CHAPTER ELEVEN
Des had offered to help Cara water the backyard flower beds and the planters for Barney, who was off at a last-minute meeting for the Fourth of July parade. The hose was already connected and in a heap on the patio, so Des was surprised to find Cara standing in the yard, staring at the carriage house.
“You’re looking awfully dreamy this morning,” Des noted as she picked up the hose and began to work out the kinks.
“I do love that building,” Cara sighed.
“Me, too. It’s a shame it isn’t being used for anything these days. It would be a great space for, oh, I don’t know. Maybe a yoga studio?”
“Or a home for wayward pups?” Cara countered.
“It would never work. Too noisy. Plus the building’s too close to the house.”
Des turned on the water and began to spray the black iron urns where Barney had planted bright red geraniums and English ivy. “Besides, you’ve had your sights on that place almost since day one, and you’re right. It would make a perfect yoga studio.”
“How did you know?” Cara frowned.
Des tapped her temple. “Psychic. It’s pretty obvious that out of the three of us, you’re the one who’s going to stick around after our work at the theater is completed.”
“Am I that transparent?”
“Hey, if I had a stud like Joe following me around with his tongue hanging out, I’d have a change of plans, too.”
“He is hot, isn’t he.” It wasn’t really a question.
“Totally hot. And he’s so totally into you.”
“It’s mutual.”
“So have you talked about staying with him?”
Cara nodded. “But more like if I did stay, maybe I could do this, or maybe I’d do that. Just in general terms, you know?”
“That’s how those conversations begin. Next thing you know, you’ll be flashing a pretty ring and looking for a caterer.”
“Whoa, slow down. There’s been no talk of rings or caterers.” Cara began to deadhead an early rosebush. “But there has been some talk about me helping fix up that fixer-upper of his. He has a darling Cape Cod a few blocks from here, but it’s totally 1972 once you step inside. It’s dingy and dark and needs all sorts of things to spiff it up. Once Joe heard we’d redone Barney’s kitchen, he figured he and I could redo his.”
“You up for another project?”
“It would be fun. It’s so much smaller in scale than the theater, and I wouldn’t have to worry about running out of money because I wouldn’t be paying for it.”
“So one might assume one could be living there at some point in the future. If one were so inclined.”
“One might assume that. Of course, this one would still have to earn a living.”
Des took the hose into the yard to water the beds, and Cara went inside. She emerged a moment later and held up a key as she headed to the carriage house. She unlocked the door and disappeared inside.
She’s going to ask Barney if she can use the second-floor space, and she and Joe are going to live happily ever after in Hidden Falls, Des mused.
Des had just finished up when Lucille roared into the driveway. Barney left the car there and stormed toward the house.
“Barney, what’s wrong?” Des walked to the end of the path.
“Those damned idiots. If they think for one minute that they’re going to dictate who is riding in my car and who is not, well, I’m giving them something else to think about.”
“What are you talking about?”
Barney plunked herself down in one of the chairs on the patio.
“I am talking about the fact that the committee—and who put that crew in charge? I’d like to know—was trying to tell me what my agenda is for the parade. I have lived in this town all my life, I have gone to more July Fourth parades than anyone in that half-assed group has, and I know for a fact that the lead car gets to choose who rides in the back seat. Dan Hunter always got to pick who was being honored that year, and by damn, if they want Lucille to lead the parade, I get to pick who I want.”
“Do you know who you want to ride with you?” Des asked.
“Of course.” Barney waved one hand. “And that person is going to be in my back seat early on Wednesday morning, or there will be no classic convertible at the head of the parade.” She paused as if considering. “Strike that. The hell with ’em. Lucille and I will be there with bells on.”
Barney had calmed down enough to agree to meet with Greg, and when the doorbell rang at seven, Des answered it.
“Hey, Greg. Come on in. My aunt is in the front parlor.” Des showed him the way.
“Great. I’m happy for the opportunity to talk to you about your family,” he said as he followed her the short walk from the door to the parlor.
Des reintroduced him to Barney, then said, “Barney, Nikki is still in the attic, but she’s going to the park later with Mark and some friends. Allie is down at the theater and Cara left for a birthday dinner for Joe’s mother. I wouldn’t look for her to come back tonight.”
“Thanks, Des.” Barney smiled at Greg. “So hard to keep up with all my girls sometimes. Do come in and have a seat.”
Greg stood aside to allow Des to precede him, but she shook her head. “I’m on my way out, but I’m sure Barney will keep you enthralled. She’s the keeper of the family history and knows everything. Well, almost everything.”
