Family Ties

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.”

I nodded.

“At the party I guess I got scared that you might not like me the way I liked you. So I said what I did when I introduced you.” She paused and drew a deep, shuddering breath. “And then tonight. I had fun with you all day, even though I barely saw you… I knew you were with me, if that makes sense.”

“It does.”

“But then I panicked and thought you might not like my family or something. So I said that stupid thing about the ring.”

“It wasn’t entirely stupid. I thought it was kinda cute, actually.”

“You did?”

“Mmm hmm.

“But you didn’t think it was cute what I said at the party.”

“Um… no. I thought you were moving way too fast.”

She nodded. “I wanna take it slow too. I just forget sometimes.”

“That’s okay. I do too.” I rested a hand on her knee. “Do you think it’d be moving too fast if I kissed you?” She shook her head, so I followed through.

“And I think we’ll be okay if we make out a little.”

“I’d like that.”

“Do you mind if we do it under the blankets? I’m freezing.”

“Oh my gosh! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, we were having such a good talk, and…” I shrugged. We stood, and I had a sudden idea. I gestured at her pajamas. “Are you wearing anything underneath?”

She thought about it for a long time before she nodded.