by Gail Sattler
“Yes, we do. We’ve camped since we were little kids. Everyone loved it, but especially Garrett. It was no surprise when he got this job until he finishes university.”
It hadn’t occurred to her that Garrett would be anything but a park ranger. “What’s he taking?”
“Wildlife biology.”
“I don’t know why I asked.”
Gwen swirled the last of her coffee in the bottom of her cup, then drank it down. “Our family used to do a lot of camping. When we got a little older, I especially loved camping with Garrett. Because he’s so big, and so, you know, staid and upright and all that, Mom and Dad trusted us off by ourselves. I got to hang around with all his friends, and they were always extra nice to me, with Garrett around.”
“What’s it like, having a twin brother?” Roberta didn’t have any brothers or sisters, but she did have a stepsister. While they got along fine, they had never been close. She missed the camaraderie she saw between her friends and their siblings, which she had never experienced firsthand. The easy interaction between Gwen and Garrett showed her all the more what she had missed.
Gwen poked a marshmallow onto a stick and held it over the fire. “Different than a regular brother or sister, I’m told. We used to tell each other everything. I used to think all brothers and sisters were like us, but I found out later it isn’t so. We’ve always been really close, friends and family at the same time. If it’s possible, my brother is my best friend. Sometimes I don’t say a word, and he looks at me and says ‘I know’ and I know he knows. You know?”
Roberta smiled. “I see,” she said. At least she thought she did.
The marshmallow caught fire. Molly shrieked, Gwen blew it out, blew on it some more to cool it, then popped it into her mouth.
“Yeah. I always keep an eye out for the vultures who want to get their hooks on him. Sometimes it bugs him, but only a woman knows what another woman is after. He usually appreciates it a few weeks later.”
Roberta wasn’t sure she wanted to hear this. She tried to figure out a way to change the topic, but nothing came to mind before Gwen started up again.
“At least out here in the middle of nowhere, he can keep to himself. He seems to like it that way.”
Although Gwen had expressed that aspect of Garrett’s personality before, Roberta couldn’t equate the loner Gwen described with the same Mr. Ranger who wouldn’t leave her alone.
Gwen absently stabbed another marshmallow onto her stick. “Funny thing, I haven’t seen him for a long time, he’s been out here all summer, and I thought we’d have lots to talk about—but I think for the first time, he’s holding something back.”
She didn’t know if she was supposed to say anything, because she really didn’t know either of them, so Roberta chose to keep silent.
“We’ve always shared everything, but today when I started to tease him about that mark on his cheek, and I asked him who hit him, he got real quiet. It was weird. I didn’t know what to do.”
Roberta gulped. “I did it,” she mumbled, bowing her head.
“You did that? You hit my brother?”
Roberta’s voice hushed to a whisper. “It was an accident. It’s a long story.”
“Now I know why he was so evasive about it.”
Fortunately, the sound of approaching footsteps crunching in the gravel interrupted them.
“It’s about time,” Gwen called out without turning her head. “Wanna chop us some more wood? You know, help us poor defenseless campers.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. Whatever happened to, ‘Hi, good to see you’?”
“Hi. Good to see you. The ax is over there.”
Garrett sat in the empty chair in front of the fire. “You have to feed me first.”
After talking about him when he wasn’t there, Roberta found it difficult to face him. Without uttering a word, she walked to Molly’s car, selected something for him to eat out of the cooler in the trunk, and returned to the fireside. Very carefully, she jabbed two wieners onto a stick and held them to the fire to cook. Studying them intently so they didn’t burn, she almost didn’t notice the lack of conversation around her until the silence dragged. When she turned her head, Garrett was staring at her, and Molly and Gwen were staring at Garrett.
“You’re cooking them for me? You don’t have to do that.”
Roberta mumbled her reply, not really intending anyone to hear. She didn’t want to be pressed for the answer, but she could feel Gwen and Molly staring at her.
She raised her eyes without moving her head to see Garrett turn to glare at them, and when they took the hint to mind their own business, Garrett turned back to her. “I’m sorry, Robbie, I didn’t hear you.”
She rotated the stick to cook the other sides of the wieners. “I said, you’ve done so much for me, I wanted to do something for you.”
It must have been a trick of the glowing firelight, but Roberta almost thought his cheeks darkened.
“I think they’re done now. Here.”
She tucked the wieners into the buns she’d already prepared. Garrett accepted the hot dogs in reverent silence, not breaking eye contact. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them, then still maintaining eye contact, took a big bite.
Molly’s voice broke the silence. “First thing in the morning, we’re going to take the canoe out. Nothing beats the early morning stillness of the lake. Then in the afternoon, we’ll go swimming again.”
“You ladies do know they’re forecasting rain for the afternoon, don’t you?”
Roberta’s spirits lifted, then fell. “I guess that means swimming’s off. What in the world do you do out here in the middle of nowhere in the rain without electricity?”
Gwen merely shrugged her shoulders, undaunted. “Who cares about a little rain? We’re going swimming, so we’re going to be wet anyway. As long as there’s no lightning, it’s still fun. Not only that, we’ll have the entire beach to ourselves.”
