Merrier With You

by Ellen Joy

  She turned back toward the minivan, her footsteps hollow against the wooden platform. She studied the harbor one last time. Sea smoke rose from the water, twisting up into the air as if the ocean itself was exhaling. It was loose and easy and soft. Then dock shifted, its surface unsteady, the floating dock dipped into the water, shifting the sea smoke around her.

  Matt walked onto the wooden platform.

  As he came closer, he smiled and stopped a few yards away from her. All the things she was planning on saying now lost in fear. What if she was wrong? What if she once again didn’t see things clearly and it ends up like her and Eric? Or like Matt and his ex-wife? Or her parents?

  “Katie, I just –” He stopped and so did her heart, as he stood in silence, as if he were contemplating what to say. Thick snowflakes began fell from the sky, tumbling down around them. Then he asked, “Want to go to Perkin’s Beach and collect sea glass?”

  A laugh escaped as she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  “I would love to.”

  And she kissed him again.

  Twenty

  Kate held the empty box and looked out at her office, thinking about what to pack next.

  Rodney swiveled in an office chair. “Come on, O’Neil, it’s always been you and me.” He stood up and walked toward her. “What am I going to do without you?”

  Kate smiled and gave him the hug he was looking for. She would miss him, too. She wouldn’t deny how much he had done for her. But it was time.

  “You’ll be fine.” She moved to the bookshelf, hurrying, she had a lot to do before tomorrow. But she stopped what she was doing and said, “Thank you, Rodney, seriously. You gave me a chance to learn here and I appreciate it.”

  “Good luck, O’Neil.” He gave her a nod. “You will do great.”

  It meant the world he stood behind her. Even though she had nothing to stand behind. She had no official office, no legal paperwork claiming to be a business, no employees, and no income, but she knew with all her heart, she was making the right choice.

  When he left, she went back to the books on her shelf and stuffed the box. She wanted to get the day over.

  She drove down 94 to Minneapolis, her stomach twisted from nerves. She would meet her sister and pack up her and Eric’s house. The fact they were selling a house they never ended up living in seemed more than satirical.

  She waited outside the house in her car, not wanting to go in until Jen came, who promised to help pack up the rest of Kate’s belongings.

  Her phone rang on the console and her heart dropped when she saw her sister’s name. “Please tell me you’re close.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Jen began. “I can’t make it. I got a call from the school nurse. Gabby’s sick.”

  She sat staring at the front door she had always wanted to paint red, like in New England. Red doors were on almost all New England homes.

  She would be fine.

  “Oh, Kate,” Jen’s voice became sympathetic. “You’ll be okay, you will.”

  Was she being selfish if she made her sister feel guilty? She wanted to have someone supportive to help her plow through the house of memories and get the hell out.

  “Please don’t be mad,” Jen said. “When Josh comes home, I’ll come right away.”

  “No, it’s okay.” Kate tried to feign happiness. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Fine?” Jen could read through her better than anyone.

  “Well, I’ll survive.”

  “I swear I’ll floor it out there as soon as Josh comes home from work.”

  “No, it’s fine.” Kate looked at the mid-century bungalow and said, “It’s better if I get it done and over with. I have to go.”

  Letting out a long slow breath, she popped open her car door, got out, and walked up the front walk to the house. The “for sale” sign had been dug through the snow, even though it was under agreement with a buyer. Now it was up to the banks.

  When she entered, more boxes packed than the day before. Eric had been busy. She didn’t want any of the furniture, most the books and any of the other items, really. She wanted very little when all was said or done.

  She walked through the living room and noticed how the house had been decorated more to the likening of Eric than of her. The walls painted gray and neutral. The leather couch and chairs masculine with decorative pillows that showed a little of herself.

  A piece of art hung in the dining room and made her remember the fight over it. Eric liked still life photography. Black and white photographs of the city, the lakes and of the natural landscape of Minnesota filled the walls. She had wanted color and something that symbolized them, but she gave in, like a watercolor of the city or a colored photo of Lake Superior. They got a black and white print of Ansel Adams framed in black.

  The photos of her and Eric were still on the mantle. The weekend they spent in Duluth, the Twins game, and camping up in the Boundary Waters. Looking at the photos was like looking at another’s social feed or photo album, foreign and distant.

  After two hours, she had gone through the bedroom, then the bathrooms and removed anything that was hers. She realized as she walked through the downstairs, nothing of her remained. And it looked exactly the same.

  She checked the time. Eric would be out of work soon and she wanted to avoid him if possible. She hurried as she carried out a box to the car, but when she opened the porch door, his car pulled into the driveway.

  She carried on, walking out and straight to her car.

  “You need any help?” he asked as soon as he got out.

  She looked at the box in her hands. “No, I’m fine.”

  “I can grab another box for you.”

  She could feel her panic mode set in. Her breath short, her airway tight, her pulse rushed. But as she looked out at him, his gray eyes now softer, kinder than before, all the worry lifted. Things weren’t the same for him, either. “Sure.”

  He gave a nod and headed inside, bringing the biggest one out to her car. “Were you able to finish packing?”

