The Surprise

by Alice Ward

  My uncle loved me and I have no doubt that he always had my best interests in mind. But my childhood wasn’t what anyone would call stable. Uncle Walt was a pilot and we moved a lot as he was promoted up the ranks at Universal Air. He doted on me when he was home, but I spent a lot of time with nannies during the school year and at camps during the summer. Uncle Walt was very careful about who stayed with me and unlike most of the other pilots’ kids I knew, I never resented him for leaving. There had always been an unspoken understanding between us. Neither of us had the lives we were ‘supposed’ to, but it was okay because we were in it together.

  There were benefits to my uncle’s job. He got three weeks of paid vacation every year and we never had to pay for flights. That meant three weeks of exploring a new and exciting country every summer. But the vacation memories provided little comfort when arriving to yet another new school as the new girl, year after year. It wasn’t until I started college that I developed real, lasting friendships.

  After a lifetime of never knowing when Uncle Walt would announce that we were moving again, a rooted man like Ben was exactly what I needed. He’d grown up in Portland behind an honest-to-God white picket fence. His father, Carl, managed a branch of Pacific Bank and his mother, Lois, ran the local soup kitchen. Ben was the middle child, sandwiched between his sisters, Holly and Shannon.

  The entire family still met for Sunday morning service at United Methodist, followed by brunch at the nearby IHOP. The Garrison family welcomed me with open arms and I settled in just as eagerly. I longed to become an official member of a ‘regular’ family. And I had a hunch that my wait was almost over.

  A knock on the door snapped my attention back to the present.

  “Come in,” I called out, glancing at the clock on my wall. Mr. and Mrs. Hollis were due in fifteen minutes.

  The door swung open and Linda, the other kindergarten teacher, stepped into the room. She left the door cracked and squeezed behind the nearest desk with an exhausted sigh.

  “I can’t believe the kids show up tomorrow. You were right, I should have skipped the trip to Atlanta last week and gotten started on putting my room together. I’m going to be here half the night.” She twisted a crimson red curl between her fingers and stretched her long legs across the aisle.

  “It’s not every day that your high school sweetheart shows up out of nowhere and sweeps you off your feet again. How is Henry, by the way?” I asked with a grin.

  Linda blushed and a broad smile spread across her face. “He’s fantastic. We’ve been on the phone almost nonstop since I flew home. He’s packing his things in a U-Haul as we speak. He should be here by the end of the week.”

  “I can’t wait to meet him,” I replied, my grin growing wider.

  A year ago, that would have been a polite lie. When I first arrived at The Day School, I’d been put off by Linda’s aggressively bubbly personality. She was the type of person who’d never met a stranger and I’d found her instant openness and constant chatter incredibly overwhelming. But she’d grown on me over the year, and I was genuinely happy to see her so love struck.

  “I can’t wait to introduce you,” she gushed. “This all still feels like some sort of dream. It’s all so exciting… Henry’s so exciting. He took me to look at rings while I was in Atlanta. And he’s already talking about me quitting my job so I can travel with him.”

  “That’s great,” I told her, my enthusiasm forced this time. She saw right through it and raised an eyebrow.

  “Go ahead,” she insisted. “Just say it.”

  “If your dream is to travel the world with Henry, by all means follow it. I just think you should keep in mind that living out of boxes and suitcases gets old pretty quick.”

  Linda crossed her legs and rolled her green eyes, her freckled face lit with amusement. “It’s not like we’d be traveling nonstop. Henry will be based here and I can stay behind when I feel like it. I understand that traveling gets old. What I don’t understand is how you’re happy to settle for a vanilla life after seeing first-hand how big this world is and how much it has to offer.”

  If it had been the first time she’d called my life vanilla, I may have been a little insulted. But that was her go-to term to describe the life I wanted with Ben.

  “I’m not settling. I love Ben,” I reminded her for the umpteenth time.

  “You love the idea of him,” she corrected me.