Roberta tried to picture it but couldn’t. “I never thought of it that way.”
“Gwen. I don’t think—”
“Oh, Garrett. Lighten up!”
He stood. “Suit yourselves. Now I’d better chop that wood for you and get back to work.”
Birds twittered in the treetops, and muted pink and mauve clouds colored the early morning sky. Squirrels chattered in the distance, and the scent of someone’s campfire brought with it the delicious smell of sizzling bacon, a vivid comparison to their own breakfast of soggy cereal in warm milk.
Roberta stood in the water up to her ankles, her pants rolled up to her knees, shivering. The lake had been much warmer yesterday.
She managed to grab the second oar before it floated out of reach. It wasn’t her fault they hadn’t been fastened down properly. “Got it!” she called out, then covered her mouth with one hand. Sounds carried for miles out here in the perfect stillness. The smell of someone’s breakfast meant there had to be at least a few people up at this ridiculous hour, but she doubted there were many. In fact, it was probably the rangers, not campers, who were having such an early breakfast.
Quickly, she returned to the shore and tried to pull her socks over her cold, wet feet while she tried to remember who had this bright idea.
“Hop in, Robbie, and I’ll push off for you.”
Roberta pulled her sweater tighter around her body. “If you don’t mind, I think I’d rather watch. You two can have the first ride.” After accidentally dumping the oars out so easily, she wasn’t entirely sure the canoe was safe for people.
“It’s not difficult.”
“You two go ahead first.”
“You can sit on the bottom in the middle.”
She wasn’t convinced the thing would safely hold three people, so Roberta shook her head.
“Suit yourself. See you in about half an hour.”
“Take your time.”
Roberta waved as Molly and Gwen paddled off to the center of the lake. Unlike the ocean with its never-ending waves, th
e surface of the inland lake was perfectly still and shone like glass, reflecting the trees along the shore and the awakening blue of the sky above. The only disturbance to the water was the ripples caused by the oars breaking the surface, striking the water at the same time, lifting out of the water in unison. Behind them, a small wake in the shape of a narrow triangle rippled the water as the canoe sped in a silent line off into the distance.
Just before Roberta could no longer make out their individual shapes in the distance, they lifted their oars out of the water at the same time, flipped them to the other side in unison, and continued on their journey. Of course she’d seen people in canoes before, but after being involved in pushing it through the sand and into the water, she couldn’t figure out how they managed to steer the thing in a straight line.
“Hi, Robbie. I expected to see you paddling off into the sunrise.”
She didn’t turn; she didn’t have to. It was enough to feel his presence as she stood surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation. “Good morning, Garrett.” If he’d expected her to be in the canoe with the others, she wondered why he came. She continued to take in the beauty of the scenery around her, long after the canoe disappeared around the bend. She’d never been outside early enough to witness the latter part of a summer sunrise, or any part of the sunrise, for that matter. Maybe it was something she would have to do more often, although in the big city of Vancouver, the sunrise never looked like this.
The quiet serenity of the moment calmed her soul like nothing else. Only a few wisps of pink clouds remained as the sky brightened. The crystal blue morning sky reflected in the perfect stillness of the lake, briefly disturbed by a duck taking off.
Out of nowhere, she heard music. For a split second she thought she’d been caught up in the Rapture, but then realized it was a guitar strumming softly behind her. When Garrett started humming quietly along with it, her breath caught at the timbre of his deep, soothing voice.
“That’s beautiful. Do you do this often?”
“Every Sunday. Care to join me?”
She did, without hesitation. Garrett sat on a small blanket, his legs crossed, the guitar in his lap. The brilliant early sunlight glinted off the corner of his sunglasses, but the brilliance of the glare didn’t compare with his megawatt smile as she sat across the blanket from him.
Garrett sang softly, and Roberta hummed along with him, not remembering all the words. It was a song she’d sung a few times in church, but it had been a long time since she’d been, and she didn’t really remember it. At that moment, she knew that had to change.
She knew the next song well, as well as the next few, so she joined him. For the last song, he picked a slow, worshipful song. Roberta closed her eyes as the words poured from her heart. She’d often heard people quote the Bible verse that where two or three were gathered together in Jesus’ name, God was there in their midst. She’d agreed on the surface but never experienced it before. This time she knew. God was there, with her and Garrett as they sat together on the blanket beside the still lake at the crack of dawn.
Garrett played the song once more, humming the melody, while mixed thoughts and words cascaded through her head. The words to the song mixed with her words of prayer as she talked to God, really talked, for the first time in a long time. It took her awhile to realize that Garrett had stopped playing. For a brief minute, he held the guitar in silence, then laid it on the ground beside him. “Would you like to join me in prayer?”
“Yes,” she whispered, nodding at the same time.
She could see herself in the reflection of his sunglasses. So much was she concentrating on trying to see his eyes through the dark lenses that she didn’t realize he was reaching for her hands until he touched her. With both of his hands holding both of hers, he smiled gently, and they bowed their heads.
