Page 3 of The Hitchhikers

At first, Alice didn’t understand. Then Ocean’s hand dropped to her belly, revealing a round bump that had been hidden under her loose shirt.

“You’repregnant?” Alice said, surprised. The girl looked so young.

Ocean flushed, and Blue frowned at Alice.

Tom grabbed Alice’s hand under the table and squeezed. “Congratulations—babies are a blessing. We haven’t been so lucky ourselves.”

The couple turned their gazes to Alice, who now wanted to cry, but she clung to Tom’s hand and lifted the corners of her mouth into what she hoped resembled a smile.

“How far along are you?”

“Maybe five months.” Ocean shrugged. Alice wanted to ask if Ocean had seen a doctor. How could she be so casual? Why was shehitchhikingwhen she was carrying a precious life inside her body? But none of it was her business. Alice sat frozen, anchored to her seat.

“We’ll get married this year,” Blue said, and Ocean smiled at him.

“That’s wonderful. We’ve been married sixteen years now,” Tom said. “I’m the football coach at our local high school, where Alice was a secretary. That’s how we met.”

“Football?” Blue looked confused. “Where you from?”

“Seattle. We’ve wanted to visit this beautiful country of yours for years.”

“Cool.” Blue took a drink of his soda.

“Where’s your site?” Tom said.

“We don’t have a tent, so we slept on the beach.”

“You weren’t cold?”

Blue shook his head. “We built a fire.”

Tom was about to say something else when the air filled with a loud rumbling as a group of bikers rode past. Their bikes were low to the ground with high handlebars. The last rider gave them a hard look as he went by. He had long greasy red hair, a scraggly beard that blew in the wind, and a bare chest under his leather vest. His gaze lingered on Alice and Ocean. The bikers took the access road that led to the campsites near the river and the rumble of their engines faded.

Tom turned to the young couple. “Going to be loud at the river tonight.”

Ocean shot her boyfriend a worried look. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but Alice couldn’t help noticing how his shoulders and arms had stiffened.

“Why don’t you eat dinner with us?” Tom said. This time it was Alice who tensed. She didn’t want to sit across from a pregnant woman. A pregnantteenager, who’d probably conceived in the back seat of a car. Alice despised her bitter thoughts, the sour taste of them.

Blue sat straighter. “We’ve got food.”

“Save yourself the trouble.” Tom was already moving toward the barbecue grill. “You can’t beat the taste of steak over charcoal briquettes.”

Blue and Ocean shared another look, then he said, “Sure. Thanks.”

“Wonderful!” Alice forced a smile and stood up. “I’ll make a salad.” She walked quickly to the RV, where she splashed water on her face, fixed her hair, and took a couple of breaths. Then she vigorously chopped vegetables and shucked corn until her emotions were in order.

They ate in the last of the sunlight, chatting about the Olympics. Alice shared how she’d stood in line for hours to pick up a schedule of events and an order form for their tickets, then they’d waited weeks to find out what events they’d secured before planning their trip.

“Queen Elizabeth will be at the opening ceremony,” Tom said. “It’s going to be quite a show.”

“Are you driving straight to Montreal?” Blue said.

“No, we want to spend some time in Banff National Park, then we’ll stop in Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. When we get to Ontario, we’re going to rent a canoe and explore the lakes. Alice wants to hear the loons calling.” He smiled over at her.

“Don’t forget birch trees and touring a real maple syrup farm.”

Tom turned back to Blue and Ocean. “Do you have any suggestions?”