“Oh, you’re not . . .” He looked confused.
“No, sorry. I do have plans, as I mentioned on the phone. But really, Barney’s a much more interesting subject.”
The sound of thunder coming up the driveway cut her off.
“There’s my ride.” Des kissed Barney on the top of the head and said, “I won’t be late. The farmer rises early in the morning.” With a little wave to Greg, Des left the house by the front door.
“Where to?” Des asked Seth, who’d remained seated on his bike.
“I thought you could maybe help me get a few things ready for Wednesday,” he said as he handed her the leather jacket. “You know, like help organize.”
“Organize what?” She put on the jacket, strapped on the helmet, and climbed aboard. “What happens on Wednesday?”
“The First Annual MacLeod Farm Fourth of July Bash.”
“You’re having a party on the Fourth?”
“Big cookout.” He started the engine.
“How many people?”
“Depends on how many show up.”
“Well, how many did you invite?”
Seth paused. “I dunno. What’s the population of Hidden Falls?”
He turned the bike around and headed for Hudson Street. From there, he turned right and took off for the farm.
“So what exactly do we have to do?” Des asked after they’d pulled into the driveway in front of the farmhouse.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a party before,” he confessed. “So I was hoping you could tell me what I should do.”
“This is your first gig ever, and you invited half the town?” She hopped off the back of the bike. “I hope you’re kidding about that.”
“More like most of the town.” He took off his helmet and held a hand out for hers.
“Great. Good planning, bucko.” There was something sweet about a guy who invited everyone he knew to his home to celebrate a national holiday, while at the same time being totally without a clue. “Let’s see if we can work up a game plan.”
The dogs raced merrily around the front yard when Seth let them out. They watched them play for a few minutes, then he whistled to bring them back, telling Des, “I don’t like leaving them outside if I’m not with them. Our new girl likes to chase cars.”
“Does the new girl have a name yet?” Des followed Seth into the kitchen.
“Yeah, she’s Belle now. Doesn’t answer to it yet, but hopefully she’ll get used to it.” He checked the dogs’ water bowls and refilled them when he found them half empty. “There’s no way to know what her first name was. Then again, new home, new life, new name.”
“I totally agree.” She pulled up a chair at the table and reached into her bag, searching for a pen. “We’re going to need a pad of paper.”
“There’s a yellow legal pad on the desk in the front hall.”
She went into the hall, retrieved the pad, and came back to the table. “Let’s do this thing.”
“What are we doing?” Seth took the chair opposite her.
“We’re making lists.”
“Lists,” he said flatly. “I thought you were going to help me figure out what I’m doing.”
“Exactly. And you do that by making lists. Work with me here, Seth.” She slid her feet from her sandals and pulled one leg up under her. “We need to zero in on how many people. Realistically, who do you know for certain is coming, as opposed to people who said maybe, or who were noncommittal?”
He started to rattle off names as she wrote them down.
“Okay, so how many of those people would you feel comfortable calling and asking them to bring something?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you need help. You have a rough idea how many people you invited, but you don’t know how many of them are coming. You can’t possibly prepare for X number of guests when you don’t know what X represents. So if you ask people to bring something, you’ll know if they are coming, and you can tell them what you need.” She picked a name on the list. “So you call this Jim Lister and you say, hey, are you coming over after the parade—”
“No, after the stuff at the park,” he corrected her.
“What happens at the park?”
“Games and things for the kids.”
“No games for adults?”
“That’s why we’re all coming back here. Baseball. Horseshoes. Maybe even touch football or rugby.”
“Sounds like fun. So okay, you call and you say, could you bring a salad? Or could you bring some drinks? That sort of thing.”
“I can do that.” Seth took the pad and checked off most of the names. “I can call these people this week.”
“Don’t wait on it, though. You don’t have all that much time.”
“Got it.”
Des stared at the list. “You really think all these people are coming?”
He nodded. “They said they would.”
“So how ’bout we figure out what you should ask them to bring? You don’t want fifty people bringing salad and no one bringing dessert.”
“Makes sense.”
“After you call everyone, you’ll have a better idea of how many to expect, so you’ll know how much stuff you need to buy. You think maybe, what, eighty people at the most?”
He snorted. “Maybe closer to double that.”
“You are a crazy man,” she muttered.
“Maybe, but we’re going to have one hell of a good time.”
