His brown eyes flickered in the dim light from a nearby sconce and he smiled. I loved it when he smiled. It made me proud to know I had caused it.
“Are you coming home anytime soon?” I couldn't help asking.
“I'd love to, but we're in the middle of a big project right now.”
“Oh.” I looked down at the glass in my hand and tried not to let him see my feelings. “How are Jenny and Melissa?” Nick's sisters were old friends of mine. He smiled for the second time. I was on a roll.
“Once in a while there is a little drama with a boyfriend, but they manage to stay out of trouble these days.”
“They never were in much trouble. You made sure of that.”
“Not always. I seem to recall a few occasions where they landed in a hornet's nest or two, Bump,” he said.
I rolled my eyes, irritated at the mention of an incident I would rather have forgotten. “That was a long time ago. Thanks so much for bringing it up, Nick. And you know very well that I was the only one who landed in the nest.”
“That was your punishment for spying.”
“We weren't spying.”
“Really? You and my sisters were just passing through and you happened to see some of us guys swimming?” Nick crossed his arms and tilted his head again. His dark gaze made me feel like he could read my mind.
“Exactly.” Well, I guess we had been curious. The summer before high school, Melissa and I decided that big, hairy seventeen-year-olds were a major point of fascination for us girls. While they swam in the tiny lake behind our golf course, we prowled around them, ducking from tree to tree, trying not to let the boys hear us giggling.
“How was I to know there was a hornet's nest next to the lake?” I asked.
Unfortunately, one wrong step on my part blew our cover and had us screaming like babies as the angry swarm stormed the shore. While most of the boys laughed, Melissa and Jenny ran far from the emerging swarm and joined the boys by the opposite bank. But I couldn't see because I'd closed my eyes in a panic. I heard a deep voice yelling nearby, but my mind didn't register the words. The next thing I knew someone tall and strong hauled me up and ran with me, away from the buzzing mass. My rescuer and I hit the water hard. I came out of my panic in Nick's arms as he unleashed four-letter words I had never heard him say before. After a few terror-stricken moments, while Nick repeatedly dunked my head under the surface, the hornets dispersed. Then he carried me, sniveling and shaking, out of the lake. As soon as my feet touched the grassy shore I began to weep in his arms, feeling the first effects of the stings. Poor Nick, I'm sure he was absolutely horrified to have such a pitiful soggy mess on his hands. He quickly passed me off to Ian, who dragged me, bawling like a baby, all the way home.
Miraculously, like the demigod he was, Nick wasn't stung at all.
Unfortunately, I had not been so lucky.
“Poor Bump. At least you suffered no real harm.”
I rolled my eyes. “I started high school three days later,” I said, grinning despite myself. “I have never been so mortified in my life.”
“No lasting damage,” Nick said as he scrutinized my face for bumps.
“Are you kidding? There I was on the first day of high school with three calamine-covered welts right in the middle of my face. I suffered an indignity beyond description. Everyone laughed at me.”
“No, they didn't,” Nick said.
Well, that was true. Every time I passed one of my brother's friends they pointed at me and made faces. But not Nick. He just frowned. I used to fool myself into believing that Nick cared. And now as he stood in front of me, I almost could believe it was true.
“There you are!” came a familiar cloying drawl. Brittany and her D-cups had arrived. “You are missing all the fun tucked away in this little corner, Nicholas. I have someone I must introduce you to.” She paused for a moment, looking at me through her overly long eyelashes. “Oh, and you can come too, if you want, Anne.”
“Oh no, thank you. Nick and I were just talking about the new septic tank in our trailer park . . .”
She blinked at me, not sure if I was joking or not.
Nick tilted his head and pressed his lips together. Then he gave me a quick, impersonal peck on the cheek. “It was great seeing you,” he said before leading Brittany away.
“Bye, Nick,” I said quietly, resisting the urge to cradle my hand over the spot his lips had touched. My cheek throbbed as much as those hornet stings all those years ago.
