“Wait for me,” Iris told her, digging through her swim bag. Where was the sunscreen?
“Oh, come on, I just finished second place at swim camp,” Lily complained.
“Yeah, Mom. Geez,” Leah teased as she made her way to the boat ladder. “I’ll take her.”
“Okay,” Iris said hesitantly, “but stay by her. It’s deep out here.”
“Dive or cannonball?” Leah asked Lily.
“Definitely cannonball!” Before Iris could object, Lily sprang away from the boat and landed with a small splash. Iris held her breath until she erupted to a chorus of cheers.
“See?” Lily called to her defiantly.
“Good job, baby.”
Leah followed suit, diving clear off the back in a clean arc, splitting the surface of the lake with barely a ripple.
“Now it’s Mom’s turn,” Leah called out.
“Yeah! Mom’s turn!” Lily echoed.
Great. Iris made her way to the ladder and looked down at the four expectant faces, treading alongside one another. The water looked cold, and she felt utterly exposed standing over them.
“You can do it,” Cooper encouraged.
“Mom doesn’t cannonball!” Lily laughed loudly.
Had Iris really never cannonballed on a hot summer day with her kids? Why was it that she wasn’t the “fun one” more often?
“I do, too!” Iris insisted. “I used to do a mean one.” Well—thirty years ago.
Even Sadie looked up from her magazine when she heard that.
Below her, Lily’s sunscreened nose wrinkled with skepticism.
That did it. Iris whipped off the sarong she’d tied to her waist. “You asked for it!”
As Iris drew herself up, it all came back to her. The heady anticipation of flight. The feeling of sheer weightlessness as she sprang into the air. The blast of cold water.
“Wow!” Lily shrieked as Iris popped up at the surface. “That was so cool, Mom.”
Iris swam up to her, nose to nose. She grinned. “There are lots of things your mom can do.”
She tipped her head back, relishing the pull of her limbs as they moved beneath her treading water. Cooper swam over.
“Full of surprises,” he whispered.
• • •
There was no hunger like that after a swim in cold water. Back on the boat Cooper passed out sandwiches and iced tea. Briefly, Iris worried that he wouldn’t have packed enough, having no experience feeding a large family. But she was pleasantly surprised. There was plenty. And it was good! Chicken salad rolls, fresh melon, an assortment of cheeses and crackers.
“Are there fish out here?” Jack asked, peering curiously into the green lake water.
“Plenty,” Cooper said. “I caught a two-footer, just last week.”
“Cool!”
“Can we fish?” Lily asked. “Oh, please! I want to catch a two-footer!”
Cooper turned to Iris. “Are you a fisherwoman?”
Oh, how to share the truth? That, for Iris, it was all about the views, a good book, and rocking gently on the lake? If you went home empty-handed, it was all the better.
But she looked down at Lily and smiled nonetheless. “It’s great. I used to fish with my dad when I was a kid. Right?”
Bill laughed wholeheartedly. “Iris is our catch-and-release girl,” he said. “Sensitive to the plight of the fish.”
“In other words, she hates it,” Lily stated.
“Hey, I like fishing just fine.”
Cooper smirked. “Just not the catching part.”
“Or the cleaning and eating parts,” Sadie added. Which made everyone laugh.
Iris stood near as Cooper showed Lily how to bait the hook. “You’re a real natural,” he told her, and Iris felt her insides warm.
“That is so gross,” Sadie said, peering over their shoulders. “How can you touch a worm?”
“I’ll bait a line for you if you’d like,” Cooper offered her.
Sadie shook her head and flopped back down on the seat. “Nope.”
“No, thank you,” Iris prompted, wondering again at the teenager she’d become.
“How about you?” Cooper asked Iris.
“Who, me? The fish hater?”
He winked. “I was just teasing.”
“No thanks, I think I’ll help Lily,” she said.
