The Other Boy

by Hailey Abbott

  “Great!” Rain said aggressively. More silence, which was broken by the sound of a woman calling from the house.

  “Dinner is served! Fresh tomatoes are waiting!” Laughing and talking, guests began streaming up the path in twos and threes, clutching their glasses, the women picking their way carefully in high heels. Rain turned with a huff and flounced toward the house. Maddy tried to look nonchalant as she followed, attempting to squash the miserable anger welling up inside her.

  Dinner was buffet-style, so Maddy was able to avoid Rain completely, for which she was profoundly grateful. Proximity to that witch would’ve spoiled her appetite, and she planned to enjoy her rare sirloin.

  After filling her plate, Maddy perched next to her parents on an overstuffed bench on the expansive teak patio. She thought she might broach the subject of her birthday again. She’d been so good recently—working on the tasting room, helping around the house, not complaining. Dad had already said the shed looked even better than he had thought it would. They had to let her go to the city. Her annoyance with Brian faded as she smiled to herself, thinking of seeing him in San Francisco. It would make up for all of this work if she could just have a weekend alone with him, she thought, spearing a piece of nicely browned potato. She took a deep breath. “Um, guys.”

  Her mom looked up from her steak. She smiled fondly at her daughter. “Yes, sweetheart?”

  “Well, I was thinking about my birthday….” Mom looked at Dad and set down her fork. Maddy rushed ahead. “And you know how I had mentioned maybe I could go down to the city for a couple of days? Or just overnight?” she added hastily, seeing her mother open her mouth as if to object. “I mean, you know, since the tasting room is looking so good—right, Dad? A couple of days off wouldn’t hurt.”

  Maddy’s mother sighed and set her plate on the glass table in front of her. She looked at her husband. He chewed thoughtfully. “Maddy, you know it’s not about the work up here,” he said. “You’ve done a wonderful job so far—your mother and I have been very impressed. But of course, we’re concerned about what happened before. You know that’s why we’re reluctant to let you go to the city.”

  Maddy’s stomach plunged. “Dad, please! I know it was stupid to throw that party—I totally admit it! But how long are you going to punish me for it? Haven’t I shown you I can be responsible?” Her voice rose. A couple sitting a few feet away looked around curiously, but Maddy was too upset to care.

  Her dad shook his head. “Maddy, it’s not just the party. We have to wonder what other rules you’d disregard if we were to let you go back there alone. It’s time for you to show us that you understand what it means to be a part of this family. We know you miss Brian and Morgan and Kirsten, but your mom and I think it would best if you had just a small, family celebration for your birthday this year. We can do something low-key—maybe go into town for dinner and see a movie, all three of us.” He offered this like it was some sort of treat.

  Maddy could feel her face getting red. “Dinner and a movie with my parents? Thanks a lot, guys! That sounds like a great seventeenth birthday! While you’re at it, why don’t the two of you go ahead and buy a vineyard in Napa and then drag me up here all summer without considering what I was planning for my summer? Oh, I’m sorry, you already did that!” She saw a hurt look cross her mother’s face.

  Maddy leaped up from the bench, almost knocking the glass table over in the process. Ignoring the wide-eyed stares of the people around her, she fled into the house, angry tears starting in her eyes. She looked wildly around for a bathroom and spotted it through a half-open door. She darted in, turning the lock behind her, and stared furiously into the mirror. Her face, red and blotchy, stared back at her. They’re holding me prisoner here, she thought. Who knew what this would do to her relationship with Brian? He wasn’t going to be happy about it, that was for sure. He was probably going to forget about her, stuck up here in this pit! Maddy sat down on the closed toilet seat and reached for a tissue. She was going to lose her boyfriend over her parents’ stupid vineyard, and it was all their fault.

  She couldn’t spend all evening in the bathroom, so after a few minutes, Maddy splashed some cold water on her face and dried it with a soft blue hand towel. Gazing at her reflection again, she took deep breaths to get her heart rate under control. She rubbed on a little lip gloss and combed her hair. There. Now at least she didn’t look hysterical.

  Maddy opened the bathroom door and ran smack into David, who was standing right outside. “What are you doing here?” She gasped.

