Chapter 7
ONCE SHE BOARDS the ferry with the truck and trailer, Tessa
finally breathes fully. She leashes Murphy and puts his service dog jacket on
him. Mr. Forsythe had been thorough; he told her there might be places only
service dogs were allowed. He’d assured her Murphy was fully trained as a
service dog and to use the jacket when necessary.
“If anyone asks, he is trained for high
glucose levels for diabetics.”
“But I’m not diabetic.”
“He has other . . . talents, shall we say? I am very confident his
skills will benefit you on this journey.”
She climbs the metal stairs from the belly of the SS Badger. Long
semis and campers are part of her contingent. Everyone is moving from their
vehicles to the upper deck.
Murphy pays little attention to other service dogs or people. They
sit outside in the fresh air and people watch. He lies at her feet, his head
over her right foot.
Tessa’s phone rings, and she’s excited to see Dina is FaceTiming
her. “Where are you now, you little imp?”
“I’m on the water. You can’t tell anyone. I’m going to Wisconsin.”
“That’s not on your itinerary.”
“I had a messed up visit from Cousin Joe.”
“Oh shit. No! Really?”
“Really.”
Dina looks awesome. She’s lying on her bed, her long hair
disheveled, her head resting in one hand as she holds the phone and speaks.
Tessa is hopelessly in love. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too, punkin.”
“I didn’t think I would.”
“It’s only been, what? Three days? Four?”
Tessa sighs. “Yeah, I know . . .”
The ship’s horn blasts.
“Wow that’s loud! Even over the phone.”
Murphy’s up on all fours, looking around nervously. Tessa pets him
and cuddles him so Dina can see.
“Oh, poor Murph,” Dina coos. “He’s like, the coolest dog. What a
great jacket. You oughta take pics everywhere you go and post ’em. Murph and me
on the high seas.”
“I would if my uncle wasn’t being such a prick.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah. Dickhead. Sending Joe after me. I don’t trust any of them.
Neither does Murph. He won’t even let Joe pet him.”
“Good judge of character.” Dina laughs.
“I’ll just learn how to make a little montage, or movie or
something. Will have to show you when you come to Canada with me.”
“I’ll
try
to come to Canada with you. I still don’t have
the okay from my job or anything.”
Tessa wonders what the anything is. Xander? But she refrains from
asking.
As the ferry pulls underway, the wind blows Tessa’s hair into her
face, so she shifts to the side and sees a really cute, older woman in a white
uniform, with blue-and-gold shoulder caps, watching her and Murphy. The woman
grins when their eyes meet. She winks and moves on through the crowd, asking
folks how they are? Everyone settling in?
“Who are you looking at?” Dina is smiling.
“How did you know?” Tessa points the phone at the uniformed woman.
She hasn’t learned how to reverse the picture yet. She knows there is a way.
She aims the phone back at herself.
“Oh yeah, if you’re into old ladies.”
“She’s not that old.” Tessa laughs.
“A woman in uniform is handsome, I’ll give you that.”
“She winked at me.”
“Oooh, I’m gonna be jealous.”
Tessa smiles broadly.
“God, you’re beautiful.” Dina looks at her with that open love
look. “I promise. I will do my best to meet up with you in Canada.”
“You better.”
“Okay, hon, it’s the waitress job for me. Kisses. Keep sending
pics. I love it.”
“K.” Tessa hesitates. “Love you!”
“Love you too.”
A message had popped in while they were talking. Billy.
Can we FaceTime now?
Lord. She’s going to have to let him down.
Bad signal.
She shuts the phone off. She stows it in her
backpack. Just as she reaches for a bottle of water, a shadow crosses in front
of her. The woman in uniform is standing there, petting Murphy.
“Love your dog.”
“Murphy.”
“Well, hi, Murphy, nice to meet you.” Murphy is wagging his tail
and the woman reaches in her pocket.
“I think I have something for you.” She looks at Tessa to see if
it’s okay.
Tessa nods. She wishes she could control the flushing she feels
rushing to her cheeks. Up close the woman is even more striking, with her curly
topped hair and trim figure. Murphy salivates as he senses the biscuit, drool
hitting the deck before he gobbles it from the woman’s open palm.
“Hey.” Tessa laughs. “That’s not nice. Be gentle, Murphy.”
“Oh, not many can resist my homemade treats.” The woman’s eyes are
a greenish brown and the smile reaches all the way up to her crinkles. “I’m
first mate Schwab. Schwabbie to my friends.”
Tessa stands and shakes her hand. ”Tessa.”
“First time on the SS Badger?”
“First time on a ferry.”
“If you have any concerns at all, please find me.” She rubs
Murphy’s head again. “I’ll be back.”
Only when the first mate moves away, does Tessa see that more than
a few people noticed their exchange. A couple with a young son, waiting to meet
First Mate Schwab, follow after her.
An older couple trail after them.
A woman, sitting on the bench across from Tessa, smiles. She has
to be at least seventy years old. “She sure took a shine to you.”
“I think it was my dog.” Tessa feels herself blush again. People
walk between them, so the old woman stands unsteadily and treads carefully to
her, her hands out from her sides a little. She is quite tall.
“Still getting my sea legs.”
Murphy’s head is instantly in the woman’s lap as she sits.
“Oh, my.” The woman’s white pants now have doggie drool on them.
“I’m so sorry!”
“Oh, don’t worry. I just lost my Jasper, so this is good. He must
smell him on me. What’s your dog’s name?” The woman is whispering to him, her face
down by his.
Tessa is astonished. Murphy never lets anyone put their face close
to him, except for Tessa.
“Murphy.”
