Chapter 24

Then, Tim let Tony go and smiled.

"So, you ready to keep going through the park?" he asked, hoping that Tony's happiness would kind of push the other stuff out of his mind. He still hadn't really figured out how he felt about what Tony had said to him. It really had hurt, but he also knew, from personal experience unfortunately, that whatever Tony had said in the heat of the moment wasn't necessarily how he actually felt.

...but it still hurt.

Tony still seemed a little bit shocked by Tim's revelation of Daniel's desire. Tim was surprised at how deeply Tony felt about it, but he was glad that he had been right that Tony would want it. He just hadn't anticipated how much Tony wanted it.

Finally, Tony smiled at him and wiped at his eyes one more time.

"Yeah," he said, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good. I'll keep driving."

Tony actually laughed.

"I won't fight you on it, this time."

"Good," Tim said.

They both headed back to the car, and Tim felt like he was going to have to do the best acting he ever had in his life to make sure he didn't mar Tony's current happiness by reminding him what he'd said before. He just needed to get it out of his mind.

They got into the car and Tim started them out of the parking lot.

And right as they were leaving, more cars coming the other way passed them.

"Perfect timing," Tony said.

"Yeah."

"What was the other place the ranger suggested?"

"West Lake Trail, I think," Tim said.

"Oh, yeah."

Tony took another deep breath and opened up the map.

"Looks like about ten miles to the West Lake Trail."

"Okay."

There was a silence in a car. It wasn't as awkward as before, but for Tim, it was mostly because he didn't know what to say. He had to focus on the road and he had no idea what to do to keep away from what had started their last conversation.

"So much for an easy day," Tony said after a minute or two. "I probably shouldn't have pushed it so much. Set up a false expectation...and it didn't really help, did it."

"Not really," Tim said.

"Okay. Maybe we should just try to have fun instead and not worry about easy or not easy. How about that?"

"Sounds fine to me," Tim said. He found that he couldn't muster up much enthusiasm at the moment, but Tony was still mostly thinking about what Tim had told him and so he didn't notice.

"Okay, the turnoff should be coming up soon...on the left."

Tim watched for it and soon enough he saw the sign for West Lake pointing to the left. He signaled and got off. Unlike the Mahogany Hammock trail, they didn't have to drive far off the main park road to get to the parking lot. And unlike the Mahogany Hammock, they didn't luck out with it being momentarily empty. This was full. In fact, they were lucky to get a parking place...and it might not have been one, technically. But there was room for the car and that was all that mattered.

They got out and walked over to the trailhead. It was another boardwalk, like the Mahogany Hammock which was probably why there were so many people here. It was an easy hike. Plus, it looked like there was a boat ramp, too. It must be a popular place to do kayaking or fishing.

"Lots of people here," Tony said.

"Yeah. Guess that means it's worth it."

"Maybe. Let's find out."

"Okay."

They started on the trail, and it was similar to the other trail, only here, they were surrounded by various kinds of mangroves and button trees. Tim found them fascinating and he took pictures, but he didn't linger this time. Over and over again, he could hear Tony saying that Tim needed to think about someone else for once, that he was sick of things being about Tim. It didn't matter how many times he told himself that Tony hadn't really meant it, that he was just frustrated and it had come out in a moment of weakness.

...but the thoughts had to come from somewhere.

...but he didn't want to talk about it. He just wanted to forget it.

He tried to set it aside as they walked on the short trail. They had been stuck in the trees when it suddenly appeared to be getting lighter.

"You see that, Tim?" Tony asked.

"Yeah," Tim said, feeling relieved at the curiosity that was temporarily supplanting his hurt.

"What is it?"

"Didn't the ranger say that the trail went over the lake?"

"Isn't that where we've been walking already?" Tony asked.

"I don't know. I've never been here before," Tim said.

They walked a bit faster and then, suddenly, they were no longer walking in trees. They were walking on the boardwalk, out over the lake itself. The water didn't look very deep but it wasn't the blue of the ocean. It was kind of brown.

"I can see how alligators could hide in this kind of water. It can't be that deep, but it's hard to see the bottom," Tim said.

"Yeah. I don't want to go swimming here," Tony said.

"Yuck. No."

Then, there was some commotion on the other side of the boardwalk. A group of people were pointing down at the water and taking pictures.

"What do you think? More gators?" Tony asked.

"Either that or they're trying to fool us," Tim said, smiling a little.

Tony laughed. "Yeah. Let's find out which."

They walked over and, sure enough, there were three alligators down below, basking in the muddy water right beside the shore. They seemed utterly unconcerned by the people standing above them, and so, Tim and Tony waited patiently as others in the crowd took pictures before moving on. Then, they took a few themselves, and walked back through the mangroves to the parking lot, ready to get on their way once more.

