AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dad!” Ivan calls from the front door. “Rachel spilled the sprinkles!”
I nudge Faye toward her car as Zach shoots us a dark look.
“Have kids, they said. It’ll be fun, they said,” he says.
“We’ll bring back treats,” Faye says.
“Please don’t,” Zach says as we get into her car.
I still don’t know where we’re going or what we’re doing today. When she told me she’d planned something for my birthday and asked if I wanted to be surprised, I thought it sounded great. We’re heading into play-offs and between watching game tape and putting in extra hours with the trainers and in the gym, I barely have time to read texts, much less plan something.
“Is he upset?” Faye’s question catches me off guard as we drive down the hill into town, not for the concern, but for the seriousness of the way she asks it.
“Nah,” I say, squeezing her hand on the gearshift.
She looks at my hand on hers and then pulls her hand out from under mine, scratching an itch on her nose.
“He’s just mad that it’s not his morning to sleep in.”
“How do they decide who gets to sleep in?” She turns onto Burnside and we head toward the river.
“No idea. For a while I thought they just traded days each weekend. But it seems like he’s ‘on’ more than he’s off, so I’m guessing it’s punishment or something.”
“Yikes,” she says.
“Nah, they’re great together,” I say. And they are. If he’s on early morning duty with the kids, it’s because he wants to. Or at least, he wants to make it up to Sarah.
“Thanks again for the coffee,” she says, turning up Naito Parkway along the waterfront.
“I wouldn’t dream of meeting you this early without it.” I glance at the clock and it’s only just 8:55 in the morning. I’d told her I needed to be done with birthday celebrations before this evening. Megan wants to take me to dinner, and it felt weird to tell her.
“So, what are we doing?” I ask.
She eyes me with a puckish grin. “You really want to know?”
“Yeah,” I say. She turns toward the waterfront where a handful of people mill on the grassy knoll along the river. Beyond them, a team of people in matching life vests push a large boat into the water.
A boat that looks like… adragon?
“Whaaaaaa…” I start to say and she laughs, driving past and pulling into the first metered spot she finds.
“You’re always talking about these weird sports,” she says, unbuckling and grabbing her coffee. “There aren’t races today, but this team practices down here on Saturdays. So I thought we could start with this.”
“Are you serious?” I ask. I’ve never gotten to see the dragon boat races, and in a way, it’s even cooler to see the teams practicing. You can learn even more about a team by the way they train than during competition. She grins and opens her door.
“Come on, let’s go!”
I practically jump out of the car and speed walk toward the waterfront park where we have a perfect view of two long, narrow boats, moving south, toward the Ross Island Bridge. One is purple, the other is red. Both have giant dragon heads at the prow, with tails curling up at the stern. I count eighteen people aboard each boat, sixteen facing forward, paddling through the water in unison, a coxen at the front, beating on a drum to announce the stroke, and a driver at the back, steering the boat with a rudder.
“So, they’re still finding their rhythm, so they might just be getting up to speed and practicing starts.” Faye sets down a backpack I hadn’t noticed her grab from the car and retrieves a picnic blanket.
“Are you serious right now?” I ask, helping her spread it out.
Then she pulls out two Tupperware containers, one containing still steaming blueberry muffins, and the other holding still hot bacon.
“Do you like it?” she asks, her tooth digging into her plump pink bottom lip.
I nod. Quickly. “I love it.”
