Page 83 of That Birthday in Barbados
“Evie turtle?” she asks.
“I’m sure Hannah will have a turtle for you to help.”
A smile breaks across her delighted face, and my heart is crushed yet again with love for her.
“Hey.”
Catherine touches my shoulder, leans up to kiss my cheek. “Sorry we’re late. I had one last phone call to make, and Evie took a long nap this afternoon.”
“You’re just in time,” I say, leaning in to kiss her on the lips, taking my time with it.
Footsteps sound behind us, and I look up. Nicole walks across the sand, her dog Callie trotting along beside her. Ever since Nicole adopted her from the shelter she volunteers at in West Palm Beach, the dog does her best to never leave her side, traveling with her on visits here as an emotional support companion. Like Nicole, she’s become a seasoned traveler to Barbados. “Hey,” I say, glancing around Nicole and adding, “Luke came, didn’t he?”
She smiles her quiet smile and says, “He’s back there talking to Hannah. He’s fascinated with the turtles and wants to know everything he can learn about them.”
“He’s in good company then,” I say.
Nicole reaches out to brush a few more grains of sand from Evie’s leg, and I take the moment to wonder at the difference in her. I think of the pale gray woman I met in the hospital in West Palm Beach three years ago and this rejuvenated version beside me now. She has fought her way back from a depression that robbed her of all will to live to the place where she is now, aware that she will have to take care of herself in the ways people with depression have to in order to stay well. She’s coming to the island to visit us every three months or so, and this time she brought Luke with her, a guy she met at the animal shelter. He founded the sanctuary with part of an inheritance from his grandmother, and it seems as if the two of them have found something in each other that fits. Not unlike Catherine and me. Their puzzle is different from ours, but the pieces go together just the same.
I drape my arm around Catherine’s shoulder and tuck her against me as we take in the sun setting before us. Hannah and a few of her volunteers start across the beach with the trays of tiny turtles.
“Evie see! Evie see!”
“Hold on now,” I say, laughing and setting Evie on the sand in front of me.
“We have to be gentle with them, sweetie,” Catherine says, smiling. “I remember the first time I saw this,” she says, squatting down to look our daughter in the eyes. “I was so excited I could barely contain myself.”
“Where turtles go, Mama?” Evie asks.
Catherine hesitates and then, “Home, baby. They’re going home.”
Hannah approaches with one of the trays, drops to her knees next to us and reaches for Evie’s hand. Evie looks down at the baby turtles, her eyes wide with awe.
“Pick one up, sweetie,” Catherine says. “Just be very, very gentle.”
Evie reaches down and takes one with a kindness that makes my heart swell. “Okay,” I say, picking one up and showing her how to set it in the firmer sand.
She sets hers next to mine and smiles a smile of delight as they take off for the ocean. “Turtle go home,” she says, and there’s now sadness in her voice.
I put my hand on her head and rub her hair. “It’s okay, honey. Home is where they want to be. It’s where they’ll be happy.”
She raises her arms for me to pick her up. I do, and we watch as the rest of the baby turtles are released and head for the water. “When they grow up, they might come back to visit one day,” I say.
I put an arm around Catherine, and the three of us stay thereuntil all the babies have found their way to the sea. Catherine looks up at me, and I see in her eyes what I am thinking. Life is hard. But life is beautiful. And it will always, always be worth the struggle.
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