Daisy says, “Cuatro!” She wags four fingers.
Oh God.
“Bro, why are you riding in the deathmobile?!” Lo shouts.
Ryke flips him off. “We’re fucking fine!”
Daisy is smiling so wide that it’s hard to say no to her or to question further. Maybe she’s joking. I trust that Ryke knows the truth. Loren and I roll up the windows about the same time, having more faith that they’ll stay close.
* * *
“It could be bigger,” Loren says in jest. The seven of us stare up at the four-story lake house, fifty miles off the beaten path, winding gravel and dirt roads leading us to this sanctuary. With two wrap-around porches, the house sits in a thicket of gorgeously overgrown maple trees, shingles painted cherry red. Our relator (who only knows me by a fake name) said that when the seasons change, the leaves will match the hue of the house.
It’s nestled close to a grassy bank, the house reflecting off the rippling lake, landscaped by the Smoky Mountains. From the naked eye, I can’t spot a single cabin in the distance.
We all chipped in and didn’t just buy this property. We invested in acres and acres of land surrounding it, ensuring that no one would build near us.
“It’s purposefully big,” I remind Lo, my hands on my hips in triumph. This will be a safe place for all of us, where we can escape when our lives become unmanageable and hectic. Jane and whoever else may need this as much as we do.
“Back to spawning eight babies, Fertile Myrtle?” Lo banters.
I shoot him a look. “Just Jane, Loren. And there are more families here besides Connor and me.” I cross my arms. “Like you.” After Maximoff, his views on children changed, and I realize that he’s a little like me in that respect.
He was afraid he’d turn out to be his father.
I was afraid I’d be my mother.
We’re both too aware of their flaws and too self-aware not to spot our own, and I suppose this is our downfall and our saving grace. It’s made us fearful, but it’s also enabled us to diverge from the paths our parents took and learn from their mistakes.
“Yeah, yeah,” he says with a short laugh. His amber eyes glitter in the evening light, grazing the house as though imagining the expansion of his family of three. “Maybe someday.”
Daisy and Ryke walk hand-in-hand to the side of the house, Coconut sprinting down the hill. Ryke stops at the top of the slope, in view of the long wooden dock, I presume. He wears an awed, overcome expression, one I’ve only seen when he’s with Daisy and after he rock climbs. He returned to the sport in April with his doctor’s approval.
We were all proud that he waited to climb until he received the okay.
Connor sidles next to me, supporting Jane, asleep in the crook of his shoulder. “It’s perfect, darling.” I lace my fingers with his free hand. He kisses my knuckles.
“It has a good energy,” I say matter-of-factly.
“You packed candles, didn’t you?” His brow arches.
I did think about cleansing the lake house of bad spirits, but that’s not why I brought the candles. I may as well warn him. “I wanted to throw a co-ed slumber party and there are certain traditions that can’t be ignored.”
“Like?”
“A séance, and light-as-a-feather stiff-as-a-board, facemasks, desserts, and maybe even the Ouija board if Lily’s not too frightened by then.” Before he spouts his disbelief in ghosts, I add my reasoning, “Apparently when we were younger, we always forgot about Daisy during slumber parties. She was there, but we’d leave her out somehow.”
It pains me even thinking that I forgot my sister, but I was so much closer to Lily, and the age gap just weakened my relationship with Daisy. I should’ve been more aware…
“She told you this?” Connor looks shocked.
“No.” Daisy would never cause me pain from her hurt feelings. “Ryke mentioned it to me a few weeks ago.” He knew that I’d want to make up for lost time with my sister.
Connor sighs. “Can we eliminate a spiritual event in favor of an intellectual one? It’d benefit greater society and us.”
“I’ll take your request into consideration and gladly ignore your slight at my slumber party,” I say and his grin expands.
“So I have this theory…” Daisy spins towards us, hand still clasped in her boyfriend’s. “If we buy a little mini-pig and see which bear forms a friendship with him, we’ve discovered Winnie the Pooh.” She extends her arms and bows theatrically.
I ask Connor, “Are you picturing the bear eating the pig?” The gory scene almost makes me want to root for the underdog to win, but a pygmy pig has zero chance of survival.
“Yes, but my image is probably less bloody than yours.”
“Then it’s incorrect.”
“A bear would eat anything as small as she’d described in one bite,” he retorts. “No blood, Rose.”
I roll my eyes, accepting this defeat. He’s right. I just unnecessarily constructed a grotesque butchery in my mind.
Loren looks at Daisy with an expression summed up simply as what the fuck. “Did you smoke a joint on the way up here?”
Daisy wags her brows. “Did I?” She spins to Ryke. “You can pat me down for contraband. I like to hide things in my—”
“Okay,” Lo cuts her off. “I’m already sorry I asked.”
Lily raises her hand, her other one bracing Moffy on her hip. “Is anyone else scared of bears?”
“Moose are scarier,” Willow proclaims, pushing her glasses further up her nose.
“There are moose here?!” Lily’s eyes grow to saucers. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about the moose?! Lo, did you know about the moose?”
I can’t take her seriously when she keeps repeating the word moose with her high-pitched voice.
“No, no,” Willow says quickly, “I just meant in general. There were a lot of moose in Maine, but I’ve never been around here, so I wouldn’t know.”
“No moose,” Connor clears this confusion.
Ryke groans. “Can we please fucking ban the word moose from now on?”
“Agreed,” I say.
“I like a good moose in the morning,” Loren says, just to piss us off.
“But really,” Lily interjects before I shout a retort at her husband, “there are bears…so no one is scared but me?” We’re all quiet.
“Wha…really?” She frowns.
“I’ll protect you,” I tell Lily, confident about this.
Loren snorts. “By what? Kicking the bear in the balls?”
I glower. “I have a gun.”
He blanches. “Wait…you’re serious? I always thought you were joking when you said you had one.” I’ve made a few offhand quips about shooting my gun, so I can see how he thought it was another exaggeration of mine.
“We obviously need to go over the fucking rules about bears,” Ryke interjects. “Unless it’s hunting season or the bear is attacking you, you can’t shoot it.”
“Says who?” I snap back. I turn to Connor to confirm, and he nods like it’s more than just an arbitrary rule Ryke made.
“The fucking law,” Ryke refutes. “I can’t believe I camped with you, and we didn’t talk about this.” He was too busy fucking my sister in a tent. I bite my gums, refusing to unleash this and embarrass Daisy. “Look, I brought bear spray for everyone, so it’s non-fucking-negotiable.”