Everything, Somewhere

by David Kummer

  Then Mason wrapped her in his arms and they kissed. We all started in thunderous applause, and Lucy covered her mouth to hold back sobs.

  * * *

  “Beautiful ceremony, Jed.”

  Henry took a seat at the table, lowering his plate of food to the white tablecloth. He beamed at me and Lucy, tipping his head to her. When Laurie appeared by his side, Henry gently pulled out her chair and then took his own seat directly across the circular table from me.

  I took a drink from my glass of water and nodded. “Sure was. Great venue.”

  “So is this, though.” Henry motioned around with a hand. “You’re not thinking about buying it, are you?” he teased, winking at me. “I know how you get.”

  I shrugged and sipped on my water again to hide a smile. The thought had, in fact, crossed my mind.

  The wedding reception took place in an old, abandoned warehouse that I’d renovated for this occasion. Turned it into a pretty fine banquet hall, in fact. The walls were all lined with candles, and high windows allowed natural light to stream in. Circular, white-cloth tables were arranged throughout the expansive room, all decorated with the finest silverware, glasses, and flowers. Overhead, we’d installed a makeshift ceiling closer to the normal height so that the guests didn’t feel like they were in a huge warehouse. From this hung drapes and tiny, sparkling lights, giving the impression of midnight stars overhead. Carpets were spread out and fastened to the ground, completing the elaborate makeover. Besides the wedding DJ’s equipment just beyond a dance floor at one side of the room, the entire scene had been my undying labor for the past few months.

  All of that, right beside the four-lane road that cut through uptown Little Rush. Close enough to see the smokestacks from the plant.

  So yes, I had thought about purchasing the building. Already made plans to. This would be perfect for wedding receptions in Little Rush. I could rent it out at fairly inexpensive prices for any younger couples in town. That, at least, was my hope.

  “They’ll be moving to Indy or something, I suppose?” Henry bit chicken off his fork.

  “Staying here, actually,” Lucy answered him, not masking her excitement. “Online college for a few years and then the two of them might just take over the business.”

  “Businesses,” I added, taking a deep sigh. I glanced around the room to find the married couple entertaining guests, every person wanting to shake their hand or have a quick conversation. “Everything will be theirs before long.”

  “Ah, coming to farm with me, are you?” Henry chuckled in his deep, throaty way and snapped again at his fork.

  I didn’t answer at first because this thought, too, had crossed my mind. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Problem was, to truly let go of the businesses here, I’d probably have to move a bit farther away. Not that I wouldn’t come back and visit often. Just that, for Lucy’s sake especially, it might be time to hit the road and stay on it a while.

  As soon as these two had the baby and got settled in, Lucy and I would take an RV and drive around. Maybe for as long as nine months. Travel to the coasts, spend week after week alone together. It’s what we needed. What we deserved. These kids were doing alright. They could manage on their own for a bit. The two of them, they’d be fine.

  Hudson exchanged a word with Mason, and they laughed. Then the former rushed off to a table with a plate of food and the latter continued greeting people. Willow watched him go with a content but slightly sad expression before her hand was shaken by a rough old man I recognized as a regular at Allen’s Burgers.

  When I refocused on my table, I found Henry sitting there alone, his eyes trained on me. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that our wives had left for the buffet. I would’ve taken that trip myself, if only my nerves would relax and my knees would stop shaking long enough to stand. I desperately wanted to break out the wine bottles, but that would have to wait. Later in the night, maybe. There were a handful of kids here, after all, and even more high schoolers. But without a doubt, as the night wore on, there would be drinking

  “This place never does change,” Henry commented, drumming his heavy fingertips on the table. His fork lay on the half-eaten plate.

  “Suppose you’re right.” I grinned at him half-heartedly and made to reach for my glass of water. I changed my mind and let the hand fall to the tablecloth, like landing on a pillow.