They were going to drive all the way to the Flamingo visitor center and then head on back, and Tim wasn't really as interested in the airboat ride as he had been, not just because of Tony, but because they were seeing more of the Everglades than he had expected to be able to see from a car. This really wasn't half bad, and it would save them a little money if they skipped the airboat.

But he didn't want to say anything just yet. Let them enjoy themselves...if possible. Maybe he'd change his mind.

They got to the Flamingo visitor center and were a little surprised. It looked like the visitor center was blocked off. There were still plenty of cars in the lot, but this wasn't looking like what they'd expected after the other visitor centers they'd been to. It seemed distinctly run down.

"What's happened here, do you think?" Tony asked.

"I don't know. Do you want to stop here or just head back?"

"Well, there are lots of cars. Let's just take a look around and see what there is."

"Okay."

They both got out of the car and first headed over to a trailer that seemed to have some rangers inside.

"Welcome to the hopefully temporary visitor center," one of the rangers said as they got close.

"What's going on? Renovations?" Tim asked.

"Well, not exactly. Hurricane Irma did a number on it and it needs to be rebuilt, but we have to get the money for the rebuild and it'll probably take a couple of years. So this is a temporary center just so that people can still get some information."

"What is there to see here?" Tony asked.

"Lot of people do kayaking and canoeing here. There are a few hikes and a big campground. You can see a lot of wildlife, and there are often some manatees in the water. Here's a map."

"Thanks."

Tim and Tony took the map and walked a little ways away from the rangers, rather than stand there and discuss whether it was worth staying or not.

"What do you think?" Tony asked.

Tim shrugged. "There's a lot here, but nothing we really have time for."

"Yeah. How about we walk over to the marina and see if we can spot any manatees. I've never seen one."

"Sounds good. I haven't seen them, either."

"Okay."

They waved to the rangers and headed to the marina. They kept their eyes peeled, but for a while, they didn't see anything besides people. In fact, Tim was about to suggest that they give up and go back to the car when Tony suddenly pointed.

"Hey, what is that?"

Tim followed his finger to something in the water.

"It doesn't look like an alligator," he said. "Or a crocodile, not that I can tell the difference."

"Let's see if we can get closer," Tony said and started walking along the dock to get closer to whatever he'd seen.

Then, two nostrils poked out of the water, followed by a head that was distinctly cow-like. Tim laughed.

"That's got to be a manatee," he said. "It's funny-looking."

"Yeah, it is. I read once that some people think that manatees are what people used to think were mermaids," Tony said. He stared at the cow-like creature and furrowed his brow. "I'm not seeing it. I see a cow that can swim."

Tim laughed again. "I don't see anything particularly alluring about it, either. Maybe sailors were less picky back then."

"I'm sure they were with all that time at sea, no port of call, but still... a cow?" Tony said.

And for a little while, things felt more normal. Tim was glad of it. They took pictures of the manatee. Tony tried looking up some stuff on his phone and somehow stumbled across a song by a bunch of singing cartoon vegetables called "Barbara Manatee" which featured a cucumber singing to a stuffed manatee. It was so weird that they both hovered over his phone to watch the whole song.

After that, they both decided that it was time to start back to the park entrance. As they drove back, the conversation was fairly easy and simple. Tim couldn't quite get what Tony said out of his mind, but things were easier than they had been. Then, as they drove, there was a brown sign.

"Pa-hay-okee," Tony read. "What is that?"

"Don't know," Tim said. "Want to see?"

"Sure. Let's do it."

Tim nodded and signaled he was turning left. There were plenty of other cars, but it was now get closer to evening. In fact, even with their snacks, Tim was feeling a little hungry. He would be happy to stop somewhere and have a meal, whether it could be called lunch or dinner. He didn't care as long as it was a meal.

But hopefully, this stop wouldn't take too long. However, regardless, Tim wasn't going to say anything about it. He would just go along with whatever Tony wanted. For now, that was all he was going to do.

It was pretty open as they drove along the road toward whatever this stop was, but then, Tony suddenly got a look on his face.

"Hey, Tim."

"Yeah, what?"

"I think your prairie is all covered with water."

"Huh?"

"You talked about things getting flooded and stuff, but I think there's water over all of this stuff we're seeing."

"Huh."

Tony pulled out his phone and did a couple of searches.

"They call the Everglades the River of Grass, and what I'm seeing here is that it is actually a river. It's just really slow moving."

"It would have to be since I can't see it moving at all," Tim said.

"Yeah. Huh."

Tim smiled a little. Tony actually seemed just slightly perplexed.

