Page 97 of The Summer We Started Over

Bobby finished his breakfast and asked Eddie if he could watch TV.

“Fifteen minutes,” Eddie told him, her mind focused on her journal. She closed her laptop.

Then, surprisingly, Dove showed up. She’d showered, and dressed in a swimsuit and beach cover-up.

“You look good,” Eddie told her.

“I feel good.” Dove kissed Eddie’s cheek. “I had such a good sleep.”

“I scrambled you a couple of eggs for breakfast,” Eddie said.

“Thanks, Eddie.” Dove sat at the place nearest the stove and carefully nibbled at the buttery yellow eggs. “Oh. Delicious. Yum.”

Eddie put a glass of water next to Dove. “What are your plans for the day?”

Dove carefully chewed and swallowed before answering. “I’m taking Bobby to a special beach.”

“Want me to pack some snacks for you?” Eddie asked.

“That would be nice.”

Eddie found the bread, whole wheat but not seedy, because Bobby hated seeds. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“Not today. Maybe another time we can show you and Barrett. I want it to be our special place.”

“You’ll take your phone?”

“Yes, Mom, of course I will.”

Bobby raced into the room, excited. “She’s not your mom, she’s my aunt!” he yelled. “Are we going to the beach?”

“Let me finish my eggs,” Dove said. “Can you find your bathing suit? And your special towel?”

Bobby raced away.

“If only I could siphon some of that energy,” Dove remarked.

Eddie found two pears to add to the peanut butter sandwiches. “Are you sure you feel well enough to go to the beach with him?”

“I’m sure. I don’t know how many more good days I’ll have, so I want to make the most of this. I’m taking him to Miacomet. I googled it on my phone. It’s got a long pond and a big dune and on the other side, the ocean.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s beautiful out there.”

“I’m hoping it will give Bobby the idea of transition. How thin the barrier is between one place and another. Between fresh water and salt.”

“That sounds a bit metaphysical for a little boy.”

“Silly Eddie, I’m not going to lecture him. I want him to learn it the way three-year-olds learn things. He’s too young to understand concepts like transition or even death and heaven. I want him to feel it, hear it, breathe it. He’ll learn it through his body when he runs from seashore to freshwater pond, through swimming in both waters and sensing how the earth connects them.”

Eddie wrapped her arms around Dove and nestled her chin in Dove’s hair. “You are an amazing person.”

“Don’t make me cry,” Dove warned playfully.

“I wish you weren’t sick,” Eddie said.

“Not as much as I do,” Dove replied. “Now let me eat my eggs.”

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