Chapter Twenty-Three
Allie
I was taking a break from working out in the garden, drinking a glass of cold lemonade, when my mother called.
“Good, I’m glad you answered,” she said. “I have something very important to talk to you about.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
“We’re going to be driving down to Provincetown for the Fourth of July,” my mother said. “It’s been so long since we’ve been there! Would you like to go with us?”
“No, I don’t think so,” I said.
“Do you have other plans?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got the day off, so I’ll probably just take it easy and then maybe figure out where to go see fireworks or something.”
“You’re not going to go to a cookout or anything?”
“I don’t know, Mom, maybe. Though the last time I tried having a cookout, it ended up getting crashed.”
“Oh, stop it, Allie, we didn’t crash your party, for heaven’s sake. Why don’t you ask Cole what he’s doing?”
“Maybe,” I said. “He might have plans with his family; I don’t know. I might see what Amy is doing, one of the girls that I work with.”
“Well, you’re always welcome to come with us to P-town. It’ll be a lot of fun, you know. We all went there once on the Fourth, when you were in middle school I think. Do you remember?”
“Sort of,” I said, vaguely recalling a long drive to the Cape, and then crowds of people packing the narrow streets of Provincetown. They had shot the fireworks off from a boat in the harbor, and I always thought that was neat.
“Well, if you don’t come down for the Fourth, what about just a visit to the city? Taking Declan to LEGOLAND? That sounds nice, doesn’t it? I think it’d be really great if you guys did that. How is everything with Cole?”
“He’s good,” I said.
“You’re really very fortunate to have him as a neighbor. It’s not every day that you’re going to move somewhere new and hit it off with your neighbor as well as the two of you seem to. I just... I can tell there’s something there, between the two of you.”
“He’s a nice guy, and we’re enjoying each other’s company.”
“And by enjoying, do you mean...?”
“Mom!” I said. “Stop it. I’m not going to talk to you about my sex life.”
“So you have!” she exclaimed. “I knew it! Allie, honey, congratulations! Why didn’t you tell me? This is very exciting!” I could practically hear her clapping. I winced.
“Mom, I didn’t say anything.”
“You did, actually—you said sex life. Which means you must have one. Which means you had sex. I’m happy for you, Allie! Mothers and daughters can talk about this sort of thing, can’t they?”
“I guess, if they want to, but I don’t particularly want to.”
“You don’t need to give me all the details or anything, but Allie—you’re 24 years old. I was starting to wonder if you were just going to be celibate for the rest of your life. I am thrilled to hear that you’ve finally done it. I really am.”
“This is really not the conversation I need to be having right now. And you’re at home, right? You’re not sitting at Starbucks or anything, are you?”
“Yes, I’m at home. I’m out on the terrace.”
“Great,” I said, knowing how voices could carry out there, if the wind was right. “Thrilled that you’re broadcasting my sex life to all of your neighbors.”
“Geez, Allie, stop being so dramatic. No one is listening.”
I felt relieved when I finally managed to get off the phone, assuring her that I would call if it turned out that I didn’t have any plans for the Fourth after all. That’s the thing she didn’t realize, though; even if I didn’t have someone to go do something with, I would go out anyway.
I didn’t need to worry about not having anyone to hang out with on the Fourth, though, because the next time I saw Cole, he asked if I was doing anything for the Fourth.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I would like to go see some fireworks.”
“There’s a couple good places to watch them. Declan and I were wondering if you wanted to do something during the day. I think he was hoping we could go to Gardner, hang out, then watch the fireworks there. It probably wouldn’t make sense to take the bike trail there since we’d be staying pretty late, but we could put the bikes on my rack and bring them and ride around. They do a parade earlier in the day; that’s kind of fun to see. There’s some good restaurants and stuff, too.”
“Yeah, I went to one of them once,” I said. “That’s where Ben took me out.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Cole said. “I forgot you guys went on that date. Well, I’d invite him along also, but he’s working until 2. I think he’s got other plans afterward, anyway,” he added with a smile.
“Well, my mother was just harassing me about whether or not I had plans, so now I guess I can tell her that I do.”
