“That sounds like fun. This truly is the perfect place to be wolves.”
“It is. We have rock climbing nearby too.”
After they had a dinner of stir-fried rice and beef and bell peppers, they cleaned up the dishes. David packed up some gear: food, water, beach towels, the first aid kit, a sleeping bag, a small tent—just in case they stayed overnight—and a tarp. He also grabbed a couple of life jackets. They carried all the stuff out to the boat shed. They hauled out the canoe and paddles, threw the backpacks and other gear over their shoulders, then brought it all down to the shore.
“Sure is easier doing this with two people than one,” David said as they set the canoe on the shoreline. “I think that’s it unless there’s anything else you want to take with you.”
“I’m good.”
“I’ll be the stern paddler,” he said, “since I’m heavier and know how to do this. You are the bow paddler.”
They loaded the gear into the boat and pushed the boat farther into the water, the stern just touching the bank.
Before they got in, they slipped on their bright-orange life jackets.
David steadied the boat by holding the stern between his legs. “Now, just step in, keeping to the middle, and sit on the bow seat there. Hold onto the gunwales, the top edge of the hull of the boat, while you’re moving around so you don’t fall overboard.”
“Okay, I think I’ve got this.”
Once she was seated, David held onto the gunwales and placed one foot into the boat. Then he pushed away from the shore with the other foot and climbed aboard.
They heard a loon on the lake some distance from where they were as they paddled silently, the breeze-stirred waters bumping at the blue canoe, Elizabeth’s light-brown hair tousled and caught in the breeze. She was as beautiful as he had remembered. Gone was the fear of Kintail and his minions. She was happy, and he couldn’t have asked for anything more.
“This is so peaceful,” she said. “So nice to relax like this after dealing with the cases you have to handle.”
“It is. We all love to come out here. Eventually we’ll teach the kids how to paddle, but it’s great for romantic interludes too.”
She raised her brows at him.
“Not that I’ve had any.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Okay.” They drifted for a moment, letting the breeze push them along. “Does the lake freeze over in winter?” she asked.
“Yeah. So that means ice-skating.”
“Now, that I can do.”
He smiled. “Good. That was something we all had to learn to do. The kids are learning too.”
“You said you go whitewater rafting?” she asked.
“Oh yeah, we have a couple of places we go. Have you done that?”
“Nope, but I would love to try. The kids are too little, aren’t they?”
“Yeah. We go when our shifting isn’t an issue, and we take turns watching the kids.”
She smiled. “I can see you are good with the kids.”
“We always volunteered to work with the kids at special events when we were on the police force in Seattle. I think a lot has to do with being shifters, sure, but some of it has to do with parent issues growing up. At least for me.”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything to that, but he could see the thoughts churning. Instead of following that line of conversation, though, she said, “So you go whitewater rafting with your friends?”
“Yes. It’s more fun with all of us there, and we all have a good time with the kids too.” He smiled, remembering the last time they went. “Corey gets into more trouble because he’s not afraid of anything. Or he likes to pretend he isn’t. I’ve seen him jump straight in the air when he was a wolf and a butterfly landed on his nose. And then he quickly looked around to see if anyone saw him being so un-alpha-like.”
She laughed. “I can just see it. Do the three kids ever flip the alpha role among themselves?”
“Oh, sure. When Corey was lost, Angie was all alpha until he returned home. She had taken on the role and bossed Nick around as soon as Corey had disappeared. Someone had to be the boss. When Corey returned to the pack, it took him a while to resume his position as top wolf among the siblings. We’ve never witnessed that before, so it has been a real learning experience for all of us.”
“I bet. Especially for Corey.”
“Yeah, he was reluctant to stray from home for too long after that. Now he’s back to his indomitable self.”
She laughed.
They enjoyed the peaceful solitude again. He’d paddled out here countless times, even with a couple of kids in the boat, or with one of his buddies. But being with Elizabeth made it extra special.
When they were closing in on the island, they steered straight to the shore, head on.
“Okay, what we need to do is everything in reverse to get out. Stay low and slide your hands along the gunwales, or ‘gunnels’ some call them, for support. Take a step at a time, keeping your feet placed on the center line of the canoe. Then you can stabilize the boat for me, and I’ll walk the entire length of the canoe to get out.”
“Whoa,” Elizabeth said as she stood up, wobbling a bit and pinwheeling her arms for balance. “Okay, I got this.” She leaped out, hands raised above her head like a champion boxer when she found her footing. Her excited laugh was contagious.
David followed, and they carried all their gear up to the campsite. Then they carried the canoe up to a spot under the trees since they were going to spend several hours there, though he had thought of staying overnight if Elizabeth liked the idea. He figured even if they didn’t, they could use the tent for extracurricular activities, if the mood struck. And man, did he ever hope the mood struck.
He pulled the Arctic wolf towels out of one of the backpacks and set them on the bench he and Owen had hand-carved before Candice had come into his life. Cameron, Faith, and Gavin had made the other.
“This is so neat,” Elizabeth said. “It’s like your own private getaway, minus the cabin.”
“Yeah, we had fun doing it. Did you want to run as wolves first? Then swim?”
“Then make love?” She motioned to the sleeping bag and tent.
He smiled. “Great minds…”
“That sounds good to me.” She moved into the woods to strip off her clothes and shift into her wolf.
Even though they hadn’t heard any sounds of anyone out here, that didn’t mean they didn’t have to be careful. Anyone could pull up in a canoe of their own at any time. But this particular evening, he heard no one talking, didn’t smell any smoke from anyone’s fire, and there was nothing to indicate anyone else was here.