Thats too bad, Ronnie sympathized.
Yeah, but it taught me that I should probably read all the directions next time.
Did you crash it?
No, it ran out of gas. He glanced at her. Do you want to try?
Id better not, Ronnie demurred. Im not good at things like that.
Its not too hard, Tom assured her. This is one of the beginner planes. Its supposed to be idiot-proof. Of course, the last one was, too, so what does that tell you?
That maybe you should have read the directions?
Right, he said. There was something about the way he said it that made him sound just like Will.
Did you and Susan talk about the wedding? he asked.
Ronnie shook her head. No. Will mentioned something about it, though.
I had to spend two hours today at the florists looking at flower arrangements. Have you ever spent two hours looking at flower arrangements?
No.
Consider yourself lucky.
Ronnie giggled, relieved to be out here with him. Just then Will came up behind her, freshly showered and dressed neatly in a polo shirt and shorts. Both name brand, but she supposed she should have expected that.
Youll have to forgive my dad. He sometimes forgets hes an adult, Will quipped.
At least Im honest. And I didnt see you racing home to help.
I had a volleyball game.
Yeah, Im sure that was the reason. And I gotta tell you, Ronnie here is a whole lot prettier than you let on.
Though Ronnie smiled with pleasure, Will cringed. Dad
Its true, Tom added quickly. Dont be embarrassed. After making sure the plane was flying straight again, he glanced at Ronnie. He gets embarrassed a lot. He used to be the shyest kid in the world. He couldnt even sit near a pretty girl without his cheeks turning bright red.
Will, meanwhile, was shaking his head in disbelief. I cant believe youre saying this, Dad.
Right in front of her.
Whats the problem? Tom looked at Ronnie. Does that bother you?
Not at all.
See? He tapped Wills chest, as if hed proved his point. She doesnt care.
Thanks for that. He grimaced.
What are dads for? Hey, you want to give this thing a whirl?
I really cant. Im supposed to bring Ronnie home so we can have dinner.
Listen to me. Even if they serve you eggplant on rutabaga with tofu, I want you to eat what they put in front of you and then make sure you compliment them on the meal, Tom admonished.
Itll be probably just be pasta, Ronnie said, grinning.
Really? Tom seemed disappointed. Hell eat that.
What? You dont want me to eat?
Its always good to experience new things. Howd it go at the shop today?
Thats what I needed to talk to you about. Jay said theres a problem with the computer or the softwareeverything keeps double printing.
Just at the flagship or everywhere?
I dont know.
Tom sighed. I suppose Id better check it out, then. Assuming, of course, I can land this thing. And you two have a good time, okay?
A few minutes later, after getting into the truck, Will jingled his keys before starting his engine.
Sorry about all that. My dad sometimes says the craziest things.
Dont be sorry. I like him.
And I wasnt that shy, by the way. My cheeks never turned bright red.
Of course they didnt.
Im serious. I was always smooth.
Im sure you were, she said, reaching over to pat his knee. But listen. About tonight. My family has this weird tradition.
* * *
Youre lying! Will shouted. Youve been lying all night and Im sick and tired of it.
Dont even go there! Ronnie shouted back. Youre the one whos lying!
The dishes from dinner had long ago been clearedDad had served spaghetti and marinara sauce, as predicted, with Will making sure to clean his plateand they were now sitting at the kitchen table holding playing cards to their foreheads in a game of liars poker. Will was holding an eight of hearts, Steve a three of hearts, and Jonah a nine of spades. Piles of change were stacked in front of each of them, and the pot in the middle overflowed with nickels and dimes.
Youre both lying, Jonah added. Neither of you knows how to tell the truth.
Will offered Jonah his game face and reached into his pile of change. A quarter says you dont know what youre talking about.
Her dad started shaking his head. Bad move, young man. Its over. Im going to have to raise you fifty cents.
Ill see that! Ronnie cried. Both Jonah and Will immediately followed suit.
They paused, all of them eying one another before slapping their cards down on the table.
Ronnie, seeing that shed been holding an eight, surmised that theyd all lost to Jonah. Again.
Youre all liars! he said. His winnings, she noticed, were twice as much as anyone elses, and as she watched her brother drag the change pile toward him, she observed that at least to this point, the evening had gone pretty well. She hadnt known what to expect when shed brought Will over, since it was the first time shed ever brought a boy to meet her father. Would he try to give them space by hiding out in the kitchen? Would he try to become buddies with Will? Would he do or say something that embarrassed her? On the drive to her house, shed already begun thinking of escape plans she could use as soon as they finished dinner.
As soon as they stepped inside, however, she had a good feeling. For starters, the house was picked up, Jonah was obviously under orders not to cling to their sides or question Will like a prosecutor, and her dad met Will with a simple handshake and an easygoing, Its a pleasure to meet you. Will was on his best behavior, of course, answering questions with Yes, sir and
No, sir, which struck her as endearing in a southern kind of way. The dinner conversation was easy; her dad asked some questions about the work Will did at the garage and at the aquarium, and Jonah went so far as to put his napkin in his lap. Best of all, her father didnt say anything embarrassing, and though he brought up the fact that he used to teach at Juilliard, he didnt volunteer that hed been her teacher or that shed once played at Carnegie Hall or that theyd written songs together, nor had he mentioned the fact that until a few days ago, he and Ronnie had been completely estranged. When Jonah asked for cookies after hed finished, both Ronnie and her dad burst out laughing, making Will wonder what was so funny. Together, the four of them pitched in to clean up the table, and when Jonah suggested that they play liars poker, Will had agreed enthusiastically.
