Chapter 19
Rainey
Garrett and Max had been born three minutes apart, with Garrett being the eldest. Their birthday was on Friday and I didn’t know how I felt about that, or more importantly how Max felt. At school he had been in such a good mood that I didn’t want to bring it up. But as sad as I felt about Garrett not turning eighteen, I wanted to be able to celebrate with Max. I wanted him to have presents and a cake and all the usual birthday traditions. But would he relapse if I gave him those things? We had both come so far in our grieving process, I didn’t want to send him backwards. As well as I knew him, this was something I didn’t know how to address. Turns out, my mom came up with the solution. Probably while trying to keep me from relapsing into constant tears. On Monday after coming home from doing my homework at Max’s, she was waiting for me.
“Hi babe. How was school?”
“Good.”
“Want to give me a hand with dinner?”
“Sure.” She handed me a bowl, a grater and a large block of mozzarella cheese. I washed my hands and then began to shred cheese while she put lasagna noodles into a pot of boiling water.
“I was at Shelley’s today.” Shelley was Mrs. McKinley’s first name. “We were talking about how hard the boys’ birthday would be for everyone.”
I nodded while I continued with the cheese.
“She’s kind of torn about how to handle it. She is heartbroken about Garrett, but worried about Max having his day ruined.”
“I know Mom, me too. He says he wants to skip it completely, but how will we be able to do that?”
“Well, I had planned to decorate the Christmas tree this weekend and I thought we could do it on Friday night and turn it into a party. We could have the McKinley’s over and you could invite your friends too. We could say it’s a holiday party but also have a cake ready for Max.”
I could tell mom was really trying to help and I loved her for it. “That would be nice, mom. It wouldn’t put any pressure on Max and it would be a good distraction for all of us.”
“Shelley seemed to like the idea. We’ll have fun. I’ll have lots of food and you can order Max’s favorite cake at the bakery.”
“Okay,” I said, finishing up with the grating. “Let’s do it. Maybe Grandma will make some of her sugar cookies.”
“You know she will. It will be a fun night. Plus, it will be great to get the house ready for Christmas.”
Now I just needed a gift for Max. I solved that dilemma a couple hours later when I called Rylee and Colin to invite them. Colin was in the process of ordering concert tickets to see a band all of the guys loved. “Colin was just telling me to text Max to see if he wanted to go,” Rylee said.
“No! Buy two tickets for us and I will pay Colin back. They will be the perfect gift for his birthday! Thanks Ry!”
The gift was perfect. Things were falling into place. I called Sophie and Ethan and they said they would be there. Caitlynn said she would bring Hudson. I texted Max later that night and casually mentioned the tree trimming party Friday night. I told him our mom’s were both in. He said to count him in too. I smiled at the idea of surprising him with our friends. I refused to let Garrett’s not being here for his own birthday make me cry. I was sad and it was painful, but Max was the one it was toughest on. My feelings had to be put aside if it was going to be a celebration for Max. Garrett would understand.
Max
I’m not gonna lie. It sucked to wake up on my birthday and no longer share it with Garrett. All week I had kept it out of my head. Today I needed to pretend it was any other day. Nobody at school, except Rainey, knew it was my birthday and she had promised not to make a big deal out of it. I got through all my classes just fine and although Rainey kept smiling at me in a concerned way she kept to her word and didn’t talk birthday at all.
Mom and Dad knew how I felt too, but they still got me a gift. I had dropped Rainey off at her house after school to prepare for her mom’s Christmas party and when I walked into my house both my parents were waiting.
“Are you guys still up for the Martin’s party?” I asked.
“Yes, I think it will be fun,” Mom smiled. Her smile looked genuine, but her eyes looked a little red. This had to be a tough day for them too.
“Max,” My dad said, “We understand why you wanted us to ignore your birthday. But we did get you a little something. We wanted to mark your eighteenth birthday.”
I didn’t say anything. He pointed to a large wrapped box with a big red bow on top. “Thanks,” I said, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.