Roberta couldn’t speak. But Garrett prayed enough for both of them. He praised God for the beauty around them, for each other’s company, and for the salvation so freely given not only to the two of them, but to everyone who believed. Before Roberta realized he’d changed topics, she listened to him pray for her—for the healing of her heart and soul, and for God’s guidance to direct her to the perfect soul mate as her life’s partner. Garrett even prayed for Mike, for forgiveness and guidance. At first she thought she’d choke, but she surprised herself by realizing that she had forgiven Mike. She agreed in prayer for everything Garrett asked God on Mike’s behalf. She felt cleansed and released and free.
Silent tears streamed down her cheeks as they sat without speaking, hands held, sitting cross-legged, across from each other on the blanket, heads bowed.
She didn’t know how he knew the right moment, but at his mumbled “Amen,” they raised their heads and he released her hands. She scrambled to stand, but didn’t back away from him. They stood toe to toe, and it was all Roberta could do to tilt her head back and gaze up to his face. Before she thought about what she was doing, she rested her hands on his waist and her forehead to the center of his chest.
“Thank you for including me in your private worship time today.” She paused to take a deep breath. “You don’t know how much I needed that.”
Although she certainly didn’t expect a major speech from him, she didn’t expect him to be totally silent. Without saying a word, he slowly and gently wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Nestled against his huge frame, she basked in the security and protection he offered, until he augmented the warmth of the embrace by tucking her head beneath his chin. Roberta snuggled into him, slid her arms from his waist to around his back, and hugged him tight.
He was big and warm, and solid, and she’d never felt so cherished and loved in her whole life.
Loved? She pushed herself away. This was Garrett. Mr. Ranger. Molly’s friend’s brother who got stuck helping a pathetically distraught tagalong when he surely must have had dozens of better things to do.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working today?”
The strange loss she felt when she pulled away from him was mirrored in Garrett’s face for a few seconds, until he turned to pick up his guitar. “Yes, but I always take a little time off at sunrise Sunday morning to do this. The other guys respect that. They know I’ll be back soon.”
All she could do was nod.
“I’d better be off.” He didn’t leave but stood in front of her, holding the guitar in one hand.
Roberta nodded again, unable to stop staring as she processed what he said. The other rangers knew what he did and where he was going. He did this every Sunday, going through the trouble to make special arrangements, adjusting his work schedule. Sometimes she barely had the courage to tell her co-workers she went to an organized church service on Sunday morning, when there was nothing else to do. She suddenly felt ashamed. This, too, would change. Roberta made up her mind. God caught her in her weakest moment and lifted her up when she’d pushed Him aside. She quickly counted the opportunities and blessings she didn’t deserve. From now on, every Sunday, she would go to church to freely worship.
Garrett raised his free hand and brushed his fingertips along her cheek, then dropped his hand to his side. “See you later, Robbie.”
He turned and left without a backward glance.
The sky turned overcast, as predicted. The forecast said “unsettled,” but Garrett estimated rain within an hour.
He was supposed to be working, but all he could think of was the ladies in site 27. He knew that once Molly made up her mind to do something, it was as good as done, and sometimes his sister was no better. If Molly said they were going swimming, then the weather was secondary. However, he doubted Robbie knew what it was really like to swim in the rain.
During his short walk to their campsite, the sky continued to darken. Upon his arrival the site seemed deserted, but as he walked toward the tent-trailer, he heard Molly’s voice easily through the canvas walls.
“I guess we don’t have to worry about sunburn. Or towels. Or a blanket.”
He waited for the door to open, but instead, he again heard Molly’s voice, loud and clear. “Who wants to know? You a cop?”
Garrett chuckled, then cleared his throat. He deepened his voice and spoke in the authoritative voice he used for troublesome campers. “Yeah. Park ranger. Official business. Open up in the name of the law.”
He heard Molly giggle. “Come i-innnn,” she called sweetly.
Garrett smiled, liking the sound of Molly’s invitation. The second he opened the door, three pillows whapped him, sending him backward a step until he gained his bearings.
Before he could raise his arms to protect himself, another onslaught caught him.
“No fair!” he called out, lifting his hands and bowing his head to protect himself. “Resisting an officer! You’re all under arrest!”
After a few more hits each, they stopped. He raised his head to peek over his arms to see if it was safe. “What do you ladies think you’re doing? Don’t you think you’re a little old to be having pillow fights?”
“Old!?”
“Oh, no …” He saw it coming in time to cover his head again. “Truce!” he called out from beneath his arms, hoping they could hear him begging for mercy over their giggling. “I surrender!”
When he thought he was safe, he looked up. They were already changed into their bathing suits.
“I think my question’s been answered. You’re kidding, right?”
Gwen tapped her bare foot on the camper floor. “Does it look like we’re kidding?”
He didn’t bother to reply. On the remote chance of the weather changing, he had traded for beach duty for the afternoon. But the weather hadn’t cooperated, and it felt like the rain would start any minute.
So often, campers did foolish things on their vacations, justifying themselves by saying they only had a few days’ vacation and they were determined to do everything they planned, no matter what. With Molly and Gwen, he hadn’t been surprised, but he didn’t expect Robbie to go along with them.