The Journey Home(65)
Author: Kelly Elliott

I chuckled. “No, it can wait until after everyone leaves and we’re alone.”

He tilted his head and asked, “Are you sure?”

I stood and placed my hand on his chest. “I’m positive. Go have fun, but be careful.”

He took my face gently and gave me a quick kiss. “Always, baby. Always.”

He turned and jogged down to the dock. The way our house sat on the lake, we had a flat area just above the dock where we were having the party. The bouncy house was set up next to the new swing set that Jack and Cale had put up last week. We had a walkway that led from the deck down to the yard area, and another crushed granite walkway that led to the dock. I looked across the lake to what use to be my house. What are the odds of Cale and me buying houses so close to each other? I turned to my best friend. Monica was now seven months pregnant—and huge. Poor thing. I couldn’t imagine being pregnant with twins. Monica and Jack had ended up buying my house, and they had just finished building an addition. They added a guest bedroom with a private bathroom and one other bedroom. With Jack and Monica both able to work from home, they wanted to have two designated offices for each of them.

“You’re the one who made her throw up, James.”

I turned to see Mitchel and my father approaching me with Lily. She had something all over her shirt. “What happened?” I asked.

“She spit up a little.” My father said with an innocent smile.

I looked at Lily’s shirt. It was covered in what looked like the carrots and noodles she’d had for lunch.

“Gross, Dad,” I said. “Here, let me have her. I’ll go change the princess and get her dressed in something new.” I was making my way up to the house when I called over my shoulder. “We’re going to be singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and cutting the cake soon!”

“Do you need help, sweetheart?” My father called out.

I held up my hand and waved it. “I got this, Dad.”

I stopped in the living room for a few minutes to talk to Mary and Michelle. Michelle was Daddy’s girlfriend, and I adored her. She’d had no clue for the first two months they dated that my father owned one of the biggest communications company in the U.S. She liked my father for who he was. They’d just gotten back from a weeklong camping trip. I smiled as I looked at her. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she had on capris and a T-shirt that said, “I stop at all fishing holes.”

As I changed Lily, I started talking to her. “Mommy has a big surprise for Daddy.”

Lily smiled. “Dada.”

I laughed. “Yep, Daddy is going to be over the moon. If I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?” I whispered as I kissed her nose. She giggled and kicked like crazy. “Mommy is going to be giving you a baby brother or sister.”

Lily smiled bigger. Almost as if she knew what I was saying.

“Oh Lily, Daddy is going to be so happy.”

“Daddy.”

My jaw dropped. “Yes! Daddy! Can you say Mommy now, big girl? Mommy.”

“Daddy…bird…moon.”

“Oh my gosh. When did you start saying moon? Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, Lily. Daddy is going to freak!”

I helped Lily sit up as she started clapping her hands. “Yes! Yay! Lily said Daddy. Now say Mommy.”

Lily grinned at me. “Mama.”

I laughed and picked her up, hugging her. I glanced out the window to the lake. Lily had the best view of the lake from her bedroom. I saw that Jack was driving the boat and Cale was knee-boarding. There were an unusual amount of boats on the lake today. It was a crazy-hot July day, so I wasn’t too surprised to see that many boats.

Jack’s cousin Tim was in the boat with him. He’d just moved here for a job with Mercy Hospital. I was about to turn and leave when I saw another boat heading toward ours. The driver was looking back at a bunch of girls.

“Hey, how is the little birthday girl doing?” Mary asked as she walked up and took Lily from me.

As Mary took Lily from my arms, I whispered, “Oh God.”

Jack quickly jerked the wheel, just barely missing the other boat, but Cale was still moving toward it. The moment I saw Cale hit the side of the other boat, my world felt like was moving in slow motion. I screamed, spun around, and ran out of the bedroom.

“Maddie, what’s wrong?” Mary called out after me.

I ran so fast that I almost fell down the stairs. Michelle stood up as I ran by her toward the back sliding door. I pushed it open as she yelled out, “Maddie! My God, Maddie…what’s wrong?”

I screamed out Cale’s name as I saw Tim in the water with him, pulling him back to the boat. Jack was bringing the boat back around to where Tim and Cale were in the water. I ran onto the dock and was about to jump into the water when my father grabbed me.

“Daddy!” I shouted. “Daddy, let me go!”

I watched Cale’s father swimming out. Cale looked like he was passed out. He was limp and…oh God…oh God. Please don’t take him from me.

“Cale!” I screamed out as my father held me closer. I could barely see him through my blurred vision. “Daddy…please do something. Let me go. Please.”

“Baby, it’s okay. Tim is out there, and he’s a trauma doctor. Just take a deep breath.”

I kept staring out over the water. They were now scrambling around the boat. “What are they doing? Why is he not moving? What…”

I tried to suck in a deep breath. “He hit the side of the boat. He hit the side of the boat!” I screamed out.

I barely heard Monica talking on the phone. She was saying something about what had happened. For them to please hurry. I watched as Jack ran back to the steering wheel and began to bring the boat to shore.

I grabbed onto my father. “Is he okay? Dad, can you see him?”

“I can’t see him, honey. I can’t see anything. I need you to calm down.”

Everything started to fade away. All the voices sounded like they were in tunnels. I heard crying. Lily was crying. Sirens. Monica was crying. The boat’s motor as it grew closer to us. More sirens, closer.

As Jack brought the boat up to the dock I could see Tim doing CPR on Cale. I threw my hands up to my mouth. “No! No! Cale!”

I tried to run to the boat, but my father held me back. “Maddison,” he said. I need you to calm down. Please.”

I pulled on his arms. I needed to get to Cale. I needed to be there for him. “He needs me,” I shouted. “Daddy, let me go.”