“Girls, let Anthony catch his breath.”
“I don’t mind,” Carter said. He was clinging to the side. “It’s no bother.”
“See?” said Haley. “He says he doesn’t mind.”
“That’s because he’s being polite.” Rachel removed her gloves and dropped them into the basket. Her face shone with sweat and sun. “How about some lunch?”
“What do we have?” Haley asked.
“Let me think.” Her mother frowned theatrically. “Hot dogs?”
“Yay! Hot dogs!”
Rachel broke into a smile. “I guess that decides it. Hot dogs it shall be. Do you want one, Anthony?”
He nodded. “I can always take a hot dog.”
She returned to the house. Carter climbed from the pool and got towels for himself and the girls.
“Can we swim more?” Haley asked, as he was rubbing her hair. It was blond, with flecks of a copper color. Riley’s was a soft, heathery brown, quite long. She liked to wear it in pigtails when she swam.
“Depends on what your mama says. Maybe after lunch.”
She made her eyes grow wide. That was the kind of girl she was, always putting on a show to get what she wanted. It was the funniest thing. “If you say yes, she’ll have to say it, too.”
“Don’t work that way, you know that. We’ll just have to see.”
He squeezed the last of the water from her hair, sent the two of them off to play, and sat at the wrought-iron table to catch his breath and watch. There were toys all over the yard—Barbies, stuffed animals, a brightly colored plastic play set Haley was too big for but still liked to fool with, the two of them pretending it was other things, such as the counter at a store. Haley had gone off in one direction, her sister in another.
“Look!” Riley yelled. “I found a toad!”
She was crouched over the path by the garden gate.
“Is that right?” Carter said. “You go on and bring that over here and let me have a look.”
She walked to the patio with cupped palms extended before her, her big sister following.
“Now, that there is one handsome toad,” Carter declared. The creature, a mottled tan color, was breathing rapidly, loose skin flapping along its sides.
“I think it’s disgusting,” Haley said with a sour face.
“Can I keep him?” Riley asked. “I want to name him Pedro.”
“Pedro,” Carter repeated with slow nod. “Sounds like a fine name. Now, of course,” he went on, “he may already got one. That’s something to consider. Something he goes by with the other toads.”
The little girl’s face pinched with a frown. “But toads don’t have names.”
“Now, how you know? Do you speak toad?”
“That’s silly,” the older girl stated. She was tugging at the bottom of her suit. “Don’t listen to him, Riley.”
Carter leaned forward in his chair and raised a finger, drawing their attention to his face. “I’m going to tell you something true now, both of you,” he said. “And that is this: everything got a name. It’s got a way to know itself. That’s an important lesson in life.”
The smaller girl stared at him. “Trees?”
“Sure,” he replied.
“Flowers?”
“Trees, flowers, animals. Everything living.”
Haley looked at him askance. “You’re making this up.”
Carter smiled. “Not in the least. Grown folks know things, you’ll see.”
“I still want to keep him,” Riley insisted.
“Maybe so. And I’m sure Mr. Toad would like that just fine. But a toad belongs in the grass, with the other toads who know him. Plus, your mama would pitch a fit she knew I let you keep him.”
“I told you,” Haley moaned.
Carter sat back. “You two go on now. You can play with him a bit if you like, but leave him be after that.”
They scampered away. Carter rose to put on his shirt and sat back down. The sun was mild on his face in the dappled shade of the live oaks; from far away, he heard a quiet wash of traffic. A few minutes passed before Rachel came out the back door, bearing a tray of the promised hot dogs. Riley’s had ketchup and cheese, Haley’s mustard; Carter’s had all three. For herself, Rachel had made a salad. She returned to the kitchen and came back out with paper plates and a bag of chips, then once more with drinks: milk for the girls, a pitcher of tea for the grown-ups.
“Riley found a toad,” Carter remarked. “Wanted to keep it as a pet.”