CHLOE BAKER'S LOST DATE

Chapter Five: A Walk in the Park

We left the museum and walked south on 5th Avenue. He seemed excited, and I couldn't imagine what we were headed to. I only hoped it wasn't something that would expose my worst fears.

"You have to tell me where we're going," I said after a few minutes of fretting. "Boat" was a scary word in my life, and though I knew that there was nothing to fear in Central Park, I couldn't shake the feeling of dread.

Jack looked shy. "More fodder for the Jack-is-a-complete-dork file."

I shook my fears away. "The tour was great. I'm glad my first time was with you."

"So, it was good for you?"

I swatted his arm. "Quit it. Where are we going?"

"It's for my nephew."

"It's a bit early to introduce me to the family."

"Ha. No, no, I'm doing this for my nephew. He won't be there today. Just be patient. We're almost there."

He directed us back into the park at East 72nd. There was a pond up ahead with a small crowd gathered in front of a brick structure.

"Are those ... remote controlled sailboats?"

"Yep."

I smiled in relief as I watched the colorful boats sailing around the pond. "Thank goodness."

"What is it?"

"I thought it had something to do with actual boats. You know, human sized, not for Stuart Little."

"Maybe some other time. For today, I present you the Central Park Model Boat Sailing Club and one of their weekly regattas." He swept his arm wide, taking in the pond and the delighted faces of those watching. There were twenty boats in the water, each about two feet high. A line of men and boys stood on the side of the pond behind a small rope.

"How do the remotes work?"

"They're wind powered. They can adjust the trim of the sail and the rudder's direction. Many of the boats are handmade."

"You seem to know a lot about it."

He kicked at the ground with his shoe. "My nephew, he's six and obsessed with sailboats. He's wanted to come here since he heard about it and we've spent hours researching it together. I'm going to surprise him for his birthday."

"So, this is a reconnaissance mission?"

"You could say that. I want to make sure it's safe for him. He's on the spectrum and there's lots of places that trigger him. Before I bring him anywhere new, I check it out first, look for warning signs, where the exits are, that sort of thing."

How cute was this man? "You're a great uncle."

"Yeah, well, it's a lot on my sister and her wife, especially recently, and ... Anyway, you want to watch the regatta?"

"Definitely."

We walked closer and watched as the boats lined up at the starting line, a rainbow of primary blue, red, and yellow, with white sails trimmed in matching colors. There were several buoys in the water, and as far as I could tell the boats had to do some sort of lap between them. The starters' gun went off, and there was a lot of excited yelling from the men and boys controlling the boats, some more accurately than others. The race ended with much cheering, and the boats were retrieved by their owners.

"You want to take a turn?" Jack said. "It's an open competition now. Anyone can enter. We just have to rent a boat."

I scanned the boat club building. There was a line of people at the rental window. "What if they're sold out?"