Chapter 6
Eric had woken up early and had been out refueling the generator and the tractor. The morning had dawned clear and cold and the sun was slowly clearing the tree line along the Southeastern horizon. When he came in through the kitchen door he was a little shocked to find Ellie drinking coffee at the kitchen table instead of Cassie drinking tea or making breakfast.
"Look who's up early," Eric said teasingly. "I think this is a new record!" He took off his coat and gloves and sat down at the table.
"Hey, I went to bed not long after you did last night," she shrugged. "Guess I was pretty worn out after all the excitement yesterday." Her eyes smiled at him as she took a drink from her mug.
"I guess we'll have company in paradise from now on." Eric smiled back at her, but she could hear a hint of regret in his voice.
Ellie fought the smile forming at the edges of her mouth. "I'm sure we'll still find ways to have fun." Her eyes slid away from his at the last moment. "We can be pretty creative when we work together."
They both looked up at the sound of Cassie coming slowly down the stairs. She walked gingerly into the kitchen and put some water in the tea kettle before putting it over a hot burner on the stove.
"Guys, I may need a raincheck on my present today," she sat down slowly at the table. "I'm not gonna lie, yesterday kicked my butt." She looked ruefully at each of them. "Every part of my body hurts right now."
"Well," Ellie glanced over at Eric before saying chirpily. "It's a good thing your surprise is a cure for butt-kickings, then isn't it?"
"Huh?" Cassie looked back and forth between them, confused.
"Let Eric fix you some breakfast. I'm going to pack some supplies and then if Eric will go ahead to get everything ready, I can drive you most of the way there." Ellie looked over to Eric to see him smile and nod.
"Ellie's right, Cass." Eric got up to start cooking breakfast. "Best thing for it." He poured some boiling water into a teacup and handed her a couple of Advil he took out of the bottle in the cupboard. "Have these with your tea and breakfast will be ready in a minute."
By the time Eric had everything up and running in Paradise, he looked up to see the girls coming slowly around the edge of the shed. Cassie was still moving slowly, looking down at the ground ahead of her as she walked, but seemed to be doing better than she was when she came down the stairs. Ellie carried a duffel bag over her shoulder and looked like she was encouraging Cassie, but the generator was too loud to hear what they were saying.
Eric walked over and took Cassie's arm as they walked the last twenty feet. "You're almost there," he assured her.
"Okay," Ellie exclaimed. "Now you can look!"
"What is it?" Cassie looked up at the odd looking structure dubiously, trying to make sense of what it could be.
Once Eric opened the flap to let Cassie step in, her eyes widened as a cloud of steam wafted out into the clear morning air. "What is this...?", she muttered as she slid through the opening and stood open-mouthed as the wave of warm, tropical air engulfed her.
"It's the tropical getaway you wanted for Christmas," Ellie squealed. "Courtesy of your two favorite elves!"
Cassie slowly unzipped her coat and pulled off her knit cap as she looked around at the scenery, the lagoon and the beach furniture arranged by the umbrella. Eric took her coat and hat and Ellie led her over to one of the beach chairs.
"How is this even possible?" Cassie stared in disbelief. "I thought the ski lift was unreal, but this is even crazier!" She looked back and forth at the two of them and suddenly burst into tears. "I can't believe you guys did all this for me." She started wiping tears away from her eyes but they seemed to be falling faster than she could keep pace. Ellie knelt down beside her to give her a hug and Cassie started laughing, looking over her sister's shoulder, as she tried to process everything around her.
"Why don't I step outside for a minute so you guys can change," Eric suggested, feeling a little awkward with how emotionally Cassie had reacted. "Just give a yell when it's all clear." He stepped back out into the cool, clear morning and had intended to stand with his back to the door, but remembered that he hadn't yet turned on the water pump for the lagoon. Walking around the side of the canopy, he couldn't help himself and looked from the side of his eyes to see the rough shape of the girls as they removed their clothes by the umbrella. He knelt down to turn on the water pump and watched the distorted figures of their bodies as Ellie's red bikini was revealed against the color of her skin, while the taller figure of Cassie was completely naked as she gingerly stepped into her bikini bottoms and enlisted Ellie's help to help close the back of her top to finally cover her breasts.