by Remy, Cate
He heard Trina huff. “She could’ve told me to my face how she felt instead of waiting to tell you.”
Max drummed his fingers on the kitchen island. “Sis, I asked her to tell me.”
“Why?”
“You have a habit of letting people know exactly how you feel about them, even if you haven’t gotten a chance to know them.”
“At least one of us is the honest sibling. The other cuts deals so much he thinks everyone else ought to believe his lies.”
He stopped drumming. Did she know the engagement wasn’t real? “What are you talking about?”
“I looked up Angela’s history. She never went to college. She lives in her grandmother’s house with a kid she had out of wedlock. Who’s the father? There has to be a reason why you’re with a woman like her, the real one you’re not telling anybody.”
The unspoken insinuations behind Trina’s words rattled his remaining patience. “Before I respond and say something I may regret later, tell me why you think I’m keeping secrets from you.”
She gave a hard little laugh. “Come on, little brother. We both know you never do things without an ulterior motive.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You know that’s a lie. Who stayed with you at the rehab center in California while you were getting clean? Who kept your secret instead of flying home to Georgia to see his friend before he joined the Army?”
Trina was quiet on the other line. The silence went on for half a minute.
“Trina? Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t say all that to guilt you. I only want you to treat Angie and our engagement with resp-”
The call ended. His sister hung up on him.
Max wanted to fling the phone at the wall. Trina was miffed. He got a woozy feeling in his belly when he thought of how much Angie hated keeping up the engagement act. He couldn’t do anything right today. How was he going to keep it up for several more months?
Chapter Nine
Angie saw an engagement photo of her and Max in the Sunday paper. Her grandmother showed her where it was located front and center on the town’s small society page: Hometown Football Star Turned Businessman Engaged to High School Sweetheart. Max chose the photo of them kissing.
“Your engagement is official, I guess,” Grandma remarked.
Angie poured creamer into her second cup of coffee. “Because of a picture?”
“No, the wedding date. It’s November seventeenth.”
Angie read the details beneath the photo. Sure enough, a wedding date was scheduled in November. She wondered what made Max pick a late autumn wedding. Not that it mattered. They weren’t going to walk down the aisle.
Grandma sat across the kitchen table from her and took a bite of oatmeal. She was careful not to get any on her white Sunday church suit. “Are you going to invite Max to the family reunion in three weeks?”
“Is it this year?”
“Yes, child.” Grandma appeared shocked by her question. “It’s going to be held right here in Harper. We’ve got relatives visiting from Mississippi, the Carolinas, and even as far north as Alberta, Canada.” She sat up in her chair with pride. “I’m hosting the cookout.”
Angie couldn’t believe she completely forgot about the Franklin Family Reunion. “Let me know how many people are coming to town and I’ll get a shopping list of food.”
“I’m still thinking of recipes. I want to make a sweet potato pie.”
“If it’s as many people as you say are coming, you’re going to have to make more than one.” The doorbell rang. Angie frowned. “Isn’t it a little early in the morning for visitors?”
She got up to answer the door. She passed Raymond watching cartoons in the living room. When she opened the door, a teen male dressed in ripped black jeans and emo band t-shirt tipped his baseball cap to her. “Got a candy gram for Miss Angela Franklin.”
“That’s me.” What in the world was going on?
The guy handed her a bouquet made of giant circle lollipops. “Have a good day.” He turned to go back to his car.
How odd. Angie stared at the candy gram. She better not show it to Raymond. He’d have cavities until his forty-third birthday. There was a note card attached to one of the lollipop stems. She turned it over. Will you go to the Harper High School Reunion with me? Signed, Secret Admirer
Her phone rang. She knew exactly who it was. She answered it with humor in her tone. “You won’t believe what I got today.”
“I can’t imagine.” Max’s voice had a deep note to it as he played along.
“Remember those candy grams kids used to send out before all the school dances? Well, I got one today inviting me to a class reunion.”
Max feigned surprise with a comical gasp. “Are you going to go?”
She turned the card over in her hand. “It’s cute, Max, even how you found a guy to dress emo, but I can’t. I don’t know too many people from your senior class.”
“You know me. It’ll be fun, and our first outing after everyone saw our engagement photo in the paper. Everyone who still reads newspapers, that is.”
He got to the real reason he wanted her to go with him. Another opportunity for publicity and attention. Angie pictured the ordeal of listening to former cheerleaders perform the Harper High fight song. Or worse, drinking lukewarm fruit punch out of those tiny paper cups that leaked from the bottom. “You don’t want me as your date. I was very geeky in high school.”
“Look at you now. A swan.”
There he went again, trying to butter her up. “Just because I haven’t gotten my hands dirty in motor oil today doesn’t make me a swan.”
“It’s only one night, Angie. Next Saturday will be fun.”
For him, maybe. For her, there were memories she wanted to stay deep within the halls of Harper High. However, she signed a contract. Duty called, and this time, it called for her to return to the place where it all started.
Gosh. Was it too late to chase the emo guy down and give him back the candy gram?
