The Reunion (2 page)

* * * *

Just past five, Ebony approached the fine home Ethan Harrington had gazed upon that morning. Jenny Harrington, just getting out of her car, called out and waved. Ebony waved back and smiled warmly.

“You don’t look right,” Jenny said when Ebony reached her. “Are you coming down with something?”

“I didn’t sleep well.”

“I see,” she said meaningfully.

“I watched
Pride and Prejudice
last night,” Ebony said in an awkward tone. “Thank you for letting me open the gift early.”

“Isn’t Colin Firth handsome?”

“Gorgeous,” Ebony said. “And Jennifer Ehle is a perfect Elizabeth Bennet. They have so much chemistry.” She laughed like a schoolgirl. “And you know how I love romances.”

“I think those shelves of movies and novels gave you away. What’s your favorite part of
Pride and Prejudice
?”

“Hard to say. I love every scene between them and, of course, when they get married at the end. But my favorite part is when they meet unexpectedly at his home, after he jumps into the lake. It’s so romantic.” She glanced fleetingly at her best friend. “You didn’t have to get me anything, you know.”

“This birthday was special.”

Ebony turned away with a pained look.

“I have a surprise for you tonight,” Jenny said, grinning. “You’ll never guess.”

“I don’t like guessing,” Ebony returned, “but I do like surprises.”

“All right, we’ll leave it as a surprise then.”

The rain fell harder as Jenny and Ebony hurried up the driveway. They passed the flowering crab trees, the yellow moving van parked in front of the garage, cobblestone walls bordering spacious lawns, and a quaint English garden, now wild and overgrown. Jenny was twenty-five, tall, dark-haired, and pretty.

When the women rounded the corner and headed for the back of the house, Doc opened the door to them. “Come in out of the rain,” he insisted.

“Not right now,” Jenny said. “We just came for the key.”

“Abide awhile,” he offered, looking up at the sky. “It’s raining.”

“We’ll be back at six,” Jenny said, laughing at the elderly gentleman’s charming manner. “Just give us an hour or so to clean the house. Then you can start moving in.”

“But you’ll get wet.”

“Dad!” exclaimed a woman in her early thirties, stepping forward. “I’m sure Jenny is eager to reclaim her home.”

Jenny put up her hand. “I hope you don’t think that, Rebecca. I don’t mind having you at all. It’s just that I know you’re anxious to get settled. But I’m more than a little embarrassed that I gave you the wrong date.”

“The Smiths seem like very nice people,” Rebecca said. “They say the house has a wonderful view of the Nine Mile River and Shad Bay.”

“You’ll love it. Lydia always kept the place spotless, but we’ll just give it the once-over before you move in.”

“Housecleaning,” Rebecca said with a frown. “Some birthday present, eh, Ebony?”

“I don’t mind,” she said. “I like to help out when I can.” She looked at her watch and then to Jenny. “We’d better get going.”

“Are you sure I can’t help?” Rebecca asked.

“We’ll be okay,” Ebony assured her.

Rebecca came out on the veranda. “Thanks for renting to us on such short notice, Jenny. The nearest suitable property Ron could find was way over in Glen Margaret. That’s a long commute to the Shad Bay school every day.” She turned to Ebony. “The cake will be here when you get back. Dad’s even going to pick up some candles.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“We have a surprise for you, too,” Doc added with childlike enthusiasm.

“Oh my,” said Ebony, “this is turning out to be a day of surprises.”

“We should be back around six or so,” Jenny said.

The friends left, and as they approached Jenny’s car, the sun suddenly burst through an opening in the dark clouds and illuminated the landscape. The two friends decided, on the spur of the moment, to walk the half-mile instead of driving. Just as they reached the shoulder of the road, a half-ton Ford truck drove past with two men. The driver honked his horn and waved. Jenny and Ebony waved back.

“Isn’t Bill a sweetie?” Jenny asked, smiling brightly.

“He’s a very nice guy,” Ebony agreed. “You’re lucky to have him.”

They walked in silence for several minutes, passing the Smelt Brook—swollen by the spring thaw—the government wharf, and the Osprey Archery Club.

Jenny suddenly asked out of the blue, “What do you think is the best quality in a man?”

“Trustworthiness,” Ebony shot back immediately. “Above all else, a man must be trustworthy. He has to be someone you can count on day in and day out.”

