Point Hope (15 page)

Once he heard her, he blew out a relieved breath and met her in the kitchen. With one glance, he saw the damage from last night all over her face. The skin under her eyes looked purple. Even worse, her eyes looked half dead. She had Hope cradled in one arm as she used the other to pull items out for breakfast.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he started. “Can we put it aside for today? For Alex?” That was low, but he had to do it. Alex specifically had asked for the entire family to go to the beach for his birthday. That’s not a small deal coming from a teenager.

“Just sweep it under the rug, again?” A fire flamed in her eyes, one that scared him. She’d been depressed, numb, and just plain tired of fighting with him before all this happened. Now she could be mad enough to do something about their tattered relationship. Like end it. She was dropping things onto the counter with a loud, rattly flourish. A metal bowl tipped off the edge and clanged to the floor like a bell, ringing while it spun.

Rosette hopped back, pulling Hope close. “Freakin’ A!” It was Rosette-style cursing, but for once it didn’t make him laugh. She was bone-tired cranky, enough to let it show, and that was rare.

“Can I take Hope for you?” he asked.

Guilt flashed through her eyes before she nodded and gently handled the baby over. Hope threw her arms out in a delayed startle. Trey pulled her close, cradling her by his neck. She was such a tiny little bundle. Not even two weeks old.

“Aren’t we having cake for Alex?” he asked, giving Rosette something to focus on. She was a task person and liked to check things off her list. Not this time apparently. She threw him a death glare. “I know I’m making you mad, and I’m sorry,” he said, almost ready to give up. “I just don’t want us to screw up his birthday. Later on, kids remember the screw ups more than the wins. I want him to remember a good birthday.”

She kept her back to him. “Of course I made a cake. It’s in the laundry room.”

Of course she did. He was the undependable one; she always came through. He stepped through the doorway into the laundry room and saw the cake plate sitting on top the washer. It was an impressive, towering cake, iced in green, Alex’s favorite color. A small car sat on top, amid the sixteen candles on the outer edges. The car even matched Alex’s jazzy racing car, except this one was already painted white with green racing stripes. Alex had yet to paint his.

For an odd second, seeing the cake made him sad. Sometimes it seemed he was watching life through a haze instead of living it. He just wanted to live today, more than anything, and make memories for the photo album.

“You did an awesome job, Rosette,” he said, hoping she’d hear how proud he was. “You’re an incredible mother.” She didn’t answer so he added, “I’ll go see if Summer wants to come sing happy birthday.”

He pulled the baby blanket up over Hope before walking outside. It was slightly chilly but it looked like the day was going to warm up. It felt funny to knock on the trailer door, but he sure wasn’t going to just open it. Summer peeked out a minute later, looking like she’d come straight from bed. Her golden hair wasn’t flat and shiny like usual, and she still had a pillow crease on her forehead. She shielded her eyes. It was bright outside today.

“Hey, we’re going to surprise Alex with a birthday cake and sing to him. Want to come over?” He realized he hadn’t talked with her much one on one. They hadn’t even discussed how long she’d stay, or what her plans were, unless she had talked to Rosette.  

Summer made a face that clearly asked why they were doing birthday cake at eight in the morning, but instead of voicing her complaints she shrugged. “I guess.”

“Great…and we’re headed to the beach in a while. I thought you’d want to come.” He left her with a smile and had a moment of insight. Not insight into Summer, because she seemed like a brick wall to him, but he could see why Alex wanted to reach out to her. Alex was so like their father.

Rosette had the little kids at the table. Candice had her hands over her mouth, smothering her giggles.

“He’s in the bathroom,” Rosette whispered. She looked much more cheerful. It could be a show for the kids, but he knew how much she truly loved this stuff.

By now, there was no way to surprise anyone on their birthday morning. The “surprise” tradition had begun a long time ago, with Alex’s first birthday after their dad died. They had wanted to make it extra special for a sad little boy, so they’d started his birthday first thing in the morning. Since then, the tradition carried over to each birthday, and to each child.

Summer slogged in through the back door and hit the coffee.

“I’ll light the candles. Get Alex!” Rosette flicked her fingers in a shooing motion.

