“I left early to take a shower.” I love my job at the animal shelter, but I didn’t want to smell like kitty litter tonight. “Gray came straight from the airport. Danny’s been here since Tuesday.”
The serenade ends, and party guests immediately mob my brother and his best friend. Gray’s head rises above the crowd. He’s smiling and charming, but every few seconds, his eyes find mine in a sizzling wave of promise.
He inspects my outfit, stormy eyes passing over my skin leaving heat in their wake. I’m waiting for him to move away, toward the dark hall at the back of the room.
“Did you hear me?”
I force my attention to Ralph. “I’m sorry?”
“Mother said her ladies group is having a special luncheon for Daniel after church on Sunday. I’m supposed to invite you.” Ralph’s brown eyes cast to the side. “She said to bring your dad, but I figured—”
“Danny leaves Sunday afternoon.” As I say the words, my heart sinks, because Gray will leave with him.
“It’ll be right after church in the fellowship hall. To say goodbye. She said your grandmother would’ve wanted it.”
“I’ll mention it to him.” Everyone in St. Stephen does things for the sake of my grandparents, the Oakville Harrises. You’d think we were royalty…
Except the Harris fortune has been disappearing since I was a child. My dad doesn’t work, he drinks all the time, which means we’re nearly broke. Pretty much all we have now is an old name, this lake house, the old house in town, and a few “priceless” antiques.
“In other news.” Ralph straightens, tugging on his waistband. “I took a job with pest control, so I’ll be visiting the clinic pretty regularly. Maybe we can go out to lunch sometime.”
I see Gray drift to the back hall. My stomach is tight, and I clock the amount of time it’ll take me to meet him without drawing unwanted attention.
“Wait, you remove pests?” Ruby’s loud voice cuts in. “How ironic.”
“It’s mostly raccoons, but I had two ladies call with snakes in their swimming pools last week.”
“Metaphorically speaking?” She’s teasing, but I’m too distracted to play along.
“I don’t understand.” Ralph frowns at her. “They were water moccasins.”
I give Ruby’s arm a squeeze. “I have to use the restroom.”
“I’ll be here!” Ralph calls after me.
“I’ll be at the keg.” Ruby heads to the kitchen.
I plunge into the crowd of familiar faces, following him like a starving kitten. I smile and say hello to people I’ve known my whole life. It takes forever to pick my way through without seeming suspicious, and thanks to Ralph’s water moccasin story, my mind has gone to the first time I ever saw Grayson Cole.
It’s not a clear memory, only shadows and feelings…
I was four years old, standing barefoot on the path leading behind our old neighborhood.
Brown grasses taller than my head separated it from the wide canal that ran like a river all the way to Lake Mary. A shiny black snake with bright yellow spots had zipped across my feet, its thick body slippery and fast and forever long, and I screamed as loud as I could.
I screamed and screamed. I stood there screaming until Grayson appeared.
“What was it? A snake?”
I nodded rapidly, and he leaned down, inspecting my small feet and legs. He was only eight, but he seemed like a grown-up, so serious making sure I wasn’t hurt.
The reptile was long gone, and I was just standing there, crying in my yellow-checkered romper, my white-blonde hair in two plaits on each side of my head.
Gray hesitated only a moment before wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me off the ground. He carried me up the path, jogging to the opening in the chain-link fence behind the big hydrangea bush at the back of Mr. Halley’s garden.
I bounced wildly in his arms, and I held onto his skinny shoulders for dear life until I heard my mamma’s panicked cries.
“Andrea!” Her hysterical voice made me cry more.