Page 55 of Skipping Stones
Linney rolled over and looked at him. “I’m not asking anything from you,” she assured him. “I’m not looking for anything serious. These moments we share are enough.” That satisfied him, and he kissed her again. They were both hungry for a moment of sweetness amidst the horrors outside the door before they headed their separate ways.
A few days later, Linney wiped the sweat from her brow as she finished things up in her office. As much as she loved Damascus, it was hard to deal with the heat. Even with air conditioning in her apartment, it was sticky and tendrils of hair curled on the nape of her neck as she forced a few last items into her suitcase. Linney was ready to go home.
* * *
Despite the video tour of all the renovations, Linney was still surprised when she pulled into her driveway in the early evening. The little yellow house next door wasn’t so little anymore, but it looked like it had always been there. Her place looked a little neglected in comparison, she thought, as she noticed peeling paint. When she opened the front door, scuff marks on the walls and her outdated kitchen made her wince. Her house needed a little TLC.
Someone had been in and left her a vase of wildflowers. Derek probably—he knew they were her favourites. She’d thank him later. But first, she wanted to get out on the water. Linney unpacked quickly, changed from her travelling clothes, threw on a bathing suit and some quick-dry shorts and headed down to the shore. She slid her kayak into the water and was soon on her way. It wasn’t long before her shoulder muscles were burning, and she rested her paddle over the front of the kayak and drifted for a while, watching the willow trees on the shoreline wave in the gentle breeze and listening to the happy shrieks of children playing down on the beach. The sun was warm on her back and she heard a loon cry in the distance. Linney propelled slowly down the lake for a few more minutes and then rolled her sore shoulders and reluctantly turned around. Clearly, she was going to have to work up to a longer paddle.
Linney saw Derek and the children down at the shore when she pulled her kayak out of the water. Derek looked relaxed and tanned. Summer life in Silver Lake agreed with him. Ivy and Leo, with sunhats on their heads and life jackets over bathing suits, were gleefully throwing stones into the lake.
“Starting them young?” she called over to Derek, remembering their childhood stone skipping contests.
“Welcome home! I saw a car in the driveway. Come and join us.” Linney walked over a few minutes later when her kayak was safely stowed.
Derek took off his sunglasses as he bent down to talk to his children. “Remember Auntie Linney? We talk to her on my iPad. Can you say hello?” Taking her cue from him, Linney came down to their level too.
“Hi, Auntie Linney,” Leo said. A shy Ivy buried her face in Derek’s chest and he put his arm around her.
“Hi, Leo.” Linney put her hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “Hello, Ivy.” The three-year-old shrank deeper into Derek’s arms.
Linney’s eyes flitted to Derek’s, questioning, but he just mouthed, “Give her time.” She nodded, but it still hurt. She’d been gone for far too long.
“Your daddy is a skipping stones champion,” she tried again. “Did you know?” Leo looked up at her with wide eyes and shook his head. Linney looked over at Derek. “Shall we show them how it’s done?”
Derek picked up a smooth, round stone and stood up. “You’re on!”
His first stone skipped four times and Linney matched him. They continued for several minutes, Ivy and Leo cheering their father on.
“Remember when we did this as kids?” Derek asked. “Your gran would have to bribe us with milk and cookies to entice us up from the shore.” Linney nodded, the memory strong. “We only have store-bought cookies, but you’re welcome to come up to the house. It’s just about bedtime for these monkeys.”
“I’d love that.” Linney took Leo’s hand and Derek scooped Ivy up and they headed up to the house. “I still can’t get over how much you’ve changed this place,” Linney said to Derek as they sat in the kitchen after a tour. “It’s perfect.”
Derek poured glasses of milk and pulled out a box of assorted cookies. “Two each,” he told the kids.
“What’s your favourite kind?” Linney asked Leo and Ivy, trying to build some rapport.
“I like chocolate chip,” Leo said. “And Ivy likes the ones with sprinkles.”
“Rainbow,” added the little girl, shyly holding one out to Linney, which she accepted with pleasure. By the time they finished, it was getting late.
“Okay, kids, time for bed,” Derek said when they’d finished. “Say goodnight to Auntie Linney.”
Linney yawned. “I think it’s my bedtime too. Thanks for the snack, you guys. Sleep well.” She turned to Derek. “Jetlag. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
* * *
Derek’s car was gone when Linney emerged the next morning and looked across to his house. She’d been lulled to sleep the night before by the sounds of waves lapping against the shore and had slept until nine o’clock. Humming to herself, Linney put on the coffee maker and got dressed in a T-shirt and tan shorts after showering. She left her long hair to air dry and took her mug out to the porch. It was going to be a warm day, but not as hot and sticky as Syria, thank goodness. Linney noticed her glasses didn’t fog up when she went outside. She didn’t miss that!
Linney filled her mug again and brought her phone back out to the porch with her. She sent a photo of the lake to MJ and then Anna and Kirsten to see if either of them were free. There was no response, but Linney didn’t mind. She took her kayak out and headed into town, across the lake. This was something they’d done as teenagers. Gran would give her money for ice cream and then she’d join Derek to get a cone from the summer stand at Centennial Park where Anna worked during the summers in high school.
Shoulders a little stiff from last evening’s kayaking, Linney was determined to paddle steadily and ignore the pain. She found a rhythm, and as she settled in, started to think about Ivy’s hesitance with her. She’d have to find a way around that. The town docks came into view and Linney doubled her determination. Her muscles were screaming when she pulled up and slipped out of her kayak to tie it up. But she’d made it, and for that, she was happy.
A single scoop of raspberry ripple was her reward, sold to her by a lovely girl who told Linney her family cottaged at Silver Lake every summer. Linney sat on the steps of the band shell with her bare legs stretched out in front of her, enjoying every last spoonful and then headed up to Main Street.
By the time she got halfway down the street, the local storekeepers already knew she was home and many came out to greet her. Small town life, thought Linney with hints of both amusement and irritation. It never changed. Linney turned the corner at Willow Street and soon found herself at Anna’s dance studio. She watched Anna give some instructions to a trio of teenagers—summer staff, she supposed—and then knocked on her office door.
“Got time for an old friend?”