Buzz Off - By Hannah Reed Page 0,19

named the water-way, which is quite a mouthful for outsiders. Oconomowoc means “River of Lakes,” which sounds confusing unless you know that this area is lake country and the Oconomowoc River intersects with many of our other lakes.

“Where’s Ben?” I hadn’t seen Hunter’s dog.

“In my truck. He can wait there as long as we aren’t gone too long.”

“We’ll do this quickly.”

Hunter wrapped a windbreaker around his waist, and we dragged Stu’s canoe into the water, threw our shoes and the rope into the bottom of it, waded in a few feet, and hopped in at the same time, one of us on each side. Smooth as silk, right as rain.

The air smelled sweet and warm, but cloud formations swirled above us.

The wind began to blow as soon as we set off.

Seven

We headed upstream, Hunter in the stern for muscle power and steering, me up front in the bow, paddling and scouting for rocks and shallow spots. Once we left Moraine behind us, hardwoods flanked ridges following the banks of the river. Then the trees on the east side opened up and the slope tapered off into cattail marshes. Red-winged blackbirds perched on top of cattails and wetland grasses, calling to each other. When they flew off almost simultaneously, it should have been an indication of things to come. But we missed the warning.

Hunter and I hadn’t said much until now, although I was bursting with curiosity. “What’s new with Carrie Ann?” I finally asked. I couldn’t help myself. Call me nosy, but I really wanted to know what they were doing together. Back when Carrie Ann and I hung out in high school, Hunter hadn’t cared for her personality. Of course, times and people change. I still couldn’t see the two of them being close, though.

Hunter laughed easy behind me. “Jealous?”

“That’s the arrogant man I know so well,” I teased. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I was just wondering.” Which wasn’t exactly true. Hunter and I had spent some time together recently and I liked what I saw.

He chuckled again, but didn’t answer my question.

I pressed on. “I have to tell Carrie Ann she won’t be working for me anymore.” I kept a keen eye out for any sign of my kayak, first scanning the sides of the river in case the pint-sized troublemakers had pulled it ashore, then peering mid-stream in case they’d sunk it like last time. Those kids could have left it anywhere.

“I wouldn’t fire her if I were you,” Hunter said.

“I can’t handle any more of her erratic behavior. She’s an alcoholic.”

“She needs a job, and she needs the stability you can provide her.”

“Listen to you defending her.” I switched my paddle to the other side, dipped the blade while I watched ripples of wind glide across the water. All bird life had vanished from sight because of the incoming storm.

“Would you reconsider your decision if I told you she’s going to AA meetings?” Hunter said.

“Since when? She was drunk at the store yesterday.”

“She just had her first one.”

That surprised me. Carrie Ann had come a long way if she was ready to finally admit she had a drinking problem.

Now that Hunter mentioned her newfound sobriety, I couldn’t remember seeing any beer bottles on their lunch table.

“She didn’t say anything to me about AA,” I said. “Carrie Ann didn’t mention one word to me, and I’m family.”

“Maybe she didn’t tell you because you’re family.”

“I wouldn’t have told anybody else. She could have trusted me.”

“Give her another chance?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.” I stopped paddling and twisted around to look at Hunter. “Should we head back?” He looked up. So did I. The sky had darkened significantly since we’d set out.

“I don’t hear thunder in the distance,” he said. “I’m not afraid of a little water. Unless you want to turn around?”

I listened for rumbling. “I don’t hear anything, either.”

“Then onward, Pocahontas.”

It figured that soon after, the sky let loose. I could hear rain slapping at the treetops, driving through to the next layer of canopy before pounding into the water around the canoe like buckshot. We guided the canoe under as much cover as we could find along the wooded side of the shoreline, then met in the middle of the canoe to huddle under the windbreaker Hunter had had the foresight to bring along.

In better weather, this was my favorite part of the Oconomowoc River, where it continued all the way to Loew Lake, which nestled in a valley within one