  “You leavin’, another Cooper takin’ up business.” Henry clicked his tongue and wagged his head. “Never changes.”

  “I didn’t say I was leaving.”

  He winked at me and pressed a finger against his chest. “I known Lucy, and I known her as long as you have, matter of fact. Point is, we both know you’re leaving. Where to? God knows. But you’re both going.”

  I smiled bashfully and ran a hand through my hair. “Guess you’re right.”

  “So that girl’s helping with the businesses, huh?” Henry gestured at Willow. He chewed on his bottom lip, furrowing his eyebrows.

  Without turning to look at her, I answered him, eyes dropping to the three roses at the center of our table. “Sure is. She’s wild smart. And passionate about it, to my surprise.”

  Henry fell silent after that with a content chuckle and started forking the plate’s contents back into his mouth. I watched him for a moment, turning over my next words. He didn’t seem to mind or even notice my staring. Lucy and Laurie were still at the buffet, had just now gotten their plates. Without pausing to consider, I cleared my throat and went for it.

  “Henry… You think we made the right decision? By sticking around here.”

  With a mouthful of food and a hand half-covering it, Henry sputtered, “Turned out okay, didn’t it? That’s all y’can ask for, these days.”

  I knew what he meant, as I watched the new couple moving around the celebration. I could imagine grandchildren now, wrestling with them in the sitting room, a bonfire out at Henry’s place. One for now, maybe more later. Growing up right in front of my eyes. And they would turn out okay, too. Because in my experience, everything does in Little Rush.

  13

  Willow

  “I love you so much.”

  Mason beamed at me as he stepped away, gently letting go of my hand. His fingertips slipped away, and he backed toward the outside corner of the dance floor. From the crowd of onlookers emerged a man dressed in a shoddy suit with two distinct cuts on his chin from shaving. He stepped forward, and it took everything in me not to start crying right there.

  I’d held it together pretty well through everything. The rehearsal dinner the night before, though tiring and incredibly emotional, hadn’t brought tears. Just heartfelt thankfulness and deep hugs. Hudon’s toast, especially, had been powerful. Worth every penny this wedding cost us. But not that dinner, not the wedding ceremony itself, not the moment Mason kissed me… none of it compared to this.

  My dad took my hand and placed his own gently on the small of my back. I stared into his eyes and lowered my head onto his shoulder as the Tom Petty song swooned from speakers nearby. My pregnant stomach pressing against his beer belly just slightly, so I couldn’t stand too close.

  When Mason and I began our first dance five minutes prior, I had felt the eyes of everybody. Could tangibly feel them sinking into my skin and burning through the beautiful dress I wore. But with my dad, it was like nobody else existed. I didn’t hear the “aw”s and the “so beautiful”s. I barely even noticed Mason with my mother, just a few feet away.

  “You look gorgeous,” my dad whispered, smiling. His breath had a faint smell of cigarettes, but it had been mostly covered by something minty.

  “Thank you so much for… being here.” I buried my head into his chest and took deep, shuddering breaths. Trying not to give in. “It means the world.”

  “Anything for you, sweetheart.” His hand patted my back to the rhythm of the music. “You pick this song?”

  “You know I did,” I said, grinning into the worn fabric of his suit jac
ket. I closed my eyes and felt the tears seeping out anyway. Soaking into his attire, dripping down my face. Goddamn it, my makeup would be smeared or worse, but I didn’t want to resist. I said, voice breaking, “It’s your favorite.”

  * * *

  The dancing went on for what felt like hours. Most of the adults were tipsy or altogether drunk. A sea of bodies mixing in sweat and laughter and hopefulness. New beginnings. I understood the emotion drifting through the air and tapping everybody on the shoulder. I could finally pinpoint this sensation of relief and trust and genuine love.

  It felt the same way a sunset looks. Those goddamn sunsets. They always come back for you.