  He scratched his curly head. He was wearing a fitted navy blue polo shirt that skimmed his chest and khakis with Reef flip-flops. It was the first time Maddy had seen him in anything but an old T-shirt and jeans. He looks good, she thought to herself. “I’m staking out the bathroom to see if I can pick up chicks,” he told her. “See? It worked.”

  Maddy laughed, totally forgetting about her foul mood. “I thought you weren’t coming tonight,” she said. David led the way to a striped sofa in a corner of the huge, packed living room.

  “I decided I was in the mood for free food after all. Anyway, you can only watch ESPN Classic for so long before your brain starts melting.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and laced his fingers behind his head. “Nice place, huh?” he said, taking in the white armchairs, white rugs, and geometric black-and-white paintings on the walls.

  Maddy shrugged. “If you like this sort of thing. I’m more into—”

  “Hey, David.”

  They both craned around. Rain stood just behind the sofa, a frosty glass of mint lemonade in hand and a broad smile pasted on her face. “Oh, hi, Rain,” David replied. Maddy glanced quickly at his face. He looked relaxed and friendly as always but not particularly excited. Rain came around to the front of the couch and threw herself down into one of the white armchairs across from them.

  “What’s been going on with you?” She directed her question only at David, Maddy noticed bitterly.

  “Not much,” he said briefly, and turned back to Maddy. “Did I tell you my brilliant idea for the tasting room? I think I’m going to patent it.”

  Maddy smiled. “No, what, Einstein?”

  “I think we should do little tables instead of one long one.”

  “They have that over at Smithfield,” Rain broke in. “Have you been over there?” She looked at Maddy. “I don’t know if you’d be interested. It’s pretty…” She paused. “Rustic.” She giggled a little and glanced at David. He shrugged.

  “We’ve been rustic all week, haven’t we?” he replied, looking at Maddy instead of Rain. “The bike trip wasn’t exactly a luxury ride.”

  “Not exactly.” Maddy was only partly listening to David, though. She was watching Rain’s face, which wrinkled with confusion. This clearly wasn’t going as she’d expected. And to be honest, it wasn’t going as Maddy had expected either. As if to confirm her thoughts, David turned back toward Maddy.

  “Next bike trip, I’ll show you this amazing little cave my friends and I found one summer.”

  “Cool…,” Maddy said slowly, trying to calm her thoughts. Rain was staring at them, openmouthed. She had loved their bike ride, Maddy thought. Other than the Brian weirdness, hanging out with David had actually been the highlight of her prison sentence. But he’d been all into Rain at the last party—and now he knew that Maddy had a boyfriend. Everything seemed different somehow. He was practically ignoring Rain. What the hell was going on? Whatever it was, Maddy decided she liked this new situation much better.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Maddy tucked the edges of the old quilt around the wicker picnic basket so it wouldn’t jiggle in the car, and flopped into the backseat. She tugged at her bikini underneath a white C&C California tank top and a pair of ancient Blue Cult jeans.

  Her dad was sitting in the driver’s seat with the door open, rustling around with a giant map and talking to himself under his breath as he marked a route with a pencil. “Turn onto 17, then do
wn three miles, left at the gas station….”

  The whole family was going to a beach nearby. “A nice little outing,” Maddy’s mom had said. Fred and David were meeting them there. Maddy had had to force herself not to make a remark about what a Napa beach might be like compared to a San Francisco beach, but she’d managed to keep her mouth safely shut. Things between her and her parents had been a little stiff ever since their fight the week before. She hadn’t really said much to them since then—just “Please pass the milk,” “I’m going to bed,” things like that.

  She had to admit that it was a gorgeous day. The sky looked freshly washed, and fluffy, woolly clouds floated above in a dignified procession. A mass of flowers had bloomed by the side of the driveway and around the house—purple, red, and blue with splashes of orange. The air smelled like earth and fresh pine.

  After about twenty minutes of driving past little grocery stores, vineyards, and farm stands selling melons and blueberries, turning onto progressively smaller and smaller country roads, Bob said, “Debbie, look at the map, will you? I think Fred said it was right past Mason’s, but I don’t see the—ah!” He jammed on the brakes, jolting Maddy against her seat belt. “Here it is!” Maddy just barely detected a tiny dirt path winding back into the pine forest, just off the road. It was almost hidden by the drooping branches of the massive fir trees lining both sides of the pavement.