  I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off.

  “I know you’re tired of me bringing this up. But we’re friends, right?”

  “Right,” I agreed with a resigned sigh.

  “And as your friend, it’s my job to make sure you’re honest with yourself. I know you’re hoping for a proposal. And I think you might be right. Ben may be close to popping the question. But I’ve seen the way you look at him, Emily. You love him, but you’re not in love with him. There’s no spark, no fire between you. I get that you’re in love with his family. But if you and Ben get married, he’s the one you’ll be living with, day in and day out.” She leaned forward, her eyes earnest. “I don’t want you to wake up ten years from now and realize you’ve made a huge mistake.”

  I straightened my shoulders and diverted my eyes toward the window. I couldn’t look at Linda because a small voice in the back of my head was wondering if she was right. I’d made that mistake in college. I started dating my boyfriend Ryan the first semester of my sophomore year. Like Ben, Ryan had a large, stable family that had instantly accepted me into their fold. And I got so comfortable with them so quickly, I ignored the fact that Ryan and I were incompatible for a year and a half.

  This situation is entirely different. Ben and I love each other. Maybe we don’t ‘spark’. But we understand each other. We can depend on each other. And I’ll take that over fire any day.

  I cleared my throat and turned back to Linda. “Like you said, I’ve seen what the world has to offer. Now, I just want to carve out my own small, happy piece of it. I’m happy for you and Henry, I really am. Do you plan to finish out the school year? Or am I going to have to watch Mr. and Mrs. Hollis quiz your replacement on the proper administration of an Epi-pen?” I asked, attempting to bring our conversation back around to light-hearted.

  Linda smiled back at me and climbed out of the tiny chair. “I haven’t made any decisions yet. But speaking of the Hollis family, we should head down to the nurse’s office. One of the commandments of teaching kindergarten is ‘thou shalt not keep nervous parents waiting.’”

  “Lead the way,” I said, rolling my chair away from my desk. I followed Linda out of the room and we set off to assure the Hollis parents once again that we were capable of taking care of their children.

  ***

  “Are you ready for this?” Ben asked. He held open the door of Market Seafood and I stepped past him into the entryway. A blonde hostess in a crisp white shirt and black tie held open the interior door. I took Ben by the arm and gave him a determined smile.

  “Maybe he’ll be in a good mood,” I suggested, trying to hide my nerves. Uncle Walt had made it no secret that he disapproved of Ben, but for my sake, he usually stayed on his best behavior when we were all together.

  “Good evening,” the hostess greeted us. She ushered us through the door and grabbed two menus.

  “Hello,” Ben replied. “There will actually be three of us. I believe we have a reservation.”

  “Kinkaid?” she asked, a hint of a smile lighting her face.

  Uncle Walt’s still sweet talking the ladies, I see.

  I nodded and she returned the menus to the hostess station. “Walt is already here. Just follow me.”

  She snaked her way across the dimly lit dining room and I spotted my uncle at a corner table. His eyes fell on me and he rose with open arms. He wrapped me in a hug and kissed the side of my head.

  “It’s so good to see you, Em. I hope traffic wasn’t too bad?”

  I knew the question was a veiled reference to the fact that we were
ten minutes late, but I kept my tone light and patient. “We got held up at school this afternoon and we’ve been running late ever since.”

  Ben pulled out my chair and Uncle Walt settled down across from me. A tall, bald waiter approached us with a bottle of wine.

  “Your Riesling, Mr. Kinkaid,” he announced. He pulled the cork and poured a splash into a long stemmed wine glass. Uncle Walt swirled, sniffed, and sampled it before nodding back at the waiter with a smile.

  “This is fantastic, Kevin, thank you.”

  “Are you ready to place your order, or would you like a few more minutes to look at the menu?” the waiter asked.

  Uncle Walt looked from me to Ben and back again. “Do you know what you want?”