She laughed and made a list of things he’d need, then together they figured out what he needed to buy and what he should ask others to contribute.
“Trust me, you’ll be glad you asked for help. You could go bankrupt feeding all those people. Do you know anyone who belongs to one of those warehouse clubs? You know, where you can buy things in bulk?”
“My sister does, I think.”
“Find out. I can go with you to shop, if you want.”
“I’d really like that. Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed her, a long, slow, sweet kiss that made her heart leap and her toes curl.
“Ahhh—you’re welcome,” she said when he pulled away.
He took her hand and tugged her to her feet. “It’s almost sunset,” he told her. “Let’s walk out to the vineyard. You get a perfect view there, right where the sun drops below the hill and sparkles on the pond down near the woods.”
It was another perfect night, and Des thought that walking hand in hand into the vineyard at dusk was the most romantic thing she’d ever done.
“The way the light plays off the trellises just takes my breath away. You’re so lucky, you get to see this every night.”
“Usually with a beer in hand instead of a beautiful woman, but yeah, not too shabby. And I’m happy to share the view with you anytime. It’s my favorite time of the day, and the invitation for you to spend it here with me is an open one.”
They stood at the edge of the rows where he’d planted his seedlings. She thought how wonderful it would be to watch those vines take hold and grow, to twine along the trellises, to see fat bunches of grapes ripen in the sun. She was filled with longing to see it happen.
He started to walk between the rows, holding her hand to take her along, pointing out the different varieties of grapes he’d planted, sharing his dream of one day turning the barn into a winery, making the MacLeod name a respected member of the Pennsylvania wine industry.
The thought that someone else might eventually walk these fields with him and share that dream suddenly made her overwhelmingly sad, and the feeling haunted her long after he took her back to Hudson Street.
“No emeralds, Nik?” Des sat at the desk in the office on Tuesday morning, paying the theater’s utility bills.
“Not yet, but I will find them.” Nikki danced into the office holding a long white Victorian-era gown up against her body. “How beautiful is this? I wonder who wore it. Do you think it could have been a wedding gown? Did they wear white wedding gowns long ago?” Without missing a beat, she said, “You know, if we ever did plays at the theater, we have a ton of clothes and things we could use as costumes. Of course, we’d have to do period stuff, like Our Town, but it would be so fun. I love to play dress-up.”
“Barney said you were welcome to try on anything you found,” Des reminded her.
“Oh, and I did. There are some beautiful, like, ball gowns. We had some really fancy ladies in our family, you know.”
“So I gathered from the portraits in the front hall.”
“Not just the ladies, either. There are fancy men’s suits. And stuff that I don’t even know how you would wear them. Underclothes and stuff. I have to go online and do a search.”
“If nothing else, you’re getting an education in fashion this summer.”
“I like clothes and things, I’m not going to deny it, but there’s more to life than pretty things, you know?” Nikki sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk, the white dress folded on her lap.
Des put down the pen, wondering where this was leading. “Do tell.”
“Did you know there are people who don’t even have clean water to drink or to take baths in or wash their clothes in? Can you imagine having to give your baby a bath in dirty water?” Nikki made a face. “Why should anyone have to live like that?”
“Excellent questions.”
“You know those hurricanes that hit all those islands? Some people still don’t have homes. They’re living in tents.” Nikki paused. “And other people—kids, even—are going there to help rebuild their houses and help dig new wells. I want to go, but Mom and Dad would never let me.”
“Who do you know who’s volunteering to do those things?”
“Well, Mark and his sister and a couple of the other kids in town. They’re leaving next Sunday for two weeks with their church group.” She sighed heavily.
Ah, so Mark has awakened Nikki’s awareness of social injustice.
“I never thought about stuff like that before. I never paid attention.” Nikki looked Des in the eye and said, “That makes me a really shallow person.”
“No, sweetie. It makes you someone who’s fourteen who’s been sheltered from a lot of the world’s problems. If you were truly shallow, you wouldn’t be concerned about it now.”
“Mark and his sister already knew. They went last summer to Haiti and helped build a house.”
“That’s very good of them. But you know, they live in a different environment than you.”
“I think theirs makes more sense. I think how many pairs of shoes you own or what kind of car your parents drive are stupid things to talk about. I think the kids here are smarter than the kids back home, no matter what Courtney says.”
“And what exactly does Courtney say?”
“She thinks that people who live in places like this are just too dumb to move to someplace cool. That it’s more important to live in places like L.A., where there’s a lot happening. She said she wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like Hidden Falls.”
