by L. B. Dunbar
Dinner was barbequed chicken, compliments of Mary Carter, and everyone was responsible for side dishes. Being the only one who had traveled a great distance, and not really much of a cook, I brought several bottles of wine and two cases of beer.
“Now it’s a party,” Tom laughed and clapped his hands as he helped me with the supplies.
The night progressed with laughter and recollections, and a few stories of the upcoming wedding. Emily’s sister and her family were due to arrive on Wednesday. Rosie wasn’t even thirty, compared to Emily’s twenty-four, and she already had four children. She wouldn’t be staying at the house with all those kids, and Jess looked relieved since Rosie had all girls.
It was around seven-thirty when I got the text I’d been hoping for: I’m here.
Take 23
Under the Moonlight
Scene: The Reunions: A hazy montage of memories
She was seventeen; I was nineteen.
When she returned at fifteen, it was a simple phone call to my cell. She asked me if I was interested in getting together because she was back in town for the summer. It was hesitant, unsure. That time I broke speed limits and ran red lights to get to her.
When she was sixteen, she called me to say roughly the same thing, only this time she said she hoped to see me. It was more confident, inviting. That time I broke speed limits and ran red lights to get to her as well.
When she was seventeen, it took only a text: I’m here. There was no question that we would be reunited. It was certain. This would be our summer. From college, I had occasionally texted her, or sent her an email. She didn’t use her email much, so our communications were few and far between, but more occasional than the previous years of no contact. She let me know prior to her arrival when she would be in town and I was already waiting in Traverse City. Her text of: I’m here, was shortly replied to with: So am I, as I pulled into her driveway less then fifteen minutes later.
When she was eighteen, the roles had been reversed, but I didn’t want to replay that scene again quite yet.
* * *
I met her by the drug store on the corner of River Street. Like many small towns in northern Michigan, Elk Rapids only had one main street and one of each necessity: a bar, a restaurant, a breakfast café, and a drugstore. I was trying to contain my smile as I approached Britton, who was watching Gee bounce up and down on the curb. The side street had been blocked off for the carnival rides behind River Street in the public parking lot. As the night grew slowly darker and the fireworks show drew near, families started reserving their spots by the harbor with blankets and lawn chairs. Somewhere there was a spot for us, but I wasn’t sure where Karyn had planted our crew this year.
“Hey,” I smiled as I leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“Hey,” she smiled back and pushed a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. She had on skinny jeans and another form fitting V-neck t-shirt that gave away every curve of her body. Britton was drop-dead gorgeous for a mom.
“Can we go on some rides before the fireworks?” Gee asked.
“Whatever you’d like, little man. Lead the way,” I pointed.
“While holding my hand,” Britton added.
The causeway was crowded on this Saturday night, and the teenage kids were out in full force, holding up the walkways in their gatherings. Britton had a tight hold on Gee’s hand as we pushed through the people, and finally I reached around to pick him up.
He went on the bumper cars with me, and a few kiddie rides by himself. He wanted to go on the Ferris wheel with both Britton and I, but Britton looked hesitant.
“What?” I questioned.
“I’m afraid of heights.”
“Since when?” I laughed playfully.
“Since Gee.”
“What?”
“Well after you have a baby, things can change. My body changed,” and here I raised an eyebrow at her, “and other things changed, too, like the fear of heights, and the sense of worry. It’s awful at times.”
“What worries?”
“Kidnapping. Major illness. Money.”
Money? She seemed well enough off. She had inherited her uncle’s home. Was she paying something for it? I was sure it had to have been paid off before Leo died.
She was a manager at the bookstore. Did it offer her benefits to cover the major illness she worried over?
“Do you need money?” I blurted out.
“Oh my God, no. I wasn’t implying…” she was suddenly embarrassed, as was I. I had obviously insulted her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”
“Gavin, stop. I wasn’t implying anything. I’m fine. Gee and I are fine.”
“Are you sure, because I could help you out? Or loan you something?”
“Please. Stop, Gavin. I’m not looking for a hand out.” She was definitely insulted now.
“I’m sorry, I was only…” but she raised her hand to interrupt me.
“Gavin.” It was that tone again. It stopped me and I placed my hand on the small of her back to escort her up the stairs to the Ferris wheel. This act of support made me feel possessive. I wanted to help her in any way I could.
She was quiet on the ride, but Gee filled the silence with his ohs and ahs. I pointed out sail boats and the firework island in the distance as the wheel spun up and over, up and over. Britton had a white-knuckled grip on the safety bar, and I reached my arm around the back of the seat to place my hand on the nape of her neck. I massaged under her hair, and at one point, I saw her close her eyes. That would only make the spinning worse, and when she opened them, she didn’t look good. Her face was pale.
When the ride was over, Britton admitted she was shaky and I put my arm around her to steady her as we walked through the crowded concession area of dog-bowl French fries and sugary elephant ears. When we passed the kettle corn, I bought a small bag for Gee and some homemade lemonade. I kept my arm around Britton’s waist as we continued back to Emily and Jess’ house.
