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That morning we hung out on the dock for a couple hours. I laid on my stomach and pretended to doze off, because putting the sunscreen on Mel had gotten me... uh...a little worked up. The boner was a real bummer; I’d wanted to get a little sun on my face. Afterwards, Mel wanted to take the kayaks out. We paddled around while the sun slipped behind low, dark clouds.
“We better head back,” I said, playing the protective prince again. The skies opened up before we could make it back, and even though we paddled like a couple maniacs, we got drenched anyway. Our only speck of good luck was that the rain stopped as quickly as it started. In a bad news-good news-bad news turn of events, the wind picked up and was coming directly out of the north, which made paddling quite a feat.
“I’m freezing,” Mel complained. “Just look at these goose bumps.”
“God, Mel, they’re almost as big as your chest.” The joke passed my lips before the filter kicked in. That was the old Duncan-Mel friendship, and I wasn’t sure what the borders were on what we were becoming. It felt wrong to tease her like that. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’m freezing too. Let’s head in.” At the shore, I dragged my kayak up onto the grass and flipped it over to drain. Mel was struggling with hers since it had gotten heavier with the water in the bottom so I went to help.
“Want to take a walk up to the point?” I asked as I hauled her kayak. Video games or a movie with Cody were pretty far down the list of fun stuff to do today. The absolute last thing on the list was doing anything without Mel.
“Sure, let me go change.”
“Meet you back here in five.”
I jogged across the yard, and opened the screen door only to find mom and dad seated at opposite ends of the couch. Mom’s arms were crossed in front of her chest, her lips pressed into a slash. Oops! I interrupted a battle over something. “Hey!” I gave them a lame half-wave. “Just getting changed.”
In my room, I put on a pair of jeans and a hoodie. Through the tissue-paper-thin walls, the fight resumed; I could make out tone if not the topic. My phone sat on the desk, a message from Jackson displayed on the screen—Just heard. Call me.
Great. This didn’t make my list of fun stuff either, but maybe I could keep it short. I grabbed the phone and headed for the door when I overheard a piece of their discussion.
“What if we don’t like Florida?” Mom asked.
“What’s not to like? It’s paradise.”
“C’mon, you don’t believe those real estate brochures any more than I do. I’m serious.”
“Do you really think you’ll yearn for the Twin Cities?”
Mom hesitated. “I might.”
“Look, Ginny, we’ve talked about this for years. We agreed that if I ever had the chance for this job we’d go. I remember you saying I should jump at it.”
“I know I did, but I never thought it would actually happen.”
Dad didn’t respond, but the screen door slammed. That had to hurt. Even I knew how long he’d wanted that job. I froze in my spot. If I walked out now, Mom would know I heard their fight. But Mel was waiting for me. I stuck my head out of my door.
“It’s fine, Duncan. The coast is clear.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.”
“I don’t mind. You boys probably should’ve been part of that discussion anyway.”
That would’ve been nice. And different. “So is there a chance we won’t go?”
“No. It’s too far along for that. If your dad reneged, it would jeopardize his career.” Mom shrugged and tried to force a smile. “You should learn from me. Sometimes there’s no point in arguing about something that can’t be changed.”
I nodded.
“I assume you’re on your way out? Where are you off to?” Mom asked.
“Mel and I are gonna take a walk up to the point.”
“Okay, but be careful.”
I don’t know what Mom thought could possibly happen as we walked along the lake. We’d been doing this by ourselves since we were ten.
“Will do,” I said, if only to make her feel like she’d done her job, and then let the screen door swing shut on its hinges behind me.
Mel was waiting for me down by the shore, her new jeans rolled up to mid-calf, barefoot, her toenails an adorable pink shade. She was also wearing her stupid wubbie. I made a face at her.
She grinned at me. “Be nice.”
“I didn’t say a word.” I opened my eyes wide in innocence.
“You didn’t have to. Look, it’s the most comfortable sweater I own.”
“It may as well be the only sweater you own,” I mumbled under my breath, then laughed when she smacked my arm. I rubbed it, pretending she hurt me, then wagged my phone at her. “Jackson texted me. I gotta give him a call.”
Mel made a face.
“I’ll put him on speaker.” Mel and I cruised along the shore, taking baby steps, as I pulled up his number from my contacts. As the phone rang, I silently hoped he’d be busy. Tomorrow I’d be back home and we could talk then.
“Dude. What’s this I hear about a move?” Jackson wasn’t big on typical greetings.
“Hey! I gotcha on speaker.”
“Who else is there?”
“Mel. We were just getting ready to take a walk.”
“You mean the love of my life? Is she still a svelte hottie?”
Most of the time I liked Jackson’s lack of a filter. He usually said some pretty funny things, but this grated. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mel’s face grow bright red, though I couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or annoyed. Probably annoyed. “Yeah,” I replied.
“Lucky you. Hey, Mel!”
“Hey,” she replied. The lack of enthusiasm was probably even apparent to Jackson.
There was a long, awkward pause that stretched out for so long I thought we might’ve hit a dead spot, but the phone said we were still connected. “You still there?”
“Yeah. So, Dude, is it true? You’re moving?”
“One hundred percent. Who’d you hear it from?” This really did have me confused, since I didn’t even know until the drive up here.
“There’s a For Sale sign in front of your house. Did your dad finally decide to part with some of his cash? I figure you guys are Lake Harriet-bound.”
So he didn’t know. Not really. He thought we were moving cross-town to a nicer neighborhood. “Actually, we’re Boca bound.”
“Boca? I never heard of that. Is it a new—”
“It’s in Florida.”
“Oh.” Another long pause. “Dude.”
“Listen, I gotta go. Mel’s waiting for me.” Not totally true since we’d already made our way past the Wilson’s dock, but Jackson didn’t need to know that. “We’re leaving here tomorrow. I should be home by noon. Stop by or something, ’cause I’ll be caged in my house... packing.”
“Will do. Later, Dude.”
“Yeah.” I slipped the phone into my back pocket and took Mel by the hand. She smiled up at me.
“He’s not that bad, and at least it’ll be a person you know at the U next year.” My stomach churned as I said this. While I didn’t want Mel to be lonely, it was Jackson after all.
“Yeah, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Mel asked, and I didn’t have an answer.
We walked along in silence for a bit. Every so often I would swing our clasped hands high, like I was five years old or something. It made Mel giggle every time.
Finally she spoke. “When are you leaving?”
“My dad said he wanted to be on the road no later than eight tomorrow morning.”
Mel nodded. “I’ll be up. But that’s not what I meant. When are you leaving for Florida? Before I get back?”
My throat clamped shut, and my heart felt as tight as a fist. “Five days. You won’t be back yet, will you?”
Mel’s lips clamped together and almost imperceptibly she moved her head from side to side. “No. We’ll still be here.” We took a few more steps, and then she said, “I wish we were doing something special today. So far everything has been so... normal.”
“Normal’s nice for me. Pretty soon nothing will be normal.”
She nodded and clasped my hand tighter. “I know. I just meant more memorable.”
I knew what she meant.
An idea flashed through my brain. It would be fun. And we hadn’t ever done it before, which might make it memorable. “I have an idea. Be ready at dusk.” I tried to keep the mischief out of my voice.
“What?” She stopped walking so she could look me in the eye.
“Just be ready. It’s a surprise.”