It was hot and sunny for the Fourth, but not too humid, which was nice. We took the bikes with us, and Cole was able to find a spot to park in the lake parking lot. From there, it was just a short ride to downtown, where the parade was going to be held.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to a parade. We managed to snag a bench outside the ice cream shop to sit at as we watched all the floats go by. Both sides of the street were packed, and the kids scrambled for the candy and little trinkets that some of the people tossed out from their floats as they passed us.
When the parade was over, they kept Main Street barricaded off, so we were able to lock our bikes up and walk around, ride in the middle of the road. We stopped at a barbeque place for lunch and sat outside with plates of chicken wings, short ribs, and potato salad.
“I think this is the best day ever,” Declan declared. “I am having so much fun! And I can’t wait to see the fireworks.”
We took a swim, lounged on the beach for a while, then went and got some ice cream. We walked around, Cole holding one of Declan’s hands while I held the other.
“Pull me up!” he’d say, and we’d both lift our arms at the same time so his feet were off the ground for a few seconds, before putting him back down. He shrieked with glee, and I couldn’t help but smiling at how happy he was. He was, in fact, acting as happy as I felt.
Finally, the sun started to set. “We should head down this way,” Cole said. “Toward the beach. We’ll see if we can get a good spot to watch the fireworks.”
“All right,” I said. “I’m just going to run into this store and use the bathroom quickly.”
When I came out, Cole and Declan were across the street, patting a Golden Retriever. I stood there for a moment on the store’s front porch and just watched them. I started to walk over, but a woman caught my eye and she smiled and said hello.
“Hi,” I said.
The woman’s smile widened. “Oh, please don’t mind me saying it, but you have such a beautiful son and husband!” she said. “You’re just such a perfect family.” She had a slight accent, maybe from somewhere down south.
“That’s very kind of you to say,” I said. I was about to tell her that Cole wasn’t actually my husband, that this wasn’t in fact my family, but for some reason, I didn’t. It was as if I could sense how disappointed she would be to know that we weren’t really together, how much she loved the idea of this perfect, happy family enjoying the day out together. I didn’t want to be the one to break it to her that it wasn’t so. Did it matter if I didn’t? It’s not like I would ever see her again.
Cole, Declan, and I continued to make our way toward the beach. There was a big crowd of people, and we moved slowly. At one point, I realized that Declan had woven his way through the crowd and was several feet in front of us.
“Declan!” Cole said sharply. “You can’t just run off like that. You’ve got to stay with either me or Allie at all times, okay? There’s way too many people here for us to get separated. And, it’s dark out. Do you know how easy it would be for you to get lost in a crowd like this?”
Declan looked down at his shoes, then slowly nodded.
“I know you’re excited,” Cole said. “We’re excited, too. We’re having a good time. But I can tell you that we most certainly would not be having a good time if we lost track of you. So you’ve got to stick close, okay? If you don’t want to hold a hand the whole time, that’s all right, but you need to stay nearby. We need to be able to see you. Even if you see a friend, or someone that you know, you can’t just go running off without first telling an adult.”
“I’m sorry,” Declan said.
Cole nodded. “It’s okay,” he said. I could tell that he felt bad now, for raising his voice. “I didn’t mean to yell after you like that, but it scared me when I looked up and didn’t see where you had gone. But no harm done. Let’s just keep on having a good time.”
We continued walking down toward the lake. Cole took a deep breath and shot me a look. I reached over and patted his shoulder.
We were able to find a good spot not too far from the water. The air was heavy with anticipation as the sky continued to get darker and darker, and then there seemed to be a pause, like everyone was collectively holding their breath.
It was like we all heard it at the same time: this high-pitched whistling sound, barely perceptible, and then an explosion of color in the sky, followed by a boom that seemed to shake the ground beneath our feet. Everyone clapped and cheered.
The fireworks were stunning. I’d seen fireworks before, of course, but never like this. Maybe it was because all the fireworks I’d ever been to had been in the city, so there was always plenty of competing light, or maybe this night was just spectacularly clear and dark, but the fireworks seemed brighter and more magnificent than should even be possible. The full spectrum of colors exploded across the sky, in huge bursts followed by loud booms, in short little spurts, in shapes, like flowers and even flags. Everyone oooh’d and aaah’d, and the kids clapped their hands. When the grand finale went off, I felt goosebumps down my arms. It really was one of the neatest things I’d ever seen, and when Cole looked over at me with a smile, I grinned back, happy that I was there with him.
