Life in the Palace (Prince Harry #5)

Chapter Seventeen

In the morning, Meredith woke up beside Harry. He was still fast asleep, head buried in the pillow, chest moving up and down evenly. Meredith slipped from under the covers and pulled on a sweatshirt. It was another chilly morning at the cabin in northern Minnesota, and it was another morning that her father was up at the crack of dawn. From the small kitchen window, she saw him on the white plastic chair, fishing pole in his hands, bobber dipping up and down in the waves. Meredith put on some shoes and headed down.

Her father felt the dock rock when she stepped on. It was old and wooden, holes having rotted through. Her father liked this dock because it wasn't one of the popular ones in the resort; those were plastic. Trees and bushes nearly covered the entrance. There was a hum of bugs, and Meredith wasn't a huge of those. She pushed through, walking onto the dock.

Her father glanced back and gave her a smile, but he didn't stop fishing. His bobber went up and down again. Meredith joined him, sitting on the rocking dock. This early in the morning, she expected the lake to be calm. A loon echoed out there. However, there were boats out, trying to also catch their big fish. While she was glancing out, she looked down at his bobber, which floated closer and closer to the dock.

Meredith turned back to her father and signed, "Your worm is missing."

He didn't like that, rolling it in. At the end of his hook, where the worm was supposed to hanging, it was bare. He mumbled, "Damn fish got away with it." Her father pulled out the box of worms and pulled the cover off. They slithered in the dark dirt. Flashing a knife, he cut one in half. He signed to her, "Will you put it on?" He pushed it toward her.

Meredith almost fell off the dock. "Nope." 

"Come on."

"I'll send Harry down." She stood, knowing Harry was a much better fisherman. Meredith had been on a few fishing trips with him, and Harry had spent his time fishing while Meredith spent her time reading. She did fish sometimes, but she always had a book at her side. 

Her father chuckled, placing the worm on the hook. He cast out the line again. The bobber went up and down again.

Meredith went back up to the cabin, and Harry hadn't stirred. As peaceful as he looked, Meredith only let him sleep a little while longer as she made breakfast to the best of her abilities. The smell awoke him. It was almost a burning smell, but Meredith quickly covered her tracks by popping open a window. She fed him but only to make him go down and fish with her father. Harry didn't mind. 

Meredith cleaned up, doing the dishes in the sink. From the window, she watched her husband and her father get along. Harry's sign language was slightly better but there was always room for improvement. Most times with fishing, however, it was done in silence. They didn't want to scare off the fish. They sat there peacefully. Bobbers went up and down. She finished up on the dishes.

The sun was in the sky by the time she put on her swimsuit and headed down to the lake. Children had beaten her to the pool, and their screams and splashing filled the air. While Meredith was going to have one of her own soon enough, she didn't have one right now and wasn't dealing with it.

There was a small beach area with white laying back chairs. She stuck her toes into the sand and brushed her blonde hair back. She had lathered herself up in sunscreen, which was good because it started to beat down on her. The sun had shifted by the time Meredith had finished up one book. She pulled out another. The heat was starting to get to her, and it only seemed like the children at the pool were getting louder.

Taking off her sunglasses and putting down her book, she almost ran into the lake. The cold water sploshed up on her, and she dove below the surface. The seaweed attempted take ahold, but she kicked them away. An inflatable floaty that was weighted to the ground threatened to throw her off course, but she swam past, following along the metal tube that brought sewage out from the resort. Tilting her body up, she began to float.

There was a chill on the back of her body while the front of her body remained warm. She floated for a while, letting the water take her whatever direction she wanted. She closed her eyes, feeling it wash over her. Only a few days ago, she did this in a pool, but that did feel closed in; she had to convince herself otherwise. Out here, she felt like she miles to go.

By the time, she knew it, Meredith was in the middle of the lake. It felt good. Though, if Harry came looking and wasn't able to find her, then he was going to freak out. Meredith stayed a few more minutes. She blinked up at the blue sky. And then she began to swim back to shore. 

By the time she made it back up to the cabin, because she had stayed a while at the beach to read some more, she had found that either Harry or her father had riffled through the snacks. Looking out the kitchen window, she saw that both of them were still fishing. Both were red because they probably hadn't continued putting on sunscreen. They were going to be the ones to regret it.

After a snack of her own, Meredith took a shower. When she finished that, it was hard to lure her husband and father off the dock and out to dinner. They only went to a small town that was nearby named Dorset. England had a Dorset too, though this one was smaller with a population of 22. This township elected its mayor by drawing out of bucket, and one of their most recent mayors was a five year old, only to be beaten out by his younger brother a few years later. Dorset was a tourist attraction for all the cabin and resorts up here. There were ten or so businesses on either side of the street. Maybe ten years back a whole side got burned down and had to rebuild.

At one of the restaurants, her father dug into broasted chicken while Harry went for a steak. His sign language had improved in just a day. They joked, and Meredith felt out of place for a few seconds but happy they were getting along.

After dinner, Meredith had to tug on her father to come with Harry and her-- and she had to tug on Harry to come too. 

Down in the lodge, other guests had gathered, but there were only eight people in total. Two of those were the owners, and three were Meredith, her father and Harry. Harry had played bingo before when he was in the military, but he hadn't done much of it. Meredith had four boards in front of her. Harry managed to keep up with two. Her father had three. Every time a letter and number were called out, Meredith quickly signed to him, managing to go through her boards too. Harry knew that she was competitive, and she was getting more competitive by the second.

For her four boards, Meredith didn't win any of the ten games. Her father won four of them, and Harry managed to win one game by accident and Meredith's help. He didn't understand the round of Last-One-Standing. He added four dollars to his wealth-- and an extra free scope of ice cream, which was promptly donated to Meredith.

On the way out, she ate Rocky Road. Harry got a few bites in when they headed back up to the cabin.