“And you said . . . ?”
“I told her about the bluegrass concert we went to at the gun club back in April.” Nikki’s smile was pure mischief.
Des laughed. “I’m sure she was so jealous.”
“She was when I showed her the picture of Mark that I took that night, ’cause he’s so hot.” Nikki leaned closer to the desk. “You don’t have to tell my mom that I think Mark is hot, okay?”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“Mark said you and his uncle Seth are like, together.”
“Sort of together,” Des corrected. “Or maybe it’s more like thinking about being together.”
“Mark said he’s the best guy in the world and he wishes he was his father and not his uncle. Or cousin, whatever.” Nikki leaned her elbows on the desk. “He said when his dad got mean and hit his mom, his uncle Seth went over there and picked his father up and put him in his car and told him to drive. Mark said all Seth said was, ‘Drive.’ That’s pretty brave, right? Seth was in some sort of special forces thing in Afghanistan and got injured trying to save some of the guys in his group, so of course he would be brave. That would make him a hero, right?”
“It would, yes.” Des could see Seth putting his own safety aside for the sake of someone else.
“Well, they gave him a medal for it, anyway. Mark saw it. He said it’s the bomb.”
“I bet it is.”
“Anyway, I’m going to the party out at the farm on the Fourth. All of my friends are going because all their families know Seth. We’re going to have the best time. I can’t wait. We never did stuff like this on July Fourth back in L.A. Dad and Mom usually just wanted to relax ’cause it was a day off for them.”
“Well, I predict you will in fact have the best time at the party. I know I’m planning on doing exactly that myself.”
“I love that our whole family will be there. I like us doing stuff together.” Nikki held up the white dress. “I think I’ll take this back up to the attic. And maybe give some serious thought to how I’m going to search for things up there this summer. Not just the necklace. I want to find some family journals, if there are any up there, and Barney said somewhere there’s a box of photos from the theater. I need a plan. We already started going through the pictures some people have given Barney. Everyone looks so festive and dressed up. This book about the theater is going to rock.”
Nikki got up and left the room, still chatting as she went into the hall.
“Des!” she heard Cara call.
“In here,” Des called back.
“Barney wants us outside,” Cara told her, appearing in the doorway.
“What’s up?”
Cara shrugged. “She didn’t say. She just said, go get your sisters and bring them out here.”
Des followed Cara into the hall, where they met Allie. The three women filed out the back door.
Barney had turned Lucille around so the car was parked partly on the driveway and partly on the grass, and the top was up.
“What’s going on?” Des asked.
“I’m recruiting the three of you to give Lucille a bath. The parade is tomorrow, and she has to look her best.”
“Barney, not that I mind, but you do know there are car washes, right? There’s one out on the highway past the . . .” Allie’s words seemed to die in her throat when Des nudged her and gestured toward Barney, the look on her face enough to frighten the dead.
“Will you think about what you just said? You’re suggesting I trust Lucille to a bunch of strangers with those big fat brushes and all those harsh chemicals?”
“Sorry,” Allie apologized. “I lost my head.”
“I guess you did.” Barney pointed to the grass next to the car. “One of you can man the hose, one can do the soap, bucket, sponge thing, and one of you can do the chrome. I don’t care how you divvy up the work, but I would be ever so grateful to you if you’d take care of this for me.” Barney rubbed her hands, her expression softening. “The arthritis in my hands was a gift from my mother. I hope the genetic gods have spared the three of you from this family curse.”
“Hey, we’re happy to do it, Barney. Right, girls?” Des picked up the hose.
“Totally. We love Lucille, and I agree, no commercial car wash for her.” Cara went for the rags to polish the chrome.
“I’ll man the sponges.” Allie pointed to the bucket. “Des, spray some water in here and let’s get started.”
“Hey, me, too!” Nikki came flying out the back door. “I want to help wash Lucille, too. Mom, toss me a sponge.”
“I thought you were hunting in the attic,” Des said.
“I was, but this is more fun. The attic will be there later.”
By the time they’d finished, it was hard to tell who’d had control of the hose. All four were soaking wet and had traces of foamy white soap in their hair and on their clothes. Lucille was sparkling, her chrome polished and gleaming. Her tires had been scrubbed and not a speck of dirt remained anywhere.
“You girls are fabulous, you know that?” A beaming, approving Barney examined their handiwork. “She looks as good as when Mother drove her off the lot. Actually, she looks better. I can’t thank you enough.”
