“Maybe we’ll have time for you to learn.” Dana remembered her own attempts when she’d visited Happiness Haven as a girl. “I had a couple of lessons once. I let go of the rope the moment the boat started to move.”
“That’s silly. I wouldn’t.”
Dana drove a little farther. Pete’s campsite was number four, as close to the lake, apparently, as the campsites went. Here all the campers were larger and looked permanent, as if they were part of the landscape.
“There it is,” she said after a moment. Pete’s camper looked surprisingly roomy, unmistakably an Airstream, with a screen enclosure attached to the entrance to make a mosquito-free porch. She spotted several folding chairs under the mesh. Outside, a grill was heating. Real charcoal, with smoke rising in wisps.
She pulled to a stop, wishing she could explain Lizzie’s presence without her daughter standing right there, but just then Pete stepped outside, and his expression didn’t reflect a moment’s disappointment when he saw he had two guests.
“Hey,” he said, smiling at both of them. “Two for the price of one.”
“Olivia’s sick,” Lizzie said, taking the explanation out of her mother’s hands. “And Mom won’t leave me at home by myself.”
“Your mom. A real pain in the neck, huh?”
Lizzie went to him for a quick hug. And when that was over, he stepped to Dana and kissed her cheek. “It’s good to see you both.”
She heard the message. He understood. He wasn’t upset with her, and he wasn’t going to act as if his entire evening had been spoiled. She’d known a lot of petulant men who acted out in a variety of ways if they didn’t get what they wanted. She’d been married to one.
Any doubts she’d had about Pete Knight vanished in that instant.
“Why don’t you and your mom satisfy your curiosity and take a look inside?” he told Lizzie. “Then, if you want, I’ll introduce you to my neighbor’s daughter. She’s about your age, and I bet she’ll show you around the campground.”
Lizzie peeked at her mother, and Dana nodded. “I’m sure you want to check it out.”
“And tell that mom of yours there’s a salad in my refrigerator, and dressing, if she’s willing to toss it for me,” he finished.
For a moment Dana felt as if she were living the all-American dream. Everything about being with Pete felt so comfortable and right. Dana prayed that in the days ahead, everything would continue to be both.
Rishi had apologized for missing the special evening he and Janya were supposed to spend together. He’d claimed that late in the afternoon, he had fallen asleep on the couch in his office and slept until well after midnight, when he’d awakened in horror to find the building dark and everyone gone.
Rishi was not a good liar. His eyes had not quite met hers, and he stumbled twice as he spoke, as if his agile brain could not keep up as he manufactured details. Had she felt secure in her husband’s affections, Janya might have attributed both to his shame at disappointing her. But since this rejection was one of many she had lately suffered from him, she knew it for what it was. He was not ashamed; he was hiding something.
Janya had not made her suspicions known. The next morning, after she returned from taking Tracy to retrieve her car, she listened to Rishi’s explanation, nodding. She did not bother to tell him that late in the afternoon, when she had called to remind him they were spending the evening together—and wasn’t it sad that she had needed to do so?—his assistant had reported that Rishi was already gone for the day. She had even complained because he had given her a pile of work, since he would not be back.
When a surprised Janya asked her to check, just to be certain, the woman had further reported that Rishi’s car was no longer in its parking slot, and in fact, someone had seen him drive away.
Foolishly Janya had believed a repentant Rishi was on his way home to spend the afternoon with her, as well. The fact that he never arrived had been that much more disappointing, until anger seeped into its place.
When Rishi’s apology and excuses had finally ended that morning, Janya had nodded one more time, then gone into the kitchen to make coffee. By the time the pot filled, Rishi had already gone to work.
Since then, he had come home each night just in time for supper, but afterward he had