complicated that she finally gave up on trying. Everybody
seemed to be related to everybody, although if she was interpreting it correctly,
there were actually four families: the Bradleys, the MacKenzies, the
Lindstroms, and the Kenneallys. They were just embarrassingly intermarried,
like hillbillies from Appalachia.
If she stayed here for any length
of time, eventually she’d probably figure it all out. For tonight, she would
focus on the boys, with whom Trish had left her after the whirlwind of
introductions. Mikey, because he was possibly the best-looking guy she’d ever seen,
and Luke, because he seemed so familiar.
“I know you,” he said, studying
her with eyes that she already recognized as the MacKenzie green. “From South
Boston. We went to school together.”
That explained the familiarity.
“So we’re cousins, and we never knew it? How’d you wind up here, at the end of
the earth?”
“My mom married his dad.” He
elbowed Mikey, who stood silently at his side, looking gorgeous but inexplicably
grim. “So we moved here.”
“How do you stand it? Do you
even have cable TV? We—I mean they— he and his wife—don’t. I can’t even
watch MTV. All they have is the local channels.”
“It’s not so bad here. School’s
okay. I’ve made a lot of friends, and Uncle Rob gives me private guitar
lessons. I’ve started a band with a couple of the guys. There’s no cable TV
this far out, but we have a satellite dish. You’re welcome to come over and
watch it any time you want.”
Her interest was immediately
piqued. “You have a band? A real band?”
“Well, we’re not playing anywhere
yet except Tobey’s garage, but, yeah, we get together a couple times a week to
practice.”
“What do you play?”
“Rock. Blues. A little of this,
a little of that. You can come to practice with me sometime if you’d like.”
“I’d like. So where do people
shop around here? I’m used to just hopping on the T to Downtown Crossing. How
far is it to the nearest mall?”
The boys exchanged glances.
“Girl stuff,” Luke said, and Mikey nodded agreement.
“There’s a few stores in town,”
Mikey said. “Bookstore, five-and-ten, drugstore, shoe store. That kind of
thing. The nearest mall is in Auburn, but it’s pretty small. If you’re
looking for a real mall, you have to go to South Portland. It’s about a
hundred miles.”
“Oh. My. God.”
Without warning, the stereo
speakers on the deck started blaring some kind of bouncy pop song so ancient it
might have come over on the Mayflower. Something about a girl crying at her
own birthday party because her boyfriend took off with another chick. Why did
she suspect it was one of the records he had brought with him? “What on
God’s green earth is this dreck?” she asked.
“Something old,” Mikey said.
“From when they were kids. The Sixties, I think.”
“Would that be the 1860s?”
The solid wall of ice that was
his face thawed just a bit, and she saw it in those dark eyes: the beginnings
of a smile. So he wasn’t always grim. “Are you telling me,” she said, “that
you put up with this crap every weekend?”
“We put in an appearance,” Luke
said. “Greet everyone, have a burger or a hot dog, a little potato salad, make
nice with the relatives. And then—”
“We escape,” Mikey said.
Casey
“So Chuck told him to take a long
walk off a short pier.” Paula Fournier raised her beer bottle and grinned.
“It was a beautiful moment.”
Paula upended the beer and
chugged it, and they all laughed at her story. Casey glanced around the group
of women. She’d missed this kind of female camaraderie. All those years she
was married to Danny, she’d acutely felt its absence. She had been a woman
living in a man’s world. Even after they bought the Malibu house and Katie
came along and they settled into a fractured
seemed to be related to everybody, although if she was interpreting it correctly,
there were actually four families: the Bradleys, the MacKenzies, the
Lindstroms, and the Kenneallys. They were just embarrassingly intermarried,
like hillbillies from Appalachia.
If she stayed here for any length
of time, eventually she’d probably figure it all out. For tonight, she would
focus on the boys, with whom Trish had left her after the whirlwind of
introductions. Mikey, because he was possibly the best-looking guy she’d ever seen,
and Luke, because he seemed so familiar.
“I know you,” he said, studying
her with eyes that she already recognized as the MacKenzie green. “From South
Boston. We went to school together.”
That explained the familiarity.
“So we’re cousins, and we never knew it? How’d you wind up here, at the end of
the earth?”
“My mom married his dad.” He
elbowed Mikey, who stood silently at his side, looking gorgeous but inexplicably
grim. “So we moved here.”
“How do you stand it? Do you
even have cable TV? We—I mean they— he and his wife—don’t. I can’t even
watch MTV. All they have is the local channels.”
“It’s not so bad here. School’s
okay. I’ve made a lot of friends, and Uncle Rob gives me private guitar
lessons. I’ve started a band with a couple of the guys. There’s no cable TV
this far out, but we have a satellite dish. You’re welcome to come over and
watch it any time you want.”
Her interest was immediately
piqued. “You have a band? A real band?”
“Well, we’re not playing anywhere
yet except Tobey’s garage, but, yeah, we get together a couple times a week to
practice.”
“What do you play?”
“Rock. Blues. A little of this,
a little of that. You can come to practice with me sometime if you’d like.”
“I’d like. So where do people
shop around here? I’m used to just hopping on the T to Downtown Crossing. How
far is it to the nearest mall?”
The boys exchanged glances.
“Girl stuff,” Luke said, and Mikey nodded agreement.
“There’s a few stores in town,”
Mikey said. “Bookstore, five-and-ten, drugstore, shoe store. That kind of
thing. The nearest mall is in Auburn, but it’s pretty small. If you’re
looking for a real mall, you have to go to South Portland. It’s about a
hundred miles.”
“Oh. My. God.”
Without warning, the stereo
speakers on the deck started blaring some kind of bouncy pop song so ancient it
might have come over on the Mayflower. Something about a girl crying at her
own birthday party because her boyfriend took off with another chick. Why did
she suspect it was one of the records he had brought with him? “What on
God’s green earth is this dreck?” she asked.
“Something old,” Mikey said.
“From when they were kids. The Sixties, I think.”
“Would that be the 1860s?”
The solid wall of ice that was
his face thawed just a bit, and she saw it in those dark eyes: the beginnings
of a smile. So he wasn’t always grim. “Are you telling me,” she said, “that
you put up with this crap every weekend?”
“We put in an appearance,” Luke
said. “Greet everyone, have a burger or a hot dog, a little potato salad, make
nice with the relatives. And then—”
“We escape,” Mikey said.
Casey
“So Chuck told him to take a long
walk off a short pier.” Paula Fournier raised her beer bottle and grinned.
“It was a beautiful moment.”
Paula upended the beer and
chugged it, and they all laughed at her story. Casey glanced around the group
of women. She’d missed this kind of female camaraderie. All those years she
was married to Danny, she’d acutely felt its absence. She had been a woman
living in a man’s world. Even after they bought the Malibu house and Katie
came along and they settled into a fractured
Similar Books