* * *
Angie didn’t think about Max’s class reunion for the next week. She put herself into work and spending time with her family. She helped Grandma plan the itinerary for the Franklin Family Reunion and took Raymond to Zoo Atlanta on Saturday.
Saturday night arrived, the night of the reunion. Max told her he’d be at her house at seven. A limo pulled up at the scheduled time.
Angie straightened her light blue dress, the one she first wore to dinner with Max at the Kleghorn. Here goes nothing. Instead of waiting for him or the limo driver to come to the door, Angie squared her shoulders and got into the vehicle.
“Somebody’s in a hurry to go to the class reunion,” Max joked, misreading her intention.
“Looks that way, doesn’t it?” The faster I get there, the faster it will be over. She hoped her logic held true. She placed her hands on the seat to keep them from fidgeting. Max wore a black suit tonight with a white dress shirt and no tie. He could pull off the modern look. She caught a whiff of his masculine scent. “No Jag tonight?”
“I want to sit back and take in the evening. Hope you don’t mind.” He leaned back in his seat as the limo began moving.
“No hairpin turns and zero to sixty acceleration in four seconds? Darn.” Angie snapped her fingers.
“Three seconds. Get it right. I got new brake pads.”
“Oh, good. Did you replace your lead foot, too?”
He laughed. “I’m glad you’re not nervous about the reunion anymore.”
“To be honest, I am nervous.” She stared at the clutch bag on her lap. “Maybe it sounds silly, but going to Harper High again makes me feel awkward.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. You’d think after being in drama club, I wouldn’t mind a lot of people looking at me. Guess I’ve changed over the years.”
A loud, clunking sound made her jump. The limo slowed in the middle of the street. Max pressed a button on the side of the door to roll down the privacy window to speak to
the driver. “Lou, what’s going on?”
“Something’s wrong with the car, Mr. Kelly. I’m going to pull over on the side of the road.”
The driver Lou managed to pull the limo over to the shoulder just as several cars drove past. He got out to check under the hood. White smoke drifted out through the cracks. “I see smoke. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Angie opened the door. “Let me take a look.”
Lou gawked at her as if she asked him to let her walk across the roof of the limo in heels. “I beg your pardon?”
Max got out of the car, phone to his ear. “Angie, step back. The engine could be on fire.”
She observed the smoke. “It doesn’t look like it’s on fire.” She pulled off her engagement ring. “Hold this, please.” She handed it to Max and went around the front of the limo. “Lou, would you mind helping me with the hood?”
The limo driver looked from her to Max.
Max shrugged. “She’s a mechanic. Do what she says.”
Lou returned inside the limo and pressed the button to release the latch securing the hood. Max darted forward and raised the hood before she could even touch it.
“Max, wait.”
A cloud of white steam billowed out. He fanned it, coughing. “On second thought, let’s just call a tow truck.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. You could’ve gotten burned from the steam.” Angie waited for the steam to dissipate before she assessed the problem. “It looks like the engine may have overheated.” She checked the coolant tank. “See? The tank should be full. It sprung a leak. I need a towel or a piece of cloth.”
Max took out his handkerchief. “This is all I have.”
“It’ll do. Hope you don’t mind it getting dirty.” She put the handkerchief over the radiator cap and carefully tilted it open. “If there’s a gas station or convenience store nearby, one of you could walk and get some distilled water.”
“There should be a container in the trunk,” said Lou. “Management has us up keep an emergency kit.” He looped around to the rear of the limo to get the water. He returned with a gallon jug in his hand.
The water was warm from being in the trunk. Angie used slow movements to pour the water into the radiator. The engine was still warm and could crack if she moved faster. When it was enough, she put the cap on the radiator and gave the jug back to Lou. “Give it a few minutes. It should last until you can drive to a shop and get the coolant tank replaced.”
“I’ll take you both to the school first,” Lou insisted.
“Alright, but if it overheats again, pull over and let it cool.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Angie put the hood down and wiped her hands with the handkerchief. She and Max climbed inside the limo again.
“Thanks, Angie. I don’t know what I’d have done without you tonight.”
“Spend a couple hundred on a tow truck. Possibly suffer a first or second degree burn.”
“I’d be stuck on the side of the road and miss the reunion, too.”
Maybe she should have let Max call a tow truck, then. Angie banished the thought, though it was entertaining to think she could’ve gotten out of attending the reunion tonight if she really wanted to. “I’d be a sad case if I let you call a tow truck without at least checking under the hood myself.”
“It’s good you did.”
Lou started driving the limo. They were on the road again. Angie took a bottle of hand sanitizer from her purse and shared it with Max. “You can’t go into the school with grease smudges on your hands. What would your old classmates think?”
He rubbed the sanitizer on his hands. “Speaking of school and all, I know you’re a whiz mechanic, but if you liked theater, why didn’t you go into it after graduating?”
She closed her purse. “I had to get my priorities straight when I became pregnant with Raymond. Do you remember a guy named Jordan McKinney?”
