The Lake House

THE LAKE HOUSE

The family reunion happened every year. Why it was in April, no one knew for sure. It was one of those mysteries, one of those traditions that made no sense now, and the reason was lost to the winds of time. But that’s what happened every year, the third weekend of April—everyone got together at the lake house..

Maisie

Maisie was soooooo excited. She loved going to parties. These family ones were fun! Mommy told her they would be visiting for the entire weekend. That meant a sleepover! Two nights! Yay! Maisie loved, loved sleepovers. And, she didn’t have to go to school today, so more yays!

This was going to be the best time ever!

Wren

Wren had rolled her eyes when her parents reminded her they were leaving early Friday. morning It was the stupid reunion, with her stupid family, at the stupid lake house. It was so boring. No WIFI and the cell service was almost nonexistent. What was she supposed to do without the internet? Talk to her stupid cousins? Go on stupid nature walks? Go fishing?

That’s all her dad talked about—fishing, fishing, fishing. “I hope the fish are biting!” If Wren heard that one more time, she was going to bite him!

She threw her clothes in her duffel and dragged it to the front door.

Daisy

The lake house had been in Daisy’s family for generations. Daisy’s own grandfather had bought the property and built the sprawling Cape Cod. Originally, there had been four bedrooms, and all the amenities that 1902 could offer. Over the years electricity, natural gas, water and indoor plumbing were all added, bringing the lake house into the modern period The buildings were now all properly insulated, making it usable year round. A substantial kitchen remodel and addition, two bunkies, and a wood burning sauna had been added this century.

Daisy loved the lake house. She had been coming here for her entire life, over seventy years. She couldn’t think of a single summer she hadn’t visited.

Now, if she only loved her family as much as she loved her house …

Maisie

The was drive was soooo long! Daddy said that it would take almost four hours. Four hours! That was almost a whole day!

It wouldn’t be that bad if Wren didn’t listen to her music so loud. It was really annoying—non-stop squeaking sounds leaking out of her headphones. Once Wren had let her listen with one ear bud, but it was too loud for her and she almost started to cry.

Maisie looked over at Wren. She looked sad. She just kept looking out the window, petting Barnaby, whose tail wagged gently. At least Barnaby was happy.

Mommy and Daddy sure weren’t. There was too much traffic. Daddy wanted Maisie to please stop kicking the back of his chair. Mommy wanted to stop for a coffee. Daddy said they’d stop when they needed gas. They were really snippy (Mom’s word) with each other.

But, the good news was that they weren’t actually yelling at each other. They did that a lot lately.

“Mommy?”

Her mom turned around to look at Maisie. “Yes?”

Maisie scrunched up her eyebrows trying to remember. “I had fun at the lake house last year, right?”

Her mom thought for a moment, then looked back at Maisie, and smiled. “You did. You went out on the boat with Daddy. And you went exploring in the woods. And we had campfires and you made s’mores. And, remember—Gran let you help make cookies, and she took you into town to go shopping?”

Maisie thought for a minute. She did remember. She did have fun! And there were her cousins. They didn’t really play with her, but they sometimes talked to her. There was Roddy—he was only a baby and couldn’t walk, but Aunt Jean let Maisie help watch him.

“Do you think Roddy is still a baby?”

Her mom smiled. “Well, Aunt Jean said that he’s walking now, so he’s getting bigger.”

“Can he talk yet, or does he only cry, like last year?”

Maisie saw her mommy smile some more. “I don’t think he talks, yet. He just makes baby noises.”

“Do you think he has teeth? Last year he only had two.”

“I’m pretty sure he has more teeth this year.”

Maisie considered. Last year Roddy kept chewing on her hand. If he had more teeth she wasn’t sure she wanted to let him do that this year.

“Can I play with Roddy?”

Her mom smiled. “Well, I think he’s still too little to play, but I’m sure Aunt Jean will let you help like you did last year.”

Maisie nodded her head, a little sad. She didn’t have anyone to play with at the lake house. None of her cousins were her age—six and a half. And they were all boys. Maisie played with the boys at school, but these were older boys. The twins Connor and Matthew were twelve, and Marcus was almost as old as Wren, fourteen. Gregor was eight—only a year and a half older than Maisie—but he hung around the older boys. They made him do stuff for them, like get snacks, but he didn’t mind. He liked hanging out with them. Maisie had tried to play with Gregor, last year but he didn’t want to. So that only left Roddy.

And Gran. Maisie loved Gran. She hadn’t seen her since Christmas. She would show Gran her new books. Maybe they could read together.

Daisy

Daisy looked at her watch. Tyler and Beth would be here soon. They had decided to come early. Daisy was pretty sure it was so they could claim the best bedroom—the one with the shared bathroom, which meant that the girls would have the room on the other side.. Beth insisted that the girls needed more privacy than the boys. Daisy never got involved in the squabbles between her children. If Beth and Tyler made the effort to leave home before the sun came up to get here first, more power to them. If they felt it was worth getting an overactive six year-old and a petulant teenager up in the middle of the night, so be it. Oh, and the dog. Barnaby was probably the most easy-going of the entire group. He never wanted anything other than a bowl of food and a head scritch.