“Open it,” Mom prompted. So I did. I didn’t care what was inside but I couldn’t hurt their feelings. I untied the bow and ripped off the paper and then I think I actually gasped when I realized what I was looking at. It was incredible. Unbelievable. It was a guitar. Not just any guitar. A Martin D-45! The guitar of my dreams, of any musicians dreams, the kind of guitar that costs as much as a used car. I just stood there, speechless.
“Do you like it?” Mom asked.
“Like it? Mom, this is the best gift I have ever gotten. Thank you. Thanks Dad. Thank you so much.”
They laughed. “You’re welcome buddy. Don’t you want to try it out?”
I reached out and touched it. It was mine. I couldn’t believe it. “You guys, this cost a fortune.”
“You are worth it,” said mom.
“But, really…”
“Max, you deserve it. Happy Birthday son,” Dad said. “Now go on, take it upstairs and play it until we have to leave for the party.”
They didn’t have to ask me twice. I played until mom threw a clean shirt at me and made me leave for the party. When I got there, Rainey greeted me with a smile, and behind her stood all of our friends. I greeted them all and told Colin and Ethan what my parents had given me. They wanted to leave the party then and there to go see it for themselves. Rather than ruin the party, my dad drove back to our house to get it.
The tree trimming was fun, the food excellent and at the end of the night Rainey brought out a huge cake in the shape of a guitar and everyone gave me gifts. The concert tickets from Rainey were awesome and so were the other things that our friends gave me. I was touched, and happy that they had cared enough to make my birthday special. I hadn’t wanted to celebrate but I was so grateful for the people I still had in my life. I celebrated them.
After we waved goodbye to the last guest Rainey hugged me. “Happy Birthday, Max,” she said. I held her, leaning down to put my head on her shoulder, and breathed in the scent of her perfume. I didn’t let go. I could’ve held her forever.
“Thanks Rainey, for everything,” I whispered. She pulled away first and smiled up at me. Our folks said their goodbyes, and I carried my new guitar out to my parent’s car. I wasn’t ready to leave. It was hard to, actually. More and more I just wanted to be where Rainey was.
Chapter 20
Rainey
I woke up Saturday morning to a text from Rylee telling me to wear clothes that I wouldn’t mind getting dirty. Saturdays with Sophie and Rylee usually meant shopping, lunch and maybe mani-pedi’s. I had assumed today would be more of the same. Curious, I did as she asked, choosing a well worn red and white striped sweater and my oldest, most comfortable jeans. I vacillated between boots and tennis shoes, finally opting for my black converse.
Max knew nothing about the girls’ plans when he picked me up. He had received no texts, and he looked cute in yet another new plaid shirt his mom had bought for him. Obviously the boys wouldn’t be joining us in whatever was happening this morning. This was probably for the best since all Max could talk about was playing with his new guitar. His parents had done a great thing buying it for him. He was happier than I had ever seen him. His happiness was infectious and I felt myself smiling at him while he talked.
When we arrived at Colin’s house everyone was outside.
“Hurry Rainey, we’re going to be late!” Rylee said, as Sophie climbed behind the wheel
of her baby blue VW bug. She started the engine while Rylee climbed into the back, letting me have the front seat. We waved to the guys who stood there waving back, and we were off.
“Okay, now can I know what we are doing, please?”
Sophie laughed, “Well, Kara helps run a dog rescue and they are having an event at a street fair today and she needs our help.”
“Yeah, everyone cancelled on her at the last minute,” Rylee said.
“And she didn’t have a psychic moment a couple of days before letting her know this would happen?”
“Apparently not,” Sophie said, laughing.
“Well, what will we be doing?”
“Helping her show the dogs to people and hoping they get adopted. It’s Christmas time, it should help.”
“You like dogs, right Rainey?” Rylee asked.
“I love them. It sounds fun.”
“I’m not a huge dog person, but only because I have never spent much time around them. I like Colin’s parent’s dog a lot. He is great. Kara has been trying to get Ethan and I to adopt forever.”
