BTIS--Chapter 5

Well, somebody has her days mixed up and totally thought that yesterday was Monday...yeah. The struggle is real, folks.
BTW, I never checked my German (and I don't know German, obviously) so please don't expect every translation to be correct. 😉


Chapter 5


Arielle smiled as she quickly braided her hair and skipped out of her room. Joy flowed through her for multiple reasons: Cade was letting her stay; the lighthouse was almost completed; and today was Blessing’s eighth birthday.
For the past seven years, Arielle celebrated her German shepherd’s birthday. It made her feel normal, in a happy sort of way.
Arielle was twirling through the cabin when she bumped into Cade, who had just woken up.
“Whoa, slow down, Ari,” he said with a sleepy laugh as he helped her regain her balance by taking hold of her shoulders. “What are you so excited about?” His hands didn’t release her shoulders, and shivers ran up and down her arms at the touch.
“Well, for starters, today’s Blessing's birthday,” she explained, tugging away from his grasp.
“Ooo, does that mean cake and presents?” Cade asked, a glimmer in his eye that resembled a child’s look of pleasure rather than a grown man’s expression.
“Yes, but I’m making the cake,” she stated, trying not to laugh at the poor fellow. Why, he couldn’t cook to save his life.
Cade smiled. “That’s a good idea, ‘cause I have a feeling Blessing wouldn’t like ashes on her birthday,” he played.
Arielle started towards the kitchen. “You’ve got that right,” she called to him over her shoulder.
Cade walked up behind her. “So, what do you need first?” he inquired as he sat himself on the top of the counter as he did every morning.
Arielle thought for a second. “First, you need to get the eggs from the chickens. Then, I need milk, butter, flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, and salt,” she instructed while she pulled a large bowl from inside a cabinet. She turned to find that Cade had already left to retrieve the eggs. “Let’s get cooking,” she said to herself.
Arielle was mixing the dry ingredients when Blessing ran up to her and rubbed on her dress. The dog barked and jumped up to see what Arielle was making.
“You wanna see your cake, huh, girl?”
Blessing wagged her tail and nodded as if to answer.
At that moment, Cade walked into the kitchen with his shirt holding the eggs he collected, removed the five brown eggs, and laid them on the counter by the bowl. He pointed his finger at Blessing. “Don’t slobber on those,” he commanded.
Blessing took her paws off the counter and curled up on the floor. She whimpered.
Cade turned to Arielle. “I wasn’t that mean sounding, was I?” he asked, frowning slightly, and for some reason, she missed his smile.
Arielle laughed. “No, she’s just sensitive.” Blessing whined again. “See what I mean?”
Arielle and Cade got the cake batter mixed up, then poured it in a pan and put it in the oven. A half hour later, Arielle grabbed a towel, quickly pulled the pan out of the oven, and placed it on the table to cool.
Both Cade and Blessing stood beside the cake, a hungry gleam in their eyes.
Arielle giggled. “I’m sorry, dearies, but you’ve got to wait till the cake cools off before you can eat it,” she told them in a kind, motherly voice.
Cade released a sigh and started to pout like a child. “But, Mommy, I wanna eat cake,” he whined in a child-like tone of voice.
Arielle walked to Cade, ruffled his hair, and kissed his forehead. “Oh, Cade, you’ll get to eat cake. Now, act like a big boy. You’re what, twenty-six now, right? Act your age, deary,” she teased.
Cade’s expression softened and he smiled. “Okay, Mommy. Can we make some frosting for the cake?” he asked as he moved to the pantry and started to rummage through it.
“Alright.” Arielle started to blend up some sugar, milk, and vanilla in a pot.
Cade walked to the stove and stared at the mixture. “That’s not frosting,” he complained.
“Now, don’t complain, Cadey. This is a glasur,” she told him.
Cade looked genuinely puzzled. “Glacier?” he asked in his normal tone.
Arielle shook her head. “No, glasur. It’s German for glaze.” Looks like I'm going to be doing some educating, she thought to herself as she waited for Cade’s reply.
“Since when did you know German?” he questioned. He stirred the glaze around in the pot.
“Since my vater was German, making me half German.” She sighed at the thought of her father. Nein, nein, nein. He could not ask about her family now. Not now, not ever.
“I’m guessing vater is German for father?”
“Yes.” Arielle stared into the sugary icing. She hoped Cade would drop the conversation. Talking about her parents wasn’t as easy as one would think.
Cade nodded his head. “That’s interesting. You never told me that. Which you haven’t told me a lot of things,” he stated. He was right; she had kept her past a secret. And that’s how she liked it.
“Do you know a lot of German?” He hopped back on the counter. Cade gave her a stare that made her stomach turn flips.
“Um, yes, I can speak it just as well as I can English. Wie ist es mit Ihnen?” she asked.
“Uh, I so don’t understand. That’s terrific. What in the world did you say?” Cade looked amazed.
“I said, ‘how about you?’” She smiled. She had a lot to teach Mr. Darren, that was for sure.
“No, I can’t, obviously. I know a few words in French.” Cade leaned his head back on the wall. “Not sure where I learned ‘em though.”
“I’m curious, but if you don’t wanna tell, that’s fine. Zu schlecht ich weiß nicht französisch.”
“Now that is amazing. You have your own little language, so if you don’t want me to know what you’re saying, I won’t. So, what did you say that time?”
Arielle sat beside him on the counter. “Too bad I don’t know French,” she answered.
The glaze that was being heated on the stove beside them started to boil. The sugary goo would burn in a matter of seconds.
“Oh toll,” Arielle huffed as she hopped off the counter, stirred the glaze, and removed the pot from the heat.
“Let me guess, oh toll’s German. Right?” Cade asked, getting off the counter as well.
“German for ‘oh, great’. I say it all the time,” she replied. She handed him the hot saucepan. “Put this on the table,”Arielle instructed.
Cade grabbed the pot and set it by the cake that sat on the table beside Blessing. “You had better not be drooling on that, Blessing,” he said. “Oh, Ari, what’s German for Blessing?”
Arielle walked over beside him and poured the glaze over the still warm cake. “Segen,” she answered, smothering the cake in sugary goodness. “I prefer Blessing.”
Cade grabbed a knife and started to cut the cake. “Oh, yum. Ari, you are spectacular! I wish I could cook.”
Arielle set out three plates and Cade placed the dessert on them. “I could teach you,” she offered.
“Then I wouldn’t need you anymore,” he stated, looking quite upset at his observation.
Arielle sat down and stuffed a piece of cake in her mouth. “You know, I’m not here for just cooking. I’m a helper, house-keeper, and your friend.”
Cade smiled as Arielle ate another bite. “That’s true. Wait, you’re forgetting something,” he told her.
Arielle looked around the room. “What am I forgetting?”
Cade pointed to Blessing. “You forgot to say the blessing and say happy birthday to Blessing.”
Arielle laid her fork down. “Oops. You wanna say the prayer?”
“Sure.” Cade bowed his head and closed his eyes and started to pray. “Thank you, God, for this day and for Blessing and for Arielle. I pray for your blessings over this food. In Jesus’ name, amen.” Cade opened his eyes then smiled.
Arielle returned his smile and slid a plate of cake over to Blessing, and the dog gobbled it up in one bite. She barked in satisfaction.
“She said, ‘That’s the best cake I’ve ever eaten. Thanks, Ari,’” Cade said.
Arielle grinned. “Not quite. Blessing doesn’t call me Ari,” she contradicted.
“Well, I do.”