She thought about the logistics. Jean and Leon would have the other bedroom, with Roddy in his crib, and their boys Gregor, and the twins Connor and Matthew would sleep in the bunkie—alone—for the first time. That had the makings of a Lord of the Flies scenario. She sighed. Last year, the twins told Gregor ghost stories, and the poor boy didn’t sleep all weekend, waiting for the ghosts of the drowned to march up out of the water and grab him with their cold rotting fingers and drag him back into the water to spend eternity with all the dead in the murky depths of Lake Wilcox. Good on them for creating such a gruesome story—their imagination was impressive. But poor Gregor …

Another sigh.

Kyle and his son Marcus would stay in the other bunkie. As long as Kyle was sober enough to stagger across the lawn this year, and not fall asleep in the sauna like last year. The EMTs said that between the heat and the alcohol, Kyle could have died. He was extremely dehydrated and they had kept him in the hospital over night.

Daisy sighed again. It was only one weekend a year.

Wren

Wren looked out the car window, watching the countryside fly by. It was boring—fields, more field, and, oh look, more fields. And for excitement, there were cows just standing around in the fields. She sighed heavily. She saw her mother start to turn around—probably to ask her if she was okay.. Wren ignored her, and kept counting cows.

When she’d asked her mom if her best friend Jermma could come with, her mom had shut her down, immediately. It was a family weekend she said. Only family, she said. Wren had been so angry. Jemma was more like family than her stupid cousins. What was she supposed to do all weekend? Talk to her family? Gawd! She hated this.

She continued to look out the window, sighing loudly.

Wren

About flippin’ time!

Her dad pulled into the long lane that lead to the lake house. Four hours was too long to be stuck in the car with an excited Maisie trying to talk to her, even though she had her ear buds in—everybody knew earbuds in means “don’t talk to me.” Except, apparently, Maisie.

And Barnaby, who was the sweetest dog in the world, but also had the worst farts. It was like a purple haze in the car! It was so bad she had to crack a window.

She turned off her music and put her earbuds into their case. Barnaby was standing on her lap, wagging his tail off. She opened the window so he could stick his head out and get all the sniffs.

“He won’t jump out, will he?” asked Maisie, looking worried.

“Nah. He hasn’t yet.” Maisie didn’t look convinced. Wren hugged Barnaby’s body. “See?” she said to her little sister. “I’ve got him.”

Maisie looked at her and actually said, “Phew!” while actually wiping her brow. Wren laughed. She must had read about that, or seen it on TV, because Wren was sure no real human ever did that!

As they bumped down the road, Wren caught glimpses of the lake. It was only April so there would be no swimming or tubing, or even paddle boarding without the threat of hypothermia.

Why didn’t Gran have this shindig in July, when there weren’t literalicebergs on the lake? All the fun things were summer things. It was almost as if Gran was doing this as a punishment.

Daisy

Daisy heard the crunch of gravel under tires, and stood and walked out to the front porch. She watched as Tyler pulled their SUV to a stop into the closest parking spot. The doors opened and out flooded the family, dog included. Daisy didn’t mind Barnaby—not at all. There was never any drama with him. He was calmer than all the grandkids, and other than occasionally begging for food, was pretty amenable. She just hoped that Tyler and Beth had changed his food, or he’d be spending a lot of quality time out on the deck. He could be one stinky boy.

“Welcome!” she called, smiling.

“Grandma!” called Maisie, running up and giving her a hug. Daisy hugged her tight. She was such a sweet child—a talkative, excitable, inquisitive sweet child who had no filter. But still a sweet child.

Wren walked out of the car, with her duffel bag slung over her should. “Hey Gram,” she said a genuine smile on her face. “Long time no see.”

Daisy smiled. They had seen each other during the Christmas break, but that was at her place in the city. They hugged.

“Go put your stuff in your room—your choice of which room.”

“The one with the attached bathroom, like last year” called Tyler, his head in the back of the SUV as he unloaded suitcases, bags of food, a cooler, a dog bed, and a box holding bottles of wine, from the hatch. He stuck his head out “Hi Mom!”

Daisy waved. Tyler was her middle child. A dependable family man. Nice wife, great kids. Lovable dog. A house in the suburbs. Living the dream.

Beth walked up the porch steps pulling a huge roller board. Daisy’s eyebrows lifted at the size. How many days are they staying?

“Daisy! Great to see you!” said Beth, sounding genuine. Beth looked a little haggard. She suspected that Tyler was wearing her down. It was hard to live with a man child. Daisy should know.

They hugged. “I’m glad you were able to make it,” said Daisy. Beth was supposed to be in Europe at a work thing, but she’d been able to postpone it. Daisy wasn’t sure she would have cancelled the chance to travel to Europe to spend a chilly weekend in April by a freezing-cold lake.

