Date Next Door

It seemed to her that they should be more proud of the men their sons had become. Decent, hardworking men with a purpose—to help others rather than amassing fortunes for themselves. But then, the Brannon family dynamics were none of her business. She was only here for another few hours, and then it was entirely likely she would never see them again.

Except for Joel, of course. As her neighbor and friend, he would continue to be an important part of her life.

Perhaps Elaine decided they were revealing too much in front of a guest. Her voice was almost chirpy when she asked, “So what exactly are your plans for today, Joel? I know your class party doesn’t start until six o’clock, so that gives you several hours free this morning.”

“Heidi has arranged golf and tennis tournaments at the resort and a spa day for the women who were interested, but Nic and I decided to pass on those activities. I thought I’d give her a tour of the area, if she’s interested. Show her some of the local highlights.”

“I’d love that.” Nic’s enthusiasm had more to do with getting out of the house than sightseeing. And she’d just about rather eat bugs than participate in a spa day with Heidi and the other wives.

Joel probably knew exactly what she was thinking, but he merely smiled and said, “Great. Dad, you mind if we borrow your car again?”

“Not at all. I was going to spend the day working in the yard anyway. Got to get those leaves raked up.”

“And I have a meeting at the church,” Elaine said. “Fay’s picking me up, so your father can use my car if he needs to go anywhere. Why don’t we all meet back here for cocktails before you leave for your party? Say, five o’clock?”

“Sure. We’ll have to change for the party anyway,” Joel agreed with a shrug.

“Let me help you clear away the breakfast dishes,” Nic offered, reaching for the empty waffle platter.

Elaine shook her head firmly. “You and Joel go have fun,” she insisted. “I really prefer to take care of things in my kitchen by myself, though I appreciate your offer.”

“We gave up trying to help in the kitchen a long time ago,” Joel said with a grin. “Mom has her particular way of doing things and she doesn’t like anyone messing up her system.”

“She did let Heather help her some,” Lou reminisced. “But she was training Heather to do things her way.”

Joel’s chair scraped on the floor when he shoved it back from the table. “Since we’re forbidden to help with the cleaning up, maybe we should just go,” he said to Nic. “I’ll take you down to see the revitalized historic town square.”

She sprang to her feet. “Sounds fascinating.”

There wasn’t a lot to see in Danston. The driving tour took just over an hour, and that included looking at the old courthouse twice.

Joel had driven slowly, doing the tour-guide thing by pointing out places that had been significant to him growing up. The high school. The drugstore with the old-fashioned soda fountain where he and his friends had hung out after school. Though the drugstore was still in business, the soda fountain had closed several years ago, leaving the teenagers to gather in the chain fast-food restaurants in the newer part of town.

The two-screen movie theater where he had watched the teen comedies of the eighties had been replaced by a six-screen stadium-seating multiplex out on the highway. The old roller-skating rink was gone now, and several of the mom-and-pop stores had closed when the big-box superstore opened just off the highway, next to the new theater. But as Joel had said, downtown was being revitalized with an influx of shops selling antiques, gifts, crafts and specialty items like kitchen gadgets and bath supplies.

Nic admired the old-fashioned street lamps that lined the newly resurfaced sidewalks and the facades of old buildings that had been given facelifts. “It’s a nice town,” she said. “I’ll bet people come from all over to shop on the square.”

He nodded. “Especially at Christmas. The downtown merchants go all out decorating for the holidays with lights and window displays and garlands—keeping everything old-fashioned and pedestrian-friendly. It’s really nice then. You should see it.”

Nic thought the chances of her ever visiting here at Christmas were remote, but she kept that thought to herself as she answered, “It sounds great.”

“Yeah. It’s nice.”

That subject exhausted, he turned the car at an intersection and drove in silence for several long moments. Nic tried to think of something to say to fill the gap. “I know you haven’t been home for a while to visit. If you’d like to spend more time with your parents today, don’t feel like you need to entertain me. I packed a couple of books and I’d be perfectly comfortable reading in your mom’s living room while you visit with them.”

“To be honest, I’d rather spend most of the day out with you. I love my parents, Nic, I really do, but spending too much time with them is kind of stressful. For all of us, I think.”

Nic lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”

Keeping his eyes on the increasingly rural road ahead, he shrugged. “I don’t know, exactly. They still don’t understand why I wanted to move away. I guess we’ve all just grown apart some during the past five or six years.”

Since Heather’s death, Nic thought with a slight shake of her head. She knew that tragedies tended to either bring families closer together or push them apart. Elaine had said that losing little Kyle had brought them closer, but Heather’s death seemed to have had the opposite effect.

“Where are we going now?” she asked, since she was no expert in family dynamics—as Heather had been, she remembered with a wince.

“I thought I’d show you where Ethan lives. He’s got a place near the river outside of town. A dam was built back in the fifties to create the lake. Lake Parnell, named after an old local family. Ethan lives about five miles upriver from the dam.

“The lakeside resort where most of the reunion guests from out of town are staying and where we’ll meet for the dance tonight is called the Parnell Resort and Conference Center. It used to be an old fishing lodge, but it was remodeled during this past summer to update all the guest rooms and add the ballroom and some conference rooms. There aren’t many conferences held around here, of course, but several of the local civic organizations will use the facilities for monthly meetings and fund-raisers and such.”