Chapter 106

“Auntie Elena, I’m all wet,” Caleb yelled from the shore as she watched him retreat from the approaching wave, narrowly avoiding another drenching.

She shook her head. God, this boy! She thought to herself.

“I told you not to go too far,” she said as she kicked off her shoes and jogged over to where he stood, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to the dry part of the beach.

“But I wanted to see the wave up close,” he whined, as if it made all the difference in the world. “Auntie Elena, do you think our home is on the other side of the ocean? Can we reach it by boat?” Suddenly filled with excitement, she watched his eyes widen and he jumped. “No, wait. Can we build a boat? That would be so, so cool, Auntie Elena, wouldn’t it? Can we build one? Please, please, please?”

Elena didn’t know what to say.

Could they build a boat? No. Did she want him to build a boat? Not at all.

“Maybe some other time, sweetie,” she said lovingly, hoping to buy some time and distract him enough before he mo