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“Great,” she says, passing me the bin of bacon, and I sit, letting myself indulge a little.
We eat breakfast and watch the boats race up and down the Willamette for the better part of an hour. The sun breaks through the clouds, casting the green knoll in warm, golden light. It’s a great spot to just ‘be,’ between people strolling the waterfront trail, the families who have gathered for picnics and play dates, and the rhododendron bushes bursting with pinks, reds, and purples. A little farther upstream they’ve started setting up carnival rides for the Rose Festival, and beyond that, the Saturday Market is in full swing.
Faye is just as interested in the mechanics of the racing as I am, and we try to figure out which team is stronger. The purple boat keeps coming out ahead, but she’s convinced the red boat is actually the winner.
“They just haven’t found their rhythm yet,” she says, a knowing look to her eyes.
“Uh-huh,” I say, waiting for them to line up once more.
“Look,” she says, pointing to the drummer. “The woman in the front right is the real team leader. She’s giving the drummer a pep talk. This is going to be their round.”
The purple boat gets a strong start, leaving the red boat in its wake, but the red boat picks up speed, everyone’s strokes synchronized with greater precision. There’s an energy that wasn’t there before and Faye stands up, cheering. I stand too, hands in my hair, stunned, when the red boat pulls past the purple boat.
“What did I tell you?” Her smile lights up her entire face.
“You gonna try to tell people you’re a dragon boat whisperer now?”
“Ooh, I like the sound of that.” She grins. The boats start to paddle back to shore and I can’t resist the urge to go talk to the teams.
Fortunately, there are a couple of Ptarmigan fans on the red boat team and we hit it off. The woman Faye had pointed to is actually a season ticket holder named Lynne and introduces me around.
“You’re going to have to bring him down to Oregon City sometime,” Lynne says to Faye.
“What’s in Oregon City?” Faye asks, eyes flickering between us.
“Anyone who wants to give it a try can come down for a training class,” I explain.
“You should come too. Lots of couples do this together. That’s where I met my partner,” she says with a wink.
Faye squirms and I flash her a shit-eating grin.
“Oh, we’re—”
“We wouldloveto,” I say, wrapping an arm around Faye and squeezing her into me a little tighter than necessary. “Right, dumplin’?”
Her eyes flash with something that looks like hurt, but as quickly as I see it, it’s gone. “Sure thing, sugartits.”
“Oh man,” Lynne says through laughter that sounds more like a coughing fit. “You two will fit ingreatwith our crew.”
We say our goodbyes and make our way back uphill to her car.
“That was incredible,” I say, squeezing her into me as we leave.
She breaks away from me too soon, then sheds her hat so she can pull her honey-blond hair into a ponytail with a pink tie.
“I’m glad you liked it.” Her phone buzzes and she smiles, laughing to herself, like she’s part of a private joke.
I try to read her screen, and while I can’t read the text, I see it’s from Freddy. Something hot and unpleasant tightens in my chest. Is it really as simple as he said? That they’re friends? What in the world could they possibly have in common? He’s no different than me, except that he’s injured and can’t play.
“What’s that about?” I ask, but she puts away her phone and looks up, a little too innocently.
“Huh?”
“So, was that just you trying to get me out of there or is there something else on the itinerary?”
“I wouldn’t make that up. Of course there’s somewhere else.”
“What is it?” I ask.
