Carrie smiled at him. “Don't worry. Breakfast is under control.”
She gestured to the stove and Travis saw a pot of oatmeal. It looked heavy and sticky for a day that was already proving hotter than he would have expected it to be at this time of the season. But she looked so proud of it, he didn't want to disappoint or hurt her. So, he smiled and went for one of the bowls set out on the counter next to the stove.
Filling it with the thick, hot cereal, he carried it over to the table. The pitcher of chilled cream and bowl of strawberries set in the middle offered some relief. Drizzling a thick ribbon of cream in a spiral on his oatmeal, Travis scooped up a large spoonful of the strawberries and dumped them in the center. Sugar sparkled on them drew out their juice, giving the cream a pink tinge.
He glanced over at Violet's full bowl. It had a swirl of cream, but no berries.
"Try some strawberries," Travis offered, getting another spoonful. "You'll like them."
He was starting to tip the berries into the bowl when Carrie rushed forward, her hand shooting out to push the spoon away.
"She's allergic," she said.
"To strawberries?" Travis asked.
Carrie nodded and he wondered how he couldn't know that about her. How could he have never offered them to her, seen her avoid them?
"She had a really serious reaction the one time she ate them. When she was about a year old," she said.
"Then why do you have them around?" Travis asked.
Her eyes narrowed and hardened, but only for a moment, as if she consciously softened them.
"Because they're such a common food, she is going to be around them during her life. She needs to learn to cope with being around her allergens without contaminating her own food, and to not expect everything and everyone to be modified in order to accommodate her," Carrie said. "I don't want her to be one of those people who expects everybody around her to change what they eat all the time, or to freak out if she is near one of the things she's allergic to."
"’One of?’" Travis raised an eyebrow. "What else is she allergic to?"
"Are we swimming today?" Violet asked. A tinge of red crept along the sides of her neck like the strawberry juice in cream.
He didn't know if she could sense the tension and was consciously trying to break it, or if she was just a little child wanting attention, but Carrie seemed grateful for the interjection. She gave a wide smile to their daughter and ran her hand down her pale brown curls.
"Yes," she said. "As soon as we’re done with breakfast, we can get ready to go."
Violet scooped two more spoonfuls into her mouth and nodded. "I'm ready."
Holding Carrie's hand in the warmth of the sunlight on their shoulders as they walked the path to the lake felt natural to Travis. It was one of those experiences that felt etched in time, as though it was always supposed to happen. The three of them, hand in hand, walking along the curving trail with the carpet of pine needles at their feet and the droplets of sun dripping down from the leaves above them. It was a set piece moment. It was going to happen. It had just been waiting for them.
It could have happened years ago. After Carrie had told him that story about the canoes and laughed until tears streamed down her face about something she must have forgotten to say. They could have ended up there and walked this same trail.
Since they hadn’t, the moment waited.
And now they were there. He looked over at her and watched the smile curve her lips without effort or thought.. Violet had been walking between them, holding one hand of each when they first left the cabin. Soon, though, she dropped their hands and skipped ahead.
Carrie’s and Travis's hands fell together naturally. They didn't miss a step.
Violet turned a slight bend in the path in front of them and for an instant, it was only the two of them and the sound of the forest.
A moment later they were back together, and the little girl wedged herself between them to take their hands again. They walked together to the edge of the water and looked out over the lake. Other families were filtering down to the water, coming out of the cabins dotted in the woods and the tents making bright flashes of orange and yellow among the trees.
But those were only the ones the people wanted to see.
Travis didn't know what brought up that thought, but it brought his eyes to the deeper parts of the woods in the distance. A dark green tarp would all but disappear among the trees and shadows.
They got to the rack of canoes and waited while a man pulled one off, examined it, and tossed it aside. He took another and walked to the water. Carrie and Travis looked at each other and muffled laughter.
"All right, which one do we like?" Travis asked Violet.
Again, she let go of their hands and again theirs clung to each other.
The little girl walked around the edge of the rack, examining the small collection of remaining boats. She chose a purple one, its paint sun-bleached and fading, and he dutifully took it down for her. They each put on life vests and Violet climbed into the boat before they pushed it off the shore.
Travis and Carrie laughed together as they climbed in and leaned across for a kiss. The sun shone down on them, warming skin just beaded with water from the lake. Travis paddled slowly out into the quiet water, then let the gentle current take over. As they floated in the dark water near the center of the lake, he noticed Carrie staring toward land.
"What are you looking at?" he
