Chapter 6

Joshua

I’d started to wonder if Sarah was having second thoughts about coming on the trip. As we were pulling up to the lake house she seemed downright distraught. “Are you Ok?” I asked. 

“Huh?” She said, looking over at me. 

“Are you Ok? You seem a little out of it. I think you might have been having a nightmare on the way up here. You were moaning and moving around a little. Can I get you anything?”

For some reason, Nate let out a chuckle but quickly shut up when Sarah shot him a dirty look. “Oh, yeah, I…I’m fine. Wow, it’s really pretty here!”

She was right. It was pretty. The lake house was by far the biggest house on the lake. It had six bedrooms, a game room, a gourmet kitchen, hot tub, and a boat dock. Daniel’s family had owned the property for generations and every generation seemed to add on to the structure. When the car stopped Sarah practically climbed over me to get out. I thought maybe she’d gotten car sick on the drive up, but I guess she just needed some air. As we were unloading our bags from the back of the car the front door opened and I watched in horror as Daniel’s brother Oliver walked down to greet us. Oliver was a couple of years older than Daniel and had never been married or had kids, preferring his bachelor lifestyle. Like the rest of his family, Oliver was tall, about 6’5 and had chiseled, tan muscles which contrasted perfectly with his graying hair. Like always, he was shirtless, showing off the giant dragon tattoo that started at his shoulder and ran across his chest, down his stomach, and over his hip. Most would think a tattoo like that would look ridiculous on a man that age but he clearly was able to pull it off.  

Oliver greeted his brother and nephew with handshakes and then gave my mother a hug that seemed way too intimate but she didn’t seem to mind. He nodded to me and then looked over at Sarah. “Well, well, well, who do we have here?”

Sarah still looked distracted. She kept looking back at Nate and then over at me. Sarah extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Sarah, thanks Oliver for letting me come along this weekend.” 

Oliver pushed her hand away. “Oh, now, we’ll have none of that. While you’re here you are, family, so I want you to call me Uncle Oliver like everyone else.” Then he pulled her in for an extended hug. 

“Umm…Ok, thanks, Oliv…I mean Uncle Oliver.”

“That a girl.”