“We were happy to do it. It was fun.” Des grinned.
“I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that.” Cara’s face was still stretched into a smile.
“I hate to admit it, but yeah, it was fun.” Allie squeezed the last bit of soapy water from the sponge down Des’s back. In retaliation, Des aimed the hose and hit Allie square in the middle with a long stream of cold water. The two chased each other around the yard until they realized that Cara was drying off, and Des felt compelled to turn the hose on her.
“Come inside when you’re finished playing, children.” Barney started toward the house, but not before Des aimed for the center of her back.
“Oh, you—” Barney burst into laughter. “I should have known better than to turn my back on you. Now I suppose I will have to change before I go out.”
“Where are you going?” Des turned off the hose, then turned off the water at the hookup near the back steps.
“Tom and I are going to Rose Hill to see an old friend of ours.” She looked over her shoulder as she went up the steps. “No need to wait up.”
“Did Barney tell you who’s riding in the car with her this morning?” Des joined Cara on the front steps. “What do you suppose is taking Allie so long?”
“She’s getting pretty.” Cara rolled her eyes. “It takes her so long because she has to work so hard at it.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve always lived in the shadow of ‘the pretty one.’ ”
The door opened and Allie came out onto the porch, looking cool and perfect. Where Des and Cara were similarly dressed in navy shorts and white T-shirts, Allie wore a short light blue cotton skirt and a sleeveless white blouse.
“No red, white, and navy blue for our girl.” Des looked at Cara.
“I can’t help it if you two lack imagination. Let’s go.” Allie took four steps down the path, then stopped. “Wait, where’s Nikki? I thought she was out here with you.”
“She left with Barney.” Des fell in step with Cara.
“Is she in the parade, then? Riding in Lucille?” Allie said.
“Who knows? I’m sure Barney had a plan.”
They reached the center of town and walked across the street. The parade was setting up at the library, next to the theater. There, at the very front of the line, Lucille sat at idle, Barney behind the wheel, Nikki beside her on the passenger seat, Buttons in her arms.
As they approached the car, Des said, “Why doesn’t the visiting dignitary get to sit in the back seat?”
Nikki giggled. “I’m not the dignitary. I’m the honor guard. Me and Buttons.”
“Then who’s sitting in the back seat?” Allie looked around. “No one looks particularly dignified to me.”
“Morning, guys.” A leash in each hand, Seth walked his dogs along the sidewalk. He stopped at Lucille’s driver’s side and asked, “Where do you want us?”
“Wait, what?” Des stood on the opposite side of the car. “You’re the guest of honor?”
“Well, me, Ripley, and Belle.” He pointed to his two dogs. He touched her arm. “Ready for the big bash this afternoon?”
“I’m ready. Are you?”
“Sure. Nothing to it. I’m counting on you to play hostess.”
“And my duties would be . . . what, exactly?”
“Greeting and smiling at the guests. And maybe flipping the occasional burger, hunting down more bags of chips, that sort of thing.”
“Sort of like second in command.”
“Right. It’ll be fun.”
“We’ll check in with you later today on that,” Barney said. “Now get in the back with the dogs and let’s get this show rolling.”
“Why the dogs, Barney?” Allie asked.
“I decided we should use this opportunity to focus on a good cause. This year, we’re focusing on rescue dogs. Of which we have three. If Ben could get here on time, we’d have four.” Barney scanned the crowd.
“See the signs Seth and Mark made?” Nikki held up two signs affixed to what looked like pickets from a fence. One read, DON’T SHOP—ADOPT! The other, ASK ME ABOUT MY RESCUE DOG. “So cool, right?”
“Very cool,” Des agreed.
“Ben’s here.” He came up behind them, Lulu on a leash. “Where do you want her?”
“Right in the back there.” Barney turned around in the seat as Seth climbed in with the two dogs. “Seth, can you handle three dogs by yourself?”
“Might be easier if I had someone else back here with me.” One eyebrow raised, he looked at Des.
“I’m in.” She got into the back seat and grabbed the Lab’s leash. “Come over here, Belle. Sit with Auntie Des and be a good girl. Just hold your head up, yes, just like that. Let everyone see how pretty you are.”
“That’s it. We’re off.” To Cara and Allie, Barney said, “You two go on up ahead to the center of town and watch the parade.”
Allie hesitated. “Nik, where will I meet up with you after the parade?”
“At the park,” Barney told her.
“Which park? Where is it?”
