The Sugarhouse Blues

by Mariah Stewart

  “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.
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br />   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.”