  The sheer amount of people here wasn’t something I’d expected or even wanted initially. Among the planning phases for the wedding, we’d had to make so many decisions. Mason and I spent countless hours talking about it. We preferred to hash over these conversations at the old smoking site, peering out at the baseball field. Not that either of us smoked now. I hadn’t touched them for months, thanks to the baby, and Mason only did from time to time. No, that spot had become much more to us. A place of peace and innocence. The one thing from our childhood.

  The location, venue, reception, food, music, expenses, all of it were difficult talks. But when it came to the amount of people here, that had really taken some work. Mason started off wanting to invite literally everybody in the town. I said close friends and family. In my head, this meant somewhere around ten people.

  We met in the middle. There were a lot of people here, but not too many. The perfect number, really. It felt like the entire town had come out. This would’ve concerned me, usually, but Mason’s dad had an unorthodox proposal that we’d accepted. Mason and I would make our list of guests that had to be there and that we could afford. Jed, for his part, would pay for the rest. The ones we were fifty-fifty on inviting or unsure if they’d squeeze into the budget.

  When I asked him why, out of earshot from Mason, his answer surprised me.

  “Little Rush needs something like this,” Jed said, winking at me. “Needs to celebrate and drink and dance. We all deserve it, especially you two.”

  Months before wedding preparations started, Mason and I had come to the even-harder decision about our future past high school. College courses online, through the same site I’d used over the summer. Not only that, but we decided to stick around here for the long haul. To take over the Cooper businesses. All of them.

  When we first came to this decision, I felt uncomfortable, like Mason had chosen the path for us. I had wanted to leave, initially, but the more I looked around, the more I wanted to stay. And when Mason brought up the businesses once again as his main reason for staying, I felt a sudden pin prick of an idea. That little spark grew and grew until I made the pitch, late one night, sitting in the living room of his house.

  “I want to run a business,” I said confidently, bracing for the feedback. “On my own.”

  Mason went along with this incredibly well, and the plans were set in motion.

  While I didn’t plan to stay in Little Rush forever, I did see a future here for the time being. Hudson was here, my best friend. The businesses, an incredible and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, were here. The downtown walks late at night. The winding, scenic country roads. The endless farms and lazy evenings. All of it, here.

  I could search out there for all of this. Or I could appreciate Little Rush for what it was and enjoy the first few years of my marriage. Mason, my incredibly sexy husband in that tuxedo, waited for me across the banquet hall. Hudson, seated at the table with him, was locked in their conversation.

  As I moved from the dance floor and made my way toward their table, I pulled out my phone and took a very quick, subtle picture. Just something to keep in memory. And sure, we’d have tons of pictures from the photographer we hired, but I wanted that shot right there. All for myself.

  Yes, Little Rush might not be my forever home. But for tonight, for now, it would be everything and more.

  14

  Hudson

  While Mason and Willow were still on the dance floor, I had the table to myself for a while. At this point, Layla floated toward me through the crowd. Like always, she possessed the kind of beauty that struck me dumb. To think I’d made out with her in the woods, had gone on a date. To think that a girl like her, so gorgeous and intelligent and independent, could want anything to do with me.

  When I saw her moving across the expanse of tables, leaving the dance floor behind, I grinned a little and rolled my eyes. She had locked onto me and drew closer, maneuvering past other guests. In each hand, she held a small plastic cup of red punch. On her face, a dazzling smile.

  “It’s lonely over here,” Layla said. She set a punch in front of me and then drew out a seat. Before I could reply, she’d settled into it, plopped one elbow on the table, and raised her own plastic cup. “Cheers?”

  “To what?” I raised an eyebrow and my cup.

  “The lonely table.” She touched hers against mine and then took a sip.

  I drank mine all in one go. “Doesn’t feel so lonely anymore.” I’d always expected that punch at a wedding would have alcohol, and yet, for many reasons, that wasn’t the case. If there had been, I wouldn’t have partaken. I’d sworn off that particular substance for a few months, maybe longer. Enough time to get my feet under me. Figure some things out.