“Think Bill fits that description?”

“Yes, Bill is a fine person. He’s a gentleman.”

Jenny had been waiting for that. “He asked me out to a movie tomorrow night, and he mentioned that one of his friends is free.”

“To take me?”

“Yes,” Jenny said, “he wants to take you.”

“He’s never even met me.”

“We’re all strangers until we meet for the first time.”

“Sorry, Jenny, it’s not my nature. You know me. Home, hot chocolate, movies. Can you honestly see me going on a blind date?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable. And it would ruin your fun if you had to worry about me all evening.”

“You’d enjoy it.”

Ebony shook her head.

“Please, Ebony, do it for me.”

“Why for you?”

Jenny sighed. “I don’t want you to leave, okay? Your life is here in Shad Bay. I know you’re a wonderful woman. Everybody knows that. You don’t have to travel to Africa to prove it.”

“And you think I’ll change my mind if you find me a man?”

“Can’t hurt,” Jenny said halfheartedly.

“No, I’m resolved to do this. I’m leaving whenever the mission can find me an opening, at the latest in early July. I might even be going much sooner.”

“How soon?”

“Soon, that’s all.”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful!” Jenny exclaimed sarcastically. “You’re hurrying off to somewhere you don’t really want to go when you’re already somewhere you want to be. And what am I supposed to do with no best friend anymore?”

Ebony shook her head. “I don’t know what your problem is. You knew I was going in July anyway. What difference does it make if I leave a little earlier?”

“I couldn’t care less what you do!”

The two women grew moody and walked in silence along the shoulder of the road. Even though they were miffed at each other, Jenny and Ebony smiled cheerfully at a man and his wife getting out of their car, a baby in her arms. A few houses farther along, near the bridge, Mrs. Hurst, a woman in her seventies, waved to them, and Jenny called out, wondering if spring would ever arrive. Mrs. Hurst laughed and assured them that things would soon change.

“I’ll write every week,” Ebony said as they walked across the bridge into Bayside.

“Don’t bother. I’m not going to read your letters.”

“You’re just angry because you still feel guilty.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know very well what it means.”

A brief silence followed.

“What are you going to do with your house,” Jenny asked, “or have you still not figured that out?” She paused. “Maybe you could let the teenagers use it as a drinking hangout on Friday nights.”

“I’ve already covered that with Martha. She said she might want to rent my place and could even buy it.”

Jenny bit her lip, and Ebony stared ahead with firm resolve. Both of them seemed to want to say something, but neither wanted to provoke a further confrontation. Knowing each other inside out, as best friends are wont to do, they simply continued walking in silence toward the house Jenny would be renting to Rebecca.

“I feel a heavy rain coming,” Ebony said.

The two women ran to the house, opened the door, and hurried inside just as the skies opened.

“What a dull afternoon,” Jenny said as they entered the kitchen. Her tone, as is often the case among close friends, did not betray that they had argued earlier. “The weather can be so dreary in the spring. Quite depressing.”

“True,” Ebony said shortly.

“Why are you crying?” Jenny asked softly, looking at her.

Ebony patted away her tears with a tissue. “I don’t know.” She sniffled and put on a brave face. “I haven’t been happy on my birthday for a long time.”

“Penny for your thoughts.”

“It’s sad,” Ebony answered, “but sometimes people hurt each other, even those they love.”

Jenny scrunched up her nose. “Let’s not be so glum. This is your birthday. And look, it’s clearing again.”

Ebony nodded and forced a smile.

Though the house was thoroughly clean, the two of them swept and dusted out of a sense of obligation. When they were about to leave, Ebony, by accident, brushed against Jenny’s purse and knocked it off the counter. The wallet fell out and flipped open, revealing a picture of Ethan with his arm around his sister. His hair was dark like hers and his features similar, though in the old photograph, Jenny looked to be about fifteen, and he was five years older. Jenny glanced awkwardly at Ebony, then hurriedly knelt down to scoop up the contents. She closed her purse as quickly as she could.

“Sorry,” Jenny mumbled.

“Time to go,” Ebony said, pretending nothing had happened. “I don’t want to be late for my surprise.”