Trey walked halfway up the stairs and called, “Hey, Alex, breakfast is getting cold!” He hurried back to the kitchen and picked up the cake. The candles were lit. He moved slowly toward the stairs. Once Alex appeared, they excitedly broke into, “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!”

They were rewarded with Alex’s smile, one that made him look like a little boy again, yet somehow also like a budding young man. He met at them at the bottom of the stairs.

“Happy Birthday dear Alex, Happy birthday to you!”

He pulled in a quick breath and suddenly stopped.

There was a second of silence—he was making a wish—and then he vigorously blew out the candles. What did a sixteen-year-old kid wish for? A car? Alex had that. A girlfriend? A happy family?

 “Ready for some fun today?” Trey asked. If Alex wanted all of them to go to the beach and have a good time, they would.

“Starting with cake!” Alex answered and hopped down the last step to follow Trey. Rosette had the special plates out on the table and began slicing and serving cake, starting with the birthday boy. Summer wrinkled her nose over a smiling mouth, looking at Alex. She didn’t go as far as to complain about eating cake for breakfast though.

It took two bites for Jake and Candice to both get the green icing on their faces. Candice had a spot right on the tip of her nose. Jake pointed and laughed, not knowing he had a wide streak across his cheek. “Last time we had green frosting, on those cupcakes,” he said, “it made my poop green!’

“Awww!” Several chairs slid back from the table.

“Jake!” Rosette’s mouth quivered as she tried to hold a stern face. “I spent hours on this cake, and you’re all going to eat it!”

Under the laughter, Trey heard Jake whisper, “And poop green.”

Looking around, Trey noted the green frosting also dyed teeth, but that had to be temporary, he hoped. Luckily, the frosting just tasted like vanilla frosting, delicious over white cake with a big layer of raspberry in the middle.

It was a miracle through and through, but everyone was happy. Suddenly Trey could feel the warm sunshine pouring in through the window and wondered if they’d somehow been given a special day, one where all the pain had to stay outside of a magical wall.

“Did you wish for Uncle Ricky to come back?” Jake asked, looking down at his messy spoon but addressing Alex. He popped it in his mouth to suck the frosting off. “And Aunt Amanda?”

Two different conversations halted as they all looked at Jake. He glanced up, completely unaware it was a loaded question. “Cause I did,” he added. There was hope in his eyes.

“Jakey,” Trey said, reaching for something that wouldn’t shade the rest of the day. “They’re happy in heaven now.”

“But their baby is here.”

“If we could wish them back, we would.” Trey reached over to cover Jake’s hand. He glanced at Rosette and almost wished he hadn’t. Life had thrown too much weight on their shoulders, and he was scared shitless they would buckle and crash under it. “Why don’t we get ready to go to the beach?”

Chapter Thirteen

Both Jake and Candice ran for the stairs, moving on from the emotional moment like children do. “I’m bringing my Spiderman bucket!”

They’d left their plates on the table, but Trey didn’t feel like calling them back. Instead he stacked the dirty plates and set them in the sink under running water.

“You’re coming today, aren’t you?” Alex asked Summer. Maybe Trey should have thought about letting Alex bring a friend or two, but Alex hadn’t asked, either.

Summer glanced at them before answering. “Sure, I guess.”

“I’m hitting the shower first,” Alex announced, leaving.

Trey glanced at his watch. “Let’s try to leave in an hour.” Summer left to get ready, and just Trey and Rosette remained in the kitchen. He rinsed the plates and set them in the dishwasher while she put the cake away. They didn’t speak, and she didn’t look at him. Several things came to mind to say, but he decided not to risk upsetting the strange truce.

Candice appeared in the doorway. “I’m reeeeeaaady!” She had on a frilly white dress with little red flowers on it, oversized sunglasses with plastic red rims, and her polka-dot flippers that he’d bought her for the pool at the Y.

Rosette muffled a laugh into her elbow. “Honey, you know it’s too cold for that!”

Candice spread her arms out above her head in a rainbow. “I am your sunshine.” Her smile dimmed as she realized she wasn’t getting away with this one. She pulled out the puppy eyes and looked at her dad.

“Candice, maybe you could put jeans on under your dress?”