  “Beautiful wedding,” she murmured, nodding toward the dance floor. “Everybody looks great.”

  “Including you,” I pointed out. I folded both hands on my lap and stared straight ahead as we talked.

  “I’ve missed talking with you.” Layla sighed and leaned her head back. “You ever think about us? Why we… didn’t work out?”

  “Try not to,” I said, chuckling. It was the truth, after all. “The more I think about it, the more I kick myself for missing those chances.”

  “Same.”

  Layla turned to me, and her lips were a perfect curve. She’d outdone herself for this event. The makeup, the colorful dress, all of it. I hadn’t seen her in months, it felt like, not since she visited in the hospital. Even though we attended the same school, our paths never seemed to cross. Class schedules just didn’t line up. I had assumed she’d forgotten me, like I’d tried for her. But something about her stuck in my mind. Her smile, her lips, all the time we’d spent texting. I missed it. Missed video-chatting and the way her eyes would sparkle with mischief. I just missed her.

  “If you ever… feel like it again,” she started, pausing to reach out and touch my leg gingerly, “I’d be happy to pay for dinner this time.”

  “I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet,” I said, letting out a defeated sigh. “And I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other suitors waiting around.”

  “There’s no rush.” Layla reached for her cup and finished it off. “Looks like the groom is coming for you.”

  Mason had just appeared from the crowd and started toward my table. I groaned internally, wishing for a little more time with Layla. As he approached, she rose from her seat and kissed me on the cheek, holding my head gently. With her flawless body just inches away and sweet perfume brushing against my senses, I couldn’t help but imagine something with her.

  “Text me, will you?” she whispered in my ear, before exchanging a word with Mason on her way.

  I stared at the tablecloth, fully aware of the red color in my cheeks. Mason filled the seat she’d left and plopped another punch down in front of me.

  “You and her?” he asked, reclining in the chair. His tie was a little askew and sweat slicked his forehead. Besides that, he was the same well-prepared groom as earlier. The perfect-looking guy, as always.

  “Not sure yet.” I strained my neck to look around the room and then eyed him curiously. “Where’s Willow? You scare her off already?”

  “She’ll be here in a minute.” He tapped on the table absentmindedly, as if playing piano. I recognized that his fingers matched the song playing at
that moment. “You having a good time?”

  “Of course I am.”

  At that moment, the sea of people parted again, and this time spat out Willow. In her flowing dress, professional makeup, the radiant glow of joy, I’d never seen a prettier bride in any movie or TV show. She moved exactly as expected, her face in a permanent, electric smile. And when her eyes landed on me, I couldn’t help but return it.

  I nudged Mason. “She’s out of your league, you know that?” I grinned as Willow started across the banquet hall toward our table. “Take care of her.”

  “One-hundred percent.” Mason rubbed his eyes with two fists and held back a yawn. Still, he nodded enthusiastically. “Goddamn, Hudson, I’m tired.”

  Willow reached our table finally, drifting across the floor like a ghostly apparition of perfection. She took a seat next to Mason, propping one elbow on the table and collapsing onto it. The music continued over on the dance floor, with most people involved one way or another. The wine glasses around the banquet hall were empty, a surprising number of bottles stacked in a tub against one wall. They hadn’t broken out the alcohol right away, but when they did the crowd chugged it. I chuckled at the sight and turned away.

  “Hudson here was chatting up old Layla before I came over,” Mason teased, addressing his new wife.

  “And you interrupted?” Willow scolded him, punching him lightly on the shoulder. “Dick.”

  “Did not!” he protested, but she didn’t pay attention.

  Her head swiveled to me, wearing a “go on” expression. I sighed. “We were talking a bit, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe I’ll text her in a few days. I dunno.” I shrugged and avoided her eyes. “Doesn’t feel like we’ll ever be more than friends. I’m not ready for it yet, either way.”