True Colors

“Half the town was there, Vivi,” Winona said, and she should have looked angry, but in that strange, surreal moment, as Vivi Ann’s panic poked through, she thought Winona looked pleased. And she hadn’t answered the question, not really.

The door opened and Luke stood there, dressed in his Dockers and a plaid flannel shirt, as if this were an ordinary morning visit. But his hair was damp and unbrushed.

She moved toward him, desperate suddenly to undo all of this. “Tell them none of this matters, Luke. You know we love each other.” When he said nothing, her panic increased. “We’re getting married. Tell Daddy there’s nothing to worry about.”

“You’re engaged?” Dad said.

Vivi Ann turned to her father. “We were waiting for the right time to tell everyone.”

Dad finally smiled. “Good. This is over, then. Our first jackpot is startin’ in two hours and we got plenty to do to get ready. I’ll go talk to our new man, tell him what’s what. He’d best mind his p’s and q’s from now on or I’ll fire him. I don’t care about no contract.”

As soon as he left, Vivi Ann started to pull away from Luke, but he took hold of her hand and wouldn’t let her leave.

“Did you kiss him back?” he asked.

“Of course not.” She felt Winona watching them from across the room.

He tilted her chin up. She knew the second before she saw his face that it would be creased with worry, that those clean, honest eyes of his would be colored by doubt. She knew, too, that he would believe her because he wanted to.

“Are we okay?” he asked.

“We’re fine.”

“You’ve made me the happiest man in Oyster Shores.”

It should have been a romantic moment.

But already she knew she’d made a mistake.

You’ve made me the happiest man in Oyster Shores.

The sentence kept coming back to Winona, playing and replaying. She saw the whole tragic scene in slow motion: Vivi Ann coming down the stairs, her beautiful face registering surprise when she realized what was happening . . . Dad, turning on Vivi Ann for once, telling her he was ashamed . . . and then Luke walking in, his eyes shadowed with doubt and heartbreak.

Winona had wanted to go to him, say, She always breaks hearts, and be there for him. She’d even dared to imagine that, to hope for it. Then . . .

We’re getting married.

Three words that turned everything around, three words that returned the luster to Vivi Ann’s reputation, three words that made the old man smile.

Winona sat in the living room, still as a stone, hearing their conversation but not really listening. She could get the drift of it without the words. They were no doubt exchanging the honeyed words of new fiancés everywhere. Stuff about love and ceremonies and dreams.

They seemed to have forgotten she was here, or they didn’t care. She was just another piece of bulky furniture in the room.

She got up slowly, schooled her face into impassivity, and went to them. She almost paused, almost uttered a wooden congratulations, but as she approached them, Luke pulled Vivi Ann into his arms and kissed her.

It was the first time Winona had seen them really kiss, and she stopped, unable to look away.

And then she was moving again, across the living room, onto the porch, and to her car. She drove too fast up the driveway, surprised to find that she was crying as she came to Orca Way. She wiped her eyes impatiently and turned right.

A block later she hit the brake and came to a sudden stop, right there in the middle of the street.

We’re getting married.

How could Luke and Dad be so stupid? Couldn’t they see that Vivi Ann was acting out of desperation, chewing off her foot to get free of the trap of their disappointment?

“Don’t think about it,” she muttered aloud. She had to find a way not to care. Aurora was right. Winona had always known that. Sisters trumped men. She had to stop wanting Luke or it would destroy them all. But how did you go about such a thing? All the rationalizations in the world hadn’t worked. A seed of discontent had been planted deep inside of her, and even now she could feel it putting down roots.

Hours after the roping had ended, Vivi Ann sat on the arena’s rail, staring down at the loamy brown dirt. The last twenty-four hours had been among the worst of her life. Gossip about her behavior last night had swept through town like a brush fire. News of her engagement to Luke had put out the flames, but people were watching her closely, whispering as she passed.