  She leaned forward as they wound down the tiny, dark road. The forest looked like something out of a creepy fairy tale, with huge trees and tangled grass all around. Barely any sunshine filtered through those enormous branches, leaving the spaces underneath dark and shadowy. Maddy’s dad peered through the windshield as he slowly drove down the bumpy dirt road. “Bob, are you sure this is the right one?” Her mother asked, anxiously looking out the window.

  “Well, it was right past the shop, like Fred said. Anyway, I think there’s a clearing ahead.”

  Maddy could just see a patch of light at the end of the road. The patch grew larger as they drove until it suddenly widened into a broad, sun-flooded meadow. Switchgrass, heavy with seeds, nodded on each side of the window as the wind blew through the stems. At the base of the meadow, Bob parked next to the gray pickup. Maddy was surprised at how happy she was to see David’s long, lean figure climbing down from the cab.

  Fred and her parents disappeared down a short path just in front of them. “Hey,” Maddy said, greeting David.

  He blasted her with the full wattage of his white smile. “Hey, cutie.” What? David was still talking but Maddy barely heard what he was saying. She felt a dopey grin spread over her face. Stop it, she instructed herself. You do not care that David thinks you’re cute. What’s with the giddy schoolgirl reaction? Why did he have this effect on her?

  David, oblivious to Maddy’s internal drama, reached into the cab of the pickup and pulled out a big hamper. “You are going to love this lake,” he told her. “It’s my favorite place in Napa.”

  “I can’t wait to swim,” Maddy said, getting a grip on herself. “I haven’t been in the water since leaving the city.”

  The little dirt path wove through the pine trees, twisting right and then left again. Maddy ducked to avoid the low-hanging branches and stepped carefully around a boggy spot in the middle. In another dozen yards, the trees gave way to some shrubs, which opened onto a little beach. The change was so sudden that Maddy stopped short, causing David to bump into her. A small, calm lake spread before them, glistening in the early afternoon sun, completely surrounded by the forest. The sandy beach edged the water and an old, weathered dock extended out from the shore. The air smelled of rich mud and silt. Little crabs ran over the sand and hid in their holes. In the middle of the lake, Maddy saw a silvery splash as a fish jumped toward the sky. Except for the fish, the place was completely deserted.

  Her parents were already setting up low lawn chairs and a few pillows. Fred dragged over a big log to serve as a bench. David started unpacking the food. “Look!” Maddy pointed. A peregrine falcon was soaring overhead.

  “Those are endangered,” David said, taking the tops off of some Tupperware containers.

  “I know,” Maddy said, spreading out the big green blanket. David did a double take. “Don’t look so surprised,” she teased.

  “I’m not,” he said unconvincingly.

  “Sure you’re not. For your information, I learned all about birds at the Raptor Center back in the city.” Maddy eyed him. “See, you’re surprised I even know what the Raptor Center is,” she said, poking his arm.

  “I’m n—Well, okay, I’m a little surprised,” he admitted, dumping salad into a big plastic bowl. Several feet away, her parents and Fred were laughing quietly as Fred pointed out something in the sand.

  “My friend Kirsten and I took a bird there once.” She focused for a moment on balancing five glasses on a flat rock next to her. She looked up and found David watching her expectantly.

  “Why?” he prompted. Maddy felt sort of dumb telling this story, but it was too late to change the subject.

  “Well, we were driving on 17 last year and this kestrel flew into the windshield of the car right in front of us. We saw it get thrown over to the side of the road. So we stopped on the on-ramp, picked it up, and wrapped it in a towel. It wasn’t dead, but it just lay there looking at us with its beak open. Kirsten said we should take it to the Raptor Center—she took a vulture there once.” Maddy stopped for a second. David was watching her with his mouth slightly open. “What?”

  He shut his mouth abruptly. “Nothing. What happened then?”