“Me too!” said Beth. “I look forward to this weekend every year. It’s like the first spring thing that we do!”

“Get yourself settled, then we can have something to eat.” Beth rolled into the house.

Tyler came towards the house, loaded down with boxes and bags.

Again, how long are they staying for?

“Great to see you, Mom.” He struggled up the steps and leaned in to kiss her on her cheek.

“Good drive?” she asked.

Tyler shrugged. “Not bad. But we’ve got to change Barnaby’s food. He stinks.”

That’s exactly what you said last year, thought Daisy sadly.

Barnaby, at the sound of his name, came loping around the corner, bounding up the stairs, doing his whole body wag.

“Barn-a-by,” cooed Daisy. He really was a lovely dog. She gave him pets and scritches. He moaned. It occurred to Daisy that Barnaby was the most enthusiastic of her visitors today.

“Is Dad coming?” asked Tyler.

Daisy smiled her tight smile, the one she reserved for discussions about her ex-husband, Dean. “He’s not sure. Mimi may or may not have something better to do.” Like go to cheerleading practice, she thought to herself.

Mimi was Dean’s considerably younger—thirty-five years considerably younger—third wife. She was closer to Wren’s age than Dean’s. Age. “If they do come, they will be staying at the resort in town. So …” she shrugged.

Tyler nodded. “I hope they make it in time for dinner.”

Sure, and I hope pigs fly. But she just smiled.

Maisie

Maisie ran through the cottage, and out the door, almost colliding with her dad

“Here, Maze, take this into the kitchen.” He handed her a bag of food.

She grabbed it and ran back into the kitchen. She thought about just putting the bag on the floor, but she remembered what had happened at home when Daddy left a grocery bag on the floor, and Barnaby had eaten everything, wrappers included, and had to go to the vet’s. She carefully put the bag on the chair.

She ran out of the kitchen.

“Maisie,” said her mom. Maisie stopped. “Remember what I said about the lake. You don’t go to the beach alone. Someone has to go with you. And no wandering in the woods.”

“‘Kay,” she said, running out the door, heading for the lake, Barnaby at her side.

Wren

Wren sat on the single bed and looked around the room. She was sharing her room with Maisie. She wondered if her parents would ever just let her do anything that didn’t involve looking after her little sister. She didn’t ask for a little sister. If they wanted to have a kid when they were old, then they should look after her. It wasn’t Wren’s job.

She got up and headed out to see if Gran needed her to do anything. As she opened the door to the porch, a pickup truck pulled up. The door opened, and a guy about her age jumped out.

“Hey,” he said looking at Wren, smiling.

“Hey,” Wren replied..

“Uh, I’m here to drop off groceries for Mrs. Westover.”

“Gran?” said Wren.

“Yeah.”

Before she could go into the house to get her, her grandmother walked out of the house. “Ah! Wesley!”

“Hey, Mrs. Westover.”

Daisy looked between the two teenagers. “Westley, this is my granddaughter Wren who’s staying for the weekend.” She tipped her head towards Wren. “Westley works at the IGA in town. He delivers my groceries.”

“Hey,” said Wren, again.

And Westley “Hey-ed” her back, smiling.

“So, you deliver groceries?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Cool.” Wren nodded her head. “Can I order some groceries?”

Westley laughed. “Sure. “What do you want?”

“Well ….”

Daisy

Daisy watched as Wren helped Westley carry in the groceries. And Wren was smiling. Her granddaughter was not known for smiling. More of an eye-roller with a propensity towards scowls and grimaces.

There really was nothing for Wren to do up here. When she was smaller she played with the boys, but she’d outgrown them. Maybe she would order more groceries, and make sure Westley delivered them.

She looked around. Where was Maisie?

Maisie

Maisie knelt down on the dock and looked into the water.

“Do you see any fish?” she asked Barnaby who standing beside her, also looking in the water. He wagged his tail. She didn’t want to put her hand in the water because her dad said the fish were biting. She didn’t want to get bitten.

She leaned a little too close to the edge, and could feel herself falling.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Daisy

Daisy was walking quickly towards the lake when she heard the splash. She broke into a run—a careful, slow run, but still a run. As she rounded the last turn to the lake she saw them—Maisie and Barnaby both soaking wet, walking out of the water. Barnaby was pulling on Maisie’s wet sleeve, guiding her out of the water.

“I-I-I f-f-f-fell in,” she said, her teeth chattering. “B-B-B-Barnaby s-s-s-saved me.”

Daisy pulled off her jacket and wrapped her granddaughter in it for warmth. Barnaby shook all over both of them. “Are you okay?”

“J-j-j-j-just c-c-c-cold,” she said.

Daisy hugged Maisie tight. “Let’s get you warmed up. Hot chocolate?”

“Y-y-y-yum!” chattered Maisie.

Daisy herded them towards the house.

It was going to be a long weekend.

Barnaby

Barnaby sat on the porch, cleaning the lake off his fur.

He loved his humans, but man, they were a lot of work.

He sighed, farted, and laid down to nap.