  She nodded. “I got most of it. I guess the rest is yours.”

  He dropped the box into the back of her car and stood. The silence was deafening. “I can’t take all that stuff, Kate.”

  “Really, I don’t want it.”

  “I guess you are in a rush to get back to the guy.” He had broken their unspoken agreement to bring up Matt. “Does he not like decorative items?”

  She studied him for a moment, then asked what she had wanted to ask from Christmas. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “What?”

  “When you broke off our engagement and let me go on our vacation alone, why didn’t you call me? Or at least text me back?” She was being rhetorical, so she kept talking. “You didn’t call to see if I was okay, or if I made it safely. You didn’t call to wish me a Merry Christmas even though you knew I was alone. You didn’t text me back when I texted you. Not for at least a few days. Not once. You may have called off the engagement, but your silence ended our relationship.”

  He placed his hands on his hips and dropped his head. “You’re right.”

  “The worst part was that you made me feel as though there was something wrong with me.” Kate blew out a hard breath. “I need to get the last of my things and I’ll be on my way.”

  She walked back to the house and Eric followed behind. No need for further conversation. They both grabbed another big box, carried it out to the car. They worked in silence bringing the rest of her things to her Volkswagen hatchback.

  When there was no more room, she still had a few boxes left sitting in the kitchen.

  “I can bring the rest to your mother’s, if you’d like,” he said.

  She shook her head. “I’ll come and get it.”

  “You must be starving.” He took off his tie. “I was going to order some dinner. Would you like to have something to eat before you go?”

  She shook her head. “No. I should get going.”<
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  “Let’s not make our last moment together like this.”

  “Like what?”

  “Come on, Kate. We loved each other at one time.” His eyes were pleading.

  She closed the back of her car, twisting the keys in her hands. As she stood there, she felt no animosity toward him. In fact, she felt a strange excitement. A chapter of her life had finally ended.

  “Goodbye, Eric.” She reached out and gave him a hug. He tried to say something, but got into her car, not hearing a word.

  She smiled as she started the engine. New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.

  “IS IT NECESSARY FOR everyone in the family to drive me to the airport?” Matt asked Elizabeth.

  Jack rolled his eyes, flipping the keys in his hands. “Are we going or what?”

  “Be patient.” Elizabeth dropped a tea bag into a mug. “It’s a long drive and I want a cup of tea.”

  “Seriously?” Matt bounced his knee. “If we don’t leave soon, I’m going chicken out.”

  “You won’t miss your flight, I promise.”

  “Make me one then, too,” Jack said, stuffing the keys in his pocket.

  “Are you kidding me?” Matt grabbed his hockey bag, his make-shift suitcase. “You, two, are killing me”

  He walked out the door to the van where inside Frank, David and his mother sat. He slid open the minivan’s door, his mother’s van. The three of them took the back.

  “Where’s your brother and sister?” Sarah asked, looking up at the apartment door.

  “They’re making tea.”

  “They’re making tea upstairs?” Frank shook his head. “They could’ve just asked for a cup from us.”

  Matt shrugged, not in the mood to talk to anyone, especially not about something like tea. It didn’t matter, he supposed, since he was about to die in less than three hours.

  “You will not die,” Sarah said, reading his mind.

  “We’ll see.” Matt rubbed his hands together and blew on them. The van still needed to warm up. The winter’s temperatures still well below freezing.

  Soon, Elizabeth and Jack came down from the apartment, and both sat up front. Just as Jack started the engine, Alex Martinez pulled his police cruiser up to them, and got out waving.

  “Hey,” Jack rolled down his window. “What’s up, man?”

  Alex shook Jack’s hand, but looked inside the van. “I’m actually here to talk to Matt. Where are you all going?”

  “We’re taking Matt to the airport,” Jack said.

  “Have you taken a valium or anything?” Alex had known Matt long enough to know his fear of flying.

  “I tried to tell him.”

  “I’m not taking a dog’s prescription of a muscle relaxer.”

  “Veterinary medicine is just as complicated if not more than the human medical practice.”

  Matt looked at his watch. If they didn’t leave soon, he’d be cutting it close, and there would most likely be traffic at that time of the day.

  “We really need to get going,” he said. “Can it wait?”

  “It won’t take long,” Alex said. “We can talk right here, if you’d like.”

  Matt figured the family would hear either way, so he opened the door and just stepped out.

  “What do you need to talk about?”

  “We arrested two men last night, who we believe sunk your boat.”

  “Really?” Matt couldn’t believe it. “How’d­-”

  “What did he say?” Frank called out from the back of the van.

  Jack leaned forward in the seat practically sitting on Elizabeth to hear through the window. “You caught the guys who sunk Matt’s boat?!”

  “Who is it?” Elizabeth asked.

  “We went through all the surveillance tapes from around town on the night they sank your boat,” Alex said.” We saw two men walking down the dock toward your boat at two-thirty AM, and came back at about three-fifteen AM,” Alex said. “Then, with the footage from the tavern’s front door camera, we could identify the two faces inside a vehicle driving down Harbor Lane at three-eighteen AM. We then traced the license plates to a man named Bruce Irving from Dorchester, Massachusetts.”