* * * *

Even though it was six thirty and the rush hour was over, the traffic was much heavier than Ethan anticipated. The city itself had changed dramatically since the last time he saw it. Some of the architecture he particularly liked, especially the rejuvenated waterfront and its historic properties, but the volume of traffic shocked him. He shook his head going through the roundabout and then took a deep breath as he turned onto the Prospect Road. Soon, very soon, he would come face-to-face with Ebony. He had prepared perfectly for this moment, but as the hour drew near, he found himself perfectly unprepared for it.

As he passed through the villages, his nerves stretched to the breaking point. Every part of the road, from the ballfield in Goodwood where his team had won the championship, to the beach next to White’s Lake where he had partied and brawled, every inch held a piece of his history. But it was the people he knew, the human lives that had intertwined with his own, that preoccupied him. He pondered the disappointments and his own great failings, but now his past and future were two freight trains speeding toward one another on the same track, soon to hit head-on in a collision with fate. And this collision would occur the moment he looked into Ebony’s eyes.

* * * *

Ebony and Jenny hurried down the road. They retraced their steps, first crossing the bridge, then again waving to Mrs. Hurst. They passed the archery club, the government wharf, the Smelt Brook. The skies were clearing to the west, and the late-afternoon sun looked like a rainbow mixed in a blender and splashed against the sky.

“…don’t you think?” Jenny asked in a raised voice as they walked past the cemetery.

“I’m sorry,” Ebony said, turning to her with a distracted look. “I was drifting.”

“It’s turning out to be beautiful day, don’t you think?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Could anything be more beautiful than a sunset in Shad Bay?”

“No,” Ebony admitted, looking at the beautiful pastel colors above the big island.

“Why leave it then?”

“Beauty is everywhere. I’m sure there are spectacular sunsets in Africa, too.”

“Tell me the truth, Ebony. Do you really want to leave?”

“My furnace broke down last night,” Ebony said, keen on changing the subject. “But I got distracted and forgot to call the serviceman. I think I’ll wait until Monday.”

“Is that wise?”

“I have the woodstove. I’ll be fine. Besides, Jackie Dow is on call, and they have a new baby. I don’t want to bother him on a weekend.”

“Do you really want to go to Africa?” Jenny persisted.

Ebony looked straight ahead and was unwilling to continue speaking. They reached the Harrington house and walked up the driveway. At the door, Doc greeted them wearing a pyramid-shaped multicolored birthday hat sitting crookedly on his head.

“Little late,” he noted, holding up his watch to show them it was ten minutes to seven. “But that’s okay. Birthday girls are allowed to be late. In fact, we all know it is not only the right of women to be late, it’s their obligation!”

Ebony and Jenny laughed.

Doc was in his early seventies and very distinguished looking in his sharp clothes and flowing mane of gray hair. He wore a smooth green satin vest with dark green and black alligators printed on it, the chain of a gold watch dangling from his breast pocket. His loose brown trousers seemed modest compared to the flashy black leather shoes, but suited him nicely. For all his dignity, though, there was a mischievous, almost childlike twinkle in his eyes that never left his animated features. He gestured for them to come inside.

“So, do we still get a piece of cake?” Jenny asked as she and Ebony entered.

“Of course you do,” Rebecca said, laying out plates. “In fact, since Dad’s belly is getting a little too big lately, I think you can have his piece, too.”

“Let’s not get carried away!” Doc declared with an offended expression, then winked at Ebony and Jenny.

Rebecca pinched his cheek. “Just kidding, Dad.”

Jenny looked around the room. “Where’s Ron?”

“He took your advice and went bowling with the other teachers. He figured that would give him a chance to get to meet them in a relaxed atmosphere.”

“He’ll fit right in,” Jenny assured her.

“Hope so,” Rebecca said with a nervous laugh. “Ron is slow at making friends.”

“He’ll be fine.” Jenny suddenly grew very animated. “Well, do you think I should give Ebony her other present now? I can’t wait much longer.”

“Jenny, you’ve already given me a wonderful present.”

“Oh well,” she said with a laugh.

“I don’t know when Ron will get back,” Rebecca noted, glancing at the clock, “so we might as well have our little party now.”

She brought out the cake, complete with the words “Happy Birthday, Ebony.” Doc had meticulously placed twenty-eight pink spiral candles on top. He lit them, and after a little coaxing, Ebony blew them all out in one try. Everyone laughed and congratulated her, and then Doc clapped and sang “Happy Birthday” in his deep, clear voice.