  We nodded our heads simultaneously. Market Seafood was my uncle’s favorite restaurant; we could all recite the memory by heart. We placed our orders and Keven gave us a final nod before disappearing.

  “So how was your first week of school?” Uncle Walt asked.

  “Hectic.” I leaned back in my chair with a long sigh. “Most of the kids in my class have older brothers and sisters, so they understood the concept of school when they arrived Wednesday morning. But I had a handful of kids who seemed terrified they’d never see their parents again. Most of them settled into our routine by yesterday afternoon. But I’m expecting a little regression when we show up again Monday morning.”

  “You have the patience of a saint,” my uncle insisted. He took a sip of his wine and turned to Ben.

  “And how was your week? I imagine you have an easier time of it. Emily here spends seven and a half hours a day trying to keep the kids still, and then they get to run loose for half an hour with you.”

  “Ben isn’t the recess monitor, Uncle Walt,” I broke in, my voice firm. “I explained to you that The Day School puts a strong emphasis on physical fitness.”

  Walt held his hands up in mock defeat, a smile spreading across his tan face. “Easy, Em. I was just teasing. I know Ben’s job is important. I didn’t mean any offense.”

  “None taken,” Ben insisted. “Honestly, I love my job so much, it doesn’t feel like a job.”

  “It doesn’t pay like one either,” Walt muttered under his breath.

  Ben took a long drink of his ice water and we both ignored my uncle’s comment.

  “Enough about us,” I announced, changing the subject. “What’s going on with you? How long are you in town?”

  Before he could answer, Kevin arrived at our table with a platter of appetizers. He promised our entrees would be out soon, checked our drinks, and moved on to the table beside us.

  “This looks delicious,” Walt announced, filling his small plate with crab cakes, calamari, and spicy shrimp cocktail. I studied him while he dunked a forkful of crab cake into remoulade sauce and savored the first bite.

  My uncle and I could have easily passed for father and daughter. We had the same high cheekbones, blue eyes, and chestnut hair, although his was tinged with gray around the edges. I realized then that Walt was tense about something. He was smiling, but his shoulders were taut and I had a feeling his mind was somewhere else.

  “So how long are you in town?” I asked again, filling my own plate with food.

  Walt swallowed a shrimp and washed it down with another sip of wine.

  “Actually, that’s why I wanted to see you guys tonight. I have news.”

  Ben and I both set our forks down, giving Walt our full attention.

  “Well?” I pressed as he sat there silently. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”

  “I’m retiring from the airline… have retired, to be more precise.”

  “What?” I asked, sure I’d heard him wrong. Uncle Walt loved his job; the sudden early retirement didn’t make any sense. Panic grew in my chest while I waited for him to continue.

  It’s his health. He’s been grounded. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

  “Is everything okay, Walt?” Ben pressed, his voice full of concern.

  “Everything’s great,” he assured us. “In fact, they couldn’t be better. I know this will come as a shock to you, Emily, but I’ve met someone. Her name is Claudia and she’s a pediatrician here in Portland.”

  I stared at him for a moment, processing his words. “You’re quitting your job for a woman?”

  “I’m leaving the airline for a lot of reasons,” he replied, popping another shrimp into his mouth. I felt Ben relax beside me, but I was more wound up than ever. Uncle Walt announcing he was in a serious relationship was twice as shocking as his retirement announcement. I was too impatient to wait for him to swallow and continue.

  “What are the other reasons?” I demanded. “When did this happen? Where did you meet her? Why am I just hearing about all of this?”

  Uncle Walt took a sip of his wine and wiped his mouth with a crisp linen napkin.

  “Slow down, sweetheart. Claudia and I met about four months ago. I flew a nonstop to JFK, then took the jumpseat on a flight back home for my weekend off. Claudia had been in the city presenting a paper. We spent the whole flight talking. I think you’ll really like her.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to introduce me to a woman,” I observed, my hunger finally outweighing my shock. I cleaned my appetizer plate while Walt continued.

