Chapter 5

You Can Stick With Me

The others were initially startled by the appearance of the cabin the next morning, but Jack and Janet were taken aback at the comparably small concern over what had actually taken place. It seemed as though both Vicky and Phillip had grown accustomed to their significant others ability to turn a small infraction into one that may or may not eventually involve destruction. So, without more than a question or two the next morning, Phillip suggested they all go kayaking together.

"K-kayaking?" Jack stuttered. He'd always had an aversion to boats. Anything involving floating and balance wasn't exactly his strong suit.

"Sure, it'll be fun!" Phillip replied, smacking Jack on the back. "Haven't you gone kayaking before?"

Jack glanced at Janet, as if to ask if this guy was for real. She shrugged in reply.

"Well I think it's a great idea," Vicky added.

"You do?" Jack asked. Vicky had never been the outdoorsy type.

"Sure. What else did we come out here for? To sit inside all day?"

"But you know how I am, Vicky. I'll knock us over as soon as we step inside the boat."

"Oh, I'm not worried about it," she smiled. "We can all ride singles."

But Jack had already resigned to bitterness over the activity of choice for the day, and Janet could read it on his face as they all made their way to the lake.

"Oh, come on, Jack," she said. "You can't knock it before you try it."

He sighed. "It's just - " a sneeze cut him off from finishing. "I don't-" Another. He steadied himself. "I'm a city boy, Janet. I don't know how to do any of this stuff."

"So am I," Phillip jumped in. "But I always love trying something new."

Jack silently mocked him when he turned his head and Janet stifled a laugh. "Look, my family used to do this sort of thing on vacation all the time. You can stick with me and I'll help you out…if you know what I mean." She added in the last part quietly, with a forced cough.

He raised an eyebrow and nodded in reply, catching on. At least their second attempt at this game that they were playing wouldn't involve fire.

Phillip turned out to be a natural. The man seemed to annoyingly be an expert at everything he tried. Vicky and Jack were left to struggle while the others aided them, although Vicky was a lot more enthusiastic to learn.

"How is it that you're all going straight?" Jack cried, his oars propelling him around in circles. About twenty feet away, he noticed a teenaged boy laughing at him. He cowered in embarrassment. "Oh ha-ha," he mumbled, trying to adjust his oars.

"Jack, relax. You're too nervous. It's all just a steady motion," Janet said, rowing over to him.

He continued in circles. "I am going in a steady motion, Janet. Over and over again."

"Hey, nerd! The shallow end is over there!" The same kid from before yelled at him.

"I'm gonna kill that kid."

"Jack, just ignore him. Try to keep up with us," said Vicky.

"Too bad they don't have training wheels for kayaks," the kid yelled again.

"Hey, you better cut it out!" Jack yelled.

"What're you gonna do, old man? Come over here and hit me? Oh wait!" he laughed, mocking Jack by rowing around in circles.

"That's it," Jack grumbled, pathetically attempting to row toward the kid, still only managing to go in circles and bump into Janet. Eventually he managed to pull out of it and go straight toward the kid, but Janet blocked him.

"Jack, get ahold of yourself! He's just a kid!"

Jack sighed and calmed himself down. "You're right. Besides, I think I'm getting the hang of this."

"Hey, there you go, pal. Finally catching up to the rest of us, I see," Phillip joked as he rowed over to him. Jack noted that no matter how friendly and playful the man tried to be, everything he said or did managed to be insufferable. Why did Janet marry him again?

"See? I knew he'd get it," Janet added, trying to get nearer to Jack. Unfortunately, he still seemed to be preoccupied with the kid taunting him. She sighed. "Will you let it go?" she grumbled slightly above a whisper.

"I think I can finally get this thing to row toward that kid so I can kill him," he said.

"No, you will not be killing any children-"

"Race you to that rock, old man!" the kid yelled.

"Jack…"

The kid began to make bawking chicken noises when Jack hesitated. That alone was enough to propel him forward.

The others looked on in surprise as he swiftly caught up to the kid, whose eyes grew large when he saw that Jack was actually taking him up on his offer. Soon they were neck and neck heading toward the large rock near the shore. The boy couldn't have been more than fourteen years old, but his skill and energy levels were much stronger than Jack's. He jammed his kayak into Jack's whenever he managed to pull ahead, causing him to temporarily lose control of the boat.

"Is this really happening right now?" Vicky looked over at Janet, who replied with a worrisome glance.