It was late when we finally made our way back to the car. Cole hoisted Declan up onto his shoulders since he was too tired to walk, and we hadn’t even made our way out of the parking lot when Declan was sound asleep in his car seat.
As we drove, Cole reached over and put his hand on top of mine.
“I had a great time tonight,” I said. “Those fireworks were really something.”
“They do a good job,” he said. “And I had a nice time too. So did Declan.”
We were quiet for the rest of the trip home, though the silence was comfortable, like we could just enjoy being in each other’s company without the need to fill the empty space with talking. When we got back to the house, Cole carefully extricated Declan from his car seat and carried him inside to bed. He came down a minute later.
“He is zonked out,” he said. “I don’t think he woke up at all.”
“It was a busy night for him.”
Cole yawned and stretched. “I could go for a beer. You want one?”
“Sure,” I said.
He went over to the fridge and got out two bottles of beer, which we took out onto the deck. He lit a citronella candle, and we sat next to each other as we drank the cold beer and looked up at the sky, which was dark, speckled with stars.
“Some lady tonight thought that you were my husband,” I said. “I didn’t correct her.”
He smiled. “Does this mean you want to get married?”
“No.”
He put a hand to his chest and winced. “Oh, you’re breaking my heart.”
I laughed. “Oh, stop it.”
“I’ll at least take it as a good sign that you didn’t try to correct her.”
“Well, she just seemed so enamored with the idea of us as this little family that I didn’t want to shatter that illusion.”
“We do make a nice little group, don’t we?”
“Yes,” I said, happy that he said that.
“That was one of the reasons I was hesitant to date anyone—because I wasn’t sure how it would affect Declan. But he’s crazy about you. Almost as crazy about you as I am.”
“He’s a really great little kid.”
The thing was, I had never really envisioned myself being with someone who already had a kid. Having had my own stepparent growing up, I knew the challenges that could come up, though I sure as hell wouldn’t be trying to climb into bed with Declan when he was a teenager. Still, even though Bill and I had had a good relationship up until that point, there were difficulties.
Cole had a smile on his face. “I think I forgot to mention it to you, but the other day Declan was saying that he was thinking about asking if you’d be his mom.”
“He was? That’s so sweet.”
“It was sweet. A little sad, too. Well, he didn’t seem sad, so that’s good, but...we haven’t really talked about his mom. I know that it’s a topic that will come up eventually. He really is quite smitten with you, though.”
I thought back to my own childhood, the questions that I’d had about my father, questions that I just knew not to ask my mother. Why had he left? Did he love us? Did he ever think about us? Did he have a new family now? All things that Declan himself had probably wondered about his mom.
“He didn’t say anything to me about it yet,” I said.
“I’m certainly not trying to rush anything, but I guess that is something we should talk about,” Cole said.
“Me being his mom?”
“Well... yeah. Or just the fact that you’re dating someone who had a kid. I know you’re used to being around kids, and you’re great with them, but being a teacher is different.”
“It is. And you’re right—I think it is good to talk about this early on. A lot of people don’t; they just sort of let the chips fall where they do and then are surprised when there’s conflict later down the road. I don’t know what the future will be like, exactly, but if things work out between us, then of course I want to be a part of Declan’s life, in whatever capacity seems right.”
Cole smiled. “It makes me really happy to hear you say that.”
I smiled, too, and took another sip of my beer. I hadn’t really been thinking too far into the future, but as I sat there, I let myself imagine what it would be like to have this to come home to every night, to have Cole and Declan as part of my family. It would be nice; no, it would be more than nice.
“Oh, you know, I’ve been meaning to ask if you had plans tomorrow night. Ben’s on tap to babysit, so if you’re around, we should go out to dinner. It’d be nice to do something sans children. You know, like an actual date. Have we been on one of those yet?”
“I think so,” I said. “But either way, that sounds great.”
“Awesome. He said he’d be here around 6:30, so feel free to come by any time after that.”