  “I can hardly believe it myself. But it’s happening. As for why I didn’t tell you earlier, I wanted to wait until I knew things were serious. Claudia’s amazing, but like I said, she isn’t the only reason I’m leaving the airline. The constant traveling is starting to wear me out. I’ve never liked spending so much time away from you and I can finally afford to do something about it. I have savings, my pension, and I’ve taken a part-time job at a local charter company. I’m thrilled about all of this, Em. I hope you are too.”

  I studied him for a moment and then smiled. “If you’re thrilled, I’m thrilled. It will be nice to have you around more often. And I can’t wait to meet Claudia. Maybe we could all have dinner next weekend.”

  “I’ll check with her and see what fits in her schedule,” he promised.

  Ben scooted his chair away from the table and rose to his feet. “Excuse me, restroom,” he explained, tossing his napkin on the table. He left and my uncle turned to me with a scowl.

  “Come on,” I groaned. “I just said if you’re happy, I’m happy. Can’t you just do the same in return?”

  “Absolutely not,” Walt replied with a slight shake of his head. “I know this guy has you snowed. But he isn’t who he wants you to think he is, Em. He’s a slick talking cad. Trust me, I’m right. I can spot my own kind from a mile away.”

  I was stunned into silence when he acknowledged his sordid romantic past. He gave me an amused smile and an eye roll of his own.

  “You’re an adult now, Emily. I think we can speak openly about this. I think we should talk openly about it. I know you know I liked to sew my wild oats, so to speak. But unlike Benny, I never pretended to be someone I’m not. If there’s one thing I can say for myself, I never let a woman believe I wanted a serious relationship. I flat out told them I didn’t. But this guy… he’s a real piece of work, sweetheart.”

  I pushed my shoulders back and stared back at him defiantly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. And you’re making me angry. Ben is one of the good guys, Uncle Walt. He’s stable and wholesome, and you should see him with the kids. In fact, now that you’re going to be around more often, you should come to the club and watch a few games. I know you’re convinced that no man will ever be good enough for me, but if you’d just give Ben a chance—”

  “I’m quite sure there’s a man out there good enough for you,” he corrected me. “I’m even more certain that Ben isn’t that man. I can see I’m upsetting you, so I’ll drop it. But only if you promise me something.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

  “Let another school year pass before you make any life-altering decisions.”

  I narrowed my eyes
and scowled back at him. “If Ben asks me to marry him, I’m going to say yes.”

  “I get that. But—”

  “Here we are,” Kevin sang, sidling up to our table with a large tray balanced on one arm. “Sorry for the wait,” he continued, distributing the plates around the table. I stared down at my steamed mussels and pasta, thankful for the interruption. I swirled linguini around my fork and felt a gentle, familiar hand on my back.

  “Perfect timing,” Ben said, sliding back into his seat. “I’m starving.”

  “Is everything okay? You were gone awhile,” I whispered while Walt was distracted by Kevin.

  “I’m fine,” he insisted. He spread his napkin across his lap and sprinkled salt on his swordfish.

  He’s up to something. But it has to be something innocent. I know him better than Walt. Besides, if he were a player, he wouldn’t have stuck around for an entire year.

  Kevin carried the tray back to the kitchen and Walt turned to Ben with a somewhat forced smile.

  “Emily invited me to come watch some of your games at the club. How many teams do you coach?”

  “I coach one basketball, one football, and one baseball team,” Ben explained. “But I coordinate all three programs.”

  “You’re a busy man,” Walt observed.

  “I like what I do,” Ben replied with a casual shrug.

  “You know, I was quite the football player back in high school. Maybe I could come out and coach a few games with you.”

  I could tell Ben was taken aback by the suggestion, but he handled it well.

  “I’d enjoy that very much, Walt. I’ll email you the team’s schedule.”

  Ben’s phone vibrated and he pulled it from his pocket before slowly rising to his feet.