She tilted her head for a second before whipping around and taking off. He couldn’t help himself from looking at Rosette and laughing about it. “She sure looked cute…and it’s supposed to be surprisingly warm today.” There had actually been a hundred-degree day in May just a few years back. It was some freak weather thing, but they occasionally did get some calm, warm days in the spring.

She gave an amused shake of her head. “I’ll pack extra clothes for everyone.”

Trey nodded and headed out to load the big SUV. They’d decided to drive the couple of miles south to Sunset Bay Park. There was just too much to carry down the long stairs near their house, and Sunset Bay was better and safer for the little kids. The restrooms were close to the beach for kid emergencies too.

A few minutes later everyone was in and buckled, and they were on their way. Trey tried to catch Rosette’s eye, but she had her head turned to look out her window. Suddenly he did a double take, realizing they were both in white shirts. Remembering the white dress Candice had on before, he glanced in the rearview mirror. Candice was still in her white dress, although Rosette had gotten a red jacket on her. Jake had a white shirt under his jacket too. Trey felt goose bumps on his arms. A feeling settled over him, strong enough that he couldn’t find his tongue to say something about it. Even Alex had a blue and white striped, long-sleeved shirt, and Summer wore a mostly white sweater.

Did it mean something? Did he suddenly believe in signs?

“Told you it’d be perfect today.” Alex grinned at him in the mirror. Maybe no one else had noticed their near-matching clothing, so Trey decided to keep it to himself.

“Looks that way,” Trey said, realizing the day was coming together. That could almost be a sign too, if he were into that sort of thing. The weather on the beach could change from a light, overcast sky to pouring down rain in a matter of minutes, but it looked like they were lucky today. The thin layer of clouds broke up to reveal a sparkling blue sky right as Trey drove into the parking lot. He lifted the big umbrella from the back and grabbed a bag of beach supplies. They’d talked about taking the stroller out on the sand but knew from experience that the wheels wouldn’t really turn. So Rosette had brought a baby carrier that slung over her shoulder.

Alex and Summer were racing down the beach already. Trey laughed as he watched. He’d been about to tell the little kids to stay put for a minute and wait for them, but that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he followed his family down the short expanse of green, mowed grass to the sand.

Trey sat up the big umbrella and secured the edges with tie downs even though there wasn’t much wind in the cove. Rosette slathered sunblock on the kids. Of course, they complained. Trey used to think it was a bit much too, until they’d gotten sunburned one February from a few hours of beach sunshine. After a dark, wet winter, the sunshine and glare off the water was just too much.

“Let’s fly our kites first!” Jake yelled, prancing and waving his hands in the air.

Candice looked out toward the water, her thoughts written all over her face. Trey knew once they got wet, they’d be freezing, so he gladly distracted all of them with the kites. “Let’s see these things in action!” He’d just have to hope they could get them up into the wind so they’d fly.

He had already looked through the instructions, so he could put both kites together quickly on the beach. They weren’t plain, one-dimensional kites. Candice had a double-decker butterfly with extra flaps. Jake had a bright red jet bomber. Both had small parts, sticks, and Velcro.

Trey patiently assembled the two kites. Now he just needed some wind. Sunset Bay was a perfect cove, but the wind just wasn’t there today. It only came in bursts here and there, so they’d be lucky to keep a kite up in it. The beach by their house and even Bastendorff Beach were both curved and protected, which also made them nice beaches—except for kite flying.

“Okay, it’s ready.” He offered the handle to Candice and walked the kite out, positioning her to catch any breeze that rustled up. Luckily a gust caught the kite and yanked it up high, expanding it into a large, bright, multicolored butterfly with streamers flying behind. Candice screamed gleefully as it whipped up and down in the unstable air.

“Your turn, Jakey. Let’s see what this looks like up high.”

They got the second kite up and whipping around. Even with the music of the incoming waves, they could hear the kites buzzing and flapping, almost like they had engines. Then the wind died. Both kites plummeted down.

“Oh!” Rosette was ready to console them.

“Again!” Jake yelled.

Trey ran around with them, helping when the kites dive-bombed into the sand. He looked backward and found Rosette just a little ways behind him, Hope tucked into the baby carrier with a cute frilly sunbonnet covering her head. Rosette had a hand on the baby’s back while shielding her face with the other. She was grinning up into the sky, watching the kites. Her face lowered, and she looked right at him. For once, the smile remained.