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“Well then, he’s just dressed,” Aaron corrects, but he’s laughing so hard he can barely stand up.
“That’s better. Thank you, son. I always did like you.”
“You’d better get him home soon, Jake,” Little Robbie says, but he’s laughing too.
“I got him,” Jake says as he leads his ornery father toward the golf cart.
“Might want to let the lady drive,” Little Robbie adds.
“Because we’re all drunk!” I announce gleefully.
Bess laughs and scolds Little Robbie for not recognizing her but she gets in the driver’s seat. Mr. Jacobson settles in next to her, and Aaron, Jake, and I all hang off the back. “I’ve never been decent a day in my life,” Mr. Jacobson insists, still protesting about the vile accusation.
Bess tries to console him, her words gentle. “That’s true, Mr. Jacobson. You really haven’t.” But that just makes us laugh harder and louder.
I lean around the corner of the cart. “Hey, Bess!”
“Hey, Eli,” she replies with a grin.
I kiss her cheek, almost flying off the cart as she hits a bump. She slows down a bit. “I love you,” I say loudly.
She turns and looks at me over her shoulder. “I love you too, Eli,” she says.
And that is when Mr. Jacobson starts to sing, at the top of his lungs, that little ditty of a song that got us in trouble all those years ago, and soon we all join in, our singing robust and happy—and loud—as we head back..
When we get to Jake’s house, a light flips on and Katie walks out on the porch in her robe. “What are you doing?” she hisses. “The whole campground can hear you!”
“These two are yours,” Bess says, as Jake and Mr. Jacobson practically fall out of the cart. She jerks her thumb toward us. “I’ll take these two.”
“I think you got the better deal,” Katie grumbles as Jake grabs her and kisses her cheek. Mr. Jacobson stumbles inside and Katie whispers, “Oh, my God.”
“He was naked in the lake, floating on his back, spitting water into the air like a fountain when I found him,” Bess calls out.
Katie covers her mouth and lets out a giggle. “You have to be kidding.”
“I wish I was,” Bess admits.
Bess drives us home, and she walks with Aaron to his cabin while I wait on the porch. Aaron is still humming that naughty tune and staggering so much that Bess is more or less supporting him. Gabby has been watching the children and she meets them at the door. “I’ll stay with them tonight, Gabby, in case the kids wake up. He’s certainly in no shape to deal with any emergencies,” Bess says quietly.
“I’ll stay,” I hear Gabby say. “I can sleep on the couch. It’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Bess asks, as I pee off the side of Aaron’s porch.
Bess groans out loud when she seems me through the front window, and Gabby says, “I think you already have your hands full.” She laughs quietly, and she sounds just like Katie.
“Aaron!” Bess whispers, because all the kids are asleep. “Do you need help getting undressed?” She waits for his response, but none comes.
I guess I should offer to help, but I’m not too steady on my own feet. So I lean in the open doorway while Bess finally gets Aaron into the bedroom, and through the open door I see how she lets him fall onto the bed then quickly strips off his damp clothing. Then she pulls up a quilt to cover him and does that ten-count thing as he begins to breathe rhythmically, already asleep. She quietly slides the portable crib with the sleeping baby out of the bedroom, and then she closes the bedroom door. “Good night, Gabby,” she says. “Call me if you need me.”
“Will do,” Gabby says.
Bess steps past me out onto the porch. “Aaron okay?” I ask as I follow her.“Yeah. I got him to bed. He’ll be fine.”
We head toward our cabin next door.“Did you see his junk?” I ask. “Because I’ve seen it before and I wasn’t all that impressed.”
Bess gasps. “Of course not! Seeing Mr. Jacobson naked was quite enough for one night, thank you very much.” She gives a dramatic shudder. “That’s something I can never unsee.”
“Oh, stop it,” I tease. “I know you took his clothes off. I watched.”