When we arrived, my parents along with Karyn, had already made their way to the set up for watching the fireworks. Mary Carter and Katie had gone as well. Only couples were left behind: Jess and Emily, Ethan and Ella, Tricia and Trent, and Pam and Jacob.
“Well, who do we have here now?” Tom raised an eyebrow at me as he eyed Britton. It had only been the day before he had seen me with someone else.
“This is Britton McKay.”
“Now this is who I was talking about?”
“Who you were talking about when?” I became defensive.
“On the boat,” Tom said, then added, “And this,” he continued as he traced his eyes up and down, “This is what I’m talking about.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Britton and she laughed.
“You haven’t changed.”
This stopped Tom.
“Oh Lord, do I know you?” He squinted at me, but he was addressing Britton.
“We’ve met,” she smiled.
“I certainly would have remembered you. What did we do?” He smiled a mischievous grin.
“Hey,” I started, but Britton interjected, “We didn’t do anything. Ever.”
“Oh thank God, because I knew I would have had to have been really, really drunk to forget you.”
Britton blushed deeply.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Emily swatted Tom on the back of the head.
“Britton, right?” Emily put out her hand to shake Britton’s.
“Right. We met the other night at the party.”
“Of course,” Emily said. “I remember you just fine,” she emphasized as she glared playfully at Tom.
“Want something to drink?” Emily offered.
“I probably shouldn’t. I need to drive home later.”
“You don’t live around here?” Emily asked.
“Nope. Traverse City. I’m a transplant, I suppose. I’m not originally from up here, but I live here now.” That was all it took. Emily was a transplant, too. She grew up down state and spent her summers at h
er grandmother’s home, but when her mother died, her grandparents came south for years. Eventually Emily moved to Chicago for college and remained there until she’d met Jess.
“One glass of wine will wear off by the time you need to leave,” Emily pressed and dragged Britton off with her. The two women were going to be fast friends, I could tell.
“Who’s this?” Jess said as he approached me with a beer in each hand, and handed one over.
“This is Gee, Britton’s son. You saw him at the party the other night.”
Jess was looking at Gee for a little too long in my opinion. His jaw was doing that clenching thing, and I wasn’t sure I liked Jess’ scrutiny.
“How old did you say he was again?” Jess asked.
“Six. Why?”
“Nothing.”
As the night grew darker and the air grew cooler, the party made its way to the public beach where we would be watching the fireworks this year. I wasn’t sure I liked this set up. I was used to watching them from the side of the harbor, but our family party had certainly grown. As we walked, I sensed Britton stop in the street. She was looking down the block at a group of boys under a streetlamp near the bridge over the small river rapids.
“Ben?” she asked firmly.
“Britton?” he replied.
“What are you doing here?” she questioned, a bit strongly.
“I’m here for the fireworks. I didn’t know you were coming here.”
The rest of the Carter/Scott party continued on, but I stayed with Britton as she confronted Ben.
“I didn’t know you were coming here. How did you get here?” she narrowed her eyes at him.
“I hitched a ride with Josh.”
“You hitch-hiked?”
“No,” he laughed. “I got a ride. Josh and I came together.”
“Do his parents know he’s here?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t I know you were coming here?”
“We planned it last minute. What’s going on?” Ben seemed suddenly concerned.
“You should have asked me. Or told me these were your plans, Ben. It’s over a half hour from Traverse where I thought you were in town.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was that big a deal if I was home by curfew.”
Curfew, I wanted to laugh. He’s fifteen. And why was she playing such a mother hen all of a sudden? On second thought, I remembered myself at fifteen.
“Ben!” came a squeal of delight, and a rush of body and long dark hair. Ben caught the girl in mid-air.
“You came!” she said with another squeal, and I knew by the smile on Ben’s face, Britton had every right to worry.
I worried as well when I realized the girl was my niece.
“Madison?”
“Uncle Gavin?” she disentangled herself from Ben.
“Does your mom know you’re here?” I started, and Britton giggled.
“What?” I turned on her.
Ben stifled a chuckle as well.
“What?” I looked at Ben.
“It doesn’t sound as serious coming from you as it does from her,” Ben replied as he pointed at his aunt.
“Why?”
“Because, with all due respect, you seem sort-of Hollywood, and she’s…she’s a mom,” Ben added. It was the innocent side of fifteen that made him speak what he felt.
Britton definitely looked hurt, but she tried to smile half-heartedly.
“How about if we agree that you need to tell me next time? I could have given you a ride. Do you need a ride home?” she asked, concerned still.
“Josh and I will be okay,” he reassured her.
“It will be really dark and late. Be careful.” She touched his arm thoughtfully with love, I knew, and I recognized one of her new concerns: worry. She was just being, well…a mom.
We walked on as the teenagers remained, and I looked back to see Madison lean into Ben’s side, his arm slipping around her back. Oh boy, I thought, someone’s heart is going to get broken. But at this point, I couldn’t decide which one.
