Marianne gestured to Virginia and Amber to vacate a chair for me. I protested, but she insisted. The girls didn’t seem to mind, since it gave them the opportunity to move closer to Danny and Sabrina.
I took a seat and gestured for Christy to sit on the arm of the chair. I put my arm around her and casually rested it on her thigh. The contact was intimate without being overt. She looked around nervously, but no one was paying attention to us.
Jim and Rich sang “Danny Boy” next, partly to annoy Danny, but also because it was one of their parents’ favorites. Then they chose a happier song and invited Christy to join them. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she was an excellent singer. She and Rich must have performed together quite a bit when they were younger. They weren’t as polished as Donny and Marie Osmond but were still good enough that no one would complain.
Anne and her daughters-in-law eventually rose to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. I felt guilty for not joining them, but she gave me a look that silently said to stay right where I was.
Christy and Rich finished their last song. After the applause she sat on my
lap instead of the arm of the chair. She’d had enough to drink that she was bolder than usual. Her father didn’t seem to mind, although Rich did. His glare didn’t even scratch my indifference.
The women returned from the kitchen about twenty minutes later, and Marianne caught Harry’s eye. Hal was already asleep in his arms, so he gathered the boy and said something quiet to his father. They left shortly after. Jim and Lynne disappeared for a while to put their own kids to bed, along with Harry and Marianne’s older girls (who were spending the night again).
Harold invited the men to his office for cigars. I declined as politely as I could, although I felt better when Danny did too. Rich, Terry, and Jim accepted, and they all adjourned to the office and slid the doors together.
“Well,” Anne said to the rest of us, “I’ve had a lovely day, but it’s been a long one.”
“Amen to that,” Lynne said with feeling.
“Before you go to bed, Mom,” Danny said, “I was hoping for a new room assignment. You know… now that we’re officially engaged.”
“You aren’t married yet.”
“Mom, come on! We live together, for Pete’s sake.”
“You haven’t taken vows in front of a priest. Sorry, Danny. You know the rules.”
Sabrina put her hand on his. “It’s okay. It’s only a few nights.”
He nodded ungraciously.
“Daniel,” his mother warned.
“Sorry, Mom.” He visibly adjusted his mood. “I know. Rules are rules.”
“Yes, dear. And I’m sorry. I know you live together, but when you’re in our house…”
“I know, I know. I don’t have to like it, but I get it.”
“Good. Now, I’m going to say goodnight.”
“I’m going to bed too,” Lynne said.
The two women left. Christy and I talked to Danny and Sabrina for a while as we finished our drinks. Then we decided to go to bed ourselves.
Danny and I walked them to Christy’s room like we were on a double date.
We even kissed them goodnight at the door.
He grumbled about his mother’s rules all the way out to the screen porch.
Part of me wanted to laugh, but I understood where he was coming from. If I were him, I’d want to celebrate with my fiancée too. He eventually fell silent
but was probably still thinking about it when the door to the house opened. A small figure slipped out to the porch and closed the door.
“Danny?”
He sat up. “Birdy? Is everything okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine. Sabrina and I were talking, and… the rule is you can’t sleep together. No one said anything about spending time alone together.”
“You mean it, Birdy? You don’t mind?”
“No, of course not.”
He threw back the covers and found his pants. A moment later he was fully dressed and ready for his assignation.
“You have your watch?” he asked me.
“Gimme a sec… got it.”
“It’s eleven thirty-five… mark.”
“Mark.”
“Give me an hour. Okay?”
“Dude, you just got engaged. Take two.”
“Are you sure?” Beep, beep, beep. “Okay, I’ll be back by oh one thirty.”
He disappeared into the house.
“And lemme guess,” I said to Christy, “you did that purely out of the goodness of your heart.”
“Maybe not purely.” Her voice grinned.
I patted the cot beside me. The night air was chilly, so I put on my shirt.
My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and I could see that Christy was wearing her plaid pajamas and a pair of plain slippers, which she kicked off before she climbed onto the cot and sat with her legs under her.
“I had a wonderful day,” she said after a moment.
“Me too. Thanks for inviting me.”
“Everyone loves you.”
“Everyone but Rich.”
“He likes you okay. He just isn’t as friendly as Danny.”
He isn’t as friendly as a rattlesnake, I thought, but kept it to myself.
“I… um… I wanted to spend some time alone with you. I thought we could… you know…”
“Make out?”
“Yes, but… maybe we could talk first?” She sounded serious.
“Okay. Go ahead.”
“I think I know why you were upset yesterday.”
“About the flight?” I blew it off. “Don’t worry about it. We got here okay.”
“No, not that. Earlier. When we were walking home.”
I thought back. It seemed like a week had passed since then, but it had only been thirty-six hours.
“It was what I said, wasn’t it? At the party?”
The memory clicked into place with a thud.
“When I introduced you as my future husband.”
“What about it?”
“I feel guilty, but I wanna explain.”
“Okay.”
“I was pretty drunk, and—”
“Uh-uh. I told you: don’t use alcohol as an excuse.”
She nodded and revised what she wanted to say next. “Sometimes I get scared, and I say things I want to be true.”
“Like me being your future husband?”
She nodded mutely.
“And tonight, when Danny asked if you were missing a ring? You said ‘I wish.’”
Another nod.
“What were you scared about tonight?” I waited while she worked up her courage.
“Losing you. Again.”
“Again?”
She nodded and wiped her cheeks. “After I broke up with Simon, I hoped… Well, you know.”
“Ah. Right.”
“Yeah. And then you were such a jerk, and… I started those horrible rumors to get back at you, and… I was so miserable.” She laughed sadly and wiped her cheeks again. “At the start of the summer, I even told Wren I didn’t want to see or hear your name ever again.”
“Ah. Okay. That explains why you didn’t know I’d broken up with Gracie. I wondered… I knew Wren had sent you letters, but…”
“Yeah. I was trying to pretend you didn’t exist.”
“I probably deserved it.”
“You did,” she said with a teary laugh. “I knew I couldn’t avoid you forever, though. Then I saw you again, and you’d changed so much. You
were quieter. More intense. Less self-absorbed. And you were so nice to me.”
“Except when I wasn’t.” I sighed darkly. “Sorry about that.”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t very nice to you either. Like when I said I’d never sleep with you.”
“Right. That.”
“But I was just scared, ’cause I was falling for you again. Only… I didn’t want to. So I said that because I wanted it to be true.”
“Ah. Now I get it.”
“Only I didn’t.”
I nodded and worked through the Christy-logic to make sure I understood.
“I got scared again when Wren told me about Gina and the wedding. But I promised myself I wouldn’t be mean or do anything dumb.”
“You didn’t.”
“I even thought a lot about what you said, how I think I’m supposed to be a good Catholic girl. I know I’m not like that for real, but sometimes I feel guilty because I’m not.”