I stifled a yawn with the back of my hand. Part of me wanted to stay there and maybe suggest we go curl up on the couch, but I was tired, and we’d had a long day outside, and I could tell that if we went inside and sat on the couch, I’d be asleep in about a minute. So I finished my beer, and then Cole walked me across the yard to my house. I did give him a long, lingering kiss before we said good night.
“Sweet dreams,” he said. “I’ll be thinking of you.”
I turned and walked inside, feeling like I was floating on air.
For our official date, I decided that I’d dress up a little. My closet wasn’t boasting a ton of fancy clothing, but I did have a form-fitting purple dress with black stripes that I thought looked pretty good. I fiddled around with my hair a little bit, too, wanting to do something with it since it was rather humid and I didn’t want it hanging down over the back of my neck.
I gathered my hair into a ponytail and then twisted it up the back of my head, securing it in place with an alligator clip. I regarded myself once in the mirror before I stepped out of the bathroom, and decided that I didn’t look too bad at all.
Ben was already there when I walked over to Cole’s. He came to the door when I knocked, and he made no effort to hide the fact that he liked my outfit very much. He let out a low whistle and then stepped back, holding the door open for me so I could step inside.
“Hi, Ben,” I said. “Thanks. For holding the door and for hanging out with Declan tonight.”
“No problem,” he said. “Just call me Mr. Babysitter. Where do you two lovebirds have plans tonight?”
“We’re just going to go out, get something to eat. I wouldn’t mind maybe seeing a movie,” I said.
“Anything good playing? I haven’t been to the movies in ages.”
“I’m not sure. Do you guys have anything planned for tonight? I bet Declan’s really excited.”
“Of course he is. I get to be the uncle, which, when you think about it, is really the best of both worlds. I’m the one the kids get to have fun with, and then when it’s time to do the responsible parenting shit, well, that’s when my man Cole gets to take back over.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” I said.
“Having kids of my own obviously isn’t in my future,” he said.
I shrugged. “It’s not for everyone.”
“I never thought Cole would be saddled with one either, if you want to know the truth. I figured that the two of us would be bachelors for life. Free spirits. Able to come and go as we pleased.”
He paused, like he was going to say more, but then thought better of it.
“What?” I said, looking at him.
He opened his mouth, but before he had a chance to say anything, Declan came running down the hallway, his hair still damp from his bath.
“You look so pretty!” he exclaimed.
“Thanks, Declan,” I said.
And then I heard Cole coming down the hallway. He had on a black short-sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of slate-gray shorts. A totally simple outfit, but he looked undeniably gorgeous. He grinned when he saw me.
“Look at you,” he said. “Wow, you look great.”
I smiled and felt myself start to blush, all three of them looking at me.
“Will I still be awake when you get home?” Declan asked.
“Of course!” Ben said. “Uncle Ben knows no bedtime.”
Cole shot him a look. “I don’t know, bud,” he said. “We might get back later than you usually stay up for. But we’ll see. I want you to be a good listener tonight, okay?”
“He’s always a good listener for me,” Ben said. “You two have fun. Go enjoy a night out on the town.”
It felt a little surreal, being with Cole like this, without Declan, going to some fancy restaurant. It was a place in Gardner simply called Le Bistro, and it was rather unassuming from the outside, but once you were inside, you could tell that it was a very upscale place.
The tables were covered in white linen, and the far wall was all exposed brick. The servers were wearing black and white, and they were all very good-looking. As we were ordering wine, I heard my phone chime in my purse, which I had put on the back of my chair. It had gone off several times in the car, but I had ignored it. I reached around and subtly pulled it out of my bag, just to see who it was.
It was from my mother, all three of the texts.
You guys should drive down here this weekend!
I only bothered to read the first one and then I tossed my phone back in my bag, but not before I turned it on vibrate.
“Sorry,” I said. “My mother’s been totally harassing me about coming down there,” I said, sliding my phone back into my purse. “She’s acting like it’s the only thing in the world that she wants.”
Cole smiled. “Maybe it is.”
I rolled my eyes. “I highly doubt that. I haven’t come out and said so, but there’s no way in hell that we’re going down there. It’s like the last thing I ever want to do.”
“Really? I thought your mom seemed pretty nice.”
“She’s all right, but I can only take so much of her. It’s really more because of Bill. I have zero interest in ever doing anything with him.”