They spent the afternoon casting their lines with little luck, until Bill finally got a bite. “Go, Grandpa!” Lily shrieked. She was so excited that she dropped her pole on the floor of the boat.
“Careful!” Iris warned as the pole slid beneath their feet, its silver hook flashing dangerously in the sun.
Leah retrieved it. “She’s fine, Iris. Relax.”
Leah’s nonchalance grated on Iris’s nerves. Couldn’t Leah see how sharp the hooks were? Didn’t she realize the line could tangle under their feet?
But there wasn’t time to debate those facts. A second later Leah’s line tugged as well. “Got one!” she called, and this time Cooper came to stand beside her.
“Reel it in slowly,” he warned. “I think it’s a big guy.”
By then Bill and Lily both brought in their catch, small sunfish that wiggled at the end of the line.
“Can we keep it?” Lily wanted to know.
“You have to kill it first,” Sadie said, still lounging behind them on the seat. “Then eat it.”
Lily threw her a hurt look.
“Enough,” Iris warned her.
“What? It’s true.”
But Bill was already unhooking the fish. “Too small,” he announced, to Iris’s relief. She watched as he threw it back in the water, craning her neck to see it pause before zipping away. A small thrill.
“But I think we’ve got dinner over here,” Bill said. They stood back, giving Leah room. Iris watched her sister’s hands as the spool whipped beneath them, then caught, as she reeled the fish closer.
“That’s right,” Cooper instructed. “Give and take. Nice.”
“Go, Aunty Leah.” Jack whistled.
Even Iris drew closer as Leah worked the line, her expression calm, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth in concentration. The loose line flew out into the water as the fish ran with it, then went taut as Leah coaxed it back, reeling quickly. Back and forth it went. Iris had to admit, it was a beautiful if fateful dance.
“You’ve got it,” Bill said, leaning over the boat for a closer look.
“Where? I can’t see,” Lily cried, leaning over the edge of the boat beside him.
Iris reached for her T-shirt, gripping the back.
Leah, who’d remained silent all along, grunted as she reeled the line in one last time.
“It’s a giant!” Lily shouted.
Bill leaned over the boat with a net, just as the green speckled bass burst out of the water on Leah’s line.
In one deft scoop, the fish was on board, and everyone surrounded it.
“Way to go!” Cooper exclaimed. He clapped Leah on the back, and in the excitement she turned and hugged him hard.
Iris watched, her annoyance growing.
“How big do you think it is?” Bill was already kneeling, examining its size. “It’s gotta be at least one and a half feet.”
“We’re keeping this one, right?” Lily asked excitedly.
“Better believe it,” Leah said, wiping her brow. “What do you think, everyone? Dinner tonight?”
Bill clapped his hands. “Absolutely. Cooper, I insist you join us. I’ve got some vintage pinot that will be a fine accompaniment.”
“Sounds great,” Cooper said, looking to Iris for approval. But Iris was watching the sleek fish twist and turn on the line, its gills straining for breath. “Put it in the bucket,” she said quickly.
“I’ll get o
ne,” Bill offered. To Iris’s relief he emptied one of the bait pails into another, and leaned overboard to fill it with freshwater.
But it was too late. “That’s okay, I’ve got it,” Cooper said. She turned as Cooper raised a club and brought it down on the fish with a gut-wrenching thud.
“Mommy!” Lily screamed. She buried her face in Iris’s side and began crying.
“Wait,” Leah said, rushing to cover the bloodied fish with a towel.
It flopped again, spattering the floor of the boat in blood.
Lily howled into her side, as Iris covered her eyes with her hand. “Make them stop!”
Suddenly Cooper understood. Between them the fish flopped grotesquely beneath the towel.
“Oh, just get it over with,” Iris cried, turning Lily away.
Cooper looked stricken.
“Let me.” Leah grabbed the small club decidedly from him, and Iris shuddered at the sickening thwack that followed.
“It’s over, baby,” she whispered to Lily.
