Leo

“What’s wrong, Minou?” Charlotte had been quiet ever since I brought her home from Jackie’s place. “Did something happen at your art camp?”

She looked down at her bedtime snack, which she had barely touched. “No.”

“What’s wrong then?”

After a long pause, she looked up at me. Her eyes were filled with tears. “I want to stay here. I want to go to the cabin with Hannah and Tristan.”

Jackie’s kids had been talking about their vacation nonstop for the past week. They were moving out of their house, then spending two weeks in a rented cottage in the Gulf Islands.

“Sweetheart, you can’t invite yourself to their cottage. There’s not going to be enough room.”

“There is. I saw photos and it’s huge. Besides, there is extra room. Sharon was supposed to come, but she can’t now because her client is dumb-A-F. What does that mean?”

“Err, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s extra dumb.” At least Sharon wasn’t cursing in front of Charlotte. If she returned to Sophie with a potty-mouth, I would be blamed.

“But your Maman misses you very much, don’t you want to see her?” Sophie had docked in San Diego two days earlier and Facetimed Charlotte right away.

She nodded. “I do want to see Maman. But I love being here with you too. I won’t see you until Christmas.”

That thought hurt me as well. Getting to see Charlotte was the best part of my day. All the problems of the Vice disappeared when I saw her face brighten as I walked in. Yet, I felt guilty that I had worked the whole time she was here. She was happy, but I’d been shirking my duties.

“Why don’t you call Jackie and ask her?” Charlotte suggested.

“Jackie’s pretty busy now, getting everything set for the move.”

“Yes, but she likes it when you call,” Charlotte pointed out. “Her face gets smiley and happy.”

“You’re such a monkey. Anyway, your mother is not going to like this. She doesn’t like changes to the schedule.” I was supposed to take Charlotte back to Montréal next week.

Charlotte pulled a long face, while I ran the idea over in my mind. I could phone Jackie once Charlotte was asleep. If it was okay with her, then I’d broach the subject with Sophie.

Jackie was as relaxed about the cottage as she was about everything else.

“Sure, we have tons of room. Sharon can’t come until next week, and now Wyatt’s cancelled as well.”

“That’s too bad for Tristan.”

“Believe me, I know.” There was tension in her voice.

“Look, I was thinking that I’d like to come too.”

“Really? For two whole weeks? The great workaholic is going on vacation?”

“Yeah, well, Lucky’s going away, so it’s going to be quiet around here anyway.” In fact, my boss suggested that I take some time and rest up before the final push to training camp. Originally, I’d intended to stay in Montréal, but this would be an even better break.

“I’m sure you can plug in your laptop there. But I’ve been warned that the Wi-Fi sucks.” She giggled.

“Stop laughing at me. Work hard, play hard. But look, I haven’t run this by Sophie yet. Let’s not say anything to Charlotte until I do.”

Jackie agreed, and since Sophie was on the West Coast too, I called her right away. To my surprise, she was amenable.

“I promised Marc-Andre that I would fly out to Vancouver with him to evaluate sites, so that works perfectly. I can pick up Charlotte after I’m done.” Sophie had flipped a switch since her honeymoon. She was completely relaxed and mellow right now. Apparently being out on the ocean for so long was life changing.

“Okay, that’s great. Thank you very much.”

“Pas d’ probleme. It’s been good for her to spend so much time with you.”

“Ouais, je sais. It’s been good for me as well. But she misses you,” I replied. But that wasn’t quite true. Charlotte had missed her mother intensely for the first couple of weeks, but after that she slipped easily into her new life. The chaos and freedom of Jackie’s home had challenged my daughter to be more independent.

“Have you thought more about where you and Wes are going to live?” I asked.

Sophie sighed. “Franchement, non. We’re going to stay with the status quo for now. I’ve applied for jobs in California, but I’m not willing to leave my position until I get something firm. Wes is not too happy, but we need both our incomes.”

I was relieved to hear her taking a hard line with him as well. Maybe it was Sophie’s personality and not only our marriage.

We took the ferry to Saturna Island in a convoy. Charlotte and I went in the Audi, while Jackie’s van held her kids and Hannah’s friend, Kayla, as well. Sharon and her boyfriend would be joining us in the second week. This trip reminded me of my big family. When I grew up, there were always kids around to play with, and I enjoyed the buzz of a big group. It was something I’d always wanted for Charlotte. She loved being with her cousins when I took her to family gatherings, but normally she was the only child among adults.

The house Jackie had rented was perfect, at least once she had redecorated it.

“I can’t believe you’re making all these changes. The place looked fine before,” I complained as I helped move a sofa to face the ocean view window.

“I could tell from the photos that it needed a few tweaks. And I’ll put everything back when we leave.”