We got there in minutes and saw Kara standing in the parking lot directing a couple men holding crates.
“Hi girls! Thanks so much for helping us out.” She introduced us to the men and we grabbed crates and followed behind them to their space. I peeked in my crate and saw four little terrier looking puppies staring out at me. They were adorable. There was a wire fence enclosing a space between a pet supply booth and one that sold silver handmade jewelry, and we set the crates down gently inside as Kara began to free an assortment of dogs and puppies, all happy to be out of their cages.
There were a total of eighteen, and the majority of them looked to be Chihuahua mixes. There was a small skinny German shepherd and two lab mixes. People started to swarm our booth before we even had our instructions but soon we were organized. We had people use antibacterial lotion on their hands before they held the dogs and assisted them in filling out paper work if they were interested in adopting.
In the four hours we were there I didn’t have a moment to pay attention to anything except puppies and trading them from one prospective owner’s arms to the next. I did hear Kara say at the beginning that the small German shepherd was only two and she had been badly abused. When they rescued her she had been severely underweight. Despite that, Kara said she was the gentlest soul she had ever encountered and would make the perfect companion. Surprisingly, at the end of the day the beautiful dog was one of six who had not found homes. She stayed close to Sophie and Kara watched them with a smile.
“Sophie, I think you have made a friend,” Kara said.
“She’s so sweet. I can’t believe that nobody chose her today,” Sophie said, as she pet the dog.
“Yeah, she really took to Sophie as soon as we got here,” Rylee said.
“Actually several people asked about her today but I had to tell them she has already found her forever home.”
“What?” Rylee said. Sophie looked up, confused. I started to be suspicious of Kara.
“Kara, are you match making here? Ethan hasn’t even met her.” Sophie said. I noticed that she didn’t say that she didn’t want to adopt her.
“Well Sophie, I sort of introduced Ethan to her yesterday. I had to make sure he would be okay with it. He was. She’s yours.”
“Oh my god Kara! You are so sneaky!” She hugged the dog, laughing when it licked her face.
“I couldn’t help it. When she came into the shelter six weeks ago she was emaciated and sick but I flashed on a vision of you and Ethan walking her at the beach and I knew it was inevitable.”
“Can’t fight fate, Soph.” Rylee said, meaning it.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I love her already.” She kissed the shepherds head. “So what will Ethan and I be naming her?” She asked, smiling.
“Oh no you don’t. I am not going to deprive you of the fun you two will have choosing it. But it’s a great name for her.”
We all laughed at Kara’s crazy way of making her psychic ability seem normal when it was anything but. While we secured the five remaining dogs in their crates with a reward of chicken basted rawhide to chew on, Kara asked me casually how things were going.
“Oh no, Kara! Tell me. What do you see?”
“No Rainey, I was just asking, I don’t see anything in particular.”
“Forgive me if I panic when you speak to me.” We all laughed.
“I seem to bring that out in everyone. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut, but I just have to jump in if I think it’s going to help.”
“And we love you for it, Kara. Don’t stop,” Rylee said.
She hugged each of us and asked if we would like to help her again with the rescue. All of us assured her that we would. We asked her if she wanted to come back to the house with us and she said she would follow us over. We piled into Sophie’s little bug, but this time Rylee and I both sat in the back so Sophie’s new dog could sit next to her.
Max
After the girls pulled away, Ethan asked Colin and I if we would go with him to Petco before we started to play songs.
“Petco?” Colin and I questioned simultaneously. None of us owned a dog, unless you counted Colin’s moms dog that was an occasional visitor.
“Yesterday Kara had me come over to the shelter at lunch so she could introduce me to a German shepherd that is supposed to steal Sophie’s heart today. We are going to be rescuing her and I need to grab some supplies.” He pulled a list from his pocket. “Kara wrote it all down but I couldn’t get away from Sophie until now to go and buy it all.”
So the three of us went shopping and got everything Kara had written down plus several types of dog toys.
“What if Sophie decides she doesn’t want the dog after all?” I asked as I carried a large dog bed across the parking lot.