  “So we took him over there and the technician looked at him and said that he hadn’t broken anything but he was in shock from getting hit. They put him in a cage, and at first he kept walking into the bars and falling over. Kirsten and I went back every day to see him until he was ready to be released back into the wild,” Maddy finished. She looked at David, feeling a little self-conscious. “If you must know, we named him Harold,” she added. David was quiet. He seemed to be thinking about something.

  Then he shook his head. “That’s cool. I didn’t think…,” he said, not finishing his sentence.

  “Didn’t think what?” Maddy asked.

  He looked at her a minute longer. “Nothing. Hey, do you want to cut this up?” He handed her a loaf of French bread and a knife.

  “Sure.” She started slicing onto a large cloth napkin. Their parents wandered over.

  “Wow,” Dad said, looking at the lunch spread. There was a giant salad of greens with crumbly cheese, apples, and curly arugula. A plate of cold, sliced chicken breast drizzled with tarragon and olive oil sat next to a bowl of raspberries that were a deep, almost luminous red-pink. A big bottle of Perrier, its sides frosty and dripping, stood ready to be opened. Maddy’s mouth was watering. She couldn’t help reaching for a berry. She popped the soft little fruit into her mouth.

  “Mmmm,” she murmured. It was sweet and warm. “How long did it take you to make all of this?” she asked David.

  He shrugged. “Not long—it’s like the lunch I made you. If you have really good ingredients, the food is better when you mostly leave it alone.”

  Everyone started helping themselves to the slices of white, tender chicken flecked with dark green specks of tarragon, the hunks of crusty bread, and the salad. For a while, they were quiet, concentrating on the food. Then Fred set his plate down, stretched, and patted his stomach. “Delicious again, Dave.”

  David looked pleased. “Thanks, Dad.”

  Fred stood up. “Anyone up for a little stroll around the lake? There’s a nice path that goes right along the bank.”

  “Sure!” Mom got to her feet and dusted off her shorts. “Are you coming, Bob?” she asked. Maddy’s father had just stretched out flat on the sand with a towel over his eyes, but he reluctantly removed it and got up.

  “I think I’m going swimming,” David said.

  “Maddy?” Fred asked, inviting her to join them for a stroll.

 
; She glanced at David, who seemed to be unsuccessfully trying not to stare at her. “Um, I think I’ll hang out here, Fred, thanks. Maybe I’ll swim too.” She leaned back on her elbows and smiled at the group.

  “Okay. Let’s go.” Maddy watched as her parents and Fred crunched away down the beach and disappeared on a path through the woods. She and David were quiet. After the sound of footsteps faded away, Maddy tried to concentrate on stacking up a little pile of stones. David examined a mosquito bite on his toe. A black ant wandered onto the blanket and started trying to carry away a bread crumb. The quiet stretched out until Maddy felt it change into something else. She started feeling a little awkward, like she was overly aware of her hands, and she could tell David felt it too. All of a sudden she realized what it was. We’re alone. It didn’t really make sense—she had been alone with David for days at a time, but for some reason, this felt different. She could sense just how close to her he was sitting, and her skin tingled a little.

  He stood up abruptly. “Let’s swim.”

  “Okay,” she answered, thankful for the break in the silence.

  Without waiting for her, he took off his flip-flops and walked out onto the dock, where he stopped and stripped off his shirt. His broad shoulders were well muscled and deeply tanned, tapering to narrow hips. He turned around and stretched his arms overhead, making his pecs and abs ripple, and executed a perfect backward dive into the gray-green water. A moment later, his dark head appeared, gleaming on the surface of the water. He swam back and forth a few times and then flipped over onto his back. “Come on!” he called to her. “It’s not that cold!”

  “I’m not scared of cold water!” she called back.

  “Then come on in! Or are you not as tough as you act?”

  She couldn’t let him get away with that. “Okay, Superboy, I’m coming!” She pulled her tank top off over her head, feeling a little like she was doing a striptease, even though she was wearing a swimsuit. She wiggled out of her jeans and undid her ponytail, raking her fingers through her hair. She flipped it back over her shoulders, where it hung, tickling the bare skin between her shoulder blades. She could tell David was watching her and it made her nervous. This was dumb. Why should she be nervous? It was just David.