CHAPTER SIX

ZANE LEWIS

It’s about an hour and a half before the party, and everything for it is finally just about done. Mom has left the kitchen to get changed. Dad’s sitting in the living room waiting for people while watching a recap of the last football game. Harper and Nadine have even gone home. All I have left to do is to take a shower, put on some of my better clothes and present myself.

I strip out of my sweaty T-shirt and jeans, kick off my shoes and grab a towel from the closet before I head to the shower. The house looks great, I can’t deny that. It’s nice to know I won’t be on duty for another several days and good to see Harper again too. I take off my boxers in the bathroom and kick them onto the floor, starting the water in the shower and giving it a chance to warm up before I step in. Really, really good to see her again.

I grin to myself as I step over the ledge and let the water rain down on me. Before I’d left to start basic, Harper had still had that school nerd vibe down. All she was missing was glasses and one of those grandma sweaters to look like the campus librarian.

I lather up and start scrubbing down, and I can’t help thinking about Harper a little more. If it weren’t for the fact that we lived next door to each other our entire lives, I don’t think we would have hung out at all in high school. We didn’t hang out that much anyway, at least not at school. I was busy with my buds, and Harper was busy doing all that extra-curricular stuff like honor society and drama club and whatever else it was she was doing.

But this new Harper, the grown woman she’d become, was actually kind of cool. Living in the city, looking really good, with a good job. How the hell is she not with someone? I rinse myself off and get started on washing my hair, thinking about the question.

I remember Harper’s mom and mine teasing her about being old before her time and joking about her lack of social life. It really isn’t all that surprising, when I think about it. Thinking about Harper makes me start to get hard, and I turn the water on cold for a quick blast. What’s wrong with me, thinking like that?

I get out of the shower quickly before I can be tempted to indulge myself, and dry off and go back to my room. I look out through the window and catch sight of just a second of Harper moving past her own window. She’s got a bra and panties on, her hair done, but other than that she’s undressed and unaware that she’s being watched.

I turn my back on the window, close the blinds and start getting dressed. I force myself to stop thinking about her like that. It’s not a formal event, so I decide to wear a pair of khakis and a dress shirt. I put on a pair of socks and my dress shoes, check to make sure my hair looks all right, and I’m done.

Dad’s sitting in the living room, still watching the TV, and Mom is hurrying through the house back to the kitchen, her clothes on but her make-up not done yet.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help with anything, Mom?”

“Thanks, sweetie. I’ve got everything under control.” Mom runs around the kitchen, pulling something out of the oven and setting it where it can cool. I have no idea what it is, but it smells amazing. After spending half the day setting up the house for the party, I’m already starving, but I know better than to ask Mom if I can snag some.

“Wait until she goes to do her make-up and hair, and then we’ll grab some of the meatballs,” Dad mutters to me, and I snicker.

“Done,” I agree.

We wait for Mom to do whatever it is she’s doing in the kitchen, and she scurries back to the master bathroom to finish getting ready before people start coming over. As soon as Dad and I are both pretty sure that she’s occupied, we head into the kitchen and grab some of the meatballs simmering in the crock pot.

“So it’s been a while since you saw Harper. She’s looking good these days,” Dad says, as we eat in the living room as quickly as we can.

“Yeah, she doesn’t look bad at all,” I agree.

“Weird she isn’t with anyone,” Dad adds. “Usually girls get into the city and then get involved with one guy after another until they find a good one.”

I laugh, rolling my eyes. “She’s not a cliché,” I point out. “She’s picky, anyway. Always has been.”

“Picky never lasts that long,” Dad counters.

“Obviously it does,” I tell him. “Seeing as how she isn’t with anyone right now.”

“Speaking of which,” Dad says, “when are you going to get tired of the merry-go-round and settle?”

“Not anytime soon, I can tell you that,” I reply.

“I get the allure,” Dad says, finishing off his meatballs. “But at some point, whatever your career trajectory, you’re going to appreciate having someone who can make things stable, hold everything down.”

“I don’t even know what my ‘career trajectory’ is,” I tell him. “I don’t know what I’m going to be doing in the next six months.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Dad says. “I mean, after all, whether or not you’re seeing someone seriously will probably figure in whether or not you decide to reenlist.”

“Whatever, old man,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I’m nowhere near figuring that out yet.”

“You should figure it soon,” Dad says to me. “And expect that people are going to ask you about it this week.”

“Not if you and Mom don’t tell them about it,” I point out.

“People are going to do the math, son,” Dad counters. “They’re going to figure you’re close to finishing your time. Even if they don’t, you’re going to get the question of what you plan on doing after the army anyway.”

Before I can say anything to that, there’s a knock at the door and I get up to answer it. The first of the guests is one of my dad’s coworkers and his wife. Mom comes out of her room before I have any chance to say anything other than hello, and I move out of the way to let my parents take over.

It’s going to be rough until some people’s kids get here, I think. At least Harper should get here soon, and I’ll have someone to talk to.