The riverboat floated around the bends in the river. Samantha bounced on her toes, and June clasped her hand and pulled her away from the railing. "Your father told me that if I let you tumble over, he wouldn't buy us ice cream," she told her.

Samantha wiped the sweat off her forehead. As humid as it was, it was never going to dry on its own.

"Dad said he was going to buy us ice cream?" she crowed.

No, he hadn't but it wasn't like he was going to say no.

"If you don't fall over the edge."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, grandma, I don't think I would ever get ice cream again if I drowned."

She hmmmed, delicately. "Come over and sit down. Lean back in the chair and watch the sky." They watched the macaws flap their way from tree to tree, over the gaps in the canopy. "What do you think of them?"

"They're a lot bigger than Nicole," Samantha said, "and louder."

"Well Nicole's a budgie," June tutted. "They're supposed to be bigger than that."

"I bet their poop is huge," she said thoughtfully.

June laughed and squeezed her hand. "I bet you're right."