Â
Later that night Charlotte and I sat on the balcony of her midtown apartment. Aunt Addie and Mom had staggered and giggled the whole way up to Charlotte's floor. Now, Aunt Addie snored happily from the sofa, and Mom slept in Charlotte's bed. We propped our feet up on the railing and enjoyed the view overlooking Piedmont Park. From eight stories up the city at night looked like a string of fireflies and neon sparklers being waved around in midair. The lights were so bright they crowded out the stars that filled the night sky back home. I lifted my camera and took a picture, mourning the fact that I had left my vintage Canon at home.
The great love of my lifeâbesides Nick, of courseâwas an old 35 mm film camera that my father gave me when I was ten. I took that camera with me everywhere, shooting pictures of an embarrassing number of flowers, dogs, and sunsets on the lake. That first camera started something inside me that grew way beyond those blurry photos from the early years. It led me out of Truhart to New York, where I followed my dream of studying photography. It stayed with me during the difficult times when my father was sick and I drove home almost every weekend. And it made the final trip with me when I left school early and returned home.
The camera I now held was digital. Like Nick, the old film camera didn't have a place in my life anymore.
Charlotte let out a deep breath and I lowered the camera. She said, “Sorry about the party tonight. It really did start small. But before we knew it we had almost a hundred people coming.”
“That's all right. Just warn me next time. I'll make sure to take Aunt Annie and Mom to the outlet mall. Maybe I could convince Aunt Addie to purchase shoes that were made in this century next time.”
“Oh, Annie, do you think Mom is upset that we're planning an Atlanta wedding?”
I had been secretly relieved when Charlotte had mentioned her plans to hold the wedding in Atlanta. There was so much that needed fixing at the inn that I wasn't sure we could handle a wedding. The last big event we had hosted was Harriet Knopf 's ninetieth birthday party. “We completely understand why you want to get married here. Before tonight Aunt Addie was upset . . . but since she is the new belle of Atlanta, she may be coming around. How much do you think she drank?”
“Who knows? Oh my God, did you see her try to give the Lowells' financial adviser a lesson in ice fishing?”
“That wasn't nearly as bad as when she hoisted her leg up on the chair and readjusted her garters in front of Mrs. Lowell.”
Charlotte drew her knees up and rested her chin in her hands. “That's classic Aunt Addie! Where does she even buy garters these days?”
“Believe me, I don't even want to ask.”
“Thank goodness I warned Henry. Now maybe he'll believe all the stories I tell.”
I looked over at Charlotte and put my hand on her arm. We had long since changed out of our dresses into T-shirts and loose shorts. “I am so glad you found someone who loves you as much as Henry seems to.”
“Me too! Oh, Annie, he is so wonderful. And you know how worried I was about how his mother would handle Aunt Addie? He was twice as worried about how all of you would like his mother!”
“Really?”
“Well, come on. You had to have noticed. Don't be polite. She
is
a bit uptight.”
“Well, I don't know . . .”
“Annie! June Lowell isâwell, she's not Mom. Henry says his father was the grounded one in the family.”
My antenna went up. Charlotte's distress was more than just a fleeting concern.
“How does she feel about you marrying her little boy?”
“Henry won't tell me what she says to him. I think it's still taking time for her to adjust to the fact that her only son is marrying not only a Yankee but a small-town country girl. He says not to worry. I like his little sister, Jessica. Too bad she won't talk to me. But his mother? She never seems happy. Henry says she is always like that. He says she would complain that her ice cream was too cold.”
“Well, you can charm anyone, Charlotte.” I leaned back to take her picture and just before I released the shutter she stuck her tongue out.
She grinned and put her hand out. “Annie! Stop it.”
It was a common scenario, her making faces at me. Then she continued. “I guess I am being too critical. June can be nice. And I think we are growing a little closer. But she has already given me an initial guest list. It's longer than the IRS tax code.”
“Just how big is this wedding going to be?” I asked tentatively.
