Page 112 of Resilience on Canvas

Henry’s face softened, his small smile blossoming. “I know.”

An intense rush of fondness hit him. Breathing in the moment’s perfection, Robert closed his eyes, and when he openedthem, he noticed Henry’s empty, waiting hand. Maybe the moment wasn’tquiteperfect. Yet.

“Hey, May,” Robert said, calling to his sister before she plopped some sand on top of his right shin. “Come up here.” Staying in a squatting position, May waddled over. Quickly, Robert lifted his head off of the sand and checked to confirm that no one else on the beach was watching them. Satisfied that no one was paying them any mind, he took hold of Henry’s hand and laced their fingers together. “Bury our hands first, will ya?” May simply tilted her head, and Robert let out a huff. “If our hands ain’t covered in sand in thirty seconds...”

He trailed off, torn between threatening to feed her to the sharks or to the seagulls. Before Robert could make up his mind, May scrambled to start ladling sand atop him and Henry’s linked hands. Henry shook his head a little like he was scolding Robert for his threats, though he continued to smile through it. Robert rubbed Henry’s hand with his work-worn thumb.

“I love you,” he mouthed to Henry.

Henry mouthed the words right back to him.

Robert’s cheeks warmed.Nowthe moment was perfect.

Over the next ten or fifteen minutes, the three children worked to cover both Henry and Robert with sand. Just before they finished, Robert burst out of his sand-coffin. May shrieked and ran to Clara, who pretended to hide May with a towel. Peter and Thomas split up, and Robert went back and forth, chasing them on the beach while bellowing empty threats. Eventually, once Robert began feeling winded, he fell to his knees and shouted a reassurance to the twins that he was too worn out to toss either of them into the sea.

Soon, Henry came by and tossed some sand in Robert’s hair. Robert warned Henry that he’d make him pay for it later, andthen Henry started fanning himself. Because, as Robert had briefly suspected, that wasexactlywhat Henry had been hoping for.

Afterward, Henry went to the edge of the water with May and the twins, and Robert spread a towel out next to Clara so he could sit with her. She climbed off of her chair and settled next to him on the ratty cotton fabric. They watched the waves for a while.

Clara turned to him and said, “How have you been feelin’ lately?”

“Better,” Robert replied. “I’m tryin’ not to focus on the money. Or the fact that y’all are still livin’ with the Sherwoods.” Robert straightened his legs a bit so he could push his feet beneath the sand. “I know that these Sundays are important. I want to make them memorable.”

“I think that’s wise,” she said. “Today was real special so far. Thank you.”

“Yeah?” Robert said. “I tried to make it fun. Chasin’ the twins. Scarin’ little May.”

“It looked fun. I know they were screamin’, but they were smilin’ the whole time, too.”

Robert smiled to himself. He may not have bought the kids a fancy tin bucket or matching shovels, but hopefully their beach time had been pleasurable enough without those things. Fun memories had to be worth something. Maybe not as much as a whole big house that could fit everybody. Maybe not as much as school clothes and a week of food. But something.

Clara stuck her legs out so she could bury her feet in the sand, too.

“I have some news,” she said. “Or,maybeit’s news. Sort of.”

“What is it?”

“Charles may have found some work for me.” She started picking the skin surrounding one of her fingernails. “He says that thebank is looking for a few women to fill the, uhm, the lower clerical roles.”

Clara’s news struck Robert in the chest. He could have sworn that he felt his heart stop. NowClarawas finding work before him?

Robert was still trying to make sense of it when Clara continued on in a soft voice, one that was barely loud enough to hear over the churning of the water.

“Do you think I should try? I think I would like to.”

Robert stilled. Clara’s reserved tone and shy confession coaxed forth a swell of empathy, rising up like the crest of a wave, and the subsequent realization that Clara wasfinallysaying whatshewanted caused that wave to break, sending fast ripples of pride and love flowing through Robert’s veins with such ferocity that they knocked out every trace of hesitation.

Of courseClara ought to try. Robert wanted that for her. He wanted it for her not because he thought she needed to make money or because she ought to bow to the suggestion of Charles Sherwood, but because he wanted her to know that she could want things. And that she had it in her to seize the things she wanted in life, whatever those things were.

“Clara, I—”

But Clara, ever-insecure, cut him off before he could voice his opinion.

“Oh, it’s probably silly,” she blurted out, tearing off a tiny piece of skin on her finger. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Clara, listen to me,” he said, turning toward her, but Clara continued to fiddle with her stupid hands. Robert snatched them. “Dammit, stop pickin’ yer skin andlisten,” he huffed. Clara’s lips curled into a small smile as she met his eyes. “I think you ought to try to work there. If that’s really somethin’ you want.”

“It is. But... I’ve never worked in a bank before.”

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