A voice from behind startled her.
“Your son in there, Mrs. Murphy?”
She turned to see Ed Lowe, smiling, sunglasses hiding his eyes, dressed in khakis and a plaid collared shirt with his name plate and the Paterville logo.
“Yes. He got so sandy.”
Lowe’s head bobbed, looking like a blind man behind such dark shades.
“I heard what happened down at the beach.’
“Yes.”
Christie expected Lowe to thank her for helping the girl. Already she was summoning an appropriately dismissive reply.
But that’s not what he said.
“My lifeguard said you were upset.”
For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.
“I was. I mean, he—”
She heard the shower turn off.
“Jim saved that girl. I just wanted to see what was wrong.”
She took a breath. “
“Mom! Mom, I have soap in my eyes!”
She turned away from Lowe. “Turn the water on again, honey. Get your face under there.”
“Owww. Okay!”
Back to Lowe.
The smile remained on his face.
“You were saying?”
“
A nod from Lowe, but no loss of his smile.
“Boys. They do like to flirt. Still, he did the resuscitation pretty well, no?”
The conversation seemed surreal. Christie didn’t know what to say. No apologies? Nothing about getting the lifeguard to look at the water and not the babes?
The shower door opened.
“Thanks, though, for what you did down there. Just wanted to tell you that personally.”
Lowe feigned a look down to his watch.
“Whoa—got to do the midday announcements soon. Best get ready.”
A look from him down to Simon. A hand patting her son’s head. “You, too—don’t want to miss lunch.”
“Yes,” she said, then put her own arm around her son. “C’mon, Simon, let’s go get dressed.”
“See you there,” Lowe said.
Christie nodded, and amid the blazing splotches of sunlight and shade she walked steadily back to the cottage.
24
Dinner
In the afternoon, sitting in the golden sun with Jack, Christie didn’t mention anything about her talk with Lowe, about what happened.
It was just good to see him begin to enjoy this.
But later, on the way to dinner, she did tell him about the girl, the rescue—but she cut off any questions, looking at their kids as they walked to the Great Lodge.
“It was just a little strange,” she said quietly.
“You saved the girl. What was with her mother?”
“Don’t know.”
When they got to the same table they sat at the night before, the Blairs were already there.
“Hey, guys,” Tom said. “Good day at the beach?”
Christie shot a quick glance at Jack, then: “It was beautiful.”
“And tonight…” Tom looked at his wife as if this was his gift to her, to the kids. “Fireworks! When was the last time you saw fireworks?”
Simon, holding his knife and fork as though the food couldn’t get here fast enough, spoke. “I’ve never seen fireworks.”
Tom laughed. “Then you are in for a treat.”
Which is when Christie noticed something. Tom all excited, thrilled. Smiling, happy. His wife, this woman who took over the family, the kids … so quiet. Had they had a fight, a disagreement over something?
Not on the same page.
“Meet you down there after eats? Get a good spot up close?”
“Sure,” Jack said.
Tom leaned across the table, lowering his voice. “And I’ll bring … y’know.”
The servers arrived with oversized plates of what looked like a stew. And then actual bread. Small brown rolls. A real rarity these days.
Simon grabbed one off the platter before it even touched down. He opened the roll, and spooned some of the stew in.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to, um, put the stew in the roll,” Christie said.
Jack laughed. “Let him eat it the way he wants to.” He picked up a roll. “They must grow their own wheat somehow. Or something like wheat. Amazing.”
Another family, with a pimply-faced boy, came and sat down at their table with them. Christie said hi, smiled at them.
They nodded and said hi back, but didn’t seem interested in any getting-to-know-you chat.
Fine with Christie.
Soon, the whole hall quieted as everyone dug into the food.
Between bites, she looked around. Then to Jack. The room so quiet as everyone ate.
Her back to the podium, she didn’t see Lowe arrive, and then was surprised by his booming voice.
“Good evening, Paterville families!”
Like a Sunday congregation, they chanted back. “Good evening!”
“Hope all of you enjoyed this amazing day, and now some great camp food. Got a few special announcements for you…”
Christie looked across the table. Kate picked at the stew, studying it.
The examination over, she took a big forkful of it.
“Any families leaving us tonight, be sure to check out with us at registration. We’ll make sure all your charges are correct and we even”—he looked over Shana—“have a special good-bye present from all of us at Paterville.”
Shana seemed less formidable tonight. Her midsection covered, though the shirt’s buttons strained against