“Henry and I insist it has to be below three hundred. But June has bigger ideas. Evidently her country club holds more than five hundred and she wants to fill every corner so she can break the record.”
“Wow. It sounds, well, really fancy,” I said, wondering how our family would ever pay for such an extravagant celebration.
“Don't worry, Annie. Henry and I insist on paying for a lot of it. That is why we refuse to give in to June's pressure.”
“They say mothers-in-law are some of the biggest problems in marriages. It's not going to get much better, Charlotte. Do you think you can handle her?”
She shrugged. “I don't know. If I thought Henry wanted me to change, I would have been out of this relationship so fast . . .” She took a deep breath and sat back. “But Henry tells me every single day that he loves who I am. He isn't disappointed in a single thing about me.”
“Why should he ever be disappointed? You are the best. Besides, you're an Adler. âOur ancestors cleared virgin forests with their bare hands, rid our county of wolves, andâ' ”
“ ââbrewed beer for the town during harsh winters,'” we finished in unison. God knows we'd heard Aunt Addie say it often enough over the years.
“We may be politically incorrect, but a little snobbery isn't going to bring us down now,” I added.
She giggled. I couldn't see her face very well in the shadows, but I hoped she was feeling better.
“So, is something going on with you and Nick Conrad?” Charlotte asked.
“What? No. Nothing.” I heard her chuckle. “Oh, come on! Don't laugh at me that way. I was something like ten years old when I had a crush on Nick. It isn't even worth talking about.”
“I don't know, he certainly kept watching you tonight.”
“Yeah. He was probably making sure I didn't break the crystal.”
“Annie, sometimes you are so blind! You are a beautiful woman who men find attractive.”
“Don't worry, I am going to be your maid of honor no matter what. You don't have to compliment me.”
Charlotte slapped me lightly on the shoulder. “Annie! You are one of those women people are drawn to. It's not just that you are attractive, which you are, by the way. It's that you are so, I don't know, so easy to talk to, and I know Nickâ”
“Hey, you know how you said Henry loves everything about you and would never want you to change? Well, when Nick Conrad thinks of me, which isn't very often, I might add, all he probably wishes is that I stay far away from him. Like
another continent
type of far away. He sees me as a walking booby trap.”
“I think you're exaggerating.”
“Only the part about him actually thinking of me.”
Charlotte paused for a moment. In the silence she drew a circle on her knee. “I don't know . . .” she said.
A siren blared in the distance and I tensed involuntarily. Sirens in cities always reminded me of a time in my life I wanted to forget about.
Charlotte interrupted my thoughts with another giggle. “Well, it will be fun to see you dance with Nick. You know the maid of honor always dances with the best man,” she said in a light, singsong voice.
I had forgotten about that. Good Lord! I was probably going to break his toes. Or worse, force him into a potted cactus!
“Thanks a lot, Sis!” I said sarcastically, trying not to let myself get excited about the prospect of Nick holding me in his arms.
“Are you going to be all right driving back to Michigan alone?”
“Of course I will. Mom will take Aunt Addie on the plane and I will have a nice, relaxing ride home. Besides, you are saving my checkbook by letting me have the truck.”
“It's the least I can do for my maid of honor.”
I stared out at the Atlanta skyline and wondered what Charlotte would say if she knew how much her giving me the car helped, and how tough things were back in Truhart. We hadn't wanted to bother her with bad news. At least not yet.
In the old days the inn was full of people playing euchre in the lobby. Self-described hackers lined our nine-hole golf course, despite the fact that the greens were indistinguishable from the fairways. And tipsy octogenarians sang camp songs by the piano in the dining room at midnight.
But times had changed. Charlotte didn't need to hear the depressing details of the inn's slow demise.
“I am really excited about your wedding, honey. This is going to be a wonderful time in your life.” I sounded as artificial as that jolly weatherman with the big hair on Charlotte's TV show. Well, everyone on
The Morning Show
sounded like that, so maybe she wouldn't notice my lack of sincerity.