Cole nodded. “That’s understandable. But that’s probably also hard for your mother to hear.”
“I’ll tell you what was hard for her to hear—the fact that the whole thing happened to begin with. In fact, when I tried to tell her, she basically laughed in my face. She didn’t believe me. And then said I had an overactive imagination.”
“That’s a hard one,” Cole said. “I mean, don’t think for a second that I’m saying I condone what your stepfather tried to do, because I sure as hell don’t. But I can also understand that your mother wants to sustain a relationship with you, and she’s excited that you’re seeing someone and wants to be a part of that.”
“I’m not really interested in her being a part of that.”
Cole raised his eyebrows. “Do you really mean that?”
I considered this. “I don’t know,” I said. “I just wish she’d be more receptive to me about what it was that happened with Bill and me.”
“And if she was? How would that change things? I’m just being the devil’s advocate here.”
“I don’t know, it would make me feel like she was actually listening to what it was I had to say, being concerned over something that had happened to me. Or almost happened to me.”
“Look, I don’t know your mom that well. She seemed like a nice person, though, and she does seem like she cares about you a lot and wants to see you happy. I’m not saying that I think you guys need to suddenly be best friends or anything, but if she’s making the effort to sustain a relationship with you, then maybe it’s worth at least trying.”
“Maybe,” I said, though even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice. I didn’t really want to be having this conversation right now, when we were sitting here at this fancy restaurant. “Anyway,” I said, “Can we talk about something else? Anything else? How do you think Ben and Declan are doing?”
“Oh, they’re probably completely destroying the house,” Cole said nonchalantly. “There’s probably a pillow fight happening of epic proportions.” He laughed. “Ben’s actually really good with kids. Maybe because he’s basically like a giant kid himself.”
“He was saying that he had planned on the two of you being bachelors for life,” I said.
“He said that? When?”
“Tonight. When you were up in the bathroom with Declan.”
“Did he say anything else?”
I thought back, trying to remember. “Yeah... I don’t totally remember though. Just that he never pictured you with a kid, I think.”
It was hard to read the expression on Cole’s face, but I was getting the feeling that he was thinking Ben had said something to me that he shouldn’t have.
“I think that’s pretty normal,” I ventured. “I know plenty of parents that are still surprised sometimes to realize that they have a child they’re completely responsible for. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if I felt that way. If I had my own kid, of course.”
Cole had this kind of odd, pensive look on his face, but then the server came back over with our wine and asked us if we were ready to order, which we weren’t since we hadn’t even looked at the menu yet.
So we busied ourselves doing that; I decided on the seared sea bass, and Cole got the roasted rack of lamb. We both got salads and decided to split the cheese platter. Luckily, the conversation did not go back to my mother, and despite the fact that I could feel my phone vibrating in my purse, we had a great time.
When it came time for dessert, I felt so stuffed, but the warm chocolate lava cake with almond ice cream just sounded too good to pass up, so we decided to split it.
“Ohhhh, this is heavenly,” Cole said, his eyes closing as he took a bite. “You have to try this. And quick, before I eat the whole thing. Here, try it like this, with the ice cream.”
He hoisted his spoon across the table to me and I leaned over and took a bite. It might have been the most delicious thing I had ever tasted, the warm cake melting the almond ice cream, a flavor I didn’t think that I’d tried before.
“Oh my God,” I said. “You’re right. That is amazing.”
I was almost tempted to suggest that we order another once we had all but licked the plate clean, but I decided against it, not wanting to split the seams of my dress.
It was actually pretty late when we were finally finished with dinner, so we went back home. As we drove, Cole reached over, took my hand, and gave it a squeeze.
“Tonight was absolutely lovely,” he said. “I’m so glad that we were able to go out and do that. I guess we’ll have to thank Ben, too.”
“Yes, we will,” I said. I shook my head, laughing. “I can’t believe that you guys had that dumb bet about who was going to sleep with me.”
Cole started to laugh, too. “Oh yeah, that. It seriously seems like a lifetime ago, even though I know it wasn’t that long. It’s weird, though—it feels like I’ve known you a lot longer than just this summer.”
“I know,” I said. “I feel that way, too.”
“I guess that just means that you were meant to be in my life.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” I replied with a smile.