We filled bottles, applied sunscreen, and gathered the map and first-aid kit. Melissa appeared around ten, having forgotten the hike. Her request for fifteen minutes became another half hour. By the time we could leave, it was nearly 10:45.
I shortened the route. Melissa wanted the lookout in the guidebook, but the day had grown too hot for the full loop with Mom.
“We can try it another morning,” I said.
Dad and Melissa walked ahead together, laughing. I stayed with Mom. Halfway along, her breathing grew harder, so we stopped at a fallen log. She drank water and insisted she was merely out of practice.
When the others doubled back, she told Dad we were enjoying the scenery. I didn’t contradict her in front of everyone. We returned with more breaks, and after noon she lay down. Her blood sugar was a little elevated. I kept an eye on her while preparing lunch.
At two, she joined us on the deck looking better. Dad showed us a picture of a small bass he had caught and released. I suggested a seafood restaurant with options Mom could eat.
Melissa had met local men while sunbathing near the dock. They recommended the Lobster Trap. Dad preferred their suggestion. Mom gave me a small shrug, and I checked the menu before we went.
Melissa also announced that she might skip our lighthouse outing to go boating with her new friends. Mom said she had been looking forward to us going together. Melissa asked how often she got an invitation like this, and Mom conceded.
When I objected, Melissa said I didn’t get to require constant family time simply because my own social life was limited. Dad told us to stop, then explained that she could spend a day doing something else.
I knew she could. I wasn’t sure why everyone else’s expectations had to disappear as soon as hers changed.
The Lobster Trap had a long wait and fewer choices than I had hoped. Mom settled for plain grilled fish that arrived dry. Dad encouraged Melissa’s stories while Mom picked at dinner. Later, Melissa went out for a moonlight walk. Dad watched baseball. Mom opened a book. I lay in my little room and wondered why a vacation felt so much like an ordinary evening at home.
On our third morning, I baked blueberry muffins. We had reserved a three-hour lake cruise to see wildlife and historical sites. Mom particularly wanted that outing because she could enjoy the scenery without much walking.
The boat left at eleven. With a twenty-minute drive and check-in fifteen minutes beforehand, I wanted us out by 10:15. Mom took her morning medication, and Dad promised to wake Melissa at 9:30. Dad opened her door and came back to tell us the room was empty. The bed didn’t look slept in.
Mom worried. Dad called, then called again. I packed water and snacks while trying not to assume the worst. Melissa had met people she liked. She might be somewhere perfectly ordinary, sleeping late.
Then I asked about the keys.
Dad looked at the hook. We checked the driveway. Mom opened the refrigerator. In less than a minute, the problem changed from waiting for Melissa to finding a way to reach supplies she had taken out of our reach.
Dad left the urgent message about the insulin and our reservation. Mom remained stable after her regular morning medication, but we couldn’t know when Melissa would return.
At 10:45, I canceled the boat tour. We couldn’t walk to the marina in the growing heat. The cancellation cost us substantially, and the outing Mom had most wanted was gone.
“Maybe we can reschedule,” I said.
She patted my hand. “You didn’t do this.”
Dad paced and promised a serious conversation when Melissa came back. I looked for a way into town. There was a pharmacy about two miles away and a water taxi that could collect us from the dock. The fare was more than I wanted to spend. I called anyway.
Twenty minutes later, Ray arrived in a small motorboat. He listened while I explained, then offered to wait at the town marina while we visited the pharmacy. I helped Mom aboard. He pointed out landmarks and a family of loons on the crossing, trying to make a worried trip into something pleasant.
Mom had her medical information on her phone. The pharmacist used it to help arrange enough backup insulin for the rest of our vacation. We couldn’t get a full replacement, and the cost without our usual insurance coverage was high. I paid it. Ray brought us back as promised.