We watched the fireworks in pure chaos. There were too many of us for such a small space on the beach, and people were continually walking back and forth, kicking up the sand. Gee didn’t seem to care as he sat between Britton and I on a double sized beach towel. Another memory came to me of the two of us lying on such a towel on this very beach. She’d had on a red bikini and I’d worn a hard-on all day.
The fireworks were spectacular as always and Gee was greatly impressed.
“Oh, I like that one.”
“No, I like that one better.”
“Oh, I like that one the best.”
Through the loud noises, he was awake and alert, but after the grand finale and the slow walk through the crowd back to homes and cars, Gee was losing his enthusiasm. I went to pick him up, but he complained that he could walk. When I tried again, Gee pushed my hand away.
I looked at Britton with concern.
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s over tired.” She reached to pick him up herself as we were crossing the street, and she had to stop in the crowded road to adjust for Gee’s weight. He was too heavy for her to carry a great distance and she stood a moment too long, juggling him to wrap his little legs around her. Some irate driver with no patience drove through the crowd, honking his horn for people to move. With his headlights on high, he pushed through the dispersing people, and almost hit Britton holding Gee on the street. She stumbled forward to move out of the way and I caught them both.
“Asshole!” I yelled after the car before I looked at Britton. She was definitely shaken. The car had come very close. Too close to her and Gee as a unit. But on top of that, I was shaken myself. I saw a life without them both, and my heartbeat raced to my throat as I squeezed my arms around the two of them. I couldn’t breathe for a moment as I thought about what could have happened.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said with a quiver in her voice.
“No, you aren’t. You’re shaking.” I ran my hands up and down her bare arms, which seemed to make her shake more and goose bumps arose. Gee was slipping in her arms. He was just too heavy.
“You have to let me take him, Britton.” The panicked look came in her bright blue eyes and passed away as quickly.
“Gee, let Gavin carry you, okay?” But Gee was so sleepy he hardly noticed the transfer from Britton’s arms to mine. The boy put his head in the crook of my neck and I grabbed Britton’s hand as we walked to her car parked in town on a side street.
“You’ll never get out of here now. It will be an hour before the streets are clear enough to move. It’s like a parking lot.”
I looked left and right at the solid line of vehicles down the side street, filled with people unsure if they should continue trying to avoid the main street, or wait out the rush.
Britton knew I was right and said so, but she insisted she had to get Gee home.
“Come back to Jess’ for a while? We can lay him down there for a bit.”
She nodded hesitantly.
The adult party had narrowed considerably. Jess and Emily were all that remained. Karyn and Tom went down to Mary’s house. Pam and Jacob had disappeared at some point during the firework show. Tricia, Trent, Ethan, and Ella headed to the local brewery across the highway, which was rocking a celebration tonight. I would have liked to have gone another time, but right now I wanted to be with Britton.
“If you didn’t think it would scare him, we could put him with Katie and he could spend the night,” Emily offered
“They can’t sleep together,” I blurted.
“Why not?” Emily looked at Jess.
“Because they are a boy and a girl,” I responded.
“Well, they’re only six and seven,” she said, and looked at Jess again as if she had done something wrong.
“Emily’s right,” Britton reassured her. “But Gee doesn’t know you or Katie well enough. He wouldn’t be comfortable spe
nding the night.” I sensed that Britton might have felt the same way.
“Maybe some other time,” she suggested politely.
I had placed Gee in the front room on a couch, and we decided to sit outside on the front porch to wait out time for the traffic to alleviate.
Emily and Britton were in a deep conversation together on the porch swing where Britton could see Gee through the front window, while Jess and I sat on the steps, each drinking another beer.
“Wow, Britton McKay is back, and with a kid,” Jess said as he sipped his beer.
“You saw her the other night,” I reminded him.
“I know. But I mean, she’s really here. For good, now.”
“What does that mean?”
“She stayed for once.”
I was silent and he looked up at the dark sky. Smoke from the fireworks still drifted lightly out over the lake. The trees were too close together on this street to find any trace of the moon.
“She came back,” I corrected.
“Same difference, man.”
We were silent as we sipped our beers.
“Think she might have come back hoping you would?” Jess asked.
“Of course, not,” I said quickly. But was he right? I didn’t know.
“If that’s what you say.”
“That’s what I say,” I said, a little uncertain.
Take 24
Under the Moonlight
“Your wedding’s in a barn?” I heard Britton’s soft voice raise an octave in the dark night. The traffic was subsiding and I knew she would want to leave soon. I didn’t want her to go. I worried suddenly about dark roads and crazy drivers, and deer jumping out of the woods late at night.
“Not any barn. The Barn. There’s this old red barn on the Scott’s property, and Karyn and Tom hosted their annual Halloween bash there in October. Jess announced to everyone that night that I would be his wife, and it seemed like the perfect place for our wedding. Very shabby chic, and all.” Emily looked lovingly at Jess, who only smirked.
