Lisa stood
up, excusing herself from the table in a low automatic voice. There didn’t appear to be any acknowledgement
from Lily or Mike as they continued talking.
In silence she moved around the end of the table picking up Tupperware
covers and sealing containers beginning the chore of putting food away. It had always been like this. The two of them together plotting and having
fun while she was left out, on her own and doing all the work. Did she really expect her relationships with
her siblings to be any different this time around? Well, she was going to get their attention
one way or another!
“Hey, who
wants to go waterskiing?” Tom asked the
group in general.
A
cacophony of voices responded as the younger family members expressed
interest. Matt and his cousin Loren
looked over from where the game of Ladder Toss they were playing was set up
before turning to look at each other.
Matt shrugged. Loren smiled. Without further comment they draped their
Bolas over the top rung of the closest ladder and headed over to their uncle.
“We’ll
go.” Matt said. “Maybe this time Loren will make it all the
way around the lake.” He ducked to the
side as Loren made a playful jab at his shoulder.
Tom led
the group away from the picnic tables with Brad bringing up the rear. Of all the children only Beth stayed
behind. She sat alone at one of the
picnic tables, her head bowed, her left hand resting on her book closed on the
table in front of her. A short distance
away her cousin Amanda, Lisa’s fourteen-year-old daughter stopped following the
rest headed toward the dock and turned around to look at Beth before glancing
at her mother. Beth peered up through
her hair, meeting her cousin’s eyes for the briefest moment before glancing
toward her aunt.
Lisa had
her back to her daughter as she packed things back into the cooler seemingly
unaware of the subtle interactions of the two girls. She lifted a small amber colored ampule of liquid
out of the cooler and shut the lid.
“I think
I’m going to take a walk along the beach.
Anyone want to go with me?” Lisa
said without looking at anyone in particular.
“I’ll go
with you Aunt Lisa.”
“Me
too.” Amanda said walking back toward
the tables.
Dappled
sunlight fell on the tabletops and ground creating patterns of shadow and
light, altering the features on Lisa’s face giving her a minatory look. She smiled dispelling the configuration and
addressed her brother and sister.
“How about
you two? Stretch your legs a bit?”
Lily sat
up straighter and stretched. “I think,
I’m going to head down to the dock and get some pictures of the kids skiing and
keep an eye on Brad Jr. He is a lot like
his dad, jumping into things without much thought to possible consequences.” She extricated herself from the picnic table
bench and headed for the lake.
“I’m going
to stretch out on one of these lawn chairs.
Take advantage of the opportunity to let my lunch settle.” Mike said patting his abs.
“Then it’s
just the three of us. Come on girls, let’s
see what we can find of interest.”
To Be
Continued…
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