Cooper came up behind them and crouched by Lily, who still hid her head in Iris’s lap. “Lily,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you like that.” He looked up at Iris apologetically. “I should’ve warned you.”
“I didn’t know we had to kill it,” Lily moaned.
Sadie slid over on the seat and put a hand on her little sister’s back. “Lils, the fish either dies a slow death because it can’t breathe, or you can end it fast. What they did was actually kinder, if you think about it.”
“But I didn’t want to kill it.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” Iris said, trying to sound brave for Lily. “It’s over now.” She offered Cooper a nod, trying to reassure him that it was okay. But secretly, she was furious.
At herself, for not thinking sooner about how this would go. At Leah, for so blithely relieving Cooper of the club. For the matter-of-fact way she brought it down on the bloody fish. There was so much that a mother wanted to shield her children from.
• • •
Back at the docks, Iris lingered with Cooper as he secured the boat.
He climbed out, looking sheepish. “Well, that was a disaster.”
“What do you mean? It was a great day, even with the fish incident.”
“Right. What’s a few years of therapy for poor Lily?”
“It’s my own fault. I forgot that her dad hadn’t taken her fishing before. Paul used to take Sadie and Jack when they were little.” Her voice softened at the memory. “They loved fishing with Paul.”
Cooper listened with strained politeness.
“Oh, sorry,” Iris said.
Cooper chuckled. “No, no. Next time, let’s invite Paul, too!”
Now she was laughing. “You’re a sport, Cooper Woods.”
Jack shouted to them from the parking lot. “Are you guys coming? I’m hungry for dinner.”
Cooper looked to Iris uncertainly. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
“Join us!” Bill called, unwilling to take no for an answer. “I’m going home to get the grill started.”
Iris grimaced. “Great. We can grill the fish.”
Cooper followed her off the dock, shaking his head. “Maybe you could make Lily spaghetti?”
Twenty-Nine
Iris stood in front of the hallway mirror and took a deep breath, calmer now. It’d been a great day, even in spite of the fish incident. It didn’t matter that her hair smelled of lake water or that a sheen of sunscreen still shone on her forehead. It was summer, her kids were here, and she had no place to be but in a chair on the patio with a cold beer.
Downstairs, Sadie had changed into a sundress and was settled on a lounge chair outside. “You look nice, honey,” Iris said.
“Why are we having guests for dinner?” Sadie asked.
Iris glanced across the patio, to where Bill and Cooper were opening beers and chatting.
“It’s just Cooper. Grandpa wanted to thank him for the boat ride.”
“Then why can’t he just say thank you?” She closed her eyes in exasperation and turned her face to the sun as if the conversation was over.
Iris regarded her sadly. “Huh. I was thinking that that’s what you should say to him.”
She left Sadie to contemplate this and joined the men. “Wow, you cleaned the fish already?”
Bill headed for the kitchen slider. “Couldn’t let it go to waste. Your mother has some fillets of sole in the fridge from the market, so there’s plenty of fish for everyone.”
“I’m not eating that!” Sadie called over.
Iris took a deep breath. “I’ll make pasta for you and Lily,” she offered. “You can help.”
At which Sadie flopped over on the lounge chair, directing her gaze toward the lake.
“She okay?” Cooper asked.
“She’s a teenager. She’ll be fine,” Iris whispered, reaching for his bottle of beer.
Cooper handed it to her. “Maybe you should talk to her.”
“I’m trying,” Iris said, taking a deep sip.
“Isn’t there some way we can get away? Just for a night?”
Iris glanced across the patio. “But how? The kids are here, and the wedding’s in three days.”
“And so is the end of our summer.”
Iris’s departure had always hovered somewhere around the wedding: a date that had once seemed so far off on the horizon. Too soon Cooper wouldn’t be a part of her every day.
Cooper whispered. “I’ve got that cabin in Vermont.”
“Which I’m dying to see. But I worry leaving the kids. If anything happened, Vermont’s not exactly around the corner.”
