Page 43 of Below the Far Horizon
“No question. And I don’t think Mom could have found a better person. Your dad’s pretty awesome, even if he does call her Gita Baby.”
“Doesn’t she like it?”
“I think she loves it. To be honest, it makes me cringe every time I hear it, but then to see my mom’s face, and the love on it, and the adoration… He knows exactly what she wants, and he’s given it to her.”
“I think my dad learned a lot from my mom leaving.” It seemed like he had more to say, but he closed his mouth, and they didn’t talk about it anymore, rowing toward their parents, the kayak hitting the edge of the bank. Grace was able to jump up and get out without getting wet.
She turned around and grabbed a hold of the rope, keeping the kayak on the bank as Trevor got off.
“Thanks. I can pull it out of the water,” he said.
“I’ll give you a hand. Because there is enough stuff in the back for both of us to carry up. Maybe we’ll only have to make one trip if we both do it.”
“All right. Thanks,” he said.
They pulled the kayak out of the water and got the cooler which contained their drinks and the meat to make sandwiches, along with some vegetables Grace and her mom had cut up earlier that morning.
It was such a happy, fun time as they laughed and carried things up. Trevor said something about working up an appetite and how Grace’s muscles were going to look like a bodybuilder’s, since he made her do most of the work, and Gita had laughed and made a muscle and said that she was going to look like a bodybuilder too.
They spread the food out on the blanket, settling down on the ground, with Trevor saying grace before they ate.
Grace didn’t think a day could get any more perfect.
Twenty
Gita bit her lip. She and Don had put off telling Grace and Trevor long enough. The food was long since eaten, and they’d gathered up their garbage but had lingered at the blanket, waiting for an opening.
Grace and Trevor seemed to be sharing secret smiles and looks that encouraged Gita, although she felt like if they just kept things going a little bit longer, they could know without a doubt that Grace and Trevor were well on their way to the relationship that they’d lost back when they were younger.
But she agreed with Don—she didn’t want to keep deceiving them. She had just decided that she was going to open her mouth and just spit it out, when Grace smiled at Trevor, and he nodded his head. And then she said, “I have something to confess.”
“We have something to confess,” Trevor corrected her, emphasizing the “we.”
“That sounds serious,” Don said, not looking like he thought it was serious at all. He leaned on one elbow, lying on his side. Gita had a little chair, and she sat on the blanket. He had his hand over top of hers on the arm of her chair.
When he spoke, he squeezed her hand.
“It’s funny you should mention it, because Don and I havesomething we’d like to confess as well,” she said, watching her daughter carefully. Grace’s eyes opened wide, as though she were surprised, while Trevor’s eyes narrowed, as though he was speculating on what it could be.
“All right. You go first,” Grace said.
“No. I just wanted to let you know that we had something that we need to confess, so don’t go running off. But you said it first, so you can go ahead and say whatever it is that you need to say.”
“All right.” Grace took a breath, looked at Trevor, as though she were needing a little bit of extra courage, and then she seemed to decide that she just needed to say it. “Trevor and I were pretending to be a couple because we wanted to give you guys an opportunity to be together, because we thought that if you guys were together enough, you would fall in love.”
She looked at Trevor, who nodded and then said, “It’s like she said. We…deceived you. Basically, lied.” He took a breath, and then he said, “I’m sorry. I think it was mostly my idea, and it wasn’t a good one. I’m ashamed, in any event.”
“Me too. I’m sorry, and it wasn’t Trevor’s idea. It was mine. I wanted to play matchmaker, because I wanted you guys to get together and be happy, and that seemed like a good way.” Grace shook her head and looked down at her hands in her lap.
Don cleared his throat. “Funny you should mention it.”
He looked up at Gita, who didn’t know what to say. She almost wanted to laugh. Maybe she would have, if it wasn’t so serious, since they had been deceiving each other all this time. Except, she and Don were serious about their relationship, and they had that to say as well. But even though she waited a few moments, Grace and Trevor did not speak again.
“We forgive you. I can say that with confidence because we did the same thing.” She started off, and then Don took over.
“The thing is, we thought that you guys had a solid relationship when you were younger, and thought maybe if you spent some time together, you would rekindle that. I saw Trevor looking happy when he was with Grace.”
“And I thought Grace looked very happy when she was with Trevor. The two of you seem destined to be together.”