“Impossible,” Colin laughed.
“It might happen,” I said.
“Not if Kara says it’s going to happen,” Ethan said, taking the bed from me and putting it in the truck bed.
“Yeah, she’s always right, Max. If she tells you something you have to just believe it will happen”, Colin said. “She told Rylee about me before we ever met.”
“Can she answer questions about the future? I mean, if someone were to ask her?”
They both stared at me, then Ethan answered, “Just be sure you are ready for the answer.”
Colin put his arm around my shoulder, “Max, she is scary accurate, be really sure.”
Maybe I needed to know some things whether I liked her answers or not. A little help from the future sounded pretty good.
Later that afternoon we heard the girls enter the house and stopped playing, all of us curious to see the new dog. Sure enough, in walked Sophie with a small shepherd glued to her side. She was a beautiful dog and I wondered how she had ever ended up in a shelter. The pup wasn’t the only new face, a woman was with them. Tall, blonde, pretty, she made a bee line straight for me.
“Max, I’m Kara. It’s so nice to meet you!” She put her hand out to shake mine and held on tightly.
“Kara, I see you were right once again!” Ethan said, hugging her. Colin hugged her next and then we all spent time petting the dog who still wouldn’t leave Sophie’s side.
“Hurry and give this poor baby a name, Soph,” Rylee said.
Sophie looked at Ethan. “What do you think we should call her?”
“That’s up to you, babe.” He kissed her and bent down to pet the dog.
“I want to give her a perfect name. Kara, just tell me what you see me calling her.”
“You will come up with it, don’t worry,” Kara said confidently.
“Just give me a hint, Kara. I want to name her right now.” We all looked at Kara.
“Alright, a hint. But you do know this is cheating, right?” Sophie nodded and smiled.
“Okay, you are going to name her something from your favorite movie.”
“Twilight? She does
n’t look like a Bella. Besides there are a million little girls with the name Bella.”
“Wrong movie. This is the one you and your mom love.”
“Oh! The Sound of Music!” Sophie laughed, “Okay, Liesel, Marta, Brigietta, and Gretel. Gretel! That’s it! It’s perfect!”
“Here, Gretel,” Rylee called, and the dog licked her.
Rainey hadn’t said anything throughout this exchange but she had a happy smile on her face. I leaned down and whispered, “Did you have fun today?”
Her eyes sparkled as she answered, “It was so much fun. So many dogs found homes. There were so many sweet ones. I am going to ask my parents to adopt one.”
“I would love to have your help at the Shelter when you have time, Rainey,” Kara said.
“I should have a lot of time over my Christmas break, if you need me. Max, you should come too. You would love it.”
That was the only encouragement I needed. “I’d like that,” I said.
“Well that’s settled then! I will see you two in a couple weeks!” Kara hugged us all again and she was off. Rainey’s smile stayed put the rest of the day making me actually like the fact I had just offered to volunteer my Christmas break away.
Chapter 21
Rainey
Monday afternoon I had a dentist appointment, so my mom picked me up at lunch and we went to grab a salad before I had to be there. It had been forever since the two of us had been out to lunch together. Before Garrett died we had gone often. So much was different now. By the time I got done with my check up school was out, so I asked mom if she would drop me off at Max’s.
Mrs. McKinley was on the porch when we pulled up, her arms full of Christmas lights, a step ladder beside her. My mom got out to say hello and ended up helping her arrange them around the front door. They seemed to have it under control so I left them to it and let myself in.
Max wasn’t hard to locate. Guitar chords floated down from his room and I headed up the stairs. I recognized the song. It was the one he still hadn’t put words to. The one called The Saddest Song. His eyes were closed as he played, and I stood in the doorway letting the haunting tune surround me. It was beautiful, and so was he, if you could call a guy beautiful. I watched the way his long fingers strummed the guitar and waited for the song to end before I made my presence known. He made it to the end and his eyes opened, his face showing I had surprised him.
The Saddest Song Page 12