Reunion at the Shore, page 14
“Well, and would your vision be enough to run an obstacle course with your dog?”
“No.” He had to admit that now. “No, probably not.” It was galling, but the longer he was here without substantial improvement to his vision, the more likely it became that this was going to be it. That he wouldn’t improve much more.
“How about you?” the vet said, clearly talking to Ria. “Could you work with the dog?”
There was a pause, and Drew spoke up to fill it. “She just drove me here. She’s not living with the dog, and she’s not responsible for her.”
There was silence in the room, broken only by Navy’s panting. Drew’s spirits sank. Of course, he was glad the vet didn’t think there was anything seriously and physically wrong with Navy, but the fact remained that she wasn’t happy and wasn’t eating. That would leave her open to illness and would drain her strength.
“We do have two daughters,” Ria said. “Maybe they can help with Navy. Is it possible to do agility work or other dog sports when you’re under eighteen?”
“It’s usually required to have a parent there, but sure. A lot of young people handle dogs. They’re often very good at training, because they have the time and energy we adults tend to run short on.”
They talked a little longer and then left the office with assurances that if any of the tests came back showing something dangerous, the office would call them right away. They got Navy back into the car and both climbed in, but Ria didn’t start it up.
“I hate this,” Drew said.
“Yeah, that’s obvious, but...” Ria paused.
“Just say it.”
“It’s just that you can’t let yourself get too blue, because it’s affecting others around you. Look, I feel sad you’ve lost most of your vision, too, and that you and Navy can’t do police work. Really sad. But I know you can cope with it. You’re a strong person. You’ll land on your feet.”
He turned his face away. “I don’t need a pep talk on being a man.”
“It’s nothing to do with being a man, Drew! You’ve always had a messed-up notion of what makes a man, anyway. Your concept of gender roles is completely archaic!”
“And I’m sure Ted Taylor is real progressive about gender. Maybe he’ll even let you drive his Tesla.”
She made some sort of sound and started the car, squealing out of the parking lot and spitting gravel. Leaving Drew to wonder: Was his concept of masculinity really archaic? Or was Ria dating someone else because he was right, because he wasn’t enough of a man for her?
* * *
ONE OF THE things Kaitlyn liked about being in the behavior support program was that they didn’t have to sit in the classroom all day, every day. Service projects in the community were the norm, at least once or twice a week.
Today, a rare warm day in November, their whole class was heading for the waterfront.
Kaitlyn hadn’t been there since Dad had made such a botch of things, and she worried he’d ruined the place for her. But as they got close, as she smelled the salty, brackish water and heard the lapping of the bay against the pilings, her shoulders relaxed for what felt like the first time in a week. She threw off her worries about school, which still felt like a dangerous place. And she shoved aside thoughts of the counseling that had been forced on her. She sort of liked her new counselor in the individual sessions she’d had, but spilling her guts to a strange adult was stressful. And the family sessions were excruciating.
The sunshine, weak and golden, slanted onto the bay, making it into a blanket of glittering diamonds. She could hear a few voices from the docks and crab shacks, although most of the fishermen were out for the day.
The rest of her body relaxed, even the muscles in her face. She loved it here so much.
She walked along beside Venus, who was talking to another girl in the class. Kaitlyn had pretty quickly realized that the behavior support program was just another classroom, and the kids there were just kids. It was no big deal to be there, not some bunch of weirdos or freaky activities for special kids. In some ways, it was better than the regular school because she could work at her own pace, rather than wait for the rest of the class to figure out the basics. Erica was a great teacher, keeping order by giving them a lot of responsibility, surprisingly, more than in the regular school. The other teacher for behavior support wasn’t as cool, but he wasn’t bad.
Today, everyone was doing different tasks. The main thing was a shore cleanup: of litter and anything else that could hurt fish. Rory and Kaitlyn were supposed to take water samples for their honors science class. Then they’d use their data to write a proposal for one of the nonprofits working to improve the health of the bay. Erica seemed to think it might really make a difference.
“Have fun with Rory,” Venus said in a low voice filled with laughter. She veered off toward the group that was collecting gloves and trash bags to do the shore cleanup.
Rory headed right for the water, eager to get started, apparently. Kaitlyn took an extra moment to look around and enjoy just being here.
“Didn’t think you were ever coming back,” came a voice from one of the piers, and Kaitlyn looked up to see Sunny, Bisky’s daughter.
“Yeah, I stayed away for a few days after my dad was sort of a jerk. I’m sorry.”
“Mom said she helped him get headed in the right direction toward home,” Sunny said. “How’d he go blind? Mom said he didn’t seem that used to his white cane.”
Guilt nudged at Kaitlyn’s stomach. She’d been a brat for leaving her father alone in an unfamiliar place, with no means of finding his way back home. “He’s a cop. Was a cop. Got a head injury in the line of duty and lost his vision.”
“Bummer.” They were quiet for a minute, watching the group of kids spreading out along the shoreline to pick up trash.
Kaitlyn considered how nice Sunny was being, and also the fact that she was outside the usual social hierarchy of the school. “So, hey...did you hear anything about that video of me?”
