautiful out here.” She lifts her face to the wind and smiles. Sitting next to her as I steer the boat, I’ve never felt more at peace.

Getting out of the channel, I turn my ballcap on backward and put my shades on. “Are you ready to go fast?”

Putting her sunglasses on and scooting closer to me, she nods excitedly. “I’m ready.”

I turn to make sure Nala’s secure on her boat bean bag and hit the open waters. Looking up at the sky, the weather is perfect, with blue skies and the occasional white cloud that drifts by. I glance at Emma, and she has a huge smile on her face as she takes it all in.

Slowing the boat, I point to the left, “Look over there.” We see a family of dolphins out in the distance as they gracefully arch in and out of the water, playfully following one another.

“It’s dolphins!” She says excitedly, running to the side of the boat to get a better view. “They’re so beautiful. They’re one of my favorite animals. There’s just something so magical about them.”

We watch them for a while as they swim and playfully chase one another before moving on. I take her for a boat ride around the area showing her the various small islands local boaters frequent on the weekends. Some families are out today enjoying the beach and swimming in the warm waters. I guide us around the small intercoastal islands and head for the more secluded one.

An abandoned lighthouse sits in the middle of the island, surrounded by palm trees and lush greenery. A small dock still stands that the lighthouse keeper once used. I tie us up as Nala jumps out and runs along the water's edge chasing seagulls. Grabbing the cooler and our bags, I set them on the dock before I get out and help Emma from the boat. “Welcome to my island. No one usually comes here because the beach is smaller, and if you tie up on this side, you have to take a hike to get to it, so most people stick to the easier access ones. I love the privacy, though.”

“I love it,” she sighs, looking around. Smiling, I get our stuff and lead her off the dock to a small path. We wind our way through, passing the lighthouse as we go. “No one uses this anymore?” She asks, tilting her head to look up at the old lighthouse.

“No, it’s been abandoned for as long as I can remember. Sometimes kids like to come here and party because you can get into the open bottom part, but the stairs have been blocked off for years for safety reasons. Mav and I used to camp here a lot when we were younger. We’ve been on this water since before we could walk. As soon as we were able to, we saved enough money doing odd jobs and bought a small boat together so we could come here anytime we wanted.”

“You guys must have been pretty popular with the girls. Not many teenagers have their own boat.”

“We brought a few friends every once in a while for a group camping trip, but you’re the first girl I’ve brought here alone,” I admit looking at her.

Smiling at me, she curtsies. “Well, I’m honored you chose me to be your first,” she says, slightly bowing.

“Very cute.” Laughing, we make our way to the other side of the island. The path leads us to a small sandy beach and a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. There’s water as far as the eye can see. The waves gently lap the shore as Nala comes bounding by, getting wet as she hops them. I walk over to a palm tree and lay a blanket down from my bag, setting it up under the small shady area.

Glancing at my watch, I see it’s past noon now. I dig into the cooler and pull out a tray of food to snack on. “What would you like to drink? Besides water, I didn’t know what you like, so I had to guess. I have some Coronas with lime that we could have now while we snack, and I brought Prosecco that we can have with our lunch later. If you don’t like beer, you can have the Prosecco now.”

“A Corona sounds great, thank you.” She sits down on the blanket with me. I pop a lime in her beer and hand it to her. She takes a sip, “Mmmmm. There’s just something about a cold Corona and lime on the beach. They go together.”

“I agree.” I grin and take a drink of mine. “So, my mom popped over this morning and brought this food. She told me that girls love these board things and insisted I bring it for you.” I uncover the tray and see various cheeses, crackers, and meats placed in different areas on the board.

“She’s right. We do love our charcuterie boards. That was so sweet of her, and this looks delicious.” She chooses a cracker and puts some white cheese-looking thing on it. It’s covered in something red.

“What kind of cheese is that?” I smell it to see what it is. “It’s covered in cranberries—I think.”

“It’s goat cheese,” she laughs. “You can also get blueberry. You have got to try it. It’s my favorite.” Making me one, I take it from her and put it in my mouth.

“Wow, it is good,” I say with a mouthful. “My mom has been holding out on me.” I make myself another one.

“See, I told you! So tell me more about your family. You know my whole story, but I know only a little bit about yours.”

As we eat and drink, I tell her about my family, how my parents met when they were young, and how my mom and Maya wanted to get pregnant at the same time. I tell her about Mimi and Papaw living above our garage and how Mom surprised us all with Luna when she was forty.

“Your family sounds amazing,” she says when I finish. “I love that you get to see your Mimi and Papaw all the time. My dad’s parents passed when I was too little to remember them, and my mom’s parents live in Arizona, so I don’t get to see them much. My uncle lives there too, so he can help them if they need it.”

“Yeah, it’s nice having them so close. We always have a family dinner at my parents’ house on Sunday night. You should come with me tomorrow.”

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