He thought a minute. “I’ve got a job over in Brewster on Friday morning. How about when I’m finished?”
“That’s the night of the rehearsal dinner.”
“Right.” He ran his hand through his hair.
Iris groaned. How was it that there was already no time left?
“What if we just stay here?”
Iris looked around. “Here?”
“At my place. Tomorrow night. No one needs to know we’re there. It’s close enough that you can pop back home if you need to.”
It was close by and it was his. In other words, it was perfect. She’d come up with an excuse about her book to get away for a night. Trish would help. “Let’s do it!” She raised her beer and took a sip.
The cold beer slid down her throat nicely, and she passed the bottle back to Cooper, squeezing his hand as she did.
She happened to look over at Sadie, who was studying them. Instant fury flashed across Sadie’s face and she alighted from the lounge chair.
“What’s wrong?” Cooper asked, glancing back and forth.
But Iris knew. What an idiot she was!
“Sadie, wait!” Iris went to her.
But Sadie was already plowing through the patio doors, almost knocking Bill aside as he returned with the platter of fish. “I’m going upstairs,” she said pointedly. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
Iris hurried after her.
She tried the handle, which to her surprise was not locked. Sadie turned, a look of contempt on her face. “What do you want?”
Iris drew her gently away from the window to the bed. “Come here.”
She balked.
“Sadie, I want to talk.”
“I’m not a baby,” Sadie said. “You act like I don’t know things. Like the fact that you and Leah can’t stand each other. Just like you and Daddy. And that you’re cozying up with that guy down there.”
Iris swallowed. “You mean Cooper?”
Sadie glared back at her. “The handyman,” she said through her teeth. It was a blow she dealt matter-of-factly, in the same tone Leah had used when she accused Iris of taking up with the �
��hired help.” As if to further their unwitting alliances, Sadie’s lips flushed, the same way her aunt’s did when she was angry. For a moment Iris felt she was arguing with her teenage sister again.
“Sadie,” Iris began carefully. “Cooper Woods is an old friend from high school, of both Aunty Leah’s and mine. He works here, yes. But he’s always been a friend.”
There was no need to get into specifics.
“Is he Daddy’s friend, too?” Sadie asked now. Her eyes were narrow with accusation, and Iris steadied herself to tread carefully. Her job was to reassure, not dole out facts.
“They may have met before, I don’t know.”
Sadie moved to the dresser, her fingers roaming restlessly over the objects: an old jewelry box, a bottle of perfume. They stopped at a small figurine of a horse that Iris’s father had given her as a child. Sadie turned it over in her hand. “Well, he sure seems to like you.”
Iris nodded, staring at the floor. “Is this why you’re so angry with me?” There was no point in denying it. Had she really been so naive as to think, or hope, that her daughter was not grown-up enough to see the signs? However careful they’d been, however distant, thirteen-year-olds were ripe with hormonal emotions of their own. They practically had radar for that kind of tension.
Sadie didn’t answer.
“You’re right,” Iris said. “Cooper is a good friend.” She would not lie. But she would also not burden Sadie with the unnecessary. “The point is . . .” She paused, suddenly out of words. What was the point? That it didn’t matter, because Daddy and Mommy weren’t together anymore? That Cooper Woods was a question mark, at best? She looked at Sadie, sadness rising up in her chest. Now was not the time to tell her. This was not how she wanted it to be done. Damn, Paul. He should’ve stuck around and talked to her about this. They should’ve had a plan before it got to this.
“What, then?” Sadie set the porcelain horse down and turned to her. “What is your point?” Her eyes were steely with suspicion, but behind them Iris saw trepidation. She knew. Somewhere, deep down, she knew things weren’t okay with her family.
“The point is, this is what families do. They grow. They change. Sometimes they fight. Mommies and daddies. Aunts and uncles. No different from you and your sister and brother.”
“When is Daddy coming up here?”
The Lake Season Page 27