It was at that moment that a boat hauling a water-skier behind it passed dangerously close to the kayakers. The kid was savvy enough to control his, but Jack was taken off guard, and the boy took advantage of his weakness. As Jack was ducking under the wave that had poured water inside of the kayak, the kid jammed into him one more time before pulling ahead and reaching the rock. The excess water in the boat coupled with the waves caused Jack to topple sideways and into the water.

Janet, who was still the only one in the group who knew how to properly navigate a kayak, was the fastest to respond. Unfortunately, she, too, had water in her boat at that point as a result of the waves. When Jack grabbed onto her boat, he was unable to hang on without slipping. After several pathetic attempts and Janet insisting he be careful, he still couldn't find a grip to at least hang on. Janet finally reached out her arm, but everything working against them made it no use. It was her turn to topple into the lake as the other two attempted to row toward them to help.

"Isn't this just peachy?" Jack sarcastically grumbled as he paddled to keep himself afloat. Janet didn't even look surprised.

"Are you two alright?" Phillip asked when he and Vicky reached them. By then they were close enough to land that they were able to successfully wade over to it with little aid from the others.

"I'm fine," Janet said, glaring at Jack, who cowered apologetically.

"Maybe you ignore the teenager next time?" Vicky politely suggested.

"There won't be a next time because I can firmly say that kayaking is not for me," he said, squeezing the water from his clothes.

Vicky frowned. "And I was just starting to finally get the hang of it, too."

"How about we all go back to the cabin so you two can clean up, and then we can all go sightseeing?" Phillip suggested with annoying zeal.

Vicky and Phillip both began to step onto land with Jack and Janet, when Janet quickly made a motion for them to remain where they were.

"No, no, no, you two! There's no need to stop your fun on our account. Jack and I can just meet up with you later."

"But-" Phillip began.

"Now, we won't take no for an answer. Right, Jack?" she said, nudging him. He glanced at her for a moment before catching on.

"Huh? Oh! R-right. Yeah, don't you two worry about us. We can change each other. I mean ourselves! Together. I mean…not together. Together but in separate rooms. Yeah that's…that's what we'll…Janet?"

Janet nervously forced a smile. "That's right, Jack. You two just go on and have fun without us."

Vicky and Phillip looked at them awkwardly, then looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well, if you insist…" Phillip said.

"We insist!" Jack replied, wrapping a wet arm around Janet and squeezing her dramatically.

"Run along!" Janet said waving them off and Jack parroting her. Finally, when the others were out of earshot, she placed a hand on her chest and added, "Oh thank god, it worked."

"…what?" Jack asked.

"My plan," she smiled deviously.

"What plan?"

"Hey lady, where's the ten bucks you promised me?" It was the teenager from before coming over to them. Janet pulled out a wet change purse and handed the money to him. "Here you are. And thank you!"

"Thank you," he said before smiling wisely at Jack and heading off.

Jack watched the kid as he left, his mouth slightly agape as he caught on. "You didn't."

"I had no idea it would work so well," she laughed. "But I always knew you could be competitive."

He wanted to ring her neck. "I fell into the water! I could have drowned!"

"I considered that possibility," she said. "But I figured the gain was worth more than the possible loss."

His eyes grew large and she playfully smacked him in the side. "I'm kidding! Come on, we were hardly that far out at all. I'd have saved you."

They began to walk toward the path to the cabin. "Not if I decided to bring you under with me."

"You practically did," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I went into survival mode!"

Their bickering continued as they reach the cabin and went inside. They were relieved to finally switch out of their wet clothes and into their robes. Janet slumped onto the couch, her hair still a bit damp, and Jack quietly repeated the action. She was staring off into space, and Jack noticed that her demeanor had changed and she appeared a bit apprehensive.

"You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I'm just worried…I mean what if this whole thing doesn't work out?"

"Oh, come on. It's only been a day. You can't be worried already. You seemed so confident a little while ago."

"I know, it's just…what if we're not fooling them? What if Phillip doesn't even care?"

"Hey, he cares, alright? The man seems to just be constantly chipper. Honestly, I don't know how you put up with it. Besides, what more can we do? Besides, you know, actually physically…you know." He slipped an arm around her waist with snakelike delicacy. "Which I could arrange."

She pulled away and glared at him before sighing. "Come on, Jack, I'm serious. Suppose he cares more about this job than he cares about me. He has the ability to just up and leave and go without me."

"Janet. He's not gonna do that."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because," he smiled, wrapping his arm around her again, this time more tenderly, "No one in his right mind who is lucky enough to be married to you would ever leave you."

She looked over and him and smiled a warm, genuine smile.