“Just follow the crowd. Now go. We’re going to be taking off in another minute or so, and you want to get the whole effect of the entire parade.” Barney shooed them off.
“My mom’s afraid someone’s going to grab me and take off with me,” Nikki said.
“Hmph. I’d like to see anyone get past these four guard dogs.” Barney looked into the back seat. “Not to mention the guard mayor and your two aunts. Your mother needs to relax a little.”
“I keep telling her that.”
The parade was about to start, and from somewhere behind Lucille, Des heard the marching band tuning up.
“Is that the Hidden Falls High School band?” Des turned in her seat and craned her neck to see behind them.
“We have a regional high here,” Seth replied. “We’ve never had enough kids to warrant our own high school. We do have an elementary and a middle school, but they’re understandably small.”
“I always wanted to play in a marching band,” she told him. “But I was homeschooled, so no chance of that.”
“What instrument would you have liked to have played?” Seth asked.
“Something big and loud, I think. Like maybe a tuba, or one of those really big drums.”
“Might have been a challenge for you, carrying and playing one of those big guys at the same time.”
“I’d have given it my best.” She turned back around. “I hope they sound better than that once they start marching,” she said.
“They will. I think they’re just goofing off.”
“The school I go to is really small.” Nikki leaned over the front seat as the car began to move forward. “We don’t have a band. You can take music lessons, and we have a choir, but that’s about it.”
“Do you play an instrument or sing with the group?” Des asked.
Something about the question gave Nikki pause. Finally, she said, “No,” and turned back to the front.
“Did you want to?” Des tapped her on the shoulder. “Any particular instrument?”
“Sort of. I like the sound of the clarinet, so maybe that.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Like Kenny G, you know?”
“I think Kenny G plays the saxophone.”
“Right. Something like that.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“It’s not cool,” she said so softly, Des wasn’t certain she’d heard her.
“Not cool—is that what you said?”
Nikki nodded.
“Says who?” Des frowned.
Nikki shrugged. “Says everyone. All my friends.”
“Hey, Nik? You do you, girl,” Seth interjected. “If your friends think you’re uncool for doing what you like to do, maybe you need other friends.”
There was no further comment from the front seat.
Lucille floated down Main Street, people on either side applauding, waving their hands and flags of various sizes, and calling to Barney as the parade passed by. From time to time, Nikki held up Buttons to wave to the crowd, and each time, she was greeted with applause.
“Oh, there’s Mark! Hey, Mark!” Nikki called when they reached the corner of Main and Lake Drive. “Mark, I love the signs you made!”
Because of his height, Mark stood head and shoulders over the group of teens he was with. “Hey, Nikki! Thank Uncle Seth! It was his idea,” he called back. “Don’t forget to look for me up at the field after the parade.”
“I won’t! See you there.” She’d twisted around in the front as the car continued to roll. “Hi, Kayla!” Nikki waved to a girl standing next to Mark.
“Your dog is so cute!” the girl squealed.
Nikki made sure Buttons waved, then she held up one of the signs.
“Hey, Uncle Seth!” Mark called to him. “We’re all coming out to your place later.”
“So I heard. You been working on your pitching skills?” Seth leaned toward the side of the car.
“Yes, sir.”
“In that case, I’ve got a spot for you on my team.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“Kayla, you ready for the outfield?” Seth asked as the car slowed.
“Uncle Seth, I am so ready!” she called back.
“Is she Mark’s sister?” Des asked.
“No, she’s Amy’s daughter. Mark’s sister is Hayley, the girl in the red shirt.” Seth pointed her out in the crowd. “You’ll meet them all later this afternoon. They’ll all be at the party. Along with most of their friends. I told Mark he could invite whoever he wanted.”
“Did you count them in the final tally?” Des had tried to calculate how many people would actually show up, and she’d given up. “Did you remember to pick up all the paper plates and napkins?”
“No, but my sister did, and she and my cousin are bringing a ton of food, so don’t worry. We’ll be fine.” Seth patted her knee to assure her.
“I have visions of people lined up for miles for burgers but we’ve run out. They’re carrying pitchforks and chanting your name. I’m hiding out in the vineyard with the dogs, by the way.”
“Not gonna happen. I have enough burgers to feed my old army platoon and then some.” Belle sat on the seat between them, and Seth reached across her to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind Des’s ear. “It’s covered. We’re good. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. And what’s the worst that could happen? People have to eat more brownies and cupcakes than hot dogs? People in Hidden Falls know how to cook for a crowd, my friend. This might be my first blowout bash, but it’s not the first Fourth of July party to be held in this town.”
