As they walked into the kitchen, Jerricho looked up with a big grin and said, “Hey, my first fish.” He pointed to the cutting board.
“Good,” Diesel said.
“Tomorrow you can try catching your first ones,” her father said. “Up at the crack of dawn. Hope you’re an early riser.”
Jerricho looked at Diesel and asked, “You or me first in the morning?”
“You go,” Diesel said.
Jerricho, with a knowing look, said, “That works.” He added, “Apparently I’m sleeping in the main cabin.”
“Right,” Diesel said. “Then Greg can wake you up that early.”
“Works for me,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Dinner was a lighthearted affair.
Diesel’s heart was gently delighted to see the relationship between father and daughter. A lot of affection, lots of little touches, hugs, as they went around each other. Both happy that each other was safe and content to be here. By the time dinner was over, she was yawning. He shook his head. “Time for bed again.”
She grinned at him. “You’ve been telling me that for days,” she protested.
“And every time I turn around, you’re falling asleep over your food,” he warned.
Her father nodded. “She’s always been like that. She’ll go, go, go, and then, all of a sudden, she’ll drop.”
“I am not that bad,” she said.
“Yes, you absolutely are,” Jerricho said, “but because I’m getting up at five in the morning, I won’t stay up late myself either.” And stepping outside, the two men sorted out their four-hour watches. “What do you think? Do we need to stand on watch?”
“It’s really hard to know, isn’t it?” Diesel said. “We’re home. She should be safe. It should be over with. But it doesn’t feel that way.”
Jerricho nodded. “No,” he said, “my gut says it’s bad news.”
“Mine too,” he said. “If you want to take first watch, I’ll stand second.”
“The trouble is,” Jerricho said, “I’ll be awake, and you won’t be sleeping.”
And, with that, Diesel laughed and headed back inside. Diesel looked over at Eva, who was falling asleep on the chair. He walked over, bent down, and scooped her up in his arms. She protested but was mumbling. He shook his head, looked over at her father, and said, “Is there plumbing in that little cabin?”
He nodded. “There is actually. We put it in just before my wife passed away.”
“Good,” he said. “I might as well get her there, while I can still see the pathway.” And, with that, he headed out the door, Jerricho with him, carrying their bags. As they got to the other cabin, Jerricho stepped in first, did a quick search, came back, and said, “You’ll be fine here.”
Diesel carried her in and laid her on the bed, and she just rolled over, pulled the pillow under her head, and crashed.
“She always like that?” Jerricho asked.
“Apparently,” Diesel said. “Every time we tell her it’s naptime, she just crashes.”
“Must be nice,” he said.
“Yeah, I hear you.” At that, they turned and headed back out again.
“I’ll send you a message at two a.m.,” he said.
“Sounds good.” Diesel walked back inside the cabin, tired despite himself. It was only ten p.m., but, if he could sleep now, that would be the best. He quickly used the facilities, brushed his teeth, gave his face a good scrub down, and then headed into the bedroom. As he looked at Eva, he realized she hadn’t even shifted. She was sound asleep, fully dressed. Well, that would not end up well.
He took off her shoes and socks, rolled her onto her back, divested her of her jeans, and then half-sitting her up, with her mumbling and protesting the whole way, he managed to get the T-shirt off her. He would have left the T-shirt on, if he could get the bra off, but, as it was, it was that much harder to get any cooperation out of her. Finally he just picked her up, tucked her under the blankets, then quickly divested himself of his clothes and crawled in beside her.
As he lay here on the bed, his arms under his head, he thought about everything they’ve gone through and how far and how slow they had traveled, and he realized that there was absolutely no reason for anybody to be following them, but he still couldn’t shake that weird feeling. He rolled over, pulled her up against him, and closed his eyes. He slept solid and deep until he heard that whistle.
As soon as he heard it, his eyes opened. He checked his watch and confirmed it was two o’clock. He slipped out from under the covers, pulled on his boxers, jeans and a T-shirt and walked out to the deck. There he raised a hand, as he saw Jerricho standing on the porch of the main cabin. Jerricho walked inside and headed to bed. He would be lucky if he got three hours now, after what Greg had said about getting up at five. Maybe Greg would take it a little easier on Jerricho, but Diesel doubted it.
He stood here for a long moment, enjoying the fresh crisp air on the lake. So much cooler here, being at a cabin in the summer. It would heat up during the day but then would cool down beautifully in the evening. Right now it was clear and refreshing. He sat here on the stoop for the longest time, thoroughly loving the opportunity to be here. At a sound, he walked back inside the cabin to see her sitting up, pushing her tangled hair from her eyes.
She stared at him. “What time is it?” she croaked out.
“It’s three-thirty,”