After we put down the couch, she unpacked some cushions and blankets. I shook my head, and Jackie laughed. “You mock me. But it’s the little things that make a place comfortable. And then everyone can relax and enjoy themselves.”

I had to admit that, once she was done, the place looked one hundred percent better. Charlotte immediately curled up in a chair, reading a book she had found here with a throw wrapped around her and Mao on her lap. Of course, she had insisted on bringing the cat. By now he was a seasoned commuter who had slept the whole trip. Minx was here as well since her home had been sold out from under her. The two cats were wary of the new place, but everyone else had settled in five minutes after we unpacked.

The view was incredible. The house was situated on a low bank waterfront property, and there was a small island in front of us.

“I think we can kayak over there,” Jackie told me as we walked around the property with the kids. “The place comes with two double kayaks, and we can rent one more.” We made our way to a provincial park where there was a lighthouse and a wide channel. Freighters could be seen in the distance. Breathing in the fresh ocean air and being so far away from the city was invigorating. Kayaking, swimming in the ocean, or running a forest trail; there were so many tempting possibilities to fill my vacation.

“Papa! Look at the starfish!”

“They’re actually called sea-stars,” Tristan corrected her.

I crouched down and amazed at how many were revealed by the low tide.

“Those ones are purple, and that one is orange,” Charlotte told me.

“Why are you telling him that?” Tristan asked.

“Because he can’t see colours,” she explained proudly, like it was a special distinction.

Tristan was amazed and proceeded to ask me the colour of everything we passed for the next ten minutes.

“Should I tell him to knock it off?” Jackie whispered.

I laughed. “It doesn’t bother me. It’s not like I can do anything about it.”

She frowned. “But you could. You could get those colour correcting glasses I told you about.”

“I’m fine with things the way they are.” Jackie was so expansive and emotional. But life was about choices. To succeed in the way I wanted, I needed to focus. Even this holiday was a deliberate attempt to relax, store up memories with Charlotte, and then be rested for the season.

We turned back towards the house, but Hannah and Kayla decided to stay longer. They said they were hoping to see whales, but perhaps they wanted a little independence.

“I like that the kids can have that freedom, to run around on their own. Like the old days,” I told Jackie.

She nodded. “The Gulf Islands are pretty laid back.”

We looked ahead where Charlotte was skipping along with some seashells she’d collected, but Tristan had his hands shoved in his pockets and his head down.

“He’s unhappy because Hannah has her best friend, but Wyatt couldn’t come,” explained Jackie.

“Yeah, that sucks,” I agreed. But I had already planned for this. Jackie had done so much for Charlotte; it was time to repay the favour. “Hey, Tris. You want to shoot some pucks with me?”

He turned to face me. His face shone, then fell. “I would. But I didn’t bring my stick or anything.”

“I brought some gear for both of us.” I leaned in closer. “I also brought you a special stick. Signed by someone you like.…”

His eyes went wide. “Your boss? You got me a signed Lucky Luczak stick?”

I nodded. “It’s a nice one too. Not for road hockey, but you can use it when you play in the fall.”

“Wow! Where is it?”

“I’ve got everything in the trunk.” And I’d brought enough sticks that everyone could play if they wanted, even Jackie. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. “You are the sweetest man.”

“Moooom,” Tristan groaned. “No P.D.A.”

“Get used to it, squirt,” she replied and kissed me on the lips.

Then Hannah and Kayla began yelling and waving at us.

“Are they all right?” I wondered.

“They look fine.” Jackie was calm as we hurried towards them.

“Oh my gosh, we just saw whales.” Kayla pointed out towards the ocean.

Charlotte’s eyes went wide. “Where? Where?”

We all watched the ocean and waited for a long time. Tristan informed us that whales could dive for over an hour, which was not very encouraging. And I remembered with a guilty start that Charlotte had wanted to see whales and I had forgotten to arrange a trip. Maybe a whale sighting now could make up for that?

Still, sitting in the sunshine on a cliff with a beautiful ocean view made me feel pretty damn good. I hadn’t thought about work all day.

Then Hannah exhaled and said softly, “There.”

Her sharp eyes had spotted something nobody else could. Then a dark fin breached the surface. And another. The distinctive black and white bodies cut through the surface of water and rose in a beautiful ballet. There were five whales altogether, moving in unison.

“Oh Papa!” Charlotte was jumping up and down in excitement. “They’re orcas!”

“Killer whales,” Tristan agreed. “The coolest!”

We all stood together, watching the whales playfully cut through the water. They were swimming quite fast away from the shore. I reached for Jackie’s hand. Montréal was still my favourite city, but beautiful British Columbia was fast finding a place in my heart.