Page 54 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
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AUSTIN
It’shard to believe that summer is almost over. I’ve got to decide whether to send Julia to regular school or to register her as homeschooled.
Maybe the easiest thing would be to support Mrs. Hubbard’s Homeschool and do some volunteering to help out as a teacher.
Do I have the credentials to teach? Depends on how you look at it. I’ve got enough college credits to get a bachelors. Problem is, I had taken classes online or correspondence classes, depending on what they were, so I’ve got all sorts of college credits, but they don’t exactly add up to a degree in any one thing.
Mrs. Hubbard had taught in elementary school for many years, but she might need to do some refresher courses. When I talked to her last week, she was thinking about it.
I’ve had to work so hard to get Julia, it’s hard to think of relinquishing her into formal schooling. Especially nowadays, what with school shootings, controversy over bathrooms, and who knows what all.
Lee could teach art, from the sounds of it. But she’d have to own up to her identity. Right now, she even hides her sketchbook when there’s anyone around but me and Julia.
I don’t know what she’s running from, but even though she doesn’t have those spazzed out panic attacks as often, she’s still hiding.
“You look like you are thinking hard,” Lee says, stepping outside the van. “Brrr! It’s kind of chilly this morning.”
“It will be plenty hot enough later,” I say. “But you are right. The weather is cooling off. We might need to move everyone up to the fairground before too long.”
Her eyes get big. “You can do that?”
“Well, yeah,” I say. “What’s the point of having a house on wheels if you can’t move it?”
“Even the tiny houses?” she asks.
“Yep,” I say. “Even the tiny houses. We need a transport truck to move them. But fortunately, we know one.”
“We do?” she asks, turning those wide, innocent baby blue eyes on me.
“Yep,” I explain. “Mr. Turner owns his rig. He’ll do the honors next time he’s in. We’d probably all be okay this high off the beach, but better safe than sorry. It’s going to be storm season soon.”
“What will we do when it is too cold and rainy to paddleboard?” she asks.
“Well,” I say thoughtfully, drawing out the suspense for her, “I could get wet suits for all of us.
She squinches up her face at me.
“But,” I say, ignoring her face, “I think I’m going to purchase bicycles for you and Julia. She’s old enough to learn to ride one. How about you?”
She looks uncertain. “I’ve been on a bicycle once or twice,” she says. “But it was a while ago.”
“It will come back,” I say with confidence, hoping to bolster hers. “It’s muscle memory. Once you learn, you never quite forget.”
“I don’t think I was that good at it in the first place,” Lee says in a small voice.
“You can always do a triple-back whatever off the bike,” I say encouragingly.
She shakes her head. “Two different skills. I was never a trick rider, even at my best.”
“Let’s go see what the bike shop has to offer,” I say. “That might determine what we do.”
The bike shop has a variety of two-wheeled conveyances, along with a few three wheelers and even a couple of pedal cars with electric backup.
I stop and look at those, thinking that they might be handy for hauling home groceries, or even some bigger items. But most of the things that would be too big to fit in my touring bike’s saddle bags would be too big for the pedal cars.
I find a basic, single speed Schwinn for Lee. It is a trifle tall at the straddle, but it is a woman’s bike. With the saddle at its lowest setting, it is just a tiny hop for her to be sitting on top.