Then, they got to the parking lot and this one, while there were cars, was not even close to full. That was all to the good, as far as Tim was concerned. He parked in a spot and they walked over to the sign which indicated the Pa-hay-okee Trail. It was a short walk, on boardwalks again, but less than a quarter of a mile and it led to an overlook.

"Want to do it?" Tim asked.

"Yeah. Let's."

"Okay."

Tim wasn't about to admit that he was actually starting to feel tired. Today had been a full day, with both physical and emotional strain. And it kind of irritated him that he was feeling a physical strain after walking on trails that were less than a mile on flat ground. It was ridiculous.

So he said nothing.

They started the walk, but this was actually slightly inclined, which made sense if they were going up to an overlook, but Tim could admit (only to himself) that with the heat and humidity, along with his general tiredness, he was really feeling it.

But he walked along with Tony up to the top of the overlook. When he got there, Tim couldn't pretend anymore. He sat down on a bench in the shade and took a deep breath, maybe a couple of deep breaths. Tony looked at him and Tim saw the concern.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

"Just tired. It's hot," Tim said, trying to pass it off as nothing more than the heat, even though he knew Tony wouldn't be fooled by that.

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, but to Tim's surprise, he said nothing more about it. Instead, he let Tim sit and rest while he walked over to look at the saw grass prairie. Tim could see it from where he was sitting and there were bald cypress trees poking up here and there, looking dead but were, according to the signs, actually dormant. Plus, he could see a few hammocks now that he knew what they were. After a few minutes, he felt better and Tim got up to join Tony at the overlook.

They both took pictures of the view and of each other looking at the view.

"You okay to go back down now?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Down is easier than up."

"Okay. You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

They walked together back down to the parking lot, but the heat was definitely starting to get to Tim. He wanted a rest (a not-driving rest), but he wanted to keep his promise that he'd drive in the Everglades.

He started toward the driver's side, but Tony grabbed his arm.

"Tim, let me drive," he said.

"I can do it," Tim said.

"I know you can, but you look tired. I can get us out of the park. I promise I won't get lost."

Tim smiled, but he knew Tony meant it, and quite frankly, he wanted the break.

"We need to stop at the visitor center to get some other souvenirs," Tony said, "but I can get us there, too. Let me drive."

Tim wanted to say no, but he wanted to say yes, and in this moment, yes was a stronger vote than no. He pulled out the keys and looked at them for a moment. Then, he handed them over.

Tony smiled and took them. They got into the car and started back to the visitor center. When they got to it, they went straight to the gift shop. Tony bought Jo a keychain which she would complain about, but he had decided he would do every time he went on a trip without her. Tim bought a couple of t-shirts for the girls. He also bought a puzzle for Jimmy and Breena. Tony grabbed a shot glass to give to Ducky because it was silly and tacky. All in all, they bought quite a few things, and it was fun, but Tim was still feeling that tiredness from the longer day. He just didn't think he could handle anything else, even just sitting in a boat on a tour. It was annoying but depressingly true.

As they headed out to the car, he paused.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"Would you mind skipping the airboat ride?" Tim asked. "I'm not sure I can do it."

"Still tired?"

"Yeah. I wish I wasn't, but I am."

"Not a problem," Tony said. "That just leaves one question."

"What?"

"Where do we go from here? This might be the first time we have literally no plans. We don't need to be back to Kennedy for two more days. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Tim said.

There was a pause. Then, Tony's expression changed.

"You can make a suggestion, Tim. I really don't mind."

Tim suppressed a grimace at Tony's correct guess and his tentative tone, as if he was genuinely worried.

"I know that," Tim said, trying to sound nonchalant...knowing he failed.

"What do you think, then?"

"I don't know," Tim said again.

"Oh, we still need to get you relaxing on a beach," Tony said.

"That may not happen," Tim admitted.

"Yes, it will. It can," Tony said, now sounding determined. "What if we went onto the west side of Florida somewhere? Oh, I've heard there are beaches up near Fort Myers. We could find a place to stay the night there, near a beach, and then, tomorrow, you could get your picture on the beach. What do you think?"

Tony sounded almost pleading, as if he was asking Tim to let him do this for him. Tim was reluctant, not only because of today, but also because the last time he'd tried, he'd ruined the trip for them both. He didn't want to do that again.

...but Tony clearly wanted to do this for him.

"How far away is Fort Myers?"

"Probably a couple of hours."

"Then, we need to stop and eat something first."

"And you can sleep a little on the way up there. What do you say?"

Tim managed to avoid sighing, but he nodded. "Okay. That works."

"Good. Let's get going. We'll find someplace to eat something to tide us over and then, we can get a good dinner in Fort Myers...or around there. Okay?"

"Okay."

They got in the car and headed out of the Everglades.