“Barely. I think he tried out for the football team, but got cut when he skipped practices.”
Angie nodded. Her stomach grew knots as she prepared to tell the story. “He asked me to the prom during our senior year. Well, things happened as they often do with immature teens. After graduation, I found out I was pregnant. Jordan thought I was lying and said the baby wasn’t his.”
Max shook his head in disgust. “What a loser.”
“Wait, it gets better. He won a scholarship to Duke and left without saying anything. His family still thinks I lied about Raymond’s paternity. At least they’re not running around and spreading rumors about me.”
“They have to be quiet because you could prove Jordan’s the father.”
“I can, but I won’t do that to Raymond. It’d break my heart for him to go through all that mess only to learn his father refused to be in his life.” She looked at her purse again, wondering if she should have told Max what she, her grandmother, and only a few people in Harper knew. “If that was TMI for you, sorry. You asked why I felt awkward going to the reunion. This is part of it.”
Max leaned over and put his hand over hers. She looked into his eyes, and saw concern, not judgment. “Raymond has a strong mother. I admire you, Angie. Try not to worry about what other people think. If they want to believe lies and rumors, it’s their problem, not yours.”
She appreciated his attempt to comfort her, but Max wasn’t a part of Harper anymore. He lived a plush life in Atlanta. Once he got his hospital built, he’d return to handle his other business dealings in the big city and forget all about her and the small-town pettiness she had to navigate.
Harper High School came into view from the side window. The lights were on inside the front classrooms as though school was just about to be in session. Adults filed into the double doors wearing dress clothes. Angie got the urge to squirm like a child on the first day of kindergarten as the limo driver took them right up to the front. “I forgot what it felt like to be dropped off at the school entrance.”
Max got out first and reached for her hand. “It’s okay. We can walk in together.”
She let him help her out of the limo. “You’re being too cute about this, you know.”
“No one’s called me cute in a long time.” His eyes danced with amusement.
Embarrassed, she inhaled, sucking her stomach in so sharply she was certain another couple inches would have it kissing her backbone. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You didn’t mean I was cute?”
Laughter rang out behind her. She turned and saw four people walk by, chatting to themselves. They didn’t look like anyone she used to know. “Guess we better go in.”
“Just a second.” Max reached into his lapel pocket and produced her ring. He slipped it back on her finger. “Now we can go in.”
Chapter Ten
Few things changed at Harper High since Angie graduated seven years ago. The hallways still had a sticky wax to cover up the scuffs of tennis shoes. Football banners decorated every available space on the doors of classrooms, and the school had a permanent smell of pine cleaner and exercise band rubber. The latter scent was more noticeable since the reunion was held in the school gym.
“It’s good to be back at Harper High.” Max chatted with a couple football buddies of his, along with a cheerleader he once dated and her new husband. Angie stood at the beverage table with them, half-listening while she sipped fruit punch mixed with pineapple juice and Sprite out of a thin paper cup. A Jack White song blared from the speakers set up on stage. The band was somewhere outside, taking a break between sets.
She scanned the gym. She could count the number of people she knew on one hand. They must have moved out of town shortly after graduation. Then again, her senior class was three years behind theirs.
“Do you remember Angie’s part in The Wizard of Oz?” Max tried to bring her into the conversation. Once again, she was stunned he actually remembered her small role as a Munchkin.
His friends maintained polite, vague smiles. She said hi and asked
about where they lived now, what they were up to, questions that a quick glance at a social media account could answer in five seconds. What was the point of high school reunions in this day and age, anyway?
Chill. She told herself to calm down and took another sip of pre-diabetic punch. Max’s class reunion wasn’t as awful as she was making it out to be. Maybe a little boring, but what did she expect? Besides, she wasn’t there to be entertained. She had a job to do, a role to perform as Max’s small town fiancée.
The band returned on stage to play covers of Britney Spears and Black Eye Peas songs. After the third pop number, the lead singer spoke into the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen, please take a moment to watch this tribute to a beloved classmate and American hero.” He put the mic on the stand and stepped into the shadows on stage as the lights dimmed.
Angie watched a screen being lowered from the curtains. What was this?
The band played music softly while a light shone on the screen. Angie’s mouth formed an “o” when her brother’s senior picture appeared. More images of him followed. She saw Detrick in his football uniform, another one with the team, and an eighteen year-old Max standing beside him. Where did these pictures come from?
The soft music continued to play. She wiped a tear as the screen showed her and Detrick posing together for some goofy Siblings Day photo. They both looked like little kids. Next, a short recording played from when Detrick tried out for his first and last solo in choir. It went so hilariously wrong. Then the screen showed him in his Army uniform, fresh from basic training, and in his dress blues when he graduated. The screen cut to black after displaying his full name and the dates of his birth and death.
The audience clapped when it was over. Angie heard a few sniffles. She wiped another tear from her eye.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we wanted to take a few minutes to honor one of Harper’s bravest men. His sister is here tonight. If you see her, let her know you appreciate her coming out to celebrate the life of Detrick Franklin with us.”