Page 4 of The Maine Event

“Don’t mention it.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“I know. Well, I think it’s lovely you’re all going away together,” she says and turns back to her program.

I stare in disbelief at my mom’s beaming grin of self-satisfaction. I don’t like vacations. I certainly don’t like camping. And I’m more of a “here’s your birthday gift, now run along and play” kind of auntie, at least until they’re potty trained and can string a sentence together.

Somehow, I’m now signed up to spend ten days cooped up with my sister, her husband, and their two rambunctious toddlers at their log cabin on Lake Michigan. It’s not that I don’t love my sister and her family, but the idea of being away from work, from the city, fills me with an unsettling sense of dread. Somehow, I’m signed up for a trip to the wilderness, hunting elk, and drinking from streams—or whatever it is people do when they’re in the great outdoors.

I groan.

This is going to be a disaster.

Or, at the very least, deeply,deeplyinconvenient.

Two weeks away from work? Away from my team, my clients, myprogress? I’ve been working toward a partnership for years, and I can’t impress the powers that be if I’m off roasting marshmallows and pretending to enjoy nature.

They say out of sight, out of mind. What if someone else steps in and wows them in my absence? What if I come back to find that all my hard work has been quietly shuffled onto someone else’s plate?

I’ll make it work. Ihaveto. Because the last thing I can afford is to be forgotten.

TWO

“Woohoo, we made it to Wisconsin!” Richard cheers as we pass the sign announcing the state border. Claire, sitting shotgun, grins and gives him a high five.

The road trip to the cabin is already an exercise in patience and we’ve only been on the road for ninety minutes. I’m crammed into the back between two car seats, my nieces babbling and giggling on either side of me. The air is thick with the scent of strawberry yogurt and baby wipes, and I can already feel a headache forming behind my eyes.

“Rach, Rach, look!” My older niece, Lily, thrusts a sticky handful of chips towards my face. “I’m sharing with you!”

“Oh, um, thanks, Lily,” I manage, gingerly accepting a soggy chip and trying not to grimace. “That’s very nice of you.”

Claire catches my eye in the rearview mirror and grins. “Isn’t this fun, Rach? Just like old times, hitting the road for a family adventure.”

“Sure, if by ‘old times’ you mean ‘never,’ since we definitely didn’t take many road trips growing up,” I mutter, shifting uncomfortably as Lily’s baby sister, Anna, lets out a piercing shriek.

“Oh, come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” Claire teases. “This is going to be great, you’ll see. Quality family bonding time!”

I open my mouth to retort, but suddenly there’s a clatter and a splat, and I look down to see a blob of purple yogurt dripping down my blouse.Versace. Ruined.

“Oopsie!” Lily giggles, waving her now-empty yogurt cup. “Auntie Rachel is wearing my snack!”

I close my eyes and count to three, reminding myself that this is just temporary, that I can handle a little mess and noise for the sake of my family. But as I feel the cold yogurt seeping through to my skin, I can’t help but wonder what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

This is a mistake, a voice warns in my head.You should be back in Chicago, focusing on your career, not playing babysitter in some backwoods cabin.

But then I remember my promise to Mom, and the wistful look in her eyes as she urged me to find something more than just work. And I think of Claire, who’s always been there for me even when I’ve been too busy to return the favor.

No, I tell myself firmly.This isn’t a mistake. This is an opportunity. A chance to reconnect with what really matters, to figure out who I am beyond just my job title.

I open my eyes and smile at Lily, who’s now happily smearing yogurt on her own face. “You know what, Lil? I think purple might just be my color after all.”

Claire laughs from the front seat, and I feel a flicker of warmth in my chest. Maybe this trip won’t be so bad after all.

“Okay girls, what should we do first when we wake up at the lake house tomorrow?” Richard asks Lily and Anna.

“Make s’mores!” Lily exclaims.

“Go swimming!” Anna counters.

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