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“I’ll call Hilton and have him bring some down,” Sara-Beth offers.
“Oh, get him to bring some oars too. I want to see if those old canoes float,” Erin tells her.
“And some more ice,” Taeli adds.
“If we had tents and sleeping bags, we could camp out here tonight,” Jena says.
I give her a quizzical look. “Don’t you have a kid at home?” I ask.
“Yeah, I could go get her, or she has a daddy,” she says.
“He would stay at home with her, so you could just stay here all night?” I ask.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t he?” she asks.
It’s a fair question. He is the parent too. I just couldn’t imagine my own father staying at home with me and Lynn so that our mother could spend the night out with her friends. Hell, I couldn’t imagine him allowing her to have friends.
“No reason,” I reply.
“Okay. It’s done. Let’s go see how it looks!” Ansley announces.
We all grab an armful of buoys, and Ansley carries the baskets. We attach them to the net that is hanging on the front of the shack with fishing hooks, and Leona helps Ansley nail the baskets on the ends.
When we step back, Ansley clicks the lights on, and the effect is breathtaking. The baskets illuminate the colorful buoys, and it looks so bright and happy.
“Wow,” Erin exclaims.
“This place is awesome,” Jena says.
“Once Corbin and I get it painted and the inside fixed up, it will be pretty awesome,” I agree.
“What are you doing to the inside?” Leona asks.
“We are going to gut it and add new cabinets. Actually, old cabinets I found at Uncle Zemry’s antique store. They’re at the cabin. I’m going to give them a new coat of gray chalk paint. Then, we’re gonna add a granite countertop—another antique store find. I want to do some built-in bunk beds and a seating area with storage benches for fishing gear. Maybe some wall mounts for fishing poles.”
“I can’t wait to see that,” Erin says.
We hear the sound of gravel shifting and look up to see Hilton’s truck pulling down the drive.
“Did someone order camp supplies?” he asks as he exits the driver’s door and rounds the truck.
“I sure did,” Sara-Beth says before joining him.
He bends and kisses her cheek. “I have everything, except the firewood. Corbin put out a burn ban. I brought you guys a little camp stove though in case you needed one.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” She turns to us. “You guys ready to float your stress away?”
Erin pulls off her apron and drops it on the deck. “Let’s do this,” she says.
Hilton hands each of us an inflated tube, and we kick off our sandals and head to the shore. I shrug off my tank top to reveal the sports bra I have underneath.
“Maxi, that’s a gorgeous tattoo you have on your side. What does it mean?” Leona asks.
“It’s kanji for warrior spirit,” I tell her.
“Kanji?”
“Japanese symbols,” I explain.