As for Will, he was just the kind of guy her mom wanted Ronnie to date: polite, respectful, intelligent, and best of all, sans tattoos It might have been nice to have her mom there, if only to assure her that her daughter hadnt gone completely off the deep end. On the other hand, her mom probably would have been so excited about the whole thing that she would have either tried to adopt Will on the spot or gushed to Ronnie a million times after he was gone about what a nice young man he was, which only would have made Ronnie want to end the whole thing before her mom got too carried away. Her dad would do none of those thingshe seemed to trust Ronnies judgment and was content to let her make her own decisions without inserting his own opinions.
Which was really weird, considering he was only just starting to get to know her again, and also kind of sad at the same time, because she was beginning to think shed made a big mistake by avoiding him for the past three years. It might have been nice to talk to him when her mom was driving her crazy.
All in all, she was glad shed invited Will over. It certainly was easier for him to meet her dad than it had been for Ronnie to meet Susan. The woman scared the living daylights out of her.
Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but she was definitely intimidated. The woman had made it abundantly clear that she either didnt like Ronnie or didnt like the fact that her son liked Ronnie.
Normally, she wouldnt have cared what someones parent thought of her, and she wouldnt have given a second thought to the way shed been dressed. She was who she was, after all
This was the first time in what seemed like forever that shed felt she didnt measure up, and it had bothered her far more than shed thought it would.
As darkness fell and the game of liars poker began to wind down, she sensed Will watching her. She returned his gaze with a smile.
Im almost out, he announced, fingering his pile of change.
I know. I am, too.
He glanced toward the window. Do you think it would be okay if we went for a walk?
This time, she knew with certainty that he was asking because he wanted to spend some time alone with herbecause he cared about her, even if he was unsure whether she felt the same way.
She met his eyes directly. Id love to go for a walk.
20Will
The beach stretched for miles, separated from Wilmington by the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. It had changed, of course, since Will was a kidgrowing more congested in the summers, small bungalows like the one where Ronnie was living replaced by imposing oceanfront mansionsbut he still loved the ocean at night. When he was young, he used to ride his bike over to the beach, in the hope of seeing something interesting, and he was almost never disappointed. Hed seen large sharks washed up on the beach, sand castles so intricate they could have won any national competition, and once hed even spotted a whale, not fifty yards from shore, rolling in the water just beyond the surf.
Tonight, the place was deserted, and as he and Ronnie strolled barefoot through the breaking surf, he was struck by the thought that this was the girl with whom hed like to face the future.
He knew he was too young for such thoughts and was under no illusion that he was even considering marriage, but somehow he felt that if he met Ronnie ten years from now, she might be the one. He knew Scott wouldnt understand the conceptScott seemed unable to imagine a future that stretched past the upcoming weekendbut then Scott wasnt so different from most of his peers. It was as if their minds ran on separate tracks: He wasnt into one-night stands, he wasnt into scoring to see if he could, he wasnt into acting just charming enough to get what he wanted before cutting someone loose in favor of someone new and attractive. He just wasnt like that. He would never be like that. When he met a girl, the first question he asked himself wasnt whether she was good for a few dates; it was whether she was the kind of girl he could imagine spending time with over the long haul.
He supposed that had partly to do with his parents. Theyd been married for thirty years, started out struggling as many couples did, and over the years had built the business and raised a family. Through it all, they had loved each other well, celebrating their successes and supporting each other during tragedy. Neither of them was perfect, but hed grown up certain that they were a team, and eventually, hed absorbed that lesson.
It was easy to think that hed spent two years with Ashley because she was beautiful and rich, and though hed be lying if he said that her beauty was irrelevant, it was less important than the things he thought he saw in her. Shed listened to him just as hed listened to her, hed believed he could tell her anything, and vice versa. But over time, hed felt increasingly disappointed in her, especially when shed tearfully admitted that shed made out at a party with some guy from the local college. Things were never the same after that. Not because he worried that shed do something like that againeveryone made mistakes, and it had only been a kissbut somehow the incident helped crystallize his thoughts about what he wanted from the people he was closest to. He began to notice the way she treated other people, and he wasnt sure he liked what he saw. Her ceaseless gossipingonce something he considered harmlessbegan to annoy him, as did the long waits she made him endure while she readied herself to go out at night. He felt bad about eventually breaking up with her but consoled himself with the fact that hed only been fifteen when he first started dating her, and she was the first girlfriend hed ever had. In the end, he felt he had no other choice. He knew who he was and what was important to him, and he didnt see any of that reflected in Ashley. He figured it was better just to end the relationship before things got any harder.
His sister, Megan, was like him that way. Beautiful and smart, shed intimidated most of the boys shed ever dated. For a long time, she had flitted from one guy to the next, but not out of vanity or flightiness. When hed asked why she seemed unable to settle down, her answer had been straightforward: There are guys who grow up thinking theyll settle down some distant time in the future, and there are guys who are ready for marriage as soon as they meet the right person. The former bore me, mainly because theyre pathetic; and the latter, quite frankly, are hard to find. But its the serious ones Im interested in, and it takes time to find a guy like that whom Im equally interested in. I mean, if the relationship cant survive the long term, why on earth would it be worth my time and energy for the short term?
Megan. He smiled, thinking about her. She lived her life by her own rules. She had driven Mom crazy during the last six years with her attitude, of course, since shed quickly eliminated pretty much every guy in town who hailed from the kind of family of which his mother approved. But he had to admit, he thought Megan had gotten it right, and thankfully, shed been able to meet a guy in New York who satisfied all her criteria.