“Yeah.” Sunny nodded.
“Do you think people have forgotten about it yet?”
Sunny’s nose wrinkled. “I heard something about it a week ago, I think. Not since then. But it’s not like I’m part of the popular crowd. Who knows what they talk about.”
“Who’d you hear about it from?”
“Shelby Grayson,” Sunny said. “No big surprise. She’s always looking for attention. Hey, is your dad’s dog a guide dog?”
Kaitlyn shook her head. “Nope. She was a K-9 officer until Dad got injured. Why?”
Sunny shrugged. “I like dogs,” she said. “We used to raise puppies for one of the guide-dog schools.”
“Do you know how to train dogs to be guide dogs?”
Sunny held out a flat palm and tipped it from side to side. “Not really. We just did real preliminary training with the pups. I like working with dogs, though. When one of our pups washed out, we got her back for a while, and I taught her all kinds of tricks.”
“That’s cool.” Kaitlyn hesitated. Sunny was being friendlier than she ever had been before, maybe because there was no one else here and she was bored. “Would you want to help me train Navy? I mean, I know you’re busy, so it’s fine if you don’t have time.”
“Would your dad let you come down here to do it?”
Kait rolled her eyes and looked up at the sky. “He doesn’t have to know.”
Sunny looked skeptical. “He’s been down here most days this past week for a few hours,” she said. “Doing his interviews. He’d probably find out.”
“Like Venus says, it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.” She tried to mimic Venus’s fake British accent, and Sunny snorted.
“Kaitlyn,” came Erica’s voice. “Don’t let Rory do all the work for your science project.”
Kaitlyn waved acknowledgment. “I’m going,” she said. And then to Sunny: “I’ll see if I can bring Navy down one day after school. When are you here?”
“When am I not here?” Sunny gave a wry smile.
“I’ll try to bring her tomorrow.” As Kaitlyn walked down the little road and then cut down to the water, she realized she was walking faster than normal and smiling. It would be fun to try to train Navy with some new tricks. Fun to surprise Dad with something she’d accomplished.
Fun to have plans with a friend, if Sunny actually became a friend.
She got some sample bottles from Rory and headed over to one of the tide pools. The sun warmed her back, and she lifted her face to the cool breeze off the bay.
“Hey, Kaitlyn.” Rod Berger beckoned to her from a picnic table where he was sitting with Moses. “Got something to show you.”
“Not interested.” With those two, it could be anything from a dead fish to a picture from a porno magazine. Whatever it was, Kaitlyn already knew she didn’t want to see it.
They came over to her, and that was when Kaitlyn realized that she was out of sight of Erica and the rest of the class. She could scream and someone could hear her—in fact, Sunny was repairing a crab pot a couple of docks down—but she still felt uncomfortable and isolated as the two boys crowded her toward the water.
Rod pulled out his phone. “Great-looking picture of you,” he said. He held up a still of her starting to take off her sweater, a half smile on her face. She looked like she was into it, and she remembered clearly that she’d forced the expression, but in the picture, it looked real.
Heat rose through her chest and neck to her face. “Did you screenshot that?”
“It’s online. It’s out there.”
“Heard there are more where that came from,” Moses added with his trademark slurry voice.
Kaitlyn felt like lying down and groaning. She thought she was getting free of the bullies in her new environment, free of everything that had made her lose it before.
But if someone started releasing photographs of her... “Get out of here,” she said, and when the boys didn’t move, she gave Moses a sharp shove and glared at Rod. “I took self-defense,” she said. “I know just where to kick you.”
The two boys backed away, hands raised, giggling.
Kaitlyn turned away like she didn’t care and went back to collecting her samples. But her mind was racing. Were more pictures going to come out? And if so, what would that do to her possible friendship with Sunny and the students in her new class?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DREW MIGHT HAVE gotten over enough of his masculinity issues to be okay with Ria’s driving him. But as she gunned the car’s motor over the bumpy, rutted road, he couldn’t help thinking, Oh, man, I could have done this better.
It was Friday morning, just three days after they’d taken Navy to the vet and argued about Drew’s attitude.
“This road is awful,” she complained. “Are you sure this is the right way?”
“We should come to a fork in another thirty seconds,” he said. He had memorized the detailed directions beforehand. “You’ll veer to the left.”
One more big jolt made his head bump against the ceiling of the car.
“There’s the fork!” she cried as she steered left. “You were right!”
“In just a quarter of a mile, you should see a trailhead sign on the right.” He wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but he found he was looking forward to it. He needed to talk to Ria, and Navy needed the exercise. And, yeah, he wanted to prove to her, and himself, that he could let her be in charge. Not that it was easy.
“There’s the trailhead sign. And a parking area. Let me just pull up...” The car stopped, and then she turned it off. “Whew. Not an easy drive. But I hope it’s worth it.”
“It will be,” he said with more confidence than he felt inside. He got out, opened the rear passenger door and hooked on Navy’s leash. He could feel the dog’s perked ears and slight quiver, could hear her panting. She was glad to be here, at least.
“Do we have water for her?” Ria asked.