“He’s so soft.” The woman continues petting Murphy while looking
at Tessa.
“Traveling far?”
“A little bit,” Tessa admits. “I have a camper down below.”
“Oh! So do I. I think I live more on the road than I do off it
these days.”
“Do you like it?”
“Oh, yes. I never tire of traveling. I have lots of friends all
over the US and Canada. I quit going to Mexico when they started targeting the
AARP crowd.” The woman grins. “I’m sorry. My name is Madeline Sweet. Maddy for
short.”
They shake hands.
”Tessa Williams. It’s kind of pricey isn’t
it? The ferry ride.”
“Yes, but it saves so much on driving, and gas. These sorts of
shortcuts I don’t mind. Are you on vacation?”
“Sort of.” Tessa doesn’t want to go into detail. “It’s sort of a
family thing.”
“Very nice.”
“You both have campers?” A man next to Madeline pokes his head
around. His eyes are magnified behind his glasses. He wears a tan cowboy hat that
seems to dwarf him. He has a nice smile and handsome moustache. A woman in
glasses with curly long hair leans over from beside him and waves. She’s too
far out of hearing.
“Chris,” he points to himself, “and Cindy.
We’re the Hoopers. We travel all over the US and Canada in our fifth wheel.”
Madeline seems to know what that is and proceeds to ask Chris all
about it. In the course of about three minutes they’ve exchanged details like
who’s going where and what’s on their agenda. All Tessa gets out of it is one’s
going north and the other is going south and they’re both heading west
eventually. Then she notices Chris is in a small electric wheelchair.
“We’re all road hoboes,” he says.
“That’s a nice hat.” Madeline gestures.
“It’s a Stetson.” He offers it for Madeline to try.
“You look good in it.” He grins. “Better than me.”
Madeline turns to Tessa and she nods in agreement.
“Hats are wasted on me.” Madeline laughs and offers it to Tessa
who shakes her head no.
“We’re going to case the place inside, if you two care to join
us.” Chris winks and expertly wheels his ride through the constant weaving of
crowd before and aft the ship.
“Coming?”
Tessa nods. “In a bit. I’d like to stay outside for a while. Nice
meeting you.” She shakes Madeline’s hand and only then realizes how strong she
is. For not being super large, Madeline’s hands are blocky and worker like.
“Nice meeting you. See you down the road.”
EVEN THOUGH IT’S dark when the vehicles disembark the Badger,
Tessa is wide awake and decides to make miles. The Hoopers and Madeline are
hitting a county campground nearby, but eager to see the Mississippi, Tessa
elects to drive further.
She makes it as far as Kettle Moraine State Forest. Since it’s
still spring and kids are in school, she finds her pick of places in an all but
deserted campground. One or two sites occupied, Tessa moves as far away as she
can from neighbors and noses into a site that promises a lakeside view in the
morning.
It’s already Wednesday. Time for the Mommy Call. Tessa knows
that’s probably not a nice way to refer to it, but it’s not meant to be
derogatory. It just is. She and Murphy finish running around the quiet
campground and down to the doggie swim area bordering Ottawa Lake.
He’s under the picnic table, licking his fur softly. She has a cup
of warm cocoa and takes a deep breath. Eight a.m. Wisconsin time, nine a.m.
Michigan. Mom doesn’t go to work till ten.
Her mom picks up as if she’s been sitting on the iPad.
“Oh my God, I can see you. Oh, it looks beautiful there.”
“Hi, Mom, everything’s good. Great even.”
“It is? No flats or anything?”
“No. Nothing.”
“No bad characters?”
Sure, if you want to count the relatives.
“Smooth sailing.”
“How’s Murphy?”
Tessa moves the phone below the picnic table, cocky enough to hit
the reverse photo button.
“Oh that’s a neat trick. I thought you were going to show me your
belly button.”
“Funny.”
Tessa brings the phone back to her. Her mom’s eyes are bagged up,
like she hasn’t been sleeping, and they have the dark circle raccoon look.
“Mom. You need more iron. And more sleep. Maybe you’d better eat
some liver and onions.”
“Ewww. You’re right about the iron though. Oh my, this iPad rats
me out.”
“Your hair looks nice,” Tessa offers.
Her mom is playing with the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, Mr. Forsythe told me if I put my finger on my own picture I
could move it around. He’s right. There, now I can see you better.”
“You’re gonna become a techno junkie.”
“I’ve been playing with it. Did you know there’s a crocheting chat
group online? You can even all sit around and crochet together, but most of the
time it’s like a support group, I swear.”
Tessa shakes her head. “And you’re worried about me and bad
characters? Some of those chat crotchetier could be Farley and his other
brother Farley, waiting to meet up with you at a Java Juice and take you for a
shrimp ride.”
“We can hear each other’s voices if not see each other. Unless
they have really high voices I don’t believe any Farleys are going to find me.
Let’s get back to you. Did you see Eli?”
“I did, and he’s excited about the new lawyer.”
“Won’t that be wonderful if he is out once you’re back?”
Tessa nods.
“Who else have you heard from?”
“Billy.”
“Is that all?”
Tessa hesitates. “Dina.”
“You’re enamored with her, aren’t you?”
No! I’m fucking in love with her.
Tessa lets out a lot of wind as she sighs this time.
“Oh, I know what that means.”
“What’s what mean?”
“That gassy sound you make, like a balloon losing all its air at
once.”
“That’s so not funny, Mom. Is that what these little Wednesday
chats are going to be like? Because not enough states let me drink in them to
do this for the entire time.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Dina’s not going to hurt me. She’s busy. She has jobs, and school
and . . .”