She hoped he was right. While she herself had never hosted a huge party like the one Seth was having, she knew enough to know that food was always the linchpin. Hearing that his sister and their cousin were in on it gave her hope.
The car slowed to take the corner, and a group of kids on the corner stepped toward the car to get a closer look at the dogs. Barney stopped the car. A pretty blond girl around Nikki’s age reached for Buttons, coming close enough to the car that the little dog licked her hand.
“I love your dog,” she told Nikki.
“Thanks. We do, too.”
“Ella, how’s your grandmother doing?” Barney addressed the girl.
“She’s feeling better this week, thanks, Miz Hudson.”
“You tell her I was asking after her, please.”
“I will.”
Behind them, the band had stopped in the middle of town to play a medley of patriotic tunes, and Barney waited until they’d finished to resume her slow drive to the park. Once they arrived, the car emptied while the rest of the parade marchers joined the gathering crowd in the park.
Several people stopped Barney, wanting to know more about rescue dogs, and Des noticed that every time, Barney took the opportunity to talk about the importance of having a rescue shelter in the area.
“No kill, of course,” Des heard her say over and over. “There’s no point in warehousing dogs if you’re going to kill them,” a blunt sentiment that made more than one person flinch. “I don’t know what I’d do without our little Buttons.” Barney took the dog from Nikki’s hands. “She’s the best companion, and I love her to death. I’m so glad my niece rescued her and brought her home. And you know, the police chief has a rescue dog. Mayor MacLeod has two.”
“She’s really talking it up,” Des told Seth. “You’d think she was lobbying to open a shelter on her own in town.”
“Nothing that woman does would surprise me,” he replied.
“Me, either.”
They wandered through the crowd, pausing for the benediction that was given by Reverend Hollister and the singing of the national anthem, after which the winning floats were announced.
“I didn’t even see the floats.” Des looked around. “Oh, over there.”
Seth took her hand and they wandered over to the area where the small floats were parked. Representing the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the DAR, the civic association, the local Elks lodge, and for the first time, the gun club, the floats were all decked out in red, white, and blue crepe paper. The same colored streamers were wrapped around the handlebars of bicycles, tricycles, and strollers.
“This is just like the parades in Devlin’s Light,” Cara told them when they met up with her and Joe. Allie trailed behind them, scanning the crowd.
“It’s the same everywhere,” Joe said. “I spent one summer with my grandparents in New Jersey, and they had almost the identical groups on floats.”
“It’s an American tradition,” Seth agreed. “Every kid wants to deck out their bike on the Fourth for the parade.”
“Remember the year we made a float out of that big wagon of Ben’s? Won third prize in the small-float category,” Joe said.
“Yeah. Third out of three.” Seth laughed and told Des, “Not much competition that year.”
“And in retrospect, it was a poor excuse for a float,” Joe recalled.
“We thought we could make my grandfather’s dog pull the wagon,” Seth said. “But he took off as soon as the band started to play, so the three of us had to take turns pulling it down the street.”
Allie caught up with them. “Have you seen Nikki?”
“She was over by Lucille with Barney last time I saw her.” Des pointed behind them, and Allie took off.
“She’s going to make that child crazy,” Des said.
“I think it would take more than an overprotective mother to do damage to that kid’s ego,” Seth said.
“You didn’t have a crazy mother,” Des told him.
“Does a crazy father count?”
Ben wandered up and took back his dog, and so many people stopped to talk to Seth that Des’s head began to spin. It seemed as if everyone mentioned coming out to the farm later.
They wandered over to the playing fields and watched the sack races and the egg toss, games Des had never played.
“Oh look, there’s Nikki and Mark.” Cara pointed to the egg toss lineup.
“What are they supposed to be doing?” Des asked.
“There’s definitely a huge hole in your education,” Seth told her. “You are about to observe the classic American egg toss. You line up across from your partner. Every couple has an egg. When the whistle blows, the egg is tossed from one partner to the next. If you catch it unbroken, you each take a step back, and you toss it again. You keep tossing it back and forth until there’s only one couple left.”
“Is the egg hard-boiled?” Des asked.
Seth laughed. “No. The point is to catch the egg without breaking it.”
“I get it. Look, Nikki caught the egg and it’s not broken. Go, Nikki!” Des shouted, and Nikki gave her a thumbs-up.
Back and forth they threw the egg, until, on the fifth try, the egg broke in Nikki’s hands.