  “They’re from out of state?” It made little sense. “What did they have to gain from sinking my boat?”

  “About five thousand dollars.”

  “What?”

  “We charged Freddy last night for hiring the two men to sink your boat.”

  “Shut up!” Elizabeth mouth dropped.

  “We arrested Freddy and the other men last night.”

  Matt looked at his watch, hoping he didn’t have to go to the station. It was already past seven AM, his flight was in less than three hours and they had at least a forty-minute drive. Once the town of Camden Cove found out Freddy paid two guys from out of state to sink his boat, then got arrested, Matt would never be able to leave.

  He reached out and shook Alex’s hand. “Thanks for everything, man, but I really got to go.”

  Alex shook it back, a smile on his face. “Absolutely, it’s my job.”

  Matt opened the van’s sliding door and jumped in. “Let’s go.’

  Elizabeth waved out the window as Jack pulled away.

  “I can’t believe Freddy got arrested.” Frank shook his head.

  “Serves him right to do such a foolish thing.” David tsked his tongue. “I can’t believe he thought he could get away with it.”

  “Five thousand dollars is a lot of money, if Freddy had asked me, I’d have done it for as little as three,” Jack teased.

  “Jack!”

  “Ha, ha.” Matt felt his phone vibrate. A text from Kate.

  I can’t wait to see you.

  Do you think you could wait a couple days?

  Why?!

  I think I might drive instead.

  I’ll be here the minute you land.

  I love you.

  I love you, too.

  Matt looked up from his phone, Jack had already reached the highway, headed north.

  “I wouldn’t want to be Justine,” Elizabeth said.

  All the troubles of his past seemed so irrelevant, so futile, that he laughed at the whole scenario. “Can you imagine Freddy sitting in jail?”

  The van erupted in laughter. Jokes about Freddy’s sentence floated around the van throughout the drive. David wiped away tears as he kept coming up with new jokes.

  When they finally reached the airport, Jack turned the blinker on for the visitor’s parking, but Matt insisted they drop him off at departures. “I don’t need you all going in with me.”

  “We want to make sure you get on the plane, that’s all,” Sarah said from the back.

  “We love you. Call us when you get there,” Elizabeth kissed him on the cheek.

  He leaned in and hugged the old timers in the back, then grabbed his bag and walked away, without looking back. He had just under two hours to go.

  The first thing he needed to do was get to a bathroom, because he was certain he was about to throw up, because of the flight, because of Freddy, but mostly because his life was about to change forever.

  KATIE WAITED IN THE baggage claim. In a matter of minutes, Matt would be landing. She couldn’t contain her emotions. One minute, she’s giggling with happiness while the next, tears of joy as she thought of him walking down the steps toward her.

  She asked him to come to Minnesota and drive with her back to Camden Cove. Vivi had offered the guest room and rent free until she found her own place. She would set up her office there, too. After that, she wasn’t sure, which freaked out her mom, but she didn’t let her bother her.

  Her mom told her she was rushing it, but her sister Jen cheered her independence, and helped her rent the trailer to haul all her stuff.

  A text sprung her phone to life. We landed. See you soon.

  See you soon!

  She had packed the trailer the night before. They’d leave as soon as they could after having lunch with the f
amily. Everyone wanted to meet Matt, even her dad. The boy they had heard about for years, but never met.

  She and Matt planned to leave for Chicago first thing in the morning, spend a few days there, and then hit Niagara Falls. After that, they would head to Quebec to stay with some of Frank’s relatives along with Frank and David who were meeting them there. Once they returned to the states, Kate O’Neil Designs would be open for business.

  She watched as all walks of life stepped out of the terminal to the baggage claim. Men, women and children took the escalator or climbed down the stairs as time crept along.

  Where was he?

  She peeked at her phone, triple checking if he had left a message. Maybe he stopped for the restroom or forgot something on the plane. She looked up, just as a man walked around the corner with a Red Sox baseball cap covering his eyes, but she knew he was looking for her.

  As she stepped away from the wall, he saw her, and his grin grew, making her laugh out loud, catching the stranger’s attention that stood next to her. She started to walk, as he moved down the steps toward her, crisscrossing through fellow travelers.

  When he arrived at the bottom, they stopped in front of each other, but for only a second before he dropped his bag, reached out, and pulled her lips to his then kissed her.

  The stranger’s eyes had widened.

  “Welcome to Minnesota,” she said as soon as they parted.

  “Thanks for asking me to come.”

  The Next Chapter

  Every April, as long as Matt could remember, his uncles threw a black-tie event at La Patisserie for the season opener. All the commerce in Camden Cove reopened its doors. It had always been one of the big events everyone in Camden Cove looked forward to. Though, only in Maine are winter boots optional as footwear.

  David always baked dozens of desserts and treats. Frank bought plenty of champagne for all the guests, and everyone else supplied the rest.

  This year’s party was no exception. His uncles outdid themselves once again. A string trio played in the background under Christmas lights, as neighbors and business owners of Camden Cove mingled and ate David’s delicacies.