Drew tapped his backpack. “Water for her and for us.” He didn’t say it, but he’d also brought a little food and a blanket and a bottle of wine.
Why he’d done that, he didn’t know, except it made him feel like a man again, in charge of an excursion. And, yeah, he wanted to beat out Ted, overcome his advantage in planning and executing a date with Ria.
A molten hot feeling rushed through him at the thought of Ria with Ted, dining at a fine restaurant, riding in Ted’s soundless, expensive car. Ted might be wealthy and from the most elegant of homes, but Drew knew what he wanted, and it was exactly the same thing any other red-blooded man wanted when he was around a woman like Ria. And Drew didn’t want him to have it.
A wave of possessiveness crashed through his body. Ria was his.
“Drew, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Why?” His voice came out thick and heavy.
“You seem kind of mad.”
“Sorry.” He took a slow breath in, let it out. “What’s it look like?” he asked her as they set off down the trail.
“There’s still some green and some color in the leaves,” she said. “It’s a nice wide trail in this spot. The sun is dappling the ground, real pretty, and there are big ferns. And what looks like a hawk overhead.”
A stream murmured beside them. He breathed in, and the sharp scent of pine filled his nostrils. A breeze caressed his face. Navy tugged at her lead, and he could feel her snuffling through the dead leaves. He held Ria’s elbow, but he didn’t like the dependence, didn’t want her to think he’d always be that way. “A lot of blind people hike with hiking poles,” he said, nearly choking on the word blind. But he was trying to use it. Trying to get used to it. “I’m not there yet, and I think the rocks would muck up my cane, but I sure would like to be able to do this independently.”
“Is it so bad, holding on to me?”
Her question hung in the air for a second as Drew recovered from his surprise. He gave her arm a little squeeze. “Actually...it feels good to hold on to you.”
He heard her sharp little intake of breath, something he probably wouldn’t have noticed before he’d lost his sight. It wasn’t that his other senses had miraculously gotten sharper, like a lot of people thought. He focused on smell and sound and touch more, that was all. Just as he was more alert to the sound of Navy panting, the crunching of dry pine needles beneath their feet, he was also more alert to the sounds Ria made and the way her soft skin felt beneath his fingertips. And to her scent, the smell of honeysuckle, but with a little musk, like a moonlit summer night.
Navy barked joyously. “Should we let her off the lead?” Ria asked.
“She has a fantastic recall. So, yes.” He reached down and unhooked her, and she took off. To test it, he gave her return command, and she rushed back to him. “See?” he said to Ria, and then added “Okay” to Navy, giving her permission to dash off again.
“She looks really, really happy, Drew. This was a good idea.”
It had been a good idea. Drew had always liked to hike. Now, without his sight, he was more conscious of the sun baking on his shoulders, the fresh pine air and the chirps and whistles of birds.
“Do you remember the hikes we used to take when Sophia was a baby?” Ria asked. So she was thinking along the same lines as him. Hikes they had enjoyed together in the past.
“Those were good times,” Drew said. “We should never have stopped hiking together.”
She was quiet for a moment. Then: “So...we should talk about Kaitlyn. The weekly check-in, like the counselor recommended.”
Okay, so she didn’t want to delve into their past. “To me,” he said, “she seems to be doing better, not that she’s sharing a whole lot of her feelings with me.” He slowed down to find his footing on a rocky stretch of ground.
Beside him, Ria slowed, too. “Yeah, she doesn’t talk that much to me, either. But she seems happier when she comes home from school. She says the behavior support classroom isn’t as bad as she thought, and I know she’s made at least one friend, a girl named Venus.”
They reached a wide, smooth stretch of trail and by unspoken agreement picked up the pace. “I found out that she has another friend down at the docks,” Drew said. “Daughter of a woman named Bisky.”
“Yes, I think that’s Sunny. I’ve met her. Seems like a nice girl.”
Something tight in his shoulders loosened up a little. “So her social life is better.” That, he knew, was the most important thing for a girl Kaitlyn’s age. “What about academics?”
“That’s good, too. Erica says she’s catching up with her studies, and that she works independently real well.”
Gratitude washed over him. “We’re so lucky. When I think about what could have happened...”
“I know...but, Drew?” Ria’s voice had gone uncharacteristically hesitant. “I...I really think she needs you to stay here in town for a while. Are you going to be able to do that?”
“Yes.” When it came to his kids, there was no question about his priorities. He’d mixed that up a little when he’d first lost his sight, but no more. “I’m staying at least three months. That’s the agreement on the cottage and with the volunteer gig.”
Navy rushed back at them, barking, and practically crashed into Drew’s legs. He reached down, felt her coat full of burrs and laughed. He would have some brushing to do tonight, but it was fine. She was happy and that made all the difference.
“Aw, Navy, you like it here, don’t you?” Ria’s tone was tender and warm.
He remembered that tone when it had been turned on him, and he enjoyed it. Too much. So he kept walking, causing her to do the same. Navy brushed back and forth against his legs a few times and then rushed off, crunching through leaves. A cool breeze stirred, making music through pine needles above.