“Oh yuck!” she yelled, and held up her dripping hands. All but falling over herself laughing, Nikki left the playing field with Mark.
“Here, Nik, here’s a tissue.” Cara dug one out from her bag.
Still laughing, Nikki wiped her hands. “That was so fun. Can we do it again?”
“Not until next year,” Mark told her. “It’s a one-and-done thing.”
“I’ll have to make sure I’m here for that.”
“Hey, they’re handing out ice cream. Wanna go over to the truck?” Mark asked her.
“Sure.” Nikki and Mark took off.
“Well, they seem to be having a good time,” Des commented as she watched them walk away. “I wonder where Allie is.”
Cara pointed to the crowd off to the right, where Allie was moving in Nikki’s direction.
They watched Allie stop her daughter and engage her in conversation for a little too long.
“What do you suppose that’s about?” Cara asked.
“Probably grilling the kid on where she was and what she was doing.” Des watched for another minute, then said, “I can’t take it.” She started off toward her sister and her niece.
“Des, she’s not your kid,” Cara reminded her.
“No, she isn’t.” Des watched as a moment later, Nikki and Mark continued on their way to the ice cream truck, while Allie remained in the same spot.
Des walked across the short field. “Al,” she said as she approached, “is everything all right?”
“She’s with Mark again.” Allie’s face said it all.
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Des followed Allie’s gaze to where Nikki and Mark joined another group of kids who’d been in the egg toss. “See, they’re just going to hang out and have a good time.”
Allie watched Nikki throw her head back and laugh.
“Just fun with friends.”
Allie sighed. “I know. You don’t have to lecture me.”
“Someone should.”
“Shut up, Des.” Allie smiled in spite of herself. “You know, when we’re in California, she’s with her father all week and I only have her with me on the weekends. I’m used to it just being her and me.”
“And now you’re having to share her attention with other people. Me, Barney, Cara—and now Mark and a new group of friends. I get it,” Des assured her. “The older she gets, the more people she’ll let into her life.”
“Oh, I get it, too,” Allie admitted. “I just don’t like it.”
“She’s going to keep on growing up, Al. It’s her job to grow up.”
“I know that, too. It’s just that . . . she’s all I have, understand?”
“I do.” Des put her arm around her sister and turned her toward the side of the field where Seth, Cara, and Joe waited.
“Come on. We’ll get the others and then go get ice cream.”
They’d almost made it to the edge of the field when Allie stopped. “There’s that man again.”
“That man . . . ?” Des frowned, then laughed. “You mean Ben.”
“Keep moving.” Allie gave her a light shove in the middle of her back.
“So did you save your kid from my cousin’s son?” Seth asked when they caught up.
“No. And God knows who all those other kids are. Could be a bunch of budding felons.” Allie sounded as if she was only half kidding.
“Hey, want me to run some background checks?” Ben said.
“Would you?” Allie’s eyes lit up.
“No.” Ben shook his head.
“What good is having the sheriff around if he won’t come through in a pinch?” Allie complained.
“What good is a sheriff who spies on the local kids at the whim of an overprotective mother?” he replied.
“Spoken like a man who has . . .” Allie’s words died in her mouth. A moment later, she finished the sentence. “Like a man who has a sheriff’s badge.”
Ben stared long and hard at her. He looked at Seth and said simply, “See you around.”
“See you around two, you mean,” Seth said.
“Yeah, maybe.” Ben backed away from the group, his eyes on Allie.
“No maybe, man. I’m counting on you for second base.”
Ben walked away, his back stiff.
“Oh my God.” Allie’s hand covered her mouth. “I can’t believe how stupid I am.”
“What just happened here?” Des asked.
“I almost said the worst possible thing in the world. Oh God, I hate myself right now.” Allie’s eyes filled with tears.
“What are you talking about?” Des wasn’t sure what she’d missed.
“I almost said . . . when he said I was an overprotective mother, I started to say . . .” Allie was having trouble getting the words out. “I wasn’t thinking, I swear it. And it was so obvious. I tried to cover up but . . .”
“What did you almost say that was so terrible?”
“I started to say—” Again she stopped, as if she couldn’t repeat the words.
“She was going to say, said the man who has no children,” Seth finished for her. “Am I right?”
Allie nodded. “I swear I would never . . . knowing what happened to his little boy. Oh God, I am so sorry.”
“God probably knows that,” Seth told her. “It’s Ben you’re going to have to convince.”