***

Cade and Arielle walked along the edge of the lake that afternoon after a long morning of painting and playing.
Arielle ran past Cade and stopped at a large rock. “Cade, get over here!” she yelled to him.
He quickly ran up to her. Laying on the boulder in front of them was a man.
The man looked about Cade’s age and had the looks of a well-to-do gentleman. He was clean shaven, and his clothes were soaked, but it seemed like he was wearing a suit. Definitely not from around there. But what worried him the most was the blood that dripped from a gash in his forehead.
“What do you say, Cade? Rich?” Arielle said, flipping the man over and checking his pulse.
“Probably. He alive?” he replied.
“Pulse is faint, but certainly there.” She opened his eyelids. “Pretty blue eyes,” she commented.
Arielle pulled a wet piece of paper from his front pocket. She squinted at the blurred print. “Detective Forrest Billingham,” she read.
“Wow, a detective. Wonder what he was doing in the ocean.”
Arielle slipped her arm around the man’s waist. “Help me get him to the lighthouse.”
Cade wrapped his arm around his shoulders and picked him up off the rock.
Both him and Arielle carried the man―Detective Billingham, it seemed―back to the lighthouse.
Blessing ran to meet them at the door of the cabin. She looked at the man draped over Cade’s shoulder with curiosity.
Arielle leaned down to pet her. “No, he’s not your birthday present. We found him,” she told the dog as if she knew exactly what Blessing was thinking.
Arielle turned to Cade. “This is going to be interesting,” she stated.
Interesting indeed.